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Count István Imre Lajos Pál Tisza de Borosjenő et Szeged (archaically anglicized Stephen Emery Louis Paul Tisza, in short Stephen Tisza; 22 April 1861 – 31 October 1918) was a Hungarian politician, prime minister, political scientist,
international lawyer International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
,
macroeconomist Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. For example, using interest rates, taxes, a ...
, member of the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( hu, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA) is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. Its ma ...
and champion
duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and ...
ist. The outbreak of World War One defined his second term as prime minister. He was assassinated by leftist revolutionaries on 31 October 1918 during the Aster Revolution, the day Hungary declared its independence, dissolving the Dual Monarchy or
Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. Tisza was the most zealous adherent of the Dual Monarchy among the Hungarian political leaders and pleaded for consensus between liberals and conservatives. As a Member of Parliament since 1887, he came to fear a political impasse in the conflict between the unyielding temper of the Emperor and the revolutionary spirit of the extremists. Tisza stubbornly opposed on principle any governmental redistribution of agricultural land breaking up the large landed estates. He opposed extending
suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
to active duty soldiers; before 1918 only 10% of the Hungarian population could vote and hold public office. He supported industrial reforms to
modernize Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, ...
Hungary, and opposed Anti-Semitism as economically counterproductive. Tisza was unpopular among ethnic Hungarian voters and therefore - similarly to his father
Kálmán Tisza Kálmán Tisza de Borosjenő (archaic English: Coloman Tisza, or Koloman Tisza; 16 December 1830 – 23 March 1902) was the Hungarian prime minister between 1875 and 1890. He is credited with the formation of a consolidated Magyar governme ...
- he drew most of his votes from ethnic minorities during the parliamentary elections. In international relations, Tisza's role model was
Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...
. In domestic affairs, he followed the English historical school of economics and was heavily influenced by the social and political development of England, which he considered the best way forward for Hungary.


Early life and education

Born into the Tisza family as the son of
Kálmán Tisza Kálmán Tisza de Borosjenő (archaic English: Coloman Tisza, or Koloman Tisza; 16 December 1830 – 23 March 1902) was the Hungarian prime minister between 1875 and 1890. He is credited with the formation of a consolidated Magyar governme ...
de Borosjenő, who served as prime minister of Hungary between 1875 and 1890 from the Liberal Party. The Tiszas were originally
Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...
s of untitled lower noble origins (regarded as equivalent to the British
gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...
). His mother, Countess Helene von Degenfeld-Schonburg, was a Hungarian-German aristocrat from
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
(born: Helene Johanna Josepha Mathilde Gräfin von Degenfeld-Schonburg). The young István raised in a puritanical and authoritarian Calvinist environment with high expectations. He had studied at home until the age of twelve, before he gained entry to grammar school named the Calvinist Gymnasium of
Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...
. After completing his
secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...
, he took legal studies in Budapest, and then went on to study international law at
Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
, followed by studies at the faculty of economics of
Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...
, obtaining a PhD, and eventually he put himself through the faculty of political science at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
, earning a doctorate in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
. At first, he became acquainted with the practical issues of the public administration at the Ministry of the Interior. He had done several studies on agricultural issues that were published in the Budapest Review. After serving 1 year as a volunteer
hussar A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely ...
in the Royal Hungarian Honvéd army; where he got promoted to the rank of hussar officer, he settled in Bihar County and took an active part in the political and economic life of the county as a committee member and honorary chief notary of Bihar county.


