Renowned Hungarian revolutionary and statesman Lajos Kossuth arrived on the shores of the United States on 6 December 1851. He was received by a warm welcome and outpour of enthusiasm, from the highest ranking politicians and the ‘common folk’ alike, who lauded him for his pursuit of Hungarian freedom.
Hungarian Ambassador to the US Szabolcs Takács and US Representative Carol Miller of West Virginia spoke at the event commemorating the 1848–1849 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight at Lajos Kossuth’s bust in the US Capitol building.
National anniversaries, especially 15 March, were regularly celebrated in the Dohány Street synagogue. Mourning services were also held on the occasion of the passing of great Hungarian statesmen. In addition to the regular services, the synagogue also hosted a number of special events. On 20 December 1860, a ‘Jewish–Hungarian brotherhood’ ceremony was held, attended by statesmen, scholars, writers and artists, and for the first time, the Szózat was sung in a Jewish synagogue. On 8 April 1861, a memorial service was held for István Széchenyi, and in 1894 for Lajos Kossuth.
‘Governor Lajos Kossuth thanked General Guyon for his victory in a letter, writing: “Please accept my and the homeland’s gratitude for your victory won on 14 July. I am looking forward to the rest of your generalship with hope, since where such a brave army is commanded by Guyon with the heart of a lion, nothing but victory can follow.”‘
The minister reminded all that the independent Hungarian Ministry of Finance was the first lasting success of the revolution. In April 1848, Lajos Kossuth began working on the establishment of the ministry, and it started its operations in May of that year.
‘On 10 March this year, the author of these lines has only one wish: that a miracle may happen in the modern, so-called democratic Romania, and it may become like it was in the 1950s, or even like in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, in the 13th and 16th centuries. Because, if that happened, it would give freedom and autonomy to Szeklerland as in a true 21st-century European—and a European Union—country…’
One hundred programmes are being organized this year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Hungary and Türkiye. The programmes of the 2024 Hungarian–Turkish cultural season will run concurrently in the two countries for one year.
The event also hosts an online charity auction, with proceeds this year benefiting the Opera House Ballet Students Foundation.
‘It seems clear that both federalists and sovereigntists agree that the current treaty framework isn’t up to the task of addressing the crises in the European Union and its Member States. To tackle these issues, it’s evident that new treaties need to be crafted.’
While Turkish–Hungarian relations are based on mutual interests, Ankara regards Hungary as a strong ally, and a country that is linked to Turkey by a sense of kinship, according to Turkish Ambassador to Hungary Gülşen Karanis Ekşioğlu.
The American Hungarian Federation has been working tirelessly to preserve Hungarian culture and education in the United States, and has been a powerful advocate for the collective rights of Hungarians living in minority status in the Carpathian Basin. AHF also considers it its mission to dispel misleading narratives about Hungary and Trianon, AHF President Ákos Nagy told Hungarian Conservative.
The history of the palace in Dég, Hungary is not only intertwined with that of the Festetics family, but also with Freemasonry in Hungary, as the palace’s builder, Antal Festetics, was the right-hand man of the movement’s Master Chief in the country. Magyar Krónika paid a visit to the newly renovated Festetics Palace in Dég.
The 13 martyrs of the 1848–49 Hungarian War of Independence are commemorated on 6 October every year. However, the struggle for independence had other, forgotten heroes, too, like General János Lenkey, the ‘14th martyr of Arad’.
It takes courage to see which situations and expectations the conservative should reject. And it takes courage to say ‘no’. The dilemma of when courage is appropriate and when moderation is needed is not logically insolvable. In the words of Winston Churchill: ‘It is better to be both right and consistent. But if you have to choose—you must choose to be right.’
When it became evident that the War of Independence was lost, Prime Minister Bertalan Szemere and his men buried the Holy Crown and the other coronation regalia near Orsova (Orșova) in August 1849, to prevent the Habsburgs from laying their hands on them. The crown jewels were only found in September 1853.
The kuruc-labanc dichotomy did not disappear during the early nineteenth century: it only assumed a different form and became stronger. During the Era of Reform, the kuruc sentiment was wedded to classical liberalism and liberal nationalism.
The kuruc-labanc dichotomy was transformed into a Hungarian version of ‘Court and Country party’ during the early modern age. This framework dominated Hungarian politics during most of the epoch, as well as in the nineteenth century.
Foreign policy is at the core of every nation’s political life. Accordingly, it was an important part of the debates during Hungary’s Reform Era between the liberal and the conservative forces.
The debates between the Hungarian government and the European Commission often grab the headlines in the international media these years, with the issues of contention between Budapest and the EC usually being co-existence, sovereignty, and shared responsibility. However, there is indeed nothing new under the sun: Hungary had to grapple with such issues under the more than 300 years of Habsburg rule.
During the last decade, an increasing academic and intellectual effort has emerged to define and redefine Hungarian conservatism. Better understanding 19th-century conservatives is crucial to this process, as these movements are where the roots of Hungarian conservatism lie.
It has been 174 years since Major Pál Vasvári and his Rákóczi Free Army were massacred near Havasnagyfalu (today Mărișel in Romania), on 6 July 1849. Despite all resistance forces, the memory of the young revolutionary and his fellow martyrs is a powerful cohesive force for the dwindling Hungarian community of the Kalotaszeg (Țara Călatei) region to this day.
According to the organisers’ statement, the 24th Madame Tussauds production in the world brings 51 lifelike figures and their corresponding installations to the audience. The attraction features 17 Hungarian celebrities created exclusively for the Budapest production in Madame Tussauds’ workshop near London.
Although the revolution and freedom fight was crushed, 15 March is not a day of mourning, but of delayed victory. While the defeat of the Revolution and Freedom Fight was followed by ruthless retaliation and even more oppression, eventually the Habsburg Empire was forced to reform and bow to many of the demands of the revolutionaries.
A line-up of expert historians presented the story of how the many different nations living by the River Danube had collaborated with each other over the tides of history and of the ambitions to create a confederation of independent Danubian nations.
Hungary’s greatest philosophical poet Imre Madách, author of The Tragedy of Man, was born 200 years ago today.
While generational differences pushed one group of young men into the camp of the contemporary nationalist right, that did not necessarily determine their later life choices. Generational experiences did define men to some extent—but it was political and moral choices that had the final say.
In this article we will walk you through the history of the names of Budapest’s bridges and the historical events that influenced their evolution.
The approach of Weis to welfare, an attitude that in fact prevailed under the Teleki government, was not only sensitive to social issues, but also subscribed to the idea of an ‘anti-capitalist democracy’, and also to ‘progress’ and ‘social justice’.
Few know that he spent his final years not battling Jews, but the Nazis, and most likely ended his life as an anti-Nazi resistance fighter, like his well-known friend, Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky.
There are two peoples, the Americans and the Hungarians, who strove for some of that nobility and righteousness, and thus can be examples for those striving for the same in the present.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.