THE EARLY DECADES OF THE HUNGARIAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY: GOALS AND INTERNATIONAL LINKS

Abstract

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In many European countries, geography was regarded as an important ‘imperial science’ in the late 19^th century, and influential geographical societies contributed to the empire-building efforts. The Hungarian Geographical Society, however, was more connected to a nation-building mission in the decades after its foundation (1872), and seeking recognition of Hungary among the European nations had always been a priority of the society. Imperial thinking became more prevalent around the turn of the century, but even then, Hungarian geographers emphasised the special Hungarian interests that were different from the geopolitical aims of the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This paper examines the Hungarian Geographical Society in international comparative context. The Hungarian society belonged to the middle-sized geogra- phical societies in terms of its membership, income, and financial reliance on state subsidies, which corresponded the semi-peripheral position of Hungary.