The Eighth Tribe, 1978 (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1978-03-01 / 3. szám
Page 10 THE EIGHTH TRIBE March, 1978 they took active interest in the constitutional struggle that was taking place in Hungary. The Federation’s most efficacious means of putting pressure on the Hungarian government was the refusal to transmit insurance payments falling due in that country. In 1972, the Federation had 30,309 members, and its assets were $17,- 049,213.48. 1902 September 1. A great reception was organized in New York to celebrate the arrival of the elaborate Hungarian banner sent by the Hungarian National Society to Hungarian-Americans. It was a gesture of appreciation for the money given by Hungarian-Americans for the erection of the statue of the poet Vörösmarty in Budapest. The banner was rotated among various Hungarian associations and transferred annually from one association to another within the framework of a dignified ceremony. September 27. The unveiling of the Kossuth statue in Cleveland took place as an expression of the high esteem in which Hungarians in America held Kossuth. The bronze statue was the copy of the Kossuth statue in Nagy Szalonta, Hungary. It was erected on University Circle in Cleveland. The governor of Ohio, Mr. Nash, spoke at the unveiling ceremonies. Famous social and political personages were also present. 1903 In Hungary a law was enacted to regulate all agencies dealing with the transportation of emigrants. Henceforth, these agencies had to obtain licenses from the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior. 1904 The Hungarian government but it may also have been motivated by their fear of another German invasion. Thus they agreed to their cousin’s, Salomon’s accession to the throne (1063-74), and claimed only the princely third, with the title of “Prince Royal” for Géza (ducatus). As a result Salomon’s accession to the throne was peaceful. But as it turned out, his reign was accompanied by a growing German influence, and eventually even by an attempt to impose a new vassalage on Hungary. To make matters worse, Hungarian-German relations were further complicated by the imminence and eruption of the investiture controversy — basically a struggle for pre-eminence between the popes and the holy roman emperors. Contacts with the East and with Byzantium Although there was little affection between King Salomon and his cousins, for a while they managed to cooperate. This cooperation was all the more essential, as Hungary now came under the attack of various Türkis tribes from the East (1068-72). These included the Pecheniegs (besenyő) — who some two centuries earlier had dislodged the Magyars from their homeland in Levedia and Etelköz — the Uzes (Black Cumans), and the Cumans (White Cumans or the Polovtsi of the Russian Chronicles). The able military leadership of Géza, and especially of his brother Ladislas, however, soon ended the Pechenieg and Cuman danger. Some of the Pecheniegs were settled down in Western Hungary, while others were driven out of the country toward the East, or down to the Balkans. (Kossányi: (Úzok és kománok.) Although the danger from these Turkic tribes soon ceased, a Pechenieg incursion from the Balkans gave birth to the first significant Byzantine-Hungarian conflict, as well as to the occupation of the Byzantine outpost of Belgrade in 1072. Renamed Bolgár-Fehérvár or Nándor- Fehérvár, Belgrad now became a Hungarian stronghold, and — with the exception of some brief intermittent periods — for the next four centuries it served as the most important fortress in Hungary’s southern defenses. (Moravcsik: Byzantium, 64-69.) The conquest of Belgrade was a turning point in the relationship between Salomon and his cousins. Solomon resented Géza’s and Ladislas’s achievements and growing popularity, and he also disagreed with their pro-Papal sympathies. This suspicion and disagreement soon grew into an open conflict, resulting in the defeat of Salomon (1074) and his loss of most of Hungary. 93 signed an agreement with the Cunard Line. In exchange for the moriopoly on the transportation of Hungarian immigrants to America, Cunard pledged to establish a line between Fiume and New York and to operate it within the limits of Hungarian emigration laws. Letter to the Editor: — Dear Mr. Chomos: Keep up the good work; “The Eighth Tribe” is excellent! Sincerely, Maria Feher Hammond, Indiana
