Due to the Ottoman occupation of the central and southern territories of Hungary in the 16th century, the country was partitioned into three parts: the Habsburg Royal Hungary, Ottoman Hungary, and the semi-independent Principality of Transylvania.[8] The House of Habsburg held the Hungarian throne after the Battle of Mohács in 1526 continuously until 1918 and also played a key role in the liberation wars against the Ottoman Empire.
From 1867, territories connected to the Hungarian crown were incorporated into Austria-Hungary under the name of Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen. The monarchy ended with the deposition of the last king Charles IV in 1918, after which Hungary became a republic. The kingdom was nominally restored during the "Regency" of 1920–46, ending under the Soviet occupation in 1946.[8]
According to the demographers, about 80 percent of the population was made up of Hungarians before the Battle of Mohács, however in the mid-19th century out of a population of 14 million less than 6 million were Hungarian due to the resettlement policies and continuous immigration from neighboring countries.[11][12] Major territorial changes made Hungary ethnically homogeneous after World War I. More than nine-tenths of the population of modern Hungary is ethnically Hungarian and speaks Hungarian as their mother tongue.
Today, the feast day of the first king Stephen I (20 August) is a national holiday in Hungary, commemorating the foundation of the state (Foundation Day).[13]
); or simply Hungaria, were the names used in official documents in Latin from the beginning of the kingdom to the 1840s.
The German name Königreich Ungarn was used officially from 1784 to 1790[14] and again between 1849 and the 1860s.
The Hungarian name (Magyar Királyság) was used in the 1840s, and then again from the 1860s to 1946. The unofficial Hungarian name of the kingdom was Magyarország,[15] which is still the colloquial, and also the official name of Hungary.[16]
The names in the other native languages of the kingdom were:
Fiume
), Regno d'Ungheria.
In Austria-Hungary (1867–1918), the unofficial name
The principality was succeeded by the Christian Kingdom of Hungary with the coronation of St Stephen I (son of principal Géza. Originally called Vajk until baptized) at
However, kingship over all of Croatia would not be achieved until the reign of his successor
Kingdom of Croatia (1102–1526) and Kingdom of Hungary from 1102 as a form of a personal union, i.e. that they were connected by a common king.[26] Also, one of the greatest Hungarian jurists and statesmen of the 16th century, István Werbőczy
in his work Tripartitum treats Croatia as a kingdom separate to Hungary.
Especially Arabic and Byzantine travelers from this time praised the richness country, the dense pastures, the nicely cultivated lands, the plentiful animals in waters and forests. They said that the wheat is cheap, the markets are populous, the cities flourish and the folk are wealthy. Although it is hardly credible that they refer to all layers of society, the documents were inspired by the reality.[27]
The Árpád dynasty died out in 1301 with the death of Andrew III. Subsequently, Hungary was ruled by the Angevins until the end of the 14th century, and then by several non-dynastic rulers – notably Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor and Matthias Corvinus – until the early 16th century.
He implemented considerable economic reforms and defeated the remaining nobility who were in opposition to royal rule, led by
Máté Csák III. The kingdom of Hungary reached an age of prosperity and stability under Charles I. The gold mines of the Kingdom were extensively worked and soon Hungary reached a prominent standing in European gold production. The forint
was introduced as a currency, replacing the denars, and soon after Charles's reforms were implemented, the economy of the Kingdom started to prosper again, having fallen into a parlous state following the Mongol invasion.
Charles exalted the cult to Saint Ladislaus I, using him as a symbol of bravery, justice and purity. He also venerated his uncle,
Saint Margaret, which added relevance to the lineage inheritance through the feminine branches.[30]
Charles restored the royal power which had fallen into feudal lords' hands, and then made the lords swear loyalty to him. For this, he founded in 1326 the
chivalric order
in the world, and included the most important noblemen of the Kingdom.
