Slovak Uprising 1848-1849
Encyclopedia
The Slovak Uprising (in Slovak Slovenské povstanie (1848/49)) or Slovak Volunteer Campaigns (Slovenské dobrovoľnícke výpravy) was an uprising of Slovaks
against Magyar (i.e. ethnic Hungarian) domination in Upper Hungary
(present-day Slovakia
), within the 1848-49 revolutions in the Habsburg Monarchy
. It lasted from September 1848 to November 1849.
. The Slovak nation, though not fully conscious of ethnicity in 1848, were certainly an important part of the general revolts occurring in the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy. After the revolutionary fervor
left Paris
in 1848 it traveled to Vienna where a popular uprising ousted the reactionary government of Prince Klemens von Metternich on March 13, 1848. This revolutionary fervor soon spread to the Hungarian lands of the Empire. On March 15th, mass protests in Buda and Pest
along with a proclamation of the Hungarian Diet, under direction of Lajos Kossuth
, saw the Hungarian Kingdom declare itself independent of Habsburg domination.
, which aimed at culturally realigning Slovaks to be Magyar in language, thought and cultural ethic. As early as 1844 some Slovaks became aware to this threat against their culture. On August 26-28, 1844, a meeting between both Catholic and Protestant confessions of Slovaks met along with other factions in Liptószentmiklós
(today: Liptovský Mikuláš). This town in the Žilina Region
was the base of Slovak nationalist Michal Miloslav Hodža
, uncle of future Czechoslovak
politician Milan Hodza
. The meeting, though with fewer than wished Catholic participation, formed an non-sectarian association called the Tatrin in order to unite all Slovak groups in one national bloc. Catholics later became more involved in 1847 with their acceptance of Ľudovít Štúr
's standardization of the Slovak language
.
In addition to the uniting of Slovaks in one national bloc, there were other factors leading to the rise in Slovak consciousness before 1848. In 1845, governmental authorities permitted the printing of Slovak language newspapers for the first time. The first one was Ľudovít Štúr
's The Slovak National News which printed its first issue on August 1, 1845. This was quickly followed by Jozef Miloslav Hurban
's Slovak Views on the Sciences, Arts and Literature which did not have as much success as Stur's paper. Beyond the printed word, representatives of the Slovak National Movement worked among average Slovaks promoting education, Sunday schools, libraries, amateur theatre, temperance societies and other social functions. In agriculture, Samuel Jurkovic founded a credit cooperative in the village of Sobotiste, called the Farmer's Association, which was the first of its kind in Europe.
In November 1847 Ľudovít Štúr
, the member of the Hungarian Diet for Zvolen, spoke before his colleagues in Bratislava. In his speech to the Diet, Štúr summed up his six-point platform involving problematic political and economic issues. His points were:
Along with these points, of which several even met the praise of Kossuth, Štúr raised the issues about the use of the Slovak language in government and the enforcement of Magyar interference in many parts of Slovak life, including religion.
In April 1848 Štúr and Hurban left Slovakia in order to attend a preliminary Slavic meeting in Vienna, which would later provide the basis for the first Pan-Slavic Congress
to be held in Prague
. In the meantime, back in Liptovský Mikuláš, Hodža along with twenty delegates created a document entitled “Demands of the Slovak Nationality” which listed 14 points setting national and social goals for the Slovak nation. Naturally this document was received coldly by Budapest, which subsequently imposed martial law
on Upper Hungary and issued warrants for Štúr, Hurban and Hodža on May 12, 1848. At the same time, uprisings among Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in the southern part of Hungary diverted Magyar attention to the south, as these conflicts were more armed uprisings than the Slovak one. Hurban attended a session of the Croatian Diet on July 5th, speaking to the Croats on the plight of the Slovaks. Hurban spoke so well a joint Croat-Slovak declaration was issued shortly thereafter which only inflamed Magyar opinion. When the full Pan-Slavic Congress met on June 2nd, 1848, Štúr, Hurban, Hodža and many other prominent Slovaks attended, along with hundreds of other Slavic delegates. This congress was held with the aim of developing a cohesive strategy for all Slavic peoples living in Austro-Hungarian territories. Unfortunately, the congress was cut short when an armed uprising in Prague on June 12th prompted a hurried end to the affair. However, one critical item came out of the short congress for the Slovak cause. In the congress, the Slovaks secured the help of two Czech military officers, Bedřich Bloudek
and František Zach
, in case the Slovaks came to armed blows with the Hungarians.
