Underground Streams
National-Conservatives after World War II in Communist Hungary and Eastern Europe
Published on 30. September 2023
Book
Hardback
366 pages
978-963-386-196-7 (ISBN)
Description
The authors of this edited volume address the hidden attraction that existed between the extremes of left and right, and of internationalism and nationalism under the decades of communist dictatorship in Eastern Europe. One might suppose that under the suppressive regimes based on leftist ideology and internationalism their right-wing opponents would have been defeated and ultimately removed. These essays, on the other hand, recount the itinerary of survival and revival of right-wing thought and activities under communist dictatorship. Resistance and accommodation are explored in the various phases from the Stalinist era to the demise of the Soviet Bloc, with the continuity provided by tacit or concealed right-wing discourses receiving particular consideration. The Eastern European right, both in its conservative and fascist version, centered on nationalism, a legitimizing factor that increased with the downfall of the regimes, and the authors thus accord nationalism special attention.
Two documentary sources for these essays that stand out are files of the security services and the exceptionally rich Oral History Archive compiled by the 1956 Institute in Budapest, Hungary.
Two documentary sources for these essays that stand out are files of the security services and the exceptionally rich Oral History Archive compiled by the 1956 Institute in Budapest, Hungary.
Reviews / Votes
"The 'Underground Streams' research project was carried out by researchers of the former 1956 Institute (Budapest) between 2012 and 2015, aiming to map the Hungarian right-wing tradition after World War II. In 2023, thus eight years after the closure of the project, the main results of the research can be read in English thanks to Central European University Press. According to the key metaphor of the project, even if the political Right had been suppressed after 1945, and especially after the Communist takeover in Hungary, many elements of right-wing political thinking survived as underground streams, only to reemerge after 1989."https://doi.org/10.5325/hungarianstud.51.2.0207 -- Akos Bartha * Hungarian Studies Review *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Budapest
Hungary
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Academic
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
680 gr
ISBN-13
978-963-386-196-7 (9789633861967)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Janos M. Rainer
Underground Streams
National-Conservatives after World War II in Communist Hungary and Eastern Europe
E-Book
09/2023
Central European University Press
€100.99
Available for download
Person
Janos M. Rainer is Historian, Director of the Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution (1999-2011), professor at Eszterhazy Karoly College, Eger.
Content
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations, Acknowledgments,Introduction, Underground Streams: National-Conservatives after World War II in Communist Hungary and Eastern Europe Janos M. Rainer PART I. RIGHT-WING TRADITION AFTER 1945 IN EASTERN EUROPE Chapter 1. The Romanian Ideology: Merging Political Extremes in a National Stalinist Discourse Vladimir Tismaneanu and Bogdan C. Iacob Chapter 2. Absent Traditions: Right-Wing Strands in Slovakian Politics Attila Simon Chapter 3. A Round-Trip through the Czech Lands: The Origins of a Liberal Right Revolution Andras Schweitzer Chapter 4. Conservative Right-Wing Political Thinking in Hungary after 1945 Janos M. Rainer PART II. RIGHT-WING ENEMIES THROUGH THE LENS OF STATE SECURITY Chapter 5. Social Resistance under the Kadar Regime and the Right-Wing Enemies of State Security Krisztian Ungvary Chapter 6. Christian Democrats Under Fire from the Political Police, 1945-1989 Gabor Tabajdi Chapter 7. Petty Arrow Cross Supporters in the Interior Ministry files Andras Lenart and Rudolf Paksa PART III. PERSONAL LIFE PATHS AND STRATEGIES Chapter 8. I Was Brought up the Old Way, I'm a Conservative: A Middle-Class Christian Looks Back on His Life Zsuzsanna K?roesi Chapter 9. A Nationalist of Successive Periods: Miklos Mester (1906-1989) Katalin Somlai Chapter 10. From Right to Left-Or Not? Bela Csikos-Nagy, a Paradigmatical Opportunist of Transition Ivan Miklos Szeg?, Index