Martinovics Conspiracy of 1794

a term introduced by the historiography of the bourgeoisie and nobility to designate the republican movement of Hungarian noble revolutionaries, called Jacobins, headed by I. Martinovics, J. Hajnoczy, J. Laczkovics, and F. Szentmarjay.

The movement arose under the influence of antifeudal peasant disturbances, anti-Austrian manifestations of the nobility, and the Great French Revolution. The movement’s program provided for establishing through an armed uprising an independent republic with a bicameral parliament, introducing freedom of the press, abolishing feudal limitations on domestic and foreign trade, and transforming the kingdom of Hungary into a union of free nations, each with its own constitution. Afraid of alienating the nobility, the radicals did not openly advocate peasant demands. In the spring of 1794, 1. Martinovics set up two secret organizations—the Society of the Reformers and the Society of Freedom and Equality. In July 1794 both societies (from 200 to 300 people) were smashed by the police, and seven of their leaders, headed by I. Martinovics, were executed (May-June 1795).