The Hungarian Diaspora
There are 3.5 to 4 million Hungarians living outside the territory of Hungary. Of these, 2.5 to 3 million are citizens of neighboring countries (Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria) as a result of redrawing the national boundary lines after World War I in 1920. The throes of history have additionally produced diaspora Hungarians in North and South America, Western Europe, Israel, Australia and South Africa.
The Hungarian Diaspora in the United States According to the 2010 US Census, there were 1,563,081 persons of Hungarian ancestry in the United States. The influx of Hungarian immigrants was marked by several waves:
– After the defeat of the 1848-1849 Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence many veterans joined the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War.
– The Great Economic Immigration of the late 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century included two million citizens of Hungary, among them 650,000 ethnic Hungarians.
– Progressive intellectuals and middle-class Hungarians, many of them before and during World War II and the Holocaust, were driven from the country by political dissent or to specifically escape Nazi persecution.
– After World War II, wary of the Communist takeover of political power, many from Hungary’s elite class fled the country to escape political persecution.
– After the defeat of the 1956 revolution, 200,000 fled Communist persecution, and of these nearly forty thousand were welcomed by the United States.
– Over the past thirty years, there has been sporadic immigration of people seeking better economic opportunities.
Related page:
Go to the next stop of the virtual tour »»»
