Folia Historica 35. (Budapest, 2020)

I. TANULMÁNYOK - Varga Lujza: A genfi magyar titkárság létrejötte és tevékenysége az 1920-as években

Therefore, the Hungarian Foreign Office intended to establish a Hungarian representation alongside the organization as soon as possible. This was how the Geneva Secretariat emerged, under the auspices of the Hungarian Embassy in Bern in February 1921. Its task was to mediate between the League of Nations and the Hungarian government and other Hungarian organizations, to carry out initiatives and obtain and spread information on the League.

During the 1920s, the Secretariat became an important office due to the central role of the League of Nations and Geneva and the fact that the Secretariat's leaders (Mihály Réz, Zoltán Baranyai and Pál Hevesy) were well versed in interpreting the League's operation towards the leaders of the Hungarian foreign policy. Moreover, the staff of the office also 'translated' Hungarian foreign policy aims to the language and methods used by the League of Nations.

At the same time, the role of the Geneva Secretariat was fundamentally influenced by those Hungarian foreign policy issues, which could be brought before the League of Nations - minority issues, the financial reconstruction of Hungary, and the international loan related to it were amongst these. The Geneva Secretariat staff, also experienced in law, minority issues and diplomacy, successfully mediated between the League of Nations and the Hungarian government, and carried out significant informative activities and thus provided further assistance, as well.

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