Though many calls for autonomy came from nearly every corner of the Empire, Vienna noted that at neither the Pan-Slavic conference nor other Slavic uprisings was the thought of the breakup of the Empire considered, only this was so in Hungary. Seeing the situation as malleable, the Emperor along with his closest advisors authorized armed action against the Hungarian uprising. This first manifested itself in the form of the leader of the Croatians, Ban (governor) Josip Jelačić
, a friend of the Slovaks, who was authorized to march against the Hungarians in August 1848 after the Hungarians had defied a direct imperial order. Despite this, Vienna’s response to the Hungarian uprising had stayed largely quiet and mixed . While allowing Jelacic to march against the Magyars, they had also given the Hungarian Army several units in order to help preserve internal order. At the same time, Slovaks started working with Jelacic's Croatians by creating a Slovak volunteer corps. This corps was put together and gathered in Vienna from August to September 1848. In order to lead this burgeoning revolt, a Slovak National Council was organized in Vienna, where a marker stands today commemorating the spot. The council was made up of Štúr, Hurban and Hodža—the "big three" of the Slovak nationalist groups—with the Czech František Zach as commander-in-chief.
valley and into Turóc County and Liptó County Counties via the southern Moravian town of Břeclav
. When the corps arrived at the Slovak border on the 18th, they were met with 500 more volunteers from Brno and Prague. Once convened, the volunteers received arms and swore an oath on the Slovak flag. Despite nudging Viennese cooperation, when the volunteers encountered Imperial troops on the road to Miava
they were regarded coolly by the troops .
Once the volunteers arrived in Miava, an assembly of Slovaks with Hurban presiding took the step of seceding
from Hungary on September 19th, 1848. Imperial troops soon ordered the Slovaks volunteers to leave Myjava, though this order was rejected and instead the corps attacked an Imperial detachment and confiscated its supplies. Despite this inauspicious act, Imperial troops ordered both sides to halt the fighting. After several more days of indecisive armed action, the volunteers retreated back into Moravia. Not long after, the new commander of Imperial forces sent to restore order in the Kingdom of Hungary, Count von Lamberg
, was hacked and mangled by an irate mob in central Budapest only three days after arrival. This halted attempts at negations between Kossuth and the Imperial party. The Viennese response was to formally order the disbandment the Hungarian Diet and the appointment of Ban Josip Jelačić as newest commander over Hungary. However, effective response to this latest development was also halted by another popular, pan-Germanic uprising in Vienna at the time which resulted in the death of war minister Count Latour
on October 6, 1848.
In this midst of the turmoil in Vienna, which saw the Emperor and the Imperial Diet flee to Olomouc
in Moravia, Magyars stepped up measures against Slovaks, stripping the leaders of the Slovak National Council of their Hungarian citizenship and executing a handful of prisoners. This move caused the Slovak faction to appeal more to the Imperial court and despite initial concerns of the commander-in-chief Prince Windisch-Grätz, another Slovak volunteer unit was allowed to be created. Initial recruitment problems delayed this second campaign of the volunteer units until December 4, 1848. Throughout December and January, the Slovak volunteers under Bloudek worked with Imperial troops to reoccupy Túrócszentmárton. On January 13, 1849 a mass rally in Túrócszentmárton was followed by the signing up of new volunteers. Acting with Imperial support, Bloudek moved east and, picking up another few thousand volunteers , occupied Eperjes
on February 26th and Kassa
on March 2nd. Meanwhile, another detachment of Slovaks was defeated after running into Magyar forces near Murányalja
in modern Banská Bystrica
. To make matters worse, dissension between Czech and Slovak officers in the volunteer corps began to erupt.
After leading activist rallies in Eperjes and Túrócszentmárton, Štúr and Hurban led a delegation of twenty-four men to meet the new Emperor Franz Jozef
with a proposal to make Slovakia an autonomous grand duchy directly under Viennese oversight with representation in the Imperial Diet. The delegates also requested a Slovak provincial diet, with further demands for Slovak schools and institutions. Despite a formal audience with the Emperor, little real progress resulted and the Slovaks were sent packing hoping for more productive results in the future.