Charles married four times. His fourth wife was
Władysław I of Poland. When Charles died in 1342, his eldest son by Elizabeth succeeded him as Louis I
. In the first years of his reign, Louis was advised closely by his mother, making her one of the most influential personalities in the Kingdom.
Charles had arranged the marriage of his second son, Andrew, with his cousin Joanna, the granddaughter of King Robert of Naples, in 1332. Robert died in 1343, bequeathing his kingdom to Joanna but excluding the claim of Andrew. In 1345, a group of noble Neapolitan conspirators murdered Andrew at Aversa. Almost immediately, Louis declared war on Naples, conducting a first campaign in 1347–1348 and a second in 1350. He eventually signed peace with Joanna in 1352. Louis also waged wars against the Serbian Empire and the Golden Horde, restoring the Hungarian monarchs' authority over territories along the frontiers which had been lost during the previous decades.
In 1370 Louis's uncle, Casimir III of Poland, died without male issue. Louis succeeded him, thus establishing the first union of Hungary and Poland. This lasted until 1382 when Louis himself died without male issue; his two daughters, Mary and Jadwiga, then ascended the thrones of Hungary and Poland respectively.
The Age of Sigismund
Louis I of Hungary always kept good and close relationships with the Holy Roman EmperorCharles IV of Luxembourg and finally proclaimed Charles's son Sigismund of Luxembourg to succeed him as King of Hungary. Sigismund became a renowned king who created many improvements in the Hungarian law system and who rebuilt the palaces of Buda and Visegrád. He brought materials from Austria and Bohemia and ordered the creation of the most luxurious building in all of central Europe. In his laws can be seen the traces of the early mercantilism. He worked hard to keep the nobility under his control. A great part of his reign was dedicated to the fight with the Ottoman Empire, which started to extend its frontiers and influence to Europe. In 1396 was fought the Battle of Nicopolis against the Ottomans, which resulted in a defeat for the Hungarian-French forces led by Sigismund and Philip of Artois, Count of Eu. However, Sigismund continued to successfully contain the Ottoman forces outside of the Kingdom for the rest of his life.
Losing popularity among the Hungarian nobility, Sigismund soon became victim of an attempt against his rule, and
Albert V of Austria
, who was later crowned as King Albert of Hungary in 1437.
Hunyadi family
The Hungarian kingdom's golden age was during the reign of Matthias Corvinus (1458–1490), the son of John Hunyadi. His nickname was "Matthias the Just". He further improved the Hungarian economy and practised astute diplomacy in place of military action whenever possible. Matthias did undertake campaigning when necessary. From 1485 until his death, he occupied Vienna, aiming to limit the influence and meddling of the Holy Roman Empire in Hungary's affairs.
At the time of the initial Ottoman encroachment, the Hungarians successfully resisted conquest. John Hunyadi was leader of the Crusade of Varna, in which the Hungarians tried to expel the Turks from the Balkans. Initially, they were successful, but later at the Battle of Varna, the Ottomans won a decisive if Pyrrhic victory. Wladyslaw III was decapitated during this battle.
In 1456, John Hunyadi delivered a crushing defeat of the Ottomans at the Siege of Belgrade. The Noon Bell commemorates the fallen Christian warriors. In the 15th century, the Black Army of Hungary was a modern mercenary army, with the Hussars the most skilled troops of the Hungarian cavalry. In 1479, under the leadership of Pál Kinizsi, the Hungarian army destroyed the Ottoman and Wallachian troops at the Battle of Breadfield. The army of Hungary destroyed its enemies almost every time when Matthias was king.[citation needed]
In 1526, at the Battle of Mohács, the forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Suleiman the Magnificent annihilated the Hungarian army. In trying to escape, Louis II drowned in the Csele Creek. The leader of the Hungarian army, Pál Tomori, also died in the battle.
Habsburgs would take the Hungarian throne if Louis died without heirs, Ferdinand was elected king by a rump diet
in December 1526.
