KÁROLI GÁSPÁR UNIVERSITY OF THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURES AND CULTURES
Dr. Beretzky Ágnes
THE ASSESSMENT OF HUNGARY IN GREAT-BRITAIN (1848-1956)
Seminar Programme

This seminar covers a very particular period concerning the history of English-Hungarian relations: from about 1900 until the end of WWII. It aims at presenting the positive image of Hungary around the turn of the century and its breakup by the military crisis in 1905 and especially by the question of nationalities which - among others - contributed to the dissolution of the Monarchy and the disintegration to Hungary in 1918-19. Later on it will focus on the new settlement in Europe with special emphasis on the British attitude towards the Horthy-regime and its revisional demands partly fulfilled by the two Vienna Awards in 1938 and 1940. It also analyses the British proposals on the reorganisation of the Danube-basin on the eve of the new war, mostly those of the Foreign Research and Press Service, (a semi-official informative body of the Foreign Office), together with the possible reasons for their failure. Finally, the seminar outlines the main trends in British foreign policy towards communist Hungary and - most importantly - concerning the revolution in 1956.

1. Introduction to topics, work allocation.
2. The basics. Hungarian history quiz. Where is Hungary on the map of Europe? Discussion.
3. Nationalism. Roots. Western (liberal) and Eastern (cultural) model.
4. Historical background: British-Hungarian relations before 1900, historical parallels between the two nations:

  • the reform era: John Paget and Joseph Blackwell
  • 1848-1849: Palmerston and Kossuth

5. The "discovery" of the question of nationalities I: the ethnic outlines of Hungary.
  • the Compromise (1867)
  • Hungary devalued: the assessment of the Hungarian constitutional crisis in England (1905).

6. The "discovery" of the question of nationalities II.: Henry Wickham Steed and Robert William Seton-Watson's views on Hungary
7. Towards the Great War 1910-1918: federalisation or dismemberment?
8. The peace settlement 1918-1920: British proposals (Seton-Watson, Harold Nicolson, Allen Leeper)
9. British-Hungarian relations in the postwar era I. (1920-1933): The Foreign Office and the question of revision, the Rothermere-campaign
10. British-Hungarian relations in the postwar era II. (1933-1941): Appeasement and Hungary. The Foreign Office view on enlargements (1-2nd Vienna Awards, spring 1939: Carpato-Ruthenia, 1941: Bacska)
11. After the declaration of war (1941-1945): British proposals on the postwar settlement (the Paris peace conference): the ethnic solution or status quo ante?
12. ...and their failure. 1956 and Britain.
13. Test

Assessment:

  • participation in class discussion
  • 1 presentation
  • endterm test
  • Museum visit: History of Hungary (1867-1956 section!). Hungarian National Museum, permanent exhibition. (Home assignment: List 10 facts about...)
  • film reviews: (one page long TNR 12, semi-single line)
    • Horthy, a kormányzó. Focus of assignment: Chapters of English-Hungarian relations
    • A szabadság vihara (Freedom's Fury). Focus of assignment: The 1956 revolution and the Melbourne Olympics

Recommended readings for presentations:
(All compulsory readings for classes 2-12 are available at beretzkyagnes.fw.hu)
1. Smith J. Toulmin. Parallels between the Constitutions and the Constitutional History Of England and Hungary, London, 1849.
2. Stephen Gál. Hungary and the Anglo-Saxon World, 1943.
3. Frank, Tibor. The British Image of Hungary, 1865-70, Budapest, 1976.
4. Jánossy, Dénes. Great Britain and Kossuth. Ostmitteleuropäische Bibliothek, 9, Budapest, 1937.
5. Haraszti Éva.(ed). Kossuth, Hungarian Patriot in Britain, London and Budapest, 1994.
6. Jeszenszky, Géza. Az elveszett presztízs. Magyarország megítélésének megváltozása Nagy-Britanniában (1894-1918). Budapest, 1986.
7. Seton-Watson, Robert William. Racial Problems in Hungary. London, 1908.
8. Seton-Watson, Robert-William. The Southern Slav Question and the Habsburg Monarchy. London, 1911.
9. Steed, Henry Wickham. The Hapsburg Monarchy, London, 1913.
10. Calder, Kenneth. Britain and the Origins of the New Europe 1914-1918., Cambridge, 1976.
11. Hanak, Harry. Great Britain and Austria-Hungary during WWI. London, 1962.
12. Mason, John. The Dissolution of the Habsburg Empire. London, 1985.
13. Romsics, Ignác. Helyünk és sorsunk a Duna-medencében. Budapest, 1996.
14. Lloyd George, David. The Truth about the Peace Treaties. London, 1938.
15. Nicolson, Harold. Peacemaking 1919.London, 1934.
16. Francis Deák. Hungary at the Paris Peace Conference, New York, 1942.
17. The Hungarian Peace: Speeches of the Members of the British House of Lords on the Trianon Peace Treaty. Budapest, 1922.
18. The Hungarian Question in the British Parliament. London, 1933.
19. Rothemere (Harold Sydney). My Campaign for Hungary, London, 1939.
20. Macartney, Carlile A.. Hungary and her Successors (1919-37). The Treaty of Trianon and its Consequences. London, 1937.
21. Seton-Watson, Robert, William. Treaty Revision and Hungarian Frontiers. London, 1934.
22. Taylor, A.J. P. English History 1914-1945. Oxford, 1966.
23. Macartney, C.A. Problems in the Danube Basin. Cambridge, 1942.
24. Seton-Watson, R.W. Transylvania: A Key Problem. Oxford, 1943.
25. Miklós Lojkó. Churchill, Eden and Hungary.
26. Barcza, György. Diplomataemlékeim Magyarország volt vatikáni és londoni követének emlékirataiból 1911-1945, 1-2. köt, Budapest, 1994.
27. Barker, Elisabeth. British Policy in South-East Europe During the Second World War. London, 1976.
28. Churchill, Winston: The Second World War. (abridged version)
29. Kertész, Stephen. The Last European Peace Conference, Paris, 1946. A Conflict of Values, NY, 1992.

Articles in:

  • The Spectator, A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature, Theology and Art.
  • The Times
  • The (New) Hungarian Quarterly+The Slavonic and East European Review