The treaty of #Trianon was singed 100 years ago today. It's one of the defining historical events for Hungarian identity and politics in the past century.
How Hungary commemorates the centenary?
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How Hungary commemorates the centenary?
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The Peace Treaty of Trianon (1920) affirmed the loss of 2/3 of Hungary’s territory. Hungary, part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, lost the I world war. Detached lands were inhabited mainly by other nationalities, but more than 3m Hungarians remained outside new borders too.
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Hungary’s approach to consequences of Trianon varied in the past 100yrs:
➡️territorial revisionism in the interwar period
➡️forced acceptance in communist period
➡️renouncing territorial claims and supporting Hungarian minorities since 1989
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➡️territorial revisionism in the interwar period
➡️forced acceptance in communist period
➡️renouncing territorial claims and supporting Hungarian minorities since 1989
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Today, #Trianon treaty is seen by vast majority of Hungarians as the greatest historical tragedy. It created in Hungarian society a strong sense of historical injustice, distrust to the foreign, and nostalgy to past greatness - all often exploited by the (far) right parties.
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Hungarians abroad were granted Hungarian citizenship (about 1,1 mln in 2011-2020) and voting rights. Hungary advocates giving them cultural/territorial autonomy and increased the funding for their cultural activities.
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Short videos, heavily promoted on social media, emphasized the unity of all Hungarians, no matter whether they live in Hungary or in the neihbouring countries:
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#Orbán clearly wants to appeal to a more radical part of the society too, by alluding to interwar revisionist symbolic. Fidesz politicians often displayed maps of Greater Hungary in the past months, including Orbán himself on his Facebook profile:
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Revisionist discourse got more prominance in the media, irredentist authors were included in the school curricula and some revisionist historians received state awards and got employed in state sponsored institutions:
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In the same time #Orbán emphasized the need of good neighbourly relations and Central European cooperation. Hungarian diplomacy also tried to appease potential concerns of the neighbouring countries
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Tensions around Trianon escalated though between Hungary and Romania, with both countries taking antagonizing steps. Others, especially Slovakia, underscored that differences in seeing historical events should not overshadow the current cooperation.
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