Liberty and Socialism

The writings in this volume reveal to English readers a powerful current of thought in Hungary through World War I, illustrating both the diversity of thought in Central Europe and the kinship between eastern and western concern. The contributions discuss the values of socialist transformation in a quickly industrializing, but still heavily agrarian-conservative, society. The contributors apply the ideas of western anarchism, of syndicalism, of unorthodox Marxism, Tolstoyan 'socialism' and different non-Marxist socialist theories to the realities of Hungary. In addition to their contemporary impact, these thinkers influenced such important later figures of international theory and practice as George Lukacs, Karl Mannheim, Oscar Jaszi, and a great number of Bolshevik politicians influential in the shaping of Communist governments in the 1920s.