SMALL NATIONS ON THE BORDERLINES OF GREAT POWERS SPECULUM HISTORIAE DEBRECENIENSE 14. (A Debreceni Egyetem Történelmi Intézete Kiadványai) Series Editor: PAPP KLÁRA Small Nations on the Borderlines of Great Powers EDS. ATTILA BÁRÁNY – SATU MATIKAINEN Multiplex Media–Debrecen Kft. Debrecen – Jyväskylä, 2013 A DEBRECENI EGYETEM TÖRTÉNELMI INTÉZETE KIADÁSA PUBLICATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, THE UNIVERSITY OF DEBRECEN Refereed by JÁNOS BARTA, professor emeritus and two anonymous referees (Finland) Proofs read by ISTVÁN VIDA Sponsored by: University of Jyväskylä, Department of History and Ethnology University of Debrecen, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Graduate School in History University of Debrecen, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department of History The work is supported by the TÁMOP-4.2.2/B-10/1-2010-0024 project. The project is implemented through the New Hungary Development Plan, co-financed by the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund. Cover design by RAJMUND FEKETE Technical editor ZSUZSANNA HERMÁN ISBN 978-963-473-604-2 ISSN 2060-9213 © 2013 by the authors All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers. Printed by Kapitális Kft., Debrecen Managing Director: József Kapusi Cover illustration: a contemporary engraving about the Congress of Vienna. CONTENTS Introduction (RÓBERT BARTA – CSABA LÉVAI – SATU MATIKAINEN) ........................ 7 EMPIRES AND POWERS IN THE ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL CONTEXT GÁBOR BRADÁCS: The Empire of the Ottonians and Salians – Imperial and National Consciousness .................................................................... 21 ATTILA BÁRÁNY: Hungary's Relationship to her Neighbours in the Age of the Árpád Kings (c. 1000–1301) ......................................................... 31 LÁSZLÓ PÓSÁN: Major Power or Not? Lithuania in the Middle Ages .......... 49 SMALL NATIONS AND GREAT POWERS DURING THE EARLY MODERN ERA RÉKA BOZZAY: Eine „kleine” Großmacht im frühneuzeitlichen Europa – Die Niederlande zwischen 1579–1713 .................................................... 65 PETRI KARONEN: Finland in the Swedish realm during the 17th and 18th centuries ............................................................................................ 81 ERZSÉBET BODNÁR: The Russian Diplomacy and the Swedish/Finnish Question, 1801–1815 ............................................................................... 95 PIIA EINONEN: Cultural Conflicts in a Border Town – The Question of Russian Serfdom in Vyborg in the Beginning of the 19th century ......................... 111 6 CONTENTS SMALL NATIONS IN COLONIAL CONTEXTS CSABA LÉVAI: In between and within Great Powers – The Comparison of Hungary and the British Colonies in North America in the 18th century .................................................................................... 129 GÁBOR PUSZTAI: Ein kleines Land mit Großmachtallüren – Holland und seine Kolonialpolitik ........................................................... 143 GÁBOR SZABÓ-ZSOLDOS: The Anglo-Boer Political Relations and South African Confederation, 1877–1881 – Related to the British Colonial Policy in the Transvaal ............................................................................ 155 TIMO SÄRKKÄ: Two Small Nations in between Two Great Imperial Powers – The Boers and the Finns in the Late-Victorian Liberty Discourses ................................................................................................ 171 RELATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION OF SMALL STATES AND GREAT POWERS DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY SATU MATIKAINEN: The League of Nations and Minority Protection in East Central Europe – Finnish and British Policies in the League Council, 1927–1930 ................................................................................. 189 ANSSI HALMESVIRTA: An Unfortunate Kinship – Finnish-Hungarian Relations during World War II ................................................................ 207 RÓBERT BARTA: British Ideas on the Post WWII Europe and Hungary ...... 225 SIMO MIKKONEN: Soviet Cultural Operations and Small Nations – Cultural Imperialism or Mutual Benefit? .............................................. 239 LÁSZLÓ PALLAI: Alternativen gegen den deutschen wirtschaftlichen Einbruch im Ostmitteleuropa während der Weltwirtschaftskrise ............ 255 Authors .......................................................................................................... 