The Opposition Party was a political party that came to prominence during the 1848–49 revolution in Hungary.

History

During the Hungarian Reform Era, several opposition circles appeared. Among the first was the National Circle from which later the Pest Circle split. When the two organizations newly merged, they formed the Opposition Circle which can be seen as the predecessor of the Opposition Party. For the elections of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

in 1847, it was needed to establish a new political force. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

was created in November 1846 by the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

-loyal members of the National Assembly. This gave the final impuls to the József Eötvös-led centralists and the municipalists to aside controversies. After the preliminary party formation meeting on 15 November 1846, they officially announced the creation of the Opposition Party on the 15 March 1847 in Pest at the Opposition Conference. Lajos Batthyány was named as the president of the party. On the party formation meeting,

Lajos Kossuth Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (, hu, udvardi és kossuthfalvi Kossuth Lajos, sk, Ľudovít Košút, anglicised as Louis Kossuth; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, polit ...

read out the party program that he had written. At the end of the meeting, the famous Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi declaimed his poem ''A nép nevében'' (''In the name of the people''). Ferenc Deák made the final version of the party program and named it ''Ellenzéki Nyilatkozat'' (''Opposition Statement'') which was accepted by the members. After the party's victory in the 1848 March Revolution, it became power holder. The first government in the history of Hungary was formed from which the prime minister, Lajos Batthyány and five other ministers were members of the Opposition Party (

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Ferenc Deák,

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Bertalan Szemere, Minister of Education József Eötvös,

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

, Minister of Agriculture

Gábor Klauzál Gábor Klauzál de Szlavovicz (18 November 1804 – 3 August 1866) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Trade during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 in the first government of Hungary. He studied in ...

). Two other ministers,

István Széchenyi Count István Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék ( hu, sárvár-felsővidéki gróf Széchenyi István, ; archaically English: Stephen Széchenyi; 21 September 1791 – 8 April 1860) was a Hungarian politician, political theorist, and wri ...

and

Lázár Mészáros General Lázár Mészáros ''(English: Lazarus Mészáros)'' (20 February 1796 in Baja – 16 November 1858 in Eywood), was the Minister of War during the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. Biography He was born into a noble family of landowners. His ...

were independent and Pál Esterházy was a member of the

. Until the end of the summer, most of the important political rolls were in the hands of the members of the Opposition Party: they were in the ruling party and also in its opposition. The breakline lyed between the ruling moderates and the opposition formed by the radicals. To the latter belonged among others László Teleki, Pál Nyáry and László Madarász. In 1849, the

merged into the Opposition Party. After the defeated revolution and the passive resistance of the 1850s, the newly revived Opposition party split into several directions. While Deák and Eötvös accepted the

Ausgleich The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...

and they were the leaders of that on the Hungarian side, Kossuth and his followers opposed it. They wanted complete independence and rejected the Austro-Hungarian dualism. The followers of Ferenc Deák established the Address Party and the followers of

created the Resolution Party in 1861.

List of notable members of the Opposition Party

* Lajos Batthyány,

Prime Minister of Hungary The prime minister of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország miniszterelnöke) is the head of government of Hungary. The prime minister and the Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Parliament, to their political part ...

Károly Andrássy Count Károly Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka (February 29, 1792 – August 22, 1845) was a Hungarian politician, who served as emissary to Gömör és Kis-Hont County in the Diets of 1839 and 1844. Background His parents were ...

* Pál Almásy, Speaker of the House of Representatives * József Bajza, Hungarian poet *

Kázmér Batthyány Count Kázmér Antal Ferenc Batthyány de Németújvár (3 June 1807 – 13 July 1854) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. At the beginning he was a conservative aristoc ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

* László Csány,

Minister of Public Works and Transport The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) ( es, Ministerio de Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana), traditionally known as the Ministry of Development (MFOM), is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for pre ...

* Ferenc Deák ("The Wise Man of the Nation"), Hungarian statesman,

, founder of the Address Party and the

Deák Party The Deák Party ( hu, Deák Párt) was a political party in Hungary in the 1860s and 1870s led by Ferenc Deák. History The Deák Party was founded in 1865 as the successor to the Address Party. It won the 1865 elections in Hungary, and also w ...

* Menyhért Lónyay,

, Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Trade *

István Gorove István Gorove de Gáttája (20 August 1819 in Pest – 31 May 1881 in Budapest) was a Hungarian politician with Armenian ancestry.Gudenus János József: Örmény eredetű magyar nemesi családok genealógiája Erdélyi Örmény Gyökerek, B ...

, Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Trade, later

, and leader of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

* László Palóczy, Speaker of the House of Representatives * Zsigmond Perényi, Speaker of the House of Magnates * Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet, liberal revolutionary *

Ferenc Pulszky Ferenc Aurél Pulszky de Cselfalva et Lubócz (17 September 1814 – 9 September 1897) was a Hungarian politician, writer and nobleman. After fleeing Hungary in 1849 and being condemned to death in his absence, he was able to return and resume hi ...

* Bertalan Szemere, Hungarian poet,

* László Teleki, later leader of the Resolution Party *

Ágoston Trefort Dr. Ágoston Trefort (pronunciation: a:gɔʃtɔn 'trɛfɔrt 7 February 1817 – 22 August 1888) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education from 1872 until his death. He was the President of the Hungarian Acad ...

, Minister of Religion and Education, President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences *

Mihály Vörösmarty Mihály Vörösmarty (archaically English: Michael Vorosmarthy 1 December 180019 November 1855) was an important Hungarian poet and dramatist. Biography He was born at Puszta-Nyék (now Kápolnásnyék), of a noble Roman Catholic family. ...

, Hungarian poet, dramatist * Sebő Vukovics

Literature

* Dezsényi Béla: A Nemzeti Kör a negyvenes évek irodalmi és hírlapi mozgalmaiban. In: Irodalomtörténeti Közlemények. 1953. p. 163-204. * Deregnyei (Kossuth Lajos)
A magyar politikai pártok értelmezése

References

* Hungarian Wikipedia :hu:Ellenzéki Párt{{Circular reference, date=November 2020
A két óriás nem szenvedhette egymást (interjú Csorba László történésszel – Élet és Irodalom)
Defunct political parties in Hungary Political parties established in 1847 1847 establishments in the Austrian Empire 1849 disestablishments in the Austrian Empire