Tortured by the enemy, in captivity, Our brother slept in eternal sleep.
The foe rejoices, seeing in the field
Just a row of timeless graves.
But a matter of harsh valor
He will not die with a soldier, And a new knight with a new strength
The singer will come to replace.
("The grave of a soldier." Sandor Petofi)
In 1848-1849, under the influence of revolutionary events in European countries, Hungary also began a bourgeois revolution and a national liberation war. After all, what was the Austrian Empire like at that time? A state united by force, which consisted of many lands and peoples who, above all, wanted independence. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that the revolution in Hungary won very quickly and spread to the entire territory of the country. Democratic reforms were carried out, the first national Hungarian government headed by Lajos Battyany was formed, and in March 1848, the personal dependence of the peasants and all feudal duties with ransom at the expense of the state were eliminated, universal taxation was also introduced and a national Hungarian parliament was created. Emperor Ferdinand I was forced to recognize all these decisions of the Hungarian government. Then the Hungarian National Assembly decided to create its own army and at the same time refused the Austrian emperor to provide Hungarian troops for the war in Italy. It is clear that all these actions were viewed in Vienna, where street fighting between revolutionaries and government troops had just ended, as a real disaster, in the fight against which all means were good. First, the Croats, who wished to secede from Hungary, were incited against the Hungarians, after which the Croatian troops began an offensive against Pest from the south. A call for help was also sent to the tsarist government in Russia. And the reaction of Emperor Nicholas followed immediately. Frightened by revolutionary uprisings throughout Europe, he sent Russian troops to suppress the Hungarian revolution. It didn’t come to him that it was better to have as our neighbors many small independent and, we add - in any case, weak, states than one large, albeit a "patchwork" empire. Peter I was much more far-sighted in this regard when he concluded a secret agreement on aid with Ferenc Rakoczi, the leader of the rebellious Kuruts. True, because of the invasion of Charles XII, he never provided this assistance to him, however, if it had not happened then, the Hungarians would have had every chance of winning, and then subsequently no Austria-Hungary would simply not exist, which means there would be no Russia on its western borders and enemy number 2, since Germany immediately became the first after its unification with "iron and blood".
Opening of the Hungarian Parliament in 1848. Painting by August von Pettenkofen (1822-1889).
But being the emperor himself, Nicholas condescendingly treated "people of a kind-tribe" and could not allow the overthrow of the monarchy in Hungary. Moreover, her example might have seemed contagious to the Poles, which he also did not want. The very idea of Poland's independence would probably have seemed heretical to him, although if he had done it, the Poles would have blessed him for centuries. Hungary would have treated Russia in a similar way, it was enough for Nicholas to just “wash his hands” diplomatically. But the role of the "gendarme of Europe" was more to his liking. Therefore, on May 21, the Austrian Empire hastened to sign the Warsaw Pact with Russia (Nicholas I personally arrived in Warsaw to meet with Emperor Franz Joseph for this), and for helping to defeat the rebellious Hungarians, the Austrians had to supply the 100-thousandth Russian army with transport, food and ammunition, and if for some reason it is impossible, to compensate for all costs incurred by Russia in money. Soon, troops of the Russian imperial army under the command of Field Marshal Paskevich invaded Hungary. Its offensive from the east was supported by a new offensive by the Austrians from the west. As a result, Hungarian troops were defeated everywhere.
Field Marshal Count Ivan Paskevich, Prince of Warsaw. Unknown author.
It is interesting, however, that the Slavic population of the "patchwork empire" greeted the tsarist troops with enthusiasm. “There was a rumor that the Russian army had moved on the Hungarians, and no one doubted that the end had come to them … They told how big, strong and terrible these Russians were, and that they did not need guns, and they went to the assault with huge multi-core whips, and whoever they get it will never get up."
War map.
