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István Széchenyi, Miklós Wesselényi, Lajos Kossuth and the Problem of Romanian Nationalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2009

Istvan Deak
Istvan Deak
Affiliation:
Columbia University
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Extract

It is no secret that during the first half of the nineteenth century Hungarian nationalism changed from quiescence to fierce agitation, from relative indifference to extreme preoccupation, from an aristocratic prerogative to a mass movement, and from a disregard of the lower classes to a sincere endeavor to make everyone who lived in the lands of the Crown of St. Stephen happy. Among the most conspicuous promoters of this modern, aggressive nationalism were István Széchenyi, Miklós Wesselényi, and Lajos Kossuth. All three nurtured identical hopes for the future of the nation, but they advocated very different methods for attaining the fulfillment of these expectations. They were contemporaries or near-contemporaries; yet their successive rise and decline reflected important shifts in the evolution of Hungarian nationalism as it gradually moved into an all-encompassing doctrine requiring total personal commitment and integration.

Type
National Interests and Cosmopolitan Goals in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–1849
Information
Austrian History Yearbook , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , January 1976 , pp. 69 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © Center for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota 1976

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References

1 Barany, George, “The Awakening of Magyar Nationalism before 1848,” Austrian History Yearbook, Vol. II (1966), p. 20.Google Scholar

2 Fényes, Elek, Magyarország statisztikája [Statistics of Hungary] (3 vols., Pest: Trattner Károly tulajdona, 1842–1843), Vol. 1, pp. 64 and 118.Google Scholar

3 Kossuth, Lajos, “Bánat és gondolkodás” [Thoughts and Sorrow], Pesti Hirlap, 1842, No. 183. Reprinted in Ferenc Kossuth (ed.), Kossuth Lajos Hirlapi czikkei [The Newspaper Articles of Lajos Kossuth] (2 vols., Budapest: Athenacum, 1906–11), Vol. 11. p. 411.Google Scholar

4 From Kossuth's speech in the diet on December 11, 1847, as reprinted in Barta, István (ed.), Kossuth Lajos az utolsó rendi országgyülésen [Lajos Kossuth at the Last Estates Parliament] (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1951), p. 382.Google Scholar