The study examines classroom materials used in teaching the economy curriculum and classes of agricultural subjects in elementary schools at the end of the nineteenth century. First, it addresses the challenges which Hungary, particularly its rural society, faced following the dissolution of the feudal land tenure system. I introduce the concept of “correct proportions” employed by agricultural experts of the era, which designated the duties across all those dimensions of agriculture that these professionals deemed essential for comprehensive economic and social development. By detailing the post-1848 legal frameworks for elementary education, the second part of the study traces how and when agricultural knowledge was integrated into the curriculum and what content the educators wished to deliver to the students. Lastly, the final section presents the curriculum itself, analysing the format, structure, and content of textbooks used in elementary agricultural education. The study uncovers the methods and content used to convey the complex concept of „correct proportions” to schoolchildren.

In the past few decades Hungarian research into the history of civic societies and associations have contributed a great deal to our understanding of the spread of different types of societies and their social significance. Less was said about their potential to fulfil their planned initiatives, the kind of conflicts they faced during their work, the support they could rely on, and the forms of resistance that hampered their operation. The present study, thus, focuses on conflicts. The main question deals with the ways in which Hungarian agricultural associations were able (or unable) to act as the civil relief organisation at the time of the most severe humanitarian crisis of the 1860s, the draught and famine on the Great Plain. As demonstrated in the present case study, the poverty drives of the Zala County Agricultural Associations and their difficulties reveal the contemporary civic society’s potential for implementation within the restricted perimeters of civic action in the Interim Period. Upon a closer examination of the struggles between the association and the government, it becomes clear that despite its reservations about civil initiatives in general, in time of crisis the government could rely on their support to a great extent – perhaps because it was the only thing to be done to achieve anything at all.

Nincs absztrakt.

Nincs absztrakt.

By examining the first period of the Zala County Economic Association (1858–1867), this study takes a look at the following statement formulated around the turn of the century: “admittedly, the purpose of early economic associations is to advance agriculture, however their working manifests in political debates.” The founding of the Zala County Economic Association occurred within the first wave of economic association formations (in 1861), with its leadership coming from among members of the county aristocracy and landed gentry, and enjoying the support of the county joint tenants and the economic intelligentsia. This study arrives at the careful questioning of the above quotation by introducing how the association and its membership worked. The examination of the few data available has helped identify the double nature of membership. Accordingly, the core of the association was made up by the old gentry of the county: they not only took the main roles in the public administration and the political life of the county, but also occupied the leading positions within the association. Regular members only received positions next to them, in the administrative leadership of the association. However, reports of the working of the association, moreover both the county and the state economic press testify that the association has neither been the asylum of those banished from politics, nor was it the cave of the political opposition, they rather suggest that its general activity concentrated on the raising of county economy and the successful possible facing with new challenges.