Exposing the far agrarian developments after 1850 and the effects of World War I and the postwar peace treaty, the essays in this book explore the similarities and contrasts between the Hungarian and other East Central European Patterns. Written by leading Hungarian scholars of history, sociology, anthropology and political science, this volume focuses on the long and arduous process of emancipation of serfs from the April Laws of 1848 to the realization of these legislations by the Habsburg authoritarian regime.