Hungarian Political Trends between the Revolution and the Compromise (1849-1867) by Gy.SzabadReview by: A. SkedThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Jul., 1978), pp. 464-465Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4207701 .

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464 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

Lincoln's study is concise, readable, agreeably printed and gratifyingly free from errors. It can be commended to every student of Russian history in the nineteenth century. The lack of an index is, however, a major deficiency. And to place Nikolay Milyutin (on the front cover) in a medallion rightfully occupied by Peter the Great, is to give him a position neither claimed for him by the author (who, on the contrary, is at pains to place Milyutin's achievements in their proper perspective) nor one Nikolay Milyutin was at all likely to have claimed for himself. Norwich W. E. MOSSE

Szabad, Gy. Hungarian Political Trends Between the Revolution and the Compromise (i849-i867). Studia Historica, no. 128. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, 1 977. I 84 pp. List of Abbreviations and Pressmarks. ?6.40.

SZABAD'S latest book deserves a warm welcome. It is well-written (to judge from the translation); it gives a convincing and comprehensive account of Hungarian political developments between I849 and I867; and it avoids the traditional pitfall of obsessive concentration on constitutional detail. The greatest criticism which can be made of it is that it is simply too short.

The author begins with a fascinating chapter entitled 'The Progress of Societal Transformation'. There is a lot of information here on various social groups and classes, but by chapter two Szabad is already into the meat of his book - the political history of Hungary - and his account of Hungarian political developments is thereafter a thoroughly compre- hensive one. In particular he pays attention to the links between Kossuth and the exiles and the underground movements at home. In this context it soon becomes clear that Kossuth faced not merely the obstacle of Habsburg absolutism in making known his point of view inside Hungary, but also the double-dealing of Resolution Party leaders after Teleki's suicide in I86I. For Tisza and Almasy had no desire to create a Danubian Con- federation or even to support a liberal nationalities programme inside Hungary itself- this despite the use they made of Kossuth's name. Far less did they support a policy of resisting the Habsburgs. Thus De'ak's address to Franz Josef in I 86I was allowed to pass through Parliament and Eotvos's Committee on the Nationalities could report that there was only one nation in Hungary. When Kossuth's plan for a Danubian Confedera- tion was published in I862, therefore, it found little support at home. In fact, the view arose that a compromise with the Habsburgs would involve fewer concessions from the Magyars than a progressive alignment against them. And so the door was open for the 'Ausgleich'.

Yet as Szabad makes clear the Compromise was not a compact freely arrived at by a free nation. Rather it was a political deal made by the Deak group with Franz Josef and approved by a Parliament which had been elected under the greatest possible government pressure. Only in this way was the monarch able to secure a revision of the I848 Laws plus a secret pledge that Hungarian governments would not act on matters of

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REVIEWS 465

substance without his express permission. It was little wonder, therefore, that the final arrangements were not submitted to the people for their approval at a free election. Nevertheless, it suited many to believe that the Compromise was an act of statesmanship and the Great Powers in particular applauded it as such. After all, they had steadfastly refused to support the Hungarians in their bid for independence so that their approval was only logical. Not so, however, was their action in 19I8 when they took the Magyars to task for having 'accepted' the Compromise some fifty years before. But by then, of course, the Habsburg Monarchy was no longer a European necessity and the Compromise was seen for what it was - an arrangement to keep Franz Josef and the ruling classes happy. London A. SKED

Frank, Tibor. The British Image of Hungary, I865-I870. Theses in English and American, Department of English, Lorand Eotvos University, Budapest, 1976. 375 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Plates. Maps. German resume. Ft. 20.

BRITISH interest in Hungary has never been constant or sustained. It has been fanned suddenly by political events and has died down again just as rapidly, as can be seen from the reaction to I 848 or 1956. Hungary remains just beyond the boundary of general knowledge; it is part of Europe, yet in that region where large-scale maps give way to general ones and where names, both geographical and personal, become confused. (In March I977 The Guardian newspaper published a photograph of what purported to be the Rumanian parliament in session in Bucharest; in fact it showed the Hungarian parliament in Budapest.) This sporadic interest in Hungary affords a sharp contrast with Hungarian interest in Britain through the centuries; Tibor Frank's careful and detailed study of his chosen period offers yet more evidence of this.

The period just before and after the Compromise of I867 is an intriguing one for observers of the Central European scene. The Austro- Prussian war of i 866, the defeat at Koniggratz, the loss of Venetia and the incorporation of Transylvania in Hungary, combined with the aftermath of the Polish revolt of I 863 and the uneasy intermezzo that followed while Franz Josef was trying to regain some of his lost prestige, all make for fascinating study. To the outsider the role of Hungary seemed less important than the fate of the Empire as a whole. Tibor Frank admits that this was only too true of British interest (p. 240), but has nevertheless found considerable evidence to show that more was known about Hungary than might have been expected.

He has cast his net widely. He cites not only the few standard works of the period such as the important studies by Charles Boner and A. J. Patterson (whose sources he traces in comprehensive notes), but also a mass of articles in contemporary newspapers and journals, which form a large part of the impressive bibliography. Some idea of the careful detail

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