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introduction
There are 44 countries in Europe of 11.16 million square kilometers, and the average area of each country is only more than 200,000 square kilometers, which is about the size of the provinces on the mainland.
However, even though there are many countries in the European region, they have a certain degree of cultural unity.
(Europe with many countries)
In terms of linguistic system, there are many similarities between Spanish and Portuguese, and English and German are very similar in the way they are pronounced and some phrases are formed. From the point of view of life Xi: there are no excessive differences between European countries. That's why they can form the EU as different countries and exist independently in the world.
Therefore, there is such a saying in Europe, why Europe has the conditions to become a unified power, but it has not been unified, because they lack a Qin Shi Huang.
However, there is also an "alternative" on European soil, although this country is located in the center of Europe, their own European identity is highly insufficient, the language used is almost independent of the European system, and the Xi of life is fundamentally different from other European countries. That country is Hungary.
(Hungary in the heart of Europe)
So how did Hungary, located in the heart of Europe, become the "orphans of Europa"? and how does their historical evolution and current development relate to and differ from Europe?
(Hungarians in the nomadic era)
I. The Tragic Ancient History of Hungary
The ancient history of Hungary can be summed up in two words – miserable.
Historians believe that the Hungarian nation was very unstable in the early days, and they were not only ruled by the Bulgars and Byzantines in turn, but even suffered from the enslavement of the Huns. To this day, there are still people who believe that the Hungarians are the ancient Huns.
(Ancient Hungarians)
The Hungarian culture was not well preserved by the long-term slaves, who came from Central and West Asia, and whose language system was fundamentally different from that of the European powers, and who had always played the role of an outsider in Europe.
It was not until the 13th century AD that Hungary completed its transformation from a nomadic to a feudal state. But just as Hungary's development was on the right track, the Mongol army broke through Europe, Hungary was sacked, and more than half of the population was killed in battle against the Mongol invasion.
At this point, Hungary was in a slump and no longer had its former glory. After the collapse of the Mongol dynasty, Hungary was only nominally unified, and the various lords in the country were divided, and the king remained in name only.
(Bronze statue of the ancient Hungarian)
However, while Hungary was struggling to recover its economy, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, a rising power in Europe, began its expansion and soon annexed Hungary entirely. The culture of the Hungarians was once again fragmented, and their own development was even more difficult, and the whole nation was on the verge of extinction.
And this situation has lasted for hundreds of years.
Perhaps it is for this reason that Hungary today is somewhat repulsive to European culture. After all, the Hungarian nation came from West Asia, but Europe brought them only slavery and domination.
In 1848, the Ottoman Empire's long-term brutal rule completely ignited the national anger of Hungary, and they were not afraid of the power to raise the banner of revolution, but the Ottomans at that time were definitely a European power, and the Hungarian revolution was a useless act in their eyes......
(Hungarian Revolution of 1848)
However, the Ottoman management realized from this revolution the inadequacies of its own policies. The Hungarian nation made up a high proportion of the population in the Ottoman Empire, and if they made a revolution every three days, it would be extremely detrimental to the development of the Ottomans.
Because of this, the Ottoman Empire decided to live in harmony with Hungary and established a dual empire, Austria-Hungary. On the surface, the Hungarians were given an equal footing.
2. The modern Hungarian nation formed in the midst of war
One of the first things the Hungarians did after gaining equal status in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was to carry out a policy of Hungarianization in the Transylvania region they administered, and they relocated large numbers of Hungarians to a unified location to build a modern Hungarian language system.
(Modern Hungary)
In addition, the Hungarians also stepped up their time to educate the Hungarian national culture and vigorously supported the national newspapers in the society at that time. This series of practices strengthened the Hungarians' self-identity to a certain extent, and also led to their status in Slovakia and Transylvania.
With the outbreak of World War I, a large number of Hungarians followed Austria-Hungary into battle, but in the end they were defeated by the Entente and lost the war. The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed in 1918. Hungary seized the opportunity and established the modern Hungarian Soviet Republic.
However, Hungary, once united with Austria-Hungary, must also admit defeat in the war, not only being forced to cede a full two-thirds of its territory, but also being exploited economically.
(Hungary defeated in World War I)
It is no exaggeration to say that the European countries have done little good to Hungary. First, the Ottoman Turkish Empire brutally ruled the Hungarian nation for hundreds of years, and after Hungary was finally liberated, Romania, Czechoslovakia and other countries used the pretext of war to carry out intensive exploitation of Hungary.
Judging from the historical evolution, how can Hungary, which has been humiliated by Europe, live in harmony with Europe?
After the outbreak of World War II, Hungary established a Horti fascist regime through hatred of European countries. In the early stages of the war, they succeeded in regaining territories lost in World War I from countries such as Yugoslavia and Romania, and almost restored Hungary's glory.
(Hungary during World War II)
However, the fascists were eventually defeated in World War II, and Hungary had to return all the recaptured lands. The territorial boundaries of modern Hungary were finally largely determined.
The back-and-forth exchange of land led directly to a large number of Hungarian ethnic migrations: 4% in Serbia at the time, 7% in Romania, and 11% in Czechoslovakia.
(Ethnic Hungarians outside Hungary)
In this way, his compatriots became a minority in another country, which was very difficult for the Hungarian government to accept. But the wheel of history cannot be changed, and they can only turn this regret into disagreement with the rest of Europe, and silently protest with the Hungarian culture that is independent of Europe.
