CHANGES IN PUBLIC LAW III.
CHURCH – STATE – EDUCATION – MINORITIES:
THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION REGARDING THE
MODERNIZATION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STATE AND CHURCHES
Dr. Patrícia Dominika Niklai
University of Pécs
Faculty of Law
QUESTIONS ON THE REGULATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN 1848: THE
PUBLIC EDUCATION BILL OF JÓZSEF EÖTVÖS
❖Diversity of denominations and nationalities
❖Compulsory education between the ages of 6 and 12
❖Religious education by the denomination, not
mandatory subject
❖Direction and supervision: state competence
❖Denominational schools + common schools
maintained by municipialities/state
❖Language of education?
❖Majority (nationality) population
❖Hungarian
❖Accepted by representatives, the upper house
postponed its discussion
NEOABSOLUTIST ERA AND THE AUSTRIAN CONCORDAT OF 1855 FROM
THE ASPECT OF DENOMINATIONAL- AND STATE SCHOOLS
❖Important role of the Roman Catholic Church
❖Concordat between Kaiser Franz Joseph I. and Pope Pius IX.
❖Enacted in the form of a Patent (5th of November 1855)
❖Special international treaty regulating the relationship between the state
and the Roman Catholic Church
❖Privileged position within the state and strong influence on education to the
Roman Catholic Church
❖The state abolished its neutrality towards denominations
❖Concordat schools („Konkordatschule”)
❖Prevented the modernization of the public education system
❖Secured the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, both against the
other denominations and against the supporters of secular education
NEOABSOLUTIST ERA AND THE AUSTRIAN CONCORDAT OF 1855 FROM
THE ASPECT OF DENOMINATIONAL- AND STATE SCHOOLS
❖Bishops’ right to supervise the education of Roman Catholic youth
in both public and non-public schools (Art. V)
❖Determination of books, censorship over secular books (Art. IX)
❖Bishops’ right to supervise the religious education (Art. VI)
❖Teachers’ faith and morals must be immaculate (Art. VIII)
❖Superintendents of schools appointed by the monarch, nominated
by bishops (Art. VIII)
❖Religious and educational funds were the property of the Church
by origin, they could only be used for religious purposes (Art.
XXXI)
❖Franz Joseph would contribute to the fund ’as in the past, so in the
future’
THE HUNGARIAN AND AUSTRIAN PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL ACTS OF THE
AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN MONARCHY
❖Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867
❖Common affairs, but Hungary could decide on churches and education
through its own authorities, with the consent of the monarch
❖Ministry of Religion and Public Education was re-established: József
Eötvös and Leopold Hasner
❖Austrian Public Education Act 1869 https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-
content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=1869&page=311&size=45
❖December Constitution of 1867 (Dezemberverfassung)
https://www.verfassungen.at/index.htm
❖May Laws of 1868 (Maigesetze) https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-
content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=18680004&seite=00000097
HUNGARIAN ACT XXXVIII OF 1868 ON PUBLIC EDUCATION
❖‘no one can fairly doubt that the raising and thus the education of the
people is one of the most beautiful tasks of every church’
❖Complementary role of the state in education
❖Compulsory schooling (ages 6-12/15: 6 years of daily
elementary school + 3 years of repeating school)
❖Parents and guardians have the freedom to raise their children at home,
or in private and public institutes of any religion, as well as in other
communities’ educational establishments (6. §)
HUNGARIAN ACT XXXVIII OF 1868 ON PUBLIC EDUCATION
❖Public education institutes can be established and maintained by
denominations, associations and individuals, municipalities and
the state (10. §)
❖Conditions:
❖Determination of the maximum number of
children taught by the teacher
❖Separate teaching of girls and boys
❖Teacher's qualification requirements
❖Compliance with the safety rules of school
buildings
❖Subjects
HUNGARIAN ACT XXXVIII OF 1868 ON PUBLIC EDUCATION
❖State supervision - royal school inspectors
❖Municipial schools
❖Where there is no denominational school (23-24. §§)
❖Common educational institutions
❖ Without a confessional difference
❖Based on the decision of the municipiality or the denomination (25-26. §§)
❖They can provide more suitable conditions with common force
❖ State aid
❖State schools as an additional option: ’The Minister of Public Education shall have the right and
authority to establish, wherever he may consider it necessary, at purely public expense, such institutions of public
education as local circumstances may require’ (80. §)
ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMON STATE SCHOOLS AT THE END OF THE 19TH
CENTURY
❖Gyula Wlassics, minister of religion and public education:
’Only in such places schools will be organized, where it is culturally
and nationally necessary, and where the local interests allow it to be
hoped that the state school will be sustainable and successful.’
