Chapter 61: Hungary (Request for Votes)
Chapter 61: Hungary (Request for Votes)
After the Vienna government suppressed the Prague Rebellion and the Galicia Rebellion, the news reached Hungary, and the opposition led by Kossuth could not sit still.
From the current situation, the Vienna government did not have the slightest intention to compromise with the revolutionaries, in addition to suppression or suppression, especially the bloody suppression that took place in Galicia, but also made many people chilled.
Ludwig von Benedek, who was responsible for suppressing the Galicia rebellion, directly let the local people take revenge on the nobility and capitalists, and most of the more than 20,000 people who died were killed by the people.
It was impossible for the Vienna government to execute more than 20,000 people at one time, and Franz had to be ashamed, so for the sake of the long-lasting peace and security of Austrian Poland, killing by borrowing a knife became the only choice.
He gathered a group of militia from the area and utilized the conflict between them and the exploiting group to clean up this group of reactionary elements.
All over the country, except for Italy, where the war was still going on, almost all the rebellions were put down in blood, and Hungary was soon to be alone.
If you advance the time by a month, Hungary’s cabinet government had not yet been established, and there was still a chance of compromise between the two sides, and even a chance to turn back before the Declaration of Independence, which was also issued on April 14th.
Now the Vienna government has never recognized the legitimacy of the Hungarian cabinet, but also ordered them to dissolve the illegal government.
Kossuth had always advocated secession from Austria and the creation of an independent Hungarian Republic, but unfortunately the market for this idea was limited in Hungary.
Most of the nobles were worried about the security of independence, after all, Hungary was incorporated into Austria, in addition to the Habsburgs’ marriage, but also because they needed Austria’s protection.
Compared to the Hairy Bear and the Ottomans, they were still more willing to follow Austria. It is only that the central government in Vienna has been weak over the years and has gradually lost its majesty. Through a series of trials and tribulations, they realized that the child that cries has milk to eat.
In order to get rid of the Austrian restrictions and gain greater benefits, the capitalists embraced the nationalism transmitted from France, and the Austrian opposition led by Kossuth began to grow in strength.
But this did not mean that Hungary had the strength to get rid of Austria and become independent, and many people were still skeptical about the revolution.
A young man said hurriedly, “Mr. Kossuth, it’s a big deal, the Vienna government has sent law preachers into Hungary, I’m afraid it’s coming for us!”
Hearing this news, Kossuth’s face changed greatly, what is the purpose of Austria sending law preachers over? Is it only to popularize the law among the Hungarians?
If Franz had been here he would have said-yes, the purpose of sending law preachers was really only to popularize the law.
Of course, declaring the formation of the Hungarian cabinet illegitimate was also rare, but this could only be considered incidental, and the main thing was to divide the Kingdom of Hungary.
The interests of different classes demanded different things, and the series of laws introduced by the Viennese government was essentially designed to buy off the common people.
There was no way around it, it wasn’t that Franz didn’t want to buy off the elites, it was always easier to buy off the few than the many. The problem was that they were asking for too much to buy them off.
In March, the Hungarian delegation represented by Kossuth put forward to the government in Vienna the demand for the establishment of an independent Hungarian government and the abolition of the feudal system.
The two sides engaged in a round of difficult negotiations, Franz was still very open-minded and did not reject to carry out reforms, even he advocated reforms were more thorough.
However, it was clear that the two sides could not reach an agreement when they met a group of idealists + bourgeois interest group advocates.
If the Vienna government dared to accept their conditions, it would be the turn of the Austrians to have a revolution.
Affirmative action is not the same as privilege, Franz could give equal status to all nationalities, but he could never let the Hungarian nation override them.
This brings us to the situation of the Kingdom of Hungary, with a total population of more than thirteen million people, among whom there were more than half a million noblemen, so to speak, full of aristocrats.
Hungarian capitalists have another identity – nobility, so the relationship between Hungarian capitalists and nobles is very complicated, and this less than two percent of the population occupies more than ninety-five percent of the wealth in the society.
The Hungarian nation of this period actually refers to these more than half a million nobles and capitalists, who had many privileges and were the real exploiting class of this country.
In a way, Austria was not a real autocratic empire, but only a confederation of great nobles, and the central government relied on the will of the nobles for all its local control.
The Hungarian nationalist movement that is now erupting is actually dominated by small and medium-sized nobles and capitalists, who have combined the concept of the state with their own interests, and put on an aura of nationalism when their interests are being contested.
This is the reason why the Hungarian government headed by Kossuth, while crying for reform, refuses to carry out the Vienna government’s reform bill.
Even the abolition of serfdom, on which there was a consensus, was not carried out when it came to Hungary, and the nobles concealed the abolition bill of the Vienna government.
Well, the blame for this could not be placed on Kossuth; after all, he, the leader, like the Cannon Party, was only a product of everyone’s compromises, and did not come to power by virtue of his strength.
This is evident from the Hungarian elections of April 12, 1848, which, despite the lip service proclaimed to be open to universal suffrage, in reality Hungary remained only in Budapest for this presidential election.
Only 16,200 people had the right to vote in Budapest, which could be regarded as the realization of universal suffrage for the whole city if the “Hungarian nation” was understood at that time.
The final result was that 5,176 ballots were received, and Kossuth was elected with 1,639 votes, but of course the results announced to the public were certainly not the same.
Judging by these numbers, Franz’s butterfly effect worked, and more people chose to look the other way than historically.
“Nagy, send someone to deport them immediately, they are not welcome in our Hungary!” Kossuth said with a grim face
As a compromised president, there were too many people in the Kingdom of Hungary who didn’t buy his argument, and even in many people’s minds, this Republic of Hungary was a joke, as evidenced by everyone’s indifference to the election.
Kosuth’s anger was not without reason, the Republic of Hungary was established, but Ferdinand I still held the Kingdom of Hungary concurrently.
Without a king, there is no nobility, for their own interests, the Hungarian nobility insisted on opposing the abolition of the king, forced by circumstances Kossuth was forced to make a compromise, and now he, the president of the top of a king press, in the rights of a big discount.
(End of chapter)