150th anniversary of the establishment of the Slovak National Council and the outbreak of the Slovak Uprising of 1848/49

200 Sk commemorative silver coin

The Slovak Uprising of 1848/1849, the first armed uprising of the Slovaks in modern history, was part of a general European wave of revolution. Discontent with the solution of the nationality question, and the constitutional situation after the March revolution and the origin of an independent Hungarian or Magyar state, which refused to recognize the national rights of the non-Magyar nation, also led to the Slovaks taking revolutionary action. The “Demands of the Slovak Nation”, worked out in Liptovský Sv. Mikuláš in May 1848 formulated its aims. The uprising was organised by the Slovak National Council, the first national authority of the Slovaks, with political, military and executive powers. It was established in Vienna, and proclaimed on 19.9.1848 at a national assembly in Myjava, where subjection the Hungarian government was rejected, and national independence proclaimed. In three phases, from September 1848 to November 1849, thousands of rebels took part in the campaigns of the volunteer forces. Although the uprising did not achieve its aim, it played an important part in the journey of the Slovaks towards a separate identity.