Hungarian Conservative

Refugee groups started trickling in after the catastrophic defeat of the Austro–Hungarian empire in the First World War and the dismembering of the historical Hungarian Kingdom, resulting in the loss of many ethnically Hungarian territories for Hungary. The destruction of the war and the discriminative policies of the new states prompted many Hungarians to seek a better life beyond the sea. Latin America soon became an important emigration target, as the United States started to severely restrict immigration from Eastern Europe in the 1920s.

During the regime change following the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Hungarian National Bank gradually sold almost all of the country’s gold reserve, which by 1992 fell to around three tonnes, with the proceeds from the sale of gold invested in foreign government bonds deemed safe and high-yielding. However, the promised returns were not realized.

Gloomy Sunday, which became to be known as the ‘Hungarian Suicide Song’ was originally released in 1933. The words were written by poet László Jávor, while the music was composed by Rezső Seress, born 124 years ago today. Seress ended up taking his own life himself, at age 68.