BTAN33002BA and BTANL3302BA: HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN
RELATIONS AND CONTACTS
(For BA3 North American track English majors and corresponding students, Spring 2012)
This course is dedicated to my many Hungarian-American friends and the late Rev. Aladár
Komjáthy. Please note that we celebrated the 90th anniversary of establishing official
diplomatic relations between the US and Hungary in Spring 2012.
Format: lecture, 2 hours; graded
Place/Time: Lecture Hall II: Mondays 14-16 AND Studio 111: Tuesdays 8-10
Tutor: Tibor Glant
Office hours: Mondays 16.30-17.30; Fridays 9-10, and by appointment (120/2; ext. 22507; or
tglant@unideb.hu ) website: http://ieas.unideb.hu/glant
DESCRIPTION OF COURSE
This lecture course offers insights into an often neglected aspect of both American and Hungarian
history: the various links and ties between the two countries. The study of cultural, political, and
economic contacts will be supplemented with a detailed look at Americans of Hungarian descent. We
will examine the evolution of the American image of Hungary and the Hungarian image of America
through primary and secondary sources, and make an attempt to strike a balance between images and
reality.
GRADING
The course ends in a written exam. It will make up 100% of the final grade. A=91-100; B=81-90;
C=71-80; D=61-70; F is 60 or below. The exam will include a text recognition intro, anyone failing to
identify all the texts by author and title will automatically fail. Additional credit can be obtained by
attending various US-Hungarian relations events in the American Corner by writing 300-350-word
summaries of the various events, at 5 credit points per paper. These events will be announced in class.
READINGS AND OTHER COURSE MATERIALS
Required readings are listed in the lecture notes, with some additional recommended readings thrown in.
Some of these materials are available electronically, others only in print form. We will be watching
various videos in class; these are also part of the required materials. Lecture notes are posted on my
website.
Additional help: The American Corner in Debrecen hosted a series of lectures (in Hungarian) on USHungarian relations in the spring of 2010. These lectures are not compulsory but are highly
recommended, and are available from youtube and the Instutite Library as well as in the American
Corner. These lectures supplement, but do not substitute for the class.
NOTES FOR THE SPRING 2013 SEMESTER
I will be away on official business from April 3rd through early May. The course will be taught
twice a week in the official slot (Lecture Hall II: Mondays 14-16) and in the Introduction to
Canadian Studies slot (Studio 111: Tuesdays 8-10) for 11 classes (February 11 to March 18).
There will be at least one exam in March. All exam dates will be agreed upon in the first class.
WEEK-BY-WEEK DESCRIPTION OF COURSE
Class 1 (FEB 11: Lecture Hall II, 2-4): Orientation + The Last Hungarian on Buckeye
General discussion of course goals and requirements; video. Please note that we will start the course
on week 1, and the video presented here will be part of the exam.
Class 2 (FEB 12: Studio 111, 8-10): General Trends in US Immigration + Historians of the
Hungarian-American Past + Early Contacts
Review of the lecture on immigration from the Intro to AmStud lecture; key terms used in upcoming
classes; mutual images and stereotypes of Americans, Hungarians, and Hungarian-Americans; A brief
survey of the historians of American-Hungarian relations. Early contacts between the two peoples:
Tyrker, Stephen Parmenius of Buda, Captain John Smith, etc.
Class 3 (FEB 18: Lecture Hall II, 2-4): 19th-century contacts: Hungarian travelers, Kossuth and
America, the Kossuth emigration
Hungarian travelers in the US: Bölöni-Farkas, Haraszthy, Xántus, etc. Kossuth’s life and career. His
first contact with Americans: the first diplomatic interlude between the two countries: Stiles, Mann,
and Damburghy. Kossuth’s American visit, 1851-52. Goals, expectations, achievements. The real
significance of his US visit. The “Kossuth emigration.”
Class 4 (FEB 19: Studio 111, 8-10): The Turn of the Century: the New Immigration and
Personal Contacts
The causes and ethnic composition of emigration from Hungary, the trip, target areas in the United
States, and the reception of the immigrants. Life in America: lodging, work, entertainment, religion,
press, organizations. Hunglish. Personal contacts: Apponyi, TR, Marcus Braun. American and
Hungarian government responses Images: Woodrow Wilson, Hungary, and the Hungarians.
Class 5 (FEBR 25: Lecture Hall II, 2-4): World War I
US-Austro-Hungarian relations, the life and problems of the Hungarians in America (“the crisis of
split loyalties”), the changing image of Hungary, and American plans for and achievements at the
Paris Peace Conference.
Class 6 (FEBR 26: Studio 111, 8-10): The Peace Treaty of Trianon and Revisionism
The US and Hungary in 1919-21: war in the Carpathian basin, the two revolutions and the
counterrevolution in Hungary, the separate peace treaty signed in August 1921; the US in Hungarian
revisionist expectations; case studies: Teleki, Justice for Hungary, Kossuth pilgrimage.
Class 7 (MARCH 04: Lecture Hall II, 2-4): Between the Wars: Diplomacy, Immigration,
Hungarian Life in the United States
New developments in American-Hungarian relations: full diplomatic relations established; economic,
cultural, and political contacts. Major changes in the life of the Hungarians in America. Immigration
restriction: the Reed-Johnson Act of 1924. Above the quota admissions: Jászi, etc.
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Class 8 (MARCH 05: Studio 111, 8-10): World War II
Jewish refugees in America, Hungarians in the Manhattan Project, Bartók. Hungrians in America:
attempts to raise support for a democratic and independent Hungary. Wartime dilemmas and
diplomacy. The Big Three and the future of Hungary. FDR, the four policemen, and Otto von
Habsburg. Soviet “liber-occupation” and the second Trianon Treaty.
Class 9 (MARCH 11: Lecture Hall II, 2-4): Postwar Trends in Immigration
The three major waves of Hungarian immigration: the 45ers, the 47ers, and the 56ers. Their social and
political background. Hungarian life in America during the cold war.
Class 10 (MARCH 12: Studio 111, 8-10): US-Hungarian Diplomatic Relations during the Cold
War
Summation of US-Hungarian relations during the cold war. The four major periods discussed include
transition, hostility, normalization, and Hungary leaving the Soviet zone.
Class 11 (MARCH 18: Lecture Hall II, 2-4): 1956 and 1978
The two formative events in US-Hungarian relations during the cold war. 1956: relations hit rock
bottom, revolution, counterrevolution, or war of independence. The position and responsibility of the
US. 1978: the highest point of normalization: the return of the Holy Crown of Hungary and the MFN
agreement.
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