View source for Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire

{{Short description|Set of revolutions in 1848 and 1849}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title = Austrian Revolutions
| subtitle =
| partof = the [[Revolutions of 1848]]
| image = Praha Barricades 1848.jpg
| caption = Barricades in [[Prague]] during the revolutionary events.
| date = 13 March 1848 – November 1849
| place = {{flag|Austrian Empire}}
| coordinates =
| causes = *Economic recession and food shortages
*Peasant uprisings over land rights
*Rise of [[liberalism|liberal]], [[nationalism|nationalist]] and [[left-wing politics|left-wing]] political ideas
| goals = *End of [[absolute monarchy]]
*[[Representative democracy]]
*[[Decentralization]] and [[independence]]
*[[Land reform]]
| methods =
| status =
| result = Counterrevolutionary victory
*Abdication of [[Ferdinand I of Austria|Ferdinand I]]
*Abolition of [[serfdom]]
*Cancellation of [[censorship]]
| side1 = '''Revolutionaries'''
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_Germany_(3-2_aspect_ratio).svg}} [[German Empire (1848–1849)|German Empire]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_Hungary_with_great_coat_of_arms_(1849).svg}} [[Hungarian State]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of San Marco.svg}} [[Republic of San Marco]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_Italy_with_inscription_«Italia_libera_Dio_lo_vuole».svg}} [[Five Days of Milan|Provisional Government of Milan]]
*{{flagdeco|Poland|1919}} [[Polish National Committee (1848)|Polish National Committee]]
* [[Romanians]] in [[Transylvania]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_Ukraine.svg}} [[Supreme Ruthenian Council]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Yugoslavia (1918–1941).svg}} [[Prague Slavic Congress, 1848|Prague Slavic Congress]]
| side2 = {{flag|Austrian Empire}}
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_Hungary_(1848-1849,_1867-1869).svg}} [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)|Kingdom of Hungary]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Triune_Kingdom_of_Croatia,_Slavonia_and_Dalmatia.svg}} [[Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)|Kingdom of Croatia]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_Bohemia.svg}} [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown (1648–1867)|Kingdom of Bohemia]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Kingdom_of_Lombardy–Venetia.svg}} [[Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Galicia and Lodomeria (1849-1890).svg}} [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]]
*{{flagicon image|Slovak_Flag_(1848).svg}} [[Slovak National Council (1848–49)|Slovak National Council]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_Serbian_Vojvodina.svg}} [[Serbian Vojvodina]]
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The '''Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire''' were a set of revolutions that took place in the [[Austrian Empire]] from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a [[nationalism|nationalist]] character: the Empire, ruled from [[Vienna]], included ethnic [[Germans]], [[Hungarians]], [[Polish people|Poles]], Bohemians ([[Czechs]]), [[Ruthenians]] ([[Ukrainians]]), [[Slovenes]], [[Slovaks]], [[Romanians]], [[Croats]], [[Italians]], and [[Serbs]]; all of whom attempted in the course of the revolution to either achieve [[autonomy]], [[independence]], or even [[hegemony]] over other nationalities. The nationalist picture was further complicated by the [[German revolutions of 1848–49|simultaneous events in the German states]], which moved toward greater German national unity.
Besides these [[Nationalism|nationalists]], [[liberalism|liberal]], and even [[socialism|socialist]] currents resisted the Empire's longstanding [[conservatism]].
==Background==
The [[revolutions of 1848|events of 1848]] were the product of mounting social and political tensions after the [[Congress of Vienna]] of 1815.  During the "pre-March" period, the already conservative Austrian Empire moved further away from ideas of the [[Age of Enlightenment]], restricted freedom of the press, limited many university activities, and banned fraternities.
