We are delighted to announce that the 22nd volume of Carnival has been published. To consult the full volume, please go to Carnival’s webpage:
Carnival XXII contains three original research papers, which went through a double blind peer review process:
Bertalan Bordás: “Press and Public Pressure in Foreign Affairs: The Case of Political Narratives in Newspapers and their extent to influence British and Austro–Hungarian Foreign Policy decision-making in the Great Eastern Crisis of 1875–1878”.
Abstract: Political journals of the Great Powers and their audience were greatly interested in following the prelude of the Great Eastern Crisis and its climax, the Russo–Turkish War of 1877–1878. Two Empires outside the conflict especially considered Russian defeat a favourable outcome: Austria–Hungary and Britain. Anti-Russian and pro-Turkish sentiments were prominent within the bellicose agitations, that had shaken the domestic and external front of politics in both countries. While the legislative background of the press was vastly different in the two empires, the articles discussing the events of the war show a striking resemblance. Public opinion followed these narratives and manifested on the domestic frontier: by the autumn of 1876, thousands protested on the streets of Budapest, while similarly the followers of Gladstone and the opposing ‘jingoists’ took the streets of London and other cities. Using the theory of Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky (Manufactured Consent), and the conceptual framework of Foreign Policy Analysis, I hypothesise that while the Conservative British political elite could easily frame and amplify ideas by outlets like The Daily Telegraph, Daily News, Pall Mall Gazette, and The Times, Hungarian daily papers (Pesti Napló, Hon, Ellenőr, Egyetértés) could have adopted the oven-ready narrative to express and support their pro-Turkish/anti-Russian standpoint. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to observe the parallels between British and Hungarian political press, the adaptation of news and subsequently the reception by Hungarian newsreaders. Additionally, the paper is centred around the greater issue of public pressure on foreign policy decision-making. The paper aims to examine how the narrative of the British bellicose media was adopted in leading Hungarian newspapers, and how it was received and if it formulated domestic and foreign political frontiers.
Bertalan Bordás is a PhD candidate at the University of Pécs, Interdisciplinary Doctoral School, Europe and the Hungarians in the 18-20th century Doctoral Programme. He worked as an assistant professor at the Department of Modern Age, at the University of Pécs. He is a frequent visitor of the Hungarian National Archives of Budapest, as well as of The National Archives in Kew, UK.
Erzsébet Árvay’s: “Diaspora Engagement and International Relations in the Cold War.”
Abstract: In the last two decades, a growing number of studies attempted to incorporate diasporas and diasporic activities into the literature of International Relations. The need for incorporation arose seemingly in parallel with the increasing body of literature on diasporas, which stems from the proliferation of diaspora policies. This paper aims to add a historical perspective to the discussion by reviewing the diaspora engagement policies of the Hungarian People’s Republic in the context of Soviet bloc states during the Cold War. The study examines the archival sources of Radio Free Europe to explore the state-diaspora relations of Soviet bloc countries in the international system. The paper applies the inductive method of qualitative textual analysis to examine the documentation of Hungarian diaspora policies and analyse them along with the Czechoslovak, Polish and Romanian policies, as they were recorded by the respective units of Radio Free Europe. The study discusses a novel typology of diaspora engagement policies which is the outcome of the software-assisted qualitative analysis of the archival records. The study reflects on the state-diaspora nexus of the Soviet bloc countries and hence contributes to the literature on diaspora policies of authoritarian states.
Erzsébet Árvay is a PhD student of the International and Security Studies doctoral program at Corvinus University of Budapest. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English and American Studies and a Master’s Degree in Modern History. Her research interest primarily focuses on the diaspora engagement policies of the Hungarian state during the Cold War and the memory processes of the Hungarian diaspora, with specific emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches.
Victor Wagner: “Europe as a Pentarchy? Peacekeeping, Balance of Power, and the Congress System as Early Forms of European Integration.”
Abstract: This paper discusses the cooperative potential of the great power system in post-Napoleonic Europe – the Pentarchy – and argues that the predominant policies of peacekeeping and “balance of power” as well as the short period of regular diplomatic congresses after 1815 point towards an early form of European integration. It thereby challenges the prevalent narrative of the process of European unification as a unique development that only began after World War II. The possibilities for and tendencies towards inter-state cooperation and supranational governance within the framework of the Pentarchy are shown by examining three of its successive core characteristics: firstly, a general understanding to avoid bellicose conflicts to keep the peace and ensure political stability during the monarchist restoration; secondly, a highly dynamic balance of power policy to facilitate peacekeeping and to counter hegemonic ambitions of any great power; and thirdly, the institutionalised format of the Congress system to jointly resolve European affairs and balance great power interests during regular meetings. Based on diplomatic documents and treaties as well as the observations of statesmen, politicians and political commentators, the analysis shows how the Pentarchy created spaces for increased cooperation between European states and conservative governments with concurrent interests. Consequently, the paper dismisses the topos of the nineteenth century as the era of the isolated nation-state and argues that the Pentarchy system functioned as a precursor of modern European integration.
Victor Wagner is a historian and communication scholar based in Berlin. After completing a BA in Media and Communication Studies, he enrolled in the international “European History” MA programme at University College Dublin and Humboldt University of Berlin. Working in civic education, historical research and event management, Victor is interested in new formats of science communication, narratives of European integration, the German culture of remembrance, and basically any form of subversity in authoritarian structures.
The full volume can be consulted on the Carnival website.
Charlotte Rottiers and Jeroen Petit, the Editors-in Chief for this volume, want to thank the authors for choosing Carnival to publish their research, as well as Julia Boechat Machado, Barbara Testini and David Kraus, the editorial board for this volume.
International Students of History Association 