Demands of the Slovak Nation
The Demands of the Slovak Nation (
revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. It was prompted by the nationalists' realisation that the Hungarian government would not heed the calls of Ľudovít Štúr for the establishment of public regional assemblies and the acceptance of a Slovak petition at a national assembly.[1]
On 10 May 1848, thirty members of Štúr's circle of nationalist activists met in Liptószentmiklós (now
Ján Francisci.[2]
They drew up a list of fourteen demands which included:
- Equality and fraternal coexistence of all peoples in Hungary;
- Transformation of Hungary into a decentralised state consisting of equal nations, each with its own parliament and equal representation in the Diet of Hungary;
- Adoption of the Slovak language as an official language in government offices and schools in the Slovak lands;
- Official recognition of Slovak symbols (colours and a national flag);
- Establishment of a Slovak national guard;
- Introduction of full voting rights for all adult citizens;
- Abolition of laws limiting the freedoms of the press, of assembly and of association;
- Reformation of land ownership by restoring the land that had been seized from the peasants by the Hungarian aristocracy.[2][1]
The nationalists rejected the way that Hungary was run as a centralised state under
ethnic Hungarian supremacy and sought to establish Slovak autonomy within a reformed state. Some of their demands, such as their call for universal manhood suffrage, were unusually radical for their era and location.[1]
The demands were the first public call to make the area then known as Upper Hungary (most of which is now modern Slovakia) a distinct political entity. They were proclaimed on 11 May but were poorly received. The assembly at which they were issued was ill-attended and before they could be delivered to Ferdinand I, the King of Hungary and Emperor of Austria, the Hungarian government declared that the demands were an illegal, unconstitutional and pan-Slavic act.[1]
Štúr and his associates
armed rebellion against the Hungarian government.[4]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-86516-444-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8108-8030-6.
- ISBN 978-0-86516-426-0.
- ^ Kirschbaum, pp. 294–5