Oszkár Jászi
Encyclopedia
Oszkár Jászi known in English as Oscar Jászi, was a Hungarian
social scientist
, historian
, and politician
and founder of the Grand Orient rhyte Freemason Lodge of Budapest: the Martinovics Lodge
around the same time.
Oscar's mother, Roza Liebermann (1853–1931), was the widowed doctor's second wife. Oscar attended "the local Piarist grammar school — the same establishment attended by Endre Ady
, two years younger and later to become the supreme poet of their generation (though the two became friends, this dated from their adult years)." Having done very well academically, he graduated a year early at seventeen, in 1892, and studied political science at the University of Budapest
under Ágost Pulszky; he was also strongly influenced by Gyula Pikler, though he would later reject the latter's "doctrinaire, anti-historical positivism." At this point he admired figures like József Eötvös
and Pál Gyulai, thus aligning himself with "the principled European strand of Hungarian liberalism that stood against clericalism and the blustering nationalism of those who sought independence from Austria." He was awarded his diploma as Doctor of Political Science on July 2, 1896.
Jászi then entered the Department of Economics in the Ministry of Agriculture as a drafting clerk, remaining there for a decade; he received little pay at first but had a great deal of free time. He studied Hungary's agricultural policies and realized the "rigid and ruthless class character" of the country's administration. As a civil servant, he was not permitted to write on political subjects, so his articles began appearing under the name "Oszkár Elemér." In the summer of 1899, he and a number of his friends began planning a new periodical which would present social issues in a more down-to-earth way than in scholarly journals; it was named Huszadik Század (Twentieth Century), and began publication in January 1900. Jászi was the intellectual driving force; "it was he who, with the occasional tough, combative article, declared war on scientific narrow-mindedness and political 'reactionism.'" A year later, in January 1901, Jászi and his friends founded the Sociological Society, which immediately became a venue for sharp debates.
with the aim of embarking on a university career. But soon politics took over, and he focused on trying to establish a socialist party that would at the same time appeal to Hungarian nationalism. He left for Paris
in January 1905 and became acquainted with French academic and political life; he later wrote that the six months he spent there "shook me to the very core of my being and became the big thrill of my life." While there, he wrote an article called "The Sociological Method — Two Opinions" in which he supported the approach of Émile Durkheim
. He wrote another attacking Marx as "the great fetish of socialism," which alienated some of his more radical friends. He returned feeling that Hungarians were "just tardy, pale echoes of the great Western efforts, with no intellectual trend emerging from Hungarian soil to have a substantial impact on world civilization."
He returned to Hungary in the midst of a constitutional crisis. The Liberal Party of István Tisza
, which had been the governing party for three decades, had lost the February elections, and the emperor-king Franz Josef
refused to invite the opposition groups to form a government; instead, he appointed Field Marshal Baron Géza Fejérváry
as prime minister, and the opposition called for national resistance. In August, Jászi and some of his friends founded a League for Universal Suffrage by Secret Ballot; this marked the beginning of his political career. The following January, he wrote that "the constitution of today no longer corresponds to the Hungary that half a century of its economic and cultural labors have created ... the key to the situation is in the hands of Hungarian organized labor"; in June 1906, he resigned from his position at the Ministry.
In 1908 Jászi and his friends "became associated with Freemasonry
, with Jaszi the head of a separate lodge; and this connection was the prime reason why in Hungary Freemasonry was linked with progressive change. In 1910 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Kolozsvár, where he continued to refine and propagate his political opinions; in the words of Hugh Seton-Watson
, "Jászi hoped that, if only the degenerate political class could be removed from power, land be distributed to the peasants, and the vote be given to all citizens, a new Hungary could arise in which one Magyar culture could coexist with many languages."
