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The year 1848 meant a lot in the European context. A series of revolutions was sweeping through the continent making the situation unstable for the Habsburgs. Czech intellectual elite decided to use the circumstance to the people’s benefit and came with a program of a federal system among the Empire.
There were many theories on how to reach this new existence of a free Czech state. One of them was Austroslavism, meaning reciprocity between the states in the Austrian Empire. Panslavism, a more radical theory, stressed the relations between Slavic people and the importance of fighting the Habsburgs. Manifestations were held, petitions were being sent to Ferdinand I, the Austrian emperor, but in the end, it was the Hungarians who reached a settlement in 1867. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was at first an inspiration for Czechs, but they never succeeded in their Austro-Hungarian-Czech dream.
Apart from political efforts, the revival was evident in cultural life of the Czech society. Philologists were translating Chateubriand, Goethe, Schiller and other Romantic writers into Czech, they wrote essays and dictionaries that were defending the original culture and criticizing the German factor. In 1818, the National Museum was opened in Prague, more than a decade later, the first Czech publishing was established. And finally, in 1868 the National Theatre in Prague was built and is a symbol of patriotism and love for Czech music and drama.