Hungarian Conservative

‘There was something about the past that could only be conveyed by being where it took place. Although I had already studied the horrors of the Holocaust and the Second World War, being in the actual face of such evil, in the literal place of it, shook me to my core.’

Anastasia of Kiev married Hungarian King Andrew I around 1038, before he took the throne and while he was still in exile. She was later involved in the establishment of one of the most renowned monasteries of Hungary, the Tihany Abbey, and is also featured in one of the most famous Hungarian historical paintings.

Hungary’s place among the nations, and especially in Europe, is one of the most debated issues in Hungarian political thinking. Analysing the so called ‘kuruc–labanc’ dichotomy helps to better understand the present-day disputes between Brussels and Budapest.

Gergely Gulyás spoke about how if we value our past, then film is one of the most important means of presenting it. He continued by saying that it’s a different question how far back in time one can go.

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.

‘The significance pilgrimages had in terms of building clerical and diplomatic relations cannot be overlooked either. A whole slew of abbots, bishops, future archbishops, historians, poets, theological thinkers, and monks later canonised as saints visited Hungary. They brought highly cherished relics, luxury items of the East, and—not least—news with them.’

‘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.”‘

Jewish-Hungarian MP from the Horthy era Béla Fábián was held as a POW in Russia in World War i, and was taken to a concentration camp in World War II. He became an avid critic of the Hungarian Communist Party while living in exile in the 20th century, for which the Kádár regime subjected him to a smear campaign, claiming that he actually served as a ‘kapo’, a prisoner-turned-guard in his camp. Here’s the story of the extraordinary life of a special man.

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.

Budapest’s inclusion in the list of top student cities is the result of its exceptional educational institutions, rich cultural heritage, affordable living costs, student-friendly environment, and excellent transportation infrastructure.

The quest to find the ancestral homeland of Hungarians has inspired ventures into the far East for many centuries. The most famous ones were made by Friar Julian in the 13th century. How much of what he purported to have found has been backed up by modern science?

This piece provides an overview of the ‘Goulash communism’ times of Hungarian history, while attempting to answer the question: why do some Hungarians appear to be nostalgic about the Kádár era?

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.

Founding father and second US President John Adams, who also happened to pass away on 4 July, believed 2 July would be celebrated by generations to come, as The Resolution for Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress then. Only a handful of delegates signed the Declaration actually on 4 July 1776, and many of them did so as late as August 1776.

What is extraordinary about the image of Attila as a ‘Hungarian King’ is not that it has evolved, but rather that it has expanded into a system of arguments with daily political impact, and although it has undergone significant changes, it has survived the 21st century.

The Hungarian doctor was the first to introduce hand sanitation standards in a medical institution, which led to childbed mortality rate decreasing from 18 per cent to just two per cent at his Vienna obstetrical clinic. However, his ideas were tragically never accepted by his peers which led to his death in a mental ward.

Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl completed his magnum opus, the Liberty Statue of Budapest in 1947, in just two years. It was originally a monument dedicated to the ‘liberating’ Soviet forces at the end of World War II. However, elements of the composition alluding to its original purpose were removed, and it still stands tall on top of Gellért Hill as a beacon of Hungarian freedom today.

The purpose of Cum hiis superioribus annis, a papal bull issued by Pope Callixtus III in 1456, was to exhort Christians to pray, as the success of the Hungarian crusader army against the Turks was key for the future of Christian Europe at the time. To this day, the noon bell tolls every day to remind us that, as so many times in history, the Kingdom of Hungary stood up valiantly and proved itself one of the bulwarks of Christian Europe.

27 June is the Day of Hungarian Border Guards. The geographic location of our country and the very fact that it is the eastern bulwark of Western Christianity obliged it in the past and is still predestining it today to be one of the guardians of European civilisation and the peace of the continent.

The Hungarian government has recently announced a significant legal initiative: under the Hungarian Council presidency, the creation of a new rule of law assessment procedure overseeing EU institutions could be put on the agenda.

At the exhibition at the Benedictine Abbey Museum in Tihany, open until 31 August, visitors can not only see Hungary’s first surviving original written document from 1055, but also learn about the historical circumstances of the abbey’s founding and its former operation.

During the meeting in Palić, twelve cooperation agreements were signed between the Hungarian and Serbian parties. These include the establishment of the Hungarian-Serbian Strategic Cooperation Council, as well as agreements on diplomatic cooperation, border protection, border control, the construction of an oil pipeline between Hungary and Serbia, European integration, exchange and protection of classified data, infrastructure, agriculture, defence, and customs cooperation.

On 18 June 1868, 155 years ago today, Hungarian admiral Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was born in Kenderes, Austria-Hungary. One of the greatest Hungarian statesmen of the 20th century served as the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary between 1 March 1920 and 16 October 1944.

The collection of the Military History Institute and Museum will be housed partly in the modern exhibition space of the Bálna centre in Budapest, and partly in Székesfehérvár, ‘one of the most significant centres of Hungarian history.’ The Military History Archives will continue to operate unchanged in its original location.

The year 1473 seems incredibly early for printing in several respects, as north of the Nuremberg–Augsburg–Venice line and east of the Rhine–Main line, book printing was not yet feasible at the time. In addition, it was no less rare for a nation’s history to be printed either—the Buda Chronicle, the first printed book in Hungary by 15th-century printer Andreas Hess, can be considered the second of its kind in the whole world.

What does the lower reach of the River Garam mean to Hungarians? For some, it is just a region of the Uplands, for others, a beautiful, wide, flat, and fertile valley surrounded by hills, while many people do not even know where to look on the map when they hear its name. For ethnic Hungarian local historian Gábor Juhász, it represents his homeland, a place where his ancestors had lived for hundreds of years.

One of the most beautiful castles in Hungary is the snow-white Brunsvik Castle designed in neo-Gothic style in Martonvásár. The Brunsviks, a Hungarian aristocratic family, transformed a swampy and barren wasteland into an idyllic English garden here, where their friend Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music, often visited them.

May this day also be the day when, contrary to the will of so many, we turn to our still-existing and beautiful country, which is prosperous to an extent never seen in history before, and consider, each and every one of us, how we can help it make no more mistakes.

Kunság, a Hungarian land with a unique history and captivating nature, is a standout destination for tourists with off-the-beaten-track appeal and diverse natural life.

After it was tragically blown up during World War II, the complete restoration of today’s Petőfi Bridge took more than seven years. It was handed over at last on 22 November 1952, and was named after renowned Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi.