JOHN HUNYADI: Hungary in American History Textbooks

II. Kagan

In its fourth edition, this book can be considered to be one of the classics among American textbooks for general western cultural traditions courses. One of interesting features of the book is the inclusion of a number of original historical documents.

[209] Hungary first appears in the book on the map depicting the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 1025

[237] "The late ninth and the tenth centuries saw successive waves of Normans ... from Scandinavia, Magyars, or Hungarians, the great horsemen from the eastern plains; and Muslims from the south." Map shows Hungarian migration routes from the Volga region to the West without date.[36]

[244] Henry I "secured imperial borders by checking the invasions of the Hungarians and the Danes."

Otto I ..."In 955 he won his most magnificent victory when he defeated the Hungarians at Lechfeld. The feat was comparable to Charles Martel's earlier victory over the Saracens at Poitiers in 732 in terms of defining western boundaries. The victory at Lechfeld secured German borders against new barbarian attack, further unified the German duchies, and earned Otto the well-deserved title "the Great".[37]

[273] Table entitled "Major Political Events of High Middle Ages" states: "955 - Otto I defeats Hungarians at Lechfeld, securing Europe's eastern border."[38]

[336] Hungary is mentioned among countries supporting the Roman pope, Urban VI in 1378.

[392] Hungary appears on map captioned "The Empire of Charles V". [39]

[393] In a segment entitled "Imperial Distractions: France and the Turks"... "In 1526 the Turks overrun Hungary at the Battle of Mohács, while in Western Europe the French-led league of Cognac formed against Charles... " ... "thus preoccupied, the emperor agreed" ... etc.

[404] "Poland, primarily because of the absence of central political authority, became a model of religious pluralism and toleration in the second half of the sixteenth century. "[40]

[426] Full page portrait shows Titian's picture of "Alfonso d'Avalos, Marchese del Vasto (1541) famed Spanish military commander, who helped stop the advance of the Turks under Suleiman the Magnificent into eastern Europe in the 1530's"[41]

[458] Map showing Habsburg holdings is confusing.[42]

[536] In explaining the Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683: The Ottomans... "In the outer provinces, such as Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia (all parts of modern Romania) the empire depended on the good will of the local rulers, who never submitted themselves fully to the imperial power."

..."In 1699 the Turks concluded a treaty with their longtime Habsburg enemy and surrendered all pretensions of control over Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia and Slavonia."

[538] On the consolidation of Habsburg power at the close of the Thirty Year's War: Hereditary possessions included: ... "the Crown of Saint Stephen which ruled Hungary, Croatia, and Transylvania."

[539] Map showing "The Austrian Habsburg Empire, 1521 - 1772" depicts Croatia as located from the Adriatic all the way to Galicia. Clearly, the mapmaker confused it with Royal Hungary as it looked before the recapture of the rest of that country from the Ottomans.

The text states: "The most difficult province was Hungary, where the magyar nobility was ever ready to rebel. There was almost no common basis for political unity among peoples of such diverse languages, customs, and geography. Even the Habsburg zeal for Roman Catholicism no longer proved a bond for unity as they continued to confront the equally zealous Calvinism of the Magyar nobles.[43] Over the years the Habsburgs established various central councils to chart common policies for their far-flung domains. Virtually all of these bodies dealt with only a portion of the Habsburgs' holdings. Repeatedly they found themselves compelled to bargain with nobles in one part of Europe in order to maintain their position in another.

Despite all these internal difficulties Leopold I (1657 - 1705) rallied his domains to resist the advances of the Turks and to resist the aggression of Louis XIV. He received Ottoman recognition of his sovereignty over Hungary in 1699 and suppressed the long rebellion of his new Magyar subjects between 1703 and 1711. He also extended his territorial holdings over much of what is today Yugoslavia and western Romania."

[603] In the section entitled" Maria Theresa Preserved the Habsburg Empire" ..."she succeeded in rallying to her side the Magyars of Hungary and the aristocratic leaders of her other domains." ...

