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a short history of Hungary

Brief History of Hungary

When the Roman Empire was at its peak, the territory located west of the Danube River was known to people as Pannonia. When the Roman Empire collapsed, the migrations continued and many invaders came to that part of Europe. The first to come were the Huns and actually Attila the Hun is considered the first Hungarian ruler. Another saying goes that the name of the country Hungary comes from the 7th century and the Bulgar Alliance, which if translated meant The Ten Arrows. When the Hunnish rule came to an end, the area of Pannonia was invaded by the Germanic tribes Ostrogoths and Lombards, as well as the Gerpids.During the 560s the Avars maintained supremacy over the area for more than two centuries. After a ceries of wars, the Avar Khagnate was weakened and later defeated by the Franks, which also were not successful in forming a solid state. In year 896 however, the unified Hungarians which were led by Arpad settled in the Carpathian area. At that moment was formed the Medieval Hungary which controlled large terrirory and the third population in Europe at that time. The leader of the Magyars was Arpad, who unified the tribes with the help of a Convenant of Blood. The state made several raids towards Spain but soon it was defeated and the links between the tribes weakened significantly. At that time the ruler Geza tried to integrate Hungary and rebuild it according to the Western Christian model of Europe. Geza named his son Vajk as his successor and later he was renamed Stephan. The country became a Christian Kingdom under Stephan I of Hungary and chose as capital the settlement of Esztergom. Under Stephans rule Hungary became a strong feudal state. In the period 1241-1242 the Hungarian kingdom was invaded by Mongols and only the strongly fortified cities survived.

Once the ongols retreated, the Hungaria king then Bela ordered the construction of stone castles which later proved to be very important in the struggle against the Ottoman Empire. The descendats of Arpad ruled the country until year 1301; however it was during the reign of the kings after Arpad dynasty that Hungary reached its greatest extent. At that time however the Ottoman Empire which was very strong cofronted the country on several occasions. The Hungarian King at that time, Louis I the Great, extended the territories of the country which was spreading from the coastline of the Black Sea to that of the Adriatic Sea. Matthias Corvinus was the last strong king of Hungary. He led an army called Fekete Sereg, which achieved many victories. In 1514, the King had to undergo a major peasant rebellion and the central rule degenerated. This of course made it easy for the Ottoman Empire and in year 1521 the kingdom fell to the Turks. The Ottoman Rule lasted for long years till 1699. The first victory of the Ottomans happened in 1526 at the Battle of Mohacs.

When Buda was conquested in year 1541, Hungary was divided into three parts: the north-western part was known as Royal Hungary and remained under the Habsburgs; the astern part was known as Principality of Transylvaina and was under Turkish influence; while the third part that covered the central area was known as the Ottoman Hungary. In year 1699 the religious changes that happened in Hungary were recognized and in year 1718, the Kingdom of Hungary was restored from the Ottomans and as a new capital was chosen Pozsony or todays Bratislava. In the years after the Ottoman Rule and during the Napoleonic Wars, Hungary entered into a period of reformations and achievements of national character. In March 1848, there were mass demonstrations in Buda and Pest that enabbled the local reformists to present a list of twelve demands, which were accpeted by Austria. Under the rule of the governor Lajos Kossuth and the Prime Minister Lajos Batthyany, the ruling House of Habsburg was dethroned and the first Republic of Hungary was formed. The new Habsburg Ruler Franz Joseph manipulated the Serbian, Cratian and Romanian peasantry forcing them to rebel against the new Hungarian government, whoch on the other side was supported by the Slovaks, Germans and Rusyn nationalities, plus Italian, Polish and Austrian volunteers. At first the Hungarian forces were winning, but as Franz Joseph asked the Russian armies for help, this proved to be too strong for the Hungarian army, which surrendered in August 1849.

