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Ferenc Deák during the Vormärz Era

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2009

Béla K. Király
Béla K. Király
Affiliation:
Brooklyn College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York
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Extract

The 1840's were a decade of dynamism for Hungarian liberals. Two important developments had produced a measure of unity in the liberal camp. As the Habsburgs increased their colonial treatment of Hungary, the Hungarians attempted to counter that policy with an economic program and, simultaneously, drafted a political platform. This collision between Habsburg reactionary policy and Hungarian liberalism made it imperative that the liberals unify, clarify their ideology, and shape a political strategy. More than anything else, the liberals needed a resolute leader who could consolidate the various reform factions into a united body. Ferenc Deák was considered the figure of greatest stature among all the liberals and the natural head of the nascent liberal party. Yet he was at his most undecided stage during this prerevolutionary period of ferment.

Type
National Interests and Cosmopolitan Goals in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–1849
Information
Austrian History Yearbook , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , January 1976 , pp. 13 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Center for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota 1976

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References

1 For an account of his historical significance, see the author's Ferenc Deak (Boston, Mass.: Twayne Publishers, 1975)Google Scholar; and “The Radical Liberal Phase of Ferenc Deák's Career,” Südost-Forschungen. Vol. XXXIV (1975), pp. 195–210Google Scholar.

2 See especially Berend, Iván T. and Ránki, György, Hungary: A Century of Economic Development (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1974), pp. 24–91Google Scholar; Berend, Iván T. and Ránki, György, Economic Development in East Central Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974)Google Scholar; and Mérei, Gyula, Magyar iparfejlo′dés 1790–1848 [The Evolution of Hungarian Industry, 1790–1848] (Budapest: Közoktatásügyi Kiadóvállalat, 1951), pp. 3–5, 45, 157, 160–164, 218–219, 228–231, 240–243, and 261–271Google Scholar.

3 Mérei, Magyar iparfejlődes 1790–1848, pp. 253–254, 265–266, 311, and 378.

4 Molnár, Erik (ed.), Magyarország története [History of Hungary] (2nd ed., 2 vols., Budapest: Gondolat Könyvkiadó, 1967), Vol. I, p. 459Google Scholar; Madarász, József, Emlékirataim 1831–1881 [My Memoirs, 1831–1881] (Budapest: Franklin-Társulat, 1883), p. 97Google Scholar; Mérei, Magyar iparfejlődés 1790–1848, pp. 253–254 and 378.

5 Kónyi, Manó (ed.), Deák Ferenc beszédei [The Speeches of Ferenc Deák] (6 vols., Budapest: Franklin-Társulat, 1903), Vol. II, p. 62Google Scholar; Horváth, Zoltán, Teleki Lászlo 1810–1861 [Lászl´ Teleki, 1810–1861] (2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1964), Vol. I, pp. 121–170Google Scholar; Mérei, Magyar iparfejlödés 1790–1848, pp. 254, 290, and 293.

6 See Deák's speech at Zalaszentgróth on February 9, 1845, Kónyi, , Deák Ferenc beszédei, Vol. II, pp. 64–67Google Scholar.

7 It should be noted, however, that István Széchenyi, fearing that Kossuth's new venture would offend the sensibilities of the court in Vienna and produce harmful repercussions, opposed the association.

8 Kónyi, , Deák Ferenc beszédei, Vol. II, p. 63Google Scholar.

9 Deák's speech at Zalaszentgróth on February 9, 1845, ibid., p. 64.

10 Ibid., p. 65.

11 Ibid., p. 66.

12 Király, Ferenc Deák, pp. 105–116.

13 Baron József Eötvös (1813–1871), statesman, poet, political writer, and leading theoretician of Hungarian liberalism, was minister of public education and worship in 1848 and from 1867 to 1871 and the framer of the Hungarian Public Education and Equality of the Nationalities acts. Baron Zsigmond Kemény (1814–1875), a writer and statesman, was editor of Pesti Napló (Pest Diary), the leading liberal daily. László Szalay (1813–1864), a historian and statesman, was head of the codification department of the ministry of justice under Deák (1848) and one of Deák's staunchest supporters after 1861. Ágoston Trefort (1817–1888) was a legislator and state secretary in the ministry of agriculture, industry, and trade between 1876 and 1878. Móric Lukács (1812–1881) was a well-known journalist. Antal Csengery (1822–1880), a legislator, journalist, and economist, was Deák's closest associate in preparing the Compromise of 1867.

14 Molnár, , Magyarország története, Vol. I, p. 474Google Scholar. See also Bődy, Paul, Joseph Eötvös and the Modernization of Hungary, 1840–1870: A Study of Ideas of Individuality and Social Pluralism in Modern Politics. In Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. LXII, Pt. 2 (Philadelphia, Pa.: American Philosophical Society, 1972), pp. 38–43Google Scholar.

15 Mihály Táncsics (1799–1884), the son of a serf, a journalist, and a Utopian Socialist publicist, was jailed during the Vormärzera for committing various press offenses. He was a member of the first popularly elected Hungarian parliament (1848–1849), the editor of Munkások Újsága (Laborers' Journal), a member of parliament between 1869 and 1872, an opponent of dualism, and president (1869–1870) of the General Association of Laborers (Általános Munkásegylet), which formed the nucleus of the Social Democratic movement in Hungary.

16 Sándor Petőfi (1823–1849) was a prominent poet and leader of the Young Hungarian group of radical young intellectuals. Subsequently he became General Józef Bern's aidede-camp in the revolutionary war of 1848–1849. He was killed in action while fighting the Russians.

17 Molnár, , Magyarország töriénete, Vol. I, p. 477Google Scholar.

18 Ferenczi, Zoltán, Deák élete [The Life of Deák] (3 vols., Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1904). Vol. I, p. 419Google Scholar; Madarász, Emlékirataim 1831–1881, pp. 92–95.

19 Ferenczi, , Deák élete. Vol. I, p. 413Google Scholar.

20 On Deák's “radicalism,” see my article on “The Radical Phase of Ferenc Deák's Career,” pp. 195–210.

21 Deák, to Kossuth, , Kehedi, , November, 1845, Deák Ferenc emlékezete, levelek, 1822–1875 [In Memory of Ferenc Deák: Correspondence, 1822–1875] (Budapest: Ráth Mór, 1890), p. 164Google Scholar.

22 Ibid., pp. 165–170.

23 Ferenczi, , Deák élete, Vol. II, p. 19Google Scholar.

24 Ibid., p. 32.

25 Molnár, , Magyarország története, Vol. I, p. 474Google Scholar.

26 The Galician insurrection was sparked by the publication of the Manifesto of the National Government of the Republic of Cracow on February 22, 1846. See Kieniewicz, Stefan, The Emancipation of the Polish Peasantry (Chicago, III.: University of Chicago Press, 1969), Appendix E, pp. 253–254CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

27 Ferenczi, , Deák élete, Vol. II, p. 38Google Scholar.

28 Count Kázmér Batthyány (1807–1854) was the leader of the liberal opposition in the upper house of parliament after 1839 and chairman of the Protection Association (Védegylet). He voluntarily emancipated and educated many of his serfs. In 1848–1849 he was foreign minister in Kossuth's government. He went into exile in 1849 and died in Paris.

29 The urbarium, which was issued by Maria Theresa in 1767, regulated the duties and specified the rights of the serfs. The diet of 1790–1791 approved it in the form of a temporary law, which was subsequently reenacted by each new diet. It remained in force until the serfs were emancipated by the April Laws of 1848.

30 Count Lajos Batthyány (1806–1849) was a leader of the liberal opposition in the upper house and prime minister in 1848. He was executed by a Habsburg military tribunal on October 6, 1849.

31 Ferenc Pulszky (1814–1897), art historian, statesman, member of the youth group in the diet of 1832–1836, and state secretary in the ministry of finance in 1848, went into exile after the suppression of the revolution. After 1866 he became a member of parliament. Count László Teleki (1811–1861) was a radical reformer and ambassador to Paris in 1848–1849. Together with Kossuth and General György Klapka, he founded the émigré Hungarian National Directorate (Magyar Nemzeti Igazgatóság). He was a leader of the Resolution Party (1861). Bertalan Szemere (1812–1869) was minister of interior in 1848 and prime minister in 1849.

32 Molnár, , Magyarország történele, Vol. I, p. 475Google Scholar. See also Madarász, Emlékiraiaim 1831–1881, pp. 97–99.

33 Ferenczi, , Deák élele, Vol. II, p. 43Google Scholar.

34 From May 25 to mid-August, 1847, Deák went to various health resorts in Germany and Switzerland in the company of his physicians, Drs. Wurda and Attomyr, but what most engaged his attention during the tour was a meeting with Prof. Karl Joseph Anton Mittermaier, the leading contemporary expert on criminal law.

35 As Zsigmond Kemény commented later: “Deák composed the declaration from other people's papers with such eclecticism that it satisfied every faction.” See Kónyi, , Deák Ferenc beszédei. Vol. II, p. 162Google Scholar.

36 Unless otherwise noted, all the following quotations are from Deák's draft, the full text of which can be found in ibid., pp. 163–168.

37 Corpus juris hungarici editio millenaria memorabilis (Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1902), p. 159Google Scholar.

38 Molnár, , Magyarország története, Vol. II, p. 476Google Scholar.