"Maria Theresa achieved these new loyalties, especially between herself and the Magyars, not merely through heroism but more specifically by granting new privileges to the nobles of the various Habsburg realms. The empress recognized Hungary as the most important of her crowns and promised the Magyars considerable local autonomy. In this fashion she preserved the Habsburg state, but at considerable cost to the power of the central monarchy. Hungary would continue in the future to be, as it had been in the past, a particularly troublesome area of the Habsburg empire. When the monarchy enjoyed periods of strength and security, guarantees made to Hungary were sometimes ignored. At times of weakness or when the Magyars could stir sufficient opposition, the monarchy made new promises or concessions."

[749] In the section on "Nationalism": "The idea of nationhood based on language and ethnic bonds was not necessarily or even logically linked to liberalism. There were conservative nationalists, and there were nationalists who wished their own particular national group to dominate smaller national or ethnic groups within a particular region. This was very much the case of the Hungarian Magyars who sought to gain political control over non-Magyar peoples living within the historical boundaries of Hungary."

[795] Picture: "Louis Kossuth (1802 - 1894) Hungarian nationalist led the revolution of 1848 in Budapest."

"The Hungarian Diet also abolished serfdom in March 1848. These actions smothered the most serious potential threat to order in the empire. The emancipated serfs now had little reason to support the revolutionary movement in the cities."

"The Magyar Revolt. The Vienna revolt had further encouraged the Hungarians. The leaders of the Hungarian March revolution were primarily liberal Magyars supported by Magyar nobles who wanted their aristocratic liberties[44] guaranteed against the central government of Vienna. The Hungarian Diet passed a series of March Laws that ensured equality of religion, jury trials, the election of a lower chamber, a relatively free press, and payment of taxes by the nobility. Emperor Ferdinand approved these measures because in the spring of 1848 he was in position to do little else.

The Magyars also hoped to establish a separate Hungarian state within the Habsburg domains. They would retain considerable local autonomy while Ferdinand remained their emperor.[45] As part of this scheme for a partially independent state, the Hungarians attempted to annex Transylvania, Croatia, and other territories on the eastern border of the Habsburg empire.[46] That policy of annexation would bring Romanians, Croatians, and Serbians under Magyar government. These national groups resisted the drive toward Magyarization. They believed that they had a better chance of maintaining their national or ethnic identity and self-interest under Habsburg control. Consequently, they turned against Hungary. In late March the Vienna government sent Baron Joseph Jellachich to aid the national groups who were rebelling against the rebellious Hungarians. By early September 1848 he was leading an invasion force against Hungary."

[797] "On December 2 Emperor Ferdinand. now clearly too feeble to govern, abdicated in favor of his young nephew Francis Joseph (1848 - 1916). Real power now lay with Prince Felix Schwartzenberg (1800 - 1852), who intended to use the army with full force.

On January 5, 1849, troops occupied Budapest. By March the triumphant Austrian forces had imposed military rule over Hungary,[47] and the new emperor repudiated the recent constitution. The Magyar nobles attempted one last revolt. It was crushed in August by Austrian troops reinforced by 200,000 soldiers happily furnished by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. The imperial Habsburg government had survived its gravest internal challenge because of the diversions among its enemies and its own willingness to use military force with a vengeance."[48]

[826] "In 1860 Francis Joseph issued the October Diploma, which created a federation among the states and provinces of the empire. There were to be local diets dominated by the landed classes and a single imperial parliament. The Magyar nobility of Hungary rejected the plan."[49]

[827] Picture shows the coronation of Francis Joseph as king of Hungary in 1867.

..."Again the Magyars refused to cooperate in a system designed to permit German speaking Austrian domination of the empire. The Hungarians sent no delegates to the legislature. Nevertheless, for six years, the February Patent governed the empire, and it prevailed in Austria proper until World War I."

"Meanwhile, negotiations continued between the emperor and the Magyars. These produced no concrete results until the defeat of Austria by Prussia in the summer of 1866 and the consequent exclusion of Austria from German affairs. The military disaster compelled Francis Joseph to come to terms with the Magyars. The subsequent Ausgleich, or Compromise, of 1867 transformed the Habsburg Empire into a dual monarchy."

