Úton a rendszerváltoztatás felé: A gazdasági kamarák narratívái az államszocializmus utolsó éveiben.

The present study examines the situation and change of chambers of economy in Hungary during the period of state-socialism. The chambers of industry and commerce have a long history in Hungary: the first chambers were established during the 19th century and proved to be indispensable in the fields of economy. The chambers increased the intensity of their own initiatives during the period between the two world wars: they played an important role in organising the Budapest International Fair, in supporting the commercial school network or (in partnership with the state) in the economic integration of the territories regained after 1938. After 1945, however, these organisations were not able to further improve their activities, what is more, most of them were eliminated by the totalitarian communist rule. From the end of the Second World War to the 1989/1990 regime change, only one organisation was operating in the field of economy which called itself chamber: The Chamber of Commerce, however, was a mere shadow of its predecessor. It did not have any regional bodies, it was not allowed to perform interest representation work, it was only permitted to carry out certain tasks in connection with foreign trade under supervision of delegates from the communist party. Following the economic, then political changes starting in the middle of the 1980s resulting from the oil crisis and Hungary’s accession to the International Monetary Fund, the players of commerce and industry also demanded with increasing emphasis an organisation to represent their interests. Thus the operation of the chamber was expanded, and the organisation – later called Hungarian Economic Chamber –had regional committees as well. The present study gives a deeper insight into the evolving processes of chamber-transformation and the role of the chamber of economy in the regime change

From “grandeur” to “sécurité” and “a Special Relationship”: The Shift in the French-German Relations in a Historical Perspective

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Possibilities for a New Social Model?

One of the most important terrains of the European search for new ways in politics between the two world wars was the debate on the reorganization and tasks of the state and, within it, of the economy and society. This topic dominated academic discourse in the 1920s and 1930s. The thinkers who sought answers—economists, philosophers, historians, sociologists, and ecclesiastics—could build on the work of early predecessors, reaching back as far as Thomas Aquinas’s “organic view of society,” later embodied in the economic and political theory of Jesuit solidarism. The common feature of the theories that emerged in the interwar period was that they approached the construction of the state not from the point of view of the individual, but from that of social groups. Vid Mihelics, a prominent exponent of these ideas in Hungary, devoted his journalistic, scientific, and political activities to the Hungarian Catholic revival. His interests focused on social issues and related teachings of the Church. His writings sought solutions through the ideas of Christian humanism, which for him was “the inalienable essence of true Europeanism.” His writings can help us better understand how interconnected Hungarian intellectual life was with European trends in the interwar period. [email protected]