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Hungary Aftermath of the Revolution
After the revolution, the emperor revoked Hungary's
constitution and assumed absolute control. Franz Joseph
divided
the country into four distinct territories: Hungary,
Transylvania, Croatia-Slavonia, and Vojvodina. German and
Bohemian administrators managed the government, and German
became
the language of administration and higher education. The
non-Magyar minorities of Hungary received little for their
support of Austria during the turmoil. A Croat reportedly
told a
Hungarian: "We received as a reward what the Magyars got
as a
punishment."
Hungarian public opinion split over the country's
relations
with Austria. Some Hungarians held out hope for full
separation
from Austria; others wanted an accommodation with the
Habsburgs,
provided that they respected Hungary's constitution and
laws.
Ferencz Deak became the main advocate for accommodation.
Deak
upheld the legality of the April Laws and argued that
their
amendment required the Hungarian Diet's consent. He also
held
that the dethronement of the Habsburgs was invalid. As
long as
Austria ruled absolutely, Deak argued, Hungarians should
do no
more than passively resist illegal demands.
The first crack in Franz Joseph's neo-absolutist rule
developed in 1859, when the forces of Sardinia and France
defeated Austria at Solferno. The defeat convinced Franz
Joseph
that national and social opposition to his government was
too
strong to be managed by decree from Vienna. Gradually he
recognized the necessity of concessions toward Hungary,
and
Austria and Hungary thus moved toward a compromise. In
1866 the
Prussians defeated the Austrians, further underscoring the
weakness of the Habsburg Empire. Negotiations between the
emperor
and the Hungarian leaders were intensified and finally
resulted
in the Compromise of 1867, which created the Dual Monarchy
of
Austra-Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Data as of September 1989
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