The 13 Martyrs of Arad

The Thirteen Martyrs of Arad (Hungarian: Aradi vértanúk) were the thirteen Hungarian rebel generals who were executed by the Austrian Empire on 6 October 1849 in the city of Arad, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary (now in Romania), after the Hungarian Revolution (1848–1849). The execution was ordered by the Austrian general Julius Jacob von Haynau.

In a historic speech on 3 March 1848, shortly after news of the revolution in Paris had arrived, Lajos Kossuth demanded parliamentary government for Hungary and constitutional government for the rest of Austria. The Revolution started on 15 March 1848, and after military setbacks in the winter and a successful campaign in the spring, Kossuth declared independence on 19 April 1849. By May 1849, the Hungarians controlled all of the country except Buda, which they won after a three-week bloody siege. The hopes of ultimate success, however, were frustrated by the intervention of Russia.

After all appeals to other European states failed, Kossuth abdicated on 11 August 1849, in favor of Artúr Görgey, who he thought was the only general capable of saving the nation. On 13 August 1849, Görgey signed a surrender at Világos (now Şiria, Romania) to the Russians, who handed the army over to the Austrians. At the insistence of the Russians, Görgey was spared. The Austrians took reprisals on other officers of the Hungarian army.

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