hungary

Official Name: Republic of Hungary
Language: Hungarian
Currency: Forint

During the Roman Empire the region west of the Danube was called Pannonia. After Rome fell many different invaders came. The Huns built a powerful empire under Attila. After his rule faded the Germanic tribes, Lombard�s and Gepids ruled for about 100 years. Slavic tribes also mixed with them.

In the 560�s the Avars, who were nomads from the east, gained control for about two centuries. The Franks, under Charlemagne, were able to overthrow them in the 9th century. After that the Slavic Kingdom of Great Moravia was formed. The Mongols added to the mix of the region in the late 9th century.

There were seven Magyar and three allied Khabor tribes. The name Hungary most likely derived from the Turkish world Onogur, meaning ten arrows. It was a symbol of military strength. After migrating for several decades they settled in the Carpathian Basin.

The Magyar leader, Arpod, lead the various tribes to conquer more land. He was successful. The leader Geza converted to Christianity and wanted to tie his people with Western Europe. HE also wanted a more western state. One thing he did in that direction was to establish a dynasty, and named his son, the future King Stephen as successor.

Under Stephan I the Hungary became a Christian Kingdom. He was crowned by the Pope in 1000 A.D. In only six years he had solidified his power and began reforms to convert Hungary into a feudal state complete with forced Christianization.

This strong kingdom withstood attacks from German kings, nomadic tribes, and passing crusaders. Some of these people were integrated into the population.

This lasted until 1241 when the Mongols invaded. The army was decimated, King Bela IV fled, and one third of the population died. Only a few fortified abbeys and cities withstood the assault. When the Mongols had left King Bela ordered the construction of major border castles. Later on they proved to be helpful when the Ottoman Empire invaded. However, the king became so indebted to feudal landlords that central rule weekend considerably. After 1301 most Hungarian kings were from abroad. Even though territories were expanded, no one managed to gain central control.

The French King Louis I the Great (1342-1382) extended the territory from the Black Sea to the Adriatic Sea. In 1370 he became King of Poland as well. Early on a friendly alliance between Poland and Hungary was born.

Come 1433 when Sigismund became Holy Roman Emperor, things were going badly. He lost territories in the south. There were also open hostilities from feudal lords. In some places there were also peasant rebellions.

The last strong renaissance king was Matthias Corvinos. He set out to create a great empire, expanding north and south. However, the weak kings after him were unable to hold it all together. The nobles held all the real power. 1514 there was a huge rebellion known as the Hungarian Peasants War. The nobles crushed it ruthlessly. Central rule was almost non-existent at this point. In 1526 the Hungarian army was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire in the battle at Mohacs.

In 1526 the Turks captured parts of Hungary. The country split into three parts: Slovakia, Western Croatia, and northeast present day Hungary. The last part was ruled by the Hapsburgs and became a province named Royal Hungary. What was left over was taken over by the Ottoman Empire. That area was destroyed by war and the Turks cared very little for the people living there. One result of this was that a large number became Protestant as the Hapsburgs were unable to force the Catholic religion on them. In 1686 the Austrian Christian forces conquered Buda and most of the rest of the country. In 1689 these changes were officially recognized by the treaty of Karbwitz, but it wasn�t until 1758 that the entire kingdom of Hungary was restored from the Ottomans.

1780-1848 was a time of rebuilding. The Hapsburgs resettled war torn areas with people from present day Germany and Austria.

Influenced by the French Revolution and Joseph II�s (1780-1790) Germanification program there was a nationalistic revival movement. People were trying to get back to their roots. This was true for many of the different ethnicities living in the country.

After several decades of inactivity the diet reconvened in the 1820�s. A slow reform period began. The nobles insisted on retaining their privileges therefore most of the changes were of national character. For example, the national language was changed from Latin to Hungarian.

The 1848 revolution was a bloodless revolution in Buda and Pest. There were demonstrations forcing the imperial governor to except all demands. There were insurrections all over the country after the Hungarian reformist declared autonomy within the Hapsburg Empire. Lajos Bathyany was the first prime minister. Austria refused to accept this and a civil war followed. The Hungarians won this war and gained independence in 1849.

This didn�t last very long. Franz Joseph of Austria asked for help from Czar Nicholas I of Russia. Hungary was once again invaded. Many of the Hungarian reformers left and went to the U.S. Some of them fought for the Union in the Civil War.

After the revolution the country became passive. There was some Germanification again. Once again people became desperate to hold on to their culture. They were unable to remain calm for very long. Franz Joseph of Austria wanted to find a way to make everyone happy. This desire brought about the Compromise of 1837. It turned the Hapsburg Empire into a duel monarchy of Austria-Hungary. They had separate governments under the same monarchy.

After World War One the Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed. A revolution in Budapest brought the liberal Mihaly Karolyi to power as prime minister. Hungary was declared independent in November 1918. There was a fight over who ruled Transylvania with Romania. In the end Romania won. The government was loosing support and Karolyi resigned.

The communist party lead by Bela Kun stepped in. They proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Even though the communist did have some quick success, including gaining back lands and centralizing industry, this didn�t last long. Soon there was a push for a new government.

In 1920 Hungarians cast their first ever secret ballots. A right wing majority was elected to the assembly. The country was dismembered by the Treaty of Trianan on June 4, 1920. Almost 1/3 of the ethnic Hungarians found themselves living outside of the country. Hungary also lost many of its natural resources.

In 1920 Pal Teleki was appointed prime minister. This right wing government issued a numerous clauses law that restricted Jews from universities. The former emperor, Charles IV, tried to retake the throne in 1921. It was unsuccessful but it did cause a split in public opinion. Count Istvan Bethlan took advantage of this and formed the new Party of Unity. After gaining support he was appointed prime minister.

