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Preface

Three years ago I set myself the task of writing a history of Austria-Hungary from the Congress of Vienna till the present day, and was encouraged in the attempt by the complete absenee of literature, on the, subject in the English language. I soon found that my Work involved close acquaint­ance with present-day politics in the Dual Monarchy; for paradoxical as it may seem, the twentieth century supplies one of the best clues for an understanding of the nineteenth, so far at least as those countries are concerned. My prelimin­ary studies bore fruit in a little book on The Future of Austria-Hungary, in which I attempted to summarize briefly the his­toric problems which determine Austro-Hungarian policy to-day. But here I was only at the beginning of my difficulties. The vital question of Nationality met me at every turn and clamoured for a solution. Unlike most foreign students of the Dual Monarchy, I was gradually forced to the conclusion that the racial question in Austria is far less difficult and less important than the racial question in Hungary, just as a blazing fire upon the hearth is less dangerous than subterranean flames. Before I could write a history of the Dual .Monarchy, I there­fore had to prepare the ground by a historical survey of the racial question. I approached the subject with the conventional views of a British admirer of Louis Kossuth, and have gradually and reluctantly revised my opinion on almost every problem of Austrian or Hungarian politics. A writer who challenges the long-established belief in Hungarian liberty and tolerance, must be prepared to meet a charge of prejudice and bias. To my mind true impartiality does not consist in a bare catalogue of facts and a resolve to avoid all expression of opinion; it lies rather in approaching the subject with an open mind or with a readiness to correct existing bias, in resolving never to suppress essential facts, which conflict with the writer's own views and sympathies, and in humbly acknowledging the fact that historic truth is relative, not absolute. On these lines I have honestly tried to act, and I must leave the reader to judge as to the success of my experiment. In its course many an idol has been broken, many a cherished belief discarded.

The present volume does not pretend to treat of all the races of Hungary in detail. To give a really adequate account of the Roumanians, Croats and Serbs of Hungary and Croatia, would have involved a further delay of eighteen months; and the present time seems to me already more than ripe for drawing the attention of our public to the wrongs of the non­Magyar races in Hungary and to the sad plight to which Magyar Chauvinism has reduced the Hungarian state. I have therefore concentrated my attention upon the Slovaks, whose situation may be regarded as typifying that of all the non-Magyar races in Hungary, and who stand most in need of help and sympathy.

In Austria and among the Nationalities, it is usual to challenge the accuracy of the official Hungarian statistics, of which I have made full use in the present volume. Even if it were possible, it would be superfluous to prove their falsity; for these official publications, if only studied with sufficient care, supply by far the most damning evidence against their authors, and it was their perusal that completed my conversion to the cause of the Nationalities. Indeed the reader will find that the official statistics, the official text of the laws, the files of the Official Magyar Press, and the public utterances of Magyar statesmen will provide him with an overwhelming case against the present racial policy of the Magyars. On these four pillars rests that portion of my book which deals with modern times; and any information drawn from non-Magyar sources is for the most part supplementary and non-essential. Needless to say, I have only accepted material from persons whom I can trust, and have done my best to check its accuracy by reference to the words or writings of their bitterest opponents.

The key to more than one Balkan problem lies within the Habsburg dominions — a fact which seems to have escaped the notice of the British Press during the present crisis. I have therefore endeavoured in my concluding chapter to show the bearings of the racial question, in Hungary upon certain neglected problems of the Near East.

I am fortunate enough to be able to include three short chapters on Slovak Popular Art, by Mr. Dušan! Jurkovič, the talented Slovak architect who is doing so much, to revive the old artistic traditions of his race, and from whose portfolio of photographs a number of my illustrations are selected; on Slovak Popular Poetry, by Mr. Svetozár Hurban Vajanský, the distinguished Slovak poet and novelist; and on Slovak Popular Melodies, by Mr. Milan Lichard, a pupil of Dvořák, and a promising Slovak composer, and by Father Alois Kolísek, who has made a special study of Slovak musical history. It can­not be too clearly understood that I alone am responsible for the opinions expressed in the rest of this book, and that these gentlemen do not in any way commit themselves to agreement with my political views.

I am indebted to quite a number of persons for advice and information, and even in some cases for documents and books to which I could not otherwise have gained access. But for reasons which will become obvious to every reader of my book, I am unable to refer to them by name, and must content myself with a general acknowledgment.

R. W. SETON-WATSON.

ayton, abernethy.

October 26, 1908.