A GEOGRAPHER'S TALE: NATION, MODERNITY, AND THE NEGOTIATION OF SELF IN "TRIANON" HUNGARY, 1900-1960 by Steven A.E. Jobbitt A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of History University of Toronto © Copyright by Steven A.E. 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Canada Dissertation Abstract "A Geographer's Tale: Nation, Modernity, and the Negotiation of Self in 'Trianon' Hungary, 1900-1960" Steven A.E. Jobbitt Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Department of History, University of Toronto Drawing on the private papers and scholarly publications of the Hungarian geographer Ferenc Fodor (1887-1962), this dissertation examines conservative-nationalist identity formation in Hungary between 1900 and 1960, a period which was marked, amongst other things, by the signing of the territorially devastating Treaty of Trianon after World War I, by Hungary's defeat in World War II, and by the postwar consolidation of communism. Looking in particular at how Fodor attempted to negotiate a stable sense of self against the backdrop of a conservative vision of the nation, the dissertation argues that, though Fodor was able to construct a relatively comfortable, middle-class life for himself and his family as a nationalist intellectual, he was unable to overcome the sense of fragmentation, dissolution, and alienation which had burdened him since his youth. Reading his letters, notebooks, diaries, and collections of photographs against his published and unpublished work, the dissertation argues that his on-going quest for meaning and wholeness was undermined not so much by a series of traumatic events, but rather by the nature of both nation and self as unstable "fictions." Acknowledgements This project has been a long time in the making, and I owe a number of people a deep debt of gratitude. First and foremost I would like to thank my wife and best friend, Rafaela, and my children, Marta and Matilde, for their enduring love and support as I worked to finish my dissertation. Rafa has always believed in me, and was always there for me when I needed her the most, even after she began her own Ph.D. in African history almost two years ago. I can only hope that I can be as great a support for her as she has been for me. My daughters, Marta and Matilde, have been a never-ending source of joy, solace, and inspiration. Born while I was muddling my way anxiously through the various stages of the Ph.D., they have helped to put this project, and indeed my entire life, into perspective. I can't imagine how I ever would have finished if they had not come into our lives when they did. It is to these three most important women in my life that I dedicate this dissertation. I would also like to thank my own family, and especially my mother, father, brother, and sister, as well as my wife's parents and family both in Canada and in Portugal, for all they have done for Rafa and me over these last years. A big "thank-you" also to our friends Ailsa Kay and Julia Greet, and indeed to everyone on Gang Green, arguably one of the most notorious hockey teams ever to darken the ice at Moss Park Arena in downtown Toronto. The goals may have been few and far between, but the beer was always cold, and the camaraderie second to none. Those Sunday morning games, and the refreshments that followed, made the whole writing process all the more bearable. iii At the University of Toronto I am very grateful to all my friends and colleagues, and especially to Biljana Bijelic, Christopher Ernst, Tatjana Lichtenstein, Wilson Bell, Martha Solomon, Sveta Frunchak, Steve Maddox, and Michal Kasprzak for their friendship and support, and also for their careful reading of my work. Their kindness and generosity has helped to keep me afloat over the last eight years, and in particular during those times when I felt it would be easier to quit than to carry on. I am also indebted to Robert Austin, who has been a great supporter of my work from the very beginning, and who made it possible for me to be affiliated with the Central European University in Budapest while I conducted my research in Hungary in 2003-04. While in Budapest, I benefited greatly from numerous conversations with Balazs Ablonczy, Gergely Varga, Robert Gydri, and Batezs Trencs^nyi. I can honestly say that without their early guidance and advice, I wouldn't have been able to produce this dissertation, at least not as it is presented here. I am also thankful to Ivan Zolt&n Deries, Andras Ger6, Istv&i ReV, and Ignac Romsics for their valuable input as I began my research in Budapest in the autumn of 2003. Archivists and librarians at the Danube Hydrological Museum in Esztergom, as well as at the Academy of Science and the Szechenyi National Library in Budapest were instrumental in helping me locate sources pertaining to Fodor's life and work. In this respect, I am especially indebted to Fodor's grandaughters, Klara and Maria, for inviting me into their home, and for allowing me to copy and use the letters, photographs, and scrapbooks that they still have in their possession. Also deserving of thanks are Dr. S6ndor Pallaghy and Zoltan Mike, both of whom gave me access to a number of Fodor's documents in their private collections. iv I am grateful as well to John Swanson, Thomas Lorman, and N&idor Dreisziger for reading some of the later drafts of my dissertation, and for taking the time to give me invaluable feedback as I worked to revise it for submission. I am especially grateful for the very useful comments and criticisms offered by my committee members Lynne Viola and Derek Penslar, as well as by my internal reader, Paul Rutherford, and my external reader, Robert Nemes. Their immensely valuable insights and suggestions will be of great help to me as I work to revise my dissertation for publication. Finally, an immense debt of gratitide is owed to my supervisor, Thomas Lahusen. Without his constant support and often undeserved patience, I doubt this project would have seen the light of day. This dissertation has come a long way under his guidance, and I honestly cannot find the words to thank him enough for all he has done for me. My dissertation has benefitted greatly from the generous input of everyone listed above. It goes without saying that the remaining errors of fact, interpretation, and translation are all my own. Funding for this project came in the form of a number of scholarships, grants, and fellowships: the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Fellowship, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, the Hungarian Helicon Foundation Graduate Award, the University of Toronto Graduate Fellowship, the School of Graduate Studies Travel Award (University of Toronto), the Patricia and Alan Marchment Travel Award (University of Toronto), and the H. Gordon Skilling Fellowship (University of Toronto). I would like to thank the Social Sciencs and Humanities Research Counil of Canada, the Ontario government, the Hungarian Helicon Foundation of Ontario, and the University of Toronto for their generous support of my dissertation. v Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents vi List of Figures vii Introduction: Finding Fodor 1 Chapter One Layers of Trauma: Trianon, Modernity, and the Long Twentieth Century.. .25 Chapter Two Balkan Fantasies, 1917: The Ebb and Flow of the Self. 78 Chapter Three A "Lucky" Break: Scholarship and Opportunity in Interwar Hungary 129 Chapter Four On The Brink of Being Forgotten: Marginalization, War, and the Retreat into Memory, 1940-1945 181 Chapter Five The Remapping of Nation and Self: Geographies of Survival and Resistance under Communism, 1948-1960 236 Conclusion: Remembering Fodor 290 Bibliography 304 vi List of Figures Figure 1 An aging Fodor in his boy scout uniform (c.