Századok – 2011

KÖZLEMÉNYEK - Tefner Zoltán: Ugron István és a német külpolitika 1918 áprilisában-májusában VI/1417

1454 TEFNER ZOLTÁN ISTVÁN UGRÓN AND THE GERMAN FOREIGN POLICY IN APRIL-MAY 1918 by Zoltán Tefner (Summary) The study examines thoroughly, from the points of view of Austria-Hungary and of Poland, a sequence of events in the spring of 1918 which proved decisive for Poland. The period is depicted on three levels. The first is at the same time the most important: the presentation of the activities of István Ugron, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat, at Warsaw, from aspects partly persona] typological, partly diplomatic and professional in nature. Ugron, who came from a noble family in Transylvania, thanks to his talents made a great career in the service of imperial and royal diplomacy. He proceeded through all the rungs of the career ladder, to finish his diplomatic activity as an ambassador at Warsaw representing the Common Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The second level is that ol a theoretical approach. In relation to the subject, the study analyses several historico-politological problems, among others the question of what exactly the profession and duties of a diplomat consisted in, and to what extent he was an independent creative mind and to what extent a mere executioning bureaucrat. Finally, the background is constituted by the period itself with its intriguing confusions, before all the unsolvable mass of problems presented by the Polish question. Of course, in the life and activity of Ugron these three levels made an organic union, and are thus unseparable from each other in historical presentation. In the course of World War I, the relationship between Austria-Hungaiy and Germany was far from always balanced, and it did not always rest on the foundation of the solidarity between friends-inarms. Conflicts almost always focussed on the crucial questions of Polish destiny. The troops of the great major powers had already at the beginning of the war occupied Warsaw and the whole Congressional Kingdom. Consequently, the rivalry for the post-war dominance over the Polish territories remained a constant feature of the war years. Although at first parity between the two powers prevailed, it was broken already in the course of 1914, and disappeared altogether when after the repeated defeats suffered by the Monarchy the Germans won the upper hand. This sense of superiority by the peace of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 had reached such a level that the German leadership overtly questioned any Austro-Hungarian right to any part of Poland. For the settlement of the Polish problem several political plans were elaborated also in circles where important decisions were taken. All such Austro-Hungarian plans were based on the so-called Austro-Polonist conception, according to which the new, united Poland would have been attached to the Monarchy on the base of a personal union. The role of Ugron in Warsaw consisted basically in defending this conception, unacceptable for the Germans, in the difficult circumstances of an ever increasing German arrogance. Ugron discharged his task with the utmost intelligence, giving proof of the highest level of diplomatic skills. Thanks to the confusion of circumstances and the weakness of Polish political forces, he was frequently offered the occasion to launch individual initiatives, and thus to impress by his political knowledge. His behaviour was ambivalent, however: while maintaining good personal relations with the German leaders, he basically disapproved of German politics which aimed at unbridled hegemony.