Josef Fischer, head of a middle school and commerical college in Pest (Hungary) and engaged in various natural history organizations, wrote this overview of Hungarian geographical, economical and educational questions in 1865. Fischer states that the geographical location and meteorological situation of Hungary has a strong influence on its trade, agriculture, and industry. Fischer gives a detailed overview of the situation in Hungary in 1865 and highlights problems of commerce, trade, and edcuation. He especially favors the construction of canals in order to facilitate the transportation of goods. Although Jews are not specifically mentioned in this pamphlet, the chapter on trading gives interesting insights in questions of goods, the financial and credit system, the beginning of the establishment of manufacturing enterprises, the system of wholesale and retail - all areas in which Jews were engaged. This pamphlet was published 2 years before Jews were granted citizenship.

Most of Hungary came under Hapsburg rule at the beginning of the 18th century. Most of the Jews were peddlers and small tradesmen. There were 81,000 Jews in Hungary in 1787. During the "period of reform" in Hungary in the 1830s and 1840s, the Jewish question was discussed in the legislative institutions, in literature, and in the periodicals and press. In general there was a marked tendency in favor of granting civic rights to the Jews, but on the whole society took a critical view of the Jews and assumed an attitude of reservation toward them, demanding religious and social reforms. The suppression of the revolution of 1848–49 also affected the status of the Jews. Because many of them were active in the revolution, the Austrian military government imposed a collective fine, it was later reduced. During the 1850s, the Jews were still subjected to judicial and economic restrictions (the Jewish oath; the need for a marriage permit; the prohibition on acquiring real estate; and others). Most of the restrictions were abolished in 1859–60; the Jews were authorized to engage in all professions and to settle in all localities. The first political leaders of the new Hungary, expressed their approval in the granting of civic and political equality to the Jews, and after the Compromise with Austria, the bill on Jewish emancipation was passed in Parliament without considerable opposition (Dec. 20, 1867). During the same period there was a rapid growth of the Jewish population of Hungary, due both to natural increase and immigration from neighboring regions, especially Galicia. The number of Jews had risen to 340,000 by 1850, and in the first population census held in modern Hungary (1869), 542,000 Jews were enumerated.