Gusztáv Gratz (30 March 1875 in Gölnicbánya – 21 November 1946 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

) was a Hungarian politician, who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

in 1921. He was a correspondent member of the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

. Gratz published in the ''Huszadik Század'' and the ''Társadalomtudományi Társaság'' newspapers. He was a representative in the National Assembly from 1906. He also served as managing director of the

National Association of Manufacturers The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is an advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C., with additional offices across the United States. It is the nation's largest manufacturing industrial trade association, representing 14,000 s ...

(GYOSZ). In 1917 he was appointed Minister of Finance in Móric Esterházy's cabinet. He took part in the peace negotiations' economical parts during the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...

and Treaty of Bucharest. From 22 November 1919 he was the Hungarian ambassador to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. After he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs until Charles I of Austria's attempts to retake the throne of Hungary. As legitimist politician Gratz participated in the planning of the second coup. That's why he was imprisoned for a short time. Gratz pursued a journalism, historian's and economic activity then.

Biography

He was born in a Hungarian and German-speaking German

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

pastor's family who had moved from northwest Hungary in the

Zips Zips (also ''Siggies'' or ''Geeps'') is a slang term in the United States that was especially in use in the mid-20th century. It was often used as a derogatory slur by Italian-American mobsters in reference to newer immigrant Sicilian mafiosi. ...

, attended the Saxon School in Igló, then, after his father accepted the invitation of the

Kolozsvár Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

(Cluj) Protestant community, and the family moved to Kolozsvár, the Unitarian Upper School in Kolozsvár, for one year, and the Saxon School in Beszterce. After graduation he studied law at the Universities of Kolozsvár and

and completed his studies in 1898. From 1896 he was an employee of the Pester Lloyd, a correspondent of the Cologne Gazette from 1898, while Budapest Rapporteur of the

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

newspaper

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

in 1906, he joined the

Neue Freie Presse ''Neue Freie Presse'' ("New Free Press") was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864 after the staff had split from the newspaper ''Die Presse''. It ...

. In 1900 he co-founded the magazine ''Huszadik Század'' (Twentieth Century), for which he drew up in 1903 as editor. Gratz, founded in 1901 and his peers the Társadalomtudományi Társaság (Sociological Society). The journal and the society set themselves the goal of eliminating the backward social conditions in Hungary and to advocate for agricultural reform and to the spread of the franchise. But soon differences arose between the conservative and radical elements. 1903 Gratz came from the editorial board from 1906 and broke with the radical circle of the Society for Sociology. In 1906 he acquired the parliamentary seat of the constituency Újegyház in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, and was until the collapse in 1918, worked in the group of deputies of the

Transylvanian Saxons The Transylvanian Saxons (; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen'' or simply ''Soxen'', singularly ''Sox'' or ''Soax''; Transylvanian Landler dialect, Transylvanian Landler: ''Soxn'' or ''Soxisch''; ; seldom ''sa ...

. From 1912 he held the post of executive director of the National Association of Hungarian Industrialists (Országos Gyáriparosok Szövetsége). During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was a member of several central economic war. As a liberal economist, he sat down firmly committed to the idea of an economic alliance between the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...

and the

Austro-Hungarian Monarchy Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. In 1917 Gratz was appointed chief of the trade section in the Common Foreign Ministry. From June to September 1917 he held the office of the Hungarian Finance Minister, in turn, he served as section chief of the monarchy from the trade negotiations at

Brest-Litovsk Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as the admini ...

