SZÉCHENYI, KOSSUTH, AND THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY IN 1848-1849.
On one of the most picturesque positions in Buda-Pesth, on the left
bank of the majestic Danube, stands the bronze statue of Stephen
Széchenyi, the greatest Hungarian of this century. The piety of the
nation has placed it in the midst of her most conspicuous creations.
At its feet rolls the mighty river whose regulation was commenced by
Széchenyi, who made it a line of communication in the commercial system
of Europe; in front is seen the grand suspension bridge, and beyond it
is visible the mouth of the tunnel which, piercing the castled mountain
of Buda, connects the dispersed parts of the city. In the rear rise
the palatial edifices of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which owes
its existence to Széchenyi’s munificence, and round about stretches
noisy, surging Buda-Pesth, to whose embellishment and enlightenment
no one ever devoted himself so zealously as Stephen Széchenyi. Every
thing surrounding the statue reminds us of the transcendent genius of
Széchenyi, who raised for himself by his indefatigable labors, which
form a link between old and modern Hungary, a monument more lasting
and grander than the one cast in bronze.
[Illustration: GYPSY HUTS.]
Stephen Széchenyi was born on the 21st of September, 1791. He was the
scion of a family which had given many distinguished men to their
country, and with whom patriotism was traditional. His father, Count
Francis, was the founder of the greatest institute of Hungary, having
public culture for its aim, the National Museum of Buda-Pesth, which is
now reckoned one of the finest and richest of the kind in Europe. Count
Francis clung with passionate devotion to the cause of his country.
The tender mind of his son Stephen was often puzzled to see his father
melancholy and lost in thought, and later only, when grown to manhood,
did he learn that his father had been grieving over the backwardness of
his country. Count Stephen inherited the patriotic sentiments of his
father, and never for a moment lost sight of the one great object of
his life, to revive the now decaying nation, which had acted so proud
a part in the past, and to secure for her a better future by promoting
her material and cultural interests. Stephen Széchenyi became the
apostle of this patriotic mission; he devoted his whole life to this
one lofty thought, studying for many years, reflecting, travelling,
gathering knowledge, and when the hour arrived to enter upon the scene
of action, he took the lead of the nation, aptly equipped for the
severe task.
[Illustration: OLD GYPSY WOMAN.]
He finished his studies under the roof of his father, who was a man
of high culture. The turmoils of the Napoleonic wars, shaking all
Europe and with it Hungary, allowed but scant opportunity for
peaceful avocations when Count Stephen had reached his sixteenth
year. He accordingly entered the army and gallantly took part, as a
young officer, in the wars of the period, being present at the famous
battle of Leipsic. The Congress of Vienna put an end to the wars which
had raged in Europe for twenty-five years, and during the protracted
period of peace following it, Széchenyi bestowed his attention upon
the affairs of his country. Before taking an active part, however, he
travelled for a considerable time through Italy, France, and England,
and only after having become familiar with the advanced civilization
of foreign countries did he return to his own, filled with grand
ideas, with lofty, patriotic feelings, his brain seething, and his
soul thirsting for action, in order to conquer for himself a sphere of
public activity.
The Diet of 1825 afforded him a fitting opportunity in this direction.
During the thirteen years preceding the convoking of this Diet the
country had been ruled in the most absolute manner. The government
ignored, during that period, the constitution, collected by force of
arms and arbitrarily illegal taxes, filled, in the same despotic way,
the ranks of the army, fettered the liberty of the press, and deprived
the nation of her ancient rights. These acts of violence stirred up
the indignation of the country, and the natural reaction was still
more roused and fostered by the dawning Hungarian literature which
proclaimed a brighter future to the nation. Csokonai, Francis Kazinczy,
Alexander and Charles Kisfaludy, Michael Vörösmarty, Francis Kölcsey,
and other eminent writers were the fathers of a new era in Hungarian
literature, and by their works they kindled the national feeling and
roused the public spirit. The nation awoke and was eager to march in
the footsteps of the civilization of Europe. She only lacked a leader,
but in the course of the deliberations of the Diet of 1825, that leader
was found.
[Illustration: HALT OF GYPSIES.]
Stephen Széchenyi, being a member of the Upper House by right of birth,
took his seat there among the aristocracy of the land. His first act
was destined to be the precursor of a new epoch in the history of the
nation. On the 25th of October he made a short speech; his manner was
embarrassed and confused; but he spoke in Hungarian, a proceeding which
was looked upon at that time as a revolutionary act, full of boldness,
and which excited the utmost indignation of the highest circles. The
Latin language had until then remained, in keeping with the traditions
of the past, the official language of the House of Magnates, Széchenyi
was the first magnate who dared to cut loose from the ancient
tradition, and, although a great portion of his fellow-magnates,
especially the older ones, were shocked at the innovation, yet the
number of Hungarian-speaking great lords continually increased after
this, and the bold stand he took on that occasion had much to do with
the restoration of the national language to its rightful place.
Shortly after the Lower House witnessed the triumph achieved by him
in the cause of Hungarian culture. During the preliminary sessions
preceding the plenary ones, the question had been deliberated upon for
several days as to the best means of fostering the national language.
Széchenyi, with several of his noble friends, was present at one of
these conferences, listening and looking on. Each deputy in turn stated
his views on the subject. One of them, Paul Nagy, a distinguished
orator of the opposition, declared, with an air of deep conviction,
that to cultivate the Hungarian language with a view to make it
successfully compete with the Germanizing tendencies of the government,
and with the Latin language, it was necessary to establish a Hungarian
academy of sciences. To accomplish this, he added, money was needed,
and this could not be obtained from the government, which was hostile
to the scheme. Let the nation furnish the money, the great lords,
the owners of the vast fortunes and landed estates, setting first a
good example to the rest. The effect of these kindling words was a
thrilling one. Széchenyi immediately stepped forward, and, addressing
the presiding officer, asked leave to say a few words. Amidst the
general attention of those present he briefly stated that he was ready
to contribute one year’s entire income from his estates to a fund
wherewith to found an institute whose object would be the fostering
of the Hungarian language. These simple words were received with a
storm of applause. A remarkable spectacle now ensued. One man after
another arose eager to contribute to the fund of the future Hungarian
Academy of Sciences, and the sum was soon swelled to 154,000 florins,
Széchenyi’s contribution alone amounting to 60,000 florins. The
institute was soon established, and, thanks to the patriotic support
of the nation, the funds of the Academy exceed at present 2,000,000
florins. The activity of this institute has proved, for the last fifty
years, most beneficial to the development of the Hungarian language and
the advancement of science in the country.
This munificent act placed Széchenyi at once in the front ranks of
the nation, and the very enthusiasm roused by his generous patriotism
was the means of exciting his best energies, and of spurring him on
to further action. Széchenyi, although acting, on the whole, with
the exceedingly moderate opposition, which was conservative and not
unfrequently quite reactionary, influenced as it was by the famous
policy of Prince Metternich, never became a member of either of the
political parties. His leading idea was that the first thing to be
done was to improve the material and intellectual condition of the
people, and to increase the prosperity and culture of the country. He
had founded in the interest of civilization the Hungarian Academy, and
now he labored enthusiastically to improve the commercial, industrial,
and economical condition of the country. In this work he had to contend
with all sorts of obstacles and prejudices on the part not only of the
higher circles, but of the very class that was to be benefited by his
reforms. But Széchenyi did not lose heart, and, undisturbed by many a
bitter experience, he undeviatingly pursued his own course, and carried
through with an iron will every measure deemed beneficial by him. His
busy brain never ceased to devise new patriotic schemes, and to make
them acceptable to the people. He won back the estranged aristocracy
of the country, and assigned to them a leading position in national
politics; he strove to raise the capital to a European level, and
advanced the national prosperity by the discovery of new resources,
the opening of new roads of communication, and by the creation of many
useful public institutions. He had equal regard for the interests of
all classes, from the lord to the peasant, and thus strove, while yet
surrounded by the antiquated order of things, to awaken the people to
a sense of national consciousness, and to promote the recognition of
the solidarity of interests between all the classes of the nation. His
busy brain embraced every public interest, and he exerted every social
and economical agency to ripen in the nation the notions of modern
European civilization. He was a powerful agitator, in equal degrees
master of the sword and the pen, and although his whole individuality,
his character, and his habits bore the stamp of the aristocratic circle
in which he was born and educated, yet, by dint of his conspicuous and
many-sided labors, he in reality was the most indefatigable champion
and pioneer of democratic ideas in his own country.
His first great literary work (a smaller one had preceded it), entitled
“Credit,” was published in 1830, and in it he treated of economical
questions of the most immediate importance to the country. It was
a work of great power, marked by scholarly thoroughness, practical
statesmanship, and poetic elevation, and produced an extraordinary
sensation throughout the country. It was read everywhere, in the
palaces of the magnates, in the mansions of the provincial gentry,
and in the homes and offices of merchants and tradesmen. The book was
spoken of in the most exalted terms by some, while others declared
its author to be a communist and revolutionary agitator. The foes to
progress, the defenders of the decaying privileges of the nobility,
burned the book, while the friends of the new ideas, and especially the
rising generation, saw in it the gospel of a new era. It was in this
work that Széchenyi, addressing the generation that vainly clung to the
reminiscences of the past, said: “Do not constantly trouble yourselves
with the vanished glories of the past, but rather let your determined
patriotism bring about the prosperity of the beloved fatherland. Many
there are who think that _Hungary has been_, but for my part I like to
think that _Hungary shall be_.”
Under the influence of these exalted ideas Széchenyi persevered in his
practical efforts for the common weal. He wrote a great deal up to
the time of his death, and some of his works are justly ranked among
the gems of Hungarian literature. But more precious than these are
his practical creations, which still, for the most part, survive, and
which are destined to perpetuate his fame for many centuries to come.
His busy mind attended to every variety of matters of public concern.
