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Fico Unveils Commemorative Plaque to Slovak Volunteer Campaigners
Monday 21 December 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, December 21 (TASR) - Slovak Premier Robert Fico on Monday unveiled a commemorative plaque on the Governmental Office building to mark the 160th anniversary of Slovak volunteer campaigns in uprisings against their Hungarian overlords in 1848/49.
In his speech, Fico said that the names on the plaque convey a sense of gratitude to Slovaks for their courage in fighting for Slovak freedom. "Maybe this makes us look a little old-fashioned, but we'd like to honour the debt that we have to the generations of our ancestors," said Fico, adding that people united behind Anton Bernolak and Ludovit Stur began a struggle for self-determination for the Slovak nation in Bratislava, a dream that politicians changed into reality on January 1, 1993, when Slovakia became an independent state.
The Slovak Uprising (September 1848 to November 1849) was aimed against Magyar domination in what at the time was called Upper Hungary (present-day Slovakia) against the backdrop of the revolution against the Habsburg Monarchy. The uprising included three main campaigns, the latter two of which occurred in co-operation with the Austrian imperial authorities and troops who were also fighting the Magyars at that time.
None of the main demands of the Slovaks were met at the end of the uprising. The authorities in Vienna only granted the Slovaks some minor language rights as a reward for their support during the revolution.
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