A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUNGARY

By Tim Lambert
Ancient Hungary
During the last ice age, humans in Hungary lived by hunting mammoths and reindeer with
stone weapons. When the ice age ended they hunted smaller animals. However, about 5,000
BC farming was introduced into Hungary although the farmers still used stone tools. Then
about 2,000 BC, they learned to use bronze. About 800 BC people in Hungary learned to
make iron tools and weapons. After 500 BC they traded with the Greeks. They also learned to
use the potter’s wheel.
Then, about the time of Christ, the Romans conquered what is now Hungary. They reached
the Danube in 11 BC and in 9 AD they crushed a rebellion by a native people called the
Pannons. The Romans then created a province they called Pannonia.
In time Pannonia became fully integrated into the Roman Empire and the Romans founded a
number of towns. They included Pecs, Szombathely, Sopron, and Buda. In the early 2nd century the
Romans also conquered the east of Hungary, which they called Dacia. However, in the 3rd century,
the Roman Empire declined. Dacia was abandoned in 271 AD. From the end of the 4th century, the
Romans withdrew from Pannonia and it was overrun by Germanic peoples.

In the 6th century an Asiatic people called the Avars conquered Hungary. They ruled the region until
the end of the 8th century. At that time Charlemagne, the leader of the Franks, in what is now
France, conquered central Europe, including Hungary. He forced the Avars to accept Christianity.

However, in 843 the Frankish Empire was divided into three. Hungary became part of the
eastern third.
The Magyars in Hungary
The Magyars are descended from the Finno-Ugric people who were also the ancestors of the
Finns and the Estonians. Originally they lived in what is now Russia. About 1,000 BC they
split. The ancestors of the Magyars moved west and southward. By the late 9th century they
had begun raiding the eastern part of the Frankish Empire. In 896, under their leader Arpad,
they conquered eastern Hungary. In 900 they captured the western part. Hungary became the
Magyar homeland.
However, for decades, they continued raiding other parts of central Europe. n However in the
early 10th century the Magyars suffered defeats. Finally in 955 the Germans under Otto I
crushed them at the battle of Augsburg. Afterward, the Magyars gradually settled down and
became civilized.
In the late 10th century Prince Geza invited German missionaries to come and preach
Christianity to the people. Geza himself was baptized but he also continued to worship pagan
gods.
Geza also wielded all the Magyars into a single, united people. Until then they were divided
into tribes but Geza made himself a powerful ruler. His son Stephen (1000-1038) continued
his father’s work. He confiscated much of the land in Hungary and he built a network of
castles or var across Hungary. Stephen was the first truly Christian ruler of Hungary and he
founded a number of monasteries. He was canonized (declared a saint) in 1083.
After Stephen’s death, there were a series of succession crises in Hungary. Order was
restored by Laszlo I (1077-1095).
In the 11th and 12th centuries, Hungary became firmly a part of Western civilization. Bela III
(1172-1196) reformed the administration, modeling it on that of the Byzantine Empire.
Settlers from Germany and Romania came to Hungary and in the 12th-century foreign
visitors described it as a prosperous country. Furthermore in the late 12th and early 13th-
century trade flourished and new towns were created in Hungary.
However in the early 13th century Hungary was ruled by Andreas II (1205-1235). He proved
to be incompetent and he provoked a rebellion. In 1222 he was forced to issue the Golden
Bull. This document safeguarded the rights of all freemen in Hungary and it has been likened
to the Magna Carta in England. One clause gave the lords the right to resist the king if he
broke the conditions of the Bull.
Disaster struck Hungary in 1241 when the Mongols invaded. The Hungarian army was routed
at the battle of Muhi in 1241. The Mongols only occupied Hungary for a year but they caused
devastation. Crops were burned or left unharvested and a terrible famine followed. The
Mongols also sacked Hungarian settlements. As a result, the population of Hungary fell
substantially. Afterward, there was a slow process of rebuilding.
The last king of the Arpad dynasty in Hungary was Andreas III (1290-1301). He died
childlessly. Charles Robert of Anjou was crowned king of Hungary but until 1310 other men
also claimed the throne. However, Charles Robert was eventually recognized by all the
Hungarians.