===Social and political conflict===
[[File:Metternich (c. 1835-40).jpg|thumb|left|[[Klemens von Metternich|Metternich]] in the 1840s]]
Conflicts between [[debtor]]s and [[creditor]]s in [[Agriculture in Austria|agricultural]] production as well as over land use rights in parts of Hungary led to conflicts that occasionally erupted into violence. Conflict over organized religion was pervasive in pre-1848 Europe.{{Citation needed|date=March 2007}} Tension came both from within [[Roman Catholicism in Hungary|Catholicism]] and between members of different confessions. These conflicts were often mixed with conflict with the state. Important for the revolutionaries were state conflicts including the armed forces and collection of taxes.<!-- That last sentence is very confusing--> As 1848 approached, the revolutions the Empire crushed to maintain longstanding conservative minister [[Klemens Wenzel von Metternich]]'s [[Concert of Europe]] left the empire nearly bankrupt and in continual need of soldiers.{{Citation needed|date=March 2007}} Draft commissions led to brawls between soldiers and civilians. All of this further agitated the peasantry, who resented their remaining [[feudalism|feudal]] obligations.
Despite lack of freedom of the press and association, there was a flourishing liberal German culture among students and those educated in German universities.{{Citation needed|date=March 2007}}  They published pamphlets and newspapers discussing education and language; the need for basic liberal reforms was assumed.  These middle class liberals largely understood and accepted that forced labor is not efficient, and that the Empire should adopt a wage labor system. The question was how to institute such reforms.
Notable liberal clubs of the time in Vienna included the [[Legal-Political Reading Club]] (established 1842) and [[Concordia Society]] (1840). They, like the Lower Austrian Manufacturers' Association (1840) were part of a culture that criticized Metternich's government from the city's [[coffeehouse]]s, salons, and even stages, but prior to 1848 their demands had not even extended to [[constitutionalism]] or [[freedom of assembly]], let alone [[republicanism]]. They had merely advocated relaxed censorship, [[freedom of religion]], economic freedoms, and, above all, a more competent administration. They were opposed to outright [[popular sovereignty]] and the [[universal franchise]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bidelux|Jeffries|1998|pp=315–316}}</ref>
More to the [[left-wing politics|left]] was a radicalized, impoverished [[intelligentsia]]. Educational opportunities in 1840s Austria had far outstripped employment opportunities for the educated.<ref>{{harvnb|Bidelux|Jeffries|1998|p=316}}</ref>
=== Industrial revolution ===
The [[Industrial Revolution|industrial revolution]], which spread to Austria in the 1840s, has been cited as a key factor leading up to the 1848 revolution, and argued to be a far greater contributor than intellectual developments in the 19th century. The industrial revolution had hurt small businesses and brought poor working conditions, which made ordinary citizens - namely the middle and lower classes - more receptive to revolutionary thought.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rath |first=R. John |date=1953 |title=The Failure of an Ideal: The Viennese Revolution of 1848 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42865707 |journal=The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=3–20 |jstor=42865707 |issn=0276-1742}}</ref>
===Direct cause of the outbreak of violence===
In 1845, [[potato blight]] arrived in Belgium from North America, thus starting the [[Hungry Forties]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rte.ie/history/the-great-irish-famine/2022/0127/1276178-the-hungry-forties-in-europe | title=Between two worlds: The Hungry Forties in Europe | website=[[RTÉ.ie]] | date=27 January 2022 }}</ref> As the disease quickly spread throughout Europe, the major calorie source for the poorer population failed and food prices soared. In 1846 there had been an uprising of [[Szlachta|Polish nobility]] in Austrian [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Galicia]], which was only countered when peasants, in turn, rose up against the nobles.<ref>{{harvnb|Bidelux|Jeffries|1998|pp=295–296}}</ref> The economic crisis of 1845–47 was marked by recession and food shortages throughout the continent.  At the end of February 1848, [[French Revolution of 1848|demonstrations broke out in Paris]]. [[Louis Philippe I|Louis Philippe of France]] abdicated the throne, prompting similar revolts throughout the continent.
==Revolution in the Austrian lands==
===An early victory leads to tension===
[[File:1848 vienna students.jpg|thumb|250px|The Viennese students [[Academic Legion (Vienna)|Academic Legion]] played a key role in toppling Metternich's government and precipitating his retirement on 13 March 1848.]]