On June 6, 1914, Jászi united a number of progressive groups into the Országos Polgári Radikális Párt (National Civic Radical Party), which called for a universal suffrage, radical land reform, an autonomous customs area, and state control of education. Within six weeks World War I
broke out; "the new party supported the pacifist movement and called for the founding of a federation of states for the whole of Europe, a kind of forerunner of the League of Nations
."
of 1918, Jászi entered the Károlyi
government as Minister of Nationalities; he "planned to induce the leaders of the various peoples, mainly the Romanians, Slovaks, and Ruthenians, to keep their people within the borders of Hungary by offering them maximum autonomy," but the attempt failed.
Jászi resigned from the Károlyi government in December 1918, believing that no serious progress in the nationalities question would be possible owing to the arbitrary partitioning of Hungary by the victorious Entente
powers. "I hoped that release from the burdens of office and from the obligations of cabinet solidarity would enable me to put forward my views more energetically," Jászi later recalled in his memoirs. Jászi hoped for the establishment of a Danube Confederation of nationalities patterned on the Swiss
model.
On March 21, 1919, the liberal-democratic
Károlyi government was replaced by a new Soviet-influence regime headed by Béla Kun
and the second phase of the Hungarian revolution was begun.
Jászi later recalled that he advised the members of the Radical Party, dissolved in the aftermath of the Communist revolution, that "they should accept neither political or moral responsibility for the Communist regime, but should on no account attempt to copy the sabotage
of the Russian intelligentsia; leaving politics aside, they should bend their minds to assisting the new system in the administrative and economic fields."
Jászi emigrated from Hungary on May 1, 1919. In his published memoir of the 1918-19 revolution, Jászi cited his inability to tolerate "the complete denial of freedom of thought and conscience" which characterized the Red
regime as well as his expectation of the regime's imminent collapse and its succession by a violent counter-revolutionary regime as reasons for his departure.
, where he settled down to a career as a history professor and wrote a series of books, the best known of which is The Dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy, first published by the University of Chicago Press in 1929.
Oscar Jászi died in Oberlin, Ohio
on February 13, 1957.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
social scientist
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and founder of the Grand Orient rhyte Freemason Lodge of Budapest: the Martinovics Lodge
Early years
Oscar Jászi was born in Nagykároly on March 2, 1875. His hometown was, as he put it in his unfinished memoirs, "the county seat of Szatmar, the center of a rich agricultural area, it was a major factor in Hungary's economic, municipal and political life." His father, Ferenc Jászi (1838–1910), was a family physician and (in his son's words) "an honorable, humane freethinker" who had had his family name changed from Jakubovits in 1881, a "typical symptom of the very strong and seemingly unqualified drive for assimilation that he and many Jewish contemporaries displayed around that time... This was the family climate that gave rise in the then six-year-old Oscar to a self-image whereby for a long time thereafter he was simply unwilling to acknowledge his Jewish origins." The family also converted to CalvinismCalvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
around the same time.
Oscar's mother, Roza Liebermann (1853–1931), was the widowed doctor's second wife. Oscar attended "the local Piarist grammar school — the same establishment attended by Endre Ady
Endre Ady
Endre Ady was a Hungarian poet.-Biography:Ady was born in Érmindszent, Szilágy county . He belonged to an impoverished Calvinist noble family...
, two years younger and later to become the supreme poet of their generation (though the two became friends, this dated from their adult years)." Having done very well academically, he graduated a year early at seventeen, in 1892, and studied political science at the University of Budapest
University of Budapest
The Eötvös Loránd University or ELTE, founded in 1635, is the largest university in Hungary, located in Budapest.-History:The university was founded in 1635 in Nagyszombat by the archbishop and theologian Péter Pázmány. Leadership was given over to the Jesuits...
under Ágost Pulszky; he was also strongly influenced by Gyula Pikler, though he would later reject the latter's "doctrinaire, anti-historical positivism." At this point he admired figures like József Eötvös
József Eötvös
József baron Eötvös de Vásárosnamény was a Hungarian writer and statesman, the son of Ignacz baron Eötvös de Vásárosnamény and Anna von Lilien, who stemmed from an Erbsälzer family of Werl in Germany....
and Pál Gyulai, thus aligning himself with "the principled European strand of Hungarian liberalism that stood against clericalism and the blustering nationalism of those who sought independence from Austria." He was awarded his diploma as Doctor of Political Science on July 2, 1896.