Political career


Tisza as a member of parliament

After overseeing his family estates in Bihar County and
Geszt Geszt is a village in Békés County, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. The name of the village appeared first in a written document in 1213. Kálmán Tisza, the Prime Minister of Hungary between 1875 and 1890, was born ...
for five years, he decided to pursue a career in politics. He won his first parliamentary electoral mandate in 1886 with the Liberal Party in
Vízakna Ocna Sibiului (; ) is a town in the centre of Sibiu County, in southern Transylvania, central Romania, 10 km to the north-west of the county capital Sibiu. The town administers a single village, Topârcea (''Tschapertsch''; ''Toporcsa''). A ...
(Now: Ocna Sibiului, Romania), a
Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...
n electoral district that he represented until 1892. Subsequently, he won his second seat in 1892 as a representative of Újbánya district (Now:
Nová Baňa Nová Baňa (german: Königsberg; hu, Újbánya) is a small town in the west of central Slovakia and the largest town of the Žarnovica District, located in the Banská Bystrica Region. Etymology The original name of Nová Baňa was Štiavnica ...
, Slovakia). In 1896, he won the seat of Ugra district (Now: Ungra, Romania). Meanwhile, he also became a member of the economic committee of the Hungarian parliament, where he was engaged in conferring about macroeconomic issues. In the 1890s, having capitalized on a phenomenon that was prevalent among prestigious European politicians at that time, he held a number of
sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval ch ...
s, which thereby provided extraordinary income to him. He was the president of the Hungarian Industrial and Commercial Bank (Magyar Ipar- és Kereskedelmi Bank); and, besides, he took on positions on numerous corporate boards, e.g., on boards of numerous joint-stock companies and industrial enterprises. In the face of the financial crisis of the 1890s, many of these enterprises became the fastest emerging companies of the country under his lead; some of them could even become inevitably important enterprises in their own sectors. As a result, the mediocre Hungarian Industrial and Commercial Bank was transformed into the largest Bank of Hungary in a decade. His uncle, the childless Lajos Tisza received the title of Count from Emperor Franz Joseph in 1897. However, Lajos Tisza conferred his new title upon his nephew Stephen with the consent of the Monarch, on 16 February 1897.


Prime minister for first time, 1903–1905

He was chairman and board member of several financial institutions (e.g., the Hungarian Industrial and Commercial Bank) and many industrial companies but resigned from all of his memberships before he was appointed as Prime minister. In this period of time, he managed to get the remains of prince
Francis II Rákóczi Francis II Rákóczi ( hu, II. Rákóczi Ferenc, ; 27 March 1676 – 8 April 1735) was a Hungarian nobleman and leader of Rákóczi's War of Independence against the Habsburgs in 1703–11 as the prince ( hu, fejedelem) of the Estates Confedera ...
repatriated from
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
and interred in the St Elisabeth Cathedral of Kassa, today
Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of a ...
.


Target of Leftist and socialist circles

On 19 April 1904, a nationwide strike of railroad workers broke out, which paralyzed the Hungarian economy. Tisza solved the crisis quickly but drastically: the organizers of the strike got arrested, and the participant railway workers got recruited into the Hungarian Honvéd army. Besides parliament introduced a Bill increasing the number of draftees and the police came down heavily on peasants for taking part in a
Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
gathering in Bihar, leaving 33 dead and several hundred wounded.


Target of anti-Semite circles

Tisza often used his influence in parliament to grant titles to wealthy Jewish families; especially for successful industrialists and bankers, of whose lives he thought had set a good example to the people worth following. Many of the young middle-class families were Jews or baptized Jews. Tisza often gathered influential men of Jewish extraction around himself as advisors. He even offered many positions in his cabinets to Jews. His first appointment was
Samu Hazai Baron Samu Hazai (german: Samuel Freiherr von Hazai; 26 December 1851 – 10 February 1942) was a Hungarian military officer and politician of Jewish origin, who served as Minister of Defence of Hungary between 1910 and 1917. Decorations and ...
as Minister of War. Two years later he picked János Teleszky as minister of finance. The third Jewish member of his cabinet was János Harkányi, minister of trade. Tisza appointed Samu Hazai as Minister of War during his second premiere. They all served for the duration of Tisza's seven years in office. The Liberal Party passed legislation for the
Jewish emancipation Jewish emancipation was the process in various nations in Europe of eliminating Jewish disabilities, e.g. Jewish quotas, to which European Jews were then subject, and the recognition of Jews as entitled to equality and citizenship rights. It in ...
in 1867 and appointed many Jewish origin MEPs to parliament (both to the upper and lower houses). In return, many Jews supported the party. Many districts of Budapest, where Jews made up half of the voters, reliably voted for the Liberal candidates. Similarly to the policy of his father, István Tisza allowed the unrestricted immigration of Jewish refugees from the Russian Empire, who fled from the Tzarist pogroms. His philosemitic political attitude made him a target of anti-Semite politicians and political circles.


