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This is a glimpse of my ethnic heritage that I compiled for my personal files and found both informative and fascinating. - LFN member Zoltan Gnagy

The Curse of Turan (Hungarian: Turáni átok) is a belief that Hungarians have been under the influence of a malicious spell for many centuries. The "curse" manifests itself as inner strife, pessimism, misfortune and several historic catastrophes.*

"Hungarians are very familiar with the Curse of Turan.  In popular language, it refers to the suffering of the Hungarian people either through inner strife and pessimism or through natural catastrophe, lack of independence from other nations and wars in general.  The pure mention of it usually creates bitterness and sadness in Hungarian people.  Where did this belief in the curse come from? " - M. J. Mandoki

Theories:

There are several versions of the curse but the most popular version states that in AD 1000, King Stephen took a dramatic step of converting whole of Hungary into Christianity. While some accepted it in fear of dire consequence, those who had strong faith in old Hungarian religion could not really accept this forced change and cast a malicious spell that was supposed to last forever or at least for a thousand years.

The other less popular version of the curse states that it originated during the 1850’s after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 failed. The curse, according to this second version was symbolic to the decade of repression and overwhelming pessimism.

The third version of the curse is related to King Stephen. According to stories and folklores, after King Geza died, the rightful owner of the throne was Koppány (a Hungarian nobleman) as per the ancient laws of Hungary. King Stephen wanted the throne and murdered Koppány to ascend the throne, resulting in the curse which stated, “Let there be discord amongst the Hungarians, until someone makes up for this ancient mistake.” It was King Stephen who was responsible for bringing discord among Hungarians for the first time and the curse followed.**

Who cast the curse?

According to legends, the curse was cast by a pagan shaman who was born with 6 fingers. People believed that his six fingers gave him psychic powers. This shaman story is related to the first and most popular version of The Curse of Turan. The shaman said that the curse will last forever or at least 1000 years. 1000 years are over but ‘forever’ will never be over. If something wrong happens again, people will be quick enough to blame it on the curse. **

Note: Historically, Hungary was a pagan nation until the year 1000 A.D., ruled by the House of Arpad. With the death of Geza, the ruler of Hungary, according to the Levioratus tradition, the nation’s leadership belonged to the oldest and most able male member of the ruler’s larger family.  The most able leader was Koppany.  However, he was not the son of Geza and Geza’s son, Vajk, revolted against the ancient tradition to claim right to his father’s throne.  The dispute led to a battle of the men against each other.  The battle was not just significant for the leadership in the family, but also for the spiritual fate of all Hungarians.  Koppany was deeply entrenched in his pagan faith and was ready to defend it against the Christian invasion.  On the other hand, Vajk was ready to make a change and adopt the Christian faith to save Hungary from a devastating destruction of the Christian army.  The battle was fought and the pagan leader died.  Vajk became a Christian a took the name Istvan (Stephen) and became King Stephen of Hungary, the first Christian king. - M.J. Mandoki***

Curse Timeline:

For ages, the curse has been associated with national level catastrophes. These catastrophes date far back to 1200 AD, signifying that the first version of the curse is more widely accepted and has been associated with all sufferings that the nation faced.

Hungary faced a devastating loss after the Mongols invaded the nation in 1241 AD and Hungary lost in the Battle of Mohi. The population of Hungary was severely depleted and people started pointing fingers to The Curse of Turan.

The next great disaster was in 1526 and this time was an invasion by the Turks. Hungary lost in Battle of Mohács. This battle established the Ottoman rule in Hungary’s central parts which lasted for 150 years till 1686.

The end of Ottoman rule in Hungary did not really end the sufferings for Hungarians and in 1699; sovereignty was transferred to the Hapsburgian Austrian Empire from the Ottoman Empire.

The next terrible fate for the Hungarians was waiting in form of 1848 Revolution. In the bloody aftermath, the Russian and the Habsburg forces started a regime of inexplicable repression that lasted for 15 years.

As if that wasn’t enough, the year 1919 saw Hungarian Revolution followed by Hungarian-Romanian war, both of which did not end well for Hungary.

Following the 1919’s bloody events was the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, which was all about redefining the borders after World War I. Hungary was once again at a loss and the nation lost 72% of its territory.

Following the Treaty of Trianon was Hungary’s alliance with Axis Power in World War II between 1939 and 1945. Defeat of Nazi Germany did not end well for Hungary and she lost more than 600,000 civilians and 300,000 soldiers.

Then in 1956 there was another Hungarian Revolution and the Soviet military power was too much for them to digest. The revolution was crushed. 2,500 Hungarians died and over 200,000 fled, resulting in mass exodus.**

The curse became a favourite theme in Hungarian literature. A poem written in 1832 by the great 19th century Romantic poet, Mihály Vörösmarty, explains the origin of the curse as the bloody wars fought for the territory of Hungary in ancient times:

The Curse

“Men!” said the Pannon god of bane in olden times
“I bestow to you a happy land; you should fight for, if you want her.”
So great, brave nations fought dauntlessly for her,
And the Magyar won a bloody victory at last.
Oh, but contention remained on the souls of the peoples: the land
Can never become happy under this curse.

Az átok

"Férfiak!" így szólott Pannon vészistene hajdan,
"Boldog földet adok, víjatok érte, ha kell."
S víttanak elszántan nagy bátor nemzetek érte,
S véresen a diadalt végre kivítta magyar.
Ah de viszály maradott a népek lelkein: a föld
Boldoggá nem tud lenni ez átok alatt.*

Resources:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Turan

**  https://factslegend.org/15-interesting-curse-turan-facts/

*** https://mjmandokiauthor.wordpress.com/2016/06/06/the-hungarian-curse-the-pagan-curse-of-turan/

Posted for informationl/educational purposes only.