"Francis Joseph was separately crowned king of Hungary in Budapest. Except for the common monarch, Austria and Hungary became almost wholly separate states. They shared ministers of foreign affairs, defense, and finance, but the other ministers were different for each state. There were also separate parliaments. Each year sixty parliamentary delegates from each state were to meet to discuss matters of mutual interest. Every ten years Austria and Hungary were to renegotiate their trade relationship. By this cumbersome machinery, unique in all European history, the Hungarian Magyars were reconciled to Habsburg rule. They had achieved the free hand they had long wanted in local Hungarian matters."

[828 - 829] "Unrest of Nationalities"

..."In Hungary the principle of political loyalty was based on nationality because Hungary had been recognized as a distinct part of the monarchy on the basis of nationalism. In effect Hungary had been recognized as a distinct Magyar nation under the Habsburg emperor." ...

"Many of those other national groups - including the Czechs, the Ruthenians, the Romanians, and the Serbo-Croations (sic)[50] - opposed the Compromise of 1867 that in effect had permitted the German-speaking Austrians and the Hungarian Magyars to dominate all other nationalities within the empire. The most vocal critics were the Czechs of Bohemia. They favored a policy of trialism or triple monarchy. In 1871 Francis Joseph was willing to accept this concept. However, the Hungarian Magyars vetoed the proposal for fear that they might have to make similar concessions to their own subject nationalities."...

"In effect, by 1914 constitutionalism was a dead letter in Austria. It flourished in Hungary, but only because the Magyars relentlessly exercised political supremacy over all other competing national groups.

[830] Map showing "Nationalities within the Habsburg Empire" in caption: ..."Only the Magyars were recognized in 1867, leaving nationalist Czechs, Slovaks, and the others chronically dissatisfied."

[851] "In Austria-Hungary full legal rights were extended to Jews in 1867. Indeed, from approximately 1850 to 1880 there was relatively little organized or overt prejudice toward Jews. They entered the professions and other occupations once closed to them. They participated fully in the literary and cultural life in their nations. They were active in the arts and music. They became leaders in science and education. Jews intermarried freely with non-Jews as legal secular prohibitions against such marriages were repealed during the last quarter of the century."

[952] In 1919 ..."The revolution seemed likely to spread as communist governments were established in Bavaria and Hungary."

[955] "The Austro-Hungarian Empire disappeared entirely, giving way to many smaller successor states."

"The Magyars occupied the much-reduced kingdom of Hungary." ...

"Romania was enlarged by receiving Transylvania from Hungary..."

[956] "It was not a peace without victors. It did not put an end to imperialism, but attempted to promote the national interests of the winning nations. It violated the principles of national self-determination by leaving significant pockets of minorities outside the borders of their national homelands."[51]

[957] "The peace, nevertheless, was unsatisfactory in important ways. The elimination of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, however inevitable that might seem, created a number of serious problems. Economically it was disastrous, ..."

"Poland contained unhappy German minorities, and Czechoslovakia was a collection of nationalities that did not find it easy to live together as a nation. Disputes over territories in eastern Europe promoted further tension."[52]

[963 - 964] The political reconstruction of eastern and central Europe into the multitude of small successor states broke up the trade region formerly encompassed by Germany and Austria-Hungary. Most of those new states had weak economies hardly capable of competing in modern economic life. The new boundaries separated raw materials from the factories using them. Railway systems on which finished and unfinished products traveled might now lie under the control of two or more nations. Political and economic nationalism went together. New customs barriers were raised."

[965] "In 1920 and 1921 three eastern states that had much to lose from revision of the treaty - Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia - formed the Little Entente."...

..."the main target of the Little Entente was Hungary."

[971] "It had been an article of faith among nineteenth-century liberals that only good could flow from the demise of Austria-Hungary. The new states in eastern Europe were to symbolize the principle of national self-determination and to provide a buffer against the westward spread of Bolshevism."

"HUNGARY In Hungary during 1919 the Bolsheviks had erected a socialist government led by Béla Kun (1885 - 1937). The Allies quickly authorized[53] an invasion by Romanian troops to remove the communist danger. They then established Admiral Miklós Horthy (1858 - 1957) as regent, a position he held until 1944[54]. During the 1920s the effective ruler of Hungary was Count Stephen Bethlen (1874 - 1947). He presided over a government that was parliamentary in form but aristocratic in character. In 1932 he was succeeded by General Julius Gömbös (1886 - 1936), who pursued policies of anti-Semitism and rigged elections. Now matter how the popular vote turned out, the Gömbös party controlled the Parliament. There was also deep resentment in Hungary over the territory it had lost to other nations through the Paris settlement."

[1034] "Even in the short run the appeasement of Hitler at Munich was a failure. Soon Poland and Hungary tore bits of territory from Czechoslovakia."

[1035] Map captioned "Partitions of Czechoslovakia and Poland" shows areas "Acquired by Hungary, 1938 - 39."[55]

[1063] "By 1944 ... Soviet armies ... gained control of Romania and Hungary, advances of which centuries of expansionist tsars had only dreamed. Alarmed by these developments, Churchill went to Moscow and met with Stalin in October. They agreed to share power in the Balkans on the basis of Soviet predominance in Romania and Bulgaria, Western predominance in Greece, and equality of influence in Yugoslavia and Hungary. These agreements were not enforceable without American approval and the Americans were known to be hostile to such un-Wilsonian devices as "spheres of influence"."

[1065] ..." it was not until 1947 that Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland signed treaties."

[1077] "Unlike the NATO states, the eastern alliance system was under direct Soviet domination through local Communist parties controlled from Moscow and overawed by the presence of the red Army. The Warsaw Pact of May 1955, which included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union, merely gave formal recognition to a system that already existed."

[1092] In 1956 ..."the Soviet Union confronted major political crises in Poland and Hungary. In the latter case the Soviets used troops to crush a popular revolt against Communist Party domination."

[1093] Photograph showing street fighting scene in Budapest in October, 1956.

"UPRISING IN HUNGARY Hungary provided the second trouble spot for the Soviet Union. In late October, as the Polish problem was approaching a solution, demonstrations of sympathy for the Polish people occurred in Budapest. The communist government moved to stop the demonstrations, and street fighting erupted. A new ministry (sic) headed by former premier Imre Nagy (1896 - 1958) was installed by the Hungarian Communist Party."

"Nagy was a communist who sought a more independent position for Hungary. He went much further in his demands than had Gomulka in Poland, and Nagy made direct appeals for political support from non-Communist groups in Hungary. Nagy called for the removal of Soviet troops and the ultimate neutralization of Hungary. He even went so far as to call for Hungarian withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. These demands were wholly unacceptable to the Soviet Union. In early November Soviet troops invaded the country, deposed Nagy, who was later executed, and imposed János Kádár (b. 1912) as premier."

..."the failure of the United States to take any action in the Hungarian uprising demonstrated the hollowness of American political rhetoric about liberating the captive nations of eastern Europe."

[1149] Map captioned "The Real Nations in the Center of Europe" ..."This map illustrates the chief ethnic borders in the area and indicates where there are major ethnic enclaves within areas generally dominated by a single ethnic group." Hungarian minority areas are correctly identified with the exception of the Hungarian minority in Carpatho-Ukraine.

[1150] On the year of revolutions in eastern Europe, 1989: "HUNGARY Of the eastern European nations, Hungary had for some time demonstrated the most economic independence of the Soviet Union." ... "In January its parliament passed legislation to permit independent political parties. Soon thereafter the government opened the Hungarian border with Austria and permitted the free travel between the two nations. One immediate result was the movement of thousands of East Germans into Austria through Hungary. from Austria they proceeded into West Germany. This situation marked the first breach in the Iron Curtain."

"Not long thereafter[56].... Kádár ... was voted from office .... people gave a honored burial to the body of Hungarian Premier Imre Nagy ..."

"In October Hungary proclaimed itself an independent republic. ... By 1990 a coalition of democratic parties controlled by the parliament governed the country."

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JOHN HUNYADI: Hungary in American History Textbooks