The Eighth Tribe, 1979 (6. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1979-03-01 / 3. szám
Page 4 THE EIGHTH TRIBE March, 1979 REV. STEPHEN SZŐKE: Pastor of the Hungarian Ev. & Ref. Church Dayton, Ohio LOUIS KOSSUTH AND HIS HOLE IN HISTORY One may not do justice to such a topic in a short article, \ever- IfjF fife.. thele8s, I f.elt the need to write about him, as part of our heritage; •Aj ' «jis' of him whose name we have chose for many organizations. With ‘ I the o^ooption °i those who are S students of history, there arc not too many people who know who Kossuth was: one of the greats, an intellectual giant, and an apostle of world democracy, ranked third by many among the first ten of the human race. In order to see the events of the 19th century more clearly, we must go back 300 years in Hungarian history. Early in the 16th century, in 1526, one of the greatest tragedies takes place at Mohács. Hungary is invaded again by the Turks, her army is totally destroyed, a large section of the country is occupied (including Buda); and which proved to be even worse, the throne falls into the hands of the Habshurgh dynasty, from whose imperialistic clutches Kossuth fought to free his people — unsuccessfully. The Habsburghs ruled Hungary for four centuries. During the previous centuries Hungary had been in personal union with Austria, known as the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The eastern region of Hungary, known as Transylvania, refused to accept the rule of the Habsburgh kings, and, as an independent principality, was destined to play an important role not only in shaping the fortunes of the Magyar nation, but also as a noteworthy factor in the European affairs — under such princes as Stephen Bátory (king of Poland after 1576), Stephen Bocskay, Gabriel Bethlen, and George Rákóczy. The expulsion of the Turks was followed in Hungary by a period of extreme oppression on the part of its Habsburgh rulers aimed at reducing Hungary to the status of the hereditary provinces of their domain. Prince Ferenc Rákóczi II (1705) called his faithful people under his banner, but the uprising failed mainly because of the defection of the French ally, Louis XVI. The period following the Treaty of Szatmár, 1711, is called the Era of Reconstruction. Owing to the turn of events in Europe and the problems in the Habsburgh dynasty, Hungary enjoyed an era of comparative calm. The lions share in leading the nation out of the dismal condition fell on the shoulders of Louis Kossuth a small, but rapidly growing group of men of literary attainments. Writers and intellectuals, such as Mihály Csokonai and Ferenc Kazinczy, devoted themselves to serve the soul of the nation. Plans for needed reform legislation were made at the National Diet of 1790. The period between 1825 and the 1848-49 War for Freedom is known in Hungarian history as the Reform Era. When the Diet of 1825 convened, the whole nation was awaiting impatiently the enactment of the long over-due reform laws. The Diet did very little. The most momentous event of the Diet of 1825 was not political. Count Stephen Széchenyi offered his total income of a year to establish a modern cultural and scientific institution, the National Academy of Science. His father established the National Museum. What follows here, after a few years might quite appropriately bear the title: A Miracle of Democratic Leadership. In 1832 LOUIS KOSSUTH enters the legislative assembly at Pozsony, as a representative of