❖Denominational schools remained dominant
❖State schools were established in Transylvania and Upper
Hungary - Hungarianisation of the nationalities
❖Denominational schools provided protection for
nationalities to preserve their identity
THE HUNGARIAN SOVIET REPUBLIC’S EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE INFLUENCE
OF THE CHURCHES ON EDUCATION
❖Constitution of the Hungarian Soviet Republic: The real freedom of
conscience of the workers is protected by the Soviet Republic by completely
separating the church from the state, the school from the church. (11. §)
❖Decree of the Revolutionary Governing Council: The Hungarian Soviet
Republic considers education a state task. In comparison, the Soviet Republic
takes over all non-state educational institutions. All buildings and movable
property used for the purposes of the institutions become public property on the
basis of this decree of the Governing Council.
❖Commissariat for Public Education: the management of municipal,
denominational, association and private elementary schools is taken over by the
Soviet Republic; denominational teachers become secular persons
❖County councils' education departments: abolition of religious education;
ban objects, pictures and statues with religious content or purpose from schools
THE HUNGARIAN SOVIET REPUBLIC’S EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE INFLUENCE
OF THE CHURCHES ON EDUCATION
❖Investigation of teachers
❖It is necessary to investigate the ’political conduct and agitational
activities of teachers under the former soviet system’
❖Károly Huszár, Minister of Religion and Public Education
❖Schools are to be returned immediately to their former
owners
❖Dissolved the educational bodies acting on behalf of the
Revolutionary Governing Council
❖Annulled the appointments of teachers
❖Restored the previous bodies
❖Reinstated the former teachers
IDEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND CULTURAL POLICY IN THE HORTHY-ERA:
KUNÓ KLEBELSBERG AND BÁLINT HÓMAN
❖Ministers of Religion and Public Education in the
Horthy-era (1920–1944)
❖1919. XI. 24. – 1920. XII. 16. Haller István
❖1920. XII.16. – 1922. VI. 16.Vass József
❖1922. VI.16. – 1931. VIII. 24. Klebelsberg Kunó
❖1931. VIII. 24. – 1931. XII. 16. Ernszt Sándor
❖1931. XII. 16 – 1932. X. 1. Karafiáth Jenö
❖1932. X. 1. – 1938. V. 14. Hóman Bálint
❖1938. V. 14 – 1939. II. 16. Teleki Pál gróf
❖1939. XI. 16. – 1942. VII. 3. Hóman Bálint
❖1942. VII. 3. – 1944. III. 22. Szinyei Merse Jenő
The Hungarian Creed
‚I believe in one God, I believe in
one homeland, I believe in one
divine eternal truth, I believe in
the rise of Hungary, amen.’
This short poem became an
unofficial national creed of
Hungary in the Horthy-era, it
emphasized the mood of the
nation after the losses of
Trianon.
