Hungarian satirical map of 1887 (Európa béke-mappája)
I’ve loved maps since as long as I can remember and I was intrigued by this satirical map from 1887; I posted it to Facebook and a nice Hungarian translated the long poem at the bottom for me. Gábor says, “it is heavy and somewhat outdated language (and spelling). The top says in parenthesis that it is translated and adapted from German.” I have no idea what the original German source was, but given my interest in nationalism and national identity, I thought it was really worth looking into how various European countries are depicted on the map. Here’s the Hungarian text and Gábor’s translation into English:
[Muszka fehérmedve karmát kiterjeszti]
Russian white bear extends his claws
[Czár félve nihiltől Európát ijeszti]
Tsar, fearing nihil scares Europe
[Szerb malacz, bolgár kos(?) szétriad, s az okos]
Serbian pig, Bulgarian ram scatter, while the smart
[Ausztria nem hagyja — védi magyar fokos]
Austria won’t let them, protected by Hungarian axe
[Dánia ott csücsül Bismarck siska(?) végén]
Dania is sitting at the tip of Bismarck’s helmet
[Európa zsandárja őrködik a békén]
Europe’s police watches peace
[General Boulanger a Republic pékje]
General Boulanger, the baker of the Republic
[Revanchot sütöget, s odasül a béke]
bakes a revenge, burning piece.
(more to come)
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Pauline Park
Pauline Park Thanks so much, Gábor; I really appreciate your efforts~!
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Gábor Ligeti
Gábor Ligeti [Fontján ül Anglia, az ír hiába kér,]
Anglia is sitting on his pounds, the Irish asking in vain,
[Svéd és norvég fóka úszni csak együtt bír]
Swedish and Norwegian seal can only swim together
[A kis spanyol infánst ringatja mamája]
The little Spanish infant is cradled by his mother
[Jó portugál szomszéd a Don Carlos dajkája]
Good Portuguese neighbor is Don Carlos’ nurse
[Lyukas csizmájában játszik olasz macska]
Italian cat is playing in his boots with a hole
[Görögöt vízbe nyom beteg ozmánocska]
Greek is pushed into the water by ill little Osman
[Krími bomba füstöl, lesi a Kaukázus]
Crimean bomb smokes, Caucasus watches
[Míg majd Európába üt a b e l l i c a s u s]
Until casus belli hits Europe