On 4 June, Hungary marks the Day of National Unity, commemorating the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, which redefined the country’s borders and left millions of ethnic Hungarians outside the nation’s territory. The day honours shared identity beyond borders.
‘Today, we must achieve what Prime Minister István Tisza could not: prevent Hungary from being drawn into another European war,’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stressed in his speech on the Day of National Unity. 4 June marks one of the darkest days in Hungarian history: signed on this day in 1920, the Treaty of Trianon caused Hungary to lose about two-thirds of its territory and one-third of its population.
‘Europe’s most powerful nation is now led, without exaggeration, by political extremists. The heads of the other large nations, France and Britain, are all cynical, complacent, and indifferent to the problems of their citizens to a degree not seen here since the French Revolution.
It is an interesting situation for us. So far, we have been the ones always divided up: by the Ottomans, Habsburgs, Germans, and French. Now they are the ones being sliced up and bid on by the hungry peoples of the Third World and the coldly calculating networks of people smugglers.’
Under the housing scheme, six thousand flats were handed over to families living in wagons in Budapest alone, and nearly two hundred in country towns such as Miskolc.
‘We try and keep the illusion awake in ourselves that we can cross to Nagyvárad or drop by to Nagyszalonta and then run from Makó to Arad, as it used to be—so natural, so self-evident. And then all of a sudden, we realise it is no longer possible.’
The kind of honest, pure, original shock and indignation of when we are cast into this world, start to become familiar with it, and find ourselves facing an injustice on a disproportionately large scale, which we would like to fix, but simply cannot: the pain and loss of which still lingers.
‘Paying homage to a towering figure is always a herculean task…That this simple building with its Romanesque arches would house the Mausoleum of a great King, and some of the most beautiful murals in the entire country, is more than a virtuous artistic choice. It is a metaphor for Hungary itself—a nation of immense beauty, history, and faith, if one knows where to look.’
Ernő Fináczy (1860–1935) was a leading Hungarian educator, historian of pedagogy, and university professor whose work shaped generations of teachers. Rooted in moral philosophy and inspired by Herbart, he emphasized education’s ethical mission and authored landmark works on the history of education still valued today.
Visitors interested in military history and technology can explore a wide range of exhibits on 21 June during Hungary’s Night of Museums, from secret WWII encryption tools to modern fighter jets and interactive defence tech displays.
‘Sometimes I had to ask my uncle…to give me food, or knock on the neighbor’s door for dinner…Meanwhile, during the summers, I experienced in America that life is predictable there: if someone was willing to work, they could be independent and achieve anything they wanted. That’s what ultimately led me to the conclusion that I should return to the U.S. and get my PhD there.’
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.
