Compare and contrast the independence movements of Hungary and Poland and their results..

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Calls for national unification were present in many areas after 1848, including Hungary's demand for national recognition separate from the Habsburg empire. Nationalism was a contributing sentiment all over Europe, but in Hungary, Lájos Kossuth led a revolutionary group against the Austrian imperial rule and demanded a Hungarian parliament. Austria was at first fairly tolerant, but as Hungary demanded further symbols of its own national identity, such as its own currency and its own army, the Austrian emperor sent in troops and initiated a war between Austria and Hungary. Russian forces assisted the Austrians and temporarily subdued the Hungarians, but in 1867, an agreement was reached (The Compromise of 1867) which allowed the Hungarians domestic autonomy within the larger entity of the Habsburg territory, thus in 1867 becoming Austria-Hungary (or, more properly, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as the same demands for autonomy were denied in other parts of the empire). Hungary had its own parliament, spoke Hungarian language, and compelled non-Hungarians to use Hungarian languages (Magyar) in schools and government offices. Poland, however, was a unique case, as it had been an independent nation until the partitioning by Russia and Prussia in the late eighteenth century. Briefly resurrected under Napoleon as the Duchy of Warsaw, it was subsequently dissolved again. However, Poland had a long, rich national and cultural history to draw upon, as well as strong Polish nobility, as had the Hungarians. Poles attempted a rebellion against Russia in 1863 which failed badly, and many of the leaders of the Polish national movement were arrested, exiled to Siberia, and had their properties seized. Schools and government offices were required to use Russian as the predominant language. Poles were excluded from government offices, and there was strict censorship. Polish intellectuals, known as the Warsaw Positivists, argued that maintaining a strong, cultural Polish identification was more important than political or national independence. At the end of the 1890s, the Polish national Democrats, led by Roman Dmowsky appealed to nationalism via invocation of anti-Semitism in Poland, which helped to promote an anti-Russian and anti-Prussian movement.