The Eighth Tribe, 1978 (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1978-07-01 / 7. szám
Page 10 THE EIGHTH TRIBE July, 1978 Our Heritage in America Column Editor: Joseph Széplaki HUNGARIANS IN AMERICA (continued from previous issues) Reprinted from: The Hungarians in America 1583-1974; by Joseph Széplaki. The book can be ordered from the editor. 1913 Ayer’s American Newspaper Annual and Directory listed sixteen Hungarian-language papers in the United States, but the figure does not include the papers published after the turn of the century by many Hungarian settlements for their own exclusive use. In any case, the increasing number of newspapers reflected the great wave of recent Hungarian immigrants and their growing demand for such publications. Eventually, the newspapers were consolidated; and, since there was no competition, the Hungarian-American press did not, on the whole, become a truly progressive organ of education and public opinion during the pre-war and the war period. THIRD WAVE: POLITICAL REFUGEES (1918-1974) The fifty-six years following 1918 constitute one of the most tragic periods in the overall history of Hungary. The geographic boundaries, as well as the social, economic and political developments, were continually changing and shifting during this period. The transformation into a socialist republic followed by the Bolshevist Revolution of 1919 and then by the restoration of an independent Hungarian monarchy, the Peace Treaty of Trianon, the pressures and policies of Nazi Germany, Hungarian participation in the Second World War, the subsequent Soviet Russian occupation and the development of a socialist Communist state, and — last but not least — the abortive revolution of 1956 uprooted huge masses of native Hungarians. The shifting and often contradictory ideological and political orientations induced thousands and later tens of thousands to emigrate from Hungary. These emigrants may be classified as political refugees, though many of them were also prompted to leave for concomitant economic reasons. This large-scale emigration has had a far-ranging effect on the life of Hungarian-Americans. It revivified and rejuvenated their sense of community which had been in danger of weakening and disappearing altogether. And, of course, it made significant contributions to American society and history, too. AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1920 The first American Hungarian anthology was compiled by Ernest Rickert, a Catholic priest. It was entitled American Hungarian Poets and published in Budapest. The compiler was the first scholar of American Hungarian literature. June 4. The Peace Treaty of Trianon, concluding Hungary’s participation in the First World War as a member of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy, was signed in France. According to the provisions of the treaty, Hungary became an independent state but lost approximately two-thirds of her pre-1918 territory (232,448 out of 325,411 square kilometersű and approximately half of her pre-1918 population (10,050,575 out of 20,- 886,487). The lost territories and people were attached to existing, sometimes newly created, neighboring states. The majority of people living in most of these lost territories were non-Hungarian ethnic minorities so that the territories were claimed by the adjacent states on the basis of the self-determination of their inhabitants. In any case, of the 10,050,515 people living in the lost territories, 3,219,579 claimed to be their native tongue. And, regardless of the justice or injustice of these territorial settlements, the political, economic, and social impact of the overnight reduction of land and population was tremendous. For example, most of Hungary’s natural resources and much of her heavy industry happened to be located in the lost territories. As a result, the newly reduced country was soon in the throes of recession, inflation, and unemployment aggravated by the flight to the mother country of tens of thousands of Hungarians who did not wish to live under foreign rule in neighboring countries. Many of the Hungarians who suddenly found themselves living “abroad” emigrated to the United States. 1921 During a period of fourteen years ending on June 30, 1921, sixty-seven per cent of the Hungarian immigrants returned from the United States to Hungary. 1922 A department of Hungarian was established at Franklin and Marshall College at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Twenty-five students were enrolled annually in classes offered by the department over the next fourteen years. 1923 Albert Béla Alexay received the first of three Gold Medals awarded to him by the Charles Coffin Foundation. 1926 The first Hungarian physicians’ society was founded in New York.
