Fraternity-Testvériség, 1994 (72. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1994-01-01 / 1. szám
FRATERNITY Page 3 PRESIDENT’S CORNER 100th Anniversary of the Death of Lajos Kossuth B y the time this article reaches our readers, Hungarians all over the world will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Lajos Kossuth. He was recognized as “Champion of Liberty” and the “Hungarian Apostle of World Democracy” because of his adherence to the ideas of the centuries-old Hungarian constitution. Particularly to its “right of resistance” (against unlawful acts by the king or his advisors), which was secured in a 1222 royal document named Arany Bulla, regarded as the Hungarian equivalent to the British Magna Charta of 1216. Kossuth, an eminently trained jurist (he was a law student at the Reformed College at Sárospatak, and received his lawyer’s degree in Budapest) was also a student of the American Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and of the Bill of Rights. As a prominent member of Hungary’s greatest “Reformist Generation”, in the second quarter of the 19th century, which was also known as the “pro- America group”, he conducted such studies as early as the 1830’s. More importantly, however, was his role in the nation’s struggle for independence from the absolutism of the Austrian Empire in 1848/49. Although the heroic armies of Hungary’s first constitutional government were defeated by the overwhelming military power of the Austrian and Russian Empires, and Kossuth, with tens of thousands of his followers, was forced to leave his fatherland, the exiled patriot became a symbol (especially in the United States) of the struggle for democratic ideals and the principles against the rule of oppressive powers of absolutism all over the world. No other statesman in the history of Hungary has ever achieved more world-wide acclaim than Kossuth did. The occasion of the anniversary of his death on March 20th serves as an opportunity to recall the greatness of his political wisdom, his personal courage, and his dedication to the freedom of his people. I firmly believe that the legacy of Kossuth is relevant to all those who believe in true democracy. He was the only Hungarian leader to have received an invitation to visit the United States of America as a guest of the American nation. This journey took place between December 1851 and July 1852, two years after the defeat of Kossuth’s War of Independence. The defeat ensued 18 years of Austrian military occupation in Hungary, ending only by the signing of the “Balance of Power” agreement of 1867, in which Hungary achieved a large part of the demands of 1848. The unrelenting struggle of Lajos Kossuth and other leaders of the Hungarians in exile largely contributed to this outcome, elevating Hungary c.J^ooúátdhQ/eaw
