Celebrating March Fifteenth,1848 in Detroit
MBK Councillor Dr. Peter Kovalszki's address at the March 15 celebration in Detroit, Michigan.Dear Friends,
Today we have gathered again, to commemorate the 155th anniversary of the 1948 Hungarian Revolution. The 1848 Revolution and War of Independence is Hungary's most celebrated historic event: it left its stamp on all subsequent generations, it has divided and united, is a main source of national pride, but also of doubt and self-laceration.
If we had to summarize in one sentence the essence of March Fifteenth,1848- we could say that is was a "Lawful revolution" .
Events in the Hungarian Diet at Pozsony were speeded up by the tidings of revolutions in Naples and Paris. On March 3, the chief opposition spokesman, Lajos Kossuth, put a historic motion calling for the immediate abolition of serfdom, for general taxation, equal political rights and popular representation, and for government by an independent, national ministry responsible to the legislature.
The members of the Diet in Pozsony were not the only ones stirred to action by the revolution in Vienna. The young intelligentsia centred in Pest-Buda (Budapest) demanded the transformation of the country. Their program, the Twelve Points, was printed without the censor's approval , along with the stirring National Song by their intellectual leader Sándor Petőfi .
This took place on March 15, when a group of young writers, journalists and lawyers headed a swelling crowd of students, townsfolk, artisans and journeymen . They managed without bloodshed to persuade the authorities to accept and join in their demands. The crowd went on to Buda Prison and freed Mihály Táncsics who had been imprisoned for his radical political writings.
The initiatives of the noble Hungarian Diet in Pozsony were underscored by the mass movements in Pest-Buda. The demands then had to be exacted from Vienna, seat of the court, and the April Laws, containing all the demands of March 15 , were promulgated on April 11, 1848.
Unfortunately the revolution and many of its achievements were lost after the war of 1848-1849, yet its ideals, and its memory have remained alive, becoming an organic part of Hungarian consciousness, but also of the history of American Hungarian relations, through Lajos Kossuth's visit to the United States, which took place in 1851-1852.
As You know, in the autumn of 1851, Kossuth and his party left their first place of exile-the Ottoman Empire- aboard an American warship. He travelled to Britain and then to the United States, addressing about 500 mass assemblies, where he was feted as the champion of liberty. He was given the highest official reception in the United States, where his speech in Congress and his personal popularity made the Hungarian cause known throughout the world. American sympathy for the Hungarians was deepened by the Hungarian emigrés who served on the Union side as officers, generals or diplomats in the Civil War.
That is what we celebrate every year, all Hungarians , around the world. We , Hungarian Americans together with our friends here in Detroit celebrate also the fact that after many vicissitudes of history, Americans and Hungarians stand together, as friends and allies, with shared ideals and common causes.
God bless the Hungarians- God bless America ! Thank You for Your attention.
Peter Kovalszki
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