Berend T. Iván: The Hungarian manufacturing industry, its place in Europe 1900-1938 - Studia historica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 27. (Budapest, 1960)
The beginnings of the Hungarian manufacturing industry date back to the first half of the 19th century; a few decades before the Revolution and War of Independence of 1848—49, besides a comparatively large number of manufactories, also a few big plants using machine power were to be found in Hungary. Yet, in spite of these beginnings, the manufacturing industry made no advances to speak of even after 1848—49. The revolution of 1848, by ending feudalism and abolishing serfdom, had created the basic conditions of Hungary’s capitalist industrialization; however, since the revolution had remained incomplete, and as the War of Independence had been lost, the ensuing suppression by Austrian absolutism as also the considerable feudal survivals proved a strong barrier in the way of social and economic progress. The Austro—Hungarian Monarchy, a product of the so-called Compromise of 1867, offered somewhat more favourable conditions for the development of the manufacturing industry. Domestic capital was beginning to accumulate from that time and a growing interest was observable on the part of foreign (mostly Austrian) capital. This influx of capital, although devoted in the first line to the establishment of a modern credit system and the construction of railway-lines, nevertheless helped to develop the manufacturing industry by stimulating capitalist development in general. At the same time, the very structure of the Dual Monarchy kept Hungary’s industrialization within rather narrow limits: the absence of independent statehood and the existence of a common customs area with Austria exposed the Hungarian market to devastating competition from the more advanced Austrian manufacturing industry; and, since these circumstances helped to consolidate the political and economic power of the large landowners, the capital accumulating within the country served a capitalist development of the agriculture before all. These limiting factors were only partially counterbalanced by the fact that, the power of the Hungarian ruling classes over the national minorities (who