The Hungarian State (, archaically ''Magyar Álladalom'') was a short-lived unrecognised state that existed for 4 months in the last phase of the
Hungarian Revolution of 1848–49.
Constitutional tensions between the Hungarian parliament and Franz Joseph
On 2 December 1848
Ferdinand V of Hungary "
abdicated
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other soci ...
" in favour of his nephew
Francis Joseph. The Hungarian reform laws (
April laws
The April Laws, also called March Laws, were a collection of laws legislated by Lajos Kossuth with the aim of modernizing the Kingdom of Hungary into a parliamentary democracy, nation state. The laws were passed by the Hungarian Diet in March 1 ...
) were based on the 12 points that established the fundaments of modern civil and political rights, economic and societal reforms in the Kingdom of Hungary. Franz Joseph refused to accept the reforms of the Hungarian April laws. Franz Joseph also arbitrarily "revoked" the laws. This was an unconstitutional deed, because the laws were already signed by his uncle King Ferdinand, and the monarch had no right to revoke parliamentary laws which were already signed. The Habsburg government in Vienna proclaimed a new constitution, the so-called
Stadion Constitution, on 4 March 1849. The
centralist
Centralisation or centralization (American English) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning, decision-making, and framing strategies and policies, become concentrated within a particular ...
Stadion Constitution provided strong power for the monarch, and marked the way of
neo-absolutism
The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a multinational European great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, it was the third most populous mon ...
. The new March Constitution of Austria was drafted by the
Imperial Diet of Austria, where Hungary had no representation. Austrian legislative bodies like the Imperial Diet traditionally had no power in Hungary. Despite this, the Imperial Diet also tried to abolish the
Diet of Hungary
The Diet of Hungary or originally: Parlamentum Publicum / Parlamentum Generale () was the most important political assembly in Hungary since the 12th century, which emerged to the position of the supreme legislative institution in the Kingdom ...
(which existed as the supreme legislative power in Hungary since the late 12th century.) The Stadion Constitution also went against the
historical constitution of Hungary, and tried to nullify it too. The revoking of the Hungarian April Laws and reduction of Hungary's territory and traditional status within the
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
, prompted a renewal of the
Hungarian Revolution.
These events were deemed an existential threat for the Hungarian state.
Diet at Debrecen
On 7 March 1849 an imperial proclamation was issued in the name of the emperor Francis Joseph, according to the new proclamation, the territory of Kingdom of Hungary would be administered by five
military districts, while
Principality of Transylvania would be reestablished. On 7 December the
Diet of Hungary
The Diet of Hungary or originally: Parlamentum Publicum / Parlamentum Generale () was the most important political assembly in Hungary since the 12th century, which emerged to the position of the supreme legislative institution in the Kingdom ...
formally refused to acknowledge the title of the new king, "as without the knowledge and consent of the diet no one could sit on the Hungarian throne" and called the nation to arms. From a legal point of view, according to the coronation oath, a crowned Hungarian King can not relinquish the Hungarian throne during his life; if the king is alive and unable do his duty as ruler, a governor (or
regent
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
with proper English terminology) had to deputize the royal duties. Constitutionally, Ferdinand remained still the legal
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary () was the Monarchy, ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Magyarország apostoli királya'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...
. If there is no possibility to inherit the throne automatically due to the death of the predecessor king (as king Ferdinand was still alive), but the monarch wants to relinquish his throne and appoint another king before his death, technically only one legal solution has remained: the parliament had the power to dethrone the king and elect his successor as the new King of Hungary. Due to the legal and military tensions, the Hungarian parliament did not make that favor for Franz Joseph. This event gave to the revolt an excuse of legality. Actually, from this time until the collapse of the revolution,
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (; ; ; ; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and governor-president of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, r ...
(as elected regent-president) became the
de facto and
de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
ruler of Hungary.
Government
Military situation
Initial setbacks
The struggle opened with a series of
Austrian successes.
Prince Windischgrätz, who had received orders to quell the rebellion, began his advance on 15 December; opened up the way to the capital by the
victory at Mór (on 30 December), and on 5 January 1849 the
Imperial-Royal Army occupied
Pest and Buda, while the Hungarian government and diet retired behind the
Tisza
The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...
and established themselves at
Debrecen
Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...
