Századok – 2004

Tanulmányok - Somogyi Éva: Magyar diplomaták a közös Külügyminisztériumban III/601

672 SOMOGYI ÉVA HUNGARIAN DIPLOMATS IN THE COMMON MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS by Eva Somogyi (Summary) The study aims, on the basis of widespread archival research, to analyse the social background and national identity of the leading Hungarian diplomats. It uses, besides the printed sources concerning the high-ranking public servants of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, their personal records preserved in the common Ministry, their military records kept in the common Ministry of Defence, but also their personal correspondence and the traces of their scientific activities. The Author comes to the conclusion that the structural transformation of the Monarchy in 1867 did not lead to a similar reorganisation of the diplomatic corps. It was, instead, a gradual process. Its traditionally aristocratic character remained unaltered after the Compromise, but several phenomena indicated future changes. Already Minister Beust made efforts at transforming diplomatic service on the model of the other offices of the state, with a similar system of sallaries and promotion. Foreign Minister Andrássy tried to put an end to the old tradition of diplomacy's being ruled by Catholic courtly families from Western Hungary, and aimed instead at creating a new, more nationalistic bureaucratic elite from the middle nobility. In the 1890s the strict distinction between service in the Foreign Ministry in Vienna and diplomatic missions (that is, between inner and outer service) is abolished. These transformations influenced of course the social character of the diplomatic corps. Moreover, the dominance of the aristocracy was reduced by the strict requirement of specific qualifications, and by the increasing number and importance of the Balkan posts, which had little attraction for the aristocratic diplomats. From the 1890s the predominantly aristocratic character of the diplomatic corps gradually diminished, although it remained strong throughout the period. The dualistic transformation did not concern the centralised government of foreign affairs. Hungarian politicians only prudently and gradually came forward with propositions of increasing the number of Hungarians in diplomatic service and suggested that this number should be proportional to their share (quota) in the common expenses. By the turn of the century the imperial government had accepted these wishes, and, consequently, the proportion of Hungarian diplomats reached and, as regards the leading posts, was even greater than their quota. The leading Hungarian diplomats could confess their Hungarian identity and were not forced to transform themselves into supranational bureaucrats. To use a modern term, they were allowed to keep a multiple identity: they served as Hungarians the public good of a common empire. They played an important role in the foreign affaires, but without emphasising their specifically Hungarian considerations; in their minds, the maintenance of the Monarchy's status as a big power was the utmost necesity from a nationalist point of view.