After news broke of the February victories in Paris, uprisings occurred throughout Europe, including in [[Vienna]], where the [[Diet (assembly)|Diet (parliament)]] of [[Lower Austria]] at [[Palais Niederösterreich|Niederösterreichisches Landeshaus (Estates House of Lower Austria)]] in March demanded the resignation of [[Klemens von Metternich|Prince Metternich]], the conservative State Chancellor and Foreign Minister. With no forces rallying to Metternich's defense, nor word from [[Ferdinand I of Austria]] to the contrary, he resigned on 13 March.<ref>{{harvnb|Bidelux|Jeffries|1998|p=298}}</ref> Metternich fled to London,<ref>{{harvnb|Schwarzschild|1947|p=174}}: "Metternich, like Louis Philippe, fled to London"</ref> and Ferdinand appointed new, nominally liberal, ministers. By November, the Austrian Empire saw several short-lived liberal governments under five successive [[List of minister-presidents of Austria|minister-presidents of Austria]]: [[Franz Anton von Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky|Count Kolowrat]] (17 March–4 April), [[Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont|Count Ficquelmont]] (4 April–3 May), [[Baron Franz von Pillersdorf|Baron Pillersdorf]] (3 May–8 July), [[Baron Anton von Doblhoff-Dier|Baron Doblhoff-Dier]] (8 July–18 July) and [[Baron Johann von Wessenberg-Ampringen|Baron Wessenberg]] (19 July–20 November).<ref>{{harvnb|Bidelux|Jeffries|1998|p=314}}</ref>
The established order collapsed rapidly because of the weakness of the Austrian armies. [[Joseph Radetzky von Radetz|Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky]] was unable to keep his soldiers fighting [[Republic of San Marco|Venetian]] and [[Five Days of Milan|Milanese insurgents]] in [[Lombardy-Venetia]], and instead had to order the remaining troops to evacuate.
Social and political conflict as well as inter and intra confessional hostility momentarily subsided as much of the continent rejoiced in the liberal victories. Mass political organizations and public participation in government became widespread.
[[File:Ferdinando I d'Austria.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Photograph of the aged Ferdinand dated circa 1870|Photograph of the aged Ferdinand dated circa 1870]]
However, liberal ministers were unable to establish central authority.  Provisional governments in [[Republic of San Marco|Venice]] and [[Milan]] quickly expressed a desire to be part of an Italian confederacy of states; but for the Venetian government this lasted only five days, after the 1848 armistice between Austria and [[Kingdom of Sardinia|Piedmont]]. A new Hungarian government in [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]] announced its intentions to break away from the Empire and elect Ferdinand its King, and a Polish National Committee announced the same for the [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]].
===Social and political tensions after the "Springtime of Peoples"===
The victory of the party of movement was looked at as an opportunity for lower classes to renew old conflicts with greater anger and energy.  Several tax boycotts and attempted murders of tax collectors occurred in [[Vienna]].  Assaults against soldiers were common, including against Radetzky's troops retreating from [[Milan]].  The archbishop of Vienna was forced to flee, and in Graz, the convent of the Jesuits was destroyed.
