The Green Shirts and the Others: A History of Fascism in Hungary and Romania

Rating:
Summary: a superb historical tale
Review: This is a wonderful book, continuing the tradition of very high quality output from the Center for Romanian Studies. It tells the story, in great and fascinating detail, of the rise of fascism and official anti-semitism in Hungary and Romania between the World Wars. It is a story of the consequences of Versailles -- Hungary got a much worse deal there than the much better known raw deal received by Germany -- of the consequences of different paths of economic development -- both Hungary and Romania suffered from their different histories of economic stratification and (especially in Romania) rural underdevelopment -- and of the consequences of the actions of important individuals -- Admiral Horthy in Hungary, King Carol and Marshall Antonescu in Romania, and the various leaders of fascist movements in both countries.
In each country the story is told slowly and carefully from the time of the Treaty of Versailles (though with plenty of pre-Versailles context) through the onset of economic depression to the end of World War II and beyond. Beleaguered governments, some cynical and some less so, try to navigate between politically powerful landed classes, disenfranchised but sizable groups of peasants, and, in Hungary at least, an important and largely Jewish middle class, with Hitler's shadow growing all the while. Horthy and other Hungarian politicians come out of this looking pretty bad, as does Carol of Romania, while Romania's Antonescu appears as a decent man trying to cope with an increasingly hopeless domestic and international situation (his current posthumous role as a hero and symbol of the Greater Romania party notwithstanding).
All in all, this is a remarkable book. I don't know to what degree it was "revised and updated" from the 1970 original before its author's recent death. Readers interested in this part of the world or this period of history will find it quite valuable.
Other recommendations:
1. On the historical background in Romania, Paul Michelson, Romanian Politics 1859-1971 (Center for Romanian Studies, 1998) and Frederick Kellogg, The Road to Romanian Independence (Purdue, 1995)
2. On the tightening of the German and Russian noose around Romania, and the vain Romanian hopes for Western (especially French) intervention, Alexandru Cretzianu, Relapse into Bondage: Political Memoirs of a Romanian Diplomat 1918-1947 (Center for Romanian Studies, 1998)
3. On life in Romania during this period, the remarkable Journal 1935-1944: The Fascist Years, by Mihail Sebastian (Ivan R. Dee, 2000)

Rating:
Summary: a superb historical tale
Review: This is a wonderful book, continuing the tradition of very high quality output from the Center for Romanian Studies. It tells the story, in great and fascinating detail, of the rise of fascism and official anti-semitism in Hungary and Romania between the World Wars. It is a story of the consequences of Versailles -- Hungary got a much worse deal there than the much better known raw deal received by Germany -- of the consequences of different paths of economic development -- both Hungary and Romania suffered from their different histories of economic stratification and (especially in Romania) rural underdevelopment -- and of the consequences of the actions of important individuals -- Admiral Horthy in Hungary, King Carol and Marshall Antonescu in Romania, and the various leaders of fascist movements in both countries.
In each country the story is told slowly and carefully from the time of the Treaty of Versailles (though with plenty of pre-Versailles context) through the onset of economic depression to the end of World War II and beyond. Beleaguered governments, some cynical and some less so, try to navigate between politically powerful landed classes, disenfranchised but sizable groups of peasants, and, in Hungary at least, an important and largely Jewish middle class, with Hitler's shadow growing all the while. Horthy and other Hungarian politicians come out of this looking pretty bad, as does Carol of Romania, while Romania's Antonescu appears as a decent man trying to cope with an increasingly hopeless domestic and international situation (his current posthumous role as a hero and symbol of the Greater Romania party notwithstanding).
All in all, this is a remarkable book. I don't know to what degree it was "revised and updated" from the 1970 original before its author's recent death. Readers interested in this part of the world or this period of history will find it quite valuable.
Other recommendations:
1. On the historical background in Romania, Paul Michelson, Romanian Politics 1859-1971 (Center for Romanian Studies, 1998) and Frederick Kellogg, The Road to Romanian Independence (Purdue, 1995)
2. On the tightening of the German and Russian noose around Romania, and the vain Romanian hopes for Western (especially French) intervention, Alexandru Cretzianu, Relapse into Bondage: Political Memoirs of a Romanian Diplomat 1918-1947 (Center for Romanian Studies, 1998)
3. On life in Romania during this period, the remarkable Journal 1935-1944: The Fascist Years, by Mihail Sebastian (Ivan R. Dee, 2000)