and

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, which won him great political prestige. After the October Revolution of 1918 in Hungary, he went to Vienna and joined the Hungarian anti-Bolshevik Committee. From November 1919 to January 1921 he was the Hungarian ambassador in Vienna, after which he took until April 1921 the post of Hungarian foreign minister. He advocated the restoration of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

and the cooperation of the successor states of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. As a staunch Legitimist 1921 he took on two unsuccessful attempts of Charles I return as an active part as the Emperor of Austria and King Charles IV of Hungary, so he was arrested after the king had to leave the country forever. Although it was after ten weeks in prison again set free, and it was brought against the participants in the restoration trial process for the crime of rebellion never came to a verdict, the unfortunate outcome of the second return attempt of King Charles disruption meant in his political career. Connection to the political and public life he had not lost even after that, he regularly wrote editorials for the Pester Lloyd and took part in the work of the International Chamber of Commerce. He worked for several industrial enterprises that were interested in Hungarian. From the mid-1920s on, he was chairman or board member of more than 40 banks and industrial companies. In 1924 he became chairman of the German Adult Education Association Ungarländischen (UDV), where he remained until 1938. Executive Vice President of the UDV was Jakab Bleyer, the real guiding spirit of the Germans in Hungary, but did not have the confidence of the Hungarian government. The election as President of Gratz was regarded as his political rehabilitation. The association depended entirely upon the Hungarian government. He viewed his task at the head of the association in the mediation between the government and the German minority in Hungary. In this sense, he came for mother tongue teaching and the educational possibilities of the German minority in Hungary, was at war but any attempt by the Germans in Hungary and political organization, which from the mid-1930s to harsh contrasts between him and the Volkstumsgedanken heated young generation led. When the Hungarian government in 1938 the ethnic German direction with the approval of the National Association of Germans in Hungary was acceptable, he resigned from the top of the UDV. From 1926 he was deputy who initially friendly to the government, then from 1936 with a mandate of the Civil Freedom Party. He complained in the House of Representatives and his articles in the anti-liberal and anti-democratic tendencies of his time. In June 1939 he became chief editor of the liberal daily paper Pesti Napló. In the last years of the war he was a secret commission to make preparations for the future peace conference, be consulted. In April 1944 (after the occupation of Hungary by the Third Reich in March 1944) he was deported by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

to a concentration camp Mauthausen. After his release in July 1944, he lived first in one of his daughters in Sulz in Vienna, then in Budapest. From 1925 he edited the Hungarian Economic Yearbook, which provided information on the situation of the Hungarian economy, but also brought a historical and political contributions. It appeared in 1939 in abridged form in English (The Hungarian Economic Yearbook). In three volumes, appeared his great historical work of 1934–35, in which he – Fabricated history of dualism and the revolutions from 1918 to 1920 – mostly political. The fourth volume, which deals with the inter-war period, has been published only in 2001. In recognition of his journalistic activities and history chose him in 1941 the

as a corresponding member.

Publications

* Nemzetközi jog (Völkerrecht). Budapest, 1899. * Alkotmánypolitika (Verfassungspolitik). Budapest-Pozsony, 1900. * Az általános választójog és Tisza István gróf. (Das allgemeine Wahlrecht und Graf Stefan Tisza). Budapest, 1905. * Általános választójog és nemzeti politika (Allgemeines Wahlrecht und nationale Politik). Budapest, 1905. * Az általános választójog szociológiai szempontból (Das allgemeine Wahlrecht in soziologischer Hinsicht). Budapest, 1906. * A bolsevizmus Magyarországon (Der Bolschewismus in Ungarn). (Hrsg. und Einf. von Gustav Gratz). Budapest, 1921. * Politikai és gazdasági liberalizmus (Politischer und wirtschaftlicher Liberalismus) Budapest, 1922. * Die Äussere Wirtschaftspolitik Österreich-Ungarns. Mitteleuropäische Pläne. (zusammen mit Richard Schüller). Vienna – New Haven, 1925. * Európai külpolitika (Europäische Außenpolitik). Budapest, 1929. * Der wirtschaftliche Zusammenbruch Österreich-Ungarns. Die Tragödie der Erschöpfung (zusammen mit Richard Schüller). Vienna – New Haven 1930. * Zur Frage der Deutsch-Österreichischen Zollunion. Budapest, 1931. * A dualizmus kora. Magyarország története 1867–1918 I-II. (Die Zeit des Dualismus I.-II. Geschichte Ungarns 1967–1918). Budapest 1934. * A forradalmak kora. Magyarország története 1918–1920 (Die Zeit der Revolutionen. Geschichte Ungarns 1918–1920). Budapest 1935. * Deutschungarische Probleme. Budapest 1938. * Magyarország a két háború között (Ungarn zwischen den beiden Kriegen). Budapest 2001. * Augenzeuge dreier Epochen. Die Memoiren des ungarischen Außenministers Gustav Gratz 1875–1945. Herausgegeben von Vince Paál und Gerhard Seewann. (Südosteuropäische Arbeiten 137) Münich 2009, Verlag Oldenbourg.