Bethlen restored order. Some of this was through manipulating elections. He brought Hungary into the League of Nations in 1922. The Great Depression caused the standard of living to drop and the political mood of the country moved further right.

Gyula Gombos was the appointed prime minister. He signed an agreement with Germany that helped pull the country out of the depression. Hitler used promises of returning territories, economic pressure, and threats of military intervention to get Hungary to support his ideas. These included his anti-semeiotic policies.

Hungary joined the Nazi army so that Hitler would look favorably upon them when it game to gaining lands. They entered the war in June of 1941.

A new prime minister was appointed and he began talks with the western allies. Hungary was loosing many of their troops. Hitler learned of the deception and ordered the Nazi army to occupy the country. He put a Nazi supporter into the role of prime minister. In 1944 the Jews were deported, in all over 533,000 Hungarian Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

In September 1944 the Soviet Army crossed the border. Hungary became a battlefield. On April 4, 1945 the last German troops were driving out of the country. The Soviet Union now controlled Hungary. At this point most of Budapest had been destroyed.

The Treaty of Peace with Hungary, signed February 10, 1947, fixed the borders to those they had in 1938. The communist deported those who spoke out against them. Over 100,000 people were imprisoned.

There was a revolution in 1956. It began on October 23, 1956. Students in Budapest began a huge protest. Two days later the Soviet Union brought in military force and fired upon the crowd.

On November 1, Nagy, the new prime minister, announced that Hungary would withdraw from the Warsaw Pact. He then asked for the United Nations to step in and help with the dispute with the U.S.S.R. On November 4 Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, sent the Red Army into Hungary. The Soviets quickly crushed the revolution.

Hungary was the first communist bloc country to transition to democracy. October 23, 1989 was the day that the Hungarian Republic became a free country. On May 1, 2004 Hungary joined the European Union.

History

Hungary

What I Saw

Matthias Church: This was amazing. You can really see the differences between a western and eastern cathedral. I enjoyed it.

Fisherman's Bastion: It looked a bit like a castle but was really just a look out over the city. It offered amazing views.

Buda Castle: It was in the same imperial design as Vienna. I went to the Budapest history museum. Most of it was in English making it more enjoyable. They had prehistory and the like but the best part was on the past few hundred years. Hungary has almost always been overrun by another country. In 1831 Buda and Pest became one city and the capital. Over all it is really an amazing city.

Budvari Labyrinths: These are the caves under the castle. I found it to be more frightening than educational. It was broken into several (4) areas. Prehistory, history, other worlds, and I don't know what to call the last one, just plain scary. Prehistory made me nervous. History made me almost pee my pants. There were random statue people all over with place with weird music in the background. I ran through most of it because I was so scared. The next part was other worlds and it was as if people had just discovered the remains of today. It was pretty cool. The last part was pictures of mazes around the world. Part of the booklet discussed how this should help one's personal labyrinth. I think it was scary and not to be done alone.

Semmel Weis Museum of Medical History: I was really given the star treatment here. I was also the only one there. I was given a booklet in English and had other bits explained to me in German. I went for the creep value and ended up learning a lot.

St. Stephens Basilica: It was amazing. The best part was seeing St. Stephens hand. He was the first king of a unified Hungry and they will never forget it even though he has been dead for 1000 years. When you put 100 florins in a machine his hand lights up for a minute. There is even a helpful guy there to tell you the best angle for pictures. It was strange.

Hero's Square: This is a huge monument that is for all those who have brought Hungry to greatness. It was interesting. I also walked across the oldest bridge, Liberty Bridge. It was destroyed in WWII and then rebuilt. I didn't take any pictures because it was too cold!

Statue Park: After communism fell there were lots of communist statues and memorials all over the city. The big question was what to do with them all. They decided not to destroy them, but rather to make a park out of them. It's very odd. The statues are huge and so very communist. Seeing all of those monuments was unreal. They were so ugly. Sometimes it is a bit hard to laugh, but it is very important to remember the history behind them and what they once stood for. We laugh at the communist. They did horrible things and caused the deaths of millions. Yet now we laugh at the funny statues. Perhaps there is something wrong with us. I don't want to be that morbid. There are certain aspects that can be considered funny.

Parliament Building: It was built about 150 years ago. It was designed after parliament in London. The buildings huge, too big for the government, in fact they only use about 10% of the building. The inside is something else. It is decorated with fake marble and gold leaf. The main hall has statues of all the kings of a unified Hungary, and Austria-Hungary. The crown jewels are also here. They are called coronation relics here. Hungarians believe that the crown was that of St. Steven, but that has been proven impossible. The next room was more of a meeting/greeting room. It too as ornately decorated with gold leaf. The statues were of various professions through history. The last room was the meeting room of Parliament. There is still a bullet hole in the speakers' stand from an assassination attempt a long time ago.

Terror Museum: This was very informative. It even supplied head phones. It discussed Hungarian history from the past 100 years. The museum focused on the Nazi and Soviet occupations. The displays were very good. I just found it odd that in each room you could pick up a piece of paper that said the same things as the audio guide. I ended up leaving some of the less interesting looking rooms early because I knew that I could read it later. I also decided at this point to take the slightly earlier train back to Vienna and I didn't have enough time to listen to it all. One of the more interesting bits was the car. There was no information on it, it just was there. The back seat had the Soviet symbol embroidered into it. They did have a bit on the Holocaust as well. It was rather expensive but I enjoyed it.

If you have any comments or questions please e-mail me!