During his reign, Hungary prospered. In the 1320s gold was discovered in Hungary and soon
large amounts of gold and silver were exported. The money raised greatly helped the
treasury.
Hungary also escaped the Black Death of 1348 because it was sparsely populated and the
epidemic did not spread. (In 1308 a Frenchmen described Hungary as ‘an empty land’).
However, in the late 14th century, the population rose.
Louis I (the Great) ruled Hungary from 1342. In 1345 his brother was murdered in Naples. In
1347 Louis led an army into Italy and in 1348 they captured Naples. Louis then called
himself king of Naples but he was forced to retreat before the Black Death and the native
ruler returned. The Hungarians tried to regain Naples in 1349 and 1350-52 but without
success.
In 1370 Louis’s uncle Casimir, king of Poland died and for a short time, the two countries
were united under Louis’s rule. However, Louis died in 1382 without an heir. Poland became
a separate realm in 1386.
Meanwhile, Sigismund of Luxembourg became ruler of Hungary. During his reign, the
Ottoman Turks became an increasing threat. In 1354 they took Gallipoli. After the battle of
Kosovo in 1389, they advanced into the Balkans. Sigismund fought a series of campaigns
against the Turks in the years 1390-1396 but without success. Sigismund died in 1437.
In 1453 all of Europe was shaken when the Turks captured Constantinople and ended the
Byzantine Empire. There was now no stopping them.
However in 1458 Matthias became king of Hungary. He was known as Matthias the Just
because of his fairness. Matthias was a Renaissance ruler. He was a patron of the arts and of
learning. He also raised a mercenary army called the Black Army. With its help Hungary
became strong.
Yet when Matthias died in 1490 Hungary declined. A diet (national assembly) met to elect a
successor. The diet wanted a king ‘whose braids they could hold in their hands’. (In other
words, they wanted a weak king they could control). So the crown was given to Ulaszlo II.
Under him, the monarchy in Hungary grew weaker. The Black Army was disbanded in 1492.
Furthermore the condition of the peasants in Hungary deteriorated. They lost the right to
move from one village to another and the landlords burdened them with more forced labor.
Eventually, the peasants rebelled. It began in 1514 when the pope called for a crusade against
the Turks. Many Hungarian peasants joined.
However, the nobility were unhappy about losing so many of their labor force, and some tried
to prevent their peasants from leaving. Those peasants who had already joined refused to
disband and under their leader, Gyorgy Dozsa they rebelled. The peasants attacked castles
and burned manor houses. However, the nobles crushed the revolt. Dozsa was captured and
executed.
As a result of the rebellion, there was a backlash against the peasants in Hungary. The Diet of
October 1514 passed a law condemning the peasants to eternal serfdom. (Serfs were halfway
between slaves and free men).
Hungary 1500-1800
In 1526 the Turkish ruler Suleiman the Magnificent led an army northwards. The Hungarians
met them at the battle of Mohacs on 29 August 1526. The Hungarians were routed and their
king was killed. In September the Turks burned Buda. Most of the Turks then withdrew with
their loot. However, they did leave behind soldiers to man key fortresses. Although they did
not attempt to conquer Hungary in one go they intended to take it in stages.
There were now two claimants to the throne of Hungary, Ferdinand of Habsburg, Archduke
of Austria, and Janos Szapolyai. Ferdinand seized western Hungary and he was crowned
Ferdinand I. However the Hungarian nobles also crowned Janos king. Hungary was divided
between them.
When Janos died in 1541 the Turkish Sultan took central Hungary. He made Zapolyai’s son
ruler of Transylvania (the easternmost part of Hungary). It became the Principality of
Transylvania but was only semi-independent of Turkey. The Turks ruled central Hungary
directly. Hungary was divided into three parts until the end of the 17th century.
Meanwhile, like the rest of Europe, Hungary was rocked by the Reformation. In the 1540s
Protestant doctrines swept Hungary and gained many supporters. However, in the early 17th
century the Catholic Counter-Reformation won many converts, especially in western
Hungary.
At the end of the 17th century Turkish power waned. In 1683 they unsuccessfully besieged
Vienna. Austria and its allies then turned on the Turks. In August 1687 they crushed the
Turks at the battle of Mount Harsany. Finally, in 1697, the Turks were routed at Senta. In
1699 they made peace. The Habsburgs (rulers of Austria) gained almost all of Hungary.
However, the Hungarians resented Hapsburg rule almost as much as the Turkish. (They
especially resented the taxation). In 1703 the Hungarians rose in arms. The War of
Independence lasted until 1711.
However superior Hapsburg forces eventually won the day. The Hungarians were defeated at
the battle of Trencsen on 3 August 1708 and their hopes faded. By 1711 the Hapsburg army
was victorious and the Hungarians accepted the peace of Szatmar in April. The Austrian
Emperor agreed to respect the rights of the Hungarian nation and to rule with the diet.
During the 18th century, Hungary remained an overwhelmingly agricultural country. There
was little industry. A census of 1787 showed Hungary had a population of 8.7 million.
Hungary in the 19th century
From the end of the 18th century onward nationalism in Hungary grew steadily as did interest
in Magyar, language, culture, and history.
Meanwhile, the period 1825-1848 was an age of reform and the diet carried out a number of
fiscal and economic reforms. Furthermore, industry in Hungary began to develop.
However in 1848 demands for further reform exploded in revolution in Hungary. It began
when the French king was deposed. That triggered demonstrations and demands for reform
throughout Europe. In Hungary, the diet drew up a list of demands in March and in April the
Austrian Emperor gave in and agreed to 31 new laws passed by the diet, known as the April
laws. Serfdom was abolished and the vote was given to more people. Hungary was to be a
constitutional monarchy sharing a king with Austria.
However problems arose over the large minorities in Hungary, who demanded autonomy
from the Magyars. Meanwhile, the Austrians regained control of other parts of their empire
(North Italy and Czechoslovakia). The emperor was then determined to restore the old order
in Hungary. In August 1848 he declared the April laws null and void. In September an
Austrian army entered Hungary but was defeated in a battle at Bakozd. They defeated again
in April 1849. In April 1849 the Hungarians, led by Lajos Kossuth declared Hungary
independent.
The Austrians were forced to rely on the Russians for help. The Tsar sent an army and the
Russians defeated the Hungarians at Temesvar on 9 August 1849. The Hungarian army
surrendered on 13 August 1849. There followed a period of repression and reprisals.
However, in 1866, Austria suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Prussia. With their
weakness exposed the Austrians decided some reform was necessary. In 1867 the Dual
Monarchy was formed. Austria and Hungary became separate states linked by a shared
monarchy. They also shared foreign policy. However other minorities within the Austro-
Hungarian Empire were not given autonomy.
In the late 19th century Hungary developed economically. Industry grew rapidly (although
Hungary was still a mainly agricultural country in 1914). Meanwhile, marshlands were
drained for farming and agriculture increased its output.
Furthermore, the population of Hungary rose to 18 million in 1910 and the percentage of
people living in towns increased substantially. Meanwhile in 1868 compulsory education was
introduced for 6 to 12-year-olds in Hungary.
Hungary in the 20th Century
In 1906 a Hungarian named Ferenc Szisz won the first Grand Prix race. n Unfortunately in
1914 Hungary, as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, became involved in the First World
War on the side of the Germans. By the autumn of 1918, Austria-Hungary was exhausted and
it was obvious the war was lost.
In October Mihaly Karolyi led a movement demanding independence for Hungary. The
people demanded Karolyi be made Prime Minister. On 30 October 1918 they demonstrated
wearing asters. So it became known as the aster revolution. Karolyi became PM of Hungary
on 31 October 1918.
However, with the end of the war, the Slovaks and Romanians within Hungary broke away
and joined their countrymen. As a result, Hungary lost more than half its territory.
Meanwhile on 24 November 1918, Bela Kun formed the Hungarian Communist Party. On 21
March 1919, the Social Democrats in Hungary formed a government with the Communists.
They began nationalizing industry and land. However, the nationalization policy was
unpopular. So were attacks on religion.