Thus it was he who introduced horse-racing into the country, not for
the purpose of affording a mere gentlemanly pastime, but with the
object of developing horse-breeding in Hungary, an object which has
been very successfully accomplished by the new sport. In furtherance
of this object he formed a society which subsequently became the
National Breeding Association, which flourishes to this day. In order
to afford to the gentry permanently a rallying and central point in
the country, he established the Buda-Pesth National Casino, a social
club of high distinction, still in existence and enjoying an enviable
reputation in the best European circles. He took quite an active part
in the management of the new Academy of Sciences; zealously supported
the efforts made to found a permanent national theatre, efforts which
subsequently proved successful; started and realized the scheme for
building a permanent bridge across the Danube, connecting Pesth and
Buda, and for the construction of a tunnel under the castled mountain
of Buda; conducted for years the work of regulating the Danube,
especially in the vicinity of the Vaskapu (Iron Gate); and also aided
in the establishment of the Danube Steam Navigation Company, which
at this day has hundreds of ships engaged in the local and export
trade. His most glorious work, however, was the regulation of the
Theiss, resulting, in the course of time, in the reclaiming of a
marshy territory containing one hundred and fifty square miles, and
turning it into a rich and fertile soil. His mind was teeming, besides,
with various schemes looking to the building of railways, and to the
promotion of commerce and industry; but all these various undertakings
were marked by the same steady spirit of patriotic endeavor.
For fifteen years, up to 1840, the popularity of Széchenyi had gone
on increasing throughout the country, and his name was cherished by
every good patriot in the land. About this time, however, the great
statesman was destined to come into collision with a man who was his
peer in genius and abilities. The two patriots were representatives
of different methods, and in the contest produced by the shock of
antagonistic tendencies Széchenyi was compelled to yield to Louis
Kossuth, his younger rival. Although there was no material difference
between their aims, for both wished to see their country great, free,
constitutionally governed, prosperous, and advanced in civilization,
yet in the ways and means employed by them to attain that aim they
were diametrically opposed to each other. Széchenyi, who descended
from a family of ancient and aristocratic lineage, and presented
himself to the nation with connections reaching up into the highest
circles of the court, with the lustre of his ancient name, and with
his immense fortune, wished to secure the happiness of his country by
quite different methods from those adopted by Louis Kossuth, a child
of the people, who, although he was a nobleman by birth, yet belonged
to that poorer class of gentry who support themselves by their own
exertions, and who, in Hungary, are destined to fulfil the mission of
the citizen-classes of other countries. It is from these classes of the
gentry that are, for the most part, recruited the tradespeople, the
smaller landowners, professional men, writers, subordinate officials,
lawyers, physicians, clergymen, teachers, and professors. By virtue
of their nobility, it is true, they belonged to the privileged
class of the country, and were not subjected to the humiliations
of the oppressed peasantry, yet they had to earn a living by their
own work, and were therefore not only accessible to, but were ready
enthusiastically to receive, the lofty message of liberty and equality
which the French Revolution of 1830 began to proclaim anew throughout
all Europe. These doctrines formed a sharp contrast to the views of
Count Stephen Széchenyi, views which, owing to the social position of
the man who held them, were not devoid of a certain aristocratic tinge,
and according to which the most important part in the regeneration
of the Hungarian nation was assigned to the aristocracy. It was a
part, however, which the Hungarian aristocracy was itself by no means
disposed to assume. Among its younger members, indeed, could be found,
here and there, enthusiastic men who were devotedly attached to the
person of the lordly reformer, but the great majority of his class
were hostilely arrayed against Széchenyi’s aims, and, obstructing the
granting of even the most inoffensive demands of the nation, supported
the Viennese government, which was rigidly opposed to political
reforms and to any changes in the public institutions of the country.
This attitude of the aristocracy compelled Széchenyi to avoid as much
as possible all questions concerning constitutionality and liberty,
and to confine the work of reform chiefly to the sphere of internal
improvements. The only way in which he could hope to obtain the support
of the court of Vienna and of the majority of the Upper House for his
politico-economical measures, was to remain as neutral as possible
in politics. The idea which chiefly governed his actions was that the
country should be first strengthened internally, and that afterwards it
would be easy for the nation to bring about the triumph of her national
and political aspirations.
After 1840, however, the bulk of the nation, and especially the small
gentry whose preponderating influence was making itself continually
felt, were unwilling to follow Széchenyi in his one-sided policy.
The reformatory work of Széchenyi during the preceding fifteen years
had educated public opinion up to new and great ideas, but the
leaders of that public opinion were now to be found in the House of
Representatives in the persons of Francis Deák and Louis Kossuth.
They wished to obtain for their country both political liberty and
material prosperity. They knew the effect of political institutions
upon the material well-being and civilization of a nation, and they
no longer deemed it possible to attain these objects without a modern
constitutional government. Louis Kossuth, who was born in 1802, was
the very incarnation of the great democratic ideas of his age. He
was entirely a man of work and entered the legal profession, after
having completed his studies with great distinction, for the purpose
of supporting himself by it. Kossuth was present at the Diet of
1832, when the government, which conducted itself most brutally and
arbitrarily towards the press, refused to allow the newspapers to print
reports of the deliberations of the Diet in spite of the repeated
urgings by the deputies for such an authorization, and it was owing
to his ingenuity that this prohibition was evaded. The censorship was
exercised on printed matter only and did not extend to manuscripts.
Kossuth wrote out the reports of the Diet himself, had numerous copies
made of them in writing, and circulated them, for a slight fee, in
every part of the country, where they were looked for with feverish
expectation, and, owing to the spirit of opposition with which they
were colored, were read with the greatest eagerness. This manuscript
newspaper produced quite a revolutionary movement amongst the people,
frightening even the Austrian government. The latter now attempted
to silence Kossuth by gentle means, promising him high offices and a
pension, but he refused the enticing offers and continued his work for
the benefit of the nation. Foiled in the attempt to lure Kossuth from
his duty, the government resorted to violence, seized the lithographic
apparatus by means of which Kossuth planned to multiply his manuscript
newspaper, and gave directions to the postmasters to detain and open
all those sealed packages which were supposed to contain the reports.
But these arbitrary proceedings of the government could not put an end
to the circulation of the newspaper; the country gentlemen, by their
own servants, continued to send each other single copies, and the
matter was given up only when the Diet ceased to be in session. Then
Kossuth, at the urgent request of his friends and, one might say, of
the whole country, started a new manuscript newspaper at Buda-Pesth,
which reported the deliberations of the county assemblies. The effect
produced by this new paper was fraught with even greater consequences
than the first had created, for it was instrumental in bringing
the counties into contact with each other, thus affording them an
opportunity to combine against the government. The latter, however,
soon prohibited its publication, but the prohibition gave rise to a
storm of indignation throughout the whole country. The counties in
solid array addressed protests to the government against the illegal
act and on behalf of Kossuth, who continued to publish the paper in
spite of the inhibition. The government at last resorted to the most
barefaced brutality. Kossuth, the brave champion of liberty, its
eloquent pen and herald, was dragged to a damp and dark subterranean
prison-cell in the castle of Buda, and detained there, whilst his
father and mother and his family, who were looking to him solely for
their support, were robbed of the aid of their natural protector.
Although at that period lawlessness was the order of the day, yet this
last cruel and illegal act of the government greatly exasperated the
public mind, which was already in a ferment of excitement. But while
the excited passions raged throughout the country, the government,
nothing loth, caused Kossuth to be prosecuted for high treason, and,
having obtained his conviction, had him sentenced to an imprisonment of
three years. Kossuth applied himself during his detention to serious
studies, and acquired also, while in prison, the English language to
such an extent that he was enabled to address in that language, during
his exile, with great effect and impressiveness, large audiences both
in England and in the United States of America. His imprisonment lasted
two long years, after the lapse of which he obtained, in 1840, a pardon
in consequence of the repeated and urgent representations of the Diet.
Kossuth returned to the scene of his former activity as the martyr of
free speech, and the victim to the cause of the nation. He very soon
found a new field in which to labor. The government perceived at last
that violence was of little avail, and that those questions which were
occupying the minds to such a degree could no longer be kept from being
publicly discussed by the press. Kossuth now obtained permission to
edit a political daily paper. Its publication was commenced under the
title of _Pesti Hirlap_ (Pesth Newspaper) in 1841, and may be said to
have created the political daily press of Hungary. It disseminated new
ideas among the masses, stirred up the indifferent to feel an interest
in the affairs of the country and gave a purpose to the national
aspirations. It proclaimed democratic reforms in every department; the
abolition of the privileges of the nobility and of their exemption from
taxation, equal rights and equal burdens for all the citizens of the
state, and the extension of public instruction, and it endeavored to
restore the Hungarian nationality to the place it was entitled to claim
in the organism of the state.
The wealth of ideas thus daily communicated to the country appeared
in the most attractive garb, for Kossuth possessed a masterly style,
and his leaders and shorter articles showed off to advantage so many
unexpected beauties of the Hungarian language, that his readers were
fairly enchanted and carried away by them. His articles were a happy
compound of poetical elevation and oratorical power, gratifying
common-sense and the imagination at the same time, appealing by their
lucid exposition to the reader’s intelligence, and exciting and warming
this fancy by their fervor. Kossuth always rightly guessed what
questions most interested the nation, and the daily press became, in
his hands, a power in Hungary, electrifying the masses, who were always
ready to give their unconditional support to his bold and far-reaching
schemes.
[Illustration: GYPSIES AND LADY.]
The extraordinary influence obtained by Kossuth through his paper
frightened Széchenyi, and, to even a greater degree, those whose
prejudices were shocked or ancient privileges and interests were
endangered by the democratic agitations for reform. Kossuth was
attacked in books, pamphlets, and newspapers, but he came out
victorious from all contests. In vain did Széchenyi himself, backed by
his great authority in the land, assail him, declaring that he did not
object to Kossuth’s ideas, but that his manner and his tactics were
reprehensible, and that the latter were sure to lead to a revolution.
The great mass of the people felt instinctively that revolution had
become a necessity and was unavoidable, if Hungary was to pass from
the old mediæval order to the establishment of modern institutions,
and was to become a state where equality before the law should be
the ruling standard. The masses were strengthened in this conviction
by the unreasonable, short-sighted, and violent policy pursued by the
government of Vienna, which obstructed the slightest reforms in the
ancient institutions and opposed every national aspiration, and under
whose protecting wing the reactionary elements of the Upper House
were constantly paralyzing the noblest and best efforts made by the
Lower House for the public weal, while the same government arbitrarily
supported claims of the Catholic clergy, in flat contradiction to
the rights and liberties of the various denominations inhabiting the
country. The government, in its antipathy to the national movement,
went even further. It secretly incited the other nationalities,
especially the Croats, against the Hungarians, and thus planted the
seeds from which sprang the subsequent great civil war. In observing
the dangerous symptoms preceding the last-mentioned movement, and the
bloody scenes and fights provoked at every election by the hirelings
of the government, in order to intimidate the adherents of reform, the
friends of progress became more and more convinced that the period of
moderation, such as preached by Széchenyi, had passed by, and must
give way to that resolute policy, advocated by Kossuth, which recoiled
from no consequences. Numerous magnates, all the chief leaders of
the gentry, boasting of enlightenment and patriotism, and imbued
with European culture, rallied around Kossuth, until finally the
public opinion of the country and the enthusiasm of which he was the
centre caused him to be returned, in 1847, together with Count Louis
Batthyányi, as deputy from the foremost county of the country, the
county of Pesth.