Target of radical nationalists

At the beginning of the 20th century, only 54.5% (1910 census) of the population of the Kingdom of Hungary considered themselves to be Hungarians. The Tisza's party —i.e. "The Liberal Party of Hungary" urgently needed the support of minorities to maintain the majority of the party in the Hungarian parliament. The liberal party was the most popular political force in the electoral districts where the ethnic minorities represented the local majority. However, his main political opponents —i.e. "The nationalist Party of Independence and '48 and Catholic People's Party" could collect mandates only from the Hungarian majority electoral districts.


"Election by handkerchief" and the victory of nationalist opposition

The rules of the parliamentary procedure of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Dual Monarchy were based on the common law which was the feature of feudal parliaments, meaning that everybody could deliver speeches without any time limit, so, the most prominent speakers could take the stage for as long as 4–8 hours. However, this paralyzed the procedure of the Hungarian legislature. For decades, the opposition often wielded this tactic to obstruct legislation in important cases where the government should have been exercised its authority without disruption. Tisza decided to have the rules of Parliament modified to get the obstructions of the opposition out of the way. On behalf of The Liberal Party, it was deputy Gábor Dániel who made the proposal to Parliament to modify the rules in a way to substantially have the possibility of the stonewalling tactics of the opposition narrowed. This took place, on 18 November 1904, after István Tisza had delivered a short speech. President of the House, Dezső Perczel had, in violation of the House rules, silently announced the start of the voting on the proposition and then by waving a handkerchief, he gave the members of The Liberal Party the signal to start voting. In response to what happened; out of curiosity, the members of the opposition stood up because they did not understand the situation. At that time, however, standing up was the means of approving a proposal and staying put was the means of turning down a proposal in Parliament. And after reading the King's handwritten message out to Parliament, Dezső Perczel declared that the proposal passed amid an ear-splitting tumult and then the session got adjourned until 13 December. But the next day the opposition unified into an alliance, and shortly afterwards many prominent members left the Liberal Party—e.g., Kálmán Széll, Gyula Wlassics, Pál Teleki,
Gyula Andrássy Count Gyula Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka (8 March 1823 – 18 February 1890) was a Hungarian statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary (1867–1871) and subsequently as Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (1871– ...
,
Miklós Bánffy Count Miklós Bánffy de Losoncz (30 December 1873 – 5 June 1950) was a Hungarian nobleman, liberal politician, and historical novelist. His books include '' The Transylvanian Trilogy'' (''They Were Counted'', ''They Were Found Wanting'' and '' ...
. Some members of them headed up by Gyula Andrássy broke away to form a rival party and joined the opposition. They first named themselves "The Dissidents" but then their name was changed to The National Constitution Party. For the rest of the year, the opposition made it impossible for Parliament to proceed with the legislative work and by January 1905, the situation became ex lex or anarchical. As a result, the King dissolved Parliament and scheduled to hold a new parliamentary election. However, these events that went down in history as "election by handkerchief" cost The Liberal Party dear. After the 1905 election, Parliament approved a new coalition government, ending the historic 30-year rule of The Liberal Party and sending the polarizing leader into the opposition which eventually led to the dissolution of The Party.


