JOHN HUNYADI: Hungary in American History Textbooks

BOOK REVIEWS

I. Greaves

Greaves, Richard L. & Robert Zaller, Philip V. Cannistraro, Rhoads Murphey: Civilizations of the World, The Human Adventure, Second Ed.; New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1993. pp. 1175.

This is a monumental book. Almost 1200 pages, full of color pictures, maps, (including a series of colored geographic maps of the world, missing from most other history texts) and generous lists of further readings. Compared to it's competitors, the book is less centered on European history, but, as its title indicates, provides a general coverage of the civilizations of the world. In spite of this, Hungary is treated relatively in more detail, than those that ostensibly centered on Europe.

[page 217] Magyars appear on a map that shows the expansion of Islam, locating them east of the Carpathian mountains, with the Avars being in the Danubian basin.

[333] "Byzantine miscalculation was responsible for the invasion of eastern Europe by the Magyars, a nomadic people from central Asia. In 896 the Byzantines encouraged the Magyars to attack the troublesome Bulgars, but the latter outwitted the Byzantines by persuading the Pechenegs, Turkic nomads from the area around the Volga River, to attack the Magyars. Instead of fighting the Bulgars, the Magyars moved west, invading Germany, France, and Italy and plundering virtually at will. Not until 955 were they defeated by the army of the German king Otto I, but they retained control of the great Hungarian plain. There they gradually settled down, established their own kingdom, and converted to Christianity."

[334] Map showing Viking, Magyar and Muslim invasions shows Hungarian invasion routes from 883 through 917.

[335] "In Germany the substantial size of the Magyar armies meant that the nobles could not marshal adequate defenses; hence the kings actually increased their influence, as exemplified by Otto I's revival of the imperial tradition."

[345] " Henry I (919-936) ... strengthened Saxon defenses against the Magyars and Norsemen.."

[346] "When the Magyars took advantage of the civil strife to invade Germany, Otto crushed them at Lechfeld, near Augsburg, in 955."

[350] "The Peasants' crusade ended in disaster, not only for the crusaders but also for the thousands of Hungarians and Jews they killed en route.."

[352] "A third order, the Teutonic Knights, was established by German Crusaders in 1198, though most of their efforts were devoted to campaigns in Hungary and the Baltic region."

[357] The Mongols... "invaded Poland Silesia, Bohemia, Moravia, and Hungary, only to pull back to Russia when another khan died in 1241."

[391] ...around 1450 ..."In Italy, Germany, Hungary, and Poland, however, territorial princes and cities prevented the growth of centralized states."

[397] In 1377..." The Bohemians, Hungarians, Poles, and Scandinavians also supported the Roman pope." (re. Urban VI)

[411] In article on Venice, about 1329 ..."the Habsburgs and the Hungarians, who were unsettled by Venetian expansion around the head of the Adriatic."

[413] French king Francis I, in his confrontation with Charles V ..." allied with the Turks, who defeated the Hungarian army at Mohács in 1526."

[414] Map shows the empire of Charles V (brother of Ferdinand I) depicting Turkish domination of Danube - Tisza valley up to 'Budapest' (sic) and Habsburg domination of the rest of the country including Transylvania.

"Although the Hungarians had developed a reasonably strong state in the 1200s, during the following century they were weakened by a dynastic struggle involving Bavarian, Bohemian and Angevin claimants; the Angevins triumphed with the support of the papacy. There were further problems due to the frequent absences of King Sigismund (1387 - 1437) from the country, partly because of his campaigns against the Turks and partly because of his responsibilities as Holy Roman Emperor (1433 - 1437). In 1458 the nobles gave the crown to Matthias Corvinus (1458 - 1490), son of the great military leader János Hunyadi, who had successfully repulsed the Turks. Matthias increased royal authority through administrative and judicial reforms, higher taxes, and the creation of a standing army. Abroad, he used Hungary's new power to conquer Bohemia, Moravia, and Austria. Following his death, however, a disputed succession enabled Maximilian to regain Austria and to bring Hungary into the imperial orbit by two dynastic marriages involving his grandchildren, Mary and Ferdinand. The nobles subsequently took advantage of weak rulers to disband the standing army. As in Germany, the real struggle in Hungary then took place between the magnates and the lesser nobility. Although the latter won their claim to equality in the eyes of the law, in practice the magnates were dominant."

