Hungarian Conservative

This Saturday marks the anniversary of the death of Prince Emeric, the first Hungarian heir to the throne, who died at a tragically young age. His death during a hunting accident gave rise to conspiracy theories about his assassination and turned the wild boar into an unusual political actor and symbol in Hungarian history.  

The mysterious Magyarabs, whose denomination conveniently looks as if it consisted of the words Magyar and Arab (although the exact etymology is different: the word ab means tribe in Nubian), would have probably remained unknown to the world had some adventurous Hungarians not discovered their distant kin. László Almásy, one of the key figures and pioneers of Hungarian Africa research, was the first to report on the existence of Magyarabs after he encountered them during his expedition in Africa in the 1930s.

The image of Dózsa in Hungary has undergone so many metamorphoses that it would be difficult to link it to a single political trend or party. He could fit the role of a national hero who took up arms against the Turks under the banner of the Cross blessed by the Pope; a ‘martyr of the proletarian movement’; and a victim warning against the retaliation after the Revolution of 1956 all at once.

Today marks the 496th anniversary of the Battle of Mohács. It is one of the most frequently mentioned events in Hungarian history. The reasons for the defeat are still the subject of historical debates.