National Party of Work, electoral victory in 1910

On 19 February 1910, Tisza established the National Party of Work (Nemzeti Munkapárt) which subsequently won the election of 1910. This time around he had no intention of forming a government, primarily due to his conflict with Franz Ferdinand who sought to centralise the
Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
with
universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...
. Tisza opposed this initiative, as he believed that this might lead to the weakening of the Hungarian supremacy over ethnic minorities. In addition, he claimed that demagogues — i.e., "politicians of communists and agrarian socialist movements" might manipulate peasants to put the politicians into power that are not in favour of democratic government. Although Tisza had the emperor's support, he feared that the faults of his first prime ministership could be repeated and therefore called on
Károly Khuen-Héderváry Count Károly Khuen-Héderváry de Hédervár, born as ''Károly Khuen de Belás'' ( hr, Dragutin Khuen-Héderváry, 23 May 1849 – 16 February 1918) was a Hungarian politician and the Ban of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in the late nine ...
to form the new government. However, despite the fact that Tisza was not in office as prime minister again until 1913, his power and influence on the ruling party was completely absolute.


Act of Protection

As Speaker of the House of Representatives from 22 May 1912 to 12 June 1913 Tisza supported the reform of the common Austro-Hungarian army to enhance the military power of the dual monarchy. The Hungarian side was fighting for more Hungarian interests (i.e., use of the Magyar language in the army). Tisza and his party refused the idea of universal suffrage. According to his threatening prediction, the majority votes of peasants – manipulated by primitive demagogues – would result in the domination of groups whose goals are just contrary to the ideals of metropolitan intellectuals and socialists who call for democracy. The Socialists strongly opposed his acts and decided to organize a protest march. Socialist agents organised a worker rebellion on 22 May 1912 (Blood-Red Thursday), calling for Tisza to resign as President of the House and calling for universal suffrage. On the next day, the protesters and workers marched toward the Parliament building, meanwhile the events transformed to violence, protesters broke the shop windows in the surrounding streets, automobiles and tramcard were damaged by the masses. However, the protesters were stopped by the storm of hussar cavalry units, and they were arrested by the police. Six people died in the clashes, nearly two hundred were injured and three hundred were arrested. This event became known as "Blood-Red Thursday" in the contemporary press and later in the history books. Tisza tried to solve the question of ethnic minorities based on a clerical approach (like the representation of Orthodox and Greek Catholic Church in The Upper House of the parliament). He was convinced that the challenging foreign situation called for military preparation and he strongly pushed against opposition obstruction. He did not allow the opposition to speak up regarding rules of House of Parliament. Referring to an act of 1848, he called for the
police force The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
to force out numerous opposition representatives. He managed to pass the Act of Protection, resulting in the removal of some members of the opposition party. As a result, Gyula Kovács, an opposition party representative, tried to assassinate Tisza in the Parliament Building on 7 June 1912. His shots missed and the marks are still visible in the Hungarian Parliament Building to this day. With his last shot Kovács shot himself, but he survived. Tisza then continued the session.


Prime minister for second time, 1913–1917

Tisza became prime minister of Hungary again on 7 June 1913.


Freedom of the press

Inspired by the Western European model, Tisza's cabinet introduced for the first time in the history of Hungarian journalism the legal category of defamation, libel and "scare-mongering", thus the press became actionable before the courts. Journalists and newspapers had to pay compensations for the victims of defamation and libel. Despite the fact that these institutions and laws worked well in Western Europe and in the United States, the contemporary Hungarian newspapers and journalists considered it as the violation of the Freedom of Speech and the Freedom of Press.


Croatia

Count István Tisza tried to solve the longstanding Hungarian-Croatian issue, namely to clarify the relationship; for this matter, he met Count Tivadar Pejácsevich, Count of Verovce, Croatian Ban, and a year later, Baron Lomnica, Ivan Skerlecz, the new Croatian Ban. Tisza maintained his conciliatory position, promising to reestablish the Croatian Constitution, which had been suspended in May 1912. Tisza appointed his old family friend Baron Ivan Skerlecz, of Šokci origin, as the new ban of Croatia. Negotiations between the Croatian representatives and Tisza bore fruit and allowed the restitution of the Croatian constitutional government in November 1913.


