The national flag was hoisted with military honours in front of Parliament on Monday morning, marking the anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Habsburg revolution that started on March 15, 1848.
Like last year, all other state commemorations have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Though the Kossuth and Széchenyi Awards will also be handed out at a later date, the names of the recipients will be released today.
The revolution and freedom fight was part of a series of uprisings in Europe in 1848. On March 15, citizens of Pest gathered in front of the National Museum and demanded independence from Habsburg rule.
Hungary’s first independent government with Count Lajos Batthyány as prime minister approved a reform package called the April laws. Later, the uprising grew into a war of independence, stifled by Austria and Russia in late 1849.
Photo by Balázs Mohai/MTI