Although the borders shifted frequently during this period, the three parts can be identified, more or less, as follows:
Royal Hungary, which consisted of northern and western territories where Ferdinand I was recognized as king of Hungary. This part is viewed as defining the continuity of the Kingdom of Hungary. The territory along with Ottoman Hungary suffered greatly from the nearly constant wars taking place.
Great Alföld (i.e. most of present-day Hungary, including south-eastern Transdanubia and the Banat
), partly without north-eastern present-day Hungary.
Principality of Transylvania
.
On 29 February 1528, King
John I of Hungary received the support of the Ottoman Sultan. A three-sided conflict ensued as Ferdinand moved to assert his rule over as much of the Hungarian kingdom as he could. By 1529 the kingdom had been split into two parts: Habsburg Hungary and the "eastern-Kingdom of Hungary". At this time there were no Ottomans on Hungarian territories, except Srem's important castles. In 1532, Nikola Jurišić defended Kőszeg and stopped a powerful Ottoman army. By 1541, the fall of Buda
marked a further division of Hungary into three areas. The country remained divided until the end of the 17th century.
On 1 May 1566, Suleiman I led an Ottoman invasion of Habsburg-controlled Hungary, the Ottoman forces of which was one of the most sizable armies he had led in his rule of 46 years.[34] After reaching Belgrade and met with John II Sigismund Zápolya on 27 June, Suleiman I learned that a Croatian-Hungarian nobleman, Nikola IV Zrinski, Ban of Croatia, accomplished an attack on an Ottoman military camp at Siklós.[35][36] Suleiman I held off his attack of Eger for the time being, and began to set off towards Nikola IV Zrinski's fortress at Szigetvár. From 2 August to 7 September, the Ottoman forces had laid siege to the fortress with a force, at the least, of 150,000 against Zrinski's 2,300 defenders. While the siege turned into a victory for the Ottomans, it came at the cost of: 25,000 Ottoman soldiers and Suleiman I, who before the final battle of Szigetvár, due to natural causes of old age and illness.[35]
In the following centuries there were numerous attempts to push back the
Long War or Thirteen Years' War (29 July 1593 – 1604/11 November 1606) led by a coalition of Christian forces. In 1644 the Winter Campaign by Miklós Zrínyi burnt the crucial Suleiman Bridge of Osijek in eastern Slavonia, interrupting a Turkish supply line in Hungary. At the Battle of Saint Gotthard (1664)
, Austrians and Hungarians defeated the Turkish army.
After the Ottoman siege of Vienna failed in 1683, the Habsburgs went on the offensive against the Turks. By the end of the 17th century, they managed to invade the remainder of the historical Kingdom of Hungary and the principality of Transylvania. For a while in 1686, the capital Buda was again free from the Ottoman Empire, with the aid of other Europeans.
Spaces with a smaller density than 20 persons/sq km
Rákóczi's War for Independence (1703–1711) was the first significant freedom fight in Hungary against absolutist Habsburg rule. It was fought by a group of noblemen, wealthy and high-ranking progressives who wanted to put an end to the inequality of power relations, led by Francis II Rákóczi (II. Rákóczi Ferenc in Hungarian). Its main aims were to protect the rights of the different social orders, and to ensure the economic and social development of the country. Due to the adverse balance of forces, the political situation in Europe and internal conflicts the freedom fight was eventually suppressed, but it succeeded in keeping Hungary from becoming an integral part of the Habsburg Empire, and its constitution was kept, even though it was only a formality.
After the departure of the Ottomans, the Habsburgs dominated the Hungarian Kingdom. The Hungarians' renewed desire for freedom led to Rákóczi's War for Independence. The most important reasons of the war were the new and higher taxes and a renewed Protestant movement. Rákóczi was a Hungarian nobleman, son of the legendary heroine
In 1708, the Habsburgs finally defeated the main Hungarian army at
Battle of Trencsén, and this diminished the further effectiveness of the Kuruc army. While the Hungarians were exhausted by the fights, the Austrians defeated the French army in the War of the Spanish Succession. They could send more troops to Hungary against the rebels. Transylvania became part of Hungary again starting at the end of the 17th century, and was led by governors.[38][39]
Age of Enlightenment
Main article:
palatine) were appointed by the Habsburg monarch, and the superior economic institution, the Hungarian Chamber, was directly subordinated to the Court Chamber in Vienna
.
