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“THE NEw MECCA OF IMMIGRANTS”... work in the industrial and service sectors, and most importantly, the chronic problems of Hungarian agriculture.° These issues were further complicated after the First World War, when many Hungarians emigrated because of the impact of the Treaty of Trianon and resulting ethnic conflicts with neighboring countries. Simultaneously, American countries, employers, and immigration agents looked to Eastern and Southern Europe as a possible source of immigrants. The attraction of countries like the United States and Canada stemmed from major industrial development (a second industrial revolution resulting in a need for a larger labor force) and the availability of land in the west, and it was further reinforced by news of prospects disseminated both by former emigrants via letters and a range of literature that promoted emigration to villagers. Thus the combination of push and pull factors set in motion one of the largest waves of emigration in Hungarian history, with the key destinations of Hungarians in North America being the United States and later on Canada. Trends in Hungarian emigration were shaped by the migration policies of both the country of origin and the receiving nations. As emigration represented a key (economic, social, and even military) issue and challenge in Hungarian politics, the Hungarian government also attempted to regulate emigration at various points. Due to the significant role ofimmigration agents in this process in the Kingdom of Hungary, the first government measures were targeted against their activities, as in Act XXX VIII of 1881.” A more complex regulation of emigration soon followed as the topic became a focal point of Hungarian politics at the time, thus addressing issues like border control and passport regulations. As former acts and regulations could not properly deal with the complex issue of emigration, a new Act was needed. One of the main principles behind the legislation was that emigration itself could not be prevented and people could not be forced to stay in the home country: thus the primary objective was to somehow control, manage and restrict the amount of emigration. Ihus Act IV of 1903 on Emigration was enacted, which prevented some groups of people from leaving the country, the use of passports was made compulsory and the activities of agents and shipping companies were controlled more strictly, etc.? ° For more information see: Puskas, Hungary to the United States; Thirring, Magyarorszdgi kivändorlés; Carmela Patria, The Hungarians in Canada, Ottawa, The Canadian Historical Association, 1999. The overview is based on: Janos Sallai, A ki és bevändorläs magyar szabályozása a 20. század elején, in József Szalma (ed.), A magyar tudomány napja a délvidéken, Budapest, Dialóg Campus, 2016, 359—373. 8 Preamble to Act IV of 1903 on Emigration, available at: https://net.jogtar.hu/ezer-ev-torveny? docid=90300004.T VI&searchUrl=/ezer-ev-torvenyei%3Fpagenum%3D45 (accessed 10 May 2020). - 103 +
