Hongarije en de Nederlandse schermdiplomatie na de Eerste Wereldoorlog

Hungary and Dutch fencing diplomacy after the First World War

In the restoration of Hungarian sovereignty after the First World War, Hungarian officers of the Austro-Hungarian Army (K. und k. Army) played an important role. They were generally trained at the Austro-Hungarian Military Academy, the Theresianum in Wiener-Neustadt, Austria, where they were required to participate in a course to become instructors of military fencing and gymnastics. These military fencers made a significant contribution to the reconstruction of the Hungarian state institutions after the First World War. This article argues that a delegation of Dutch military fencers led by one the most prominent fencers of his time, Adriaan Egbertus Willem ‘Arie’ de Jong (1882-1966) established close contact with the Hungarian fencing elite in the years after the First World War and that these fencing contacts were part of a broader Dutch diplomatic offensive to reinvolve the coalition of the Central Powers and their successor states in European political relations. The fencing activities of Arie de Jong and his team and in the background the sports diplomatic activities of Olympic fencer and sports official George van Rossem (1882-1955) were of decisive importance in restoring Hungary’s position in international sports organizations in postwar Europe.