Hungarian Declaration of Independence
Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Hungary (1849)
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| Date | 14 April 1849 |
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| Location | Protestant Great Church of Debrecen, Hungary |
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Kingdom of Hungary Habsburg Monarchy |
The Hungarian Declaration of Independence declared the independence of Hungary from the Habsburg Monarchy during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. It was presented to the National Assembly in closed session on 13 April 1849 by Lajos Kossuth, and in open session the following day, despite political opposition from within the Hungarian Peace Party. The declaration was passed unanimously the following day.
Kossuth issued the declaration himself, from the Protestant Great Church of Debrecen. The declaration accused the Habsburgs of crimes, saying
The House of Lorraine-Habsburg is unexampled in the compass of its perjuries […] Its determination to extinguish the independents of Hungary has been accompanied by a succession of criminal acts, comprising robbery, destruction of property by fire, murder, maiming […] Humanity will shudder when reading this disgraceful page of history. […] "The house of Habsburg has forfeited the throne".
In a banquet speech before the Corporation of New York, Kossuth urged the United States to recognize Hungarian independence, saying
The third object of my humble wishes, gentlemen, is the recognition of the independence of Hungary. […] our Declaration of Independence was not only voted unanimously in our Congress, but every county, every municipality, has solemnly declared its consent and adherence to it; so it became not the supposed, but by the whole realm positively, and sanctioned by the fundamental laws of Hungary.
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