Baják László Ihász István: The Hungarian National Museum History Exhibition Guide 4 - The short century of survival (1900-1990) (Budapest, 2008)

Room 16. From the Belle Epoch to the Collapse of the Monarchy (1900-1919). László Baják

conservatives; that is, István Tisza's reorganised National Labour Party. Tisza promised ordered and rejected radical reforms. He took the view that if Hungary wished to retain its integrity and position of power in the Carpathian Basin, then it should do its best to maintain the status quo of the Monarchy, and accept the consequences of military and foreign policies emanating from the Monarchy's status as a great power. And so on June 4, 1912, István Tisza as Speaker of the House, cooperating with the prime minister László Lukács, had the Army Act passed, which significantly raised military expenditure and the number of recruits, while members opposing the act were escorted out of the chamber at gunpoint. In this Tisza exceeded hid authority as leader of the house, and through the assistance of the parliamentary guard removed from the opposition's hands the weapon of obstruction. Riotous street demonstrations were repressed by the police and the army, providing new fuel for the hatred which the liberal, socialist and nationalist opposition bore toward him. A member of the Justh Party even made an unsuccessful assassination attempt upon him. On the other hand, Franz Joseph was increasingly satisfied with Tisza's activities. He expressed his recognition by awarding him Hungary's highest order of merit, the Order of Saint Stephen, and reappointing him as prime minister. By 1913 the political storm had abated in Hungary, the country was politically conservative and necessarily ossified. The rise of the middle class in the country as a whole but especially in Budapest brought with it an effervescence in intellectual and art life. Apart from the academic, hisMihály Bíró: Advertising poster of the journal Nyugat, c. 1911