After several victorious battles in Spring of 1849, Kossuth and the Hungarian Diet declared the Habsburgs deposed and formed a republic in Hungary on April 14, 1849. Around the same time, the Slovak volunteer corps, largely stationed in Árva County, was dealing with internal struggles of its own. Conflicts between Czech and Slovak officers soon brought about the effectual dissolving of the corps. After Russian intervention by Tsar Nicholas I brought about the gradual fall of Kossuth and Hungarian independence. During this period, the corps was revived one final time to 'mop-up' isolated Magyar units until the eventual capitulation of Magyar forces at Világos (what is now Şiria
in Romania) on August 13, 1849. On October 9, 1849, the Imperial army transferred the Slovak corps from the central territories of Upper Hungary to Pozsony, where it was formally disbanded on November 21, 1849. This marked the end of Slovak participation in the Revolutions of 1848-1849 that swept the continent of Europe
sum up the impacts of the uprising and the era the following way:
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
against Magyar (i.e. ethnic Hungarian) domination in Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary is the usual English translation for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia...
(present-day Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
), within the 1848-49 revolutions in the Habsburg Monarchy
Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas
From March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...
. It lasted from September 1848 to November 1849.
Background
The year 1848 is well-noted in history as a peaking moment in nationalist sentiment among European nationalitiesRevolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
. The Slovak nation, though not fully conscious of ethnicity in 1848, were certainly an important part of the general revolts occurring in the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy. After the revolutionary fervor
French Revolution of 1848
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France, the February revolution ended the Orleans monarchy and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The February Revolution was really the belated second phase of the Revolution of 1830...
left Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1848 it traveled to Vienna where a popular uprising ousted the reactionary government of Prince Klemens von Metternich on March 13, 1848. This revolutionary fervor soon spread to the Hungarian lands of the Empire. On March 15th, mass protests in Buda and Pest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
along with a proclamation of the Hungarian Diet, under direction of Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.-Family:Lajos...
, saw the Hungarian Kingdom declare itself independent of Habsburg domination.
Slovaks before 1848
Slovaks were not prominently placed in this first wave of revolution to reach Hungarian controlled lands. In fact, many Slovaks were wary of Kossuth's policy of MagyarizationMagyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
, which aimed at culturally realigning Slovaks to be Magyar in language, thought and cultural ethic. As early as 1844 some Slovaks became aware to this threat against their culture. On August 26-28, 1844, a meeting between both Catholic and Protestant confessions of Slovaks met along with other factions in Liptószentmiklós
Liptovský Mikuláš
Liptovský Mikuláš is a town in northern Slovakia, on the Váh River. It lies in the Liptov region, in Liptov Basin near the Low Tatra and Tatra mountains...
(today: Liptovský Mikuláš). This town in the Žilina Region
Žilina Region
The Žilina Region is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts .-Geography:It is located in northern Slovakia and has an area of 6,804 km² and a population of 694,763 . The whole area is mountainous, belonging to the Western Carpathians...
was the base of Slovak nationalist Michal Miloslav Hodža
Michal Miloslav Hodža
Michal Miloslav Hodža was a Slovak national revivalist, Protestant priest, poet, linguist, and representative of the Slovakian national movement in 1840's as a member of "the trinity" Štúr - Hurban - Hodža...
, uncle of future Czechoslovak
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
politician Milan Hodza
Milan Hodža
Milan Hodža was a prominent Slovak politician and journalist, serving from 1935 to 1938 as the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia and in December 1935 as the acting President of Czechoslovakia...
. The meeting, though with fewer than wished Catholic participation, formed an non-sectarian association called the Tatrin in order to unite all Slovak groups in one national bloc. Catholics later became more involved in 1847 with their acceptance of Ľudovít Štúr
Ludovít Štúr
Ľudovít Štúr , known in his era as Ludevít Velislav Štúr, was the leader of the Slovak national revival in the 19th century, the author of the Slovak language standard eventually leading to the contemporary Slovak literary language...
's standardization of the Slovak language
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
.
Ludovít Štúr
Ľudovít Štúr , known in his era as Ludevít Velislav Štúr, was the leader of the Slovak national revival in the 19th century, the author of the Slovak language standard eventually leading to the contemporary Slovak literary language...
's The Slovak National News which printed its first issue on August 1, 1845. This was quickly followed by Jozef Miloslav Hurban
Jozef Miloslav Hurban
Jozef Miloslav Hurban , pseudonyms Slavomil F. Kořennatý, Ľudovít Pavlovič, M. z Bohuslavíc, M...
's Slovak Views on the Sciences, Arts and Literature which did not have as much success as Stur's paper. Beyond the printed word, representatives of the Slovak National Movement worked among average Slovaks promoting education, Sunday schools, libraries, amateur theatre, temperance societies and other social functions. In agriculture, Samuel Jurkovic founded a credit cooperative in the village of Sobotiste, called the Farmer's Association, which was the first of its kind in Europe.
In November 1847 Ľudovít Štúr
Ludovít Štúr
Ľudovít Štúr , known in his era as Ludevít Velislav Štúr, was the leader of the Slovak national revival in the 19th century, the author of the Slovak language standard eventually leading to the contemporary Slovak literary language...
, the member of the Hungarian Diet for Zvolen, spoke before his colleagues in Bratislava. In his speech to the Diet, Štúr summed up his six-point platform involving problematic political and economic issues. His points were:
- To proclaim through the Diet the legal, universal and permanent abolishment of serfdom, achieved through a buy-out of feudal contracts with state funds at minimum expense to commoners.
- To abolish the patrimonial court and free commoners from noble control.
- To allow commoners to represent their own interests via membership in County government and the Diet.
- To free privileged towns from county jurisdiction and reorganize the administration of royally chartered towns on the principal of representation by strengthening their voting rights in the Diet.
- To abolish the privilege of nobility and make all persons equal before the courts, abolish tax exemption for nobility and inheritance, ensure commoners the right to serve in public office and ensure freedom of the press.
- To reorganize the education system in a way to best serve the needs of the people and to ensure a better livelihood for teachers.
Along with these points, of which several even met the praise of Kossuth, Štúr raised the issues about the use of the Slovak language in government and the enforcement of Magyar interference in many parts of Slovak life, including religion.
Events of 1848-1849
The years 1848-1849 were the build up and eventual execution years of the Slovak Uprising.Build up to the revolt
After the declaration of Hungary's independence in mid-March 1848, the threat of forcible Magyarization grew ever more present. In Hont County, some of this tension came to a boiling point where two Slovaks, named Janko Kral and Jan Rotarides made demands for the liquidation of serfdom and recognition of the Slovak language in schools and the government. These demands soon landed the pair in jail. On March 28th, 1848 a vast assembly of former serfs convened by Liptó County and held in Hodza's base of Liptovský Mikuláš was used as a proving ground for systematic recognition of new rights and extended rights to national minorities. This was met well and soon the word was spreading about possible new freedoms that would reach Slovaks, prompting some miners in Central Slovakia to demonstrate rowdily before being quieted by a special commissioner from Budapest.In April 1848 Štúr and Hurban left Slovakia in order to attend a preliminary Slavic meeting in Vienna, which would later provide the basis for the first Pan-Slavic Congress
Prague Slavic Congress, 1848
The Prague Slavic Congress of 1848 took place in Prague between June 2 and June 12, 1848. It was one of several times that voices from all Slav populations of Central Europe were heard in one place...
to be held in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. In the meantime, back in Liptovský Mikuláš, Hodža along with twenty delegates created a document entitled “Demands of the Slovak Nationality” which listed 14 points setting national and social goals for the Slovak nation. Naturally this document was received coldly by Budapest, which subsequently imposed martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
on Upper Hungary and issued warrants for Štúr, Hurban and Hodža on May 12, 1848. At the same time, uprisings among Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in the southern part of Hungary diverted Magyar attention to the south, as these conflicts were more armed uprisings than the Slovak one. Hurban attended a session of the Croatian Diet on July 5th, speaking to the Croats on the plight of the Slovaks. Hurban spoke so well a joint Croat-Slovak declaration was issued shortly thereafter which only inflamed Magyar opinion. When the full Pan-Slavic Congress met on June 2nd, 1848, Štúr, Hurban, Hodža and many other prominent Slovaks attended, along with hundreds of other Slavic delegates. This congress was held with the aim of developing a cohesive strategy for all Slavic peoples living in Austro-Hungarian territories. Unfortunately, the congress was cut short when an armed uprising in Prague on June 12th prompted a hurried end to the affair. However, one critical item came out of the short congress for the Slovak cause. In the congress, the Slovaks secured the help of two Czech military officers, Bedřich Bloudek
Bedřich Bloudek
Bedřich Bloudek was a Czech military leader, who participated in the Slovak Uprising in 1848.- Curriculum vitae :Bedřich Bloudek was born on 24th March 1815 in Křižanov and started a career in the Austrian Army...