Admiral Miklos Horthy (formerly an admiral in the Austro-Hungarian navy) formed a
national army opposed to the government.
Meanwhile Hungary continued to quarrel with her neighbors Czechoslovakia and Romania.
The Communist regime lost all support when the Romanian army marched into Hungary and
occupied Budapest. Kun fled abroad and his regime collapsed. There then followed a period
of reprisals in which many Communists were executed.
However even after the Communists fell from power Horthy refused to disband his ‘army’. In
October 1919 the Romanians left Budapest. On 16 November 1919 Horthy entered the
capital. n Elections were held in Hungary in January 1920. Parliament decreed that the throne
of Hungary was ‘vacant’. On 1 March 1920, they elected Horthy ‘regent’ or head of state.
On 4 July 1920 Hungary was forced to sign the Treaty of Trianon with the victorious powers
of the First World War. Hungary lost two thirds of her territory and about 60% of her
population.
Horthy introduced an authoritarian regime during the 1920s and 1930s. Furthermore,
Hungary remained a relatively primitive country. Many people were very poor. Electricity
and running water remained luxuries.
Moreover, in the 1930s Hungary came under the influence of Nazi Germany. In 1937 the
Hungarian Socialist Party (known as the Arrow Cross Party because of its symbol) was
founded. In the late 1930s, Hungary rearmed and also took anti-Semitic measures.
When Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939 Hungary regained some of the territory lost
after the First World War.
Then, in November 1940 Hungary joined the Tripartite Pact (originally made by Germany,
Italy, and Japan). When the Germans invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941 Hungary regained
still more territory. Then in June 1941, Hungary joined the attack on Russia. In December
1941 Britain declared war on Hungary.
However, after the German defeats at Stalingrad and Kursk in 1943, the Hungarian
government sought to leave the war. However from September 1943 planned operation
Margarethe, the military occupation of Hungary. The German army entered Hungary on 19
March 1944 and a right-wing government was installed. Hungarian Jews were deported and
most died in concentration camps.
From April 1944 the allies began to bomb Budapest and other Hungarian cities. In the
autumn of 1944 with the Germans facing certain defeat Horthy negotiated an armistice with
the Russians. The armistice was announced by radio on 15 October 1944.
However, the Germans removed Horthy from power and replaced him with Szalasi Ferenc of
the Arrow Cross. However, the Russians captured Budapest on 13 February 1945. Fighting in
Hungary ended on 12 April 1945.
Before the war ended a provisional government was formed in Hungary. In March 1945 it
passed a land reform law. The rich landowners lost most of their estates and the land was
redistributed.
Elections were held in November 1945. Zoltan Tildy became president of the new republic.
Ferenc Nagy became prime minister.
However, the Communists were determined to take power in Hungary gradually. They
adopted ‘salami tactics’, dividing their opponents and eliminating them one by one.
(Crucially the minister of the interior, in charge of police, was a Communist named Rajk. He
purged the administration of ‘right wingers’. More than 60,000 officials were removed
between May and November 1946. Then in July 1946, the Communists dissolved what they
called ‘reactionary associations’. These included the Catholic Youth Association.
The ‘salami tactics’ continued in 1947 assisted by the presence of Russian soldiers. Some
Hungarian politicians went into exile abroad at that time. Meanwhile, the Communists
nationalized industries one by one, and agriculture was collectivized.
In August 1947 more elections were held in Hungary. However, the Communists rigged the
elections. Nevertheless, they only gained 22% of the votes.
However, the Communists continued their ‘salami tactics’ and their remaining opponents
were removed from power. Finally, in 1948, the Communists took over Hungary completely.
The president was forced to resign and the Social Democratic Party was forced to join the
Communists as a single Workers Party.
The Communists introduced a tyrannical regime in Hungary. Nationalization of industry was
completed and church schools were taken over by the state. Many Hungarians were executed
or imprisoned.
The Stalinist executions in Hungary continued through the early 1950s. Once they had
eliminated all opposition outside the party the Communists turned on themselves. Former
interior minister Laszlo Rajk was executed in October 1949. Many other people were
executed or imprisoned after show trials. Many Communists were accused to ‘Titoism’ i.e.
wanting to be autonomous of the Soviet Union like Tito the Yugoslav leader.