In any case, the Hungarian nation, which has endured thousands of years of hardship, has finally entered the modern society smoothly and has become a member of Europe in the form of an independent country.
III. Hungarian "National Identity"
After the end of World War II, both Hungary and Romania became vassal states of the Soviet Union and became "one family". Romania quickly showed its sincerity, and they immediately introduced policies to better accommodate the Hungarian minority.
(Hungary became a vassal state of the Soviet Union after World War II)
At the beginning, Romania and other countries educated the Hungarian minority in their own culture, and even classified the Hungarian language and the Romanian language as official languages, showing a very respectful attitude towards Hungary, and the Hungarian culture was also revived in Romania, and the contradictions between the two countries seemed to have been completely eliminated.
However, Hungary, having become a vassal state of the USSR, felt a chill......
It turned out that the political infiltration of the Soviet Union completely encroached on the top of the Hungarian political circles, and the ruling Hungarian Workers' Party at that time admired the Soviet model very much, and completely ignored its own national conditions and copied and used the Soviet model, which directly led to a serious impact on Hungary's national development and its own economy.
(The Hungarian incident was featured in Time Magazine)
Gradually, more and more Hungarians questioned the leadership of the Soviet Union, and they wanted to take the fate of the Hungarian nation into their own hands. After Stalin's death in 1953, Hungary embarked on a firm process of "de-Sovietization". To do this, they do not hesitate to use violence as a means.
In 1956, a huge movement broke out in Hungary, in which they openly opposed the Soviet leadership and demanded more rights for the Hungarian nation. At the height of the movement, the Hungarians even destroyed the bronze statue of Stalin Square, and bloodshed ensued.
(Hungarian October Incident)
This movement came to be known as the Hungarian October Incident, and the Soviet Union later even sent troops directly to Hungary to violently suppress the movement. About 2,700 Hungarians were killed in the incident.
Seeing that Hungary had torn its face with its big brother, the Soviet Union, Romania and other vassal states of the Soviet Union immediately changed their policy towards the Hungarians, and they not only shut down most of the Hungarian radio and literature magazines, but also deeply suspended the teaching of the Hungarian language.
The Hungarians were very dissatisfied with the practices of Romania and other countries, but they could not do anything with the powerful Soviet Union, and those Hungarian minorities in Romania and other countries could only silently endure the cultural hegemony of these European countries, and miss their homeland in a foreign land.
(Bronze statue of Stalin that was toppled)
On the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Romania even carried out forced demolitions of the Hungarian minority, directly destroying 800 Hungarian villages and forcing them to live with Romanians.
However, tens of thousands of Hungarian minorities were so strong in their national identity that they not only did not cooperate with the Romanians, but even moved to Hungary en masse after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
(Angry Hungarians)
After reading this series of experiences of Hungary in modern times, who would not understand their desire to be independent of Europe? The ostensibly prosperous European culture did not make the Hungarian nation culturally and economically strong at all, but blindly used European hegemony to forcibly "assimilate" Hungary. And how could Hungary easily forgive Europe?
4. Hungary is still an "orphan" today
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and countries such as Hungary and Romania also ushered in real independence. Hungary accused Romania and other countries of treating the Hungarian minority differently, and Romania turned its head and scolded Hungary for meddling in its affairs.
In addition to opposing Romania, Hungary also has a clear rejection of other European cultures, and their feud with the United States has directly affected the EU, repeatedly opposing the EU's mainstream proposals, and even proposing to dissolve the European Parliament.
As we all know, the European Union was established under the guidance and promotion of the United States, and was mainly led by European powers such as Britain and France, while Hungary and these countries have a real feud -
(Hungary has a "feud" with European and American countries)
At the end of World War I, Hungary was divided as a defeated country, losing 72% of its territory and 64% of its population. It was the United States, Britain, France, and other countries that forced Hungary to sign the defeated treaty! Therefore, Hungary has always looked down on Europe unpleasantly, especially Britain, France, and other countries that wear the same pants as the United States.
On July 23, 2022, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor made it clear in a speech: "Hungarians are not mixed-race, and we don't want to be mixed-race!", which directly put the national contradictions between Hungary and European countries on the table, making many European countries unable to come to power.
(Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban)
The attitude of the Hungarians was very alarming to the European countries, because Hungary was already a member of the European Union at that time and should not have dealt with the political aspects with such a sharp national attitude.
In this regard, Romanian parliamentarian Alin Mitusa said on social platforms: "It is very dangerous to talk about the purity of the nation in Central Europe. ”
Perhaps these Europeans did not understand the reason for the Hungarians' quest for national purity. The history of Hungary is extremely humiliating, although they have existed in Europe for thousands of years, they have never been truly accepted by Europe for a long time, and their country has been divided and enslaved......
(present-day Hungary)
With the blessing of such emotions, Hungary has grown into a country independent of European peoples and cultures, which is a historical necessity and a special existence.
Resources:
Institute of Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: An Analysis of Cross-border Ethnic Issues in Eastern European Countries: A Case Study of Hungarians.Russian East European and Central Asian Studies.2013(03)
Hungary is "different" in the EU, and these complex reasons are hidden behind it.China Youth Daily,2022-12-31
Hungarian Prime Minister's slamming of Europe's "ethnic mix" sparks outrage.Overseas.cn,2022-07-25