Batthyány, Lajos

Batthyány, Lajos

 

Born Feb. 14, 1806, in Pressburg (Bratislava); died Oct. 6, 1849, in Pest. Hungarian count and statesman.

During the Revolution of 1848–49, Batthyány headed the first Hungarian government (Mar. 17–Sept. 15, 1848). His policies were directed toward keeping Hungary in the Hapsburg Empire. With the formation of the defense committee (September 1848), Batthyány abandoned active political life. After the entry of Austrian troops into Budapest (Jan. 5, 1849), he tried to initiate negotiations with the Austrian commander in chief, Windisch-Graetz, but Batthyány was arrested (Jan. 8, 1849) and shot by sentence of the court-martial.

REFERENCE

Szemere, B. Graf Ludwig Battyány, Arthur Görgei, Ludwig Kossuth, part 1. Hamburg, 1853.