Joseph Eötvös and the Modernization of Hungary, 1840–1870 by Paul Body (review)

REVIEWS 115 t•cu de B(•le astheensign oftheirshop inFrance. Healso gives partial estimates ofthe volumeof Basle publications of French-influenced worksandtheirtradein French countries.In Part • Bietenholzdealsin the minutestdetail with the Francophone expatriates intheSwiss city.Hedevotes individual chapters, always fromthepointof viewof printingandculture,tothetravelerspassing by,theFrench-speaking populationenrolledatthe Universityof Basle, themanoeuvering of politicalfigures,and especially toreligious dissidents, since 'themajorityof theFrancophones, whocame tosixteenth centuryBasle hadgivenupahomeintheCatholic territory'(p.88).The authorconcludes thissection bydedicating fourchapters tospecific personalities like S•bastienCastellio,Guillaume Postel,FrancoisBaudoin, and Pierre Ramus.In Part 3 Bietenholz looksat the French-BS_1ois relationship from anotherangle- the 'focal contacts' inFrance.He discusses theenvironment in Paris,Lyons, andBurgundybut alsoincludesa few noteson the French-speaking citiescloserto Basle,suchas Montb•liard.At theendof thebookthereisa short-titlebibliographyof over •ooo titles printed in Basle between •47oand•65o,including thebooks ofFrancophone lawyers, physicians, andscientists, andother material which theauthor 'has notbeen abletoanalyze, eitherbecause of hislackof competence or fromthenecessity of compression' (p. •). The general impression emanating fromallthisdetailisthatofafascinating gallery of bookmerchants, printers,scholars, political figures,andscientists allconnected withanimportant cultural centre 'where conflicting views coexisted, where quarrels and clasheswere abhorred' (p. 37), and where, in contrastto intolerant Geneva, Erasmiantolerationprevailed. Scholarship isatahighlevelthroughout thisworkandsuggestions putforwardby theauthorarecharacterized byasense ofremarkable restraint. The bookisinterestingatalllevels - for thehistoryof printing,theroleof Basleasareligious ceutre,the typeof humanist culturewhichflourished there,fortheideologies of thereligious dissidents attractedto thecity.The onlycriticisms I haveconcernstyle,whichisat timescumbersome, and the enormousamount of detail, which in placesmakes reading difficult andcould have been olnitted without inanywaydetracting fromthe work's scholarship. Inanycase, I amlooking fbrward tothenextvolume onthetopic, which willdealwith'ananalysis ofbooks', and'willbesupplemented byanumber of pi?ce.•ju•tificatives' (p. • •). A. SANTOSUOSSO Universi(¾ qfWestern Ontario Joseph EiStviSs amlthe Moder•tization qfHuriga •y,•84o-•87o.PAUL BODY. Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society, •972.Pp.ii •34,illus. Professor Body's firstbook-length biography ofJoseph vonE6tv6s in theEnglish language fillsan important lacuna in the historiography of nineteenth-century Hungary andof theHabsburg empire altogether. WithCountStephen Sz&henyi, LouisKossuth, andFrancis Deak,E6tv6s formsthegreatquartetofpolitical thinkers whobetween the •83osand•87oswereatthesame timemenofaction. Of these fourmenE6tv6s isprobably thestillleast wellknownoutside ofHungary 116 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW and notwithoutreason- thoughnot necessarily goodreason.He wasnotquitethe pioneerin practical reformsthatSz6chenyi wasandhelackedtherevolutionary dan of Kossuth whosepoliticalwisdommatured,however,onlyafter he ceased beinga manof action.E6tv6swasnotendowedwith thepopularappealof De•k eitherand wasnot quiteequalto him in legalacumenin termsofjudicial and parliamentary proceedings. Yet there seemsto be no questionthat he wasthe deepestpolitical thinker of thesefour men,a politicalscientist in the bestsense of the word. This comes outequally forcefully inhiswritings onproblems oftheHabsburg empire,on Hungarianreformlegislation, andin hisworkasa practical statesman of sincerity, moderation, firmness, andaboveallofconstructive ideas.E6tv6swastheonlyoneof the four who could read the signsof the time and understandthe problemsof HungarybothinrelationtotheHabsburg empireandbynecessity aspartofit.Much ofthisisbrought outveryclearly andwellinDr Body's monograph which, itmaywell beexpected, willbreakthegroundfor new,morecomprehensive research onE6tv6s in English.In thisrespectwe will alwaysremainindebtedto the author for his valuablepioneerstudy. ROBERT A. KANN Rutgers University WarandSociety i• the Nineteenth Century Russian Empire. Editedbyj.c..PtSRVES andD.^. WES•r. Toronto,NewReview Press, •972. PP.•92.$7.5ø paper. The manyimplications thatwarfarehasfor society areobvious enough,butthefact thatsociety in turn hasanenormous impactonthenatureandconduct of warisall toooftenignored.Existing publicandofficialopinion,thenationaleconomy, ideologyandattitudes , transportation andgovernment institutions allhelpdeterminethe characterof warand, often,itsoutcome.War isonlypartlya matterof strategy, of generalpittedagainst general,politician against politician, soldieragainst soldier; it isalsoawidestrataof inherentstrengths andweaknesses of onesociety pittedagainst another.In an attemptto demonstrate thisin thecase of Russia, andat theriskof arguingthatit was,afterall,thechicken thatcamebeforetheegg,theeditors of this volumemakea strongcase totheeffectthatit issociety thatshapes war. The collectionisa uniqueone in that itscontributorswereall participants in a seminarcourseentitled'War and Society in •9th CenturyRussia,' whichhasbeen conducted for thelastfewyears atMcGillUniversity byProfessor MilosMladenovic. The fifteen essays coversuchencompassing topicsas military technology (J.G. Purves), religionandthearmy(H. Fil'),matters of foreignpolicy andtheeconomic milieuof war (A. PidhainyandJ. Desmarais), theinter-relationof the stateand the military(D.A. West).Ideological interpretations ofwarandsociety arethefocalpoint of several essays, amongthempointsof viewfrom Russian Slavophiles (O. Smal), revolutionaries (D. Fattal),and militarytheoreticians (P. Spilberg).There are also studies on theregionalaspects of war in the Russian empire,with specific attention giventotheUkraine(R.Serbyn),Finland(E.W. Laine),theBalkans (A.L. Smith),the Baltic (J.Knoppers), andHungary(P.Hidas).TheCrimean Warholds aspecial place in thecollection, andisdealtwithin severalstudies, themostimportantof whichare ...