The Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat

by Paul Lendvai, Ann Major (Translator)

Overview

The Hungarians is the most comprehensive, clear-sighted, and absorbing history ever of a legendarily proud and passionate but lonely people. Much of Europe once knew them as "child-devouring cannibals" and "bloodthirsty Huns." But it wasn't long before the Hungarians became steadfast defenders of the Christian West and fought heroic freedom struggles against the Tatars (1241), the Turks (16-18th centuries), and, among others, the Russians (1848-49 and 1956). Paul Lendvai tells the fascinating story of how the Hungarians, despite a string of catastrophes and their linguistic and cultural isolation, have survived as a nation-state for more than 1,000 years.

Lendvai, who fled Hungary in 1957, traces Hungarian politics, culture, economics, and emotions from the Magyars' dramatic entry into the Carpathian Basin in 896 to the brink of the post-Cold War era. Hungarians are ever pondering what being Hungarian means and where they came from. Yet, argues Lendvai, Hungarian national identity is not only about ancestry or language but also an emotional sense of belonging. Hungary's famous poet-patriot, Sándor Petofi, was of Slovak descent, and Franz Liszt felt deeply Hungarian though he spoke only a few words of Hungarian. Through colorful anecdotes of heroes and traitors, victors and victims, geniuses and imposters, based in part on original archival research, Lendvai conveys the multifaceted interplay, on the grand stage of Hungarian history, of progressivism and economic modernization versus intolerance and narrow-minded nationalism.

He movingly describes the national trauma inflicted by the transfer of the historic Hungarian heartland of Transylvania to Romania under the terms of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920--a trauma that the passing of years has by no means lessened. The horrors of Nazi and Soviet Communist domination were no less appalling, as Lendvai's restrained account makes clear, but are now part of history.

An unforgettable blend of eminent readability, vibrant humor, and meticulous scholarship, The Hungarians is a book without taboos or prejudices that at the same time offers an authoritative key to understanding how and why this isolated corner of Europe produced such a galaxy of great scientists, artists, and entrepreneurs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691200279
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	03/02/2021
Pages:	592
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Paul Lendvai is a Hungarian-born Austrian author of eighteen books on Central and Eastern Europe who worked for the Financial Times for more than two decades. His previous book, Orbán: Europe's New Strongman, was awarded the European Book Prize.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the New Edition vii

