jan 1, 1854 - Triumphal Symphony

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using the Austrian People's Hymn, which was inspired by the marriage of the new Austrian emperor, 23-yo Franz Joseph I, who would reign for almost seventy years. Smetana greeted Franz Joseph's accession to the throne with high hopes for Czech legistlative and fiscal freedom within the empire. Instead, a repressive policy of "Centralization and Germanization," enforced by a ruthless secret police, created a stifling political atmosphere. These policies did more to stimulate the growth of Czech cultural nationalism than liberalization could possibly have achieved.

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