The demands of nationalism and its contradictions became apparent as new national governments began declaring power and unity.  [[Charles Albert of Sardinia]], King of Piedmont-Savoy, initiated a nationalist war on March 23 in the Austrian held northern Italian provinces that would consume the attention of the entire peninsula.  The German nationalist movement faced the question of whether or not Austria should be included in the united German state, a quandary that divided the [[Frankfurt Parliament|Frankfurt National Assembly]]. The liberal ministers in Vienna were willing to allow elections for the German National Assembly in some of the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] lands, but it was undetermined which Habsburg territories would participate. Hungary and Galicia were clearly not German; German nationalists (who dominated the Bohemian Diet<ref>{{harvnb|Bidelux|Jeffries|1998|p=310}}</ref>) felt the [[Czech lands|old crown lands]] rightfully belonged to a united German state, despite the fact that the majority of the people of [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]] spoke [[Czech language|Czech]] — a [[Slavic languages|Slavic language]]. Czech nationalists viewed the language as far more significant, calling for a boycott of the [[Frankfurt Parliament]] elections in Bohemia, Moravia, and neighboring [[Austrian Silesia]] (also partly Czech-speaking). Tensions in [[Prague]] between German and Czech nationalists grew quickly between April and May. After the abolition of serfdom on April 17, [[Supreme Ruthenian Council]] was established in [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] to promote the unification of [[Ukrainians|ethnic Ukrainian]] lands of Eastern Galicia, [[Zakarpattia Oblast|Transcarpathia]] and [[Bukovina]] in one province. [[Ukrainian language]] department was opened in [[Lviv University]], and the first Ukrainian newspaper ''Zoria Halytska'' started publishing in Lviv on May 15, 1848. On July 1, serfdom was also abolished in Bukovina.
[[File:Barricade bei der Universität am 26ten Mai 1848 in Wien.jpg|thumb|250px|Vienna in May 1848]]
By early summer, conservative regimes had been overthrown, new freedoms (including freedom of the press and freedom of association) had been introduced, and multiple nationalist claims had been exerted.  New parliaments quickly held elections with broad franchise to create constituent assemblies, which would write new constitutions.  The elections that were held produced unexpected results.  The new voters, naïve and confused by their new political power, typically elected conservative or moderately liberal representatives.  The radicals, the ones who supported the broadest franchise, lost under the system they advocated because they were not the locally influential and affluent men. The mixed results led to confrontations similar to the [[June Days Uprising|"June Days" uprising]] in Paris. Additionally, these constituent assemblies were charged with the impossible task of managing both the needs of the people of the state and determining what that state physically is at the same time.  The Austrian Constituent Assembly was divided into a Czech faction, a German faction, and a Polish faction, and within each faction was the political left-right spectrum.  Outside the Assembly, petitions, newspapers, mass demonstrations, and political clubs put pressure on their new governments and often expressed violently many of the debates that were occurring within the assembly itself.
The Czechs held a [[Prague Slavic Congress, 1848|Pan-Slavic congress]] in [[Prague]] between June 2 and June 12, 1848. It was primarily composed of [[Austroslavism|Austroslavs]] who wanted greater freedom within the Empire, but their status as peasants and [[Proletariat|proletarians]] surrounded by a German middle class doomed their autonomy {{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}. They also disliked the prospect of annexation of Bohemia to a German Empire.
===Counterrevolution===
[[Image:Franzjosef.jpg|200px|thumb|A young Emperor Franz Joseph]]
Insurgents quickly lost in street fighting to King Ferdinand's troops led by [[Joseph Radetzky von Radetz|General Radetzky]], prompting several liberal government ministers to resign in protest.  Ferdinand, now restored to power in [[Vienna]], appointed conservatives in their places.  These actions were a considerable blow to the revolutionaries, and by August most of northern Italy was under Radetzky's control.
In [[Bohemia]], the leaders of both the German and Czech nationalist movements were both constitutional monarchists, loyal to the Habsburg Emperor.  Only a few days after the Emperor reconquered northern Italy, [[Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz]] took provocative measures in [[Prague]] to prompt [[Prague Uprising of 1848|street fighting]].  Once the barricades went up, he led Habsburg troops to crush the insurgents.  After having taken back the city, he imposed martial law, ordered the Prague National Committee dissolved, and sent delegates to the [[Prague Slavic Congress, 1848|"Pan-Slavic" Congress]] home.  These events were applauded by German nationalists, who failed to understand that the Habsburg military would crush their own national movement as well.
Attention then turned to Hungary. War in Hungary again threatened imperial rule and prompted Emperor Ferdinand and his court to once more flee Vienna.  Viennese radicals welcomed the arrival of Hungarian troops as the only force able to stand up against the court and ministry.  The radicals took control of the city for only a short period of time.  Windisch-Grätz led soldiers from [[Prussia]] to quickly defeat the insurgents.  Windisch-Grätz restored imperial authority to the city.  The reconquering of Vienna was seen as a defeat over German nationalism.  At this point, Ferdinand I named the noble [[Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg]] head of government. Schwarzenberg, a consummate statesman, persuaded the feeble-minded Ferdinand to abdicate the throne to his 18-year-old nephew, [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph]].  Parliamentarians continued to debate, but had no authority on state policy.
Both the Czech and Italian revolutions were defeated by the Habsburgs. Prague was the first victory of counter-revolution in the Austrian Empire.
[[Lombardy-Venetia]] was quickly brought back under Austrian rule in the mainland, even because popular support for the revolution vanished: revolutionary ideals were often limited to part of middle and upper classes, which failed both to gain "hearts and minds" of lower classes and to convince the population about [[Italian nationalism]]. Most part of lower classes indeed were quite indifferent, and actually most part of Lombard and Venetian troops remained loyal.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://rassegnastampa.unipi.it/rassegna/archivio/2010/12/08SID3079.PDF |title=The Italians who stayed loyal to the Habsburgs, Gilberto Oneto, 8th December 2010 |access-date=2015-08-03 |archive-date=2020-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200816112547/http://rassegnastampa.unipi.it/rassegna/archivio/2010/12/08SID3079.PDF }}</ref> The only widespread support to the revolution was in the cities of [[Milan]] and [[Venice]], with [[Republic of San Marco#Return to Austrian control|the Republic of San Marco lasting under siege until 28th of August, 1849]].
==Revolution in the Kingdom of Hungary==
{{Main|Hungarian Revolution of 1848}}
The Hungarian Diet was reconvened in 1825 to handle financial needs. A liberal party emerged in the Diet. The party focused on providing for the peasantry in mostly symbolic ways because of their inability to understand the needs of the laborers. [[Lajos Kossuth]] emerged as the leader of the lower gentry in the Diet.
[[File:Nagysallói ütközet Than.jpg|thumb|250px|Hungarian rebels in battle during the Hungarian Revolution]]
In 1848, news of the outbreak of revolution in Paris arrived as a new national cabinet took power under Kossuth, and the Diet approved a sweeping reform package, referred to as the "[[April laws]]" (also "March laws"), that changed almost every aspect of Hungary's economic, social, and political life: (The [[April laws]] based on the 12 points:
*Freedom of the Press (The abolition of censure and the censor's offices)
*Accountable ministries in Buda and Pest (Instead of the simple royal appointment of ministers, all ministers and the government must be elected and dismissed by the parliament)
*An annual parliamentary session in Pest. (instead of the rare ad-hoc sessions which was convoked by the king)
*Civil and religious equality before the law. (The abolition of separate laws for the common people and nobility, the abolition of the legal privileges of nobility. Full religious liberty instead of moderated tolerance: the abolition of (Catholic) [[state religion]])
*National Guard. (The forming of their own Hungarian national guard, it worked like a police force to keep the law and order during the transition of the system, thus preserving the morality of the revolution)
*Joint share of tax burdens. (abolition of the tax exemption of  the nobility, the abolition of customs and tariff exemption of the nobility)
*The abolition of socage. (abolition of Feudalism and abolition of the serfdom of peasantry and their bondservices)
*Juries and representation on an equal basis. (The common people can be elected as juries at the legal courts, all people can be officials even on the highest levels of the public administration and judicature, if they have the prescribed education)
*National Bank.
*The army to swear to support the constitution, our soldiers should not be sent to abroad, and foreign soldiers should leave our country.
*The freeing of political prisoners.