During the first months the Diet of 1847—’8, which was to raise
Hungary to the rank of those countries that proclaimed equal rights
and possessed a responsible parliamentary government, differed very
little from the one preceding it. The opposition initiated, as before,
great reforms, but there was no one who believed that their realization
was near at hand. Kossuth repeatedly addressed the House, and soon
convinced his audience that he was as irresistible an orator as he had
proved powerful as a writer. But there was nothing to indicate that the
country was on the eve of a great transformation.
The revolution of February, 1848, which broke out in Paris, changed,
as if by magic, the relative positions of Austria and Hungary.
Metternich’s system of government, which was opposed to granting
liberty to the people, collapsed at once. The storm of popular
indignation swept it away like a house built of cards. At the first
news of the occurrences in Paris Kossuth asked in the Lower House for
the creation of a responsible ministry. Kossuth’s motion was favorably
received by the Lower House, but in the Upper House it was rejected,
the government not being yet alive to the real state of affairs, and
still hoping by a system of negation to frustrate the wishes of the
people. But very soon the revolution reared its head in Vienna itself,
and the wishes of the Hungarian people, uttered at Buda-Pesth, received
thereby a new and powerful advocate.
At that time the Hungarian Diet still met at Presburg, but the two
sister cities of Buda and Pesth formed the real capital of the country,
and were the centre of commerce, industry, science, and literature.
Michael Vörösmarty, the poet laureate of the nation, lived in Pesth,
and there the twin stars of literature, Alexander Petöfi and Maurus
Jókai, shone on the national horizon. Jókai, who is still living and
enjoys a world-wide fame as a novelist, and Petöfi, the eminent poet,
who was destined to become the Tyrtæus of his nation, were then both
young men, full of enthusiasm and intrepid energy, and teeming with
great ideas. About these two gathered the other writers and youth of
the university, and all of them, helping each other, contrived, upon
hearing the news of the sudden revolutions in Paris and Vienna, to
enact in Buda-Pesth the bloodless revolution of the 15th of March,
1848, which obtained the liberty of the press for the nation, and at
the same time, in a solemn manifesto, gave expression to the wishes of
the Hungarians in the matter of reform. The only act of violence these
revolutionary heroes were guilty of was the entering of a printing
establishment, whose proprietor, afraid of the government, had refused
to print the admirable poem of Petöfi, entitled _Talpra Magyar_ (Up
Magyar), and doing the printing there themselves. The first verse of
this poem, which subsequently became the war song of the national
movement, runs in a literal translation thus:
Arise, oh Magyar! thy country calls.
Here is the time, now or never.
Shall we be slaves or free?
That is the question—choose!
We swear by the God of the Magyars,
We swear, to be slaves no longer!
This soul-stirring poem was improvised by Petöfi under the inspiration
of the moment, and at the same establishment where it was first printed
was also printed a proclamation which contained twelve articles setting
forth the wishes of the people.
[Illustration: HOUSE AT KRAPINA.]
While the capital was resounding with the rejoicings and triumphant
shouts of her exulting inhabitants, the proper department of the
government for the carrying through of these movements, the Diet,
assembled at Presburg, lost no time, and set to work with great energy
to reform the institutions of Hungary, constitutionally, and to put
into the form of law the ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
The salutary legislation met now with no opposition, either from the
Upper House or from the court at Vienna, and in a short time the Diet
passed the celebrated acts of 1848, which, having received the royal
sanction, were proclaimed as laws on the 11th of April, at Presburg,
amidst the wildest enthusiasm, in the presence of King Ferdinand V.
By these laws Hungary became a modern state, possessing a
constitutional government. The government was vested in a ministry
responsible to parliament, all the inhabitants of the country were
declared equal before the law, the privileges of the nobility were
abolished, the soil was declared free, and the right of free worship
accorded to all. The institution of national guards was introduced, the
utmost liberty of the press was secured, Transylvania became a part
of the mother country—in a word, the national and political condition
of the country was reorganized, in every particular, in harmony with
the spirit, the demands, and aspirations of our age. At the same time
the men placed at the head of the government were such as possessed
the fullest confidence of the people. The first ministry was composed
of the most distinguished patriots. Count Louis Batthyányi was the
president, and acting in conjunction with him were Francis Deák, as
minister of justice, Count Stephen Széchenyi, as minister of home
affairs, and Louis Kossuth, as minister of finance.
[Illustration: HUNGARIAN GYPSY.]
The great mass of the people hailed with boundless enthusiasm the
new government and the magnificent reforms. The transformation,
however, had been so sudden and unexpected, and the old aristocratic
world, with all its institutions and its ancient organization, had
been swept away with such vehement, precipitation, that even under
ordinary circumstances in the absence of all opposition, the new
ideas and tendencies could have hardly entered into the political life
of the nation without causing no little confusion and disorder. But,
in addition to these natural drawbacks, the new order of things had
to contend with certain national elements in the population, which,
feeling themselves injured in their real or imaginary interests,
were bent on mischief, hoping to be able to rob the nation, in the
midst of the ensuing troubles, of the great political prize she had
won. Certain circles of the court and classes of the people strove
equally hard to surround with difficulties the practical introduction
of the constitution of 1848. The court and the standing army, the
party of the soldier class, feared that their commanding position
would be impaired by the predominating influence of the people. The
non-Hungarian portion of the inhabitants, choosing to ignore the fact
that the new laws secured, without distinction of nationality, equal
rights to every citizen of the state, were apprehensive lest the
liberal constitution would chiefly benefit the Hungarian element of
the nation. They, therefore, encouraged by the secret machinations of
the government of Vienna, took up arms, in order to drag the country,
which was preparing to take possession of her new liberties, into a
civil war. The Croatians, under the lead of Ban Jellachich, and the
Wallachs and Serbs, led by other imperial officers, and yielding to
their persuasions, rose in rebellion against Hungary, and began to
persecute, plunder, and murder the Hungarians living among them.
Dreadful atrocities were committed in the southern and eastern
portions of Hungary, hundreds and hundreds of families were massacred
in cold blood, and entire villages and cities were deserted by their
inhabitants, just as had previously happened at the approach of the
Turks, and thousands were compelled to abandon their all to the rebels,
in order to escape with their bare lives. In the course of a few weeks,
the flames of rebellion had spread over a large part of the country,
and the Hungarian element, instead of enjoying the liberties won for
the whole nation after a bitter struggle of many decades, was under the
sad necessity of resorting to armed force in order to re-establish the
internal peace. The Hungarians now had to prove on the battle-field
and in bloody engagements that they were worthy of liberty and capable
of defending it.
The government, which, by virtue of the new laws, had meanwhile
transferred its seat to Buda-Pesth, displayed extraordinary energy in
the face of the sad difficulties besetting it. As it was impossible
to rely upon the Austrian soldiers who were still in the country, it
exerted itself to create and to organize a national army. A portion
of the national guard entered the national army under the name of
_honvéds_ (defenders of the country), a name which became before
long famous throughout the civilized world for the glorious military
achievements coupled with it. The Hungarian soldiers, garrisoning the
Austrian principalities, hastened home, braving the greatest dangers,
partly accompanied by their officers and partly without them. The
famous Hungarian hussars, especially, returned in great number to
offer their services to their imperilled country. But all this proved
insufficient, and as soon as the National Assembly, elected under the
new constitution, met, Kossuth, who had been the life and soul of
the government during this trying and critical period, called upon
the nation to raise large armies for the defence of the country. The
session of the 11th of July, during which Kossuth introduced in the
House of Representatives his motions relating to the subject, presented
a scene which beggars all description. Kossuth ascended the tribune
pale and haggard with illness, but the never-ceasing applause which
greeted him after the first few sentences soon gave him back his
strength and his marvellous oratorical power. When he had concluded
his speech and submitted to the House his request for 200,000 soldiers
and the necessary money, a momentary pause of deep silence ensued.
Suddenly Paul Nyáry, the leader of the opposition, arose, and lifting
his right arm towards heaven, exclaimed: “We grant it!” The House was
in a fever of patriotic excitement; all the deputies rose from their
seats, shouting: “We grant it; we grant it!” Kossuth, with tears in his
eyes, bowed to the representatives of the people and said: “You have
risen like one man, and I bow down before the greatness of the nation.”
These sacrifices on the part of the country had become a matter of
urgent necessity. The Serb and Wallach insurrection assumed every
day larger proportions, while the Croats, under the leadership of
Jellachich, entered Hungarian territory with the fixed determination of
depriving the nation of her constitutional liberties. But the Hungarian
government was already able to send an army against the Croatians,
who were marching on Buda-Pesth, plundering and laying waste every
thing before them. They were surrounded by the Hungarian forces, and
a portion of their army, nine thousand men strong, were compelled to
lay down their arms, while Jellachich, with his remaining forces,
precipitately fled from the country. The young Hungarian army had thus
proved itself equal to the task of repulsing the attack of the Croats,
but the recent events were nevertheless fraught with the gravest
consequences. The news of the Croatian invasion filled the Hungarians
with deep anxiety, and the extraordinary excitement caused by it cast
a permanent cloud over the soul of that noble and great man, Count
Széchenyi. The mind of the great patriot who had initiated the national
movement gave way under the strain of the frightful rumors coming from
the Croatian frontier. He had been ailing for some time back, and his
nervousness constantly increased under the pressure of the great events
following each other in rapid succession, so that when the news came
that the enemy had invaded the country he thought that Hungary was
lost. His despair darkened his mind and he sought death in the waves
of the Danube. His family removed him to a private asylum near Vienna,
where he recovered his mental faculties, and even wrote several books.
But he was never entirely cured of his hallucination, and, exasperated
by the vexations he was subjected to by the Viennese government, even
in the asylum, the great patriot put an end to his own life on the
8th of April, 1860, by a shot from a pistol. Jellachich’s incursion
had other important political consequences. The attack on Hungary had
been made by Jellachich in the name of the Viennese government, and
the intimate connection between the domestic disorders and the court
of Vienna became more and more apparent. This state of things rendered
inevitable a struggle between Hungary and the unconstitutional action
of the court. The Austrian forces were arming against Hungary on
every side. Vienna, too, rose in rebellion against the court, and now
the Hungarians hastened to assist the revolutionists in the Austrian
capital. Unfortunately the young national army was not ripe yet for so
great a military enterprise, and Prince Windischgrätz, having crushed
the revolution in Vienna, invaded Hungary.
