Nineteenth-century Hungarian History                          Alexander Maxwell

(11 week course)                                                                    
 
Course aims This course provides an overview of nineteenth century Hungarian history.  It does not presuppose any previous study.  Its main theme is the changing concept of the “Hungarian nation” as the sovereign power in Hungary.  Specifically, it examines the decline of the multi-ethnic noble conception of the natio Hungarica, the rise of modern nation-state concepts, specifically the parallel rise of Magyarization and minority nationalism, and the broader social changes which caused national ideas to develop.  Though is course also exposes students to a novel by Mór Jókai and the Hungarian National Anthem to ensure a personal exposure to Hungarian culture. 

Course structure The course is structured with a 1 hour lecture on Monday, a 1 hour lecture on Wednesday, and a 1½ hour discussion section on Thursday.

Response papers: Students are expected to have completed the weekly readings before class on Thursday, and to complete a one-page response paper on the readings.  Students receive attendance credit only when present for discussion with the response paper. 

Research paper:  Four credit students additionally write a four credit paper based on primary sources. Students are encouraged to read sources in languages other than English. Students must discuss their paper topics with the instructor early in the semester, and consult on the status of their research by week seven. 
 

Grading system 

Three Credit Students                                       Four Credit Students

1/3       Attendance + Map Quiz                       1/4       Attendance + Map Quiz          
1/3       Book Review                                       1/4       Book Review  
1/3       Final Exam                                           1/4       Final Exam
                                                                        1/4       10 page research paper

Lectures (Monday, Wednesday)                    Discussion (Thursday)

Week 1
M:           The Hungarian nobility: natio hungarica       Peter Sugar: “The more it changes, the more
                Social structure: nobility and serfdom              Hungarian Nationalism Stays the Same”
                                                                                                Austrian History Yearbook, vol. 31, 127-155.
W:           Legal status in the Habsburg Empire               Haselsteiner’s response: 156-164. = 67 pages                
                The Hungarus concept      
                Population of Hungary: “the nationalities”    
 
Week 2

M:           The Reform Era: Magyar National Revival     Andrew Janos The Politics of Backwardness
                Széchenzi, Wesselényi, liberal nobility            35-83, Kölcsey, Népdal (The Hungarian
                                                                                                National Anthem) 48 + 3 = 51 pages
W:           Economic and Political Reforms
                The rise of Kossuth                                                            

 
Week 3
M            Non-Magyar Nationalism                                   Kieth Hitchens A Nation Discovered 145-173
               Croats, Slovaks, Romanians                               R.W. Seton-Watson A History of Czechs and Slovaks
                                                                                                 258-264 = 28 + 6 = 34 pages.
W            Minority Concepts of the Hungarian state     
                MAP QUIZ

Week 4
M            1848: Jellaèiæ, Kossuth                                        Stroup, Hungary in early 1848 103-135
                 Class liberation and national oppression?      Spira The Nationality Issue in the Hung. Of 1848
                                                                                                 “Problems Emerge” 11-107 = 32 + 96 = 126 pages
W            Unrest in Transylvania, the Banat                    (Optional: István Deák, Lawful Revolution 311-337)
                 Russian Intervention, Austrian Victory          Select research paper topics
 

Week 5
M            The Bach Regime                                                 Hidas The Metamorphosis of a Social Class “The
                “Bach Hussars” Hungarian resistance             gentry in opposition” 64-82
                                                                                                Jászi The Dissolution of the Habsburg Empire
W            The February Patent, Slovak Memorandum    “Sham Constitutionalism” 106-118 = 30 pages                              

Week 6                                 
M            The Ausgleich and Nagdoba                             Bõdy, Hungarian Statesmen of Destiny
                The Status of Transylvania                                “Eötvös” 37-66; Oskar Jászi The Dissolution of the
                                                                                                Habsburg Empire , 317-343 = 29 + 26 = 55 pages
W            The History of Panslavism
                 Slavophobia,  BOOK REVIEW DUE                                               
 
Week 7
M            Literacy, Industrialization, and socialism.        Mór Jokai  Dr. Dumany’s Wife
                                                                                                [read the whole novel]
W            Hungarian Middle and Working classes         Four credit students: update on research papers
 
Week 8
M            Tisza, the Millennium                                          Andras Gerõ Modern Hungarian Society in the
                Noble Dominance and Magyarization              Making. “Mameluks and Zoltans”, “A Hungarian
                                                                                                Cult: Elisabeth” 109-138, 223-236 = 42 pages
W            “non-Magyar Hungarians”
                Fights over the Franchise  

Week 9
M            Hungary in the Great War                                  Pastor, Hungary between Wilson and Lenin, 7-59         
                Bosnia’s Annexation, Paveliæ                            Jászi The Dissolution of the Habsburg Empire,             
                                                                                                447-455 = 54 + 8 = 62 pages
W            The 14 points in Hungary        
                Serbia, Romania, the CSL foreign legion

Week 10
M            Trianon, Revolution                                            No reading: Review session for the final exam
W:           Béla Kun and Horthy         
                Revolution and Counter-Revolution                                               

 
Week 11

M            The successor states and their relations to Hungary
W            Final Exam