In the Chapter Summary: "The failure of the Italians, Germans, Hungarians, and Poles to establish strong centralized states left them vulnerable to their neighbors and a perpetual source of temptation to expansionist-minded states."

[425] On humanists outside Italy: .. "Other Italian humanists took their views to the courts of Spain, Hungary, and Poland..."

[436] on women artists of the renaissance: "Catharina van Hemessen of the Netherlands, who enjoyed the support of Queen Mary of Hungary..." [20]

[461] Luther's ... "doctrines were preached as far afield as Hungary, Prussia, and the Netherlands."

Charles V ..."was preoccupied too by the advancing Turkish forces of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520 - 1566), which soundly defeated the Hungarians at Mohács in 1526 and advanced to the very gates of Vienna before retreating."[21]

[465] "Under Calvin, Geneva was the focal point of an expanding network of reformers who carried his message as far afield as France, the Netherlands, England Scotland, and even Hungary"

[467] Map titled "The Division of Christendom, c. 1550" shows Catholics, Anabaptists and Calvinists throughout Hungary and Transylvania.

[475] In the article on witch-hunts in Europe: "Lutherans introduced the witch-hunt to Denmark, ... and Calvinists carried it to Scotland and Transylvania."

[482] On commercial innovation: Jacob Fugger's ... "company dominated the copper supply in Europe by its acquisition of Hungarian mines..."

[514] Map entitled "Europe, c. 1560" correctly shows partitioned Hungary and Transylvania.

[532] After the Peace of Westphalia ... "emperors ... govern the small German states and their own patrimony in Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary."

"Much of the unrest in central and eastern Europe was sparkled by the gradual enserfment of the peasants in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries."

[540] On Ottoman history: Suleiman I has ... "captured ... Belgrade on the Danube, gateway to central Europe; and much of Hungary. He besieged Vienna, but his forces both the supplies and the resolve to take the city, and he was forced to retreat in 1529."

[545] "After 1716, Ottoman officials, stung by the loss of Transylvania and most of Hungary to Habsburg armies (which had been confirmed in the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz), began trying to reorganize their decaying army..."

[620] Map entitled "Europe in 1714" depicts Hungary under "Habsburg dominions" correctly. A line, separating Austria from Hungary, is labeled "Boundary of the Austrian empire. Strangely, later on throughout the book even Transylvania is labeled "Austria".

[625] Article entitled "Austria: The Dynastic State":

"After the division of the Habsburg crown in 1555 between its Spanish and Austrian branches, the Austrian monarchy consisted of three major units, the hereditary provinces of Austria itself; the so-called crown of Wenceslas, comprising Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia; and the crown of St. Stephen, including Hungary, Transylvania, and Croatia. Bohemia and Hungary had became part of the Habsburg dominions in 1527 after the battle of Mohács, though much of Hungary was still contested. Indeed, only the continuing threat of the Turks in southeastern Europe could have united so disparate a group of peoples -Germans, Czechs, Magyars, Croats, Slovaks, Slovenes, Italians, Rumanians, Ruthenians - under a single head. Turkey may, in this sense be said to have engendered the Austrian monarchy; nor was it a coincidence that the final expulsion of Turkey from Europe in the early twentieth century should have been followed shortly after by the collapse and dismemberment of the Habsburg empire. The histories of Turkey and Austria rose and fell together.

Austria in the seventeenth century might be described as a power but not a state. The imperial title was recognized only in the Austrian provinces proper; the Habsburg emperor was separately king of Bohemia and Hungary. ... His government was actually a series of ongoing negotiations with the provinces of his realm, whose noble estates possessed extensive powers, including the right to veto imperial taxes and, in Hungary, even to rebel.

