The Young Czechs had wide appeal as they held the professional, petit bourgeoisie, and peasant support. In 1888, Rieger, fearful of the Young Czech's radicalism and potential power, sought assistance from the Emperor but this plea was rejected. In 1889, in the Bohemian Diet elections, the Young Czechs made impressive strides in the rural curia by obtaining 37 seats. In 1890, the Taafe government and the Old Czech party sought a German-Czech compromise. This compromise was never put into effect due to Rieger's blunder in not including the Young Czech Party in the negotiations. The Young Czechs declared the agreement a thinly disguised attempt to increase the political privileges of the German minority. Rieger was declared a traitor to the Czech cause. The Agreement of 1890 even failed to acquire the unanimous consent of the Old Czech party. The Czech club voted to endorse the agreement only on the provision of Rieger's promise of a forthcoming amendment which would make Czech an internal official language in all Czech areas. Rieger received no government assistance in backing his request which was eventually denied by the Emperor. The government further discredited Rieger and the Old Czech party by bribing Czech newspapers to publish articles supporting the government. As a result, it appeared as if the Old Czech Party, who had been leading the Czech nation, was supporting the Habsburg government in its endeavors to subjugate the people and control the press. This fueled the Young Czechs to garner more support as a great majority of the nation transferred its allegiance to their party. The Young Czechs won a sweeping victory in the Parliamentary elections of 1891. The Old Czech Party's hegemony in Czech politics was officially eliminated and was replaced by the majority Young Czech coalition party.