Gaál Attila (szerk.): A Wosinszky Mór Múzeum Évkönyve 29. (Szekszárd, 2007)

Gaál Zsuzsanna: A passzív ellenállás másfél évtizede Tolna megyében

Resume It is uneasy to draw an objective picture about the extent of passive resistance among the medium sized landowner nobility in Tolna County. There was undoubtedly a relatively small group, who consistently supported the despotism as committed followers of the Habsburgs from the beginning. There is a similar clear picture by the emigrants too, and also by those, who actively took on the radicalism leading to the dethronement of 1849. A speciality of the situation is that the developed lines of force often divided families. The best example for the degree of this process is the Perczel family's case. But the extreme lifelines of the Perczel family's members, which led to their confrontation, were not common among the medium sized landowner nobility, especially not in Tolna; most of them were far from being radical in any way. Although some elements of the bureaucracy appeared in the era of government of estates, but the whole system primarily served the demands for power of the county's nobility. In the era of reform, the leadership of Tolna County was definitely in the hands of the prestigious families of the medium sized landowner nobility. This changed radically in the 1950's. The statement, according which Austrian and Czech officials were dominating the government of townships - was true in Tolna county, although - regarding the county level - this was gainsaid successfully by the researches of Gábor Benedek and József Papp. This, however does not mean, that there was no continuity between the officials of the times before 1848 and the of the Bach era. As a result of a slow evolving process, numerous positions developed in the county level administration already before the changes of 1848, which were held by intellectuals, who did their job as a profession. More and more members of the impoverished noble families started to act as an official to finance their living. The period of despotism brought delightful office career opportunities for them, they could achieve such high positions, which were before available to those with extraordinary abilities or luck. The problem of passive resistance can be better understood by dividing the levels of societal requirements and of the practice. In respect of the former, there was a wide acceptance, but in terms of the realization the principle was repeatedly distorted. The situation was most difficult to those like Mihály Dőry, who met the expectations of the society and of themselves in the first decades of the despotism, but later were forced to become officials against their convictions due to financial problems. Only those were able to act in practice according the principles, who could sustain their independence based on property even in the period after the 1848 changes. Tolna County undoubtedly had such social elite. 411