The Counter-Reformation in Austria was, in its political dimension, a struggle against the Protestant nobility who were dominant in Bohemia and Hungary. Bohemian Protestantism had been ruthlessly suppressed after 1620, and the native nobility was replaced by Catholic loyalists. A similar policy was applied in Hungary after 1671 following an abortive rebellion. ...

Religious orthodoxy was linked to what the Habsburgs saw as their special mission: the defense of Christian Europe against the menace of the Ottoman Turks. After a period of quiescence following the Treaty of Sitva-Torok (1606) the Turks crossed the Danube in strength in 1663, ravaging Hungary, Moravia, and Silesia. Repulsed at St. Gotthard by papal-sponsored and Austrian led army, they acceded to the Truce of Vasvár (1664).[22] This treaty formally divided Hungary, which, though nominally a Habsburg principality, had long enjoyed semi-independence as a border region between the two great powers. When the Turks renewed the war in 1683 with an army of 200,000 men, the Hungarians, preferring the Ottoman yoke to what they have seen of the Habsburg, joined forces with the invaders.[23] The Turks were also assisted by Louis XIV, who saw the attack as a welcome opportunity to divert Leopold's attention from his own aggression on the Rhine, though he temporarily suspended aid as a gesture to European public opinion when the Turks stormed up to the very gates of Vienna, subjecting it to a two month siege.

The relief of the Habsburg capital by Jan Sobieski of Poland (1673 - 1696) was hailed throughout Europe as a miraculous deliverance. It was a historic moment, for it marked the last great thrust of Muslim power that had threatened Europe for nearly 1,000 years. In the war that ensued, climaxed by Prince Eugene of Savoy's great victory at Zenta (1697), the Turks were driven permanently from the Danube basin and back upon the Balkans. ...

The Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) gave the Habsburgs possession of virtually all of Hungary, Transylvania, and Croatia. Hungary's crown of St. Stephen was declared hereditary in the Habsburg family (1687). The Magyar nobility was not purged, as in Bohemia, and it was permitted to retain its provincial assemblies and national diet. But its power was curbed, and non-Magyar nobles were settled in the new lands, as well as German and Slavic peasants. The result was a new Magyar rising under Prince Ferenc Rákóczy, which lasted from 1703 to 1711. The defiant Magyars, with their proud sense of isolation among the surrounding Slavic populations, remained the most refractory of the Habsburg empire's many peoples." ...

[669] "Maria Theresa (1740 - 1780) became empress of Austria and queen of Hungary, the first female sovereign in the history of the Habsburg dynasty. "

[695] "The empire Joseph (II) inherited was a crazy quilt of territories and populations that spread across Europe... Its various peoples -Flemish, Italian, German, Czech, Croatian, Magyar, Polish - had little in common, and their loyalty to the Habsburg throne had been purchased only by conceding a large measure of self-rule, especially in Hungary and Bohemia. Joseph set out to compress this explosive mixture into a single political and social order and to transform some of the most backward regions of Europe into instant models of progress and enlightenment."

... "Rebellion flared in Hungary, the Tirol and Flanders, and by the end of Joseph's reign large parts of the empire were held down only by force."

[705] on the arts: ..." Haydn ... was employed by the greatest noble family of Hungary, the Esterházy's, who maintained a private orchestra for his use. Haydn remained with the Esterházy's all his life..."

[806] Map showing "The Urbanization of Europe" indicates that Budapest was a city of half million population in 1930. Contrary to this, the table entitled "Population of the major Cities of Continental Europe Around 1910" lists the population of Budapest as 880,000.

[824] "The very name, Austria, had been adopted no less recently than 1804 to describe the patrimonial lands of the emperor, ..." [24]

[825] Map depicting the "Ethnic Composition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire" .[25]

[839] On the "Revolutions of 1848" the book states: "More serious were nationalist uprisings by the Bohemians in Prague and the Hungarians in Budapest. The latter, under the leadership of the fiery journalist and orator Louis Kossuth (1802 - 1894) , demanded virtual independence from Austria, with separate army, government, and a system of finance. In addition, the Hungarian Diet, composed exclusively of noblemen and long one of the most reactionary assemblies in Europe,[26] voted for constitutional government, de abolition of serfdom, and the imposition of taxes on the nobility. ...

In Hungary the Magyar majority under Kossuth rapidly alienated the various minorities under its control by proclaiming what amounted to racial hegemony: it abolished local assemblies in non-Magyar provinces and prescribed that Hungarian be the exclusive language of all higher education as well as of the Diet.[27] This stimulated Slavic nationalism, which culminated in a pan-Slavic congress that convened in Prague in June (of 1848), only to be suppressed by troops under General Alfred Windischgraetz still loyal to the Habsburgs. This victory emboldened the court party to attempt the liberation of Vienna. In October, Windischgraetz occupied the city after a bombardment and executed or exiled its radical leaders on the spot. Two months later the feebleminded Ferdinand I was induced to step down in favor of his 18-year-old nephew, Franz Joseph I (1848 - 1916), who, unhampered by his predecessor's promises to the liberals, completed the process of restoration the following summer by crushing the Hungarian revolt with the aid of 140,000 Russian troops."

[857] In the mid-nineteenth century Habsburg empire: ..."Twelve million Germans controlled political power and enjoyed special status in a state that reached 50 million by 1914 and included 24 million Slavs to the south, 10 million Magyars and 4 million Rumanians to the east, as well as Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Croats, Serbs, Italians and a variety of other ethnic groups. The Habsburgs made a number of attempts to bring the forces of nationalism under control, but neither reforms, the granting of limited provincial autonomy in 1859, nor the new constitution of 1861 was effective.

The Austro-Prussian war of 1866 demonstrated just how divided and weak the Austrian (sic) Empire was, and defeat provoked still one more effort at reform. After difficult negotiations, Emperor Franz Joseph reached a compromise (Ausgleich) with Hungarian leaders. The new constitution created the Dual Monarchy, in which Franz Joseph was both king of Hungary and emperor of Austria. Foreign affairs, finance, and military matters were conducted by common ministers, but otherwise the two parts of the monarchy was autonomous, each with its own constitution, official language, and parliament.

The Ausgleich did not, of course, eliminate the serious problems facing the empire but merely enabled the Hungarians to share with the Germans in its rule. The other nationality groups continued to demand their freedom." .... "However, in both halves of the Dual Monarchy most inhabitants were landless, backward peasants burdened by conservative landowners and heavy taxes. Despite the ancient lineage of the Habsburgs and the importance of its strategic position in Europe, the Dual Monarchy remained an anachronism in a Europe rapidly dividing along national lines."[28]

[947] In 1914, during WWI ..."Russians fared better against the Austrians (sic) overrunning Galicia and driving into Hungary. The Austrians suffered further setbacks in the Balkans, where the Serbs twice repelled their armies."

[951] "The peace terms with Germany's allies were hardly less severe. Austria was reduced to a third of its former size. Hungary was left with a fourth of its former territory. Bulgaria, too, lost land, and all three states had to reduce their armies."[29]

[975] By the end of the struggle the Bolsheviks had recovered much of the old imperial lands on the western front, except for the Baltic states and the territory lost to Romania and the new states of Czechoslovakia and Poland."[30]

[1021] "New states had arisen after 1919 out of the remnants of the shattered German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman empires. These "successor" states were Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Turkey, and the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In these nations democracy proved less resistant to the political and economic stress of the postwar period."

[1022] "A variety of factors retarded economic development. Before 1918 the region had functioned, directly or indirectly, as colonial territory for larger powers, which had supplied it with investments and manufactured goods in return for agricultural goods and raw materials. When the war ended, the area faced the sudden loss of secure markets and the inexpensive resources necessary for industrial modernization. To these problems were added a lack of native investment capital, outmoded commercial and agricultural structures, and inadequate communication and transportation systems. Indeed, except for portions of Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Austria, the economies of eastern Europe resembled those of colonial areas in Asia, Africa, or the Middle East."

..."these states were characterized by enormous ethnoreligious diversity. For historical reasons, nearly all of them had a heterogeneous population composed of groups whose ethnic and religious affiliations were different from those of the ethnic majority. In some cases, notably Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Romania, these minorities formed a substantial proportion of the inhabitants."[31]

"Perhaps the most serious political liability was the intense nationalism that pervaded the region and colored the perceptions of leaders and common people alike. ..."

"It is hardly surprising that parliamentary democracies often failed to cope with these difficulties and gave way to authoritarian dictatorships. The first nation to adopt dictatorial government was Hungary,[32] which turned to Admiral Miklós Horthy after a short-lived Communist regime under Béla Kun in 1919." ... "Only Czechoslovakia, under the leadership of Tomas Masaryk and Edvard Benes, managed to retain its democratic government, despite authoritarian tendencies and serious internal problems."

[1030] Map showing "Central Europe, 1939" shows Czechoslovakia with "areas annexed by Hungary" labeled "Southern Slovakia."[33]

[1033] "Together with Hungarian and Bulgarian troops, the Germans overrun Yugoslavia and defeated Greece."[34]

[1045] In 1944 ...by "July the situation had changed drastically, for the Red Army had overrun Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and most of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, and pro-Soviet governments dominated by Communists were installed."

[1047] "In June 1947, Secretary of State George C. Marshall offered economic assistance to any European nation " ... "Although Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary was interested, the Soviet Union vetoed their participation in the Marshall Plan. fearing that Western economic penetration would weaken its hold on the eastern European states."

"In 1946 Stalin already controlled Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania, and over the next two years he consolidated Russian influence over Hungary and Czechoslovakia."

[1144] "...between 1945 and 1947 the national front governments of Hungary and Czechoslovakia were true coalitions in which parties possessed a wide degree of freedom."

[1145] "The October 1956 Hungarian revolution challenged to USSR more directly. When Hungarian police fired on protesters in Budapest, sparking anti-Soviet demonstrations, the government called in Soviet soldiers. Throughout the country, worker's councils were formed, demanding free elections, the end of the security police, and the withdrawal of Soviet troops. On October 28, when Imre Nagy (1896 - 1958) became premier and the Soviets began to withdraw, it appeared that the Hungarians had won. Nagy announced the reestablishment of the multiparty system, and a return to the national front coalition of Communists, Social Democrats, and peasant leaders and proclaimed Hungarian neutrality between East and West. Convinced that a failure to respond would provoke further revolts throughout the Soviet bloc, Khrushchev ordered an invasion. Some 2,500 Russian tanks moved into Hungary, shelling Budapest and other cities. When the repression was over, thousands of Hungarians were dead and more than 200,000 refugees had fled. Though some westerners had urged or expected American intervention, none came."

"The new Soviet-installed Hungarian premier, János Kádár (1912 - 1989) cautiously led the nation to a more liberal form of communism over the next three decades. Imprisoned for nationalist activity earlier in his life, Kádár understood his country's desire for reform and independence. By the early 1960's he had removed Stalinists from the Hungarian Communist party and induced programs that improved the standard of living. Although Kádár's role in the 1956 uprising undermined his leadership in the eyes of many, he remained in power until 1988."

[1161] "In the last months of 1989, ... in the late summer East Germans, frustrated by the refusal of Communist party leader Erich Honecker (born 1912) to institute reforms, began leaving their country for the West. As East Germany celebrated its fortieth anniversary in October, mass demonstrations were organized and the number of refugees reached tens of thousands."[35]

"Inspired by success in Poland and Germany, the people of Hungary and Czechoslovakia moved cautiously toward liberation. In Hungary, despite reforms that permitted private enterprises, economic setbacks resulted in the fall of János Kádár in 1988. Deep-seated dissatisfaction led to the emergence of new political parties, a change of name in the Hungarian Communist party, and free elections, in which the Communists were repudiated."

JOHN HUNYADI: Hungary in American History Textbooks