1526-1683 1790-1849






Slovakia 1683-1790



Imperial and allied forces defeated the Ottoman army in the Battle of Kahlenberg (1683), broje the second siege of Vienna, and in the subsequent war (1683-1699), drove the Ottoman Turks out of Hungary. The Kuruc rebels under Imre Thököly were defeated; Upper Hungary came under military rule and protestants faced another period of repression.
In 1703 another Kuruc Rebellion erupted; in 1708 the Kuruc suffered military defeat at Trencin. The Treaty of Szatmar 1711; the Hungarian nobility promised to support the Habsburg Dynasty. In return, the Emperor promised to respect the constitution of Hungary. However, religious toleration was not mentioned; Transylvania was the only part of the Habsburg monarchy which provided such toleration.
What used to be Ottoman Hungary was largely depopulated; with Habsburg rule a policy actively promoting settlement set in. Among others, groups of Slovaks settled in isolated cultural enclaves. On the other hand, over the following century, Slovakia experienced the immigration of Gypsies and Jews.
Emperors Charles VI., Maria Theresia (Empress in all but name) and Joseph II. aimed at implementing a policy of increasing the state revenue and of centralization. Under Charles VI., the Mining Academy in Banska Stiavnica was established. Under Maria Theresia reforms sat in which, by fixing the relations between landowners and serfs, protected the latter from excessive abuse. During her rule, the refdorm of university education affected the University at Trnava (which, in 1777, was relocated to Buda). The Archbishop of Esztergom also left his provisorical residence at Trnava and returned to the nominal see. In 1783, Pozsony - Bratislava seized to be the capital of Hungary.
Under Joseph II., a series of reforms was implemented, beginning with religious toleration, an admninistrative reform that divided Hungary into 10 districts (Slovakia in 3 - Kosice, Banska Bystrica, Nitra), in the replacement of Latin as language of administration, education and jurisdiction by German etc. He also attempted to free the peasants. The Hungarian nobility protested against the latter reforms, as they interfered with their inherited rights, and opposed the introduction of German as the official language; they regarded Hungarian far more suitable. At this time, Slovakia formed 3 out of 10 Hungarian districts; in the Hungarian diet, the magnates (estate holders) were represented, almost exclusively Hungarians. Joseph's reforms caused resentment and even armed rebellion (Austrian Netherlands), and, with his death approaching, cancelled most of the reforms; only religious toleration and the conversion of church revenues into a school fund lasted.






EXTERNAL
LINKS 		Slovakian History, from Slovakia.org
History of Bratislava, from Bratislava Region
History of Kosice, from Kosice Region; from Kosice.sk
History of Trnava, from : City of Trnava
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE Peter A. Toma, Dusan Kovac, Slovakia - from Samo to Dzurinda, Stanford : Hoover Institution Press 2001


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on September 8th 2003, last revised on November 11th 2004

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics