For more than two centuries, Hungarians believed they shared an ethnic link with people of Japanese, Bulgarian, Estonian, Finnish, and Turkic descent. Known as "Turanism," this ideology impacts Hungarian politics, science, and cultural and ethnic identity even today.

In Go East!: A History of Hungarian Turanism, Balazs Ablonczy examines the rise of Hungarian Turanism and its lasting effect on the country's history. Turanism arose from the collapse of the Kingdom of Hungary, when the nation's intellectuals began to question Hungary's place in the Western world. The influence of this ideology reached its peak during World War I, when Turanian societies funded research, economic missions, and geographical expeditions. Ablonczy traces Turanism from its foundations through its radicalization in the interwar period, its survival in emigrant circles, and its resurgence during the economic crisis of 2008. Turanian notions can be seen today in the rise of the extreme right-wing party Jobbik and in Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban's party Fidesz.

Go East! provides fresh insight into Turanism's key political and artistic influences in Hungary and illuminates the mark it has left on history.

About the Author

Balazs Ablonczy is Associate Professor at Eoetvoes Lorand University (Budapest, Hungary) and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Humanities, Institute of History, Budapest. He is author of Pal Teleki (1874-1941): The Life of a Controversial Hungarian Politician.

Reviews

"A long-awaited history of Turanism in Hungary that conjures cultural history and politics across two full centuries. A fascinating travel into a key concept of modern Hungary's ideological roots."-Marlene Laruelle, George Washington University

Book Information
ISBN 9780253057419
Author Balazs Ablonczy
Format Paperback
Page Count 296
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press