The period of Reforms (1825-1848) & the Revolution of 1848
At the turn of the 1800s, Hungary came completely under Habsburg rule. 1804, the Habsburg Monarchy became part of the Austrian Empire, and in 1867 the dual monarchy, Austria-Hungary, was formed. The Hungarian Diet[1] had not convened during and after the Napoleonic Wars, and the first reconvention in 1825 marked a beginning of a new period; the so-called Reform Period (1825-1848). In the trace of Enlightenment and Romanticism and the shadow of financial needs, nationalism grew among the intellectuals of Hungary. While the nobles clung to their privileges, a new liberal party was formed to highlight the needs of laborers. Notable persons of the era were István Széchenyi (Count, Hungarian politician, political theorist, statesman, and writer); Lajos Kossuth (journalist, reformer, and leader of the lower gentry at the Parliament, later also president and governor), and Lajos Batthyány (first Prime Minister).
A unifying force among Hungarians was their demand that education ought to be held in Magyar (in Hungarian) since this would enable Hungary greater independence from Austria. As a result of growing nationalism, Hungarian replaced Latin and became the official language in schools and state administration. In addition, this new national awareness was also a growing ground for the 1848-49 revolution. While the Habsburgs desired to keep a traditional agrarian Hungary and hence, aimed to stop industrialization, István Széchenyi recognized a need for modernization. However, while the Habsburgs aggravated liberal laws in the area of civil and political rights as well as economic reforms and imprisoned many reformers (such as Lajos Kossuth and Mihály Táncsics), they couldn´t stop modernization. Consequently, on 15th march 1848, the reformists presented at mass demonstrations a 12-points demand which the Austrian Emperor, Ferdinand I (facing rebellions both in Hungary and at a home front), had to accept. Whereas the Habsburg Emperor with the assistance of loyal priests and officers managed to manipulate Romanian, Serb, and Croatian minorities to turn against the new Hungarian government, the Hungarians found strong allies in Germans, Slovakians, Slovenes, and Rusyns. Similarly, most Hungarian Jews and many volunteers from Poland, Italy, and Austria backed up Hungary. In the following, the Habsburgs were dethroned.
In April 1849, an independent Hungarian parliament was founded, and in July this Parliament enacted the world’s first laws on ethnic- and minority rights. Shortly after, the first Hungarian Republic also was proclaimed with Lajos Batthyány at the front as the first Prime Minister of the country. Yet, Austria aimed to extinguish the Hungarian constitution and even the supreme legislative power was to be abolished. These verdicts were perceived by Hungarians as existential threats, thus resulting in antagonism. Nonetheless, after the uprisings in Austria were suppressed on October 1848, the successor of Ferdinand I; Emperor Franz Joseph I (I. Ferenc József; 2 Dec 1848- 21 Nov 1916)[2]; rejected the reforms and with the help of Czar Nicholas I´s army; the “Gendarme of Europe”; in arms turned against Hungary (June 1849). The Russian army invaded Hungary, and on August 13 it became clear that Hungary had lost its battles against the Austrians. After the surrender of Artúr Görgey (Hungarian military leader-general) at Világos (Siria, Romania), Julius Jacob von Haynau (leader of the Austrian army) became a governor.
On October 6th 1849, the new Austrian governor ordered the execution of the Hungarian Prime Minister; Lajos Batthyány; together with 13 Hungarian Martyrs (leaders of the Hungarian army) in Arad (Romania). After the revolution, Austria once again acquired absolute control over Hungary under the governance of Archduke Albrecht von Habsburg, and German became the official language of the country. However, the Hungarians did not give up. Instead, the whole country turned into ´passive resistance´, and after some vast military defeats, such as the one at the Battle of Königgrätz, the Habsburgs realized that they had no choice but to negotiate for the integrity of the Habsburg Empire. The outcome of these negotiations was the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and also the rise of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy[3] with an elevated role of Hungary in it. The Hungarian parliament was reestablished on 20th March 1867, and in 1868, through the Croatian–Hungarian Agreement, Croatia became an autonomous region in the Kingdom.
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Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy /Imperialism (1867–1918)
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise (1867) was a negotiation between Emperor Franz Joseph and Ferenc Deák (Hungarian statesman – minister of justice), and it gave rise to the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy. Those territories in the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy which belonged to Hungary were called the Archiregnum Hungaricum – Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen (i.e. Hungarian territories of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy) and were significantly larger than modern Hungary. According to some sources, it was the second-largest country in Europe. It was a multi-ethnic state which included Slovakia, Ukraine, the Principality of Transylvania and Temes Banat (Romania), the Voivodeship of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, and a few villages in today’s Poland. The monarchy was a so-called customs union in which the former Hungarian Constitution was restored. It had two capital cities and two Parliaments, but shared external and military policies and had the same monarch, Franz Joseph I. After the 1867 compromise, the ruler of the Hungarian Kingdom was never entitled to emperor but as king. In addition, there had never been a common citizenship in the monarchy; which means that one was either Hungarian or Austrian in this manner.
While the magnets had a lifelong membership in the upper House of the Hungarian Parliament, the Lower House was dominated by the gentry. The gentry and the magnets had conflicting interests in many areas, such as in the matter of protection against cheap food imports, the Church-state problem, and the constitution. Moreover, since the gentry gradually lost their power, they tried to strengthen their political influence through office-holding duties instead of land ownership. Hence, there was a never-ending tension both between the “crown” and the “country” as well as between the magnets and the gentry. Common Hungarian interests came more into the spotlight in foreign policies when Gyula Andrássy (count and the first Prime Minister of Hungary after the 1867 compromise; 1867–1871) became Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (1871–1879). Andrássy was a conservative politician who worked to maintain a good relationship with Germany and tried to expand the Empire to the Southeast.
From the 1870s onward, Hungary exhibited economic development (especially in rural areas) and the establishment of a modern administrative system. While agriculture still had a dominant position in the country´s economy, Hungary became modern and industrialized. The country´s GDP exceeded that of the GDP of western societies such as Germany, England, and France. Moreover, a new metropolis emerged in 1873 when Pest became unified with Buda and Óbuda (Ancient Buda), and together built a new home for a more organized and interconnected administration and trade, and lively political-, economic- and cultural life. Industrialization, urbanization, and economic development were supported by technological advancements. The transportation, telecommunication, and electro-technology industries bloomed rapidly. The two most well-known companies of the period were Tungsram Works and the Ganz concern.
In 1878 fell Bosnia-Herzegovina (which was still a part of the Ottoman Empire) under the civilian- and military leadership of the monarchy, and in 1908 it became fully annexed. It was this event that led to that Islam became a state religion of Bosnia. However, under the leadership of Prime Minister István Tisza, the Hungarian government faced a new challenge of war in Europe and in the Empire after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914, eldest son of Karl Ludwig – a younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I) in Sarajevo. This unfortunate event can be seen as the cause of the beginning of World War I (WWI).
[1] Hungary had since the late 12th century its own parliament, the so-called Diet which is also known as a National Assembly
[2] Emperor Franz Joseph I (2 Dec 1848- 21 Nov 1916) ”… suffered the tragedies of the execution of his brother Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico in 1867, the suicide of his son Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889, the assassination of his wife Empress Elisabeth (“Sisi”) in 1898, and the assassination of his nephew and heir-presumptive, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in 1914”
[3] Austrian-Hungarian Empire “…had the second largest area in Europe… and it was the third most populous..”
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Written by Gertrúd Windberg 2023, Sundbyberg
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