❖Essence of cultural supremacy: Hungary
could strengthen its position towards the
surrounding nations by raising the
standard of culture; it is on a higher
cultural and intellectual level than the
neighbour countries
❖Education of children played an
important role in the foundation of the
ideology
IDEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND CULTURAL POLICY IN THE HORTHY-ERA:
KUNÓ KLEBELSBERG AND BÁLINT HÓMAN
❖Christian-national ideology and the national education relied on the
results of language policy (Hungarianisation)
❖Klebelsberg started the building of elementary schools based on the
concept of cultural supremacy
❖‘Before the war the government wanted to achieve primarily national goals with the
elementary schools, and therefore the state elementary schools in particular were
predominantly organised in the now separated area.’
❖6.241 public schools, of which 1.724 maintained by state and
municipalities, 4.517 by denominations
❖State supported public education institutions regardless of the nature
of the school
❖‘the nurturing of the religious and moral powers of the nation is primarily entrusted
to the hands of our historic churches.’
IDEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND CULTURAL POLICY IN THE HORTHY-ERA:
KUNÓ KLEBELSBERG AND BÁLINT HÓMAN
❖ ‘The general compulsory education will remain a mere theoretical requirement until we
make it possible for everyone to fulfil their compulsory education by establishing schools.
And here’s the catch. Today, our school network is still so incomplete that it is physically
impossible for many parents to send their children to school. There are two reasons for
this, one is our previous public education policy, and the other is the particular tendency
of the Hungarian nation to settle. Hungary was a nation state, almost half of its
population consisted of foreign-speaking citizens. The Hungarianization of these was
not the goal of the official Hungarian cultural policy, but the effort to give our nonHungarian
compatriots the opportunity to learn the state language did seem completely
legitimate. In this way, a whole network of public schools was built up in the ethnic
regions, while the Hungarian language area was rather ignored. As a result of the
Treaty of Trianon, we also lost most of our public schools with the ethnic regions, and
now we stand here with pure Hungarian areas which have been ignored regarding public
schools.’
IDEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND CULTURAL POLICY IN THE HORTHY-ERA:
KUNÓ KLEBELSBERG AND BÁLINT HÓMAN
❖Act VII of 1926 on the establishment and maintenance of village schools
❖‘primarily for the agricultural population, especially for the children of the farm residents of the Alföld,
schools will be established and (classrooms and teachers’ apartments) will be built.’
❖‘in an area (district) with a radius of at least one and a half kilometres and at most four kilometres,
scattered or concentrated, based on the average of the last three years, at least 20 families or 30 daily
compulsory school children live and there is no other school within the district capable of accommodating all
compulsory school children.’
❖3,500 new classrooms
❖1500 teachers’ apartments
IDEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND CULTURAL POLICY IN THE HORTHY-ERA:
KUNÓ KLEBELSBERG AND BÁLINT HÓMAN
❖ The question of assimilation and integration appeared regarding Jews and
certain nationalities as well
❖Act VI of 1935 on the administration of public education
❖’ensuring the unity of national culture and education, enforcing
comprehensive and universal principles of national education in all types of
schools, so that the development of national life can be governed in the right
direction and the nation can emerge from the now unfortunate economic,
social, political and the underlying spiritual crisis’
❖Royal district directors directly under the minister
❖Control of the teaching
❖Ideological influence: ‘the idea of nursing in education needs to be more
highlighted than it has been in recent decades, especially in our youth’
IDEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND CULTURAL POLICY IN THE HORTHY-ERA:
KUNÓ KLEBELSBERG AND BÁLINT HÓMAN
❖Unified education system: 11.000/1935 prime ministerial decree
❖Former A, B, and C type schools were abolished
❖Hungarian language and national studies subjects, physical
education – Hungarian
❖Other subjects – the children’s mother language
❖Full native language education: 700/1941 prime ministerial
decree
❖Response to the demands of minorities
❖Subjects that were previously taught in Hungarian had to
be taught in the native language of the children
❖Act XX of 1940 on schooling obligation and eight-grade
elementary school
IDEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND CULTURAL POLICY IN THE HORTHY-ERA:
KUNÓ KLEBELSBERG AND BÁLINT HÓMAN
Thank you for your attention!