and František Zach
František Zach
František Aleksandr Zach was a Czech-born soldier and military theorist, best known for being the first acting General and Chief of the General Staff to the Principality of Serbia from 1876 to 1877....
, in case the Slovaks came to armed blows with the Hungarians.
Though many calls for autonomy came from nearly every corner of the Empire, Vienna noted that at neither the Pan-Slavic conference nor other Slavic uprisings was the thought of the breakup of the Empire considered, only this was so in Hungary. Seeing the situation as malleable, the Emperor along with his closest advisors authorized armed action against the Hungarian uprising. This first manifested itself in the form of the leader of the Croatians, Ban (governor) Josip Jelačić
Josip Jelacic
Count Josip Jelačić of Bužim was the Ban of Croatia between 23 March 1848 and 19 May 1859...
, a friend of the Slovaks, who was authorized to march against the Hungarians in August 1848 after the Hungarians had defied a direct imperial order. Despite this, Vienna’s response to the Hungarian uprising had stayed largely quiet and mixed . While allowing Jelacic to march against the Magyars, they had also given the Hungarian Army several units in order to help preserve internal order. At the same time, Slovaks started working with Jelacic's Croatians by creating a Slovak volunteer corps. This corps was put together and gathered in Vienna from August to September 1848. In order to lead this burgeoning revolt, a Slovak National Council was organized in Vienna, where a marker stands today commemorating the spot. The council was made up of Štúr, Hurban and Hodža—the "big three" of the Slovak nationalist groups—with the Czech František Zach as commander-in-chief.
Revolt
Initially, the strategy for the volunteer corps was not clear. However, on September 16th a decision was made that the 600 men of the corps would march from Vienna, up the Vág RiverVáh
The Váh is the longest river in entire Slovakia. A left tributary of the Danube river, the Váh is 406 km long, including its Čierny Váh branch...
valley and into Turóc County and Liptó County Counties via the southern Moravian town of Břeclav
Breclav
Břeclav is a town in the South Moravian Region, Czech Republic, approximately 55 km southeast of Brno. It is located at the border with Lower Austria on the Dyje River. The nearest large town on Austrian territory is Hohenau an der March...
. When the corps arrived at the Slovak border on the 18th, they were met with 500 more volunteers from Brno and Prague. Once convened, the volunteers received arms and swore an oath on the Slovak flag. Despite nudging Viennese cooperation, when the volunteers encountered Imperial troops on the road to Miava
Myjava
Myjava is a town in Trenčín Region, Slovakia.-Geography:It is located in the Myjava Hills at the foothills of the White Carpathians and not far from the Little Carpathians. The river Myjava flows through the town...
they were regarded coolly by the troops .
Once the volunteers arrived in Miava, an assembly of Slovaks with Hurban presiding took the step of seceding
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
from Hungary on September 19th, 1848. Imperial troops soon ordered the Slovaks volunteers to leave Myjava, though this order was rejected and instead the corps attacked an Imperial detachment and confiscated its supplies. Despite this inauspicious act, Imperial troops ordered both sides to halt the fighting. After several more days of indecisive armed action, the volunteers retreated back into Moravia. Not long after, the new commander of Imperial forces sent to restore order in the Kingdom of Hungary, Count von Lamberg
Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg
Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg Austrian soldier and statesman, was born in Mór , Hungary. He held the military rank of Feldmarschallleutnant....
, was hacked and mangled by an irate mob in central Budapest only three days after arrival. This halted attempts at negations between Kossuth and the Imperial party. The Viennese response was to formally order the disbandment the Hungarian Diet and the appointment of Ban Josip Jelačić as newest commander over Hungary. However, effective response to this latest development was also halted by another popular, pan-Germanic uprising in Vienna at the time which resulted in the death of war minister Count Latour
Theodor Franz, Count Baillet von Latour
Count Theodor Franz Baillet von Latour was an Austrian soldier and statesman. As the Imperial Minister of War, he was killed by a mob at the beginning of the Vienna Uprising.-Biography:...
on October 6, 1848.
