Hungary

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History

Main article: History of Hungary

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In the time of the Roman Empire, the Romans called the region Pannonia (west from the Danube river). After Rome fell the Migration Period brought on many invaders. First came the Huns, who built up a powerful empire under Attila. The name ?Hungary? is influenced by the name of the Hun people, although it probably comes from the name of a later, 7th century state called Onogur (or possibly from the name of the city Ungvár, which was possibly the first major city the magyars occupied). After the Hunnish rule faded, Germanic tribes Lombards and Gepids ruled in Pannonia for about 100 years, during which the Slavic tribes also began migrating south. In the 560s, these were supplanted by the Avars who would maintain their supremacy of the land for over two centuries. The Franks under Charlemagne from the west and the Bulgars from the southeast finally managed to overthrow the Avars in the early 9th century. Soon after, the Franks retreated, and the Slavonic kingdom of Great Moravia and the Balaton Principality controlled much of Pannonia until the end of the century. Finally, the Magyars migrated to Hungary in the late 9th century.

Related Topics:
Roman Empire - Pannonia - Danube river - Migration Period - Huns - Attila - Onogur - Ungvár - Lombards - Gepids - Slavic tribes - 560s - Avars - Franks - Charlemagne - Bulgars - Great Moravia - Balaton Principality - Magyars

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Tradition holds that the Country of the Magyars (Hungary) was founded by Árpád, who led the Magyars into the Pannonian plains after 895. The Kingdom of Hungary was established in 1000 by King St. Stephen I. Initially the history of Hungary was developed in a triangle with that of Poland and Bohemia, with the many liaisons with Popes and Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. Hungary was partially demolished with a great loss of life in 1241–1242 by Mongol (Tatar) armies of Batu Khan.

Related Topics:
Árpád - Magyars - Pannonian plain - 895 - Kingdom of Hungary - 1000 - King St. Stephen I - Poland - Bohemia - Holy Roman Empire - 1241 - 1242 - Mongol - Tatar - Batu Khan

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Gradually Hungary under the rule of the dynasty of the Árpáds turned into an independent kingdom which formed a distinct Central European culture with ties to greater West European civilisation. Ruled by the Angevins since 1308, the Kingdom of Hungary briefly extended its control over Wallachia and Moldavia. The non-dynastic king Matthias Corvinus, son of John Hunyadi, ruled the Kingdom of Hungary from 1458 to 1490. He strengthened Hungary and its government. Under his rule, Hungary (notably the northern parts, some of which are in Slovakia today) became an important artistic and cultural centre of Europe during the Renaissance. Hungarian culture influenced others, for example the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Together with Polish and Czech lands, Hungary formed the Visegrád group of countries. Today an alliance of the same name exists again with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

Related Topics:
Árpáds - Civilisation - Angevins - 1308 - Wallachia - Moldavia - Matthias Corvinus - John Hunyadi - Slovakia - Renaissance - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Polish - Czech lands - Visegrád group - The Czech Republic

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Hungarian independence ended with the Ottoman conquest at the beginning of the 16th century; the parts of Hungary that were not conquered by the Ottomans were annexed by Austria (the rulers of which were Hungarian kings at the same time) in the West, and became the independent Principality of Transylvania in the East, where thus Hungarian statedom was preserved. After 150 years, Austria and her Christian allies retook also the territory of today's Hungary by the end of the 17th century from the Islamic Ottoman Empire.

Related Topics:
Ottoman - 16th century - Austria - Transylvania - 17th century

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After the final retreat of the Turks, struggle began between the Hungarian nation and the Habsburg kings for the protection of noblemen's rights (thus guarding the autonomy of Hungary). The fight against Austrian absolutism resulted in the unsuccessful popular freedom fight led by a Transylvanian nobleman, Ferenc II Rákóczi, between 1704 and 1711. The revolution and war of 1848–1849 eliminated serfdom and secured civil rights. The Austrians were finally able to prevail only with Russian help.

