Origins of the Hungarian Ethos

The original tribal Hungarians developed a durable and strong national identity at the earliest stage of the Hungarian migrations. The original tribal group, which had set out on these migrations during the last millennium B.C., formed a viable nucleus for the future nation.

This heterogeneous racial and cultural structure, superimposed on a millennia-old national identity, had provided the Hungarians with recognizable national characteristics, some of which may seem to be of a contrasting nature. These vastly different features have, during the last thirteen centuries of the Hungarian Central-European existence, mellowed into a surprisingly rich, colorful but harmonious national character.

Though elusive and hard to define, this national character exists without visible physical racial characteristics.

Magyars do not belong to any particular race, Hungarians do not present any noticeable religious, political or social conformity – in fact, and the very diversity in these fields seems to be one of the typical characteristics of this people.

The definition of the Hungarian national ‘ethos’ is therefore a very complex task. For one thing, Hungarians are usually too emotional to be able to form impartial judgments of themselves while foreigners are rarely familiar enough with the Hungarian culture and history to form valid conclusions.