with Széchenyi that the new noblemen and aristocrats had to lead the new reform movement, but Batthyány's views were much closer to that of the nobility. Because of this Batthyány tried to bite his tongue when dealing with Széchenyi and Lajos Kossuth. From 1843 onward he started to work with Kossuth. In the 1843–1844 parliament Batthyány was the Leader of the Opposition for the entire parliament, and criticised the Habsburg monarchy's internal affairs and foreign policy. After the dissolution of parliament Batthyány moved to Pest and in 1845 he was elected as the chairman of the Central Election Office. He had an important role in the other economic associations and set up the (roughly: "Defence society" ). On 15 March 1847 an amalgamation of the Hungarian Leftist movements (the Maverick Party) was founded and Batthyány became its first President. Batthyány supported Kossuth both morally and financially. Kossuth became the representative for in the 1847 diet. After this Batthyány was the Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House while Kossuth had the same role in the Lower House. The Batthyány Government Batthyány was part of the delegation to the Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria. They insisted Hungary's government be supreme in its territory. On 17 March 1848 the Emperor assented and Batthyány created the first Hungarian Diet. On 23 March 1848, as head of government, Batthyány commended his administration to the Diet. The first task of the new government was to work out the revolution's policies. After these were agreed, the government began to take action on 11 April 1848. At that time the internal affairs and foreign policy of Hungary were unstable, and Batthyány faced many problems. His first and most important act was to organise the armed forces and the local government. He insisted that the Austrian army, when in Hungary, would come under Hungarian law, and this was conceded by the Austrian Empire. He tried to repatriate conscripted soldiers to Hungary. He established the Organisation of Militiamen, whose job was to ensure internal security. In May 1848 he started to organise the independent Hungarian Revolutionary Army and recruited men into it. Batthyány took control of the Organisation of Militiamen until Lázár Mészáros returned. At the same time, he was Minister of War. Batthyány was a very capable leader, but he was in the middle of a clash between the Austrian monarchy and the Hungarian separatists. He was