[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 28 (Monday, March 16, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E378-E379]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION OF 1848
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HON. TOM LANTOS
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, March 16, 1998
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, the year 1848 was a time of great political
and social upheaval in Europe, which led to significant changes
throughout the continent, with major events taking place in Germany,
Austria, France, and Hungary. This was the revolutionary year when Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels penned the Communist Manifesto. Nowhere in
Europe were those transformations more dramatic and far-reaching than
those that convulsed Hungary.
Exactly 150 years ago yesterday--on March 15, 1848--Hungarians in the
city of Pest staged a massive peaceful demonstration demanding their
independence from Austria. That demonstration marked the beginning of a
brief but very significant period of independence and freedom for the
people of Hungary. On March 15th in Vienna, the father of Hungarian
democracy, Lajos Kossuth, and Hungarian parliamentary representatives
presented demands to the Austrian Court for the severing of all ties
between Austria and Hungary, except for the personal union of the
Habsburg Emperor, who was also King of Hungary. The panic-sticken court
accepted Kossuth's demands and a brief period of Hungarian independence
began. In recognition of the importance of these events in the nation's
history, March 15th has been the national day of Hungary.
Hungary's independence, however, was short-lived. Under the
leadership of Kossuth, Hungary severed all ties with Austria and the
Habsburgs in July. The Austrian government, however, mobilized an army
of troops loyal to the emperor. Kossuth rallied the Hungarian nation,
organized the military defense of the country, and continued the
organization of the newly independent nation. Despite the overwhelming
odds, he was making progress.
In June 1849, however, the Russian Tsar Nicholas I offered troops to
the Austrian Emperor, and the Austrians accepted their offer. Against
such an overwhelming force, however, the Hungarians could not prevail.
Many of the Hungarian freedom fighters of 1848-1849 were killed in the
military action that followed the Russian invasion. Kossuth, and many
of his associates, were forced to flee Hungary. The leader of Hungarian
independence came to the United States for over six months from
December 1851 through July 1852. Here he was welcomed and honored for
his inspired leadership in the struggle for the freedom of the
Hungarian people.
Mr. Speaker, in March 1990, as the people of Hungary were celebrating
their new birth of freedom as the old communist government was
disintegrating, a bust of Lajos Kossuth was placed in the United States
Capitol, and it is still there on display as a symbol of the great
friendship between the people of Hungary and the United States. On
Friday of last week, I joined a group of Hungarian Americans and
representatives of the government of Hungary to place a wreath on this
bust of Kossuth to mark the 150th anniversary of that historic date of
March 15, 1848.
Mr. Speaker, the event which catalyzed the revolution in Hungary on
March 15, 1848, was the reading of a poem that expressed national
sentiments of the Hungarian people. On that day Sandor Petofi, a
twenty-five year old Hungarian romantic poet, read his poem ``Rise Up,
Magyar!'' or ``Natonal Song'' on the steps of the National Museum in
Budapest. Petofi's recitation of ``Rise Up, Magyar!'' incited the crowd
as they joined with him in chanting in unison the final line of each
stanza of the poem--
``God of Hungarians, we swear unto Thee,
We swear unto Thee--that slaves we shall no longer be!''
Petofi was true to the high patriotic sentiments that he expressed in
his magnificent poem. He was killed in 1849 in fighting to defend the
independence and freedom of Hungary.
Poetry is always difficult to translate, Mr. Speaker, but Professor
Adam Makkai has
[[Page E379]]
done an excellent job of rendering this poem into English. Professor
Makkai, a poet who was born in Budapest, received a B.A. from Harvard
University and an M.A. and Ph.D from Yale University. He is currently a
professor of Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This
is his translation of Petofi's patriotic ``National
Song.''***HD***National Song
Rise up, Magyar, the country calls!
It's `now or never' what fate befalls . . .
Shall we live as slaves or free men?
That's the question--choose your `Amen'!
God of Hungarians, we swear unto Thee,
We swear unto Thee--that slaves we shall no longer be!
For up till now we lived like slaves,
Damned lie our forefathers in their graves--
They who lived and died in freedom
Cannot rest in dusts of thraldom.
God of Hungarians, we swear unto Thee,
We swear unto Thee--that slaves we shall no longer be!
A coward and a lowly bastard
Is he, who dares not raise the standard--
He, whose wretched life is dearer
Than the country's sacred honor.
God of Hungarians, we swear unto Thee,
We swear unto Thee--that slaves we shall no longer be!
Sabers outshine chains and fetters,
It's the sword that one's arm betters.
Yet we wear grim chains and shackles.
Swords, slash through the damned manacles!
God of Hungarians, we swear unto Thee,
We swear unto Thee--that slaves we shall no longer be!
Magyars' name will tell the story
Worthy of our erstwhile glory:
We must wash off--fiercely cleansing
Centuries of shame condensing.
God of Hungarians, we swear unto Thee,
We swear unto Thee--that slaves we shall no longer be!
Where our grave-mounds bulge and huddle
Our grandsons will knell and cuddle,
While in grateful prayer they mention
All our sainted names' ascension.
God of Hungarians, we swear unto Thee,
We swear unto Thee--that slaves we shall no longer be!
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