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Mission to Survive: Hungarian Historian Gyula Szekfü as Agent and Diplomat

Publication Date
2012-10-01
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Keywords
Gyula Szekfű, Hungarian historiography, Hungarian diplomacy, British intelligence, Soviet–Hungarian relations, Second World War
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(c) 2012 The Author. Full-text reproduced with author's permission.
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Yes
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openAccess
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Social Sciences Publications
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batonyi_2012
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Abstract
This study assesses the wartime intelligence activities of the leading Hungarian historian Gyula Szekfű, and the controversial diplomatic role he played in Moscow after the Second World War. It is argued that the scholar-turned-diplomat nurtured the forlorn hope of mitigating the impact of military defeat by securing Soviet benevolence towards Hungary. Szekfű’s deep anxiety for his country, inextricably entwined with his own existential fears and a powerful motive of self-preservation, contributed to his complete political metamorphosis. Instead of justifying or condemning his inconsistencies and moral choices, this article traces the elements of continuity in his thinking and in Hungarian foreign policy.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10454/19960
Version
Published version
Citation
Bátonyi G (2012) Mission to Survive: Hungarian Historian Gyula Szekfü as Agent and Diplomat. Slavonic and East European Review. 90(4): 705-734.
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https://doi.org/10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.90.4.0705
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Article
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