American Hungarian relations: 1918-1944
Major, Mark Imre
Major, Mark Imre
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Date
1972
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to point out how the United States was involved in Hungarian affairs between the world wars. In keeping with this final intention, however, it was necessary, for the sake of better understanding, to give some details of Hungary's foreign policy in general, and to elaborate on her internal problems. The key to the understanding of Hungarian history during this period is Hungary's attitude towards the Treaty of Trianon. The chief aspiration of Hungarian foreign policy was the desire for revision of this treaty. The Treaty of Trianon, imposed on Hungary at the close of World War I, effectually destroyed the historic Hungarian state. The Hungarian nation, with a deep sense of its thousand-year-old past and its historic mission in the Carpathian Basin, had not acquiesced in the judgment of Trianon. I n response to the lasting sense of injustice which the peace settlement had left in the people of Hungary, the whole nation considered it to be one of its primary tasks to aim for the recovery of the territories which had been lost in the wake of World War I. All Hungarian political maneuvers towards the United States also must be considered from that point of view. From the American standpoint, although its policy did not penetrate to Eastern Europe until World War II, Hungary, being in the camp of revision for the Paris Peace Treaties, became an important listening post for American diplomats. As a result of this, the diplomatic service of the United States in Hungary was superior to that in some countries of similar size. Cultural relations also were significant between the two nations. American thought did penetrate into Hungary from the early 1800's. It was quite natural that Hungarian scholars of the inter-war period also were acquainted with contemporary American art, literature, and philosophy. For Americans, the Hungarian immigration as well as the visiting Hungarian artists and scientists made known the Hungarian culture and way of life. This study also points out the importance of the economic relations between the two countries. In the 1920's, it was American capital which mainly helped Hungary's economic and financial reconstruction. In the 1930's, the discovery of petroleum in Hungary by the Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) made Hungary one of the most important business partners of the United States in Eastern Europe, and once more it was American capital which helped Hungary's economic stability. In the writing of this study an endeavor was made to use the unpublished documentary material of the National Archives of the United States and that of the Library of Congress. Efforts were made also to use the contemporary press, recently published memoirs, and historical literature, often not available in English, to throw light on many aspects of the American Hungarian relations.
Contents
Subject
Subject(s)
Allied and Associated Powers (1914-1920). Treaties, etc. Hungary, 1920 June 4
Hungary--History--1918-1945
Hungary--History--1918-1945
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Dissertation
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vii, 361 leaves, bound : maps
Department
History