Foreign policy and the Great War

A few days before the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
, which resulted in World War I, Tisza supported a strong stand against
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
. However, after the assassination he was against going to war against Serbia, a rare view in Austria-Hungary. He knew the army's strength, and he was afraid that with the increase of more Slavic territories the equilibrium inside the monarchy would be upset. Moreover, he was afraid that
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
would seize
Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...
. However he came to realize that ending the alliance with Germany would have meant the end of Austria-Hungary as a
Great Power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power i ...
, so he gave in and supported the war. He then became a relentless supporter of the war until its end. Tisza believed Romania to be an enemy from the beginning. He was afraid that if Romania attacked Hungary then the Romanians in Transylvania would revolt against Hungary. In the end, 40,000 soldiers were moved to protect Transylvania. During the war, the reformists became more and more powerful, but he continued to oppose them. At the time, Tisza was seen as forcing the continuation of the war and was losing a great deal of support. He opposed the ideas of the new Emperor,
Karl I Charles I or Karl I (german: Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria, hu, Károly Ferenc József Lajos Hubert György Ottó Mária; 17 August 18871 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV, ), King of Croatia, ...
, and was asked to resign; he did so on 23 May 1917. However, he retained great political influence, and was able to delay the enactment of universal
suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
. The very existence of the dual monarchy came into question during the war. Tisza wanted to solidify the government. He appointed Baron Stephan Burián von Rajecz who planned to increase the prestige of the monarchy and to get parity with Germany but also to negotiate peace with the help of the Americans. But Berlin alienated the United States by announcing full submarine warfare in 1917, with the goal of sinking American ships bringing supplies to the Allies. Towards the end of the war, Tisza had wanted to give the Serbs and Bosnians autonomy within Austria-Hungary. As a ''homo regius'' ("king's man"), he went to Sarajevo to attempt this, but they demanded independent states. By late October 1918, the dissolution of the dual monarchy and the surrender of Germany, were imminent and there was nothing that foreign minister Burián (who was still in that role) could do to change the course of history.


