Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/385

371 HISTORY.] HUNGARY 371 a general edict of toleration in religious matters (October 1781), but forced upon the people heavy taxes and foreign officials ; he moreover enjoined the exclusive use of the German language in the schools, courts of justice, and public administration. The general discontent at these measures was heightened by the unfavourable issue of the war against Turkey ; and Joseph, shortly before bis deatli (1790), found himself compelled to revoke nearly all his edicts, and promise redress to his irritated subjects. His brother and successor, Leopold II., appeased the Hungarians by more definitely confirming the rights and liberties of the nation than any of his predecessors. After a reign of only two years Leopold died, and was suc ceeded by his eldest son Francis I. (1792). This monarch duly swore to maintain the laws and constitution of Hungary, but his efforts were eventually directed wholly against them. During the continuance of his war with France he repeatedly convoked the states, only, however, for the purpose of obtaining supplies of men and money to carry on the struggle. Through the whole of this crisis the Hungarians faithfully supported the Austrian cause, and disdainfully rejected the offers of Napoleon in his pro clamation of the 15th May 1809, calling upon them to rise for national independence. But at the end of the great war the Hungarian nation received little gratitude for its devotion. Francis for several years discontinued the hold ing of the diet, and acted in direct violation of the consti tution by levying troops and increasing the taxation to more than double. The opposition which these arbitrary measures provoked in the counties at length obliged him in 1825 to convene the states, and thus appease the wide spread dissatisfaction. To the holding of this diet, in which Count Stephen Szechenyi initiated the use of the Magyar instead of the accustomed Latin tongue, may be traced not only a reaction in favour of the native language, but also the commence ment of the reform movement. The spirit of nationality was fully aroused, and liberal sentiments were diffused over the whole kingdom, notwithstanding the active opposition of the Viennese court influenced by Metternich, in the reigns of both Francis and his successor Ferdinand (1835). The diets of 1832, 1839, and 1843 passed several measures of reform, amongst which the most important were those demanding the official use of the Magyar language, the equality of the various Christian confessions, and the rights of the peasantry and of the non-ennobled citizens. Amongst the leaders of the liberal party the magnates were Count Louis Batthyanyi and Barons Nicholas Wesseldnyi and Joseph Eotvos, and the deputies Deak, Klauzal, Fay, Beothy, Balogh, Szemere, and Louis Kossuth. In the hope of intirnidiiting the advanced liberals, the Viennese court in 1839 imprisoned Wesselenyi and Kossuth, but they were released in 1840 owing to the amnesty then pro claimed for political offenders. The publication of the Pesti Hirlap (Pest Gazette) was commenced in 1841 by Kossuth as the organ of the liberal party. This paper, the leading articles of which were written in a spirit directly opposed to the policy of the Government, gained an im mense circulation, and considerably influenced the public mind. A pamphlet styled A Kelet Nepe (The People of the East), written by Sz6cbenyi in order to counteract the schemes of Kossuth, only served to add to the importance of the Pesti Hirlap. The conservative journal Vilny (Light) was conducted by Count Aurel Dessewffy, who from 1833 until his death in 1842 was the leader of the conservative party. Meanwhile intellectual and material improvement made rapid progress, especially in the Hungarian capital. Numerous works, literary and political, were published, the former due to the encouragement offered by the Hungarian academy and the Kis- faludy society, the latter the outcome or the great political ex citement prevailing throughout the country. Clubs really if not avowedly political were established in most of the principal towns. Steam navigation of the Danube, the Budapest suspension bridge (commenced May 1840), and other improvements of the means of internal communication, which had received their first impulse from Count Szechenyi, were rapidly proceeded with. In order to encourage native trade and industry, long obstructed by toll and custom duties, Kossuth called into existence the Vtdcyylct (Pro tection Union), the members of which pledged themselves to abstain from the use of Austrian manufactures until the tariff should l)e reformed. This association soon overspread the country, and afl ected Austrian trade so seriously that