References

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
* Günter Schödl: ''Trianon-Ungarn und die deutsche Minderheitenpolitik. Zu den "Lebenserinnerungen" von Gustav Gratz''. In: Südostdeutsches Archiv XXVI./XXVII. Band 139–151. * Günter Schödl: ''Ungarische Politik jenseits von Nationalstaat und Nationalismus: Gustav Gratz (1875–1946)''. In: Günter Schödl: ''Formen und Grenzen des Nationalen. Beiträge zu internationaler Integration und Nationalismus im östlichen Europa''. Erlangen 1990, 137–188. * György Gyarmati: ''Gratz Gusztáv a Monarchia felosztásának következményeiről (Gustav Gratz über die Folgen der Aufteilung der Monarchie)'' In: Történelmi Szemle, 1995/1. 83–115. * Vince Paál: ''Utoszó achwort' In: Gratz Gusztáv: ''Magyarország a két háború között (Ungarn zwischen den beiden Kriegen)''. Budapest 2001, 355–389. * Vince Paál: ''Gustav Gratz und die Geschichtsschreibung.'' In: Hin zu neuen Zielen. 2000 Begegnungen. (Herausgegeben von Ferenc Glatz) Budapest 2001, 289–299. * Vince Paál: ''Nationale Identität und Minderheitenpolitik: Gustav Gratz''. In: "das gueth von alten Lern" Jugend–Festschrift für Karl Manherz zum 60. Geburtstag. (Herausgegeben von Ulrich Langanke.) Budapest 2002, 259–272. * Vince Paál: ''Gustav Gratz: Ein kaum bekannter Ungarndeutscher''. In: Deutscher Kalender 2003. Jahrbuch der Ungarndeutschen. Budapest 2002, 216–220. * Vince Paál: ''Kontrahenten oder Weggefährten? Jakob Bleyer und Gustav Gratz an der Spitze des Ungarländischen Deutschen Volksbildungsvereins''. In: Jakob Bleyer als Volkstumspolitiker. Akten der Jakob-Bleyer-Gesellschaft-Tagung vom 5. Dezember 2003. Budapest 2004, 39–58. * Einleitung. In: ''Augenzeuge dreier Epochen. Die Memoiren des ungarischen Außenministers Gustav Gratz 1875–1945.'' Herausgegeben von Vince Paál und Gerhard Seewann. (Südosteuropäische Arbeiten 137) München 2009, R. Oldenbourg Verlag. 1–18. *Vince Paál: A politika és a publicisztika vonzásában. Gratz Gusztáv pályafutása. Budapest, Wolters Kluwer, 2018. 481 p. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gratz, Gusztav 1875 births 1946 deaths People from Gelnica People from the Kingdom of Hungary Carpathian German people Hungarian-German people Hungarian Lutherans National Constitution Party politicians National Party of Work politicians Civic Freedom Party politicians Ministers of foreign affairs of Hungary Finance ministers of Hungary Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1906–1910) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1910–1918) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1926–1931) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1931–1935) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1935–1939) Members of the House of Representatives of Hungary (1939–1944) Hungarian monarchists Hungarian journalists