Jászi then entered the Department of Economics in the Ministry of Agriculture as a drafting clerk, remaining there for a decade; he received little pay at first but had a great deal of free time. He studied Hungary's agricultural policies and realized the "rigid and ruthless class character" of the country's administration. As a civil servant, he was not permitted to write on political subjects, so his articles began appearing under the name "Oszkár Elemér." In the summer of 1899, he and a number of his friends began planning a new periodical which would present social issues in a more down-to-earth way than in scholarly journals; it was named Huszadik Század (Twentieth Century), and began publication in January 1900. Jászi was the intellectual driving force; "it was he who, with the occasional tough, combative article, declared war on scientific narrow-mindedness and political 'reactionism.'" A year later, in January 1901, Jászi and his friends founded the Sociological Society, which immediately became a venue for sharp debates.
Political career
At the beginning of 1904 his book Art and Morality appeared, and Jászi hoped to begin qualifying as a PrivatdozentPrivatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
with the aim of embarking on a university career. But soon politics took over, and he focused on trying to establish a socialist party that would at the same time appeal to Hungarian nationalism. He left for Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in January 1905 and became acquainted with French academic and political life; he later wrote that the six months he spent there "shook me to the very core of my being and became the big thrill of my life." While there, he wrote an article called "The Sociological Method — Two Opinions" in which he supported the approach of Émile Durkheim
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.Much of Durkheim's work was concerned with how societies could maintain...
. He wrote another attacking Marx as "the great fetish of socialism," which alienated some of his more radical friends. He returned feeling that Hungarians were "just tardy, pale echoes of the great Western efforts, with no intellectual trend emerging from Hungarian soil to have a substantial impact on world civilization."
He returned to Hungary in the midst of a constitutional crisis. The Liberal Party of István Tisza
István Tisza
Count István Tisza de Borosjenő et Szeged was a Hungarian politician, prime minister, and member of Hungarian Academy of Sciences....
, which had been the governing party for three decades, had lost the February elections, and the emperor-king Franz Josef
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
refused to invite the opposition groups to form a government; instead, he appointed Field Marshal Baron Géza Fejérváry
Géza Fejérváry
----Géza Baron Fejérváry de Komlós-Keresztes was a Hungarian general who served as the prime minister in a government of bureaucrats appointed by King Franz Joseph during the Hungarian Constitutional Crisis of 1903–1907....
as prime minister, and the opposition called for national resistance. In August, Jászi and some of his friends founded a League for Universal Suffrage by Secret Ballot; this marked the beginning of his political career. The following January, he wrote that "the constitution of today no longer corresponds to the Hungary that half a century of its economic and cultural labors have created ... the key to the situation is in the hands of Hungarian organized labor"; in June 1906, he resigned from his position at the Ministry.
In 1908 Jászi and his friends "became associated with Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, with Jaszi the head of a separate lodge; and this connection was the prime reason why in Hungary Freemasonry was linked with progressive change. In 1910 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Kolozsvár, where he continued to refine and propagate his political opinions; in the words of Hugh Seton-Watson
Hugh Seton-Watson
George Hugh Nicholas Seton-Watson , was a British historian and political scientist specializing in Russia.-Early life:...
, "Jászi hoped that, if only the degenerate political class could be removed from power, land be distributed to the peasants, and the vote be given to all citizens, a new Hungary could arise in which one Magyar culture could coexist with many languages."
On June 6, 1914, Jászi united a number of progressive groups into the Országos Polgári Radikális Párt (National Civic Radical Party), which called for a universal suffrage, radical land reform, an autonomous customs area, and state control of education. Within six weeks World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out; "the new party supported the pacifist movement and called for the founding of a federation of states for the whole of Europe, a kind of forerunner of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
."