*Union with [[Principality of Transylvania (1711–1867)|Transylvania]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://marcius15.kormany.hu/a-12-pont-tortenete-2012|title=március15|website=marcius15.kormany.hu|access-date=2018-03-16|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917073048/http://marcius15.kormany.hu/a-12-pont-tortenete-2012|archive-date=2017-09-17}}</ref>
In April 1848, [[Hungary]] became the third country of [[Continental Europe]] (after [[France]], in 1791, and [[Belgium]], in 1831) to enact a law implementing democratic parliamentary elections.
The new suffrage law (Act V of 1848) transformed the old feudal parliament ([[The Estates|Estates General]]) into a democratic representative parliament. This law offered the widest right to vote in Europe at the time.<ref>prof. András Gerő (2014): Nationalities and the Hungarian Parliament (1867–1918) Link:[http://www.geroandras.hu/2014_Nationalities_and_the_Hungarian_Parliament.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425200559/http://www.geroandras.hu/2014_Nationalities_and_the_Hungarian_Parliament.pdf|date=2019-04-25}}</ref> The April laws utterly erased all privileges of the Hungarian nobility.<ref>{{cite book|author=Chris Thornhill|title=A Sociology of Constitutions.Constitutions and State Legitimacy in Historical-Sociological Perspective|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2011|page=245|isbn=978-1-139-49580-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNdH4VRGR5kC&dq=%22april%20laws%22%20%22nobility%20privileges&pg=PA245}}</ref>
These demands were not easy for the imperial court to accept, however, its weak position provided little choice. One of the first tasks of the Diet was abolishing serfdom, which was announced on March 18, 1848.
The Hungarian government set limits on the political activity of both the [[Croats|Croatian]]  and  [[Romanians|Romanian]] national movements.  Croats and Romanians had their own desires for self-rule and saw no benefit in replacing one central government for another. Armed clashes between the Hungarians and the [[Croats]], [[Romanians]], [[Serbs]], along one border and [[Slovaks]] on the other ensued. In some cases, this was a continuation and an escalation of previous tensions, such as the 1845 [[July victims]] in Croatia.
The [[Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)|Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia]] and the [[Kingdom of Slavonia]] severed relations with the new Hungarian government in Pest and devoted itself to the imperial cause. Conservative [[Josip Jelačić]], who was appointed the new [[ban (title)|ban]] of Croatia-Slavonia in March by the imperial court, was removed from his position by the constitutional monarchist Hungarian government.  He refused to give up his authority in the name of the monarch.  Thus, there were two governments in Hungary issuing contradictory orders in the name of Ferdinand von Habsburg.<ref>{{harvnb|Sperber|2005|p=143}}</ref>
[[File:Capitulaton of Hungarian Army at Világos 1849.png|250px|thumb|right|Capitulation of Hungarian Army at Világos, 1849]]
Aware that they were on the path to civil war in mid-1848, the Hungarian government ministers attempted to gain Habsburg support against Jelačić by offering to send troops to northern Italy.  Additionally, they attempted to come to terms with Jelačić himself, but he insisted on the recentralization of Habsburg authority as a pre-condition to any talks.  By the end of August, the imperial government in [[Vienna]] officially ordered the Hungarian government in Pest to end plans for a Hungarian army. Jelačić then took military action against the Hungarian government without any official order.
[[May Assembly|The national assembly of the Serbs in Austrian Empire]] was held between 1 and 3 May 1848 in [[Sremski Karlovci]], during which the Serbs proclaimed autonomous Habsburg crownland of [[Serbian Vojvodina]]. The war started, leading to clashes as such in [[Srbobran]], where on July 14, 1848, the first siege of the town by Hungarian forces began under Baron Fülöp Berchtold. The army was forced to retreat due to a strong Serbian defense. With war raging on three fronts (against [[Romanians]] and Serbs in [[Banat]] and Bačka, and [[Romanians]] in [[Transylvania]]), Hungarian radicals in Pest saw this as an opportunity.  Parliament made concessions to the radicals in September rather than let the events erupt into violent confrontations.  Shortly thereafter, the final break between Vienna and Pest occurred when Field Marshal [[Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg]] was given control of all armies in Hungary (including Jelačić's). In response to Lamberg being attacked on arrival in Hungary a few days later, the imperial court ordered the Hungarian parliament and government dissolved.  Jelačić was appointed to take Lamberg's place.  War between Austria and Hungary had officially begun.
