Trianon Narratives by Viktor Orbán

Memory politics, freemason conspiracy and military beef up

25 August 2020

In the address marking the centennial celebrations of the Trianon treaty that had reduced the Hungarian territory by two thirds, Viktor Orbán surprisingly hit home a Polish neo-imperial theme: “The people of Central Europe haven’t had a chance like this for centuries – with Polish leadership, they could now be the masters of their fate, from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans.”

2020 was to be a year of recognition and celebration for the Trianon treaty; a treaty which came into being after the tragedies of World War I and in which the Great Powers of this world divided the lands of St. Stephen’s Crown.

However, a hundred years have passed and trauma among Hungarians still remains strong as I wrote about in my latest book. Life, if it needs to be said, pauses for nothing and this year has already added a new chapter to it.

The politics of topography

The anniversary celebrations and festivities in Hungary have been somewhat different than expected. The pandemic cancelled the most important one: 4 June, the day the treaty was signed.

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Bogdan Góralczyk

Bogdan J. Góralczyk is Professor and Director of the Centre for Europe, University of Warsaw, a political scientist and sinologist and an expert on Hungary, where he served as a senior diplomat in the years 1991–98 (afterwards a book was published both in Poland and Hungary). His recent book "Hungarian Syndrome: Trianon" has been published on round anniversary of the treaty

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