Tanulmányok
The Shift in English National Sentiment in 1673: The Preconditions of the Glorious Revolution
For almost three hundred years, the Glorious Revolution was seen as a quintessentially English event. The causes of the Revolution, however, cannot be confined to England and the short reign of James II (1685–1688). The remote causes of the Glorious Revolution can only be understood within the context of European events, which should be traced back to the second half of the 1660s. The study explores the causes and consequences of the third Anglo-Dutch war (1672–1674), which was of crucial importance in this respect.
In the later 1660s English public opinion – which was probably even more developed than the German sociologist, Jürgen Habermas had assumed – was deeply divided in its understanding of European politics. Supporters of the restored monarchy thought that the republican United Provinces presented the main threat to England, while the monarchy.s critics tended to identify absolutist France as the chief enemy. Shortly after the outbreak of the third Anglo–Dutch war, English popular sentiment decisively shifted from being anti-Dutch to anti-French. The small United Provinces almost collapsed as a result of the French land offensive of 1672. This not only made claims that the Dutch posed the main danger to England appear ridiculous, but also gave rise to a revolution in the United Provinces: the republican regime was overthrown in favour of the pro-Stuart William of Orange. These developments and the failure of the French navy to support the English fleet convinced the majority of the English that the French presented the main threat to their country. From 1673 onwards, there was growing fear of Catholicism, absolutism and French ambitions and this was only intensified by the obvious Catholicism of James, duke of York, as well as his marriage to the Catholic Mary of Modena, which had been arranged by Louis XIV. Without this strong fear of French-style Catholic absolutism the Glorious Revolution would have been impossible.
Civilization and Stability: The Ideas of David Hume and James Madison on the Republic and Factions
Relying on Hume's pertaining essays and Madison's Tenth and Fifty-First Federalist, this essay investigates links between their views of factions in the republic. Both thinkers emphasized the link between the size of the republic and the number of parties as well as their susceptibility to tyrannical (majority) rule. Yet, as far as details of that connection are concerned, the results of previous research call for reconsideration. I contend that, in the first place, it is Hume.s association of factions with a regressive state in the process of civilization that Madison adopts, linking the rule of selfish factions with a less-developed, pre-social state. In the second place, Madison makes federalism the lynchpin of his system, in fact claiming to combine features of small and large republics when it comes to representation. Hume also regards his own system of the ideal republic as one based on such combination.
Finally, I contend that moderation, a fundamental Humean principle, also informs Madison's argument about controlling factions on the national level, namely by means of the wise magistrates. capability of tempering public opinion. Thus Madison does not simply rely on the counterbalancing of passionate factions but also appeals to Humean self-control, a supposed result of the education of the political public.
"…Vice Leaning on the Arm of Crime…" Chateaubriand in Saint-Denis
On the night of 6th of July 1815 in Saint-Denis one of the greatest French writers, Chateaubriand, watched helplessly as two of the most ill-famed ex-ministers of Napoleon, Talleyrand and Fouché entered before him the room of the new king, Louis XVIII. Later he stigmatized them in his memoires as „vice leaning on the arm of crime." In this study the author examines the time and place of this famous scene. Why was Chateaubriand oddly frustrated in those days and especially in that moment when he set eyes on these personalities? What were their relationships in the years of the first French Empire? What was Saint-Denis in the eyes of the writer in 1815? Whom did Chateaubriand remember when he tried to enter the room of the king? And last but not least: why was his phrase quoted again and again in the last two centuries by so many historians, politicians and writers? These are the questions the author attempts to answer in this study.
The Texas War of Independence in the Local Press
The purpose of this study is to examine the formation of Anglo-American identity in the Texas Republic with the help of a special primary source, the press. The focus of research has been on the Telegraph and Texas Register, which was the second permanent newspaper in Texas. The first issue was published on October 10, 1835, just nine days after the first shot of the Texas Revolution, which led to the declaration of independence from Mexico and the establishment of a separate state. The editors of the Telegraph and Texas Register brought no practical printing experience to the enterprise. The newspaper survived thanks to the persistence of its publishers. They were witnesses to the changes throughout the years of the Texas Republic and after. The paper was a faithful mirror of the events, the thoughts, and the attitudes of people. At the same time, it was also an influential molder of public opinion. The Telegraph has become an essential source to the understanding of the early history of American Texas and the construction of the identity of the people who lived in it. It reflects the most important elements of self-definition. It provides information about the American settlers. motives, expectations, and hopes during the transitional period.
"Friends of a Long Oppressed Race": Hungarian Soldiers in the Colored Regiments in the American Civil War
Although the history of the Kossuth Emigration, the first sizeable wave of Hungarian ex-patriates arriving in the United States in the 1850s, has been largely ignored by historians, the Hungarians. participation in the American Civil War is one the most written-about chapters of Hungarian-American historical links and contacts. However, most of the works scrutinizing this subject are riddled with errors, either because their writers. intended purpose was self-justification for the Hungarian-American community or simply due to their inadequate methodology. Recent research proved that many of the earlier claims have to be revised, including the Hungarians. approach towards the institution of slavery. In the first part of my study, I investigated how the Kossuth emigrés perceived the "peculiar institution", and analyzed what motivated some Hungarian soldiers to apply for commissions in the United States Colored Troops and serve along with African-Americans. The second part of my paper is devoted to the brief biographical list of these officers with special emphasis laid on their service in the colored regiments, and how they related to the men under their command.
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