Activity in the 1918 Revolution
In the October RevolutionAster Revolution
The Aster Revolution or Chrysanthemum Revolution was a revolution in Hungary led by leftist liberal count Mihály Károlyi, who founded the Hungarian Democratic Republic....
of 1918, Jászi entered the Károlyi
Mihály Károlyi
Count Mihály Ádám György Miklós Károlyi de Nagykároly was briefly Hungary's leader in 1918-19 during a short-lived democracy...
government as Minister of Nationalities; he "planned to induce the leaders of the various peoples, mainly the Romanians, Slovaks, and Ruthenians, to keep their people within the borders of Hungary by offering them maximum autonomy," but the attempt failed.
Jászi resigned from the Károlyi government in December 1918, believing that no serious progress in the nationalities question would be possible owing to the arbitrary partitioning of Hungary by the victorious Entente
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
powers. "I hoped that release from the burdens of office and from the obligations of cabinet solidarity would enable me to put forward my views more energetically," Jászi later recalled in his memoirs. Jászi hoped for the establishment of a Danube Confederation of nationalities patterned on the Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
model.
On March 21, 1919, the liberal-democratic
Liberal democracy
Liberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
Károlyi government was replaced by a new Soviet-influence regime headed by Béla Kun
Béla Kun
Béla Kun , born Béla Kohn, was a Hungarian Communist politician and a Bolshevik Revolutionary who led the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919.- Early life :...
and the second phase of the Hungarian revolution was begun.
Jászi later recalled that he advised the members of the Radical Party, dissolved in the aftermath of the Communist revolution, that "they should accept neither political or moral responsibility for the Communist regime, but should on no account attempt to copy the sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
of the Russian intelligentsia; leaving politics aside, they should bend their minds to assisting the new system in the administrative and economic fields."
Jászi emigrated from Hungary on May 1, 1919. In his published memoir of the 1918-19 revolution, Jászi cited his inability to tolerate "the complete denial of freedom of thought and conscience" which characterized the Red
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
regime as well as his expectation of the regime's imminent collapse and its succession by a violent counter-revolutionary regime as reasons for his departure.
American years
He came to the United States in 1925 and joined the faculty of Oberlin CollegeOberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, where he settled down to a career as a history professor and wrote a series of books, the best known of which is The Dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy, first published by the University of Chicago Press in 1929.
Oscar Jászi died in Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, to the south and west of Cleveland. Oberlin is perhaps best known for being the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students...
on February 13, 1957.
Books
- Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Hungary. London: P.S. King & Son, 1924.
- The Dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929.
- Proposed Roads to Peace. New York: The Abingdon Press, 1932.
- Against the Tyrant: The Tradition and Theory of Tyrannicide. With John D. Lewis. Chicago: Free Press, 1957.
- Homage to Danubia. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995.
Articles
- "Dismembered Hungary and Peace in Central Europe," Foreign Affairs, vol. 2, no. 2 (Dec. 15, 1923), pp. 270–281.
- "How a New Lourdes Arises," The Slavonic Review, vol. 4, no. 11 (December 1925), pp. 334–346.
- "Kossuth and the Treaty of Trianon," Foreign Affairs, vol. 12, no. 1 (October 1933), pp. 86–97.
- "Neglected Aspects of the Danubian Drama," The Slavonic and East European Review, vol. 14, no. 40 (July 1935), pp. 53–67.
- "Feudal Agrarianism in Hungary," Foreign Affairs, vol. 16, no. 4 (July 1938), pp. 714–718.
- "Political Refugees," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 203 (May 1939), pp. 83–93.
- "The Stream of Political Murder," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 3, no. 3 (April 1944), pp. 335–355.
- "The Choices in Hungary," Foreign Affairs, vol. 24, no. 3 (April 1946), pp. 453–465.
- "Danubia: Old and New," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 93, no. 1 (Apr. 18, 1949), pp. 1–31.