The death of Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich in the days succeeding the Revolution, brought forth moments of radical turmoil on both ends of the political spectrum. It quickly became apparent that the Federal Government was to consist of members of all types of society and ideology, from Radicals, to Royalists. With such wide varieties of opinion, moderate and stable action seemed to be the best approach to many weary citizens, which became the embodiment of the Conservative Movement, backed by Károly Vörös de Nyitra, the Councillor for Hungary. Councillor de Nyitra, was one of the first outspoken critics of the Krakow Act, despite his Royalist sympathies of which many liberals believed was directly correlated to Jingoistic approaches. His call for peace, rallied together Conservatives and Moderate Royalists, who stood behind him as he put forth his name in the first Presidential election.
The strength of Herr Nyitra's conservative movement brought about fears of a possible re shift to the right, prompting a immediate reaction from the center-left. In a similar fashion as de Nyira, many moderate liberals preached against the Krakow Act in correspondence with the Conservatives. The first politician to take such a path was a prominent liberal, Vlado Nikolić, a Councillor from Croata. Nikolić was also a defender of Slavic rights, a support that was able to attract several followers to his cause in the foundation of the first Danubian political party, the Slavic and Romanian Liberal Party. The parties ideals corresponded to those of Vlado's, adopting moderate liberalism and equal rights for all Slavs within the new Federation. Nikolić was the second man to put forth his name for the Presidential Election, therefore bringing forth a uneasy political tension between de Nyitra and Nikolić.
The two initial candidates, like the third, were both relatively centrist leaders in their actions against the Krakow Act, despite Nyitra's Royalist past and the pursuit of equal rights on behalf of Vlado, which appeared threatened by the Russians in Krakow. However, the third candidate was far from moderate in all cases excusing said act. Albert Von Salzburg, of the noble house of Von Salzburg, was the clear Royalist candidate who desired a restoration of the Monarchy and the protection of the Imperial House if such was not possible. Many saw Von Salzburg as the biggest threat to democracy, especially when he proposed de Nyitra join his militaristic and reactionary party. Despite the refusal by the Conservative candidate, fears remained that Salzburg controlled the strongest land-holders in the nation by advocating for restoration.
| ||||||||||||||||||||