“There is no more illustrious history
than the history of the
Magyar Nation… The whole civilized world is
indebted to Magyarland for its historic deeds.” Theodore
Roosevelt, to the Hungarian Parliament,
April 2, 1910
Hungary has long been a citadel of Western thought in Central Europe.
Relatives of the Hungarians, the Huns, Avars, and Szekleys settled the
Carpathian basin as early as the 4th century. Magyar tribes established the Hungarian State in the Carpathian Basin in 896. Long after
the fiered Attila,
“The Scourge of God,” ravaged Europe, the Magyar Chieftan
Vajk converted to Christianity, established Hungary as a Christian power,
and received his crown from the Pope, thus becoming István Király
(King Stephen), Hungary’s first Christian King in the year 1000. He was
later canonized as St. Stephen of Hungary. Hungary
has also been known for its tolerance which had its foundations as far
back as St. Stephen as shown in the remarkable quote below.
“Make the strangers welcome
in this land,
let them keep their languages and customs,
for
weak and fragile is the realm which is based
on a single
language or on a single set of customs.”
“(Unius linguae uniusque moris regnum imbecille et fragile est)”
St. Stephen in a letter to his son St. Emeric (Imre), 1036 A.D..
In keeping with the tolerance and enlightened spirit of St. Stephen, the
official language of Hungary remained Latin until 1844. Hungary also throughout
the centuries gave asylum to many nationalities: in the north, Ruthenians;
in the east and Transylvania, Wallachians (Rumanians) and Saxons; in the south, Serbs.
Eventually, Hungary would contain 14 distinct national
minorities, each developing rich cultures and literary languages, ascending to nobility,
and all contributing
to the beauty and diversity of the Kingdom of Hungary.
Popes throughout the centuries have called Hungary the ” Savior
of Europe,” and the “Savior of Christianity,” and
ordered church bells around the world to ring at noon to remind us of the
Hungarian victory over the Turks at Nándorfehérvár
(now Belgrade) in 1456 by János Hunyadi at the beginning of what
was to become a 150 year conflict. But do we remember? Ask your priest
or Church official if they remember. Chances are they know nothing about
where their own custom comes from. Schools in the west have long ignored Hungarian contributions to society. Did you know
that Hungarians declared religious freedom in Torda, Transylvania, in 1557?
Two centuries earlier, Hungary declared that there was no such thing as
a witch. Too bad the feeling didn’t reach the poor “witches” of Salem.
The Golden Bull (Arany Bulla), similar to the Magna Carta, established
a constitutional monarchy in the early 13th century in which the King recognized
the high nobles as a class power to be consulted on decisions. Soon after,
Kings, such as the famed Matyas Hunyadi (1458 – 1490 and son of the famed
János) were elected by the hign nobles. Kings were elected until
the Habsburg takeover after the 150 year Turkish war and occupation of
central Hungary that destroyed much of Hungary’s wealth and population.
Transylvania, the cradle of Hungarian culture,
was the only part of Hungary that remained largely untouched and unconquered.
Western Europe did little to help while Hungary struggled with the invading
Ottomans; it was a sign of things to come…
The struggle with the Ottomans also forever changed demographics (and
future borders) in Hungary as Austria’s Habsburg
Queen, Maria Theresa, sent Germans (Saxons) to Transylvania to bolster
defenses while Rumanians further established themselves after seeking refuge
in Transylvania from the Ottoman onslaught during the long conflict. Hungarians
tried to break the Austrian yoke in the 18th (the Rákóczy
fight) and again in the 19th century (Kossuth),
only to be stopped short of their goal of total independence as Austria
was supported by a Russian imperial government who also feared democracy.
Kossuth, the leader of the 1848 democratic revolution,
came to the US for help, and though extremely popular and supported, left
empty handed. The compromise with Austria led to a dual monarchy with the
Austrian Emperor acting as King of Hungary.
Though relatively autonomous internally, foreign policy was dictated
by Vienna who, despite the Hungarian minister’s vote against war and vociferous
objections, decided to declare war on Serbia in retaliation for the
assassination
of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. In 1920, upon signing under duress the Treaty of Trianon, the reluctant participant
in WWI was torn apart by the victors, losing territory even to Austria
who was on the same side and forced Hungary into the war. Hungary could
do little with French troops waiting for action in northern Hungary in
violation of the peace as well as Rumanian and other troops also ready
to capitalize on Hungarian political upheaval.
Rumania, created just 60 years
earlier out of Wallachia and parts of Moldavia, laid claim to lands up to the
river Tisza, and, with strong French support, got much of what she asked
for. Though there was much talk of “national self-determination,” nowhere
but Sopron (which voted to remain in Hungary) was there a plebiscite held.
