Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. [Vol. 3.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 23)

STUDIES - Tibor Giant: The Role of Calvinism in President Wilsotis Relationship to Hungary during World War 1

TIBOR GLANT THE ROLE OF CALVINISM IN PRESIDENT WILSON'S RELATIONSHIP TO HUNGARY DURING WORLD WAR I.

1 With a large number of contradictory interpretations of his personality and policies and with many American historians jealously guarding his image as the New World's last moral idealist, Thomas Woodrow Wilson remains difficult to understand.

2 What all accounts of Wilson's life and policies share, though, is the emphasis on his Calvinism. Wilson's stern belief in his own chosenness reinforced his belief in America being a model for the rest of the world, and the two together came to be the guiding principles of his wartime policies. The following essay is a revised version of the author's lecture at the 28th Duquesne History Forum, held in Pittsburgh, 20—22 October 1994. The author would like to express his gratitude to Prof. Peter Pastor of Montclair State University, MD, for his useful comments on the paper, and Prof. Steven Béla Várdy and the Rev. Aladár Komjáthy, both of Duquesne University, for the invitation to the conference. 2 Literally, hundreds of books have been written about Wilson. To name but a few of the most important ones: William E. Dodd, Woodrow Wilson and His Work. (New York, 1920); August Heckscher, Woodrow Wilson. A Biography. (New York, 1991); Thomas J. Knock, The War to End All Wars. Woodrow Wilson and the Search for a New World Order. (New York and Oxford, 1992); Norman Gordon Levin, Woodrow Wilson and World Politics. America's Response to War and Revolution. (New York, 1968); Arthur Stanley Link, Wilson. 5 vols. (Princeton, 1947—65); Arthur Walworth, Woodrow Wilson. 2 vols. (New York, 1958). 35