the magyars: the forgotten power.

"The Soviet Russian master convened his clients from Poland, Czechia and Hungary for a formal chat. To test the reaction, he put on the chair reserved for each delegate a nail (pointedly upward of course). The Pole instantly screamed and jumped up. The Czech winced but held his tougue. The Hungarian, never trusting, looked carefully first, brushed off the nail discreetly then sat down and let out a yell."

There are pretty many fun facts in the history of the Hungarians (or the Magyars as they are fond of being called like that):

-The present universal name ofHungary (Hungaros)consists of Hun, that is definitely derived from the memorable name of the Huns, who settled en masse around the river Tisza in the 5th century, and Ungar, confusedly derived from the the nature of the Magyars who formed the largest group of the cross of the FinnoUgrians, the Onugurs and the Ural Ugrians (all three of them belongs to Turkic families). The name Magyar derives from the Ugrian "Mansi� or "Magy" (possibly from a name of a chief) with the addition of the Turkic "-eri." forming "Megyeri" � "Magyen." � "Magyar". Thus, while the world is fair by calling the land through its mixed nature, the Magyars in accordance with their idiosyncratic Magyar-centricity call it Magyarorszag.

-The present Magyars feel enormously proud that their light-horsed ancestors once ravaged the whole "Western civilization" with impunity yet simultaneously they would feel extremely outcasted if anyone fails to recognize "The Bulwark of Western Christendom". Magyars' raids stopped Not with the Gothic triumph of Lechfeld only but with the equal peace treaty between Emperor Otto I and Prince Geza and the Magyar adoption of Western Christianity (sealed by the marrige between the daughter of one and the son of the other-Stephan or Istvan St). Funny enough, the son of the saintly one became saint in his turn--> Saint Imre (do anyone know Imre Nagy?) and his Latin name would be Emeric. If we really believe that it was the first time there was a saint name Emeric, it was possible that Amerigo Vespuci was christened after him and so you can guess the next.

-After the Aspad dynasty died out, the Magyars started imported foreign kings a la Pologne: Anjou, Luxembourger, Jagellon and if we really believe what the Rumanians says about Janos Huyany, the Truest Hungarian King Matias Corvin was more than probable Wlach. The Hungarian kingdom reached its peak in the reigh of Luios I of Anjou and especially during the reign of Matias Huyany the Raven (1458-1490) when Hungary was the uncontested political and cultural lord of Central Europe, comprised in its land Buda, Visegrad, Vienne, Prague and Belgrad (won through great triumph against the Ottomans in 1456). And as the Magyar historians put it "in this few year, the Magyars truly lived in 'Western Standard'".

-Mohac 1526. 26000 Magyars was annihilated by 80000 to 300000 Ottomans. From this moment onwards, history of Hungary became either a parasite (in the case of Austria) or a contest (in the case of Transivania) or an extinction (in the case of Ottoman empire). The Magyar nobles infact became professional mercenaries, fighting in all the armies of Central and Eastern Europe. From Smolensk to White Mountain, from Norlingen to Vienne 1683 (in the present unpolitical-correct side), the Magyars fought and inspired Europe the famous cavalry formation--Hussar.

-Talking about Hussar, I can not help but to make some comparisons between the Magyars and the Poles. Both have mutual liking for each other, which is both strange and reasonable. Strange is not that the Poles are Slavs and the Magyars, well, Magyar (what about notorious mutual disgust between the Russians and the Poles-I hope it will over soon), but that in the Age of nationalistic Romanticism, the Magyars were no less aggressive than the Germans in asserting their role of "protecting the Western Civilization amidst Slavonic barbarism". And Reasonable is that dispite their racial differences (which is now hardly to distinguish), how can anyone pick out a Polish magnate and a Magyar one. Both share the same nobility, "hussar" psychy that is grandiousity, honour, haut culture, free-care and gallantry (in both senses). Sorry for any steortype. In all central and Eastern Europe, we can find no such similarities, with the exception in Ukrain, Lithuania or Slovakia, regrettably, the nobles in those lands asserted themselves either as Poles or Magyars. What is more, both cherish a history of King-for-king relation (quite unfair to the Magyars since while the Poles get Victors (like Istvan Batory), the Magyars get the whole set of the vanquished (Lasdislas IIII at Varna, Luois II at Mohac). This tradition of reciprocating high regard continued in the age of the Dual Monarchy (The arrogant Magyars saw Polish Gentry in Galicia as their equal partners while snubbed at the Szechs) and the Warsaw Rising (Fascist Magyars showed quite a kindness to the Varsovian FREEDOM-FIGHTERS). But that is enough with the Poles

-After Karlowitz, all Hungary fell under the rule of the Hasburg. The fact that Hungary is bigger than the rest of the Empire made the Hungarian question indispensible. But since this post is not a brief history, it is merely a collection of the facts that I find FUN, therefore, I would like to fly all from Maria Theresa and Joseph II (I would like all his reforms except the idea of forcing all his subjects to speak the language which his great*5grandfather Charles V deemed worthy only of horse-courting). Now we stop in 1867, the coronation of the Dual Monarch, Franz Joseph and his lovely queen, Elizabeth, who was the very initiator of the Dual Monarchy and who was infatuated with the Hungarian "Dash, Gallantry and Brilliance". From then on, 10 million Magyars alongside with 12mil Germans ruled the whole empire of 40 million souls. And if you want to ask how fine it was under the yoke of Magyar gentry, just ask a Slovak, a Croat or a Rumanian. Magyariztion was rigidly realized, and in the kingdom of Hungary, even a high-born Wlach could only show off his talent if he allowed himself to be Magyarized. Mind you the great Kossuth and the greater Petofi "national poet" had been Slovak in the first place. Truly, the Hungarian policy so upset Franz Ferdinand that he had made some terrible vows against the Magyars which, paradoxically, were more realized by his assassination than if he would have done them alive. After WWI, Hungary was stripped two-third of her land and one-third of her population, The HEAVIEST punishment any central power had to suffer. And then, Bela Kun and then, Hothy and then, Imre Nagy, and then... and then...

-Now I would talk about something more enchanting. One of the greatest composers of the Classical era (I dislike all of them), Joseph Haydn was court musician of Esterhazy family (a most powerful family in the Central and Eastern Europe, an equal of the Polish Czartoryski and the Russian Volkonski). Mozart was theirs too for a short period. They also patronated for a hefty trunch of time Ferenc Liszt, the greatest of all romanticists, SECOND only to CHOPIN (subjectively).

-I find no reason whatsoever to count for the "brilliance" that Elizabeth Sissy loved about the Magyars except the fact that they got 10 Nobel Prizes on Physics and Chemistry and half of the scientists working on the Mahattan Project were Hungarians.

-Calling Hungary a "Forgotten power" is a double mistake because firstly she has been anything but power since 1490, and secondly, if someone who absolutely have no connection with any kind of Hungarians like me still know quite something about the land, It must be quite famous. Finale.