Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1976 (4. évfolyam, 9-12. szám)
1976 / 9. szám
were administered to children in three social settings in rural Hungary. The work is an extention of research carried out by Hollos and Cowan in Norway. In each setting 45 male and female children with equal numbers of 7, 8, and 9-year-olds were tested. Factor analysis yielded a logical-operations factor and a role-taking factor. Age and setting effects were significant for both factors. The socially isolated children performed less well on role-taking tasks but did significantly better on logical operations at all ages than village and town children. The results are almost identical with the findings of the Norwegian study, further supporting a threshold hypothesis regarding the amount of social interaction needed for the development of logical operations. Language stimulation and the effect of linguistic role marking in Hungarian do not seem to be significant factors, nor is schooling. Dr. Hollos is Assist. Prof, of Anthropology at Brown U., Providence, Rl 02906. She will be glad to provide reprints of her paper upon request. □ Király, Bela K. “Neo-Serfdom in Hungary, “Slavic Review 34 (June 1975), 268-278. Kiraly’s article is part of a symposium on Neo-Serfdom in Eastern Europe to which László^ Makkai of the Historical Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences wrote the introductory essay. Neo-serfdom in Hungary developed rapidly after 1514, though it was in the 18th century that it reached its worst form and had the most disastrous effect on Hungarian society. The serfs’ rights to migration, granted in 1547 and at later Diets, came to be regulated by the counties rather than the central government throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, and this made the law ineffective. Upon the expulsion of the Turks in the 17th century the Great Hungarian Plain became open land. Peasants were thus given greater opportunities, and the serf could attain freedom not only by flight but also through the payment of a fee. In the latter part of the 17th century this process led to some social mobility, and many former serfs, when knighted, entered the ranks of the petty nobility, i.e. the ruling class. In spite of the efforts of Charles III and Maria Theresa to protect the “tax-paying” population, the situation of the serfs improved little by the regulation of the peasant renders or by the reinforcement of the peasants’ right to the land he tilled, as these edicts were shortly abandoned under pressure of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. Still, Hungarian serfs generally retained three fundamental prerogatives: the right to cultivate their holdings, the right to stay on it, and the right of inheritance. Maria Theresa’s Urbárium of 1767 safeguarded the existing feudal relation between lord and peasant by setting down the minimum size of the serf’s holding and his maximum obligations. One-eighth of the holding was to be sufficient for the support of the peasant and his family and forthe payment of his obligations toward state, lord and church. The economic and social situation of the serfs worsened through the 18th century, because the wars and the continuance of large armies of occupation in Hungary provided a profitable domestic market for the lords' produce. Thus, he exacted as much robot as possible and encroached on the peasant’s lands whenever he could. The lands in excess of those defined in the Urbárium, for example, were confiscated; vineyards were taken for barren lands, and finally ARTICLES (Continued) the peasant was even bereft of cleared lands, i.e. lands he had free of feudal obligations for having them reclaimed after the expulsion of the Turks. The process of clearing and “homesteading” gave considerable advantages to the peasantry between the 1760 and 1790’s, and when the trend was reversed, the lands often had to be expropriated by military force. Many lords showed similar disregard for the legal limits placed on the robot obligation and began to extract this indiscriminately. The social and personal consequences of this process were aggravated by the large percentage of absentee landlords, who had lost contact with the soil and their subjects. Dr. Király is Prof, of History at Brooklyn College, City U. of New York. □ Kraus, David H. “Libraries in Hungary.” In Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, Vol. 11, New York: Marcel Dekker, 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, (1974) 84-123. This is a comprehensive guide to Hungarian libraries, their structure, and administration. Three networks of libraries are identified: (1) Science and special libraries, such as the libraries of the HAS, universities, scientific institutions, museums and archives; (2) School libraries; and (3) Open public libraries called “general education libraries,” and organized by counties and by the city of Budapest. This category includes the libraries of trade unions. A statistical summary states that in 1971 there were 17,905 operating libraries in the country, containing 66,590,000 holding units, and having 2,235,000 registered readers. Special treatment is given to select individual libraries (e.g. the Széchenyi Library). The article concludes with a discussion of the librarian profession, the training and social status of the librarian in the society, research and future plans. The author is Assist, to the Chief of the Slavic and Central European Division, Library of Congress. □ Nanasy, E. “Herefords, Holsteins, and Hungary,” Nation 220 (Jan. 11, 1975) 9-10. Economic cooperation with Hungary is already profitable to both the United States and Hungary and trade could be expanded further. An area in which particular success has been achieved is agriculture. Herefords, shipped to Hungary for beef cattle, do well on grass that is not too lush, and also can cope with extreme temperatures. Between 1972 and 1974 3,495 heads were sold to Hungary by breeders from Texas, the Southwest and the Dakotas. Dairy cattle, too, have proven suitable: the Holstein-Frisian strain, which is rapidly displacing the tarka, gives a weekly volume of double the milk. In 1974 alone shipments of the dairy cows amounted to 4,300 head. In another area, the Corn Production System, a joint venture of the U.S. and Hungary, extends a cooperative system pioneered in Iowa to the European market. The headquarters of the organization are in Chicago and Bábolna, with the central computer system to be moved to Bábolna when facilities are completed. Basically, the system offers a centrally managed corporation that allows leaway for local needs. During the first few years John Deere was the supplier of machinery, but most recently International Harvester replaced Deere. The group is ini’ Continued on page 5) 4 NO. 9 1976 HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER
