Hungary and Democracy

"Hungary and Democracy" by Cecil J. C. Street is a historical and political study written in the early 20th century. It examines the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, challenges Magyar claims to democratic tradition, and weighs self-determination against Hungary’s pre-war treatment of its non‑Magyar peoples. The work argues that Hungary’s system was oligarchic and that partition largely reflected the aspirations of subject nationalities. The opening of the book frames the region as a potential flashpoint, with a foreword warning that reaction in Hungary and disputed minorities could provoke new conflicts. The introduction sets the aim: to test Magyar propaganda that portrays Hungary as democratic and unjustly dismembered, countering it with press evidence from the war, a review of minority treatment, and a plan to compare conditions before and after the treaties. The first chapter sketches post‑1867 Hungary: Magyars ruling as a minority, the unenforced 1868 Nationalities Law, a highly restrictive franchise, and an education policy (notably under Apponyi) designed to Magyarise schools and even kindergartens, all within an oligarchic order hostile to Slavs and aligned with Germany. The second chapter details how census methods and schooling served assimilation, the closure of Slovak institutions, the use of infant schools for language policy, tight Hungarian control over Croatia‑Slavonia, and repression of Rumanians in Transylvania, set against a brief history of rising Magyar chauvinism and the injustices of Dualism.

Hungary and Democracy, by Cecil J. C. Street. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #78696.