The Hungarian language reform started under the reign of Joseph II. The reform age of Hungary was started by István Széchenyi a Hungarian noble, who built one of the greatest bridges of Hungary, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. The official language remained Latin until 1836, when Hungarian was introduced.[40][41] Between 1844 and 1849, and from 1867 onward, Hungarian became the exclusively used official language.
The European revolutions of 1848 swept into Hungary, as well. The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 sought to redress the long suppressed desire for political change, namely independence. The Hungarian National Guard was created by young Hungarian patriots in 1848. In literature, this was best expressed by the greatest poet of the revolution, Sándor Petőfi.
As war broke out with Austria, Hungarian military successes, which included the campaigns of the Hungarian general,
Artúr Görgey, forced the Austrians on the defensive. One of the most famous battles of the revolution, the Battle of Pákozd, was fought on 29 September 1848, when the Hungarian revolutionary army led by Lieutenant-General János Móga defeated the troops of the Croatian Ban Josip Jelačić. Fearing defeat, the Austrians pleaded for Russian help. The combined forces of the two empires quelled the revolution. The desired political changes of 1848 were again suppressed until the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867
grew roughly 1.45% per year from 1870 to 1913. That level of growth compared very favorably to that of other European nations such as Britain (1.00%), France (1.06%), and Germany (1.51%).
The lands of the Hungarian Crown (comprising the Kingdom of Hungary proper, into which Transylvania was fully incorporated, and the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, which maintained a distinct identity and internal autonomy) were granted equal status with the Austrian Empire. Each of the two states comprising Austria-Hungary exercised considerable independence, with certain institutions, notably the reigning house, defence, foreign affairs, and finances for common expenditures, remaining under joint management. This arrangement lasted until 1918, when the Central Powers went down in defeat in World War I.
The Hungarian Soviet Republic or Hungarian Republic of Councils (Hungarian: Magyarországi Tanácsköztársaság[44] or Magyarországi Szocialista Szövetséges Tanácsköztársaság[45]) was a short-lived independent communist state established in Hungary.
It lasted only from 21 March until 1 August 1919. The state was led by
Romanian forces and Béla Kun, together with other high-ranking Communists, fled to Austria.[47]
A 1919 attempt to form a federation with the Kingdom of Romania also failed, when the Romanian King ultimately refused to accept the Hungarian Crown.[48]
The restoration of the Kingdom
After the pullout of occupation forces of
monarchists purging the nation of communists and others by whom they felt threatened. On 29 February 1920, after the pullout of the last of the Romanian occupation forces, the Kingdom of Hungary was restored, a coalition of right-wing political forces united and reinstated Hungary's status as a constitutional monarchy. Selection of the new King was delayed due to civil infighting, and a regent was appointed to represent the monarchy, former Austro-Hungarian navy admiral Miklós Horthy
.
