| The historian and socialist Ervin Szabo (1877-1918) was the most original thinker of the "Second Reform Generation", which aimed to transform Hungary into a secular, democratic, multi-national state. The thesis examines the nature and extent of Szabo's influence on the revolutionary upheavals that established the short-lived Hungar- ian Popular Republic and Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1918-1919. A subsidiary purpose is to inquire into why a segment of the largest assimilated Jewish community in Europe turned in this period to radical politics.;As historian Szabo was first to examine the role of the peasantry in the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848-1849, and he questioned whether a bourgeois revolution had occurred. The controversy stirred by his major monograph continues to divide the ranks of Hungarian historiography.;As socialist theorist Szabo belonged to that segment of the Euro- pean Marxist Left of the early 1900's that sought a renewal within the Second International through the advocacy of anarchosyndicalism. Although this syndicalism had very limited appeal in Hungary and led to his virtual ostracism from the Social Democratic Party in 1909, it, along with the intellectual influence of Nietzsche, did aid Szabo in formulating a strategy for revolution that emphasized the subjective elements of history and goals other than the mere seizure of political power. Szabo's analysis of Hungary's backwardness led him to conclude that, prior to socialism, there must take place radical democratic transformation based on expropriation and division among the peasants of the great landed estates. Szabo also stressed the need of the working class to develop cultural hegemony prior to the final overthrow of capitalism. He attributed a special role to heroic individuals, particularly artists and philosophers, who must always beware of subordinating their work to a political party, even the most radical.;Szabo influenced later Hungarian Communists such as Gyorgy Lukacs and continues to influence an important segment of Hungarian Communism. His work also represents an important bridge between the doctrinaire Marxism of the early 1900's and a richer analysis, taking as its basis the totality of human behavior and aspirations, exemplified by the Frankfurt School. |
