The New Hungarian Quarterly Autumn 1990 [antikvár]

Miklós Szinai The Roots of Democratic Change It was in Hungary and Poland that the radical political changes of the recent past in East Central Europe were initiated. In addition to the influence the Hungarian example had on the whole of East Central Europe, the immediate political assistance rendered by Hungary to East Germany and Rumania (the latter posing the most serious problems within what was once the socialist community) has made Hungary the prime motor of democratic transformation in the entire region. Was the role of Hungary merely the result of improvisations or of a contingent series of actions, or can Hungary's behaviour be attributed to deeper historical causes? Is there an historical explanation for Hungary's pioneering role in triggering off this East Central European metamorphosis which has amazed the whole world? Twenty years ago the Hungarian historian Jenő Szűcs discussed and defined, beginning with the Middle Ages, the position of East Central Europe between the Russian and the German languange areas, the zone of the present changes. I shall first deal with Hungary's history of the past four hundred years in this geographic context. Around 1500 major changes established differences with Western Europe. In 1433 the Turks took Constantinpole; the last great ruler of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus, died in 1490; in 1492 Columbus discovered America; in 1526 the Osmanli forces decisively defeated the Hungarian armies at Mohács. In Italy the Renaissance continued and Western Europe became the scene of accelerated economic, social and cultural development. East Central Europe however, stagnated. The region became the sphere of influence of three Powers: the Ottoman, Habsburg and Czarist Empires. The Kingdom of Hungary became a Habsburg crownland, and the heart of the country and the southern marches became Turkish pashaliks. In time the Turks were pushed back, but up to 1918 East Central Europe as a political notion had ceased to exist. The differences that had arisen between Western and East Central Europe up to the 15th century, differences discussed by Jenő Szűcs, grew in the course of subsequent centuries into structural inequalities. What then made Hungary stand out in this context? In the early 16th century all of Christian Europe, including those Habsburg lands that were under direct threat, left Hungary entirely on her own against the Turks. When judging Hungary's struggle against the Turks, the following factors should be taken into account: (1) By the beginning of the 16th century the Renaissance had taken root in Hungary. Miklós Szinai, a historian, was Senior Archivist at the Hungarian National Archives for seventeen years as well as spending eight years at the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv in Vienna. This article is the abbreviated text of a lecture given at the universities of Graz and Salzburg in January 1990. The Roots of Democratic Change 3