Hungarian Heritage Review, 1988 (17. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1988-06-01 / 6. szám
^Hungarian iMertiage (Eaíeniiar- by - PAUL PULITZER ARCHDUKE FRANCIS FERDINAND: Was the assassination of this Habsburgján, who hated Hungary and the Hungarian people, worth the bloodstained price paid by Hungary? THE STRANGE CASE OF HUNGARY’S “28TH DAY OF JUNE” One of the most tragic days in the history of Hungary during this century was June 28, 1914. For on this fateful day 74 years ago this month, Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian terrorist in Sarajevo. This incident lit the fuse for the detonation of World War I when the Crown Council of Austria-Hungary, in spite of the vehement opposition of Count Stephen Tisza, the Prime Minister of Hungary, insisted upon retaliation against Serbia. The results of this irrational decision were catastrophic. Hungary was dismembered; the House of Habsburg collapsed and the Austro-Hungarian Empire went down with it; Germany was bankrupted; tsarist rule in Russia was ousted; and the “seeds” for World War II were planted in fertile soil. For these and other “fallouts” from the decision made in Vienna on June 28, 1914, the world’s family of nations have paid, and are still paying to this very day, a very heavy price. What Hungary and the Hungarian people have paid, because of the stupidity of the unreasonable, is a matter of historical record. And, for what? The ghoulish irony in the answer to this question is that, in the first place, Hungary was forced to go to war on JUNE 28TH, 1914, because, it was alleged, Austria wanted to avenge the assassination of the heir to the Habsburgian throne of Austria-Hungary — A MAN, WHO HATED HUNGARY AND THE HUNGARIANS WITH A PASSION! Then, to add insult to injury, Hungary was again forced, this time by Germany, to go to war on JUNE 28TH, 1941 — EVEN THOUGH SHE HAD DECLARED HER INTENTIONS TO REMAIN NEUTRAL SIX DAYS BEFORE GERMANY INVADED THE SOVIET UNION! June 28th, in the history of Hungary, is not a good day to remember! 12 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW JUNE 1988