A last attempt was now made by the Hungarians to negotiate peace with
the court, but it failed, Windischgrätz being so elated with his
success that nothing short of unconditional submission on the part of
the country would satisfy him. To accept such terms would have been
both cowardly and suicidal, and the nation, therefore, driven to the
sad alternative of war, determined rather to perish gloriously than
to pusillanimously submit to be enslaved by the court. They followed
the lead of Kossuth, who was now at the head of the government, whilst
Görgei was the commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army. The two names
of Kossuth and Görgei soon constituted the glory of the nation. Whilst
these two acted in harmony they achieved brilliant triumphs, but their
personal antagonism greatly contributed, at a subsequent period, to the
calamities of the country.
Windischgrätz took possession of Buda in January, 1849, thus compelling
Kossuth to transfer the seat of government to Debreczen, whilst
Görgei withdrew with his army to the northern part of Hungary, but
the national army fought victoriously against the Serbs and Wallachs,
and the situation of the Hungarians had, in the course of the winter,
become more favorable all over the country. The genius of Kossuth
brought again and again, as if by magic, fresh armies into the field,
and he was indefatigable in organizing the defence of the country.
Distinguished generals like Görgei, Klapka, Damjanics, Bem, and
others transformed the raw recruits, in a wonderfully short time,
into properly disciplined troops, who were able to hold their own and
bravely contend against the old and tried imperial forces whom they put
to flight at every point.
The fortunes of war changed in favor of the Hungarians in the latter
part of January, 1849. Klapka achieved the first triumph, which was
followed by the brilliant victory won by one of Görgei’s divisions
commanded by Guyon in the battle of Branyiszkó, and very soon the
Hungarian armies acted on the offensive at all points. In the course of
a few weeks they achieved, chiefly under Görgei’s leadership, great and
complete victories over the enemy near Szolnok, Hatvan, Bicske, Vácz,
Isaszegh, Nagy Sarló, and Komárom. Windischgrätz lost both the campaign
and his position as commander-in-chief. Towards the close of the spring
of 1849, after besieged Komárom had been relieved by the Hungarians,
and Bem had driven from Transylvania not only the Austrians, but the
Russians who had come to their assistance, the country was almost freed
from her enemies, and only two cities, Buda and Temesvár, remained in
the hands of the Austrians. The glorious efforts made by the nation
were attended at last by splendid successes, and the civilized world
spoke with sympathy and respect of the Hungarian people which had
signally shown its ability to defend its liberties, constitution, and
national existence.
It should have been the mission of diplomacy, at this conjuncture,
to turn to advantage the recent military successes by negotiating an
honorable peace with the humbled dynasty, as had been done before in
the history of the country, after similar military achievements by the
ancient national leaders, Bocskáy and Bethlen. Görgei, the head of
the army was disposed to conclude peace. But the Hungarian Parliament
sitting in Debreczen, led by Kossuth and under the influence of the
recent victories, were determined to pursue a different course. The
royal house of Hapsburg, whose dynasty had ruled over Hungary for three
centuries, was declared to have forfeited its right to the throne by
instigating and bringing upon the country the calamities of a great
war. This act had a bad effect, especially on the army, tending also
to heighten the personal antagonism between Kossuth and Görgei. But
its worst consequence was that it gave Russia a pretext for armed
intervention. The emperor Francis Joseph entered into an alliance with
the Czar of Russia, the purpose of which was to reconquer seceded
Hungary and ultimately to crush her liberty.
One more brilliant victory was achieved by the Hungarian arms before
the fatal blow was aimed at the country. The fortress of Buda was
taken after a gallant assault, in the course of which the Austrian
commandant bombarded the defenceless city of Pesth on the opposite bank
of the Danube, and thus the capital, too, was restored to the country.
Yet after this last glorious feat of war, good fortune deserted the
national banners. The grand heroic epoch was hastening to its tragic
end. Two hundred thousand Russians crossed the borders of Hungary,
and were there reinforced by sixty thousand to seventy thousand
Austrians, whom the Viennese government had succeeded in collecting
for a last great effort. It was easy to foresee that the exhausted
Hungarian army could not long resist the superior numbers opposed
to them. For months they continued the gallant fight, and it was in
one of these engagements that Petöfi, the great poet of the nation,
lost his life, but in the month of August, the Russians had already
succeeded in surrounding Görgei’s army. Görgei, who was now invested
with the supreme power, perceiving that all further effusion of blood
was useless, surrendered, in the sight of the Russian army, the sword
he had so gloriously worn in many a battle, near Világos, on the 13th
of August, 1849. The remaining Hungarian armies followed his example,
and either capitulated or disbanded. The brave army of the _honvéds_
was no more, and the gallant struggle for liberty was put an end to
by the superior numbers of the Russian forces. Kossuth and many other
Hungarians sought refuge in Turkey.
Above Komárom, the largest fortress in the county, alone the Hungarian
colors were still floating. General Klapka, its commandant, bravely
defended it, and continued to hold it for six weeks after the sad
catastrophe of Világos. The brave defenders, seeing at last that
further resistance served no purpose, as the Hungarian army had
ceased to exist, and the whole country had passed into the hands
of the Austrians, capitulated upon most honorable terms. This was
the concluding act of the heroic struggle of the Hungarian people,
the brave attitude of the garrison and their commander adding
another bright page to the already honorable record of the military
achievements of 1848 and 1849.
As soon as the imperialists had obtained possession of Komárom, their
commander-in-chief, Baron Haynau, began to persecute the patriots,
and to commit the most cruel atrocities against them. Those who had
taken part in the national war were brought before a court-martial and
summarily executed. The bloody work of the executioner commenced on the
6th of October. Count Louis Batthyányi was shot at Pesth, and thirteen
gallant generals, belonging to Görgei’s army, met their deaths at Arád.
Wholesale massacres were committed throughout the country, until at
last the conscience of Europe rose up against these cruel butcheries,
and the court itself removed the sanguinary baron from the scene of his
inhuman exploits. The best men in the country were thrown into prison,
and thousands of families had to mourn for dear ones who had fallen
victims to the implacable vindictiveness of the Austrian government.
Once more the gloom of oppression settled upon the unhappy country.
[Illustration: HUNGARIAN LADY.]
Many of the patriots had accompanied Kossuth to Turkey, or found a
refuge in other foreign countries, and for ten years a great number
of distinguished Hungarians were compelled to taste the bitterness
of exile. Kossuth himself went subsequently to England, and visited
also the United States. In the latter country he was enthusiastically
received by the free and great American nation, who took delight in
his lofty eloquence. During the Crimean war, and the war of 1859 in
Italy, Kossuth and the Hungarian exiles were zealously laboring to
free their country by foreign aid from the thraldom of oppression. At
last, however, the Hungarian nation succeeded in reconquering, without
any aid from abroad, by her own exertions, her national and political
rights, and made her peace with the ruling dynasty. But the Hungarian
exiles had their full share in the work of reconciliation, for it was
owing to their exertions that the nations of Europe remembered that, in
spite of Világos, Hungary still existed, and that again, at home, the
people of Hungary were not permitted to lose their faith in a better
and brighter future. Kossuth, the Nestor of the struggle for liberty,
lives at present in retirement in Turin, and, although separated from
his people by diverging political theories, his countrymen will forever
cherish in him the great genius who gave liberty to millions of the
oppressed peasantry, and who indelibly inscribed on the pages of the
national legislation the immortal principles of liberty and equality of
rights.
It is proper, however, to present in their regular order the chief
events through which down-trodden Hungary of 1849 became from a
subordinate province again an independent kingdom, taking part as an
equal partner in the great realm of Austria-Hungary.
It was not until 1854 that the state of siege inaugurated in 1849
was abolished, and only in 1856 that an amnesty was proclaimed. In
1857 the emperor visited Hungary, and during his stay, he decreed
the restoration of their confiscated estates to the late political
offenders. From this time the emperor and the government of Vienna
seemed anxious, by means of concessions to the national aims, to cause
the Hungarians to forget the bitterness and strife of 1848 and 1849. In
1858 agricultural colonists were given special inducements to settle in
specified districts, and were allowed certain exemptions from taxation.
In 1859 a most important concession was made by the imperial government
to the spirit of nationality. By a ministerial order the language used
in the higher schools was for the future to be regulated according
to the circumstances of nationality, the predominance of German
being thereby abolished. In the same year was issued what was known
as the Protestant patent, which granted to the communes the free
administration of their own educational and religious matters.
[Illustration: WOMAN’S HEAD-DRESS.]
In 1860 the supreme court of judicature, known as the _curia regia_,
and the county assemblies were reinstated, and the Magyar was
recognized as the official language. Later in the year the district
called the Banate of Temesvár was re-annexed to Hungary. In 1861 the
old constitution was restored to Hungary, including Transylvania,
Croatia, and Slavonia, and the Hungarian Diet reassembled in the old
capital, Buda, afterwards removing across the river to Pesth. Within
a few months, however, an address was presented at Vienna demanding
the fullest autonomy for Hungary. To this the emperor declared himself
unable to accede, and the Diet was dissolved. Stringent measures were
again put into force by the imperial government, and military aid was
invoked to enforce the collection of the taxes.
In 1865 the Diet was opened by the emperor in person, and the imperial
assent was given to the principle of self-government for Hungary. The
provisions of the Pragmatic Sanction (of 1722) were proposed as the
basis for the settlement of the questions still at issue. The Diet
also demanded, however, an acknowledgment of the continuity of the
constitutional rights of 1848. Before an imperial decision had been
reached on this point, the war of 1866 broke out between Austria and
Prussia (allied with Italy), and the Diet was prorogued. The Hungarian
troops formed an important contingent in the Austrian army which faced
the Prussians in Bohemia, and the general in command, Marshal Benedek,
was himself by birth a Hungarian. Hungarians also fought in the army
of the south, which, under the leadership of the Archduke Albrecht,
made a brief but brilliant campaign against the Italians. In Bohemia
the Austrians met with a decisive defeat at Sadowa (in July, 1866),
and although in Italy Archduke Albrecht gained the important battle of
Custozza, and Admiral Tegetthoff a naval victory near Lissa (in the
Adriatic), the general results of the summer’s campaign were adverse to
Austria, and brought about material changes in its relations to Germany
and in its own imperial organization.