. A last attempt at reconciliation made by the more moderate members of the Diet of Hungary, in Windischgrätz's camp at
Bicske
Bicske (; or ) is a town in Fejér County, Hungary. It is around west of Budapest. Its administration has undergone many changes; it has been a settlement, a village, a market town, and a village constituting an administrative division.
History ...
(on 3 January), had foundered on the uncompromising attitude of the Austrian commander, who demanded unconditional submission; whereupon the moderates, including
Ferenc Deák and
Lajos Batthyány
Count Lajos Batthyány de Németújvár (; ; 10 February 1807 – 6 October 1849) was the first Prime Minister of Hungary. He was born in Pozsony (modern-day Bratislava) on 10 February 1807, and was executed by firing squad in Pest, Hungary, Pe ...
, retired into private life, leaving Kossuth to carry on the struggle with the support of the enthusiastic
extremists who constituted the rump of the diet at Debrecen. The question now was: how far the
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
would subordinate itself to the civil element of the national government. The first symptom of dissonance was a proclamation by the commander of the Upper Danube division,
Artúr Görgey, from his camp at
Vác
Vác (; ; ; ) is a thousand-year old city in Pest county in Hungary with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The archaic spelling of the name is ''Vácz''.
Location
Vác is located north of Budapest on the eastern bank of the Danube river, below t ...
(on 5 January) emphasizing the fact that the
national defence was purely constitutional, and warning all who might be led astray from this standpoint by
republican aspirations. Immediately after this proclamation Görgey disappeared with his army among the hills of
Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary (, "Upland"), is the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia. The region has also been called ''Felső-Magyarország'' ( literally: "Upper Hungary"; ).
During the ...
, and, despite the difficulties of a phenomenally severe winter and the constant pursuit of vastly superior forces, fought his way down to the valley of
Hernád – and safety. This successful winter campaign first revealed Görgey's military ability. His success caused some jealousy in official quarters, and when, in the middle of February 1849, a commander-in-chief was appointed to carry out Kossuth's plan of campaign, the appointment was given not to Görgey, but to Count
Henrik Dembinski, who, after fighting the bloody and indecisive
battle of Kápolna
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...
(26–27 February 1849), was forced to retreat.
Hungarian offensive
After the
battle of Kápolna
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...
, Görgey was immediately appointed commander-in-chief, replacing Dembinski. Ably supported by
György Klapka
György (Móric) Klapka (; 7 April 182017 May 1892) was a Hungarian general. He was one of the most important Hungarian generals of the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–1849, politician, member of the National Assembly (Hungary), Hungaria ...
and
János Damjanich
János Damjanich (; 8 December 18046 October 1849) was an Austrian military officer who became general of the Hungarian Revolutionary Army in 1848. He is considered a national hero in Hungary.
Early life
Damjanich was born in Serbian family ...
, he successfully pushed back the Austrian forces. The battles of
Szolnok
Szolnok (; also known by #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian ...
(on 5 March),
Isaszeg (on 6 April),
Vác
Vác (; ; ; ) is a thousand-year old city in Pest county in Hungary with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The archaic spelling of the name is ''Vácz''.
Location
Vác is located north of Budapest on the eastern bank of the Danube river, below t ...
(on 10 April), and
Nagysarló (on 19 April) were important successes for the Hungarians. On 21 May 1849, Buda, the Hungarian capital, was
recaptured by the Hungarian forces.
Worsening political situation
Meanwhile, the earlier events of the war had so altered the political situation that any idea which the diet at Debrecen had cherished of a compromise with Austria was destroyed. The capture of Pest-Buda had confirmed the Austrian court in its policy of unification, which after the victory of Kápolna they thought it safe to proclaim. On 7 March the
diet of Kremsier was dissolved, and immediately afterwards a proclamation was issued in the name of the emperor Francis Joseph establishing a
united constitution for the whole empire, of which the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
, cut up into half a dozen administrative districts, was henceforth to be little more than the largest of
several subject provinces. The news of this manifesto, arriving as it did simultaneously with that of
Görgey's successes, destroyed the last vestiges of a desire of the Hungarian revolutionists to compromise, and on 14 April 1849, on the motion of Kossuth, the diet
proclaimed the independence of Hungary, declared the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...
as false and perjured, forever excluded from the throne, and elected
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (; ; ; ; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and governor-president of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, r ...
