The Hungarian Constitutional Crisis of 1905-06 and Istvan Tisza

Abstract

The first premiership of Istvan Tisza is a neglected period of Hungarian historiography. Tisza's role in triggering the Constitutional Crisis has often been described as that of a stubborn, tactless politician, or even characterized as a "bull in a china shop." Against the opposition parties which used filibustering as an instrument to enforce the Hungarian command-language in the joint army dominated by German nationals, Tisza stoutly opposed this on three grounds. First of all, he believed that the alliance with Hapsburg-Austria was an indispensable asset for the national security of Hungary. Secondly, there was a possibility of a fatal consequence by delaying the effort for armament-expansion with regards to the territorial ambition of the Balkan states and their potential ally, Russia. Thirdly, Tisza was convinced of the critical importance of parliament as a core of national integration in the Hungarian political system, and feared the harmful effect of filibustering -total loss of prestige of the century-old mechanism. To reach a compromise with the opposition parties, however, Tisza in turn had to abandon his lenient policy toward ethnic minorities. Since the opposition leaders claimed that the tradition of the joint army was virtually German-oriented and strongly affected the rank-and-file of minority soldiers to the disadvantage of Hungarian national unity, the Elementary School Bill of 1904 aimed at strengthening state surveillance over the schools attended by minorities to promote the notorious magyarization policy. Such a change in policy received severe criticism from a part of the minorities. Moreover, as Minister of Interior, Tisza encountered increasing farmer-uprisings in minority areas influenced by socialist ideas, which he had branded as a sworn enemy of the existing social order. He started the relentless oppression of these movements, which created a rift between the government and the opposition especially during the railway strike of April 1904. The difficulties with which the first Tisza ministry had to contend suggests that the Constitutional Crisis resulted from not so much the conflict between the ruling classes of Austria and Hungary, as from the deep-rooted internal crisis within the multi-national Hungarian society. At the same time, these difficulties also bring to light how seriously Tisza's political conception suffered from inner contradictions and how poorly it could compete with reality.