In October 2006, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution, riots broke out in the city of Budapest. Click here to view some video of the events (including policemen on horseback charging the crowds) and here to view a series of photos of the event. I have heard conflicting versions of what happened and why it occurred. From what I have been able to piece together, crowds gathered to protest the speech by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany–the leader of the Hungarian Socialist Party who had been taped admitting to lying to the Hungarian people repeatedly during the 2-year electoral campaign about the state of the economy. According to the students at the English Conversation Club, a “small band of hooligans” was responsible for most of the damage. My cousins were aghast that a commemoration of an event so important in modern Hungarian memory and history had been marred by violence and destruction. Socialists blame Fidesz and vice versa.
Tomorrow is March 15…a national holiday commemorating the 1848 revolution. This was an uprising to promote democracy and greater participation in Hungarian national life that was ultimately suppressed by conservative forces, including those from Austria and Germany. When I visited my relatives in 1996, we went all around the city and spent an entire day sightseeing. I invited them to have a beer before we called it a day. When I raised my beer mug for a toast, they told me that Hungarians don’t toast with beer. When I asked why, they told me because during the 1848 Revolution, the Austrians and Germans toasted each other with their beer steins after they had suppressed the Hungarian revolutionaries. I often mention this story to my American students to give them a sense that historical memory in Europe continues vibrant and immanent. Interestingly enough, on this visit, I noticed some of my Hungarian colleagues toasting with their beer mugs. When I asked them about this, they said that it was true, that Hungarians had promised not to toast with beer, but that they had promised to do so only for 150 years. Today, in 2009, the promise has expired and Hungarians can toast, if they choose to do so, with a clear conscience.
Yesterday, we received a notice from the American Embassy. They have a warden system to alert American nationals about potential threats to their safety. There are numerous parades, wreath-layings, speeches, and events scheduled throughout Hungary and at venues all around Budapest. My cousin Rita teaches in a secondary school and was busy yesterday as students recited poetry, sang patriotic songs, and enjoyed other activities to celebrate the holiday. The Hungarian flag is waving all around the city of Debrecen. The students at English Conversation Club said that many Hungarians wear the red, white, and green rosettes on their lapels to commemorate the holiday. The embassy, however, warned us to stay away from these areas because of the potential for violent outbreaks.
This week I read an article by Liaquat Ahamed in the IHT called “Subprime Europe.” He basically says that although the subprime meltdown in the US is frightening, the crisis developing in Eastern Europe is far scarier, partly because political solutions are far harder to come by. Sporadic workers’ demonstrations and strikes have already erupted in Poland and the Czech Republic. Democracy in Eastern Europe is fragile and there is widespread fear that unless dramatic action is taken, violent disturbances will break out and bring ultra-right wing nationalist groups back into power. So tomorrow, many eyes here will be on the way in which the Hungarian people and their government deal with one another as they join in this commemoration of their common past.
Thanks for tuning in and best regards,
Marcsi
BTW: Click here if you want to see the article by Ahamed.
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