Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1984 (12. évfolyam, 39-42. szám)

1984 / 41. szám

and Miklós Mészöly are examined. Individual plays are discussed, photographs of major productions are included, and Hungarian social changes reflected in the plays are noted.

Von Krusenstjern, Benigna (Johannes Gutenberg U., Mainz, 1979) “Die Ungarische Kleinlandwirte-Partei (1909-1929)”.

(The Hungarian Smallholders Party). A dissertation published by Dr. Dr. Rudolf Trofenik Verlag, München 1981, in the Studia Hungarica series of the Ungarisches Institut, München, Clemensstrasse 2, 8000München 40, West Germany. Cloth-bound copies of the 316-page dissertation are available for DM 68.00

We are making an exception to our editorial policy of reviewing English language sources only, because of the scarcity of writings on the subject matter. The agrarian segment of the Hungarian polity began organizing early in the century. In 1920 Nagyatádi Szabo’s United Agrarian Laborers and Smallholder Party emerged from the election with 71 mandates making it the largest opposition force in the country. With 7 other “smallholders,’’ 6 liberals, and 3 independents, they represented the “Left.” This study concerns itself with the first phase of the smallholder’s party history hoping that the other half will be chronicled soon. The dissertation first discusses the organizational activities of early agrarian political movements between 1908-18, then analyzes the Smallholders Party’s activity during the revolutionary era of 1918-19. Adequate space is devoted to the role of the party when in office (Fall 1919 — February 1922), and finallytothesmallholderfraction of the National Unity Party. Appendixes contain a list of Representatives 1909-22, a chronological table, a map of the Hungarian county system 1921-38, as well as name and place indexes. Historians with German language facility will enjoy the thesis especially for its comprehensive content and for the relatively new data it presents.

ARTICLES AND PAPERS

Barany, George, “Three Generations: Szekfís Széchényi Portrait.” East European Quarterly 18:2 (June 1984) 143-153.

This is a critical review of the portrait of Count István Széchényi as drawn by historian Julius SzekfiT(1883-1955) in his book Három nemzedék (Three Generations), first published in 1920 and reprinted in several subsequent editions. The author maintains that SzekfiTsaw the century following the 1867 Compromise as “an era of sad decadence,” in which "modern liberalism and capitalism represented forces alien to the Hungarian nation” disrupting social and economic development. “Much of what Szekfu says about Sze'chenyi is true, of course. But it is one thing to claim that Széchenyi was an original thinker and another to insist that ‘he had scarcely been under the influence of foreign political writers’ or that ‘he abstained not only from England’s liberalism but also from the French and German literature on political science and constitutional theory.’” The picture Szekfu painted of Széchényi is “ideologized and largely imaginary, characteristic at best for the Széchényi of the 1840s. Omissions of essential facts do not do “justice to the real human portrait of the giant of Hungary’s modern history.” The author is professor of history at the U. of Denver. □

DISSERTATIONS (continued)

Bigler, Robert M. “The Role of Bureaucracies and Experts in the Planning and Implementation of Hungary’s New Economic Mechanism.” East European Quarterly 18:1 (March 1984) 93-112.

The rationale of this study is based on the fact that in communist countries the bureaucracy is thoroughly politicized. In Hungary, the “mixture of politics and civil service penetrates the official hierarchy from the top to the bottom.” This is a formidable group numbering 264,000 in 1956. The author credits the success of the N EM to various factors, e.g., to a better allocation of spheres of authority, little discussed in pertinent literature. Planning remains in the hands of the party while actual preparation of the plans is entrusted to the various cabinet-level agencies under the guidance of the National Planning Office. Kaid ár strengthened the party’s ability to lead and inducted expert technocrats into the bureaucratic structure. Decisive for the success of the NEM were the efficiency, organizational ability, and degree of cooperation among agencies and bureaucrats. Several pages are devoted to a discussion of the new agricultural bureaucracy maintaining that “agriculture remained the most successful segment of the economy.” The author says that the system of “entrepreneural socialism. . .retains the basis of socialism and communist party rule, while it allows private incentive and initiative.” The author is on the faculty of the U. of Nevada, Las Vegas. □

Ciuciura, Theodore B. “Imperial Unity and Ethnic Diversity in the Habsburg Monarchy: Hungarian Independence without Separation and Provincial Autonomy of Galicia and Bukovina.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Central and East European Studies Association of Canada, June 6-7, 1984. 57 typewritten pages.

The first 16 pages of this study concern themselves with historical interrelations among the various parts of the Habsburg Monarchy, given due attention to relationships between Austria and Hungary during the 19th century. The 1867 “compromise” occupies center stage as “the most astounding constitutional act” of the century, both “in its form and in its object.” Pro- and anti-monarchist arguments are enumerated including pertinent quotes from Marx and Lenin. The relationship between the “old” dependencies and Vienna is compared to those between Galicia/Bukovina and the Court, with ample reference to Polish-Ukrainian-Habsburg triangular interests. Reference is made to differences in social and economic structures, e.g., political life in Galicia was dominated by Polish landed gentry, while in Bukovina no social or ethnic group could assume dominant and permanent control. “It is true that, having joined the Habsburg Monarchy rather late, Galicia and Bukovina remained, up to the downfall of Austria-Hungary, rather peripheral dependencies. Still there were remarkable cultural, economic and political improvements. Of course, the domination of great landlords in the countryside was very exploitive, but the chief cause of rural misery-serfdom was abolished under Austrian rule sooner than in the Russian Empire.” The two dependencies together with the other Austrian Kronländer entered upon the path of constitutional development at least forty years before Russia and its dependencies. The author is prof, of political science at St. Mary’s U., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. □

Csaky, Susan D., "Hungarian Legal Institutions and Their Publications: A Legal Bibliography with Translations and Annotations.” Law Library Journal 75:4 (Fall 1982) 490-513.

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NO. 41. AUTUMN 1984, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER