English
Magyar
Nándor Pócs
Approaching a hidden concept
Theoretical and institutional aspects of the Hungarian „national defense” movement (1919-1945)
As commonly known, during the Horthy era a far right ideology appeared in Hungary, which was different from Italian fascism or German national socialism, and which is generally defined as race protectionism (fajvédelem). As it was a multi-faced ideology, which, in a peculiar way, was both the basis of the democratic extension of rights and the conceptual basis of anti-Semitic disfranchisement, the issue still offers many opportunities for research. One possible way could be to gain a deeper understanding of the concept of the so-called „national defence” (nemzetvédelem), which is an even more difficult task for the researcher to define than defining race protectionism.
Just as race protectionism could mean, both simultaneously and separately, anti-Semitism, anti-Germanism, peasant protectionism and irredentism, there was an interpretation of national defence that focused on eugenics, social education, wartime economy rationalisation, religious awareness, etc. Since literature is immense, it is not attempted to provide definitive and all-encompassing answers to questions about national defence. In this article, only those efforts are examined that aimed to militarize Horthy-era society and organize it according to state security principles.
Róbert-István Antal
„…to avoid the destruction of this land and this nation”
Negotiations between the Transylvanian Party and leftist politicians about the fate of Northern Transylvania in 1944
As the Soviet army was approaching the borders of Northern Transylvania, two political groups, members of the Transylvanian Party and some communists and social democrats started secret meetings to discuss the fate of this territory. The former group wanted to maintain Northern Transylvania within the borders of Hungary, while the leftist politicians wanted to achieve socialism, in which they expected the nationality problem to be resolved. This study aims to explore these meetings and analyze the participants, what they discussed during these negotiations, and what they decided.
Ákos Bartha
The October 1944 attempt to withdraw Hungary from the war and the question of arming “reliable” workers
In the middle of September 1944, Regent Horthy decided to withdraw Hungary from the war and call for an armistice. Concerning this political plan Lieutenant-General Szilárd Bakay, the commander of the I. Corps in Budapest, worked out a military plan against the German forces and their Hungarian followers in the capital city. As a part of the conspiracy, Bakay wanted to arm “reliable” civilians in Budapest which task he delegated to Lieutenant-General Károly Lázár, the commander of the royal bodyguard corps. At the same time, further links were also established between the regent and the Anti-Nazi resistance organizations and persons. This paper discusses the complex negotiations between “Buda Castle” and the Hungarian underground movement with the purpose of arming civilians on the side of Horthy.
After 1945, communists emphasized that the “Horthyists” only wanted to save their rule, thus they had no sincere intention to cooperate with leftist forces. Horthy, in western exile, also had no interest in writing honestly about the former negotiations with the communists. Finally, the postwar fate of one of the key figures in the negotiations, László Rajk, does not make it easier to reveal the events of the autumn of 1944. Therefore, this paper uses a vast array of archival materials, memoirs, secondary literature, and press sources aiming to reconstruct the dates and the orders of the appointments, the (missed) opportunities, and the motivations of the participants.
Sára BárdiSára Bárdi
A state-commissioned artist
Sándor Légrády and his propaganda posters during the Second World War
Sándor Légrády (Budapest, 1906 – Budapest, 1987) was a prominent Hungarian applied artist, celebrated for his significant contributions to stamp art. He is particularly renowned for designing the national „Kádár” coat of arms used by the Hungarian People's Republic from 1957 to 1990. However, during the Second World War, Légrády's work were widely recognized through its use in government propaganda.
In 1941, he commenced his role as a contracted painter and art designer for the Nemzetpolitikai Szolgálat (National Political Service). His applied art was extensively utilized to advance government propaganda objectives until the winter of 1944. Due to his involvement in creating propaganda posters during this period, he was investigated for war crimes from the summer of 1945 until his acquittal by the People's Court in August 1949.
Using documents from these investigations, this article explores a previously ignored aspect of Légrády's career. It provides a detailed analysis of the propaganda posters he produced between 1941 and 1944 and examines the historical and political contexts that influenced their creation.
János Miklós Kollár
A round table group in the shadow of the pulled down statue of Apponyi
From the very beginning of the First World War, thousands of refugees crossed the continent because of war-time hostilities. The Hungarian refugee crisis which began in the autumn of 1918 was part of a period of general migratory pressures that lasted until the mid-twenties. Current research suggests that following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the Hungarian Kingdom, almost half a million Hungarians were forced to flee from areas which had been occupied by the successor states of the Monarchy. The present paper aims to present what happened to these refugees after 1945, in the era of the party state. Based on documents of the Historical Archives of the State Security Services (ÁBTL), the records of state security investigations and secret reports, it is clearly visible that even in the sixties, refugees carefully maintained their relations in the form of informal round table groups all over Budapest. However, these gatherings were not condoned by State Security Services, and their objective was to eliminate them as soon as possible.
Lukács Krajcsír
The Friendship between Two Old Men
When Reconciliation is Boosted by the Good Relations of Two Statesman
A BOOK REVIEW ON
Michael Borchard: Egy nem mindennapi barátság – David Ben-Gurion és Konrad Adenauer [An Impossible Friendship – David Ben-Gurion and Konrad Adenauer]. MCC Press Kft., Budapest, 2023, 400 p.
In his book, Michael Borchard – the head of the research department at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Archive for Christian Democratic Policy (ACDP) – presents how difficult it was to establish the diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Israel. It had so many possible pitfalls that it seemed almost “impossible” to achieve in the first decades of the Cold War. Although there were some common interests between the two countries, the whole process could not have happened without Konrad Adenauer and David Ben-Gurion. In his monography, Borchard tries to convince the reader that without the combination of these two forceful politicians it would certainly have taken considerably longer for Germany and Israel to come to terms with each another. Although there are some gaps in the main events, inconsistent shifts and minor mistakes in the book, it is worth reading: it provides a good insight into a subject that is barely known internationally.