In this midst of the turmoil in Vienna, which saw the Emperor and the Imperial Diet flee to Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...
in Moravia, Magyars stepped up measures against Slovaks, stripping the leaders of the Slovak National Council of their Hungarian citizenship and executing a handful of prisoners. This move caused the Slovak faction to appeal more to the Imperial court and despite initial concerns of the commander-in-chief Prince Windisch-Grätz, another Slovak volunteer unit was allowed to be created. Initial recruitment problems delayed this second campaign of the volunteer units until December 4, 1848. Throughout December and January, the Slovak volunteers under Bloudek worked with Imperial troops to reoccupy Túrócszentmárton. On January 13, 1849 a mass rally in Túrócszentmárton was followed by the signing up of new volunteers. Acting with Imperial support, Bloudek moved east and, picking up another few thousand volunteers , occupied Eperjes
Prešov
Prešov Historically, the city has been known in German as Eperies , Eperjes in Hungarian, Fragopolis in Latin, Preszów in Polish, Peryeshis in Romany, Пряшев in Russian and Пряшів in Rusyn and Ukrainian.-Characteristics:The city is a showcase of Baroque, Rococo and Gothic...
on February 26th and Kassa
Košice
Košice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary...
on March 2nd. Meanwhile, another detachment of Slovaks was defeated after running into Magyar forces near Murányalja
Murán
Muráň is a village and municipality in Revúca District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia.-Geography:The village is located around 9 km north of Revúca, in the Muráň river valley. The Muráň Plateau is located north and west of the village, with the governing body of the Muránska planina...
in modern Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica is a key city in central Slovakia located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mountains. With 81,281 inhabitants, Banská Bystrica is the sixth most populous municipality in Slovakia...
. To make matters worse, dissension between Czech and Slovak officers in the volunteer corps began to erupt.
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
with a proposal to make Slovakia an autonomous grand duchy directly under Viennese oversight with representation in the Imperial Diet. The delegates also requested a Slovak provincial diet, with further demands for Slovak schools and institutions. Despite a formal audience with the Emperor, little real progress resulted and the Slovaks were sent packing hoping for more productive results in the future.
After several victorious battles in Spring of 1849, Kossuth and the Hungarian Diet declared the Habsburgs deposed and formed a republic in Hungary on April 14, 1849. Around the same time, the Slovak volunteer corps, largely stationed in Árva County, was dealing with internal struggles of its own. Conflicts between Czech and Slovak officers soon brought about the effectual dissolving of the corps. After Russian intervention by Tsar Nicholas I brought about the gradual fall of Kossuth and Hungarian independence. During this period, the corps was revived one final time to 'mop-up' isolated Magyar units until the eventual capitulation of Magyar forces at Világos (what is now Şiria
Siria
Şiria is a commune in Arad County, Romania. According to the 2002 census it had 8,140 inhabitants.The administrative territory of the commune is and it lies in the contact zone of the Arad Plateau and Zărandului Mountains...
in Romania) on August 13, 1849. On October 9, 1849, the Imperial army transferred the Slovak corps from the central territories of Upper Hungary to Pozsony, where it was formally disbanded on November 21, 1849. This marked the end of Slovak participation in the Revolutions of 1848-1849 that swept the continent of Europe
Slovak Perspective
Historians Anton Špiesz and Dušan ČaplovičDušan Čaplovič
PhD. Dušan Čaplovič, DrSc. is a Slovak politician, formerly a historian and archaeologist. He is the Deputy Prime Minister for Knowledge Society, European Affairs, Human Rights and Minorities...
sum up the impacts of the uprising and the era the following way:
See also
- Hungarian Revolution of 1848Hungarian Revolution of 1848The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was one of many of the European Revolutions of 1848 and closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas...
, for further Magyar history surrounding the Revolutions of 1848. - Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areasRevolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areasFrom March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...
, for a broader view of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg Empire. - Revolutions of 1848Revolutions of 1848The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
, for the most broad view of the European conflicts of the era in general.