Hungarian Heritage Review, 1988 (17. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1988-01-01 / 1. szám
^Hungarian jjjlf ificrtxaac VLtafcttuar i- by-PAUL PULITZER JANUARY Many memorable events occurred this month in the history of Hungary. Among them, is one which seems to have been forgotten by most Hungarians. This event, which occurred on January 6, 1764, was the cold-blooded massacre of 500 Szekely women and children in the little Transylvanian village of Madefalva. Who was responsible for this outrage? None other than the Empress-Queen Maria Theresa! It seems to be the consensus of opinion among many Hungarian historians that the Empress-Queen Maria Theresa (1740-1780) was “the greatest ruler the Habsburg dynasty produced,” and, to a considerable extent, this is true. That she enjoyed the love, affection, loyalty, and support of the Hungarian people in general and the Hungarian Estates in particular during most of her reign, is also true. So much so, in fact, that it was her Hungarian subjects who saved her throne for her and, by doing so, the Habsburg dynasty! However, her “Our life and blood for our Queen!” Members of the Hungarian Diet in Pozsony enthusiastically offer the Queen their full support against the enemies of her realm. An etching by Bertalan Szekely. [From “The Spirit of Hungary” by Stephen Sisa] “honeymoon” with Hungary and with the Hungarian people carried with it a high price-tag, indeed, and the Szekelys of Transylvania paid it. In the wars triggered by her accession to the Habsburgian throne, the Empress-Queen Maria Theresa was provided with ample evidence proving the superb fighting capabilities of the Magyars serving in her army. Therefore, to secure her throne and to be able to defend her realm against further aggressions, she adopted a policy of defense which relied upon beefing-up her Austrian Army with Hungarian conscripts. When informed that Transylvanian Magyars of military age were reluctant to allow themselves to be forcefully drafted to serve 8-12 years in the Austrian Army and were becoming artful draft-dodgers, she decided to impose her authority as absolute monarch of her remote province. To show the Transylvanians who was boss, she dismissed the Hungarian governor of Transylvania and replaced him with General Buccow, a sour-faced Austrian. She then ordered her Imperial General to establish a militia of Transylvanian draftees. But young Szekelys donned their “rabbit shoes” and fled to Turkishoccupied Moldavia, leaving behind their families as hostages. This situation led to a confrontation between 2500 Szekely villagers and Austrian troops in Madefalva. The result was a middle-ofthe-night bloodbath in which 500 women and children were butchered. JANUARY 1988 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 17
