Blackwell Reference Online

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Hungary underwent tremendous social and political transformations during the nineteenth century, the most significant of which was the development of a more socially inclusive idea of the nation. In 1815 most Hungarians equated the nation with the nobility – a large segment of society relative to other European countries but still only 10 percent of the Hungarian population. The French Revolution inspired reform-minded nobles to support a more modern and socially inclusive idea of the Hungarian nation. Specifically, they supported the abolition of serfdom and other feudal taxes, and promoted economic modernization. They sought to open the civil service to those without an expensive classical education by promoting popular education in Hungarian, and replacing Latin with Hungarian as the language of government administration. Finally, they wanted the Hungarian frontier expanded to include Transylvania, a province with a significant Hungarian population. Hungary's Reform Era officially began in 1825, when Count István Széchenyi (1791–1860), a wealthy magnate popularly remembered as “the greatest Hungarian,” offered a year's income from his estates to found a Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Széchenyi inspired the first generation of Hungarian liberalism, dominated by reform-minded aristocrats such as Baron Miklós Wesselényi (1796–1850) and Count Károly Zay (1791–1871). These Liberal ... log in or subscribe to read full text