BTAN33002BA and BTANL3302BA: HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN
RELATIONS AND CONTACTS
(For BA3 North American track English majors and corresponding students, Spring 2014)
This course is dedicated to my many Hungarian-American friends and the late Rev. Aladár
Komjáthy.
Format: lecture, 2 hours; graded
Place/Time: Lecture Hall II: Mondays 14-16
Tutor: Tibor Glant
Office hours: MON 16-17, TUE 13-14, 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. The lecture notes are available from my website, the readings from the
Library (101).
Additional help: The American Corner in Debrecen hosted a series of lectures (in Hungarian) on
US-Hungarian 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.
WEEK-BY-WEEK DESCRIPTION OF COURSE
Week 1 (FEB 16): 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.
Week 2 (FEB 23): 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 HungarianAmericans; 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.
Week 3 (MAR 02): 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.”
Week 4 (MAR 09): 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.
Week 5 (MAR 16): 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.
Week 6 (MAR 23): 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.
Week 7 (APR 30): Between the Wars: Diplomacy, Immigration, Hungarian Life in the
U. S.
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.
Week 8 (APR 06): Easter Monday, no class
Week 9 (APR 13) Reading week, no class
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Week 10 (April 20) orld 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.
Week 11 (APR 27): 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.
Week 12 (MAY 04): 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.
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