On June 23, the first successful battle for the Russian army took place with a five-thousand-strong detachment of General Vysotsky near the town of Shamosh. A participant in this campaign, a certain Likhutin, wrote about this event as follows: “Our troops, who overtook the enemy for the first time, seized him with fierceness; hand-to-hand combat ensued immediately. Of the units following behind, who were probably already in bivouacs, the Cossacks and whoever could galloped forward alone and rushed into battle. It was said that in single battles, the opponents, breaking their weapons, tormented each other with their hands and teeth … Although the matter was not great, his impression on the Hungarians, apparently, was very strong. I myself happened to hear the questions of the Magyars in Kashau the day after the Samos affair; "Why are you fighting with us with such ferocity? What have we done to you?"
"Death of Petofi". Laszlo Hegedyusch 1850 During the revolution of 1848-1849. the famous poet Sandor Petofi wrote songs that raised the morale of the Hungarian soldiers. Finally, he personally joined the army and died in battle. The exact circumstances of the death of the poet and national hero of the Hungarian people are still unknown. It is generally accepted that Petofi died in a skirmish with the Cossacks of Paskevich's tsarist army at the Battle of Shegeshwar in Transylvania on July 31, 1849, but it is based on a diary entry of only one Russian field doctor. No other data available. It is believed that he was buried in a mass grave, but in which it is unknown.
The Russian cavalry rushed into the city and, one might say, swept through it, but then it found itself under fire from enemy artillery located on the opposite bank of the river, and had to retreat with losses. And then several shots were fired from private houses. Again Likhutin tells about what happened next as follows: “At the first shots from the windows, the soldiers naturally rushed to the houses from which they fired, broke down doors and gates, scattered small barricades in the entryway and gates, and burst into the houses. Some residents, including one woman, were captured with guns still smoking from the shots, all of whom were killed; the massacre was quick and strangled the people's war, if it was possible, at the very beginning ….
By decree of Nicholas I of January 22, 1850, in memory of their participation in the suppression of the Hungarian uprising, all participants in the hostilities were awarded a medal minted from silver with a diameter of 29 mm. The participants included generals, officers, soldiers, as well as regimental priests, medics and medical officials and employees. A total of 213,593 medals were minted. Awarded 212 330. Obverse of the medal.
Her reverse.
It is interesting that the same Likhutin does not question the legitimacy of the Russian people's war of 1812, but he writes about the inadmissibility of the same war on the part of the Hungarians as something quite taken for granted. However, this murder of civilians caught with weapons in their hands also had a reverse medal, about which this memoirist also wrote. According to him, the lesson went for the future, so that during the entire subsequent campaign of 1849: “Ours drove along the roads alone, on horseback or in carriages and carts, like at home. However, during the entire continuation of the war, no incident or misfortune happened to any officer; residents everywhere remained calm and even single people were received calmly and hospitably. Accidents happened only with the lower ranks, who were always drunk."
"The surrender of Görgey" Istvan Skizzak-Klinovsky, 1850 (1820-1880)
But the disputes with the Vienna Court regarding compensation for the costs incurred by Russia then continued for quite a long time. It got to the point that Paskevich wrote to the emperor about the Austrians literally the following: "In gratitude for their salvation, they are capable of much." Prince Schwarzenberg expressed himself even more precisely, saying that "Austria will still surprise the world with its ingratitude." And in the end it turned out that way. The position taken by Austria during the Eastern War of 1853-1856 was openly hostile to Russia, and in the same way the Austro-Hungarian monarchy behaved in the following years, right up to the very beginning of the First World War.
In addition to the award medal, the generals and senior staff officers were also awarded a commemorative table medal with a diameter of 70 mm made of silver and bronze with the image of a Russian eagle pecking a three-headed snake, and the inscription on the obverse: “THE RUSSIAN VICTORY TROOPS HAVE SOLDIED AND POWERED BY MYATEZHIN VENGRI49 year . The authors of the medal are Fedor Tolstoy and Alexander Lyalin. Obverse of the medal.
Her reverse.
The losses of the Russian army during the participation in the Hungarian campaign amounted to 708 killed, 2447 wounded, while 10,885 soldiers and officers died of cholera. The cost of the war amounted to about 47.5 million rubles, which Russia demanded to be reimbursed from Austria. The losses of the Austrian army were more significant, since the Austrians fought more actively. 16,600 were killed and wounded, and 41,000 died from disease. The losses of the Hungarian rebels amounted to 24 thousand people.
