Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1974 (2. évfolyam, 3-5. szám)

1974 / 4. szám

DISSERTATIONS*

Hillinger, Michael. (Columbia U., 1973) “The German National Movement in Interwar Hungary.” 346 pages. To obtain copies, write to the author at: 163 Alan Drive, #7, Newport News, Virginia 23602. After May 1, 1975 copies can be obtained from Xerox University Microfilms. Order No. 73- 29,835.

Faced with a steady pressure to assimilate, the leaders of the German movement in Hungary increasingly felt that only reliance on the intervention of Germany could enable them to achieve their goal: the preservation of the cultural identity of the Hungarian Germans. This study examines the development of the German movement in interwar Hungary focusing on three interrelated themes: the internal development of the German movement, including its ideology and leadership; the relationship between the movement and the Hungarian political system; and the impact of Germany on the German movement in Hungary and Hungarian nationalities policies.

Although the Germans were the only substantial ethnic minority in interwar Hungary, their relatively small size - about 5% in a population of 9 million - prevented them from being able to play more than marginal role in Hungarian politics. This minority was overwhelmingly rural in character. The task that leaders of the minority set for was the strengthening of the national consciousness of the German peasantry, and the concomitant creation of a German leadership. Between 1919 and 1933, the minority was led by Jakob Bleyer, who was typical of many semi-magyarized German intellectuals. Equally at home in Magyar and German culture, he was a strong Hungarian patriot and deeply involved in Hungarian rightist politics. In 1924 Bleyer created the Ungarländisch-Deutscher Volkbildungsverein (UDV), which became the officially recognized German minority organization. The UDV’s demands were moderate, centering mainly on cultural issues, yet it was unable to implement even a fraction of them. Faced with constant government harassment and obstruction and with the hostility of much of Magyar society, Bleyer reluctantly came to the conclusion that only through direct intervention of Germany could the minority survive. By thetimeof Bleyer’s death, his increasingly outspoken criticism of Hungarian nationalities policy has almost completely isolated the German movement and had made it even more dependent upon support from the Reich.

Soon after Bleyer’s death in 1933, the UDV collapsed. Its radicals, led by Franz Basch, left it in 1935 and formed the Volksbund der Deutschen in Ungarn. But the divided German movement of the 1930’s also failed and, by 1940, the Voksbund was no stronger than the UDV had been in 1933. It was only in 1940, as a result of direct Reich pressure, that the Volksbund was able to function effectively. Between 1940 and 1945, the Volksbund essentially became a state within the Hungarian state, developing its own political institutions, schools, economic organizations, etc.

In achieving its goals, the Volksbund inevitably became

(*) Most of the abstracts are based on those published in Dissertation Abstracts International. Microfilm and Xerox copies of the original full dissertations may be obtained from Xerox University Microfilm, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106, when not indicated otherwise. When ordering, use order number given after each entry.

dependent on Germany, seeing its own future tied to the success of the German war effort. The Volksbund therefore increasingly concerned itself with the recruitment of young Germans for service in the Waffen SS. Asa result of these and other activities, the Volksbund became a de facto arm of the Third Reich. The ruin of Nazi Germany also meant the destruction of the Volksbund.

McIntyre, Robert. (U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1972) “Nature and Causes of the Fertility Decline in Eastern Europe: Structural Change and Abortion Reform from 1955

to 1968.” 292 pages. Xerox and microfilm order no. 73-16,493.

Alteration in the terms of availability of induced abortion is a means by which governmental policy may influence fertility. Eastern Europe has a long record of social experimentation. Beginning with the remarkable Soviet law of 1920, and then again in almost all of the Eastern European countries during the mid 1950’s, abrupt shifts in the availability of induced abortion have occurred.

Following abortion liberalization the fertility levels of these countries fell so sharply that by the early 1960's they were among the lowest in the world. The extent and sharpness of the fertility decline that followed abortion liberalization suggest that there is a relationship which is fully consistent with expectations of the behavioral implications of such an institutional change when it is properly viewed as a precipitous shift in the effective cost of birth prevention.

This study provides an appraisal of the extent to which abortion reform by itself explains the abruptness of the decline and the ensuing low level of all important fertility indicators. Fertility decline is appraised in terms of the temporal and age-specific incidence of the abortion reforms and the pattern of changes in various socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the populations of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. The study concludes that sharp, properly timed declines in the number of births consistently followed the emergence of legal abortion. The

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I REX REPORT (Cont’d. from page 5)

US scholars to attend a conference on “Hungary and the US in a Changing World Economy,” in Italy, Fall 1973.

Deutsch, Morton, Dept, of Psychology, Columbia U., fortén US scholars to participate in a conference on the “Social Psychology of Change,” to be hosted by the HAS in May 1974.

Gerbner, George, Annenberg School of Communication, U. of Pennsylvania, to cover the expenses of György Marvanyi, Prof. Inst, of Mass Communication Research, Budapest, fora six-week stay in the US and participate in an analysis on how issues of international character are communicated to the national press of ten countries.

Tannenbaum, Arnold S., Inst, for Social Science, U. of Michigan, to travel to East European countries including Hungary for participation in the study of comparative power and influence.

In addition to giving grants, IREX arranged the placement without funds of Charles Ingrao, a Graduate Student in History, Bown U. He conducted research on “King Joseph I and His Ministers, 1705-1711” at the Hungarian National Archives.

For further information or a copy of the annual report write to International Research and Exchange Board, 110 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022.

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NO. 4, 1974, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER