East European Monograph – serie

This volume consists of 20 studies on problems related to "transition to democracy" in central and eastern Europe during the decade following the collapse of communist states. The book focuses on preconditions and problems of transitions, case studies, patterns of performance and consolidation and inter-regional comparative aspects.

This is detailed account of the character and problems of Polish emigres in the United States from the end of the Polish uprising of 1830 to the end of the second Polish uprising of 1863. Stasik presents the activities of the Polish political exiles in the United States over a period of more than thirty years, explaining many of the basic causes of the emigration.

This is the first book in English to comprehensively examine the crucial first five years of Istvan Bethlen's premiership when, following the catastrophe of 1918-1920, he began the reconstruction of the country. Thomas Lorman argues that from 1920 to 1925, Bethlen engaged in a protracted and closely fought struggle to restore political, social, and economic stability. Bethlen achieved his objectives by re-constructing the governing party, which had been employed so effectively by Kalman and Istvan Tisza prior to World War One. Like the Tiszas' model, Bethlen's governing party was designed not to carry through a particular ideological agenda but rather to dominate Hungarian politics, which allowed Bethlen to consolidate the regime and restore stability. This book recognizes Bethlen's pragmatism. Lorman conducts extensive original research in Hungarian state and local archives and uses a methodological approach that examines, in detail, each stage of the political process by which Bethlen carried through the consolidation of the regime's power and the restoration of political stability.

The studies in A Polyethnic Region in East-Central Europe are devoted to the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, examining the altered Hungarian- Slovak relationship from various angles. They analyze the conflicts between Slovak and Hungarian nationalism, the historical stages in the organization of minority selfgovernment, and the system of relations termed the "triadic nexus" by scholars, in which Hungary's attempts at territorial revision and Slovakia's efforts at assimilation often put the Hungarian community in Slovakia in a difficult position.

This study examines the Austrian and Hungarian governments' attempts to stabilize their international, domestic and social conditions and legitimize themselves in the new European order after World War I. Austria and Hungary, as remnant states of the Austro-Hungarian empire and thus vanquished powers were in precarious straits. Conventional wisdom, which focuses on their subsequent descent into fascism, ignores the fact that both states achieved stability by 1922; this book focuses on that achievement.

The land, people, and history of the Balkan Peninsula have often attracted the attention of foreign historians and writers. Yet a lack of research in primary sources and an absence of critical evaluations of Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian histories undermines the credibility of such work. This collection, penned by eminent historians, examines Balkan cultural legacies in a variety of contexts. They combine approaches from history, literature, fine arts, and architecture, and address issues crucial to the cultural identities of the Balkans and Serbia in particular. Topics range from the activities of the Middle Ages to the early disintegration of Yugoslavia. Contributors focus on the question of territory and people and their geographical proximity. They examine commonalities of language, history, and cultural legacies, and revise perceptions of nationalism and ethnicity through an exploration of historical records and the political borders of state sovereignty.