In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

3 The Last Year of European Peace The last year of European peace, 1938, was a year of turmoil for the Hungarians, ranging from panic over the German Anschluss (annexation) of Austria and pride in hosting the International Eucharistic Congress to jubilation with the recovery of part of northern Hungary, the Felvidék. On March 12–13 Hitler’s troops marched into Austria, incorporating the country into the German Reich. The rapid takeover, accompanied by cheering Austrian crowds, shocked the Hungarian public. The Anschluss brought the territory of the German Reich to the western border of Hungary , completing the encirclement formed by the Little Entente countries, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia. Many feared the Germans would keep marching right on into Budapest and panic broke out with an announcement that interrupted the Hungarian Radio Program I— German troops were at the Hegyeshalom border. The government ordered a block on news and banned assemblies.1 The Anschluss gave a tremendous surge to the extreme-right movements , which had been gaining power since the collapse of the reformist March Front. The messianic leader of the Hungarian National Socialist party, known as the Arrow Cross Party, was making great strides in uniting the many fragmented extreme-right parties. The Arrow Cross Party had already declared 1938 to be ‘‘our year,’’ the year when their leader, Ferenc Szálasi, would take over power as dictator. The domestic political situation became so tense that the regent found it necessary to calm the public, addressing the nation for the first time by radio in a speech reminiscent of Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats. Horthy, who had become something of a father figure, reassured his people that order prevailed, and that Hungary experienced no danger from the newly established HungarianGerman common border, stating that ‘‘. . . the union of Austria with Germany means nothing else than the union of an old and good friend of ours, whom the peace treaties had involved in an impossible position, with another old and good friend and companion-in-arms of ours.’’2 The Last Year of European Peace | 65 The XXXIV International Eucharistic Congress Despite international tensions the Catholic Church held its International Eucharistic Congress as planned in May 1938. The event had been scheduled to mark the celebration of the nine hundredth anniversary of the death of St. Stephen, the founder of the state and symbol of the former Kingdom of Hungary.3 Only after years of negotiations had Archbishop Jusztinián Serédi been able to secure the right to organize the congress. He had gained the support of the head of the Permanent Committee of the International Eucharistic Congress, Bishop Heylen of Namur, Belgium , and on November 17, 1936, in Paris the Permanent Committee supported the request unanimously. In Hungary, Catholic newspapers held back the news until after Regent Horthy’s visit to Italy, where he was received in a private audience with Pope Pius XI, whose approval raised the congress to a matter of international import. The choice of Budapest for the celebration was not only a matter of pride for Hungarian Catholics but brought the international recognition, which had been denied Hungary for almost twenty years.4 The pageantry of the XXXIV International Eucharistic Congress was perhaps the most magnificent celebration of Hungarian Catholicism in the twentieth century, crowned by the participation of Bishop Eugenio Pacelli, the Vatican state secretary, soon to become Pope Pius XII.5 As he stepped off the train at Budapest’s East Railroad Station on May 23, the papal legate was greeted by the regent, dignified in the uniform of an Austro-Hungarian Admiral. Hungary’s highest state and ecclesiastical dignitaries looked on as Pacelli and Horthy greeted each other warmly with a prolonged handshake, renewing their acquaintance made on the regent ’s visit to Italy in November 1936. On that visit, his first official state visit after sixteen years in office, Horthy had been received with a ‘‘pomp that far exceeded what would be expected’’ for a Hungarian head of state.6 Present on the reception platform were Archbishop Jusztinián Serédi, main organizer of the congress, the newly appointed Prime Minister Béla Imrédy, the presidents of both houses of Parliament, Count Bertalan Szécheny of the upper house and Gyula Kornis of the lower house, Minister of Culture Count Pál Teleki, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kálmán Kánya, and other members of the cabinet, along with other state and church officials...

Share