A collection of essays written in the early 20th century. The volume gathers sharp political and cultural commentaries that scrutinize postwar Hungary and prominent contemporary figures, blending nationalist critique with broader reflections on Europe’s moral drift. Readers should expect forceful polemics about the 1918–1919 upheavals, portraits of politicians and thinkers, and comparative meditations on violence, justice, and civilization. The opening of the volume launches with a blistering attack on Károlyi Mihály’s memoirs, portraying them as self-justifying propaganda and blaming Károlyi and Jászi Oszkár for ideological blindness, the disarmament of Hungary, and the ensuing national calamities. It argues that their anti‑national radicalism and misplaced faith in the Entente undermined the country while scorning traditional institutions. The next essays turn to Gandhi via Romain Rolland’s portrait, praising Gandhi’s moral authority, non‑violence, and non‑cooperation, contrasting them with Europe’s militaristic hypocrisy and the British repression in India. Herczeg then applies this critique to Europe’s spiritual decay, debating violence versus non‑violence and concluding that while non‑violence is nobler and tactically potent, nations may still be driven to force in self‑defense. The section closes by beginning a reading of H. G. Wells’s William Clissold, using its disenchanted narrator to indict the failure of postwar “reconstruction” and the hollowness of institutions like monarchy, parliament, and army in a civilization that has not learned to organize a humane life.
