“I Will Die the Way I lived” - The Tragedy of István Tisza

Documentary about Hungarian prime minister István Tisza, assassinated 100 years ago “These days it is commonly said about me that I am unaffected by the opinions my fellow countrymen have of me. Why is that? I will tell you the reason: it is because I have been consistently keeping to the path that is neither one of fashionable slogans, nor of popular trends. I say that those who wish to recruit followers by way of incitement and flattery decry their fellow citizens and themselves. I am proud of the qualities I inherited from my father.” /Toast held by István Tisza, 20 May 1910/ The Hungarian state apparatus ground to a halt at the end of October 1918; in those days politics was made on the front and on the streets. The Great War ended and István Tisza, Hungary’s prime minister during WWI, was declared to be the scapegoat for the defeat. He was murdered on 31 October in his villa on Hermina Road under circumstances unclear to this day. His story is only known to few even though he was Hungary’s most significant and most disputed political leader at the dawn of the 20 th century. Who was István Tisza exactly? What reasons led to his terrible tragedy?