269 Small Nations on the Borderlines of Great Powers Introduction On October 6–7, 2011 an international conference took place in Debrecen enti- tled “Small Nations in between Great Powers”. The conference was organized jointly by the Institute of History, University of Debrecen and the Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä. Altogether twenty speakers participated in this two-day event, eleven from the University of Debrecen and nine from the University of Jyväskylä. All presentations concentrated on the main topic of the conference, the historical role of small nations vs. great pow- ers, and the majority of them approached the theme from the perspective of Finnish and Hungarian history. The articles in the present volume are based on the presentations given in the conference. Both Finland’s and Hungary’s history provides examples of many interac- tions between these two states or nations and their neighbouring great powers. Both countries have long been under the influence or under direct rule of neighbouring great powers and thus have had in many respects similar historical experiences. However, this volume also addresses histories of other nations and states be- sides Finland and Hungary. The relationship between small nations and great powers is thus explored from a broader or even global perspective and in a wide chronological span, ranging from early medieval times to modern Europe. As for the perspective, the relationship between small and great powers can be discussed, on the one hand, on a concrete level when the states share a common frontier. On the other hand, several articles in this collection discuss interactions and cooperation in international arenas or transnational influences between states that do not border each other. The present volume has several sub-themes investigating empires and powers as well as small nations through medieval and early modern times, also discussing their relationship in colonial contexts. It aims to explore issues of the relations and international co-operation of small states and great powers during the twentieth century, too. It is impossible to find a common theoretical approach or method to all arti- cles in this book, as the individual texts cover such a wide thematic, historical and geographical area. However, from the title of this volume, a number of key concepts can be distinguished. First of all, there is the highly controversial term 8 SMALL NATIONS ON THE BORDERLINES OF GREAT POWERS “nation”. In relation to this, what kind of nations can be counted as “small”? On the other hand, there is the concept of “great power”, which is not unambiguous either. There is an abundance of scholarly literature on nations and nationalism1, and it is not the intention of this volume to delve into that complicated question. However, some basic definitions are in order. One of the main debates relating to the definitions of nations and nationalism is the question whether nations are products of the modern age or if they precede it. Can the forms of pre-modern national consciousness be linked with the modern forms of nationalism? There has been general consensus between the main scholars of the subject that na- tionalism is a modern phenomenon, forming around 1800.2 This is interesting also from the viewpoint of the present volume, since many articles discuss the pre-modern period. The definition of nation has several dimensions. It is often emphasised that a nation has common national characteristics, above all common language, as well as common history, culture and ethnicity. Secondly, there is the political aspect of a nation, which leads to an implication that a nation equals an inde- pendent state. In addition, there is the element of cultural construction, such as in Benedict Anderson’s view of “the imagined communities”.3 All these ele- ments are manifest in a number of articles in our collection. Great powers can be understood as countries which can rely primarily on their own resources when defending their existence and interests.4 As Vesna Danilovic has noted, history of international relations has traditionally been presented as history of the great powers, or “major powers”, which according to her has come into more common use recently. However, the term great powers came into diplomatic and scholarly discourse only in the beginning of the nine- teenth century, when the political system of Europe was reorganized after the fall of Napoleon.5 Danilovic distinguishes three criteria in defining a great power. The first is the size of a state’s power potential or capacities. The second relates to the spatial dimension, i.e. the geographical size. Thirdly, there is the issue of status: the state is recognised as a great power and it also sees itself as such and, moreover, is willing to act as one.6 1 See, for example, Anthony D. Smith, Nationalism and Modernism: A Critical