The Eighth Tribe, 1975 (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1975-03-01 / 3. szám
Page Eight THE EIGHTH TRIBE March. 1975 July 31, 1849, the Battle of Segesvár were confirmed. An order was given not to interfere with the demonstrations. Petőfi was not satisfied with the results achieved in March, 1848, and his long epic poem “The Apostle” reflected his political views and laid down a program for the struggle against the corrupt monarchy. His conviction that a people’s revolution must first annihilate the monarchy seemed justified only when helpless Hungarian cities and villages were being raided by minority groups loyal to the Emperor. The Austrian Court commissioned Count Lamberg to suppress the Hungarian revolutionists, but on September 23, 1848, this emissary was beaten to death by a crowd of patriots. The conflict between the Austrian Empire and revolutionary Hungary broke out into open warfare called the Hungarian War of Independence. Petőfi again turned to the people and urged them to rise in a people’s revolution. That time the people responded; at the beginning of October, 1848, the first victory was gained. Some of Petőfi’s poems were printed by the Hungarian Revolutionary Government for distribution among the troops; the poet’s words were understood by the simple soldiers as well as by the great poets of our century, like Boris L. Pasternak, Abashidze, and Pervomajskij. On January 15, 1849, Petőfi himself joined the Army of Bem, a general well known from the Polish revolution. Between Bern and Petőfi there was a general agreement as to the guiding principles to be followed in the Hungarian War of Independence. “Father Bern” understood the importance of Petőfi’s popularity, and was willing to have him serve on his staff, as General Kosciuszko in Poland had accepted the poet Niemcewicz on his. Petőfi’s father, the good old “zászlótartó,” served in the National Guard. By April, 1849, the armies of the Austrian Emperor had been defeated everywhere, but the Austrian autocrat appealed to the Russian country against the invading forces of a second world power. On July 31, 1849, Bern set out to prevent the junction of two Russian armies. The armies of General Skaryatin and Gen. Liiders outnumbered Bern’s seven to one, but had to retreat from Fejéregyháza to Segesvár. The battle at Segesvár lasted from morning till evening. Bem attacked repeatedly. But toward evening the Russian bear recognized its strength. One violent assault on Bern’s heroic miniature army decided the course of the battle in the Russians’ favor. The Russians, enraged by their previous losses at the hands of Hungarians, neither asked for, nor gave quarter. Among the victims of this battle was Petőfi himself, and with his death died also the Hungarian people’s hopes for freedom and independence for a long time. Petőfi was a true representative of the spirit of mid-nineteenth century Hungary. A champion of his country’s liberation from oppression and tyranny, he was willing and prepared to defend his ideas not only in his writings but also by making the supreme sacrifice of a hero on the field of battle. Joseph Ipacs Dept, of Modem Languages Ohio University
