Explanation of March

What was Petőfi in 1848, and why did the miracle succeed for him? 

Even after the French and Italian revolutions, Kossuth and his allies had to work hard to win over the majority of the opposition to their reform ideas. However, on March 14, the magnates suddenly came to their senses. One reason for this rapid change of direction was the Vienna Revolution (as many magnates considered it their homeland), and another was the terrifying rumor that Petőfi was standing on the Rákos plain with a hundred thousand peasants.

The basis of this rumor was the following: starting from March 12, a crowd of tens of thousands camped on the Rákos plain. This throng, gathered for the three-day fair in Pest, gave strength and prestige to the March movement. During these days, the Hungarian people held their capital in their hands. Fate orchestrated a small popular assembly. At that time, this crowd, spurred by the words of Petőfi and his companions, would have readily been willing to fight for Hungarian freedom and their own liberation. It was this crowd that made March 15 a monumental day.

In the morning, the movement began as a simple student demonstration, which is likely why the Council of Governors did not consider suppressing it. By the afternoon, however, the situation had become serious. The Rákos fair was taking place not far behind the Museum, and around three o'clock, the gathering began to disperse. People did not leave Pest because the fair continued the next day. They flocked to the front of the Museum, where a powerful poem transformed them into Hungarians, members of a single nation, and fervent patriots.

At the time, fairs were also a source of ideas: books were published, theaters performed their most successful plays, and political parties held gatherings. This dangerously powerful crowd, at the call of a handful of writers, marched to the town hall and then to the governor's office in Buda. The representatives of Vienna's power, terrified, complied with all demands. There could be no doubt that those speaking and drafting the 12 points were indeed speaking on behalf of the nation.

The hesitant magnates in Pozsony felt the tension of national forces, and poetry suddenly took tangible form. In Pozsony, Kossuth and his allies suddenly saw the decades-long stubborn resistance of the progress-opposing forces crumble and lay down their arms. The terrifying rumor served as a warning that everyone understood in time. This warning, conveyed through a single poem, spread across the country, signaling that the nation had the strength for renewal.

That year, the Pest fair ended in a celebration. The dispersing crowd carried noble souvenirs with them. I attribute the swift, nationwide triumph of the March ideals to this. An entire army transformed into an army of envoys. From the fairgrounds, ten thousand agitators set off to every corner of the country. (1938)

Illyés Gyula "Március magyarázata" in "A Kelet népe", Kossuth könyvkiadó, Budapest, 1986