The history of American-Hungarian relations has enjoyed renewed interest in the past thirty years. Despite this fact, there are still many uncovered or poorly documented episodes and persons ...concerning this academic territory. This article wishes to shed some light on one such character and period. It was in 1922 that the United States and Hungary established official diplomatic relations for the first time. Consequently the two countries exchanged ministers; thus, a long line of American ministers began to come and reside in Hungary. The very first of them was Theodore Brentano, who served five years in Budapest, between 1922 and 1927, but who seems to have disappeared from historical memory in both countries. Since 2022 marks the centenary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries, this article will introduce Theodore Brentano, the first American minister for Hungary and his work there. Brentano's years coincided with momentous events in Hungary in the post-Trianon era and were a time of relatively active relations between Washington and Budapest. Using primary and secondary sources alike, this article will hopefully illustrate a sorely missed part of the history of American-Hungarian history and rekindle interest in what took place a century ago.
Nicholas Roosevelt, journalist and diplomat, served during the Paris Peace Conference as a member of the Coolidge mission, which had Vienna as its seat and gathered information about Austria and the ...other countries in the neighborhood. By accident, Roosevelt was in Budapest when the Hungarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed in March 1919. Based upon his experiences in and out of Vienna, Roosevelt wrote diary entries that have never been published. The language of the diary is interesting, not difficult to read, and often humorous, although sometimes politically incorrect in the twenty-first-century sense, as it contains anti-Semitic opinion and sentiment of American superiority toward Central and Eastern European peoples. It gives sharp characterizations on leading figures of the era, from Coolidge to Károlyi, and from Dulles to Wilson. The material is important also since it reflects the private opinions of an American captain about the United States’ role in the postwar world and in the process of peace making.
Zoltán Peterecz presents in this monograph the personality and work of Jeremiah Smith, Jr. (1870–1935), the League of Nations Commissioner-General for the 1924 loan to Hungary. He deals also in ...extenso with the economic and political problems associated with the financial reconstruction of Hungary – both on the domestic and international scene. In his multidimensional presentation, Zoltán Peterecz gives a vivid insight into the official and unofficial trends in the foreign policy of the United States after World War I. The author skilfully interweaves the diplomatic and economic history against the background of international events, and supports the narrative with an impressive body of diverse sources, which include archival materials, contemporary newspaper citations from a number of countries, and an extensive range of secondary sources. The final result is a valuable, well-executed and well-written work that will be welcomed not only by students of the interwar period, but also among non-specialist readers. Zoltán Peterecz was awarded his PhD by the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, in 2010. He specialises in American foreign policy and American-Hungarian relations in the 20th century. He is an Assistant Professor at the Department of American Studies, Eszterházy Károly College, Eger, Hungary.
It is a well-known fact that Theodore Roosevelt was and still is one of the most popular presidents of the United States. It is also somewhat known that he had a relatively brief, and relatively good ...relationship with Count Albert Apponyi, one of the most influential politicians of Hungary in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Perhaps a somewhat lesser known fact is that Roosevelt visited Hungary in 1910. As part of a European tour in the spring of that year, Theodore Roosevelt spent three days in Hungary. The courtesy visit was made into a huge and significant-looking event in Hungary behind which there were certain wishes, bitterness, and propaganda aims on the part of the Hungarian political leadership. Hungary hoped by the virtue of the ex-President’s visit to prove the country’s equal standing with Austria within the Dual Monarchy. Furthermore, the well-educated Roosevelt knew exactly what his hosts wanted to hear and, accordingly, although inadvertently, he kindled the flames of Hungarian independence, a concept with which he did not agree. The paper wishes to tell the story of Theodore Roosevelt’s short stay in Hungary as well as the importance, and lack of consequences, of such a visit.
George F. Kennan and Hungary Peterecz, Zoltán
Hungarian journal of English and American studies,
05/2024, Letnik:
30, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Although George F. Kennan hardly needs an introduction, this article revisits his career. He was the “father” of the containment doctrine, even if he did not accept that title because he believed the ...successive American governments debauched his murky idea about how to oppose the Soviet Union. Many things are known about Kennan—both his professional and private life—but some small additions are still missing. This essay investigates his relations with, and ideas about Hungary, which so far have earned passing mentions at best. This is not surprising because Hungary rarely became a central issue during the Cold War—with 1956 as an obvious exception—so scholars focused mainly on Kennan, the Russian expert and cold warrior. Still, occasionally Hungary received Kennan’s attention throughout his long career: he made observations and took notes on Hungary, Hungarian foreign policy, and Hungarians as early as the eve of World War II, and he continued to do so as late as Hungary’s joining NATO at the end of the 1990s. These were sometimes indirect assumptions, long-distance observations, or the results of on-site experience. It is interesting to see how the famously realist Kennan approached Hungary and the Hungarian questions throughout more than half a century. His relationship with either Hungary or Hungarians, however, has never been within the scope of an academic study, so this article serves as the basis for possible future endeavors into that direction. By introducing Kennan’s episodic views and impressions regarding Hungary in the larger part of the twentieth century, the article fills a small but important gap in the growing field of the history of American–Hungarian relations and adds to the portrait of Kennan.
A jelen tanulmány az amerikai történelem egyik jelentős modernkori mítoszát, a „határvidéket” vizsgálja az elmúlt száz év elnökeinek retorikai megnyilvánulásaiban. Noha a határvidékkel való szoros ...kapcsolat és tapasztalat szinte egyszerre alakult ki a korai angol telepesek érkezésével, igazából az Amerikai Egyesült Államok megalakulásával kezdődött az észak-amerikai kontinenst kelet–nyugati irányban átszelő hatalmas földfoglalás, amely révén az ország területe egyre jobban terebélyesedett, így ez az időszak az amerikai történelem ünnepelt hőskorává vált. Frederick Jackson Turner híres határvidék-elmélete 1893-ban ebből a szempontból vizsgálta a folyamatot, és úgy találta, hogy számos amerikai karakterjegynek az jelentette a bölcsőjét, s az igazi amerikai demok- rácia ott született. A 20. század hajnalán Theodore Roosevelt karolta fel a határvidék kérdését és emelte azt az elnöki kommunikáció szintjére, s ezzel iskolát teremtett. Az őt követő elnökök szinte mindegyike egyre nagyobb gyakorisággal utalt a határvidékre, amely így idővel a tudomány és szinte mindenfajta kihívás metaforikus megjelenési formájává vált, különösen például a technológia élhar- cosaként emlegetett Amerikára vagy az amerikai demokráciának a világszerte történő terjesztésére vonatkozóan. A tanulmány ennek a folyamatát tárja az olvasók elé, és számos példával illusztrálja, hogyan épült be az elnöki retorikába a határvidék imázsa.
A magyar–amerikai kapcsolatok tüzetes vizsgálat alá kerültek az elmúlt évtizedekben, de még mindig vannak feltárandó részletek. Idén száz éve annak, hogy az első amerikai követ, Theodore Brentano ...hazánkba érkezett, amely mérföldkőnek számított a két ország kapcsolataiban. Brentano, annak ellenére, hogy öt évieg szolgált Budapesten, szinte teljesen eltűnt a történelmi emlékezetből. A tanulmány ezt a hiányt szeretné pótolni azzal, hogy megvizsgálja a követ szolgálati ideje alatt történt jelentősebb kétoldalú eseményeket. Ez azért is indokolt, mert akkoriban viszonylag aktívabb kapcsolatot ápolt a két ország, mint előtte vagy utána. Az elsődleges és másodlagos források felhasználásával készült tanulmány a két világháború közötti amerikai–magyar viszonynak egy kevéssé feltárt epizódját szeretné ismertebbé tenni a hazai olvasók előtt.
Royall Tyler in Hungary Peterecz, Zoltán
Hungarian journal of English and American studies,
04/2021, Letnik:
27, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
American-Hungarian relations were rarely closer on the personal level than in the interwar years. Although the United States followed the path of political and diplomatic isolation from Europe in the ...1920s and 1930s, and its absence in the League of Nations was conspicuous, in the financial and economic realm it remained more active, and many Americans worked in the various reconstruction projects across Europe either in their private capacities or under the auspices of the League. Royall Tyler was one such person who spent the larger part of the 1920s and 1930s in Hungary. Since the start of the financial reconstruction of Hungary in 1924, Tyler was a constant participant in Hungarian financial life, a contact between the Hungarian government and the League of Nations, and a sharp observer of events throughout the years he spent in Hungary and Europe. This essay focuses on his activities concerning Hungary’s financial and economic reconstruction and recovery. (ZP)
Aligha volt még egy olyan amerikai állampolgár, aki szorosabban és több szálon kötődött Magyarországhoz a két világháború közötti időszakban és a második világháború idején, mint Royall Tyler ...(1884-1953). Tyler apai ágon egy jól ismert új-angliai család leszármazottja volt. Dédapját, aki szintén a Royall Tyler nevet viselte, gyakran az első amerikai színdarabíróként emlegetik az 1787-es The Contrast című műve nyomán. Anyai nagyapja révén szlovák vér is folyt az ereiben, és bár túlzás lenne azt állítani, hogy származása határozta meg a sorsát, az tény, hogy ez az ilyen felmenőkkel rendelkező ember lett--amerikai állampolgárként--a Duna-térség egyik legavatottabb szakértője. Édesapja korai halála után Tyler 14 évesen Nagy-Britanniába utazott tanulni, ahonnan (egy-egy rövidebb látogatást leszámítva) soha nem tért vissza hazájába. Már legfiatalabb éveiben is vegyes érzelmek dúltak benne az Egyesült Államokat illetően. "Nem hiszek az amerikai moralitásban," írta egyik barátjának, "nem szeretem az amerikaiakat." Túl sok intoleranciát tapasztalt ahhoz, hogy a befogadó európai miliő után visszavágyjon a tengerentúlra.
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