Hungarian Heritage Review, 1987 (16. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1987-03-01 / 3. szám
feature of (Ebe 3Hontb “Forgive me, Hungary. Forgive me, who am now condemned to wander because I strove for your welfare. Forgive me, who can no longer call anything free, save this little strip of your soil where I now kneel with a handful of your loyal sons. Forgive me, that so many of your sons have shed their blood for you, because of me. I wanted a free nation, enjoying a freedom that only God can give. My principles were those of George Washington. I love you, Europe’s most loyal nation. ” LOUIS KOSSUTH’S FAREWELL MESSAGE August 18, 1849 (From “The Spirit of Hungary” by Stephen Sisa and published by the Rákóczi Foundation) Louis Kossuth [e. 1848] THE HUNGARIAN “IDES OF MARCH”- by -PAUL PULITZER Louis Kossuth planted the seeds in fertile soil for the bloody and destructive harvest of the Hungarian War of Independence (1848-49) when he stood up on March 3, 1848, on the floor of the Diet, sitting in Pozsony at the time, to deliver an impassioned speech in which he demanded representative parliamentary government for Hungary, as well as for all of the non-Magyar, ethnic minorities within the provinces under Austrial rule. Kossuth, whose primary aims were the restoration of the independence of Hungary that was lost at the fateful Battle of Mohács on August 29, 1526, and the liberalization of Hungarian society, followed up his demands with a firm proposal for the adoption of a democratic Constitution embodying the redress of 12 grievances, which were as follows: 1. Freedom of the press and the abolition of censorship 2. Appointment of a Hungarian ministry 3. An annual Diet elected by universal suffrage 4. Equality of all in the eyes of the law 5. Formation of a National Guard 6. Taxation of the clergy and the nobles 7. Suppression of feudal rights 8. Elected juries for criminal cases 9. Creation of a national bank 10. Creation of a national army 11. Liberation of political prisoners 12. Union of Hungary and Transylvania It is not unreasonable to assume that not all among the members of the Diet, and especially among the clergy and nobility, were enthusiastic about Kossuth’s “12 —continued next page 14 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW MARCH 1987