The war led to the [[Vienna Rebellion|October Crisis]] in Vienna, when insurgents attacked a garrison on its way to Hungary to support Croatian forces under Jelačić.
After Vienna was recaptured by imperial forces, General Windischgrätz and 70,000 troops were sent to Hungary to crush the Hungarian revolution and as they advanced the Hungarian government evacuated Pest. However the Austrian army had to retreat after heavy defeats in the Spring Campaign of the Hungarian Army from March to May 1849. Instead of pursuing the Austrian army, the Hungarians stopped to retake the Fort of Buda and prepared defenses. In June 1849 Russian and Austrian troops entered Hungary heavily outnumbering the Hungarian army. Kossuth abdicated on August 11, 1849, in favour of [[Artúr Görgey]], who he thought was the only general who was capable of saving the nation.
However, in May 1849, Czar Nicholas I pledged to redouble his efforts against the Hungarian Government. He and Emperor Franz Joseph started to regather and rearm an army to be commanded by Anton Vogl, the Austrian lieutenant-field-marshal.{{sfn|Marx|Engels|p=618}}{{Failed verification|date=August 2022}} The Czar was also preparing to send 30,000 Russian soldiers back over the Eastern Carpathian Mountains from Poland.
On August 13,  after several bitter defeats in a hopeless situation Görgey, signed a [[surrender at Világos]] (now [[Şiria, Romania]]) to the Russians, who handed the army over to the Austrians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history/3822491.html|title=Hungary's War of Independence|first=János B.|last=Szabó|work=historynet.com|date=5 September 2006|access-date=2 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401053017/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history/3822491.html|archive-date=1 April 2008}}</ref>
===Slovak Uprising===
{{Main|Slovak Uprising 1848-1849}}
[[File:Rozpustenie slovenských dobrovoľníkov.jpg|300px|thumb|Slovak Volunteer Corps.]]
Slovak Uprising was an uprising of [[Slovaks]] against [[Hungarians|Magyar]] (i.e. ethnic Hungarian) domination in the Western parts<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Mikuláš Teich]] |author2=Dušan Kováč |author3=Martin D. Brown |title=Slovakia in History|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2011|page=126|isbn=978-1-139-49494-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrC1HFgjJxsC&q=%22%28mainly+in+western+slovakia%29%22&pg=PA126}}</ref> of [[Upper Hungary]] (present-day [[Western Slovakia]]), within the 1848/49 revolution in the Habsburg Monarchy. It lasted from September 1848 to November 1849. During this period Slovak patriots established the [[Slovak National Council (1848–1849)|Slovak National Council]] as their political representation and military units known as the Slovak Volunteer Corps.
The political, social and national requirements of the Slovak movement were declared in the document entitled "Demands of the Slovak Nation" from April 1848.
===Serb Revolution of 1848–1849===
{{Main article|Serb uprising of 1848-49}}
The [[Serb uprising of 1848–49|Serb Revolution of 1848]] was an uprising of Serbs living in [[Délvidék]] against [[Kingdom of Hungary|Magyar]] domination. The majority of the Serbs there sided with the Austrians. However, there were also some exceptions, e.g. General [[János Damjanich]] of the [[Hungarian Revolutionary Army]].
==The Second Wave of Revolutions==
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2022}}
Revolutionary movements of 1849 faced an additional challenge: to work together to defeat a common enemy.  Previously, national identity allowed Habsburg forces to conquer revolutionary governments by playing them off one another.  New democratic initiatives in Italy in the spring of 1848{{When|date=September 2009}} led to a renewed conflict with Austrian forces in the provinces of Lombardy and Venetia.  At the very first anniversary of the first barricades in Vienna, German and Czech democrats in Bohemia agreed to put mutual hostilities aside and work together on revolutionary planning.  Hungarians faced the greatest challenge of overcoming the divisions of the previous year, as the fighting there had been the most bitter.  Despite this, the Hungarian government hired a new commander and attempted to unite with Romanian democrat [[Avram Iancu]], who was known as ''Crăişorul Munţilor'' ("The Prince of the Mountains").  However, division and mistrust were too severe.
