Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1976 (4. évfolyam, 9-12. szám)
1976 / 10. szám
BOOKS (Continued) Hungarian Chamber of Commerce. He describes the institutional framework in which foreign trade planning and execution is taking place, financial institutions, insurance, shipping services, relevant international agreements, joint ventures with the West, credit, banking, theforeign exchange system, access to market, legal controls, copyright, licensing, and settlement of foreign trade disputes. Dr. Starr, a former legal advisor to the US Department of State, and editor of Business Transactions with the USSR (1974), is presently Counsel to the Law Office Frank Boas in London. We would like to congratulate Praeger Publishers for a major improvement in their Hungarian-related publications which they accomplished by applying diacritical marks to Hungarian words. We would like to hope that this will be a continuous practice. Vass, Henrik, ed. STUDIES ON THE HISTORY OF THE HUNGARIAN WORKING-CLASS MOVEMENT (1887-1966). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1975. 429 pages, biblio. $25.00 cloth. The Hungarian labor movement had a rough road to travel and its history has not yet been written properly. The movement and its historians have found little sympathy from the established order in the past. The movement was looked at as an alien with no precedence in Hungarian historical experience. Its ideas were imported, it had little if any concern for land, and it centered in cities already populated by foreigners and people of foreign extraction. Its existence had been quasi-legal and the writing of its history was not considered of high priority. When the Institute of Party History was established after the communist take-over in 1948, labor history became an “independent branch of scholarship” in Hungary. However, ideological bias madethe works of the first decade of quite dubious value. This book tries to be of a different class. Although not a synthesis but a collection of essays, it aims toward a presentation of the history of the labor movement in a critical tone. The genesis of the labor movement is traced back to the post-Ausgleich years, when first a non-socialist General Workers Party was created in 1880, followed by the establishment of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary in 1890. The essays of E.S. Vincze and T. Erényi deal with the early period. Gy. Milei traces the antecedents and development of the communist party. B. Kirschner’s essay deals with the impact of the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919. Gy. Borsányiand /. Pinter describe various aspects of the interwar years in regard to labor, and D. Csatári writes about communist policy and the nationality problem. A. Ságvári analyzes the communist role during the years of transformation (1944-1948), and A. Zsilák sketches some social consequences of communist policy (1949-1956). P. Simon has a paper on the socialist reorganization of agriculture, and H. Vass speaks about developments after 1956. An index of 407 entries concludes the volume. Vegh, Antal. MIÉRT BETEG A MAGYAR FUTBALL? (Why Hungarian Soccer is Sick?) Standard Press, 364 Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. 1975. 95 pages, $4.00 paper. The HSN is making an exception to its policy when reporting on a book published in Hungarian. What seems to ARTICLES AND PAPERS Balogh, Eva., “Romanian and Allied Involvement in the Hungarian Coup d’Etat of 1919.” East European Quarterly IX (Fall 1975) 297-7314. Amid the political chaos in Hungary during the second half of 1919, the coup that brought István Friedrich and the Archduke Joseph to power seemed to have been engineered by the Romanian army of occupation and the Allied High Command. Though it is true that the Romanians were ready to install a puppet government to replace the Social Democrats under Gyula Peidl, especially after the government ignored theirextraordinarily harsh ultimatum (on Allied advice), they seemed to have been passive bystanders rather than active participants. On August 6, a counterrevolutionary group, staged a bloodless coup during a meeting of the Ministerial Council. They had appraised both the Allied representatives and the Romanian commander of their intentions beforehand, and though urged not to carry it out, were not opposed in earnest. The outside world suspected (Continued on page 7) justify the unusual treatment is the worldwide publicity the book has received, including a column in Newsweek (Dec. 23, 1974). First published in Hungary by Magvetőin 50,000 copies, it now has been reprinted in the U.S. with the permission of the author. When the Hungarian national soccer team plunged from the top or near the top to the 23rd place in the European standing in 1974, Vegh, a historian and writer with sociological leanings, suspected other causes than bad luck. He engaged in systematic field research among players, referees, sports officials and others and found a good number of specific reasons for the demise of Hungarian soccer. What makes the book of interest to social scientists are the wider ramifications of his specific findings. DOCUMENTS ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST THE HUNGARIAN MINORITY IN RUMANIA BEFORE THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, AND THE UNTED STATED CONGRESS AND GOVERNMENT. American Hungarian Federation 3216 New Mexico Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20016, 1975. 73 pages, n.p. paper. Though not a scholarly work, this publication may be used as a source by students of history or the social sciences. Prompted by the gradually improving American-Romanian relations, this collection of documents is meant to be a warning against full recognition of a government which is claimed to violate the rights of its minority citizens. Bishop Emeritus Zoltán Beky, National President of the American Hungarian Federation gives the rationale for the volume in the foreword, which is followed by letters from American Hungarian organizations and personalities of various domestic and international political and religious bodies, their replies, transcripts of statements made in congressional hearings and speeches made by members of Congress. A 28- page memorandum amended by testimonies of individuals who lived in Romania and suffered discrimination themselves or have visited relatives who witnessed such cases, constitute the essence of the volume. Scholars with interest in minority studies, international relations, or East European area studies may find the publication useful reading. 6 NO. 10, 1976, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER
