Kálmán Széll de Duka et Szentgyörgyvölgy (8 June 1843 – 16 August 1915) was a Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1899 to 1903.

Political career

At the elections of 1901 the Liberal Party had obtained a considerable majority, and Prime Minister Széll formed a government. He faced the greatest difficulty on 16 October 1902, when the Minister of Defence, Géza Fejérváry

Géza Fejérváry

----Géza Baron Fejérváry de Komlós-Keresztes was a Hungarian general who served as the prime minister in a government of bureaucrats appointed by King Franz Joseph during the Hungarian Constitutional Crisis of 1903–1907....

 tabled a bill in the House of Representatives about the conscription of 20 thousands reervists. Against this proposal of the defence minister, the opposition, led by the Independence Party, launched an endless obstruction

Obstruction

Obstruction may refer to:* Obstruction theory, in mathematics* Obstruction of justice, the crime of interfering with law enforcement* Obstructing government administration* Propagation path obstruction** Single Vegetative Obstruction Model-Medical:...

 under the slogan of "no more soldiers without the introduction of Hungarian as the language service and command".

In the face of opposition, which paralysed the work of the parliament, the Széll government proved impotent and, so on 23 May 1903 King

King of Hungary

The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...

 Francis Joseph authorised Károly Khuen-Héderváry

Károly Khuen-Héderváry

Dragutin Károly Khuen-Héderváry, also known as Károly Count Khuen-Héderváry de Hédervár , was a Hungarian politician, the ban of Croatia in the late nineteenth century. He succeeded the temporary reign of Ban Hermann Ramberg in 1883. Khuen's reign was marked by a strong magyarization...

, ban of Croatia

Ban of Croatia

Ban of Croatia was the title of local rulers and after 1102 viceroys of Croatia. From earliest periods of Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Bans as a rulers representative and supreme military commander. In the 18th century, Croatian bans eventually become chief government officials in...

, to initiate negotiations among the Hungarian politicians about the prospects of forming a new government.