Eugenics and Nation in Early 20th Century Hungary

‘New eugenics,’ gender and sexuality: a global perspective on reproductive politics and sex education in Cold War Europe

“…The articles presented here are among the first to discuss the resurfacing of eugenics in the postwar period in the field of sex education and reproductive politics in Europe. Existing research on eugenics in the region has so far primarily focused on the first half of the 20 th century (Bucur, 2002;Kund, 2016;Turda, 2007Turda, , 2009Turda, , 2013Turda, , 2014Turda, , 2015Turda & Weindling, 2007). Quine (1996) has revealed how eugenic ideas were interlinked with health, education and welfare measures in the early 20 th century, especially in France and Italy, where eugenicists proved to be receptive to environmentalist arguments on 'modify[ing] nature' through changes in social conditions (p. 67).…”

“…Scholars have drawn attention to the fact that battles about sexual and reproductive matters among the representatives of various state institutions, and social and religious movements have intensified in periods of political and economic change (Gal & Kligman, 2000, p. 21). The establishment of nation states after World War I in the region increased anxieties concerning population quantity and 'quality' (Bucur, 2002;Kund, 2016;Turda, 2007Turda, , 2009Turda, , 2013Turda, , 2014Turda, , 2015Turda & Weindling, 2007). Eugenic thought intertwined increasingly with nationalist and also racist and anti-Semitic ideas from the 1920s onwards, resulting in selective and forced pro-and antinatalist practices that affected different groups of women and men differently (Kund, 2016;Szikra, 2009;Turda, 2007Turda, , 2009Turda, , 2013Turda & Weindling, 2007).…”

Minorities and Eugenic Subcultures in East-Central Europe

“…Between 1900 and 1944, national communities (both minority and majority) in East-Central Europe engaged directly with the basic notion that the nation can and must be eugenically improved [6,7]. This proliferation of eugenic ideas and practices resulted in a number of welfare and family initiatives designated to control, govern and protect the ethnic community, at local, regional and national levels.…”

In Pursuit of Greater Hungary: Eugenic Ideas of Social and Biological Improvement, 1940–1941

“…113 He was president of both the first eugenic committee (Egyesületközi Fajegészségügyi Bizottság), formed in 1914, and its successor, the Society for Eugenics and Population Policy (Magyar Fajegészségügyi és Népesedéspolitikai Társaság), established in 1917. 114 This period is the beginning of Teleki’s long-standing interest in eugenic concepts of social and biological improvement. He never abandoned that interest, as illustrated by his devotion to the Boy Scout Association (Magyar Cserkész Szövetség) 115 and the Hungarian Youth (Fiatal Magyarság) movement.…”