Introduction 1

1 "Heathen Barbarians" overrun Europe: Evidence from St Gallen 7

2 Land Acquisition or Conquest? The Question of Hungarian Identity 12

3 From Magyar Mayhem to the Christian Kingdom of the Árpáds 27

4 The Struggle for Continuity and Freedom 38

5 The Mongol Invasion of 1241 and its Consequences 49

6 Hungary's Fuse to Great Power Status under Foreign Kings 62

7 The Heroic Age of the Hunyadis and the Turkish Danger 75

8 The Long Road to the Catastrophe of Mohács 86

9 The Disaster of Ottoman Rule 94

10 Transylvania-the Stronghold of Hungarian Sovereignty 106

11 Gábor Bethlen-Vassal, Patriot and European 114

12 Zrinyi or Zrinski? One Hero for Two Nations 126

13 The Rebel Leader Thököly: Adventurer or Traitor? 137

14 Ferenc Rákóczi's Fight for Freedom from the Habsburgs 145

15 Myth and Historiography: an Idol through the Ages 155

16 Hungary in the Habsburg Shadow 160

17 The Fight against the "Hatted King" 177

18 Abbot Martinovics and the Jacobin Plot: a Secret Agent as Revolutionary Martyr 183

19 Count István Széchenyi and the "Reform Era": Rise and Fall of the "Greatest Hungarian" 191

20 Lajos Kossuth and Sándor Petöfi: Symbols of 1848 206

21 Victories, Defeat and Collapse: The Lost War of Independence, 1849 222

22 Kossuth the Hero versus "Judas" Görgey: "Good" and "Bad" in Sacrificial Mythology 242

23 Who was Captain Gusev? Russian "Freedom Fighters" between Minsk and Budapest 260

24 Elisabeth, Andrássy and Bismarck: Austria and Hungary on the Road to Reconciliation 266

25 Victory in Defeat:The Compromise and the Consequences of Dualism 281

26 Total Blindness:The Hungarian Sense of Mission and the Nationalities 299

27 The "Golden Age" of the Millennium: Modernization with Drawbacks 310

28 "Magyar Jew or Jewish Magyar?" A Unique Symbiosis 329

29 "Will Hungary become German or Magyar?" The Germans' Peculiar Role 348

30 From the Great War to the "Dictatorship of Despair": the Red Count and Lenin's Agent 356

31 The Admiral on a White Horse: Trianon and the Death Knell of St Stephen's Realm 373

32 Adventurers, Counterfeiters, Claimants to the Throne: Hungary as Troublemaker in the Danube Basin 389

33 Marching in Step with Hider:Triumph and Fall. From the Persecution of Jews to Mob Rule 406

34 Victory in Defeat: 1945-1990 427

35 The Failure of the Democratic Experiment 466

36 Viktor Orbán's "Führerdemocracy" 489

Notes 508

Index 534

Plates follow page 284

What People are Saying About This

Istvan Deak

This brief narrative of Hungarian history, elegantly translated into English, is written with verve, humor, profound insights, and just the right degree of cynicism. It well explains the dilemma of a respectable old state squeezed between more powerful neighbors, the contradictions between individual genius and repeated national failure, and the recurring tragic conflicts between the defense of nationhood and messianic nationalism. It is supplemented with fascinating essays on, for instance, the complexities of Jewish and German assimilation into the Hungarian nation.
— Istvan Deak, Columbia University

From the Publisher

"This brief narrative of Hungarian history, elegantly translated into English, is written with verve, humor, profound insights, and just the right degree of cynicism. It well explains the dilemma of a respectable old state squeezed between more powerful neighbors, the contradictions between individual genius and repeated national failure, and the recurring tragic conflicts between the defense of nationhood and messianic nationalism. It is supplemented with fascinating essays on, for instance, the complexities of Jewish and German assimilation into the Hungarian nation."—István Deák, Columbia University

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Lendvai has written a standard-setting work, always at the highest level of historical research yet so eminently readable, so entertaining—only a journalist out of passion with profound knowledge of history is able to write in this way. . . . Lendvai's presentation of the thousand years of Hungarian history in Europe is not only comprehensive, it is also just.

Der Spiegel

When Paul Lendvai, the indefatigable observer of Eastern Europe, writes a book, he has in general something exciting to relate. . . . Lendvai's book is a well-constructed mixture of historical facts, political judgments, and cultural anecdotes.

Editorial Reviews

"A pleasure to read. . . . Mr. Lendvai has done a remarkable job. His book is easily the best history of Hungary in English. . . . What's remarkable is how many extraordinary individuals, admirable and otherwise, we come across in this small nation's history."—-Stephen Goode, Washington Times

"The writing of national histories is . . . justified by the erudition and intellectual brilliance of the [author]. To this one must add, as a special attraction, the charm, wit and healthy cynicism of The Hungarians."—-Istvan Deak, Times Literary Supplement

"[R]ewarding, entertaining, and well written. . . . No one who is interested in Hungary should miss reading this book."—-Nicolas Parsons, Hungarian Quarterly

From the Publisher

"An outstanding storyteller. [Lendvai] not only presents scientifically based facts and analysis but also tells the reader a story. . .. A compact overview of Hungarian history, a wonderful collection of biographical sketches and a subtle description of the 'Hungarian temperament'."

Neue Zürcher Zeitung

"[A] glorious, immensely readable book."

