Jeremiah Smith, jr. and Hungary, 1924–1926: the United States, the League of Nations, and the Financial Reconstruction of Hungary

Abstract

Zoltán Peterecz presents in this monograph the personality and work of Jeremiah Smith, Jr. (1870–1935), the League of Nations Commissioner-General for the 1924 loan to Hungary. He deals also in extenso with the economic and political problems associated with the financial reconstruction of Hungary – both on the domestic and international scene. In his multidimensional presentation, Zoltán Peterecz gives a vivid insight into the official and unofficial trends in the foreign policy of the United States after World War I. The author skilfully interweaves the diplomatic and economic history against the background of international events, and supports the narrative with an impressive body of diverse sources, which include archival materials, contemporary newspaper citations from a number of countries, and an extensive range of secondary sources. The final result is a valuable, well-executed and well-written work that will be welcomed not only by students of the interwar period, but also among non-specialist readers. Zoltán Peterecz was awarded his PhD by the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, in 2010. He specialises in American foreign policy and American-Hungarian relations in the 20th century. He is an Assistant Professor at the Department of American Studies, Eszterházy Károly College, Eger, Hungary.