István Deák’s Caste Honor

Abstract

István Deák was an expert on the Habsburg officer corps and argued convincingly that the defense of honor was central to its self-understanding. Deák confronts contradictory evidence about the extent of antisemitism in the Austro-Hungarian officer corps as well as the question of whether or not Jewish officers were treated by their peers as men with honor. Because of his immense erudition, Deák was able to approach these questions with a sensitivity to interpretation that creates a model for future scholars.