However, when Stalin died in 1953 Rakoski the Hungarian Communist leader fell from
power. He was replaced by Imre Nagy. He introduced what he called a ‘new course’. Stalinist
policies were moderated. The government reduced investment in heavy industry and invested
more in making consumer goods. Forced collectivization of farms ended. The people of
Hungary were allowed a little more freedom and the reign of terror ended. However, in 1955
Nagy fell from power and Stalinist policies returned.
The Hungarian Uprising 1956
In July 1956 Rakoi fell from power and the party began to backtrack. People who had earlier
been executed were rehabilitated. Imre Nagy, who had been expelled from the party was
readmitted. On 6 October Rajk was reburied and many Hungarians turned out to attend his
funeral, as a protest against Stalinist policies.
Soon popular discontent began to boil over in Hungary. From 20 October onward meetings
were held in universities. They demanded independence from Moscow and free elections.
On 23 October a demonstration was held in Budapest. Some demonstrators tried to occupy
radio headquarters to voice their demands. The secret police fired at them, which provoked
further unrest. Erno Gero, the Communist leader, appealed for Soviet help. Soon fighting
took place between Soviet tanks and ordinary people armed with Molotov cocktails and
whatever weapons they could find.
Nagy was reinstated as prime minister of Hungary but unrest continued and spread to other
cities. Nagy attempted to co-operate with the demonstrators and on 29 October the Russians
began to withdraw from Budapest. However they simply regrouped in the countryside and
awaited reinforcements.
Meanwhile on 1 November Nagy announced that Hungary was leaving the Warsaw Pact and
becoming a neutral country.
Then on 4 November, the Russians attacked Budapest and other cities. The Hungarian people
fought heroically but the Russians were much stronger and after a few days, they crushed the
uprising.
However, the workers continued to resist and strikes were held until January 1957 even
though there were mass arrests. Meanwhile, about 200,000 Hungarians fled to the west.
The Communists then cracked down and began reprisals. Hundreds of people were executed
and thousands were imprisoned. Nagy himself was executed in 1958.
However, in the 1960s, Janos Kadar began a process of gradual and limited reform. In 1962
he introduced the phrase ‘he who is not against us if with us’. Kadar also made some very
cautious economic reforms. As a result of Kadar’s reforms, Hungary became a relatively
prosperous country. Generally, the Hungarians had a higher standard of living than people in
other Communist countries.
However in the 1980s things turned sour. Hungary began to suffer from inflation, which
particularly hurt people on fixed incomes. Furthermore Hungary ran up a huge foreign debt.
Poverty became widespread. As conditions deteriorated Kadar fell from power in 1988.
In the late 1980s, a wave of discontent and demands for reform grew in Hungary. This time
there were many reformers n the Communist party as well as without.
In July 1989 Nagy was reburied and rehabilitated. Then Hungary dismantled its border with
Austria. East Germans flocked to Hungary to make their way to West Germany.
In October 1989 the Hungarian Communist Party renamed itself the Hungarian Socialist
Party and changed its policies. They also allowed other political parties to form. Furthermore,
a Communist paramilitary organization called the Workers Guard was disbanded. Then on 23
October, the constitution was amended to allow an orderly transition to democracy and
capitalism.
Remarkably the Hungarians managed the transition to freedom peacefully. In 1990 the first
free elections were held and Jozsef Antall became prime minister but he died in 1993.
However the Socialists (former Communists) returned to power in 1994.
Inevitably there was an economic crisis in the 1990s and the transition to capitalism was a
painful one. However Hungary is now a prosperous and free country. In 1999 Hungary joined
NATO.
Hungary in the 21st Century
In the very early years of the 21st century, the Hungarian economy was still growing strongly
although it slowed dramatically from 2007. In 2004 Hungary joined the EU.

Hungary suffered during the recession of 2009. However, Hungary soon recovered and today its
economy is growing steadily. Today Hungary is a prosperous country. In 2019 the population of
Hungary was 9.6 million.

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