(Part 1)
In his bestseller,
Self Matters: Creating Your Life from the Inside Out,
Dr. Phil McGraw, American psychologist and talk show host introduced a popular concept, according to which we, individually, are who we are because of
the influence of ten defining moments, seven critical choices, and five pivotal people in our lives. In a 2002 interview on CNN, Larry King challenged Dr. Phil with the question whether we could apply his teaching to whole nations („Since nations are kind of extensions of people…”). Although Dr. Phil replied that „9/11 was the only event /he has/ ever seen that /he/ would call a collective defining moment for an entire nation”, we at Puszta.com couldn't help but play with the idea of taking a guess at
the ten defining moments, seven critical choices, and five pivotal people
that have written on the slate of „who” Hungary is today.
You will notice that there is some overlap in the following lists. This is due to the fact that we found it difficult sometimes to separate defining moments from critical choices, or from people in leadership positions (the ones in authority to make those choices and thus create the defining momets). In three related articles to follow, we will give more detail on each of our choices.
Our lists may not be „correct”, but just imagine, What if? …Or better yet, tell us what is
your list of ten, seven, five for Hungary.
Ten Defining Moments
1. The Conquest ('Honfoglalas': Attila or Arpad?)
2. Conversion to Christianity
3. Birth of the 'forint'
4. Reign of Matyas Hunyadi (Matthias Corvinus, 1458-1490 AD)
5. Battle of Mohacs in 1526 (more than 150 years of Ottoman rule over the Hungarians)
6. The 1848 revolution (March 15)
7. Treaty of Trianon (June 4, 1920)
8. The 1956 revolution (October 23)
9. Declaration of the Hungarian Republic (1989)
10. Joining the European Union (May 1, 2004)
Seven Critical Choices
1. Arpad leads the Hungarian tribes into the Carpathian Basin (895-896 AD)
2. Szent Istvan ((Saint) Stephen I) establishes the Kingdom of Hungary (1000 AD)
3. King Matyas's campaigns (Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, 1458-1490 AD)
4. The 1848 revolution (March 15, 1848 - August 13, 1849)
5. Entering WW II (November 20, 1940)
6. Declaration of the Hungarian Republic (October 23, 1989)
7. Joining the European Union (May 1, 2004)
Five Pivotal People
1. Attila, the Hun (we can explain it! :))
2. Szent Istvan ((Saint) Stephen I)
3. King Matyas (Matthias Corvinus)
4. Count Istvan Szechenyi
5. Lajos Kossuth
Parts 2 and 3 coming soon