His view on war against Serbia

Tisza opposed the expansion of the empire on the Balkan (see Bosnian crisis in 1908), because "the Dual Monarchy already had too many Slavs", which would further threaten the integrity of the Dual Monarchy. In March 1914, Tisza wrote a memorandum to Emperor Francis Joseph. His letter had a strongly apocalyptic, predictive and embittered tone. He used the expression "Weltkrieg" (meaning World War) - a term hitherto unknown - in his letter. "It is my firm conviction that Germany's two neighbors ussia and Franceare carefully proceeding with military preparations, but will not start the war so long as they have not attained a grouping of the Balkan states against us that confronts the monarchy with an attack from three sides and pins down the majority of our forces on our eastern and southern front." On the day of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Tisza immediately traveled to
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
where he met Minister of Foreign Affairs Count Berchtold and Army Commander Conrad von Hötzendorf. They proposed to solve the dispute with arms, attacking
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
. Tisza proposed to give the government of Serbia time to take a stand as to whether it was involved in the organisation of the murder and proposed a peaceful resolution, arguing that the international situation would settle soon. Returning to Budapest, he wrote to Franz Joseph saying he would not take any responsibility for the armed conflict because there was no proof that Serbia had plotted the assassination. Tisza opposed a war with Serbia, stating (correctly, as it turned out) that any war with the Serbs was bound to trigger a war with Russia and hence a general European war. He thought that even a successful Austro-Hungarian war would be disastrous for the integrity of Kingdom of Hungary, where Hungary would be the next victim of Austrian politics. After a successful war against Serbia, Tisza adumbrated a possible Austrian military attack against Kingdom of Hungary, where the Austrians want to break up the territory of Hungary. He did not trust in the Italian alliance, due to the political aftermath of the Second Italian War of Independence. He also felt the threat of
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
and
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
after the
Balkan wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...
and was afraid of Romanian attack from the east, while Austro-Hungarian forces had to fight against the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
and maybe against
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. He was also not sure about the stand of the Germans.
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
's stand was of ultimate importance due to the security of the state. During a conversation between Franz Joseph and Conrad von Hötzendorf, Hötzendorf asked, "If Germany's reply is that they are on our side, do we engage in war with Serbia?" The emperor replied, "Then yes", "But what if they reply differently?", "Then the Monarchy will be alone". Kaiser Wilhelm II supported the war, promised to neutralize a Romanian attack, and put pressure on
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
. After this, Tisza still sought a peaceful solution, but most of all he wanted to wait for the result of the official investigation into the assassination. The only proposal of Tisza, which was accepted, was that the Monarchy should not annihilate Serbia completely in order to avoid Russian support for Serbia. The council finally addressed an ultimatum to the Serbian government and immediately commenced mobilisation of troops. After sending the ultimatum, his view changed. The ultimatum had expired after 48 hours, so Tisza wrote: "it was a difficult decision to take a stand to propose war, but now I am firmly convinced of its necessity" He was, however, still opposed to the annexation of Serbia to the Monarchy, but failed. On 4 August 1914 Russia, Germany, Britain and France also entered the war, enlarging it to a world war. Tisza did not resign as Prime Minister, as he thought that, with his connections in Vienna, remaining in this position was the best way he could represent Hungarian interests inside Austria-Hungary. Moreover, his resignation would have sent a message of weakness to the Entente at the outbreak of war. His initial opposition to the conflict, only became public after the end of World War 1, on 17 October 1918, when he spoke in the Parliament. He said, "the Monarchy and the Hungarian nation were longing for peace all the way until there were proofs that the enemy was systematically trying to humiliate and destroy us as soon as possible (...) As we have found proofs that the Serbian government took part in organising the assassination, we could not but address an ultimatum to Serbia ... where we stipulated that the war is preventive."


The struggle of a WW1 political leader in the trenches

The 57-year-old Tisza joined the 2nd Hussar Regiment of Hungary - which served on the Italian front - as a hussar colonel, and personally led his hussar units during the attacks. Tisza at the front: "Tisza already felt the not too friendly atmosphere surrounding him at the first days of his joining up to the regiment and at first he tried to ease the general mood by informal behavior. (...) He made an effort from the beginning to use an informal tone both with the staff of officers and - of course within the limits of the service regulations - with the rank and file. In order to get to know his fellow officers better, he invited some young officers to his table every day. In this way he tried to establish better personal relations with his environment. The troops had slowly started to recognize him as a "tough to those above and humane to those below" kind of commander. He distributed his tobacco provisions among the officers and he used his commander pay to improve the catering of the troops, and these of course left a good impression on everybody. Tisza's paternalistic attitude towards his subordinates also manifested itself in civil law cases: he helped with his personal influence in getting done of those petitions what he considered fair, he interceded with notaries, judges, alispáns (deputy-lieutenants) for advancing the home affairs of his men, due to this both the officers and the troops more and more came to like and embrace him. Tisza himself also felt that the front service had been quite useful and productive since on the one hand he could personally experience the dangers of the battleground an on the other hand-at least he was thinking that way and there is a lot of truth in it-he could truly become familiar with the real nature of the simple, peasant origin soldiers. He wrote about peasant soldiers in this way in a letter to Archduke Joseph: "I’ve got to truly know the ordinary easantspeople now. This is the most extraordinary race of the world that can only be loved and respected. How unfortunate that the political intelligentia doesn’t do anything else, just corrupts this great and God-blessed people."


