Bulgária belépése az első világháborúba a magyar sajtó tükrében
Bulgaria’s Entry to World War I in the Mirror of the Hungarian Press

Summary/Abstract: Bulgaria’s joining the Central Powers during World War I was an event of crucial importance for Hungary as well, which explains the considerable attention it elicited from the Hungarian press. The background to the predominantly propagandisctic articles was constituted by the circumstances of Bulgaria’s joining the war, the attitude of the Hungarian political leadership to this event, and the tissue of mutual interests. Part of the Hungarian public opinion turned with sympathy to Bulgaria, thanks among other factors to the idea of turanism that had spread from the start of the century. Considerable attention was paid to the person of Tsar Ferdinand, party explained by the fact that as a ruler he personified the imagined character of his nation, and partly by his close Hungarian connections. The simplifying narrative of propaganda, playing on the tunes of national typoligies, looked for points of connection. Similarities were used to raise sympathy, while divergences were staged as exotic. A recurrent element was Bulgaria’s potential role as a counterweight against the Serbians and the Romanians, as well as against Panslavism and the Russians. Bulgaria was regarded as the most developed state of the Balkans, a faithful ally of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, witha a steadfast and a welltrained army. Sympathy was further fuelled by Tsar Ferdinand, of partly Hungarian origins and fluent in Hungarian. The writings that uncritically extolled him virtually created a parallel universe, in which an almost faultless leader showed the way for a Bulgarian nation united in brotherly alliance with the Hungarians.

• Details
• Contents