Though US boundary recommendations were slightly more favorable to the
Hungarians, the US washed its hands of the affair, and disgusted with the
Franch and other European delegates at the treaty negotiations, refused
to sign the Versailles Treaty. Now millions of Hungarians were on the wrong
side of the border as 2/3 of Hungarian lands, 1/3 of her Hungarian-speaking
population, 90% of her natural resources, and much infrastructure were
in other’s hands. The Versailles treaties were a disaster for the future
of Europe, as a desperate Germany, suffering under war reparations to France,
yielded to Nazism. The Hungarian tragedy at the signing of the Treaty
of Trianon led Hungary into the sphere of the only nations willing to address
her just aim of regaining her lost territory – Nazi Germany and Fascist
Italy. Though she gained parts of her territory back with this alliance,
Hungary was again on the losing side and lost them after the war, despite
unsuccessfully trying to join the allies as did the successful Rumanians.
In fact, the Soviets (now Ukraine) took a piece that was previously given
to Czechoslovakia.
In 1956, thousands died and thousands more executed
and jailed after the failed anti-communist revolution. Again, the West
did nothing but encourage the Hungarians to fight on as the Voice of America
cruelly claimed that help was on the way. 200,000 people fled Hungary after
thousands of Russian tanks rolled in. The US let in but a fraction, but
the impact of these emigres is enormous (see “Hungarian
Nobel Prize Winners & Famous Hungarians“).
So, a history wrought with tragedy. It’s no wonder Hungary today is
a leader in the world in suicide and has one of the lowest life-expectancy
rates. But there’s always hope. In 1996, Hungary celebrated its 1100th
anniversary. A new awareness of what it means to be Hungarian and a willingness
to assert her interests seems to be building. Half of all Western investment
in Central/Eastern Europe is in Hungary – and half of that is US investment.
Inflation has come under control and Hungary joined NATO.
Hungary again leads Central and Eastern Europe toward democratization,
but faces severe economic trials while her people on the other side of
the border face persecution and according to the Helsinki Watch, “cultural
genocide.”
“The Roumanians are really the most
reliable people in the world when it comes to depending upon their breaking
any promises they make.” – General Harry Hill Bandholtz,
US Army, 22 NOV 1919, taken from his diaries which can be seen along with
many more historical documents all available for download in Zip format
at the outstanding Corvinus
Virtual Library or mirror. General Bandholtz was the one who saved the Crown
Jewels from the Rumanians. His statue sits in front of the American Embassy
in Budapest. If you are a library or school representative, they can
send you free a CD ROM with numerous resources.
The Study Web
is a fantastically rich site with a huge directory of resources on
numerous topics including Hungarian History and Attila the Hun. Sites
listed are reviewed and rated for visual content by staff before being
posted. The Hungary Page received 4 apples! A great study
or information resource that can be incorporated into your classroom!
Visit this link for a great piece of work by Gyula Lászlo on the
Origins
of the Hungarians. The full book will soon be released. The author
argues on a two-wave Hungarian conquest and cites ancient texts from Arabic,
Byzantine, Swiss and other sources. Fascinating reading. It is part of
the subscription journal, “The Hungarian Quarterly.” Other articles are
listed as well.
HUNGARY:
A Short History, by C. A. Macartney, Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford;
Director of the Hungarian Section of the Foreign Office Research Department;
and Professor of International Relations, University of Edinburgh. Though the
name is “short” it is a quite extensive and excellent resource on Hungarian History and Trianon.
This is an excellent site with detailed essays on the
History of Hungary by Stephen Pálffy, who resides in the UK.
The authors writes about specific periods in Hungarian history from ancient
times to the present. It is very neatly organized into historic periods.
Another excellent resource by István Lázár [HUNGARY
A Brief History](http://historicaltextarchive.com/lazar/contents.htm) which takes us from the regions’s pre-history through the
author’s lifetime.
See also the Trianon
Adattár in Hungarian with trianon details, ethnographical maps
and more.
The book, Origin
of the Rumanians (Vlach Origin, Migration and Infiltration to Transylvania),
by Endre Haraszti, is is now on-line courtesy of András Szeitz and
offers an in-depth look at the foundation of the Daco-Roman Theory.
The Historical
Text Archives at Mississippi State University is a
comprehensive site for historical resources on Trianon
and Hungary and includes some of the links above
The renowned author and eloquent voice on Transylvanian autonomy,
Count Albert Wass de Czege, supervised an excellent work, entitled Documented
Facts and Figures on Transylvania. This work gives excellent
detail on the TRUE origins of Transylvania and how Rumanians gained
their foothold. See also his letter to Congress regarding the Cultural
Genocide of Hungarians.
In Transylvania, Hungarian language schools and centuries-old
universities have been closed, churches and synagogues burned and/or
confiscated, and people beaten for demonstrating for democracy and
basic human rights, or simply for speaking Hungarian – (See Helsinki
Watch Report “Destroying Ethnic Identity, the Hungarians of
Romania,” for more information.)
TransylvaniaNet –
“not the legend, but the real story…” – is
an interesting educational site on Transylvania with an objective
source of information, detailed maps, history, current news and
issues, discussion group, and links to other resources. This includes
a link to ProTransylvania -a multiethnic political group seeking
Autonomy for Transylvania.
