Hungarian Declaration of Independence

{{Short description|1849 proclamation of Hungarian independence from the Habsburg Monarchy}}

{{Infobox historical event

| Event_Name = Hungarian Declaration of Independence

| Image_Name = Coa Hungary Country History (1849).svg

| Imagesize = 150px

| Image_Caption = Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Hungary (1849)

| Participants = Kingdom of Hungary

| Location = Protestant Great Church of Debrecen, Hungary

| Date = 14 April 1849

}}

The Hungarian Declaration of Independence declared the independence of Hungary from the Habsburg monarchy during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The declaration of Hungarian independence was made possible by the positive mood created by the military successes of the Spring Campaign. 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.{{cite book|title=Eastern Europe: an introduction to the people, lands, and culture|editor=Richard Frucht|volume=1|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2005|isbn=9781576078006|pages=[https://archive.org/details/easterneuropeint0000unse/page/354 354]|chapter=Hungary|author=András Boros-Kazai|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/easterneuropeint0000unse/page/354}}{{cite book|title=A concise history of Hungary|url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00moln|url-access=registration|series=Cambridge concise histories|author=Miklós Molnár|others=Anna Magyar|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2001|isbn=9780521667364|pages=192–193}}

Kossuth issued the declaration himself, from the Reformed Great Church of Debrecen. The declaration accused the Habsburgs of crimes, saying

{{quote|The House of Habsburg-Lorraine is unexampled in the compass of its perjuries [...] Its determination to extinguish the independence 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".

|Kossuth

|In Liszt, The Weimar Years{{cite book|title=Franz Liszt: The Weimar years, 1848–1861|volume=2|author=Alan Walker|edition=2nd|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1997|isbn=9780801497216|pages=63–64}}

}}

In a banquet speech before the Corporation of New York, Kossuth urged the United States to recognize Hungarian independence, saying

{{quote|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.

|Kossuth

|In Headley's Life of Kossuth{{cite book|title=The life of Louis Kossuth, governor of Hungary: including notices of the men and scenes of the Hungarian revolution; to which is added an appendix containing his principal speeches, &c|author=Phineas Camp Headley|edition=10th|publisher=Derby and Miller |year=1852|location=Auburn|pages=415,417–418}}

}}