Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. [Vol. 3.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 23)

STUDIES - Tibor Giant: The Role of Calvinism in President Wilsotis Relationship to Hungary during World War 1

the Dual Monarchy.

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5 The guiding principle of Wilson's East Central European policy until the summer of 1918 was the removal of AustriaHungary from the war preferably by a separate peace. Only when it became clear that this policy would not work did Wilson decide to go for the more radical option: dismemberment.

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6 Yet, even after casting his vote for the independence of the Czechs and the South Slavs, the American President sought to establish some sort of regional integration in the Danubain Basin; and this remained the chief concern for his task force for peace preparations, the Inquiry. Interestingly, Wilson refused to consider the alternative to full dismemberment, the removal of Austria-Hungary from the war through the separation of Hungary from Austria. Actually, the stage for such a move was set by Tisza's mid-1917 removal and his widely cited assessment of the situation: 'this is nothing short of revolution'

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7 Meanwhile in December 1917, Fiorello LaGuardia, the future Mayor of New York City then serving in the US Signal Corps in Italy, proposed direct undercover action in support of Károlyi, which Wilson rejected on moral grounds.

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8 Wilson's categorical refusal, however, was not the outcome of careful consideration: with the reports of the Sate Department and of Military and Naval Intelligence casting no light upon the situation in Hungary 2

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5 It is common knowledge that Masaryk was the first such politician whom Wilson saw, in mid-June, 1918. Wilson's wartime utterances as well as the memoirs of Robert Lansing, his second Secretary of State all testify to that. See also: Frank P. Chambers, The War Behind the War, 1914—1918. A History of the Political and Civilian Fronts. (London, 1939); Victor S. Mamatey, The United States and East-Central Europe, 1914—1918. A Study in Wilsonian Diplomacy and Propaganda. (Princeton, 1957). Apparently first cited in the 16 June 1917 issue of The New Republic. National Archives, Washington, D.C.: Record Group 59: Decimal Files of the Department of State: M 708: reel 3: Thomas Nelson Page to Lansing, 29 December 1917; Wilson to Lansing, 1 January 1918. ^

9 This statement is based upon an extensive reading of the relevant State Department and Intelligence files in the National Archives. 44