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

Wilson could not have realized that such a move would have been doomed to failure. Simply, he was reluctant to take such a drastic step as early as the turn of 1917—18. On top of that, Wilson developed serious reservations about Károlyi, who had toured the United States in the company of 'socialists' (Kunfi, etc.) in 1914.

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0 While Károlyi enjoyed a surprisingly strong support in the American press Wilson continued to disregard him during 1917 considering the Hungarian aristocrat to be politically weightless. Károlyi was also unacceptable for personal reasons; namely because he was reportedly in regular contact with the Hungarian feminist Rosika Bédy-Schwimmer, who due to an act of indiscretion back in September 1914, was considered persona non grata in the Wilson White House.

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1 On the strength of the above considerations one may say that Wilson did not develop a coherent Hungarian policy during the World War, nor was he by any means hostile towards the lesser half of the lesser Central Power. Wilson represented the then typical American romanticizing attitude towards Hungary, which he abandoned for personal reasons (Károlyi, Bédy-Schwimmer) and due to unforeseen changes in global high politics during the early summer of 1918. His sympathy for Kossuth's Protestant-Republican Hungary of some 70 years before was gradually replaced by a new set of preferences, especially Czech orientation, which later guided his conduct in East Central European affairs at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. 3

0 Gróf Károlyi Mihály, Hit, illúziók nélkül. (Budapest, 1977): 62—63. Konta tried in vain to fix an interview for Károlyi with Wilson through McCombs: WWPs 29: 404, 407. 3

1 Barbara S. Kraft, The Peace Ship. Henry Ford's Pacifist Adventure in the First World War. (New York and London, 1978): 10—11. Later in 1918 Károlyi appointed BédySchwimmer to Berne and the Americans forced her withdrawal; see: Peter Pastor, The Diplomatic Fiasco of the Modern World's First Woman Ambassador, Rosa Bédy-Schwimmer. in: East European Quarterly

; vol. 8 no. 3 (1975): 273—82. 45