Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1974 (2. évfolyam, 3-5. szám)
1974 / 5. szám
AHUNGARIAN ^§11 STUDIES NEWSLETTER No. 5 Fall 1974 published three times a year by the HUNGARIAN RESEARCH CENTER Subscription: $3.00 per annum. Single copy: $1.00 Communications concerning content should be sent to Dr. Bela C. Maday, Editor 4528-49th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016 Subscriptions and communications concerning circulation should be mailed to the Hungarian Research Center American Hungarian Studies Foundation 177 Somerset Street P.O. Box 1084, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903 BOOKS (Continued from page 1) While the author does not avoid this problem, his primary interest lies in the effect national minorities have had on relations among small states. Conflict between nationalities in socialist societies has been banned by the Party, but the author contends that the underlying nationality problems which have troubled Europe for generations are still alive. The introduction of communist governments in Eastern Europe after World War II created two rival sets of values. That of traditional nationalism emphasizing self reliance and territorial rights, as against that of communism emphasizing ideological conformity and international goals. It is in this framework that the author investigates the impact of the major nationalities on foreign relations between 1945 and the early 1970s. He discusses the conflicts which arose immediately after World War II over borders and other minority related problems. He also describes methods used to reduce the apparent size of national minorities by manipulation of census data, changing administrative boundaries, and by references to historical antecedents. The minority groups discussed are the Hungarians in the successor states; the Macedonians and Albanians in Yugoslavia; the Romanians in Soviet Moldavia; and other less numerous minorities. The author ends his chapter on the National Minorities and the Hungarian Revolution by stating that the nationality problem, though not prominent, became an important issue. “Unrest among the Hungarian minority populations and fear of a revival of Hungarian irredentism should a nationalist government come to power in Budapest were major factors which led Czechoslovakia, Rumania, and reluctantly, Yugoslavia to counsel and support Soviet military intervention. Nevertheless the Soviet grip on Eastern Europe had been weakened. . . .The common ideology has been unable to erase all traces of national conflict, but it had a profound impact on the framework within which national issues are now debated.” The author is a Senior Analyst with Radio Free Europe. Mamatey, Victor S. and Radomir Lu2a. A HISTORY OF THE CZECHOSLOVAK REPUBLIC 1918-1948. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton U. Press, 1973. 534 pages, maps, tables, biblio. $22.50 cloth, $9.75 paper. Fourteen authors, including the editors, examine all possible aspects of Czechoslovak democracy, its strength, its shortcomings, triumphs, and failures during the thirty years of its existence. According to the editors, “No comparable study exists in Western historiography on Czechoslovakia, which is not abundant.” The volume, of course, is full of Hungarian references. The first seven chapters deal with the first twenty relatively peaceful years of the Republic. Mamatey writes on the establishment of the Republic and the history of the period; Vaclav L. Bene^ writes on the nature of the political orientation; J.W. Bruegel on the German, Hungarian and other minority problems; Zora P. Pryor has a chapter on economic development during the interwar period; Piotr S. Wandycz on Benes’ foreign policy; and Keith Eubank on the Munich crisis. Part Two covers the war with chapters in historical perspective. Theodor Prochazka writes on the Second Republic; Jorg K. Hoensch on the Slovak Republic; Gotthold Rhode, on the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; Edward Taborsky on politics in exile; Luza on the Czech and Anna Josko on the Slovak resistance movements. The third part of the volume discusses Czechoslovakia’s postwar position between East and West. Luza has a chapter on the dilemma; Ludvik Nemec writes on the solution of the minority problem; Jan M. Michal on postwar economic development; and Mamatey summarizes the thirty-year history with reference to the relatively bloodless coup of 1948. Luza’s extensive bibliography concludes the volume. Mamatey is Prof, of History of the U. of Georgia, and Luia is Prof, of History at Tulane U. Quinn, David B. and Neil M. Cheshire. THE NEW FOUND LAND OF STEPHEN PARMENIUS. The life and writings of a Hungarian poet, drowned on a voyage from Newfoundland, 1583. Toronto: U. of Toronto Press, 1972. 250 pages, illustr., biblio. $8.50 cloth. This volume introduces Parmenius, his work, and the circle in which he moved in his adopted England: a circle that included the eminent historian William Camden and the explorer Humphrey Gilbert. It reprints in edited form the poet's two surviving poems and a long letter written from Newfoundland offering on facing pages new English translations of the Latin original. The works are thoroughly annotated and are preceded by a full critical and historical introduction. The poetic tribute of Parmenius in praise of the project to explore what is now eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S., can still be read for its literary qualities in addition to its informative value describing the challenges of transatlantic crossings. Parmenius’ death in a shipwreck off Sable Island brought his career to a premature end. He was one of the few Renaissance Latinists to take the new lands and the voyages to them as the subject of epic poetry. He was also one of the first to risk his life in exploration in order to base his writing on first-hand observation. This volume is based on his intimate association with Hakluyt and the English explorers. David B. Quinn is Prof, of Modern History at the U. of Liverpool, and Neil Cheshire is Lecturer in Psychology at the U. College in Bangor. (Continued on page 3) 2 No. 5, 1974, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER
