Politics of the past: the use and abuse of history - Socialists ...

In spite of all this, ever since the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy and the creation of nation states in East Central Europe,
Hungarian-Slovak relations have mostly been shaped by
conflict, historical legends of their struggle for existence, everyday
prejudice, national interests and selfishness, and political disputes.
Attempts at rapprochement, which are well intended but never win
over the majority of the national elites and are therefore for the most
part poorly received, have failed one after the other. Few initiatives
reach the stage where both sides consider them on their merits.
Efforts at reconciliation have similarly foundered on historical phobias
and the nationalist slogans that resound on both sides. A mutual
sense of historical superiority similarly continues to encumber
frank dialogue.
The relative freedom of the last twenty years has resulted in very important
breakthroughs in the way we deal with historical discourse
of state nationalism. However, this has not led to common historical
values as a point of reference for the common fate of small nations.
The opposing histories are still present, expropriated by the
nation states and their educational institutions and nationalised historiographies.
The situation today is still that the canonised history
that appears in school books has remained a source of divisive, opposing
opinions. As a result, the avant garde of intellectuals and
the illustrious representatives of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia
and the Slovak minority in Hungary, who are indicative of the two
countries’ sensitivity towards each other, are still not able to attain
widespread support for attempts at rapprochement and mutual
recognition of the common values and traditions of their shared history.
Nevertheless, the annual coronation celebrations in Bratislava, the
Rákóczi cult in Košice, and the Slovak plaques and memorials that
have multiplied in Budapest and elsewhere in Hungary, show that
there is some movement towards acknowledging historical incidents
– which are important to either or both sides – and celebrating
them together. Despite the asymmetric positions of both
minorities, they are affected in a similarly elementary way and have
done their bit to improve relations. 1 The trouble-free contact along
1 Slovaks in Hungary have built up regular contact with the official and civil
Slovakia, including with organisations for Hungarians in Slovakia. The system
of links with Hungary for Hungarians in Slovakia is richer than in former periods,
but nonetheless Hungarian-Hungarian contact continues to leave its mark
on the poor relations between the two countries.
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