Assassination attempts

For many, he was the representative of the war policy in the Monarchy, so he was an assassination target. The fourth assassination attempt against him was successful. The first attempt was made in the Hungarian parliament in 1912 by Gyula Kovács, an opposition politician. He shot two bullets, but missed Tisza. Kovács was arrested by the police, but he was acquitted by the court, the justification was "temporary insanity". The second was made by a soldier when Tisza was returning from the front line during the war. The bullet missed him. The third attempt came on 16 October 1918 when János Lékai, a member of the society Galilei-circle and an anti-military group led by Ottó Korvin, tried to kill Tisza while he was leaving the Hungarian Parliament, but the revolver malfunctioned and Tisza managed to flee. The assassin was sent to prison but was released after 15 days during the Chrysanthemum Revolution. The fourth and successful attempt came on 31 October 1918, when soldiers broke into his home, the Róheim Villa in Budapest, Hermina út 35., (today the Villa is at nr. 45.) in front of his wife and his grandniece. Some sources suggest these were disgruntled deserters who blamed Tisza for having started the war. Subsequently, Mihály Károlyi's government initiated an investigation but the identity of the killers was not confirmed at that time, however, family members had identified individuals that they said were the killers. In the trial that followed the fall of the Communist regime and ended on 6 October 1921, Judge István Gadó established the guilt of Pál Kéri, who was exchanged with the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
; József Pogány, aka ''John Pepper'', who fled to Vienna, then Moscow and the USA; István Dobó; Tivadar Horváth Sanovics, who also fled; Sándor Hüttner, who died in a prison hospital in 1923; and Tibor Sztanykovszky, who was the only one to serve his 18-year sentence, being released in 1938.
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
, Austrian neurologist – who knew both politicians personally, wrote about the assassination of István Tisza and the appointment of Mihály Károlyi as new prime minister of Hungary:


Personal life

He married his first degree cousin, Ilona Tisza de Borosjenő. They had two children together. * István (1886–1918) * Juliska (1888-1894) His son, István died of
Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case wa ...
on 5 November 1918, five days after the death of the father. Tisza was a "champion duellist" who "had fought more duels than any man in Europe and had never once been seriously wounded". Having been taught by "the best masters in Germany, France and Italy", he was equally adept with sword or pistol, despite (by 1913) having had a cataract operation on one of his eyes and wearing "think horn-rimmed spectacles". In January 1913, he fought Mihály Károlyi in a 34-bout duel with cavalry sabres which lasted an hour until Tisza cut Károlyi's arm and the seconds ended the duel. A week later he fought Aladár Széchenyi, again with sabres - the duel lasted one bout, ending with Tisza wounding Széchenyi with "a long cut across the head". On about 20 August 1913, Tisza fought György Pallavacini (son-in-law and supporter of Opposition leader
Gyula Andrássy Count Gyula Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka (8 March 1823 – 18 February 1890) was a Hungarian statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary (1867–1871) and subsequently as Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (1871– ...
) at a Budapest fencing school in a duel with "heavy cavalry sabres" and "only slight protection of the body was allowed". After nine bouts, both duellists were bleeding from cuts to their foreheads, and the seconds declared both principals unable to continue - " e two men shook hands, then embraced, kissing each other on both cheeks, and declared themselves reconciled."


Honors

A István Tisza postage stamp was issued by Hungary on 1 July 1932 in the ''Famous Hungarians'' series.


Orders and decorations

* : Commander Grand Cross of the Order of Vasa, ''1904'' * : Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stephen, ''1912''; in Diamonds, ''1916''


Works and Publications


Historical Studies

- About Barras' memoirs
- From Sadowa to Sedan
- Wertheimer's Andrássy
- European cruise in the 17th century
- A few more words about Benedict's tragedy
- Historical materialism in the Balkans


Electoral Studies

-Preface to the volume about the political franchise
-The Austrian election
-The Austrian House of Representatives
-The result of the German election
-Hieronymi on the political franchise
-Electoral Reform and Industrial Workers
-On the verge of electoral reform
-General suffrage and the dynasty