Economist

"When Paul Lendvai, the indefatigable observer of Eastern Europe, writes a book, he has in general something exciting to relate. . . . Lendvai's book is a well-constructed mixture of historical facts, political judgments, and cultural anecdotes."

Der Spiegel

"Excellently researched and masterfully constructed, this should become a standard work. . . . The book reads almost like a novel with historical background. . . . Most warmly recommended."

Die Presse

"Lendvai has written a standard-setting work, always at the highest level of historical research yet so eminently readable, so entertaining—only a journalist out of passion with profound knowledge of history is able to write in this way. . . . Lendvai's presentation of the thousand years of Hungarian history in Europe is not only comprehensive, it is also just."

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"[A] glorious, immensely readable book."

Economist

"An outstanding storyteller. [Lendvai] not only presents scientifically based facts and analysis but also tells the reader a story. . .. A compact overview of Hungarian history, a wonderful collection of biographical sketches and a subtle description of the 'Hungarian temperament'."

Neue Zürcher Zeitung

"An outstanding storyteller. [Lendvai] not only presents scientifically based facts and analysis but also tells the reader a story. . .. A compact overview of Hungarian history, a wonderful collection of biographical sketches and a subtle description of the 'Hungarian temperament'."

Neue Zurcher Zeitung

It is history's destiny to stare helplessly as the past's effects on facts have them act no differently on our minds and bodies than do fictions. In his loving rendering of Hungary's troubled saga, Lendvai has shown us how our knowledge and memory are a tangle of both threads.

The European Legacy - Norman Madarasz

An exhaustive history of the Hungarian people. . . . The author has written a sympathetic account of Hungarian history. Yet the book also exposes the blemishes along with the heroism. . . . For those interested in the history of a art of Europe that has been shrouded in mystery and cliché, it's a helpful handbook.

The Montreal Gazette - Anne Gyulai

[R]ewarding, entertaining, and well written. . . . [F]ar more substantial than the witty musings to be found, for example, in Luigi Barzini's The Italians. . . . No one who is interested in Hungary should miss reading this book.

Hungarian Quarterly - Nicolas Parsons

The writing of national histories is . . . justified by the erudition and intellectual brilliance of the [author]. To this one must add, as a special attraction, the charm, wit and healthy cynicism of The Hungarians.

Times Literary Supplement - Istvan Deak

A pleasure to read. . . . Mr. Lendvai has done a remarkable job. His book is easily the best history of Hungary in English. . . . What's remarkable is how many extraordinary individuals, admirable and otherwise, we come across in this small nation's history.

Washington Times - Stephen Goode

It is history's destiny to stare helplessly as the past's effects on facts have them act no differently on our minds and bodies than do fictions. In his loving rendering of Hungary's troubled saga, Lendvai has shown us how our knowledge and memory are a tangle of both threads.
— Norman Madarasz

The European Legacy

An exhaustive history of the Hungarian people. . . . The author has written a sympathetic account of Hungarian history. Yet the book also exposes the blemishes along with the heroism. . . . For those interested in the history of a art of Europe that has been shrouded in mystery and cliché, it's a helpful handbook.
— Anne Gyulai

The Montreal Gazette

[R]ewarding, entertaining, and well written. . . . [F]ar more substantial than the witty musings to be found, for example, in Luigi Barzini's The Italians. . . . No one who is interested in Hungary should miss reading this book.
— Nicolas Parsons

Hungarian Quarterly

The writing of national histories is . . . justified by the erudition and intellectual brilliance of the [author]. To this one must add, as a special attraction, the charm, wit and healthy cynicism of The Hungarians.
— Istvan Deak

Times Literary Supplement

A pleasure to read. . . . Mr. Lendvai has done a remarkable job. His book is easily the best history of Hungary in English. . . . What's remarkable is how many extraordinary individuals, admirable and otherwise, we come across in this small nation's history.
— Stephen Goode

Washington Times