A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 25-26. Tanulmányok Szabadfalvi József tiszteletére. (1988)

TÖRTÉNETI TANULMÁNYOK - NÉMETH Györgyi: Kosuth Lajos és kora kiemelkedő történelmi személyiségei az angolszász történetírás legújabb munkáiban

LAJOS KOSSUTH AND OTHER PROMINENT HISTORICAL PERSONALITIES OF HIS AGE IN THE NEWLY PUBLISHED WORKS OF ANGLOSAXON HISTORIOGRAPHY (Summary) It was the Hungarian revolution and fight for independence in 1848 and 1849 which aroused the interest in Hungary both in England and in the USA in the 19th century mainly as a result of Kossuth's tour in these countries. Anglosaxon historians studied this period of our history even in the sixties and seventies of the 20th century but the Hungarian historians have not analysed their work comprehensively yet. This study deals with the works of C. A. Macartney, H. Seton-Watson, E. Crankshaw, R. A. Kann and K. Hitchins on the Hungarian revolution and its prominent personalities. First the study presents the opinion of the above-mentioned historians concerning the greatest personalities of the age namely Lajos Kossuth, István Széchenyi, Ferenc Deák, József Eötvös, Artúr Görgey, Ljudevit Gaj, Ľudovit Štúr, Josif Rajačič, Josip Jellačič, Simion Barnu^iu and Andreiu §aguna. Then the theses of the Anglosaxon historians are compared with those of Hungarian historiography. At last we try to explain how and why the Anglosaxon historians formed their opinions. Serious differences of views can be discerned in the judgement of Kossuth's and Széchenyi's political activity between the Anglosaxon and the Hungarian historiography. The Anglosaxon and the Hungarian historians do not have the same opinion about Görgey as well. There is also a slight difference when they describe the activity of the great personalities of our nationalities. In our opinion the views of the Anglosaxon historians were determined by their knowledge, their sources, their conception concerning their work and first and foremost by their bourgeois world view and political ideas. In spite of this their works are worth studying. Györgyi Németh 364