Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1973 (1. évfolyam, 1-2. szám)

1973 / 1. szám

Treichel, James A. (Georgetown U„ 1972) "Magyars at the Ballplatz: A Stidy of the Hungarians in the Austro-Hungarian Diplomatic Service, 1906-1914." 363 pages. Microfilm and xerox order no. 72-16,042.*

Before World War I foreign policy was buffeted by the clash of the numerous national forces contending for hegemony or survival in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was the assertion of a number of prominent and embittered Austrians, among them Mayor Karl Lueger of Vienna, and Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the throne, that the Monarchy's foreign policy was in the hands of what Lueger called "Judeo-Magyar clique." These Austrians professed to see a conspiracy at work, which aimed at running foreign affairs for the exclusive benefit of the Magyar nation and which encompassed not only the govenment in Budapest but also the sizable number of Hungarians who occupied high places in the Monarchy's diplomatic service. In this belief they were only partly right. There was a Hungarian influence on the conduct of foreign affairs in Vienna, but it was confined to occasional interventions by the Budapest government. It did not in any significant respect include the Hungarian diplomats. They were diplomats first and Hungarians second, servants of a supranational ideal in an age of raging nationalism.

It was the extraordinary visibility of the Hungarian diplomats which misled Dr. Lueger and his allies. In 1914 Hungarians comprised over 30 percent of the Monarchy's diplomatic personnel, despite the fact that they formed less than 20 percent of the country's total population, and they monopolized virtually every important position at the foreign ministry and the missions abroad. Among them were such men as János Forgách, Minister in Belgrade at the time of the annexation of Bosnia-Hercegovina and in charge of political affairs at the foreign ministry in 1914; János Pallavicini, Ambassador to Turkey, 1906—1914, and one of the Monarchy's ablest diplomat; and Frigyes Szapáry, in charge of political affairs in Vienna for a year, then Ambassador to Russia, 1913-1914.

These men and their numerous colleagues were vitally concerned with the making and execution of foreign policy before World War I, and if a Magyar conspiracy had existed, it could not have functioned effectively without them. Vet an examination of the careers of the important Hungarian diplomats shows that nationality was not an important motivating factor in their behavior, but rather than their actions were conditioned by their individual personalities and their diplomatic training and experience. In political terms, in spite of the fact that some of them had close relatives in the Hungarian government, they were more concerned with the interest of the Monarchy as a whole.

Hungary's interest in foreign affairs were defended by the government in Budapest where it was able to make its intervention effective. It caused two foreign ministers, Kálnoky and Goluchowski, their jobs and influenced the future of their successors Aehrenthal and Berchtold. And it was the Hungarian premiere István Tisza who in 1913 and 1914 prodded Berchtold into a more aggressive attitude toward Serbia, the Monarchy's primary enemy, an attitude which contributed to the sharpening of Austro-Serbian relations in 1914.

DISSERTATIONS (Continued)

Vida, Joseph L. (U. of Toronto, 1971) "The Hungarian Image in Nineteenth-Century German Literature." Microfilm may be obtained from the National Library to Canada, Ottawa, five years after the degree has been granted.

Within the larger field of literary relations the thesis undertakes to examine the Hungarian image in greater breadth than ever before attempted, tracing it through the whole 19th century in search of continuity as well as change. This is done according to a thematic arrangement and by utilizing the over-all concept of the history of ideas, here applied to a new field of investigation. Such terms as primitivism, sublimity and antiquarism are employed to indicate different value judgments, a method which proved particularly helpful for the Romantic period which presents the heyday of Hungarian images.

The images are discussed under such chapter headings as "Huns and Hungarians," "Bard and Saint," "Hungarian Kings and National Heroes," "Sons of the Puszta," "Hussars, Curses and Wine," "Revolutionaries and Honvéds," "Hungarian Society," and "Anti-Hungarian Trends." In the beginning of the century the image is still — however wrongly — associated with that of the Huns, leading to a largely negative appreciation. Emerging tendencies of cultural primitivism result in revised opinions on both Huns and Hungarians in the light of the Noble Savage idea. German authors show a marked fondness for the early days of Christianity in Hungary, centering in national kings and heroes. The images of poetic inspiration and natural piety to which Klingsor and Saint Elizabeth give expression, constitute a side-line to the historical treatment. Here Hungary represents the realm of the magical, indicative of the powers of the imagination and poetic creativity for Romantics like Novalis, E.T.A. Hoffmann and Fouque. In retrospect the Turkish invasions bring the image of the Türkenkämpfer to the fore, as a self-sacrificing defender of the bulwark against the East. In the treatment of the rebel-personality, mainly represented by Thököly and Rákóczi, love of political and religious freedom, as well as insistence on ancient privileges are dominantly displayed, even in works that disapprove of the Hungarian opposition to Austrian domination. The Hungarian image reaches the height of its popularity in the Children of Nature. Its eminent success may well be connected with man's inborn need to escape from depressing aspect of urban living and the general mechanization of life into a more primitive state of existence. A combination of the historical rebel and the Sons of the Puszta is to be found in the revolutionary hero of 1848—49. In both honvéd (Landwehr) and huszár the unquenchable desire for freedom from oppression and the reinstitution of natural law go hand in hand, and find wide acclaim among liberally oriented writers who show great sympathy with the Hungarian cause. Trends of primitivism also have their part to play in the analysis of Hungarian society although observations on the social scene are usually not based on first-hand experiences. So-called "old-Hungarian" traits in several members of the aristocracy are still being connected with simple and unpretentious living that finds its standards in an appreciation of ancient traditions and a smooth patriarchal relationship. Only when old values are discarded in favor of cultural refinement the social image visibly declines. Primitivism as backwardness is lastly employed in the language controversies which move into the literary field after the 1867 Compromise, resulting in anti-Hungarian trends. Hungary is once more characterized as a

(Continued on pg. 5, col. 2)

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