To Help or Not to Help? Moral Relativism and Historical Memory in Hungarian Public Discourse Since the 16th Century

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Hungary faced great empires on numerous accounts throughout its modern era history: the Ottoman Empire in the 16-17th centuries, the Habsburg Empire in 1703-1711 and later again in 1848-1849, and also the Russian/Soviet Empire in 1849 and 1956. One thing is common among all these wars and freedom fights – the unfulfilled desire for effective military aid coming from Western nations. The feeling of abandonment has been deeply rooted in Hungarian historical memory ever since. Nowadays, Hungary is among the few European nations which consistently reject the idea of providing military support to Ukraine. This paper attempts to resolve this contradiction. In order to do so, it utilizes primary sources from the 16-17th centuries in particular, which illustrate the Hungarian cries for help and the reactions of Western powers. These are compared to present-day political statements on the war in Ukraine given by the Hungarian political elite. By applying the method of discourse analysis, it becomes apparent that Ukraine is receiving the kind of help which Hungary did not get earlier. This phenomenon is a prime example of moral relativism in practice and illustrates that historical memory can be distorted to an extreme extent by the media. Historical awareness therefore remains of key importance both in academia and public discourse when it comes to the relationship between current affairs and national memory.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
László Kövecses is currently a PhD student in History at Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest. Previously he earned his MSc degree at the University of Glasgow in Russian, Central and East European Studies in 2015 and his BA degree in History with Geography minor at Eötvös Loránd University in 2013. His main research interest is Hungarian national identity in the early modern period (1500-1800). He is a member of the London-based Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism. Kövecses published articles in English so far in the journals Nations & Nationalism, Ephemeris Hungarologica, Hungarian Review and other websites.