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The last
remnants of the dependent condition of the peasantry had been swept
away; taxation had been made universal; and freedom of the press and
universal military service had been promised. Szechenyi alone had
ventured to raise a note of warning, and it had fallen unheeded.
In Vienna Kossuth was welcomed almost as cordially as in Presburg; for
the German movement in Vienna had tended to produce in its supporters a
willingness to lose the eastern half of the empire in order to obtain
the union of the western half with Germany. So the notes of Arndt's
"_Deutsches Vaterland_" were mingled with the cry of "_Batthyanyi Lajos,
Minister Praesident!_" Before such a combination as this, Ferdinand had
no desire, Windischgraetz no power, to maintain an obstinate resistance;
and, on March 16th, Sedlnitzky, the hated head of the police, was
dismissed from office. On the 18th a responsible ministry was appointed;
and on the 22d Windischgraetz announced that national affairs would now
be guided on the path of progress.


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