Research Questions and Methodological Approaches in the Literature on the History of the German Minority in Hungary between 1945 and 1955

Abstract

In my study, I summarise the content issues, methodological approaches and the most important results of the historical literature dealing with the history of the German minority in Hungary during the decade after the Second World War. It can be said that the historical research on the expulsion of Germans from Hungary up to 1990, the change of regime, was characterised by a positivist, descriptive, event-centric approach. The questions of this research were basically organised by the outcome of Potsdam and how this related to Hungary. In connection with both the content and methodological issues, I will touch on – in my opinion – the missing aspects, the possibility of more complex research approaches.