Economics

-Theory of tax evasion (1882)
-Hungarian agricultural policy (1883) -The Agricultural Question (1887)
-American competition on the European wheat market (1888)
-Sorting of our currency (1890)
-About the Budget of 1890 (1890)
-The Budget of 1891 (1890)
-The Budget of 1892 (1892)
-Currency Exchange & Gold Pricing (1893)
-Gábor Baross and his system (1894)
-A few more words about Baross's railway policy (1894)
-Our export on the Austrian railways and the customs union
-About the inflation
-20,000 crowns


Other studies and dissertations

-Public status of Rijeka (1883)
-Once again on the public law status of Rijeka (1883)
-The Fight for Parliamentarism: Speeches by Count István Tisza (1904)
-Gyula Andrássy on art
-Agnosticism
-About Károly Hieronymi
-Austrian work on the 67th anniversary of the Compromise
-Pietreich on Protective Law
-Compulsory insurance and local government
-Crisis of the British House of Lords
-One word or two about parliamentarianism
-Nation and society
-Gyula Wlassics in the 1867: XII. t.-c. legal nature
-A few words in response to Ödön Polner
-A little browsing in the field of English parliamentarism
-A little controversy
-Notice to the article by Mihály Réz
-Approach of Austrian Germans
-Nationalization and local government
-The impact of war on the nation


See also

*
Austro-Hungarian entry into World War I On 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Within days, long-standing mobilization plans went into effect to initiate invasions or guard against them and Russia, France and Britain stood arrayed against Austria and Germany in what a ...


Notes


References

*Deák, Istvan "The Decline and Fall of Habsburg Hungary, 1914–18" in ''Hungary in Revolution'' edited by Ivan Volgyes (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1971) pages 10–30 from . *Menczer, Béla "Bela Kun and the Hungarian Revolution of 1919"''History Today'' Volume XIX, Issue #5, May 1969, pages 299–309. *Vermes, Gábor. "The October Revolution in Hungary" ''Hungary in Revolution'' edited by Ivan Volgyes (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1971) pages 31–60. * Vermes, Gábor.. ''István Tisza: the liberal vision and conservative statecraft of a Magyar nationalist'' (East European Monographs, 1985).


Further reading

* Hitchins, Keith. "The Nationality Problem in Hungary: Istvan Tisza and the Rumanian National Party, 1910-1914." ''Journal of Modern History'' 53.4 (1981): 619–651
online
* Matthaei, Louise E. "Light on Austria's War Guilt: Analysis of the New Red Book" ''Current History'' 12#3 (June, 1920), pp. 535–54
online
focus on Tisza. * Poloskei, F. "Istvan Tisza's Policy toward the Romanian Nationalities on the Eve of World War 1", ''Acta Historica: Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae'' 18 (1972). * Ress, Imre. "István Tisza and Austria–Hungary’s Balkan Policy." in ''Bulgaria and Hungary in the First World War: A View from the 21st Century'' ed by Gábor Demeter et al. (2020) pp. 133+
online
* Vermes, Gabor ''István Tisza: The Liberal Vision and Conservative Statecraft of a Magyar Nationalist'' (Columbia University Press, 1986);
online review
* Williamson, Samuel R. ''Austria-Hungary and the origins of the First World War'' (Macmillan International Higher Education, 1990).


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tisza, Istvan 1861 births 1918 deaths 1918 murders in Hungary Assassinated politicians Deaths by firearm in Hungary Politicians from Budapest Prime Ministers of Hungary Speakers of the House of Representatives of Hungary Hungarian Calvinist and Reformed Christians Istvan, Tisza Hungarian Interior Ministers Foreign ministers of Hungary Ministers of Croatian Affairs of Hungary Children of prime ministers of Hungary Hungarian monarchists Hungarian anti-communists Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Grand Crosses of the Order of Vasa Male murder victims Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Assassinated Hungarian people