A leading figure in the Czech cultural and national revival, he presided over the Pan-Slav Congress in Prague in 1848, advocating Czech autonomy within a federal Austria. After the suppression of the liberal and nationalist uprising of 1848, Palacký retired from active politics until 1861, when he became a deputy to the Austrian Reichstag. After the foundation of Austria-Hungary in 1867, he advocated complete Czech independence. His influence on Czech political thought, and on later leaders such as Tomáš Masaryk, was immense.