Governor-President of the Hungarian State. This was an execrable blunder in the circumstances, and the results were fatal to the national cause. Neither the government nor the army could accommodate itself to the new situation. From henceforth the military and civil authorities, as represented by Kossuth and Görgey, were hopelessly out of sympathy with each other, and the breach widened until all effective co-operation became impossible.
Austro-Russian counteroffensive
Meanwhile, the defeats of the Imperial-Royal Army and the course of events in Hungary had compelled the court of
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
to accept the assistance which the emperor
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...
had proffered in the loftiest spirit of the
Holy Alliance
The Holy Alliance (; ), also called the Grand Alliance, was a coalition linking the absolute monarchist great powers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, which was created after the final defeat of Napoleon at the behest of Emperor Alexander I of Rus ...
. The
Austro-
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
alliance was announced at the beginning of May, and before the end of the month the common plan of campaign had been arranged. The Austrian commander-in-chief, Count
Haynau, was to attack Hungary from the west, the Russian Prince
Paskevich, from the north, gradually surrounding the rebels, and then advancing to deal a decisive blow in the mid-
Tisza
The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...
counties
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
. They had at their disposal 375,000 men, while the Hungarians had 160,000. The Hungarians, too, were now more than ever divided among themselves, with no plan of campaign and no commander-in-chief appointed to replace Görgey, whom Kossuth had deposed. Haynau's first victories (20–28 June) put an end to their indecisions. On 2 July the Hungarian government abandoned
Pest and transferred its capital first to
Szeged
Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...
and finally to
Arad. The
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
was by this time well on its way to the Tisza, and the defeat of the Hungarian State became imminent. Kossuth again appointed as commander-in-chief the brave but inefficient Dembinski, who was utterly routed
at Temesvár (on 9 August) by Haynau. This was the last great battle of the War of Independence. This put the Hungarian leadership in an untenable position that led to their surrender.
End of the uprising and aftermath
On 13 August 1849, Görgey, who had been appointed
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...
by the panic-stricken government two days before,
surrendered the remnant of his hardly pressed army to the Russian General
Theodor von Rüdiger at
Világos. The other army corps and all the fortresses followed suit,
Fort Monostor in
Komárom
Komárom (Hungarian: ; or ; , later ; ) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárom fortress played an important role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and many contemporary English sources r ...
, staunchly defended by
György Klapka
György (Móric) Klapka (; 7 April 182017 May 1892) was a Hungarian general. He was one of the most important Hungarian generals of the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–1849, politician, member of the National Assembly (Hungary), Hungaria ...
, being the last to capitulate (on 27 September). Kossuth and his associates, who had left Arad on 10 August, took refuge in
Ottoman territory. A period of repressions followed.
Lajos Batthyány
Count Lajos Batthyány de Németújvár (; ; 10 February 1807 – 6 October 1849) was the first Prime Minister of Hungary. He was born in Pozsony (modern-day Bratislava) on 10 February 1807, and was executed by firing squad in Pest, Hungary, Pe ...
and about 100 others were executed for their involvement in the uprising and
martial law
Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
was proclaimed in Hungary. National expression, such as showing the
Hungarian colours, was banned. The period that followed,
"Bach absolutism", was marked by censorship and government persecution in fear of another revolution. The Austrian Empire became more centralised, with one universal constitution.
See also
*
History of Hungary
Hungary in its modern (post-1946) borders roughly corresponds to the Great Hungarian Plain (the Carpathian Basin) in Central Europe.
During the Iron Age, it was located at the crossroads between the cultural spheres of Scythian tribes (such a ...
*
Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire
The revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire took place from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a nationalism, nationalist character: the Austrian Empire, ruled from Vienna, included ethnic Germans, Hungarians, ...
Notes
References
*
*

This article incorporates
public domain material from the
Library of Congress Country Studies
The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the United States Library of Congress, freely available for use by researchers. No copyright is claimed on them. Therefore, they have been dedicated to the public domain ...
:
{{Coord, 47, 31, N, 21, 38, E, type:county, display=title
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
1849 in Hungary
1849 establishments in the Austrian Empire
1849 disestablishments in the Austrian Empire
Nationalism in Hungary
Former unrecognized countries
Former countries in Europe