Hungary's complex past

So few people have any grasp at all of the history of Eastern European nations, and yet more people are now visiting them. A country’s history says where peoples are coming from, and what factors went into how they are now, how they think and related to others in their own area and wider world. Hungary has a most complex history, which tells us much about the people.

I can’t find much information BC except by 14BC Hungary was part of the Roman Empire – the provinces of Pannonia and Dacia. The Roman came to a stop at the Danube and that area was occupied by Germanic and Asiatic tribes. In the 5th century the Hungarian tribes (the Magyars) left the area of the Urals and continued along the Volga and Caspian Sea. They spent several hundred years in a nomadic existence until in 896 Hungary was invaded by the Magyars who drove out the existing population and settled in the Carpathian Basin, under the leadership of Arpad. From 997 to 1038 King Stephen of the Arpad dynasty ruled Hungary, and in the year 1000 he was converted to Christianity, and became a Saint after his death. The Tatars from Mongolia sacked the country in 1241, and stayed in the country for at least a century, though did not continue west. The peak of medieval power came with Louis 1 the Great (1342-1382) whose then lands stretched to the Baltic, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1389 war with the Turks broke out and the Turks defeated the Hungarian army, and 1050 years of Turkish occupation started, and the Turks advanced through the Balkans. In 1541 the Turks occupied Buda and Hungary was split into three parts. The Habsburgs ruled the west of the country, the central area was in control of the Turks and the remaining area, the south-west Transylvanian principality (now part of Rumania) became the important keeper of the Hungarian culture. In 1686 Buda was recaptured from the Turks. From, 1703-1711 there were unsuccessful attempts to gain freedom from the Habsburgs.

In 1848-49 there was a revolution, starting in Pest and then spreading, and the Habsburg emperor was removed, but the Habsburgs, with the help of the Russian army took over again. In 1867 there was a compromise with the Habsburgs and a two-centre monarchy was set up with seats in Vienna and Budapest(then called Pest-buda), and in 1873 Pest, Buda and Obuda were unified. In 1918 Germany and its Allies, including the Austro-Hungarian monarchy lost the war and the monarchy collapsed. In 1920 the Trianon Treaty reduced Hungary’s land area by two thirds and its population by a third, and since that time considerable numbers of Hungarian minorities found themselves living in neighbouring countries.

In 1938-1940 Germany agreed treaties to return Southern Slovakia and Northern Transylvania were returned to Hungary. In 1944 The Nazis occupied Hungary, and Hungary suffered substantial losses on the Russian front. In 1945 The Soviet Army liberated occupied Hungary and at the elections Communists gained only 17% of the votes. The last election was followed by years of Communist control there were people imprisoned, hundred of thousands forced settlements, executions and show trials and a great drop in living standards.

In 1956 there was a revolution against Stalin, which was defeated by Soviet troops. Janos Kadar gained power with Soviet help and promised democratic socialism. By 1965 a new system was developing and cautious economic reforms started, and living standards began to rise. In 1988 a transition period started to develop and in 1990 the Communist party gave up its autocracy and a multi-party democracy became the parliament, and the Soviet Army left Hungary for good in 1991, ending almost 47 years of foreign military presence in Hungary, though the move to a market economy is proving difficult.

In 1999 Hungary joined NATO and is May 2004 it joined the European Union. In 2006, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány was re-elected promising economic “reform without austerity.” But in September, a tape was leaked to the media on which Gyurcsany admitted that he about the state of the economy so he could be re-elected. His resignation was demanded. In November 2008, the IMF gave a $25 billion rescue package to Hungary to help its suffering currency during the global financial crisis. Nowadays Hungary is trying to develop a fledgling tourist industry – firstly Budapest as a major European city break, but also Siofok on beautiful Lake Balaton, Sopron and Gyor , near the Austrian border and also Eger, near the Hortobagy National Park.