Chasing a mirage

Abstract

The dismemberment of historic Hungary by the Trianon Peace Treaty was a shock on the collective Hungarian consciousness and was perceived as one of the most severe national tragedies. Therefore, Trianon became an overarching national issue during the interwar period, and regardless of the social, economic, and political background of the Hungarian people, the whole nation considered the rectification of Hungary’s frontiers necessary. Trianon became a national obsession, giving rise to popular revisionist beliefs and expectations. Stemming from its extremely emotional and sensitive nature, both academic and popular discourses about the Trianon question during the interwar period often resulted in exaggerations, misinterpretations, and misrepresentations. From Jenő Horváth’s A magyar kérdés a XX. században [The Hungarian Question in the 20th Century] and the collective publication, Justice for Hungary, through the fairly diverse revisionist and irredentist pamphlet literature to various everyday manifestations of revisionist culture,1 it is clear that neither the intellectual and the political elite, nor the people of the streets could accept what they viewed as Trianon’s tragedy.