Tanulmány
Against Soviet Rule – The Story of a Lithuanian Catholic Samizdat
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the opposition movement in Lithuania was primarily formed around the Catholic Church, and it had become one of the most organized and successful dissident group in the Soviet Union. The primary mouthpiece of this movement was the illegally published newspaper Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, which positioned itself as the defender of human and national rights, as well as the freedom of religion. The Chronicle grants us insight into the events concerning the Catholic Church in the 1970s and 80s and serves as a historical source. The dissident movement against the Soviet Union in Lithuania was helped by the fact that the country managed to keep its ethnic identity (80% of the population was Lithuanian, and there were no large-scale attempts at colonisation, as opposed to Estonia and Latvia), and also religious homogeneity (Lithuanians were mostly Catholic, while the majority of Latvians and Estonians were Lutherans or Orthodox, and only a minority were Catholics).
The Nice, Complete World of the Dictatorship: The GDR and East Germans in the Communist Bloc
The GDR had a unique position among the countries of the Eastern Bloc, as its history was always more connected to the FRG than its fellow Socialist countries. The emigration problem constantly plaguing the GDR had always determined its self-definition and political communication, and the problem continued even after the building of the Wall. The aging population also led to ever increasing labour and skill shortages in the country. The solution came in the form of labour exchange contracts with other Socialist countries, which also involved student exchange. However, expanding connections to even countries within the bloc were not without risks for Eastern Germany. By the mid-1980s the leadership of the GDR also lost its trust in the Hungarian system, as more and more press releases, diplomatic and state security reports indicated changes, economic transformation, and ongoing reform processes in Hungary.
The Hungarian Institute of Science in Krakow. Cultural Diplomacy in Polish-Hungarian Relations After World War II
After the end of World War II, there were no de facto diplomatic relations between Hungary and Poland, although the two states were not in a state of war with each other. However, relations were yet to be resumed. During this transitional period Tibor Csorba and the Hungarian Institute of Science he founded in Krakow took it upon themselves to maintain Hungarian– Polish relations. Through the means of cultural diplomacy, he tried to maintain and cultivate pro-Hungarian sentiment among the Polish public and the new post-war intelligentsia. Despite his considerable scientific, educational, and social activities, Csorba was called home after the official settlement of Hungarian–Polish diplomatic and cultural relations and was never given another diplomatic assignment. The aim of this paper is to explore the background of the establishment and operation of the Hungarian Institute of Science in Krakow, mainly based on Hungarian archival documents and Tibor Csorba's personal papers.
Czechoslovak–Hungarian State Security Relations Between 1948 and 1951
Among the countries of the Communist Bloc in East Central Europe formed after World War II, Hungary and Czechoslovakia were the last to sign the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. Therefore, it is no surprise that the state security organizations of the two countries were also relatively late to start cooperating, only doing so in 1948, while already having close relationship with the political police forces of the other countries of the bloc. The relations of the Hungarian Államvédelmi Hatóság and the Czechoslovak Státní bezpečnost were especially interesting in this earliest, barely researched period: besides the effective, proper collegial relationship, sources also report on a much less friendly, rather strained cooperation. The former presented itself in the official visits and the correspondence regarding operative tasks, while the latter primarily appeared in the case of the “American spy” Noel Haviland Field, during the shared investigative work searching for the “internal enemy.” This study presents the fluctuating, often quite strained relationship of the two state security organizations, starting from the first contact until the meeting regarding operative techniques in Budapest in 1951, mostly based on Czech and Slovak sources. Examining these documents does not only grant insight into the nature of the relationship of these two organizations: the Czechoslovak reports also show how the Státní bezpečnost perceived their Hungarian colleagues and the Hungarian organization during this early period.
The End of a “Golden Age” – The Consequences of the Six-Day War on Czechoslovakia and Prague’s Third World Policy
Just prior to the so-called Six-Day War, delegations from Egypt and Syria hurried to the Eastern bloc states to acquire more intensive diplomatic support, humanitarian help and arms supplies. One of the main destinations was Czechoslovakia which between 1955 and 1968 was one of the main supporters not just for the Arab States but even for most of the Third World countries and national liberation movements. So, it was no surprise that the Communist leadership did not hesitate when they had to choose after the armed conflict: the defeated Arab states (Egypt, Syria) or victorious Israel? Despite the fact that Czechoslovakia played a key role in the first Arab–Israeli War (supporting the Israeli militias and army with weapons), from the early fifties to the mid-sixties, the relations between Israel and Czechoslovakia remained very cold. So first, it seemed that the suspension of diplomatic ties would not have any longstanding consequences on Prague’s Middle East-policy nor the country itself. However, before and during the Prague Spring, there were shown displays of public sympathy for Israel – not just from the intelligentsia, but from the members of the so-called Communist reform movement alike. Although there were some signs of warming up the former Czechoslovak–Israeli relations, the invasion of the Warsaw Pact and Gustáv Husák’s “normalization” ruined such hopes. Moreover, after 1968 the Czechoslovak leadership attempted to return to the “golden age”, but due to the purge in the country and some changes in the Middle East, this remained an unfulfilled dream.
The “Wallachian Boys”: Romanian Students in Hungarian Secondary Schools (1867–1914)
During the decades of Dualism less than half of the Romanian secondary school students in Hungary attended Hungarian language secondary schools. Most of them were children of intellectual families, and most of the Romanian national middle class had learned Hungarian in Hungarian secondary schools. However, many of them were born peasant, and the Hungarian secondary schools could convince many students to enrol who otherwise wouldn’t have pursued higher education with the promise of learning the Hungarian language. This paper examines the questions pertaining to this topic from two perspectives: based on education history sources and on works of the Romanian memoire literature. Besides the self-legitimising, “Hungarianising” rhetoric of education policy, another discriminatory attitude can be identified on the Hungarian side, and it is shown through examples how the two mixed in teacher communication and the internal regulations of the schools. On the other hand, Romanian parents had ambivalent reactions to the possible ideological implications of Hungarian education. The study showcases how Hungarian secondary schools – primarily the state institutions on the non-Hungarian peripheries – attempted to close the gap between Hungarian students and the large number of students who didn’t speak Hungarian, and how educational considerations intersected with the Hungarian state’s goal of self-representation. As a final point the teaching of the Romanian language as a facultative subject in Hungarian secondary schools is also discussed.
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