HUNGARY UNDER NOBLE LEADERSHIP AND HABSBURG RULE: 1830-1844, WITH EMPHASIS ON THE ISSUES OF PEASANT LIBERATION AND TAX REFORM (CONSTITUTION, LIBERALISM

Hungary experienced a reform movement led by nobles that began in 1830. The reforming nobles wished to alter virtually every institution and practice in Hungarian society. Their ultimate goal was the dismantlement of Hungary's ancien regime and the establishment of a modern State.;The reforming nobles knew they would have to effect change in two vital areas to attain their goal. They intended to liberate the peasant from his dependent status in the lord-subject nexus and establish him as a true landowner enjoying full legal equality. They also intended to introduce a system of general taxation in Hungary.;The Habsburg Kings of Hungary and their councillors in Vienna were opposed to any change in Hungarian conditions. They stirred up conservative and reactionary elements in Hungary. These elements included most of the titled Magnates, the Crown-appointed officeholders, the poor nobles, the burgher oligarchs in the Royal Free Cities, and shifting segments of the middling nobles whose support for reform was mercurial.;When this policy failed, the Habsburgs resorted to one of illegal suppression lasting from late 1834 to early 1840. Thereafter, they assumed a posture of minimal concession born out of their need for Hungarian cooperation should the Monarchy become involved in war.;Under these circumstances, the reforming nobles pursued their goal in piecemeal fashion. They acted tenaciously and legally through the political vicissitudes of three Hungarian Diets--1832-36, 1939-40, and 1843-44.;The reforming nobles did not achieve total victory, but they made remarkable progress. They influenced public opinion in favor of reform. They altered military practices. They pursuaded the nobles at large to pay Dietal expenses. They promoted civic-religious equality and freedom of assembly, speech, and publication. They nearly won popular representation for the Royal Free Cities. They submitted an exemplary revision of the criminal code. They advocated national control of tariffs. They ameliorated the lord-subejct nexus and secured temporary majorities in the Diet for peasant liberation. While the latter goal was not realized, they did open a legal path for the peasant to achieve civic equality and land ownership. They also won Dietal majorities in favor of tax reform, although this objective, too, fell short of realization. They even won royal sanction for legislation that put commercial affairs on a more modern footing and spelled the beginning of the end for Hungary's ancien regime. In fact, by 1844, the reforming nobles had presented Hungary with virtually the entire program soon to be realized in the 1848 Revolution.