Three days after the start of hostilities in Italy, [[Charles Albert of Sardinia]] abdicated the throne of Piedmont-Savoy, essentially ending the Piedmontese return to war.  Renewed military conflicts cost the Empire the little that remained of its finances.  Another challenge to Habsburg authority came from Germany and the question of either "big Germany" (united Germany led by Austria) or "little Germany" (united Germany led by Prussia).  The Frankfurt National Assembly proposed a constitution with [[Frederick William IV of Prussia|Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia]] as monarch of a united federal Germany composed of only 'German' lands. This would have led to the relationship between Austria and Hungary (as a 'non-German' area) being reduced to a personal union under the Habsburgs, rather than a united state, an unacceptable arrangement for both the Habsburgs and Austro-German liberals in Austria.  In the end, Friedrich Wilhelm refused to accept the constitution written by the Assembly.  Schwarzenberg dissolved the Hungarian Parliament in 1849, imposing his own constitution that conceded nothing to the liberal movement. Appointing [[Alexander Bach]] head of internal affairs, he oversaw the creation of the Bach system, which rooted out political dissent and contained liberals within Austria and quickly returned the status quo. After the deportation of [[Lajos Kossuth]], a nationalist Hungarian leader, Schwarzenberg faced uprisings by Hungarians. Playing on the long-standing Russian tradition of conservativism, he convinced Tsar [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] to send Russian forces in. The Russian army quickly destroyed the rebellion, forcing the Hungarians back under Austrian control. In less than three years, Schwarzenberg had returned stability and control to Austria. However, Schwarzenberg had a stroke in 1852, and his successors failed to uphold the control Schwarzenberg had so successfully maintained.
== See also ==
*[[United Slovenia]]
*[[Anton Füster]]
* [[Revolutionary Spring: Fighting for a New World 1848–1849]] by [[Christopher Clark]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | title= A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change | last1= Bidelux | first1= Robert | last2= Jeffries | first2= Ian | year= 1998 | publisher= Routledge | location= London | isbn= 0-415-16111-8 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Vzw8CHYQobAC&pg=PA295 }}
* {{cite book|first1=Karl|last1=Marx|first2=Friedrich|last2=Engels|title=Collected Works|volume=9|chapter=Articles from the ''Neue Rheinische Zeitung'': March 6–May 19, 1849 |author-link1=Karl Marx|author-link2=Freidrich Engels |url=http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/volume09/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050209051404/http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/volume09/index.htm|archive-date=2005-02-09 |via=Marxists}}
* Nobili, Johann. ''Hungary 1848: The Winter Campaign''. Edited and translated Christopher Pringle. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Ltd., 2021.
* {{cite book | title= The European Revolutions, 1848–1851 | last= Sperber | first= Jonathan | year= 2005 | publisher= Cambridge University Press | location= Cambridge | isbn= 978-0-521-83907-5 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BhfAxkW6dfsC&pg=PA143 }}
* {{cite book | title= The Red Prussian: The Life and Legend of Karl Marx | url= https://archive.org/details/redprussian0000schw | url-access= registration | last= Schwarzschild | first= Léopold | year= 1947 | publisher= C. Scribner's Sons | location= New York }}
==Further reading==
*Robin Okey, ''The Habsburg Monarchy c. 1765–1918: From Enlightenment to Eclipse'', New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002
*Otto Wenkstern, ''History of the war in Hungary in 1848 and 1849'', London: J. W. Parker, 1859 ([http://mek.oszk.hu/04900/04962/ Digitized version])
== External links ==
* [https://www.ohio.edu/chastain/index.htm "Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions" new articles by scholars; comprehensive coverage]
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