When the war ended, the country entered a period of passive resistance. In order to apease the Hungarian separatism, the Emperor signed a deal with Hungary, known as the Austro-Hungarian Compromise from 1867 and thus the Austria-Hungary Monarchy was formed. According to that compromise the two countries were governed separately but had one ruler and common foreign and military policy. The Hungarian Constitution was restored and the ruler Franz Joseph was crowned as King of Hungary. During that period the country enjoyed an economic development and prosperity, and turned into a modern state. When the First World War broke out, the Austria-Hungary Monarchy was on the side of the Central Powers formed by Germany, Turkey and Bulgaria. By year 1918, the uprisings in the army were very common and the economic situation in the country changed significantly, which led to the dissolation of the union between Austria and Hungary.

At the end of 1918, the liberal count Mihaly Karolyi was announced a Prime Minister of Hungary, but at the beginning of next year the government lost its support and the prime minister had to resign, thus bringing the Communist Party of Hungary into power. At first the communist regime had success both in the military sphere and in the social sphere. Some years later the government took series of actions known as the Red Terror under which murdered many people and alienated great part of the population. The Hungarian Red Army gave up territories from the Entente and the commanders fled to Austria, as Budapest was occupied on August 6. As the people were not happy with the RedRegime, the new force they accepted was the Conservative party or the so called Whites. Under their rule and what later became known as the White Terror, many Communists were executed. The leaving Romanian army plundered the country. In November the Horthys army came into Budapest and slowly restored the security in Hungary and stopped the terror. The Hungarian monarchy was restored and Miklos Horthy was elected as Regent. In the summer of 1920, Hungary signed the Treaty of Trianon, thus ratifying its dismemberment. According to that Treaty however, Hungary had to surrender two-thirds of its pre-war territories and thus motre than ten million ethnic Hungarians were left outside the boundaries of the new country. Next year King Charles IV tried to retale the throne but failed. For the next ten years prime minister of Hungary was Bethlen who managed to restore the order in the country. The Great Depression of 1930 reduced the standard of living in the country and the political mood was shifted, which led to the appointment of a new prime minister who chose to cooperate with Germany, getting the country out of the deptression but making it dependent of Germany.

At that time Adolf Hilter promised to return the lost territories back to Hungary and thus is how the Hungarians started to support the Nazi policy. After the First Vienna Award organized in year 1938 Hungary received part of southern Czechoslovakia, while after the Second Vienna Award of 1940, it was goven northen Transilvania. Thus Hungary participated in the first military actions on the side of Germany and Italy, taking part in the Yugoslavia invasion and the Soviet Union invasion. It was in 1943, when the Second Hungarian Army suffered great losses at the Don River that they tried to surrender to the Allies. A year later, in March 1944 the German troops invaded Hungary, their unwilling satellite. The Soviet Union invaded Budapest in late 1944, but not before hundreds of Jews and Romani to be deported to Auschwitz and murdered during the Holocaust. The Second World War completely devastated Hungary and destroyed more than sixty per cent o fits economy.

The period after the war till 1989 is known as the Communist Era in Hungary. Right after the fall of the Nazi Regime, the Soviet Union occupied the entire country and transformed it into their satellite. Stalinist rule was established and the country was forced into planned economy and collectivization. This rule was unbearable for the Hungarians and that led to a revolution which took place in year 1956. The revolution was crushed by the Soviet troops and tanks and remained there till 1991 when the communism collapsed. The chnages in Hungary started with the election of Karoly Grosz as a premier. Half a year after his election, in January 1988, the restrictions on foreign travel were lifted, while three months later started the demonstrations for democracy and civil rights. Hungary began to strive for full democracy, a multi-party system and free elections. In May 1989 Hungary removed its barbed wire from its border with Austria and in July the country was visited by the tehn American President George Bush. In October 23, Hungary was declared a republic. The last Soviet troops left the country in June 1991. The changes that were organized resulted in declining of the living standards for many people in Hungary and inflation. The situation stablizied in 1996, when a special economy programme was introduced. In 1997, after a national referendum, Hungary joned NATO and a year later joined the European Union.