Paper short abstract:

The aim of this study is to demonstrate that how, in a country-wide crisis and uncertainty after the regime change, Hungarian men in Transylvania continue to live a tradition that is a prominent element of their glorious past and a sure point in their search and expression of identity.

Paper long abstract:

The Treaty of Trianon, which led to the annexation of Transylvania to Romania in 1920, has a special place in the history of Hungarian people living in Romania. In the years following the world wars five major sub-periods of communism dominated Romania.

In the years following the change of regime, however, the Transylvanian Hungarian people living in Romania were once again given the opportunity to maintain contacts with Hungary, to have freedom of the press, to publish history books, to establish cultural institutions and to preserve and live their traditions.

Hussarism is a Hungarian-origin military unit that has spread and become popular in many parts of the world throughout history. The figure of the hussar on horseback, as a glorious soldier, has lived on in the public consciousness in numerous works of art.

Nowadays there are no professional Hussars in Transylvania, but after the years of communism a phenomenon of the formation of traditional Hussar associations became widespread. As a result, hussarism is present in the Transylvanian Hungarian people's cultural life as lesure time activity and hobby.

The aim of this study is to demonstrate that, in a situation of crisis and uncertainty, members of the Transylvanian Hungarian male community felt important to express and reformulate their identity through an element to which they were emotionally attached and which, through its glorious historical past, provided them a secure point of reference.

The customs and traditions associated with the Hussars have spread throughout Transylvania, based entirely on Hungarian patterns.