Treaty of Trianon (1920)
The new borders set in 1920 by the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but Austria, Poland and Italy also gained smaller territories. The areas that were allocated to neighbouring countries in total (and each of them separately) possessed a majority of non-Hungarian population, but more than 3.3 million ethnic Hungarians were left outside the new borders of Hungary. Many[who?] view this as contrary to the terms laid out by US President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points,[citation needed] which were intended to honour the ethnic makeup of the territories. As President Wilson left the conference to emphasize his disagreement, and because the US Congress did not ratify the treaty, the United States of America and the Kingdom of Hungary signed a separate peace treaty on 29 August 1921.[52]
The new international borders separated Hungary's industrial base from its sources of raw materials and its former markets for agricultural and industrial products. Hungary lost 84% of its timber resources, 43% of its arable land, and 83% of its iron ore. Furthermore, post-Trianon Hungary possessed 90% of the engineering and printing industry of the Kingdom, while only 11% of
railroads, 64% of hard surface roads, 83% of pig iron output, 55% of industrial plants, 100% of gold, silver, copper, mercury and salt mines, and 67% of credit and banking institutions of the prewar Kingdom of Hungary lay within the territory of Hungary's neighbors.[53][54][55]
Because most of the country's pre-war industry was concentrated near Budapest, Hungary retained about 51% of its industrial population and 56% of its industry. Horthy appointed Count
Charles IV of Hungary's conflict with Miklós Horthy
.)
As prime minister, Bethlen dominated Hungarian politics between 1921 and 1931. He fashioned a political machine by amending the electoral law, providing jobs in the expanding bureaucracy to his supporters, and manipulating elections in rural areas. Bethlen restored order to the country by giving the radical counterrevolutionaries payoffs and government jobs in exchange for ceasing their campaign of terror against Jews and leftists. In 1921, he made a deal with the Social Democrats and trade unions (called Bethlen-Peyer Pact), agreeing, among other things, to legalize their activities and free political prisoners in return for their pledge to refrain from spreading anti-Hungarian propaganda, calling political strikes, and organizing the peasantry. Bethlen brought Hungary into the League of Nations in 1922 and out of international isolation by signing a treaty of friendship with Italy in 1927. The revision of the Treaty of Trianon rose to the top of Hungary's political agenda and the strategy employed by Bethlen consisted by strengthening the economy and building relations with stronger nations. Revision of the treaty had such a broad backing in Hungary that Bethlen used it, at least in part, to deflect criticism of his economic, social, and political policies.
On 15 March, Carpatho-Ukraine declared itself to be an independent state. Hungary rejected the independence of Carpatho-Ukraine and, between 14 March and 18 March, Hungarian armed forces occupied the rest of Carpathian Ruthenia and ousted the government of Avgustyn Voloshyn. By contrast, Hungary recognized the Nazi puppet state of Slovakia led by the Clerical FascistJozef Tiso.[57] In September 1940, with troops massing on both sides of the Hungarian-Romanian border, war was averted by the Second Vienna Award. This award transferred the northern half of Transylvania to Hungary, with a total area of 43,492 km2 and a total population of 2,578,100 with a 53.5% Hungarian majority according to the 1941 census. By dividing Transylvania between Romania and Hungary, Hitler was able to ease tensions in Hungary. In October 1940, the Germans initiated a reciprocity policy between Romania and Hungary which was continued until the end of World War II. The region of Sub-Carpathia was given special autonomous status with the intention that (eventually) it would be self-governed by the Ruthenian minority.
During World War II 1941–1945
Main article:
Hungary during World War II
After being granted part of southern Czechoslovakia and Subcarpathia by the Germans and Italians in the
Operation Margarethe. By then it was clear that Hungarian politics would be suppressed according to Hitler's intention to hold the country in the war on the side of the Nazi Third Reich because of its strategic location. On 15 October 1944, Horthy made a token effort to disengage Hungary from the war. The Germans launched Operation Panzerfaust and Horthy's regime was replaced by a fascist puppet government under the pro-German Arrow Cross leader Ferenc Szálasi
, thus effectively ending the possibility for independent actions in the war. However, the form of government was only changed to a republic two years later.
