15 March, 1848: The day that changed Hungary forever

15 March marks the birth of modern parliamentary Hungary and the beginning of the 1848–49 Revolution and War of Independence. The day symbolises the nation’s struggle for political freedom, national sovereignty and civil reforms.

It became a public holiday in Hungary for the first time in 1989 and has been an official national holiday since 1990. It is also celebrated as the Day of the Hungarian Press, commemorating the publication of the first uncensored Hungarian printed materials on that historic day.

The road to revolution started abroad

In the spring of 1848, revolutionary movements were spreading across Europe. In Hungary, reform-minded politicians and intellectuals had long been demanding major political changes, including fair taxation, equality before the law, popular representation and the establishment of a responsible Hungarian government.

Young intellectuals in Pest, who frequently gathered at the Pilvax Café, became key figures in the growing reform movement. One of them, József Irinyi, formulated the famous Twelve Points, a list of demands that summarised the most important goals of the Hungarian reform movement.

The group originally planned to present these demands publicly on 19 March, not 15 March. However, events accelerated when news arrived on the evening of 14 March that a revolution had broken out in Vienna. Inspired by these developments, the young activists decided to act immediately, writes Múlt-kor.

Petőfi led the revolutionary crowd on 15 March

On the morning of 15 March 1848, Sándor Petőfi, Pál Vasvári, Mór Jókai and their companions prepared a political proclamation outlining their demands. At the Pilvax Café they read the document to those gathered there, while Petőfi recited his newly written poem, the National Song, which quickly became a powerful symbol of the revolution.

The enthusiastic group then marched to several university faculties to encourage students to join their cause. They first visited the medical faculty, followed by engineering students and later law students. At each location, the proclamation and the Twelve Points were read aloud, while Petőfi once again recited his poem.

What began as a small group soon turned into a crowd of several thousand people.

The birth of the free press

The growing crowd eventually headed to the printing house of Landerer and Heckenast. Acting in the name of the people, the young revolutionaries seized the printing presses and printed the National Song and the Twelve Points without censorship.

These leaflets became the first products of Hungary’s free press. The demands included freedom of the press, a responsible Hungarian government, equality before the law, fair taxation, and the release of political prisoners.

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A day of victory

In the afternoon, a large public gathering was held in front of the Hungarian National Museum. By that time the crowd had grown to around ten thousand people. The demonstrators marched to the city council of Pest, where officials eventually accepted their demands.

The revolutionaries then crossed to Buda to present their demands to the Habsburg administration. Faced with the massive crowd, the authorities agreed to abolish censorship and ordered the release of Mihály Táncsics, a journalist imprisoned for press offences. He was carried back to Pest in a triumphant procession.

The historic day ended with a celebratory performance of the play Bánk bán at the National Theatre. 15 March 1848 thus became one of the most important dates in Hungarian history — a rainy spring day when the nation united to demand freedom, reform and political independence.