By the peace of Prague (August, 1866) the German confederation was
dissolved, and Austria’s long preëminence among the states of Germany
came to an end, the leadership in German affairs being transferred to
Prussia. The centre of gravity of the Austrian empire (which was thus,
as it were, pushed out of Germany) was thrown southward and eastward,
and the most important result for Hungary was the constituting of
the present dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, finally sanctioned in
February, 1867.
[Illustration: CARTS.]
Under this arrangement the constitutional, legal, and administrative
autonomy of 1848 was secured to Hungary, while the full control of
the army rested with the emperor-king. The representative committee
of the Diet, which conducted and completed the new constitutional
arrangements, was headed by Deák, and the presidency of the first
ministry was given to Count Andrássy.
In June, 1868, the emperor and empress were crowned at Buda-Pesth King
and Queen of Hungary, and a complete pardon was proclaimed for all
political offenders. It is worthy of note that twice in the checkered
history of Hungary has Prussia been instrumental in securing for the
kingdom from its Austrian rulers recognition and privileges which, had
it not been for the pressure of the Prussian attacks, might long have
been delayed.
In 1765, Maria Theresa, in grateful acknowledgment of the cordially
loyal support given her by her “faithful Hungarians” in the bitter
struggle against Frederic the Great, initiated various most important
reforms, while just a century later, under the convincing influence of
the second great struggle with Prussia, the Austrian ruler again falls
back on his Hungarian subjects as the chief support of his reorganized
realm, and in the new dual empire of Austria-Hungary the ancient
kingdom of the Magyars, whose wonderfully elastic national vitality had
withstood so many vicissitudes and disasters, again takes a commanding
place among the nations of Europe.
[Illustration: BARKS ON DANUBE.]
[Illustration]
INDEX.
A
Abdi Pasha surrenders Buda to Duke Charles, 332
Academy of Sciences at Buda-Pesth founded, 407
Adalbert, St., Bishop of Prague, 56
Agram, Bishopric of, founded, 111
Ahmed Pasha, besieges Temesvár, 302;
takes fortress, 305;
besieges Erlau, 308;
is repulsed, 311
Albert, Emperor of Germany, comes to the assistance of Wenceslaus, 153
Albert, King of Hungary, dies, 210
Aladar and Csaba, sons of Attila, 30
Albert, Duke of Poland, lays waste Hungary, 262
Albrecht, Archduke, 438
Alföld (Lowland), taken by the Turks, 340;
colonized by the Servians, 361;
depopulated, 368
Ali Pasha of Buda, besieges Drégel, 299;
clemency to two youths, 300;
takes Drégel, 301;
generosity to remains of Szondi, 301
Aliportug, 315
Almos, first duke of the Huns, 36;
oath to, 36
Almos, brother of Coloman, rebellion of, 116;
defeated 116;
deprived of sight, 116;
rebels against Stephen II., 116;
dies, 117
Altai Mountains, cradle of Magyar race, 32
Anagarini, John, Papal envoy to Matthias, 236
Andrássy, Count, 439
Andrew, Prince, rebellion of, 60;
made king, 61;
issues rigorous laws, 61
Andrew I., King of Hungary, 102;
victories over pagan rebels, 103;
gives one third of his realm to Béla, 103;
son born, 104;
feud with Béla, 105;
defeated by Béla, 106
Andrew, brother of Emeric, 123;
defeats Emeric and proclaims himself Duke of Croatia, Dalmatia, Rama,
and Chulmia, 123;
captured by Emeric, 124;
made guardian of his nephew, 125
Andrew II., ascends the throne, 125;
under his wife’s dominion, 125;
weakness of, 126;
campaign in Galicia, 126;
goes to the Holy Land, 129;
grants “Golden Bull,” 129;
dies, 133
Andrew III., ascends the throne, 149;
death, 150
Andrew, son of Charles of Anjou, betrothed to Joanna of Naples, 164;
assassinated, 166
Anjou, house of—first king, 151
Anna, daughter of Uladislaus, 265;
betrothed to Ferdinand, son of Maximilian, 266
Anna, Duchess of Teschen, mother of Stephen Szapolyai, 265
Anna of Candal, wife of Uladislaus, dies, 276
Anna Pekry, wife of Losonczy, tries to raise money for her besieged
husband, 303
Apaffy, Prince of Transylvania, 357
Apors, 147
_Apotheosis_ of _Augustus_, 18
Arnulph, King of Germany, 39
Árpád, first ruler of Hungary, 42;
death, 44;
house of, 97;
extinction of, 149
Astrik, mission to Rome, 76
Attila, pushes forward, 23;
death of, 24;
sons of, contend for possession of empire, 24;
Aladar and Csaba, sons of, 30
Augsburg, victory near, 48
Aurelian, withdraws legions, 32;
allows Goths to settle, 23
Austrian government persecutes the Protestants, 344;
encourages the Catholics, 347;
defeated by Kossuth, 431;
declared to have forfeited its right to Hungary, 432
Austria, supremacy comes to an end, 438
Austria-Hungary, new kingdom of, 440
Avars, first appearance, 24;
conquered by the Franks, 25
B
Baján, prince of the Avars, 25
Bajazet, on Hungarian soil, 182;
defeats Sigismund, 184
Bakacs, Thomas, archbishop, aspires to the papal see, 268;
organizes crusade against the Turks, 268;
appointed guardian to Louis, 276
Balassa, Valentine, 318;
takes part in the storming of Gran, 319
Balkan Peninsula, appearance of Turks on, 299
Barbara, wife of Sigismund, negotiates with Ladislaus III. of Poland,
193;
imprisoned, 193
Bardico, John, captain of the republic of Venice, 180
Báthory Stephen, traitor to the son of Matthias, 261, 285;
at battle of Mohács, 288
Batthyányi, Count Louis, deputy from county of Pesth, 121;
president of new ministry, 424
Batu Khan, leads Mongolians across the Carpathian range, 138;
massacres Kuthen, defeats Béla at Muhi, 139;
retreats from Trau, 141
Bavaria, invaded by the Hungarians, 48
Bazarád, Ban Michael, ruler of Wallachia, revolt of, 160
Beatrice, daughter of the king of Naples, wife of Matthias, 234;
favors candidature of Maximilian of Germany, 260
Béla, Adalbert, brother of Andrew, 103;
defeats Henry III., 103;
popularity of, 104;
feud with Andrew, 105;
conquers Andrew, 106;
proclaimed king, 106
Béla I., rebellion against, 106;
sons of, resign claim to throne in favor of Solomon, 107
Béla II., son of Almos, ascends the throne, 117;
Ilona, wife of, 117;
vengeance of, at Arad, 117;
dies, 118;
Geyza II., son of, 118
Béla III., brother of Stephen III., 98;
goes to Constantinople, 119;
adopted by Manuel, 119;
takes oath never to attack the Greek empire, 119;
returns to his native country and ascends throne, 120;
restores order, 120;
introduction through wives of German and French manners, 122;
Emeric, son of, 123;
dies, 123
Béla IV., ascends the throne, 133;
drives back Frederic, of Austria, 134;
admits Kuthen, king of the Kuns, and his people into the land, 135;
defeated by the Mongolians at Muhi, 139;
flees to Spalato, then to Trau, 141;
returns to Hungary, 141;
strives to revive his desolated country, 142;
founds Buda, 144;
triumphs over Frederick, of Austria, 144;
dies, 145
Belgrade, Turks defeated by Hunyadi at, 214;
taken by the Turks, 284
Benedek, Marshal, 438
Beni, 431
Bethlen, Gabriel, Prince of Transylvania, leads the Czechs
and Protestants of Hungary, and takes Presburg, 348;
makes terms With Viennese government, 348;
dies, 350
_Black Troop_, organized by Matthias, 224
Bocskay, Stephen, Prince of Transylvania, leads insurrection against
the Hapsburgs, 345;
proclaimed king of Hungary by the Turks, 345;
counsels a conciliatory policy, 346
Bonafini, lectures of, at the court of Matthias, 249
Brankovitch, Prince of Servia, 212
Branyiszkó, 431
Brebiris the, 147
Bruno, 56
Buda, assembly of lords at, 184;
under Matthias, 252;
founded by Béla IV., 144;
captured by Solyman the Magnificent, 289;
restored to Hungary, 332;
diet at, 386
Buda-Pesth, 10;
statue of Stephen Szechenyi at, 400;
national casino at, 411;
newspaper started at, by Kossuth, 415;
real capital, 422;
revolution in, 422;
seat of government, 428
C
Capistrano, John, preaches a crusade against the Turks, 213
Caraffa, 360
Carlowitz, treaty of peace signed at, 334
Carpathian range, 1
Casimir, King of Poland, 159;
acknowledges Louis, son of Charles of Anjou, his heir, 162;
dies, 171
Census in Hungary opposed, 384
Charles Robert, of Anjou, ascends the throne, 151;
crowned the fourth time, 154;
defeats Matthias Czák, 157;
introduces chivalry, 158;
popularity, 159;
escapes from Wallachia, 161;
acquires Naples and Poland, 162;
arranges with Cassius, King of Poland, that Poland should descend
to Louis, his son, 162;
death, 164
Charles of Durazzo conquers Naples, 168;
crowned at Stuhlweissenburg, 177;
death, 178
Charles IV., of Germany, suspicious of Louis of Hungary, 170
Charles, Duke of Lorraine, routs the Turks, 331;
takes Buda, 332;
conquers at Mohács, 333
Charles III. of Austria and Hungary inaugurates new policy, 368
Church of Hungary, relations with the Vatican, 186
Church of Rome, condition of, 187
Christianity, victory of, 60
Cities, franchises of, 186;
privileges of, 343
Climate, 9
Coloman, ascends throne, 114;
drives crusaders away, 114;
receives Godfrey of Bouillon, 114;
