498 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Erdelyi 



NATIVE WOMEN IN A MAGYAR VILLAGE 



Instead of seeking to amalgamate the peoples of alien blood residing within the confines 

 of their country, the Magyars pursued the unwise policy of treating all persons not of their 

 own kin as subject races, upon whom most of the taxes were levied. As a result, instead of 

 being a melting pot, Hungary became a retort, confining racial elements explosively antag- 

 onistic one toward the other (see page 497). 



Magyars as against 5,380,000 various Slavs, 

 2,949,000 Rumanians, 2,037,000 Germans, 275.000 

 Gypsies, and 195,000 members of other races. 



A glance at the map reveals how ominous are 

 the racial influences surrounding the Magyars. 

 West, there are the Germans; also, as the pink 

 enclaves on the map indicate, numerous solid 

 German communities in the very heart of the 

 Magyars; north, the Czecho-Slovaks ; east, the 

 Rumanians; south, the Jugo-Slavs — all these 



like magnets attracting those of their kin still 

 under Magyar rule. 



Nor is the material outlook more reassuring. 

 The Magyar nobles are land-poor, while the 

 Germans and Jews are the chief employers of 

 labor, carry on the trade, and, the Jews espe- 

 cially, control the press. 



The Magyars are, with the exception of the 

 Finns, the only thoroughly Europeanized Finno- 

 Ugrian people. 