Related Topics:
Turks - Habsburg - Ferenc II Rákóczi - Serfdom

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Thanks to the victories against Austria by the French-Italian coalition (the Battle of Solferino, 1859) and Prussia (Battle of Königgratz, 1866), Hungary would eventually, in 1867, manage to become an autonomous part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (see Ausgleich). Having achieved this, the Hungarian government took an effort to nationally unify the kingdom by Magyarisation of the various other nationalities. This lasted until the end of World War I, when the Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed. On November 16, 1918, an independent Hungarian Republic was proclaimed.

Related Topics:
Battle of Solferino - 1859 - Battle of Königgratz - 1866 - 1867 - Austro-Hungarian Empire - Ausgleich - Magyarisation - World War I - November 16 - 1918

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In March 1919 the communists took the power, and in April, Béla Kun proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic. This government, like its predecessor, proved to be short lived; after some initial military successes against the Czechoslovak army, the Romanians attacked to prevent a campaign in Transylvania. By August more than half of present-day Hungary, including Budapest, was placed under Romanian occupation, which lasted until November. Rightist military forces, led by the former Austro-Hungarian Admiral Miklós Horthy, entered Budapest in the wake of the Romanian army's departure and filled the vacuum of state power. In January 1920, elections were held for a unicameral assembly, and Admiral Horthy was subsequently elected Regent, thereby formally restoring Hungary to a kingdom, although there were no more Kings of Hungary, despite attempts by the former Habsburg king to return to power. Horthy continued to rule with autocratic powers until 1944.

Related Topics:
1919 - Béla Kun - Hungarian Soviet Republic - Romania - Transylvania - Miklós Horthy - 1920 - 1944

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In June 1920, the Treaty of Trianon was signed, fixing Hungary's borders. Compared with the pre-war Kingdom, the size and population of this new Hungary were reduced by about two-thirds; about one-third of the Magyar population became minorities in the neighbouring countries. Therefore, Hungarian politics and culture of the interwar period were saturated with irredentism and revisionism (the restoration of 19th century "greater Hungary" by whatever means necessary).

Related Topics:
Treaty of Trianon - Irredentism - Revisionism

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Horthy made an alliance with Nazi Germany in the 1930s, in the hope of revising the territorial losses that had followed World War I. The alliance did lead to some territories being given to Hungary in the two Vienna Awards. Hungary then assisted the German occupation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, occupying the Banat right afterwards, and finally entered World War II in 1941, fighting primarily against the Soviet Union. In October 1944, Hitler replaced Horthy with the Hungarian Nazi collaborator Ferenc Szálasi and his Arrow Cross Party in order to avert Hungary's defection to the Allied side, which were constantly on schedule since the Allied invasion of Italy. During the Holocaust more than 400,000 Hungarian Jews and several tens of thousands of Roma perished.

Related Topics:
Nazi Germany - 1930s - Vienna Awards - Kingdom of Yugoslavia - Banat - World War II - Hitler - Ferenc Szálasi - Arrow Cross Party - Jew - Roma

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Following the fall of Nazi Germany, Hungary became part of the Soviet area of influence and was appropriated into a communist state following a short period of democracy in 1946–1947. After 1948 Communist leader Mátyás Rákosi established a Stalinist rule in the country, which was barely bearable for the war-torn country. This led to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and an announced withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact which were met with a massive military intervention by the Soviet Union. From the 1960s on to the late 1980s Hungary enjoyed a distinguished status of "the happiest barrack" within the Eastern bloc, under the rule of late controversial communist leader János Kádár, who exercised autocratic rule during this period. In the late 1980s, Hungary led the movement to dissolve the Warsaw Pact and shifted toward multiparty democracy and a market-oriented economy. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Hungary developed closer ties with Western Europe, joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union on May 1, 2004.

Related Topics:
Communist state - 1956 Hungarian Revolution - Warsaw Pact - Soviet Union - The happiest barrack - Eastern bloc - János Kádár - 1980s - 1991 - NATO - 1999 - European Union - May 1 - 2004

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See Also: Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary before the Magyars

Related Topics:
Kingdom of Hungary - Hungary before the Magyars

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