Magyar News, 2002. szeptember-2003. augusztus (13. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2003-03-01 / 7. szám
THE SPIRIT OF MflCARCH 1 5 PAST AND FUTURE Following the 1848 Hungarian Revolution we always praise the spirit of the youth who lined up behind Kossuth, Petőfi and many other leaders of that time. We pay tribute to this spirit that manifested the people’s wish for freedom. This wish existed long before. Let us not forget the many times when the Hungarian people were occupied and suppressed by other nations. Let us not forget the Mongolians and the Turks, and let us bear in mind that those nations whom we shielded, were busy with each other avoiding to give a helping hand to us in need. With all the power in Europe it took 150 years to participate liberating Hungary from the Turks. Only after it was evident that the Hungarian people with their spirit of freedom were surviving did help arrive. Probably to take control over a weakened nation - as it happened. In 1848, at the time of upheavals in Europe, the Hungarians stood up against the Austrian rule, demanded freedom, independence. This time there was enough power to put us down, except for the spirit of freedom that the Hungarians had. To compensate against this spirit the Russians were asked to intervene. They did, and nations whom we protected against the forces from the East were happy to have us defeated. The only thing they couldn’t defeat was the spirit of freedom. A decade and a half later Austria had to give in and the Compromise was established What did we experience in modem times? Well one doesn’t have to go to far, just stop for a moment at World War One. Twelve members of the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom voted for the war because the son of the king of an Austrian family was murdered in Sarajevo. Out of the twelve votes the Hungarians only had one, the remaining eleven went to Austria and the Czecks. When the war ended, we Hungarians were on the losing side, thanks again to the Russians who made it known that they are in charge. Then they offered Hungary on a silver platter to Europe. With the platter went the cutlery and everybody tried to show their skills with the knives. Chop-chop! Some brought recipes like it might be dangerous to have a strong Hungarian Nation who could join forces with, let us say, Germany and scare the hell out of France. So the chop went on and gave birth to the Trianon Treaty that did away with the best geographic borders for a nation to establish a state. To make sure that the Hungarian nation is weakened, the Treaty took away from Hungary one third of the Hungarian people. With the chop-chop even Austria received a nice slice of Hungary. The only thing they couldn’t take away was the spirit of freedom. The words that filled the souls of the people in 1848 on March 15 stayed alive. These were loud and clear in the later years when the German SS boots joined with the fascists and trampled all over our country. Not being able to stay out of the war, thanks again to the Russians, the Hungarians were set on the side of the loosers. No question about it. First Hungary was occupied by the Germans, then by the Russians. I should say, by the Soviet. There is a difference between Russians and the Soviet. It wasn’t a power of a nation, or a political concept, it was the undisputable power of Stalin and his hatchet men. The spirit of freedom manifested itself in 1956, in the October 23 uprising. It was just unbelievable to see the tiny Hungary look the huge Russian-Soviet bear in the face and tell it to get out. And out they went. Unfortunately, just to gather together a huge army, some of them waiting to be deployed to the Suez, and with brutal force reoccupied Hungary. Thanks to the Hungarians the monkey-wrench did the damage to the gears of the Soviet. So where are we today? Hungary has freedom though nothing has been corrected the way it should be. We join the NATO and we might wonder how many votes do we have there. Then we join the European Union. All these are good because we are not alone anymore. The Hungarian people are looking for investors because their resources have been depleted with the war and Soviet occupation. The factories that the Soviets left in their wake, are incapable to compete with their products on the international market. The globalization is very demanding. Investors find that the Hungarians are capable as people to do high quality work. We see German, American, Japanese automobile companies establishing factories in Hungary because Hungarian people are capable to do the same work as the investors’ skilled workers. This might be something to think about. Just as curiosity I happened to find out that for the same work in one of these factories a Hungarian gets $5.00 an hour, and for the same work in the investors country their person gets $35.00. I noticed some discrepancies with the European Union, too. Every country, including Hungary, has to pay membership fee as it is been determined by the Union. That is 100%. Now the agriculture of each country receives financial support. Each with a special code. According to the code they receive a 100%. Hungary on the other hand is not offered a 100%, only 10%. I am sorry to see France at the controls. We never received any help from them. After the Napoleonic war about 30,000 Hungarians were captured and they were sold (!!!) for money as slaves to many other countries. They were the real pushers behind the chop-chops in the Trianon Treaty. The concept of globalization somewhat reminds me of the melting pot here in the United States of America. What is a melting pot. Well you make it real hot, throw in the pieces, in this case valuable parts of cultures and traditions, heat it till the pieces loose their beautiful identities, and then pour the mass out somewhere. As an observation those who were kept outside the pot developed a culture that suited them. This the poured out melted mass took on now as their own. Trying to look down the line one wonders whether there will be a melting pot within the European Union, or come to think of it, will the globalization on economic level cause a problem. Corporations change , down-size, or even close down at their own will. Do they have any obligation towards the people they originally pulled into their sphere? What should happen to national values, cultures, traditions? Should the Hungarian language that was in existence for thousands of years, being one of the oldest languages in all Europe? We could go on and on. There is a need to keep the spirit of freedom alive. Our March 15 celebrations should remind us about the past, the changing world, new situations and about our future. Joseph F. Balogh Page 1
