On March 15, the Hungarians celebrate one of the national holidays — Revolution Day 1848.
On this day in 1848, in the city of Pest ( now part of Budapest ) began « Hungarian Spring » — bourgeois revolution, the bloodless national liberation movement of Hungarians for independence from the power of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, which later grew into a war against Austria and its allies.
The main requirements of the Hungarians were freedom of the press, the creation of the Hungarian parliament and government in Pest. The revolutionaries also demanded the abolition of serfdom, freedom of religion, the creation of a national bank, their own Hungarian army and the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.
As a result of negotiations between independence fighters and Emperor Franz Joseph II, most of their requirements were met. This was recorded in the so-called « April laws », signed by the monarch. The first government responsible to the Hungarian parliament was led by Count Lajosh Battyani.
Despite the bloodless nature of the transformations, the independence of the Hungarians was disadvantageous to the Austrian imperial house, so soon Franz Joseph II agreed with the Russian king on military assistance to suppress Hungarian freedom of love. Confronting interests goes into armed conflict.
In August 1849, Hungarians seeking independence were defeated. Thirteen generals of the revolutionary army and five civilian leaders of independent Hungary were executed, and among them was the first prime minister of an independent country, Count L. Battyani.
Partially restored freedoms, achieved by revolutionaries for a short time, the Hungarians managed only after two decades, when the Agreement on the Transformation of the Hamburg Empire into a dualistic ( dual ) Austria-Hungary monarchy was concluded in 1867.
Austria and Hungary were recognized as sovereign parts of one state, there was a partial separation of legislative and executive powers ( at the level of the Austrian Reichsrat / Hungarian Sejm and ministries ). The Austrian emperor, who simultaneously had the title of Hungarian king, played the main role in governing the country.
As a public holiday, this day began to be celebrated in Hungary after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, since 1918. Every year on March 15, Hungarian tricolors are hung across the country and various solemn and festive events are held.