William Penn Life, 1999 (34. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)
1999-03-01 / 3. szám
March 15,1848 The cries for freedom that echo in our hearts a century and a haCf Cater By George S. Charles, Jr. The year of 1848 was a turning point in the political history of Europe in general and of Hungary in particular. Impatient for radical reforms and stirred by news of the revolutions in Paris and Vienna, a youthful group led by poets, writers and other middle class intellectuals staged a bloodless demonstration on March 15,1848, introducing a 12-point platform titled "What does the Magyar Nation Want?" The most dramatic events of March 15 took place in Buda-Pest while Lajos Kossuth was in Vienna. The main actor in the revolutionary drama wasn't Kossuth but rather the poet Sándor Petőfi. Petőfi was like a comet shooting across the sky with the radiance of his powerful poetry, what Hungarians have all heard so many times. Inspired by the fire of Petofi's impassioned words and carried away by the passion of the moment, the demonstrators marched to the largest printing shop in town, seized control then to the City Hall to have their 12- point demands adopted by the City Council. Tricolors were hung from every window to greet the dawn of a new epoch. March 15,1848 witnessed a bloodless revolution of the Magyars. With the approval from Vienna, the Diet in Pozsony put the revolutionary reform into effect within three short weeks and sanctioned the bills on April 11. Thus the foundation of a new Hungary was laid as a result of a bloodless, peaceful and lawful revolution. Through the emancipation of serfs of all nationalities the free population of Hungary was increased by many millions. For the people of the Hungarian Basin, the rainbow of a new and happier era seemed to appear on the horizon. But as we know it was not to be. The country's freedom was short lived. The War of Independence was a hopeless fight against the overwhelming odds. On April 14,1849, a fateful event took place in Debrecen. In an answer to Franz Joseph's hasty proclamation declaring Hungary to be an Austrian province, the Diet dethroned the Habsburg Dynasty and elected Kossuth as President of Hungary. Two weeks later the Emperor sent Tsar Nicholas an urgent request for armed intervention against Hungary. In a battle against the Cossacks at Segesvár on July 31,1849, Petőfi, the 26-year-old poet-laureate of the nation, lost his life. The most brilliant comet on the literary sky of Hungary vanished without a trace on the battlefield of Segesvár. Herman Grimm, the well known German literary critic of the 19th Century, placed Petőfi among the five greatest lyrical poets of the world, along with Homer, Dante, Shakespeare and Goethe. I:"n August 13,1849, at Világos, the Hungarian Army laid down their .arms before the Russians. A large number of Hungarian leaders left Hungary, following the example of Kossuth who crossed into Turkish held territory. In leaving Hungary Kossuth delivered a short speech to farewell. Kossuth's exit from Hungary did not mark his political end, but rather signaled his entrance into the wider world whose limelight focused on him as on few men before. According to a contemporary report "when Kossuth landed in New York City on December 6,1851, the people went into a frenzy at the sight of Kossuth. All along the way the Hungarian tricolor, joining the Stars and Stripes, hundreds of thousands lining the streets greeted their hero with earsplitting cheers. The admiration, the enthusiasm and love of the people which had been gathering force and momentum during the voyage across the Atlantic gave Kossuth an ovation which only two men had ever received - Washington and LaFayette. He had mastered our tongue as few foreigners have ever been able to do but what he mastered was not the colloquial English of the street. The English he spoke was the noblest in style: Kossuth spoke the English of Shakespeare." Although Kossuth left America without fanfare in 1852, a half century later, his memory lived on as so touchingly expressed by Theodore Roosevelt before a Hungarian gathering in 1899. Kossuth's own image of himself is revealed in his last note, written on March 20,1894, the day he died which he stated "The hand of the watch does not determine the course of time, it only marks it. My name is only a hand, but it shows the time that will come." W!re, the new generations, with our Western upbring ing and Magyar heritage, are eminently predestined to step in and help to preserve our Hungarian history and heritage individually and collectively. Though many of us may not speak the language of our forefathers, the flame of Hungarian spirit must continue to be flickering in our hearts. George S. Charles Jr. is national president of the William Penn Association. 2 William Penn Life, March 1999
