The Rise of Nationalism in Germany and Hungary

1
The Rise of Nationalism in Germany and Hungary

• And Its Effects Upon Their Ethnic and Linguistic
  Minority Populations

Laura Lea SLAV 467, Fall 2006
2
Overview

• Concept of Nationalism
• Its relationship to language
• Rise of Nationalism in Germany
• Policies toward linguistic ethnic minorities
• Rise of Nationalism in Hungary
• Policies toward linguistic ethnic minorities
• Conclusions

3
Nationalism

• Collective national consciousness, often based
  upon
  
• Common cultural heritage
• Common history or memory
• Common descent (or myth of such)
• Common language

(Safran)
4
Nationalism

• 18th century Linguistic Nation
• Concept develops from Enlightenment thought
• 19th century Age of Nationalism
• Linguistic Nation concept is politicized, used
  in creation of nation-states
  

(Safran)
5
Nationalism in Germany

• Pride in origins Romantic Nationalism
• Johann Gottfried Herder
• Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
• Johann Gottlieb Fichte
• Political unity
• 1871 unified German Reich
• Otto von Bismarck

(Dow Verheyen)
6
Nationalism in Germany

• Power consolidation by Otto von Bismarck
• Social and political reforms
• Create sense of national loyalty
• Policies to further German
• language and culture
• Provide political stability
• Reichsfeinde
• Kulturkampf

(Koschnirk and von Specht)
7
Nationalism in Germany

• Germanization
• the enculturation of non-Germans into German
  living, society values and beliefs
  
• Germanization efforts under Bismarck
• Language restrictions
• Appropriation of property

(Best Koschnirk and von Specht)
8
Nationalism in Germany

• Post-World War I
• Treaty of Versailles
• Territory loss growing irredentism
• Ideologically-perverted linguistic scholarship
• Misrepresentation of Darwinism
• Race becomes primary marker of ethnic identity

(Verheyen Dow Scheck)
9
Nationalism in Germany

• Germanization efforts under
  Hitlers Third Reich
  
• Separation of families
• Suitable children removed
  from racially unacceptable
  
• parents
• Ethnic inhabitants of
• occupied territories
  
  

10
Nationalism in Hungary

• Magyar history
• Finno-Ugric nomadic people
• Uralic language
• Carpathian Basin, 9th century AD
• Crossroads of Central Europe, therefore often
  overrun
  
• Region shared with numerous ethnic groups

(Mésáros Medgyes and Miklósy)
11
Nationalism in Hungary

• Habsburg Hungary
• Germanization ?
• Revolution (1848) ?
• Germanization ?
• The Compromise of 1867
• Dual Monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
• Hungarian autonomy within the Habsburg Empire

(Mésáros Seton-Watson Spira)
12
Nationalism in Hungary

• Hungarian government efforts to
• transform the multilingual Hungarian territory
  into a national Magyar state
  
• assure a totally Magyar character to Hungary
• Population demographic problem

(Pâclisanu)
13
Nationalism in Hungary

• Law of Equal Rights of the Nationalities (1868)
• Every citizen a Hungarian
• Official use of other languages recognized
• But Hungarian as official state language
• Seemingly enlightened liberal approach to
  integration, however. . .
  
• Vague, ambiguous provisions
• Neither enforceability nor sanctions

(Seton-Watson Edizioni Europa)
14
Nationalism in Hungary

• Magyarization
• Of minority schools
• Count Apponyis School Law of 1907
• Society for Name Magyarisation (1881)
• 1898 guide
• Name change registration / fees
• Geographical names

(Seton-Watson Pâclisanu Edizioni Europa)
15
Conclusions

• Language as base element of ethnic identity for
  both Germans and Hungarians
  
• Policies toward linguistic and ethnic
  minorities
  
• Germanization
• Unification of German state sense of Aryan
  superiority
  
• Magyarization
• Secure viability of Magyar state, language,
  culture sense of Magyar superiority
  
• Exacerbation of anti-German and anti-Magyar
  sentiments
  
• Disastrous effects upon territory populations
  of both post-World War II
  

16
Bibliography

• Elizabeth Kirkley Best, Aryanization
  Lebensraum, Germanization, Judenrein, Shoah
  Education Project (2003) online available from
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• James R. Dow, Germany, in Handbook of Language
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• Edizioni Europa, Legislation on Fundamental
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• Leonore Koschnirk and Agnete von Specht, The
  Social Dimension Founders and Enemies of the
  Empire, Bismarck Prussia, Germany, and
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  2000) exhibition online available from
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• Július Mésáros, Foreword, in Old Hungary and
  the Coexistence of its Nations, ed. Martin C.
  Styan (Bratislava Kubko Goral, 1997).
  

17
Bibliography

• Zenobius Pâclisanu, The Austro-Hungarian
  Dualism, in Hungarys Struggle to Annihilate its
  National Minorities, Based on Secret Hungarian
  Documents, trans. Dora Kennedy (Miami Beach
  Romanian Historical Studies, 1985).
• William Safran, Nationalism, in Handbook of
  Language and Ethnic Identity, ed. Joshua A.
  Fishman (New York Oxford University Press,
  1999).
• Raffael Scheck, The Bismarckian Empire,
  1871-1890, Germany and Europe, 1871-1945, (Colby
  College, Waterville, Maine cited 16 Sep. 2006)
  lecture notes online available from
  http//www.colby.edu/personal/r/rmscheck/GermanyB1
  .html.
• Robert William Seton-Watson, The Revolution of
  1848, in Racial Problems in Hungary, reprint of
  1908 edition (New York Howard Fertig, 1972).
  
• Thomas Spira, Hungarys Minority Policy Before
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• Dirk Verheyen, The German Question A Cultural,
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