some manufacturers had to transport their factories into Hungary in order to save them selves from ruin. The establishment of this association, the liberal measures of the late diets, and the unanimity of national feel ing in Hungary Proper and Transylvania embarrassed the Govern ment of Vienna, which could reckon only on the support of the Conservatives, whose numbers and moral influence were compara tively small. Metternich therefore determined to annihilate the municipal independence of the counties, in whose assemblies lay the real strength of the Liberals, by the appointment of &quot;admin istrators&quot; paid by the court to fill the places of all absent lord- lieutenants. This measure raised the political excitement of the nation to the highest pitch. The Liberals were soon divided into two parties, the so-called &quot;municipalists,&quot; with Kossuth at their head, who urged the reaffirmation of the county institutions, and the &quot;centralists,&quot; led by Szalay and Eotvos, who insisted upon the nomination of a responsible ministry. On the approach of the elections for the diet of 1847 these two parties agreed upon a common course of action. In November the diet was summoned, when Kossuth appeared as a candidate for the county of Pest, and after a warm contest was elected. On the 12th November the diet was opened at Pozsony (Pressburg)by Ferdinand V. in person, who by addressing the assembled states in the Magyar language instead of Latin produced a very favourable impression. The first act of the diet was the unanimous election of a successor to the late palatine Joseph in the person of his son the archduke Stepl en. Thus far all was well, but the address to the throne containing clauses, inserted by Kossuth s party, deprecatory of unconsti tutional measures by the Government, after passing the lower was rejected by the upper house, by which means the royal speech was practically ignored. At the commencement of the year 1848 an Act was carried through both houses, ordaining the exclusive use of the Magyar language in all branches of the administration, in legal documents, and in the schools and colleges. Certain pro visions were, however, made respecting Croatia and Slavonia. Upon the news of the French revolution the diet was power- Events fully impressed, and the Liberals assumed a more determined atti- of 1848, tude. On the proposal of Kossuth it was unanimously resolved to send a deputation to Vienna demanding from the Government a responsible ministry, the abolition of all feudal burdens, the equalization of taxes, the extension of the franchise, freedom of the press, complete religious toleration, and several other measures of reform. On the 16th of March the address was presented to Fer dinand, who, by reason of the troubled state of his Italian pro vinces and the .revolutionary aspect of Vienna, was compelled to yield his assent. The palatine archduke Stephen was nominated viceroy in Hungary, and Count Louis Batthyanyi entrusted with the formation of a ministry. The irritation of the Viennese Government at this enforced compliance with the Hungarian demands was increased by the choice of Kossuth as minister of finance. On the llth April Ferdinand repaired to Pozsony (Pressburg), and the diet was closed with a Magyar speech from&quot; the throne. But the Austrian Government, although compelled to abandon for the present its position of open and direct hostility to the national will of the Hungarians, was determined by other means to prevent the new reforms from being carried out. The plan adopted was that of secretly encouraging the southern non-Magyar nation alities to assert their independence, and oppose by force of arms the consolidation of the new constitution. Croatia and Slavonia and the Banat refused to submit to the Hungarian rule, and demanded separate rights and autonomous administration ; while in Transylvania, the diet of which had proclaimed its reunion with Hungary Proper, the Vallachs and Saxons rose in arms against the Magyars. The whole of the south and south-west of the country was soon in a state of revolt, and a war of races was carried on with indescribable fury. Representations to the court of Vienna remained virtually unheeded, the emperor contenting himself with hypocritical proclamations against the rebels, and with placing at the disposal of the Hungarian ministry a few regiments of soldiers, whose officers were disaffected to the Hungarian cause. It now became evident that the Hungarians, in order to retain their national existence, must rely entirely upon their own re sources, and make an immediate and vigorous effort, more es pecially as Jellachich, the newly-appointed ban of Croatia, was making preparations to march upon Pest. Ferdinand, who still