Transitioning into a republic
Following its occupation of Hungary in 1944, the Soviet Union imposed harsh conditions allowing the Soviets to seize important material assets and control internal affairs.[58] After the Red Army set up police organs to persecute
"class enemies", the Soviets assumed that the impoverished Hungarian populace would support the Communists in the coming elections.[59] The Communists fared poorly, receiving only 17% of the vote, resulting in a coalition government under Prime Minister Zoltán Tildy.[60] Soviet intervention, however, resulted in a government that disregarded Tildy, placed communists in important ministries, and imposed restrictive and repressive measures, including banning the victorious Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party.[59] In 1945, Soviet MarshalKliment Voroshilov forced the freely elected Hungarian government to yield the Interior Ministry to a nominee of the Hungarian Communist Party. Communist Interior Minister László Rajk established the ÁVH secret police, which suppressed political opposition through intimidation, false accusations, imprisonment and torture.[61] In 1946 the form of government was changed to a republic. Soon after the monarchy was abolished, the Soviet Union pressed Hungarian leader Mátyás Rákosi to take a "line of more pronounced class struggle."[62] What emerged was a communist state lasting until 23 October 1956 when the Soviet occupation was swept away by the Hungarian uprising, victorious until 10 November 1956. The Soviet occupation was then restored, lasting until 1989 when the Communists agreed to give up their monopoly on power, paving the way for free elections in March 1990. In today's republic, the Kingdom is regarded as one long stage in the development of the state. This sense of continuity is reflected in the republic's national symbols such as the Holy Crown of Hungary and the coat of arms of Hungary, which are the same as when the monarchy was still in place. Several holidays, the official language (Hungarian), and the capital city Budapest have also been retained. The official Hungarian name of the country is Magyarország (simply Hungary) since 2012;[16] it was also the common name of the monarchy.[15] The millennium of the Hungarian statehood was commemorated in 2000 and codified by the Millennium Act of 2000.[63]
Administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Hungary
Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary)
Demographics of the Kingdom of Hungary
List of Hungarian rulers
Nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary
Notes
^After the death of the Hungarian king at Battle of Mohács in 1526, Hungarian noble groups elected two kings dividing Hungary in two: Royal Hungary and Eastern Hungarian Kingdom. During the Ottoman occupation between 1541 and 1699, the Kingdom of Hungary was divided into three separate parts:
^J. C. Russell, "Population in Europe 500–1500," in The Fontana Economic History of Europe: The Middle Ages, ed. Carlo M. Cipolla (London: Collins/Fontana Books, 1972), p. 25.
, pp. 37, 113, 678 ("Magyarország a 12. század második felére jelentős európai tényezővé, középhatalommá vált."/"By the 12th century Hungary became an important European factor, became a middle power.", "A Nyugat részévé vált Magyarország.../Hungary became part of the West"), pp. 616–644
^Béla K. Király, Gunther Erich Rothenberg, War and Society in East Central Europe: Trianon and East Central Europe antecedents and repercussions, p. 114
^1921. évi XLVIII. törvénycikk
az Amerikai Egyesült-Államokkal 1921. évi augusztus hó 29. napján Budapesten kötött békeszerződés becikkelyezéséről – XLVIII. Act of 1921 about the enactment the peace treaty signed in Budapest on 29. August 1921 with the United States of America – http://www.1000ev.hu/index.php?a=3¶m=7504Archived 21 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine
^Flood-light on Europe: a guide to the next war by Felix Wittmer, published by C. Scribner's sons, 1937, Item notes: pt. 443, Original from Indiana University, Digitized 13 November 2008 p. 114
^History of the Hungarian Nation by Domokos G. Kosáry, Steven Béla Várdy, Danubian Research Center, Published by Danubian Press, 1969, Original from the University of California, Digitized 19 June 2008 p. 222
^UN General Assembly Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary (1957) "Chapter II.N, para 89(xi) (p. 31)"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 20 March 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009. (1.47 MB)
Molnár, Miklós, and Anna Magyar. A Concise History of Hungary (2001) excerpt and text search
Palffy, Geza. The Kingdom of Hungary and the Habsburg Monarchy in the Sixteenth Century (East European Monographs, distributed by Columbia University Press, 2010) 406 pages; Covers the period after the battle of Mohacs in 1526 when the Kingdom of Hungary was partitioned in three, with one segment going to the Habsburgs.