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FOREWORD —o In 2017 the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary organized an international conference entitled National Identity and Modernity 1870-1945 in Latin America — Southern Europe — East Central Europe. The theme of the conference encompassed certain countries of the fringe zones of history during the late modern period in the mentioned three regions. The formation of these national identities was shaped in unique and complex ways by a delayed economic development (as compared to the developed countries), and by the ethnic and regional diversity rooted in these countries’ national history. The political and economic pressures both internal and external influenced and marked the ways of modernization in all three regions between 1870 and 1945. A partial analysis of this complex era and a comparison of the experiences shared within the different regions were the main focus of our conference. Some of our authors did not take part in the conference. Their studies, however, have significantly contributed to having a more comprehensive and proportionate account and understanding of the aforementioned three regions: Maria Elisa Alonso (University of Lorraine, France); Sebastian Hernändez Toledo (Chile, a PhD student in Mexico); Francisco Quiroz (San Marcos University, Lima, Peru); and Izaskun Älvarez Cuartero, (University of Salamanca, Spain). It is our sad duty to pay tribute to Eszter Tarjanyi, a former lecturer at Pazmany Péter Catholic University, who passed away unexpectedly at a young age, shortly after the conference. She is no longer with us, but we are very grateful for her work. The co-editors of the book are my patient and dedicated colleagues, José Antonio Sánchez Román (Complutense University of Madrid), Petra Balaton and Csaba Horvath (Károli Gáspár University, Faculty of Humanities). I would also like to thank Vivien Rapali and Déra Dobos, (both PhD students at Käroli Gaspar University, Faculty of Humanities, the School of Postgraduate History Studies) for correcting the footnotes. Anett Pataki, an outstanding former student was an invaluable help in the one-year-long organisational tasks, 1am Qe