increases domains, 115;
styles himself King of Croatia and Dalmatia, 115;
called _Könyves_, a bookish king, 115;
Brother Almos rebels, 115;
administers justice, 115;
Stephen, son of, 116
Congress of Vienna, 404
Conrad, death of, 50
Conrad II., Emperor of Germany, 88;
war with Stephen, 89
Constantinople, capital of the Turkish empire, 212
Constitution, 16;
restored to Hungary, 437
Constitutional monarchy established, 424;
enthusiasm for, 424
Corvinus, John, son of Matthias, candidate for the throne, 259
Council of Constance, 190
County assemblies, 437
Court of Matthias, 250
Cracow, coronation of Louis of Hungary at, 172
Croatia added to Hungary, 111;
dissatisfaction in, 176;
old constitution restored to, 437
Croats, incited by the Viennese government against the Hungarians, 420;
rebel, 426;
defeated, 428
Crown, double, of Hungary removed by Joseph IV. to Vienna 382;
sent back to Buda, 386
Crusade, 114;
third, 122;
against the Turks, 213;
proclaimed, 268
Csák, Matthias, 159;
marauding expeditions from the castle of Trecsén, 155;
excommunication of, 156;
defeated by Charles Robert of Anjou at Kassa, 157;
dies a horrible death, 157
Csák (family), 147;
extermination of 159
Csáky, Nicholas, killed, 271
Cselényi, John, 160
Culture, renaissance of, 247
_Curia regia_, supreme court of judicature, 437
Custozza, battle of, 438
Czechs, clamors of, against Hungary, 203;
routed on plain of Morava, 146;
joined by the Protestants in insurrection against the Hapsburgs, 348;
routed by Tilly near Prague, 348
D
Dacia, province of, 20
Damjanics, 431
Danube Steam Navigation Company, 411
Debruzen, seat of government, 430
Deák, Francis, 414;
minister of justice, 424;
heads representative committee, 437
Diákovár, 179
Diet (1567) inveighs against the foreign soldiery, 341;
religious discussion in, prohibited by Rudolph, 345;
minority of Protestants in, 358;
relinquishes the people’s right, 360;
at Buda, 386-389;
removed to Presburg, 387;
reforms institutions of Hungary, 423;
removed to Buda-Pesth, 427;
driven to Dubreczen, 430;
declares the house of Hapsburg to have forfeited its right
to Hungary, 432;
dissolution of 437;
opened by the emperor, 438
Dobó, Stephen, commandant at Erlau, 307;
repulses the Turks, 311
Dobozy, Michael, flight and death of 293
Dózsa George, made leader of crusade, 270;
leads his men against the nobles, 271;
besieges Temesvár, is defeated and executed, 272
Drágfy, John, Chief-Justice, at the battle of Mohács, 287
Drégel, taken by the Turks under Ali Pasha, 300;
monumental chapel erected at, 301
E
Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew III., 151
Elizabeth, wife of Charles of Anjou, builds cathedral at Kassa, 162;
goes to Naples in aid of her son Andrew, 162
Elizabeth, wife of Louis of Hungary, offers to Poland her daughter
Hedwig as queen, 176;
strangled, 179
Elizabeth, daughter of Sigismund, married to Albert of Austria, 186
Emeric, son of Stephen, 90;
education of, 90;
death of, 94
Emeric, son of Béla III., ascends the throne, 123;
defeated by Andrew, 123;
dies, 125
Emperor and Pope, rivalry of, 70
Eperjes, bloody tribunal of, 360
Erlau besieged by Ahmed Pasha, 308
Eugene, Duke of Savoy, assumes commandership of Hungarian forces, 333;
annihilates a Turkish army, 334;
defeats the Turks near Peterwardein, 335;
defeats the Turks, 359
Europe threatened by a new foe, 170
F
Ferdinand of Austria, elected king of Hungary 295;
king of Bohemia, 338
Ferdinand II., cousin of Matthias, King of Bohemia, 347
Ferdinand V., King of Hungary, 424
Field of Blood, 396
Fiume, city of, 7;
given to Hungary by Maria Theresa, 371
France, revolution in, 386
Francis I., of France, stirs up Solyman, 286
Francis I., crowned, 390;
persecutes enlightened men, 396;
arbitrary government, 398;
returns to constitutional government, 399
Francis, Joseph, enters into alliance with Czar of Russia, 432;
visits Hungary, 436
Frangepán Christopher, 267;
conspires against Leopold I., 355;
beheaded, 355
Frederic Barbarossa leads third crusade, 122
Frederic, Duke of Austria, defeated by Béla IV., 144;
dies, 144
French enter Hungary, 397;
defeat the Hungarians near Ráab, 398
Fuggers, the, 279
Fünfkirchen (Pécs), University of, 174
G
Galamböcz, siege of, 191
Galicia, campaign in, 126
Garay, palatine of Croatia, 176;
defends the queens and dies, 178
George of Brandenburg, appointed guardian to Louis, 276
Gepidæ, ruling people in Hungary, 24
Gerhard, St., death, 61
Germans, defeat of, 44;
victory of, 48;
in Hungary, 322
German confederation dissolved, 438
Gertrude, wife of Andrew II., 125
Geyza II., ascends throne, 109;
son of Béla, 118;
hostilities, 118;
dies, 118;
Stephen III., son of, 118
Gisella, wife of Stephen, 69
Golden Bull, 99;
rights granted by, relinquished by diet, 360
Görgei, commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army, 430;
surrenders, 433
Gran (Esztergom), capital of Hungary, 68
Gregory VII., claims submission from Ladislaus, 110
Grosswardein, Tomb of Ladislaus, 112;
Hungarian victory at, 168
Gustavus Adolphus, 350
Guyon, 431
Gyula, Duke, rebellion of, 60;
defeated, 60
H
Hajnoczi, Joseph, 393;
arrested, 395
Hapsburg, house of, rulers of Hungary, 337;
Rudolph of, 145
Hatvan, diet at, 280
Haynau, Baron, persecutes the patriots, 434
Hedervári, Francis, deserts Belgrade, 284
Hedwig, daughter of Louis of Hungary, marries Duke Jagello, 174;
becomes queen of Poland, 175
Henry the Fowler, 47
Henry II. of Germany, 88
Henry III. visits Stephen, 89
Horváthy, John, attacks the two queens near Diákovár, 179
Holubar, contest with Matthias, 229
Horse-racing introduced into Hungary, 411
Hungarian Alps, 6
Hungarians (early), legends in regard to origin, 27;
invade Germany, 42;
invade Italy, 44;
incursion into Germany and France, 46;
disasters of, 56
Hungary, topography and climate, 1;
cities of, 16;
conquest by the Huns, 39;
invasion by Luitpold and Ditmar, 44;
under two kings, 295;
reduced to an Austrian province, 356;
reorganized by government of Vienna, 361;
material condition improved by Maria Theresa, 372;
German made the official language, 382;
new laws, 423;
recovers her national rights, 436
Huns, first appearance, 23;
of Turkish extraction, 33;
seven dukes of, 34;
mode of warfare, 37;
conquer Hungary, 39
Hunyadi, John, 194;
defeats the Turks, 197;
gallantry, 198;
triumphs in the Balkan passes, 205;
victorious at Varna, 207;
defeated, 209;
governor of Hungary, 210;
unites with the Albanians, 211;
defeated, 211;
death, 215
Hunyor, 28;
settlement of progeny, 29
Huss, John, 189
I
Illeshäzy, 344
Ilona, wife of Béla II., 117;
opens diet at Arad, 117;
orders massacre at Arad, 117
Industrial and commercial status, 16
Iron gate (Vaskapu), 5, 411
Ishak, pasha of Semendria, 198
Izolda, nurse of Andrew, 165
J
Jacobins, Hungarian league of, 392
Jagello, Duke of Lithuania, marries Hedvig, a daughter of Louis
of Hungary, 174
James, son of Vatha, leads pagan rebellion against Béla I., 107;
defeated, 107
Jellachich, Ban, leader of the Croats, 426;
defeated, 428
Jesuits inaugurate Thirty Years’ War, 347
Joanna of Naples, wife of Andrew, conspires against her husband, 165;
marries Louis of Taranto, 167;
sentenced by the Pope, 168
Jókai, Maurus, 422
Joseph I., Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, 366;
grants amnesty to the insurgents, 367
Joseph II., sends crown back to Buda, 386;
death, 386
Joseph II. refuses to receive the crown of Hungary, 375;
called the “_kalapos_” king, 375;
wages war against the Hungarian nationality, 376;
reigns as absolute sovereign, 278;
hated by the people, 380;
gives religious freedom to the Protestants, 380;
shocks the religious feelings of the Hungarians, 381;
removes double crown to Vienna, 382;
makes, by edict, German the official language of Hungary, 382;
declares war against Turkey, 385
Julius II., 268
Juranics, Lawrence, 317;
death at siege of Szigetvár, 317
Juricsies, Michael, commander of Köszeg, 297;
saves Austria, 298
K
Kaan, Prince, defeated by Stephen, 60
“_Kalandos_” Society, 281
Károlyi, Alexander, 335
Kassa, battle of, 157;
cathedral of, 162;
given to the Catholics, 344
Kazinczy, Francis, regenerator of Hungarian literature, 394;
imprisonment of, 396
Kiev, fate of, 136
Kieystut, Prince of Lithuania, 168
Kinizsy, Paul, captain of Matthias, 230;
traitor to the son of Matthias, 261;
massacres Hungarian soldiers near Halos, 264;
dies, 264
Kisfaludy, Charles, 285
Klapa, 431;
defends Komárom, 433
Komárom, 431;
taken by the Imperialists, 433
Kont, Stephen, of Hédervár, death, 181
Kopán, rebellion of, 59;
death of, 60
Korogi, Peter, of the wonderful stomach, 277
Kosovo, battle of, 186
Kossuth, Louis, rival of Széchenyi, 412;
refuses to be bought by the government, 415;
starts newspaper, 415;
imprisoned, 416;
pardoned, 417;
obtains permission to edit a paper, 417;
attacked by the press, 418;
deputy from the county of Pesth, 421;
asks for responsible ministry, 421;
Minister of Finance, 424;
introduces motions in Assembly, 427;
head of the government, 430;
exile, 434.
