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Who Are Hungarians?
Is Hungary a nation of mixed peoples?
Are Hungarians “peoples of mixed race”? We ask this question, and dig into the history of it, because of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s recent speech (see image above). His nationalism and populism have won him many friends, including CPAC in the U.S.
In this episode, our guest takes us from the “forgotten barbarians” to the year 896; to Mongols, Ottomans and Austrians; and now!
The “now” of our conversation is quite important, because as Dr. Robert Nemes explains, for most Hungarians now, their nation may seem rather homogenous. And as far as living memory goes, this perception may be correct. But once we dig a little deeper into history, most Hungarians, including our guest’s own ancestors, are indeed “peoples of mixed race”.
For reasons that Dr. Nemes explains, Hungarians date their history back to 896, after which, despite some military defeats, Hungary becomes a kingdom around 1,000 CE and thrives, experiencing wealth (gold and silver mines) and health (population growth). This success continues despite the utter devastation wrought by the Mongol invasion. As Hungary recovers and even repels the second Mongol invasion, its borders reach the Adriatic.
The Ottoman period is another “negative” and devastating period in Hungary’s history. One particular reason is that their country was split into three parts, and the Austrian Habsburgs also encroached on Hungary, eventually dominating it. But the story of loss doesn’t stop there. After WWI, Hungary loses more than 70% of its territory! This loss, imposed by the post-war peace agreement, continues to be relevant in Hungary’s nationalistic politics today.
Dr. Nemes is a professor of history at Colgate University and has been visiting Budapest since soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall, where he could see bullet-ridden buildings from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
He is the author of The Once and Future Budapest and Another Hungary: The Nineteenth-Century Provinces in Eight Lives. He is also co-editor of Sites of European Antisemitism in the Age of Mass Politics, 1880–1918.
To learn more about Dr. Nemes, you can visit his academic homepage.
In this episode, we also made references to the histories of other European nations. Lucky for us, we have previously produced episodes about them as well:
S2E5: Who Are Ukrainians?
S2E8: Wars in Ukraine.
S2E22: Finland’s wars against Russia.
S2E19: History of Poland, when it was an empire!
For this week’s episode, click here: PODCAST
These episodes are also available on Apple, Google and Spotify podcasts, as well as our homepage. I hope you enjoy them.
Adel
Host of History Behind News Podcast
