ABSTRACT
The use of history for clearly political purposes, the political instrumentalisation of the national image of the past, was always preferred – at least in Hungary – by conservative or right-wing governments rather than the Socialist and Liberal ones. The many contradictions that characterise the public attitude and memory work towards the Communist (Kadarite) past may be demonstrated by the telling example of the so-called informer’s cases. The obvious propensity of right-wing political forces to revive the memory of Trianon is clearly shown by the subsequent Fidesz governments, which came first to power in April 2010. Everything described about how Trianon is viewed and approached officially in Hungary predicts a future in which the cult of Trianon will finally be nationalised in the same way as it has been appropriated and controlled in the Horthy era. The centennial year of the memory of this event in 2020 will no doubt provide ample evidence for this supposition.