Köszeg, refuses to do homage to Solyman, 297;
siege of, 298
Krafi Bey, death of, 208
Kuns (Cumanians), routed by Ladislaus, III;
under Kuthen, settle in Hungary, 135;
cruelties, 152;
devastate Moravia, 170
Kurucz-Labancz era, 357
Kurucs, rebellion, 268;
insurgents, 357;
receives aid from the French, Porte, and Transylvania, 358;
led by Tökölyi, 358;
led by Francis Rákóczy II., 363;
demands of, 394
Kuthen, King of the Kuns, settles in Hungary, 135;
massacred by Batu Khan, 138
L
Labancz (Austrians), 357;
surrender, 358
Laczkovics, John, 393;
arrested, 395
Ladislaus, son of Béla, 109;
ascends throne, 109;
character of, 110;
sides with Pope, 110;
extends his kingdom, 111;
routs the Kuns, 111;
laws of, 112;
buried at Grosswardein, 112;
apparition of, 168
Ladislaus, son of Emeric, dies, 125
Ladislaus IV., 155;
defeats Ottokar, 146;
alliance with Rudolph, 147;
death, 148
Ladislaus of Naples, penetrates into the interior of Hungary, 186;
defeated, 186
Ladislaus V., King of Hungary, 212
Ladislaus, son of Hunyadi, assassinated, 218
Lands of the Sacred Crown, 374
Language, regulated according to nationality, 436;
Magyar recognized as the official language, 437
Lazarevitch, Stephen, Prince of Servia, 191
Lehel, Duke, death of, 50
Leo the Wise, Emperor of Byzantium, 39
Leo X., Pope, 268
Leopold I., tries to conciliate the Turks, 331;
defeats George Rákóczy II., 352;
defeated by the Turks near Raab, 353;
endeavors to make homogeneous empire, 354;
imposes land and corn tax, 355;
death, 366
Leopold II., ascends the throne, 387;
crowned, 389;
death, 390
Library of Matthias, 252;
destroyed by Solyman, 289
Linz, Peace of, 327
Lissa, naval battle at, 438
Literature, leaders in, 404
Lithuanian insurrection, 172
Logody, Simon, heroically defends Shabatz, 224
Longobards, invited by Justinian to settle in Pannonia, 24;
collision between, and Gepidæ, 25
Losonczy, Stephen, commander of garrison at Temesvár, 302;
besieged by Ahmed Pasha, 302;
tries to raise money, 303;
writes last letters, 304;
withdraws troops, 305;
death, 305
Louis of Taranto marries Joanna, widow of Andrew, 167
Louis Laczfy, voyvode of Transylvania, defeated at Grosswardein, 168
Louis, son of Charles of Anjou, acknowledged heir to the throne
of Poland, 162;
ascends Hungarian throne, 164;
swears revenge for his brother’s death, 166;
subdues Naples, 167;
puts an end to incursions from the East, 168;
Servian victories, 169;
Venetian victories, 169;
offered the German crown, 170;
crowned king of Poland, 172;
death, 174
Louis II., son of Uladislaus, born, 266;
crowned, 276;
poverty of, 277;
marries Mary of Austria, 283;
defeated and killed at Mohács, 289
Lukács, Bishop of Cenád, 263
M
Magyars, 28;
rebellion against, in 997, 59
Manuel, Emperor of the East, 118;
offers peace to the Hungarians, 118;
promises to adopt Béla heir, 119
Marcomanni, the, invasion of, 21
Maria Theresa, policy of, 368;
appeals to the Hungarians, 370;
gives Fiume to Hungary, 371;
improves the material condition of Hungary, 372
Maritza, defeat of the Turks at, 171
Martinovics, Ignatius, leader of Hungarian Jacobins, 392;
arrested, 395
Marton, Father, embassy of, to Ali Pasha, 300
Mary, daughter of Louis of Hungary;
betrothed to Sigismund, son of the Emperor Charles IV., 170;
proclaimed queen of Hungary, 175;
marriage of, 176;
made prisoner, 179;
dies, 183
Mary, widow of Louis I., flies to Presburg, 292
Matthias, son of Hunyadi, proclaimed king, 217;
chivalric character of, 220;
victories over the German knight Holubar, 220;
captures Vienna, 222;
organizes _Black Troop_, 224;
lays siege to Shabatz, 224;
anecdotes of, 226;
campaign against Frederic, 229;
sends embassy to France, 233;
to Naples, 234;
reforms the laws, 240;
capacity, 243;
increases royal revenue, 246;
dies, 256
Matthias, successor to Rudolph, 346
Maximilian, treaty with Uladislaus, 266
Maximilian of Austria, King of Hungary, 341
_Melancholy Magyars_, 49
Merseburg, battle of, 47
Mészáros, Lawrence, 270
Metternich, Prince, 408, 421
Mezid Bey, dispatched by the Sultan against the Hungarians, 198
Miecislas, wife of Béla, 103
Mohács, battle at, 288;
slaughter at, 292
Mohammed I., Sultan, 190;
Viceroy of Hervoga, 191
Mohammed II. makes Constantinople his capital, 212
Mongolians, invasion of, 137;
defeat the Hungarians at Muhi, 139;
retreat of, 141
Money (paper), issue of, 398
Morava or March, plain of, route of the Czech armies, 146
Moré, Michael, treachery of, 284
Muhi, battle of, 139
Murad, Sultan, death, 182
Mustapha II., Sultan, defeated by Duke Eugene near Zentu, 334
N
Nádasdy conspires against Leopold, I;
seized and beheaded, 355
Nagy, Paul, 407
Nagy, Simon, 229
Napoleon endeavors to tempt the Hungarians from their Austrian
allegiance, 397
National Assembly, 427
National Breeding Association, 411
National casino at Buda-Pesth, 411
National exhibition (1885), 17
National museum of Buda-Pesth, 402
_Nicopolis_, battle near, 183
Nickolsburg, treaty of, 328
Nobles arm under Báthory (Comes) and Csáky, 271;
oppose the Austrian government, 343;
poll-tax imposed upon by Leopold I., 356;
_Honvéds_, national guard, 427
Nyáry, Paul, leader of the opposition, 428
O
Oláh, Blasius, 284
Ostyaks, 32
Ottakar, King of Bohemia, overthrown by Béla IV. and his sons, 145
Otto the Bavarian, assists Wenceslaus, 153;
decoyed by the _vayvode_ of Transylvania, 154
Otto the Great, of Germany, 48
P
Palace of Matthias, 252;
sacked by Solyman, 295
Palæologos, John (Emperor of the East), 171;
visits Buda, 171
Palisna, John, delivers up Mary, wife of Sigismund, to Venice, 180
Pannonians, 18
Parliament (diet), 16;
at Arad, 117
Patriots, persecutions of, 434
Pázmány, Cardinal Peter, 326;
primate of Hungary, 347
Peasants, condition of, 269;
oppressive laws for, 274
Peasant War, 267;
end of, 273
Perényi, Francis, Bishop of Grosswardein, 287
Persecutions, 391
Pesti Hirlap (Pesth newspaper), 417
Petchenegs, defeated by Stephen, 79
Peter, successor to Stephen, 100;
asks help of the German emperor, 100;
takes oath of fealty to Germany, 100;
rebellion against, 101;
prisoner and deprived of sight, 102
Peterwardein, 287
Petöfi, Alexander, 422;
death, 433
Philip of Taranto, son of Catherine of Valois, at Naples, 165
Pilgrin, Bishop of Passau, 55
Piso, Jacob, teacher of Louis, 257, 277;
Podrebrád, George, King of the Czechs, 242
Poland, troubles in, 172
Political divisions, 9
Porte, secretly promises aid against the Austrians, 357
Pragmatic Sanction, 369
Prague, root of the Czechs at, 348;
peace of, 438
Press, liberty of, gained by the Revolution in 1848, 422
Presburg, battle of, 45;
taken by the Turks, 293;
taken by Bethlen, 348;
diet at, 389
Protestantism, rise of, 320;
loses ground in Hungary, 348
Protestants, laws against, 323;
persecuted, 325;
given equal rights by Stephen Bocskay, 326;
persecuted by the Austrian government, 344;
join the Czechs against the Hapsburgs, 348;
freedom of worship interfered with, 361;
receive religious freedom from Joseph II., 380
R
Raab, Turkish victory at, 353;
French victory at, 398
Rákóczy, George I., Prince of Transylvania, 351
Rákóczy II., George of Transylvania, rebels against the Austrian rule,
334;
retires to Poland, 335;
victorious over the Germans and Turks, 352;
defeated by Leopold, 352
Rákóczy, Francis, conspires against Leopold I., and estates
confiscated, 355;
leads new insurrection, 363
Rákos, diet at, 258;
meeting of National assembly at, 265
Raven Knight, the, 196
Reformation, 282;
in Hungary, 323
Religions, 14
Rivers and islands, 8
Roman influence, weakening of, 23
Roman emperors of Pannonian origin, 22
Rozgonyi, Cecilia, heroism of, 192
Rudolph of Hapsburg, alliance with Ladislaus IV., 145;
letter to Ladislaus, 146
Rudolph, son of Maximilian, King of Hungary, 342;
irritated with the Hungarian diet, 342;
leaves Hungary for 25 years, 342;
prohibits religious discussion in the diet, 345
Ruprecht, Emperor of Germany, dies, 187
Russ, Melchior, Swiss envoy, received by Matthias, 236
S
Sadowa, battle of, 438
Sarolta, wife of Duke Geyza, 51;
mother of Stephen, 68
Selim, Sultan, vows to build mosques in Jerusalem, Buda, and Rome, 282
Semendria, fortress of, 196
Serbs, rebellion of, 426-428
Serédy, Caspar, 286
Servia, conquered by the Turks, 182
Shabatz, siege of, 224;
siege of, by the Turks, 283;
taken by the Turks, 284
Shamanism, 53;
Magyars, religion of the, contains traces of the Parsee religion, 55
Sigismund, husband of Queen Mary, hypothecates the countries’ funds,
176;
crowned king of Hungary, 179;
marches into Croatia and Bosnia, 180;
makes alliance with Manuel, Emperor of the East, 183;
defeated by Bajazet, 184;
imprisoned, 185;
marries Barbara, daughter of Count Arminius Cilley, 186;
establishes the Order of the Dragon, 186;
elected emperor of Germany, 187;
war with Venice, 188;
travels of, 190;
offered the crown of Bohemia, 192;
death, 193
Sigismund Hampr, Bishop of Fünfkirchen, 263
Siklós, castle of Sigismund, 185
Silistria, conquered by the Turks, 182
Simon Kemény, 199
Slavonia, old constitution restored to, 437
Slovaks, sway of, 37
Slovenes, 37
Sobieski, John, of Poland, routs the Turks, 331
Solomon, son of Andrew, 104;
betrothal of, 104;
ascends throne, 108;
feud with sons of Béla, 109;
defeated at Mogyoród, 109;
leads the life of a hermit, 109
Solyman the Magnificent, 282;
sends ambassador to Louis II., attacks Shabatz and Belgrade, 283;
invades Hungary, 286;
defeats Louis at Mohács and enters Buda, 289;
returns to Constantinople, 295;
marches towards Vienna, 297;
retreats after siege of Köszeg, 298;
besieges Temesvár, 302;
invades Hungary for the sixth time, 311;
besieges Szigetvár, 311
Spalato, 141
Spanish war of succession, 364
Standing army, 369
States, general meeting of, 260
Stephen, baptism of, 57;
rebellion against, 59;
defeats Gyula and Khan, 60;
first king of Hungary, 65;
extinguishes the pagan faith, 72;
founds abbeys, 80;
munificence of, 82;
constitutional reforms, 84;
war with Conrad, 89;
advice to his son, 91;
chooses his successor, 95;
death of, 95;
canonization, 96
Stephen II., son of Coloman, ascends the throne, 116
Stephen III., son of Geyza, ascends the throne, 118;
dies, 119
Stuhlweissenburg, capital of Hungary, 102;
Wenceslaus crowned at, 152
Svatopluk, King of Moravia, 39;
death of, 41
Sylvester II., Pope, confirms Hungarian bishoprics, 74;
gives Stephen title of “Apostolic King,” 75;
presents crown to Stephen, 75
Szalánkemén, complete rout of Turks at, 333
Szalkán, primate of Hungary, 267
Szalkay, Bishop, 285
Szapolyai, Governor of Vienna, sells Hungarian throne to Uladislaus
of Poland, 261
Szapolyai, Stephen, aspires to the throne of Hungary, 265;
attempts to murder Uladislaus, 266
Szechenyi, Stephen, statue of, 400;
birth and history of, 402;
travels, 404;
speaks in Hungarian, 406;
founds the Academy of Sciences, 407;
first literary work, 409;
“Credit,” 410;
introduces horse-racing, 411;
rivalry with Kossuth, 412;
aristocratic tendencies of, 413;
insanity and suicide, 429
Szécsi, Desiderius, death of, 161
Szerenc, Emeric, 280
Szigetvár besieged by Solyman, 312;
death, 317.
