Map Of Hungary And Austria

Austria (1 minute)

When the news of the Paris rising reached Vienna on March 13, 1848 it sparked protest in Vienna the demonstrated for basic freedoms. Troops were called to restore order and shots were fired into the crowd. Serious clashes between the troops and the crowds resulted in the dismissal of Metternich. The Habsburgs responded by issuing a constitution in April the provided for an elected legislator. The fighting in Vienna continued which prompted the Habsburg to flee the city in mid-May. The new legislature met in June and rejected the Habsburg constitution and began working to establish a more democratic constitution. On October 31, 1848 the Habsburg army was able to retake Vienna now it was the legislature that fled to Kremsier (today’s Kromeriz in the Czech Republic) to finished their proposed constitution which is rejected by the Emperor who also disbanded the legislature. The legislature did manage to pass a piece of legislation that emancipated the peasantry everywhere in the empire except for Hungary.

Hungary (1 minute)

As the news of the Paris revolution reached Pest a new national cabinet or Diet led by Lajos Kossuth took power and passed a reform package known as the April Laws that included basic freedoms like freedom of religion (except for the Jews), freedom of the press and peasant emancipation. Hungary became an automatons nation with the Emperor as its King. The April Laws granted Hungary direct rule of Transylvania (today part of Romania) and Croatia. Hungary was as

insensitive to its Serbian, Croatian, Slovak and Romanian minorities as Vienna was to Hungary.

Map of Central Europe (General Map / Region of the World)

In March of 1848 the Habsburgs had appointed Josip Jelacic governor of Croatia. Jelacic rejected Hungarian authority over Croatia and then took military action against Hungary. In September the government of Hungary had been turned over to the Committee of National Defense led by Kossuth. Jelacic had driven the Hungarian government out of Pest by December 1848 and Kossuth was forced to flee to the Ottoman Empire.

Italy (1 minute)

When the news of revolution reached Milan and Venice which were part of Lombardy-Venetia, also known as “Austrian Italy”, a revolt ensured which caused the Austrians to flee both cities. The Kingdom of Sardinia which was the only Italian state with ruled by Italians came to the aid of their fellow Italians. The Austrian military commander in Italy Marshal Radetzky defeated the Sardinians in March of 1849 and restored Habsburg rule to Milan and Venice.