Imre Nagy, Martyr of the Nation Contested History, Legitimacy, and Popular Memory in Hungary

by Benziger, Karl P.

• ISBN13: 9780739123300
• ISBN10: 0739123300
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-04-28
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

Imre Nagy is a compelling figure both in life and in death_one whose actions stimulated consequences in Hungary that continue into the present. Providing a summary review of Hungarian Cold War history, Benziger examines the ways in which the memory of the martyred prime minister and the story of the 1956 Revolution influenced political socialization in Hungary. The book begins with Nagy's 1989 funeral and the role memorialization played in the politics of transition, continuing with a review of the important personages and events that informed Nagy's life and afterlife, and it concludes in the tumultuous politics following the establishment of the Republic in 1989. Readers interested in Central and Eastern Europe will find this book useful as it expands the literature on history and memory, and transition politics in the region.

Author Biography

Karl P. Benziger is an associate professor in the Department of History at Rhode Island College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
The Funeral of Imre Nagy: The Meaning of 1956 in 1989	p. 17
An Unlikely Hero	p. 33
Imre Nagy and the Revolution of 1956: A Fatal Gamble	p. 59
Reaction, Compromise, Tentative Legitimacy	p. 81
The Demand for Memorial	p. 99
The Imre Nagy Bill and the Politics of Memory	p. 115
Imre Nagy, Textbooks, and the Next Generation	p. 133
Epilogue: Restless Heroes and the Continued Debate over History and Memory	p. 151
Appendix A	p. 173
Appendix B	p. 175
Appendix C	p. 177
Bibliography	p. 179
Index	p. 195
About the Author	p. 201
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