ABSTRACT
In discussing the relationship between how history has been created by historians and how it was experienced, sensed and interpreted by the historical actors themselves, one has to be aware of the fundamental difference between them. The problem has already been conceptualised by stating the duality of collective memory and history. The Great War and its several consequences did indeed make a great impact not only on many contemporaries but also a long-lasting and deep influence has been felt even in today’s Hungary. The traumatic experiences gained in the fronts, and not the less shocking effects of how Hungary’s state borders were radically cut as a result of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1920, the so-called Trianon decision, both were and have been decisive in shaping and even guiding Hungary’s history since 1920. The historically grounded national ethos and identity strengthened and sustained by the national historical narrative of Hungary comes to be loaded with a peculiarly tragic perspective.
