Background
Kálmán Tisza was born at Geszt on the 10th of December 1830, the son of Lajos Tisza and the countess Julia Teleki.
Kálmán Tisza was born at Geszt on the 10th of December 1830, the son of Lajos Tisza and the countess Julia Teleki.
He was educated at his father's castle.
In 1848 he obtained a post in the ministry of instruction of the revolutionary government which he accompanied to Debreczen. After the war he went abroad with most of his family, and carefully studied foreign institutions. On returning home he devoted himself to the improvement of the family estates, and in 1855 was elected assistant curator of the Calvinist church at Nagyszalonta, in succession to his father. When, on the 16t of September 1859, the Austrian government issued the "Patent" which struck at the very roots of Protestant autonomy in Hungary, Tisza, at the congress of the Calvinist Church beyond the Theiss, held at Debreczen, publicly repudiated the Patent on behalf of the Calvinist laity. He renewed his opposition in the most uncompromising terms at the ensuing congress (January 11, 1860), shrewdly guessing that the Patent was directed as much against the Hungarian constitution as against the Calvinist confession. His fears were justified by the October Diploma, which he attacked with equal vehemence. In August 1860 Tisza married the countess Helen Degenfeld-Schomburg, a union which brought him into close connexion with the Karolyis, the Podmaniczkys and the Odescalchis. He was unanimously elected to represent Debreczen at the 1861 Diet, and was elected vice-president of the house at its second session. The Diet was divided between the Addressers, led by Deák, and the "Resolutionists, " led by Count Laszlo Teleki, and on the death of the latter Tisza succeeded him as the leader of the more radical party. During the Provisorium (1861 - 1865) Tisza fought for constitutional reform in the columns of the Hon and the Magyar Sajto, his leading articles, afterwards collected and published under the title of Alfoldi Levelek (Letters from the Alfold), being by far the most important contribution to the controversy. When the Diet was again summoned byroyal decree (December 10, 1865), Tisza once more represented Debreczen and formed, with Kalmfin Ghyczy (1808 - 1888), the Left-centre party. From 1867 onwards his influence continued to increase, despite the rupture of his party, which he reconstructed at the conference of Nagyvarad (March 17, 1868), when the famous Bihari pontok, or articles of Bihar, were subscribed. The Bihari pontok started from the assumption that Hungary was a free and independent state. They bound the Tisza party to repeal all laws or institutions contrary to, and to promote all measures necessary for, the national independence. Thus the delegation system and the common ministries were marked out for attack, while every effort was to be made to procure for Hungary a separate army, a separate diplomacy and a separate financial system. It was chiefly owing to the efforts of Tisza and his party that Austria remained neutral during the Franco-German War. His speech on the 3rd of March 1875 led to the resignation of Istoan Bitto's administration and the welding of Deak's followers and the Left-centre into a new party, the Szabadelvii pdrt or Free Principles Party, which took office under Bela Wenckheim (1811 - 1879), whom (October 2) Tisza succeeded as prime minister, a post he held, with a few interruptions, for the next fifteen years (1875- 1890). In 1877 be resigned on the discussion of the question of the Composition (Ausgleich), but he returned to office on his own terms. The same thing happened the following year, when his brief resignation compelled the Magyar Diet to agree to the occupation of Bosnia. In 1879 he materially contributed to the formation of the Austro-German alliance. Not till 1888, when the national army bill was introduced, did he encounter any serious opposition, but thenceforth his position became precarious. On the 13th of March 1890, on the occasion of the revision of the Indigenat Act, he resigned office, but continued, as deputy for Nagyvarad to place his vast political experience at the disposal of the house. It is no exaggeration to say that Hungary owes to Klaman Tisza a consolidated government, the formation of a parliamentary majority, a healthy public spirit, public credit, the reform of the Upper House, an admirable educational system, economical, and particularly railway, development, and administrative and judicial reconstruction on modern fines. His opponents have accused him of unscrupulousness and party spirit, but not one of them can deny that he reshaped Hungary and made her the leading partner of the dual monarchy.
He died on March 23, 1902 in Budapest.
The contributions made by Kálmán Tisza during his 15-year reign were quite tremendous. Although he was born during the midst of a failing Austrian Imperial government in Hungary and he had inherited a failing Hungarian Constitutional government, he managed to turn Hungary into a modern state. He saved his country from going completely bankrupt and consolidated and created an efficient centralized government. His legacy of reform and success gave confidence to a people that were once suppressed by the Austrians and struggling to master constitutional government. However, he has also been associated with the policy of Magyarization and the imposition of Magyar hegemony over the various other linguisitic and ethnic groups in Hungary, as well as consolidating the influence of the Magyar country gentry on political life. His son István Tisza also became a noted Hungarian politician.
In August 1860 Tisza married the countess Helen Degenfeld-Schomburg, they had 4 children.
