The Slovenes have prepared in August 1858 in Bled a celebration in the honour of the twenty-eight birthday of Francis Joseph I, and a solemnity in honour of the birth of crown prince Rudolf. After a political thaw in the Habsbourg monarchy in the sixties of the 19th century, the Slovenes began to link up and publicly remind of national rights. Presumably, under the impression of similar Czech and German assemblies they have organised in Bled in the years 1861 and 1862 on the Assumption Day, big national meetings. In 1861, they have accepted with enthusiasm the proposals by Dr. Lovro Toman for a poetry and writing competition, and for collecting contributions for the Yugoslav academy of which initiator was the Đakovo bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer. Numerous guests from Croatia attended the 1862 meeting. In 1863, celebrations in other places replaced organised meetings in Bled.