Múltunk – politikatörténeti folyóirat 48. (Budapest, 2003)
2. szám - REZÜMÉK
mediate between his friend, Foreign Minister Rajk and the French catholics unsuccessfully. He already decided to resign at that time but he stayed on upon the request of Rajk. When Rajk himself was arrested, he resigned in protest and lived in France until his death. One of the strenghths of the essay is that besides using Károlyi's private archive and the the archives of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the author has also made use of the archives of the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Political Police, as well as those of the Quai d'Orsay and the Foreign Office. Csaba Lévai Progressism and Relativism: Carl Lotus Becker and the American „Relativistic " History Writing Carl L. Becker (1873-1945) was one of the most influential American historians of the first part of the XXth century. Between the two world wars he was considered as one of the leading theorists of historical relativism in the United States. Before World War I he was known in the profession as the author of progressive studies, especially a monograph about New York politics in the American Revolution. It is not very well known at the same time that he started to develop the fundamental elements of his relativist theory before 1914. In 1910 he published a study in which he questioned even the existence of historical facts. The author tries to explore the sources of Becker's relativism. He examines the relationship of his progressive commitment and his presentist approach. He takes into consideration the possible influence of such prominent American historians and theorists of the turn of the century as Frederick Jackson Turner, James Harvey Robinson, and William James. He also discusses the relationship of Becker to such European thinkers and schools as Benedetto Croce, and the German historiography of the period. He analyses Becker's opinion about the former schools of American historiography, especially the so called „scientific school". He agrees with Hayden White that the theories of Croce did not influence Becker's thought before World War I. Among contemporary German historians Carl Lamprecht clearly influenced the formation of Becker's theory about the „climate of opinion" of different historical periods. Concerning the evolution of his relativism the influence of Turner, Robinson, and pragmatist philosophy proved to be important But neither of them developed such extreme views