Szondi, George, gallant defence of Drégel, 299;
asks favor of Ali Pasha, 300;
death, 301
Szörény, Turks repulsed by Kinizsy at, 264
T
_Talpra Magyar_, poem by Petöfi, 422
Táltos, Shamanish priests, 54
Tartars defeat Ráckóczy in Poland, 352
Tax, land and corn, imposed, by Leopold I., 355;
oppressive, imposed, 362;
made permanent, 369
Tax-poll, imposed on every inhabitant of Hungary, 356
Taxes, military aid invoked to collect, 437
Tcheremisses, 32
Tegetthoff, Admiral, 438
Telegdy, Stephen, protests against crusade, 268;
killed, 271
Temesvár, royal seat of Charles Robert of Anjou, 157;
siege of 302;
taken by Turks, 305;
restored to Hungary, 335
Theiss, battle of, 106;
regulation of, 411
Thirty Years’ War, beginning of, 347
Throne, claimants to, 151
Thurzó, Alexius, lends money to King Louis, 280
Tilly routs the Czechs near Prague, 348
Tinódy, Sebastian, poem on siege of Szigetvár, 318
Tökölyi, head of the rebels, 358;
proclaimed by the Porte king of Hungary, 359;
exiled in Turkey, 363
Tömöry, Paul, defeats the Turks at Nagy-Olasz, 286;
commander-in-chief at Mohács, 287
Torma, Andrew, heroically defends and is killed at Shabatz, 284.
Törok, Valentine, deserts Belgrade, 284
Trajan, campaign in Dacia, 20
Transylvania, gold and salt mines of, 20;
still asserts independence, 306;
forms a bulwark against the Turks, 320;
under Bethlen, 348;
downfall of, 351;
devastated by Tartar hordes, 354;
refuge for Hungarians, 357;
remains a separate duchy, 361;
old constitution restored to, 437
Trau, castle of, 141;
siege of, 141
Treaty of peace signed, 334
Tripartite code, 274
_Turks_, defeated at Maritza, 171;
invade Servia, 182;
condition of, 190;
a dangerous enemy, 197;
defeated by Hunyadi, 200;
victorious, 209;
invade Albania, 210;
defeated by Hunyadi near Belgrade, 214;
repulsed near Szörény, 264;
victorious at Mohács, 288;
take Buda, 289;
take Presburg, 293;
take Drégel, 301;
take Temesvár, 305;
repulsed before Erlau, 311;
take Szigetvár, 317;
routed near Vienna, 339;
defeated at Mohács, 333;
completely routed near Szalánkemén, 333;
annihilated by Duke Eugene, 334;
defeated near Peterwardein, 335;
oppose the increase of power of the house of Hapsburg, 339;
seize Alföld, 340;
treaty with the Germans, 351;
attack Leopold, 353;
invade Hungary, 359;
defeated by Prince Eugene, 359
Two kings, the rivalry between, 295
U
Uladislaus, elected to the throne of Hungary, 210;
King of Hungary and Poland, 203;
defeated by the Turks, 209;
dies, 210
Uladislaus of Poland, elected king of Hungary, 262;
birth of son, Louis, 266;
Anna of Candal, wife of Uladislaus, dies, 276;
dies, 276
Ujlaky, Duke, molests the royal domains, 267
United States enthusiastic reception of Kossuth, 435
V
Vajdafy, leader of the forces of Sigismund, 181
Valentine, John, envoy from Ferrara, received by Matthias, 236
Various nationalities, 12, 13
Varna, Hunyadi’s victory at, 208
Vaskapu (Iron Gate), 5, 201, 411
Vata, rebellion of, 60
Vatha, leads Pagan rebellion against Peter, 102;
defeat of, 103;
James, son of, 106
Vatican, the relations with the Church of Hungary, 186
Venice, humiliation of, 169;
beaten by the Hungarians, 188
Verboczy, Stephen, leader of party hostile to Uladislaus, 264;
tripartite code, 274
Vezprém, engagement at, 60
Viddin conquered by the Turks, 182
Vienna, Matthias holds court at, 249;
peace of, 346;
besieged, 359;
rebellion at, 429
Világos, battle near, 433
Visegrád, Charles of Anjou makes his residence at, 158;
tournaments at, 159;
guests at, 162;
Matthias’ sojourn at, 236;
gorgeousness of, 254
Voguls, 32
Volga and Danube, country between, 34
Votyaks, 32
Vörösmarty, Michael, 422
W
Wallachs, rising of, 385;
led by Hora and Kloska, 385;
rebellion of, 426
Wenceslaus, King of the Czechs, crowned at Stuhlweissenburg, 152
Wesselényi, palatine of Hungary, heads conspiracy against Leopold I.,
355;
dies, 355
Windischgratz, Prince, invades Hungary, 430;
loses his position, 431
Wolfgang, tries to spread Christianity, 55
Z
Zalán, Bulgarian prince, 37
Zemplén, 395
Zenta, defeat of Turks at, 334
Zernivar, fortress of, 329
Ziska, John, of Bohemia, devastates Hungary, 210
Zoltán, son of Arpád, 38
Zrinyi, Nicholas, commander at Szigetvár, 311;
begs aid from king, 312,
tempted and threatened by Solyman, 314;
makes oration to his soldiers, 317;
death, 317, 329;
annoys the Turks from his fortress of Zerinvár, 329;
dies, 330
Zrinyi, Peter, conspires against Leopold I., seized and beheaded, 355
Zyrians, 32
The Story of the Nations.
MESSRS. G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS take pleasure in announcing that they
have in course of publication a series of graphic historical studies,
intended to present to the young the stories of the different nations
that have attained prominence in history.
In the story form the current of each national life will be distinctly
indicated, and its picturesque and noteworthy periods and episodes will
be presented for the young reader in their philosophical relation to
each other as well as to universal history.
It will be the plan of the writers of the different volumes to enter
into the real life of the peoples, and to bring them before the reader
as they actually lived, labored, and struggled—as they studied and
wrote, and as they amused themselves. In carrying out this plan,
the myths, with which the history of all lands begins, will not be
overlooked, though these will be carefully distinguished from the
actual history, so far as the labors of the accepted historical
authorities have resulted in definite conclusions.
It is proposed to have the series present the results of the latest
investigations in the progressive department of historical research.
Disputed points will, however, not be discussed, but, instead, the
writers will present, in a simple, direct, and graphic style, the story
of each land, utilizing also, to illuminate the narrative, the side
lights that the poets and novelists have cast upon it.
Possessing a knowledge of and sympathy with the youthful way of
looking at such subjects, the writers will not offer annals, arid and
unconnected, nor bare chronological statements of events, however
complete. They will not expect to include all details of minor
importance, but, on the contrary, will try to present pictures adapted
to leave faithful impressions of the essential facts.
The editors will endeavor to preserve a unity of design and execution
that will enable the series to give to the reader a survey of the
rise and progress of the nations sufficient to form a sound basis for
subsequent reading and study; but it will not be attempted to cover in
detail the entire ground of universal history.
The subjects of the different volumes will be planned to cover
connecting and, as far as possible, consecutive epochs or periods, so
that the set when completed will present in a comprehensive narrative
the chief events in the great STORY OF THE NATIONS; but it will, of
course, not always prove practicable to issue the several volumes in
their chronological order.
The “Stories” are printed in good readable type, and in handsome 12mo
form. They are adequately illustrated and furnished with maps and
indexes. They are sold separately, at a price of $1.50 each.
The following is a partial list of the subjects thus far determined
upon:
THE STORY OF EGYPT. Prof. GEORGE RAWLINSON.
” ” ” *CHALDEA. Z. RAGOZIN.
” ” ” *GREECE. Prof. JAMES A. HARRISON, Washington and
Lee University.
” ” ” *ROME. ARTHUR GILMAN.
” ” ” *THE JEWS. Prof. JAMES K. HOSMER, Washington University
of St. Louis.
” ” ” CARTHAGE. Prof. ALFRED J. CHURCH, University College,
London.
” ” ” GAUL.
” ” ” BYZANTIUM. CHARLTON T. LEWIS.
” ” ” EARLY BRITAIN. Prof. ALFRED J. CHURCH.
” ” ” THE GOTHS. HENRY BRADLEY.
” ” ” THE NORMANS. SARAH O. JEWETT.
” ” ” PERSIA. S. G. W. BENJAMIN.
” ” ” *SPAIN. Rev. E. E. and SUSAN HALE.
” ” ” *GERMANY. S. BARING GOULD.
” ” ” THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS.
” ” ” HOLLAND. Prof. C. E. THOROLD ROGERS.
” ” ” *NORWAY. HJALMAR H. BOYESEN.
” ” ” THE MOORS IN SPAIN. STANLEY LANE-POOLE.
” ” ” *HUNGARY. Prof. A. VÁMBÉRY.
” ” ” THE ITALIAN KINGDOM. W. L. ALDEN.
* (The volumes starred are now ready, August, 1886.)
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
NEW YORK LONDON
27 AND 29 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 27 KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND