Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1975 (3. évfolyam, 6-8. szám)
1975 / 7. szám
HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER _______________BOOKS_______________ Fischer, Lewis A. and Philip E. Uren. THE NEW HUNGARIAN AGRICULTURE. Montreal and London: McGill-Queen’s U. Press (1020 Pine Avenue West, Montreal H3A TA2) 1974.138 pages, maps, tables, illustr., biblio. $10.00 cloth. While literature on technical and economic aspects of Hungarian agriculture is abundant, “little has been written, particularly in Western languages, about the geographical and cultural evolution of the Hungarian rural landscape.” The authors decided to study farms, collectives and villages through empirical field work in Somogy County, in addition to gathering material from official documents and existing literature. The volume is not void of statistics, but through first-hand experience statistics were projected against the background of local history and geography. Focus of the study is on the impact of the New Economic Mechanism which “set in motion a set of forces that bid fair to revolutionize the rural scene.” Chapters 1 and 2 deal with the pre-World War II order; 3 with the 1945 land reform; 4 with a description of the new agricultural units; 5 with planning and marketing; 6 and 7 with the changing structure of settlement and landscape. They ask the question “How much of this development is distinctly socialist?” And their answer is that “Consolidation, the elimination of small plots, specialization, technical management, and the concentration of population are trends in many parts of the nonsocialist world. In this sense, much that is happening in Hungary and in Somogy County simply reflects the economic and technological realities of the modern world. Nevertheless, it seems to differ in two important aspects ... evenness and universality of these changes ... [and the] uniformity of physical expression about the emerging socialist rural landscape which is in contrast to developments elsewhere.” “It has been customary in Hungarian economic quarters to explain economic problems by the notion that, lacking natural resources, the country depends on imports and therefore faces acute deficits in its balance of payments. During the last decade or so, however, a new breed of economists has stressed the great potential inherent in agriculture. In order to exploit that potential they have concentrated their efforts on transforming collective agriculture into a profitable economic sector which will exploit the opportunities of the export market. With this end in view, it is first necessary to turn agriculture into a sector which provides a decent standard of life to both state farm employees and the members of the cooperatives.” “...the dream of Hungary as the ‘garden of Europe,’ which originated in the 1930's, is being revived.” De Daruvar, Yves. THE TRAGIC FATE OF HUNGARY: A Country Carved-up Alive at Trianon. Trl. from French by Victor Stankovich. Munich: Nemzetőr and American Hungarian Literary Guild (Astor Park, FL 32002), 1974. 235 pages, appendix, maps, illustr., $8.00 paper. The dismemberment of the ancient Kingdom of Hungary after World War I has an extensive literature in almost every language of the globe. Hungarian irredentism and allied apologia filled thousands of pages in the interwar period and the polemics penetrated textbooks as well as scholarly studies. It was hoped by the successor states that the problem will wither away with time, and by the Western Powers that through some territorial adjustment peace and cooperation between Hungary and her neighbors will return. The volume of publications has abated, the gloss of socialist brotherhood was laid over the active pursuit of the dispute, but the problems created by the Paris Peace treaties have remained unsolved. The interdependence of the peoples of the Carpathian Basin has not changed. De Daruvar is a fresh new voice in this literature. A Frenchman of Hungarian paternal background, he discovered the tragedy of Trianon from a French vantage point. He analyzed it and felt emotionally and intellectually compelled to write about it. What distinguishes him from most writers of the subject is that he proposes a solution which could become acceptable to all parties concerned. Throughout the book he defends the Hungarian position emphasizing her delicate location sandwiched between a sea of Slavs and Germans. In defending herself against eastern and southern invaders, Hungary defended Europe from destruction throughout the centuries, a role which gave Hungarians an additional national purpose as defenders of Western Christianity, a strong component of the nation's raison d’etre. Hungary has been unable to fight its wars without allies, but her choices have been extremely limited. She knew, for example, that a victorious Germany would be just as imperialistic as a victorious Russia. History provided many lessons and testimonies to this. The author feels that desire to change the present Balkanized conditions of the Danubian Valley is suppressed and will surface whenever an opportunity presents itself. He strongly advocates “a federated, supra-national, united Europe” in (Continued on page 2)
