Lajos Kossuth, the most popular of Hungary's…
1840 CE to 1851 CE
The son of a landless, lesser nobleman of Protestant background, Kossuth had practiced law with his father before moving to Pest, where he had published commentaries on the Diet's activities, which made him popular with young, reform-minded people.
Kossuth had been imprisoned in 1836 for treason.
After his release in 1840, he gains quick notoriety as the editor of a liberal party newspaper.
Kossuth argues that only political and economic separation from Austria will improve Hungary's plight.
He calls for broader parliamentary democracy, industrialization, general taxation, economic expansion through exports, and abolition of privileges and serfdom, but Kossuth is also a Magyar chauvinist whose rhetoric provokes the strong resentment of Hungary's minority ethnic groups.
Kossuth gains support among liberal lesser nobles, who constitute an opposition minority in the Diet.
They have sought reforms with increasing success after Francis's death in 1835 and succession of Ferdinand V (1835-48).
In 1843 a law is enacted making Hungarian the country's official language over the strong objections of the Croats, Slovaks, Serbs, and Romanians.
Locations
People
Groups
Transylvania, region of
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Jews
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Germans
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Hungarian people
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Vlachs
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Serbs (South Slavs)
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Croats (South Slavs)
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Romanians
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Slovaks (West Slavs)
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Christians, Eastern Orthodox
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Christians, Roman Catholic
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Austria, Archduchy of
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Hungary, Kingdom of
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Holy Roman Empire
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Union of Three Nations
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Lutheranism
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Protestantism
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Croatia, (Habsburg) Kingdom of
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Calvinists
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Unitarians
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Transylvania, (Austrian) Grand Principality of
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Regions
Central Europe
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