Belligerents:

Hungary.
Austria, the Southern Slavs and Russia.

Cause:

The fall of Metternich, who had been the champion of despotism and reaction throughout Europe, and the revolutionary spirit which ran through Europe in 1848, created great unrest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Emperor Ferdinand was weak and worthless, and the Magyars were determined not to submit to the domination of autocratic rule in Austria. Jellacic, the Croatian leader, hoped to create a Southern Slav state: he co-operated with the Austrians in opposition to Hungary, and was supported by the Czechs of Bohemia.

Occasion:

Finding it impossible to come to terms with the Emperor Ferdinand, Kossuth, the Hungarian leader, took up an uncompromisingly hostile attitude. Jellacic marched to Pesth. A revolutionary movement of sympathy with Hungary broke out in Vienna. The Emperor fled to Olmutz. WindischgrÄtz, the Austrian general, marched on Vienna and took possession in November 1848. Ferdinand abdicated, and Francis Joseph, his nephew, became Emperor December 2nd. The Hungarians refused to acknowledge him. There was a rising of Roumanians in Transylvania, and the whole Hungarian nation was called to arms.

Course of the War:

The Austrians occupied Pesth on January 5, 1849; the Hungarians withdrew to Debreczin and were defeated at Kapolona on February 26th. In April the Magyar troops recovered and the Austrians were driven out of Hungary. On April 19th Hungary was proclaimed an independent state. Russia intervened to assist Austria, and marched an army across Galicia. The Hungarians were now confronted with a force three times the size of their own, and the main army capitulated at Vilagos on August 13, 1849.

Political Result:

Hungary was completely crushed and subjected to savage punishment by its conquerors. Every vestige of its old constitutional rights was extinguished.

Remarks:

In 1860 the old Constitution was restored. In 1867 the Emperor Francis Joseph was crowned King of Hungary. A responsible ministry was appointed, and a financial agreement (Ausgleich) made between Austria and Hungary.

Nationality asserted itself in spite of all attempts at repression. But the Hungarians, in their turn, held the Slav and Roumanian populations within their borders with an iron grasp and failed to gain their affection.