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History of Hungary

Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe.. 7 eras, 1000 to today.

Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1301), 1000–1301 Draft, not yet reviewed

The high medieval Kingdom of Hungary was a regional power in Central Europe. The kingdom came into existence when Stephen I, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, was crowned king in 1000 or 1001. The kingdom received a major blow from the Mongol invasion of 1241–42. Andrew III (1290–1301) was the last male descendant of the native Árpád dynasty.

Seat of power: Esztergom

Rulers

Kingdom of Hungary, 1301–1526 Draft, not yet reviewed

Royal power was restored under Charles I (1308–1342), a scion of the Capetian House of Anjou. The kingdom reached the peak of its power under Louis the Great (1342–1382) who led military campaigns against Lithuania, southern Italy and other faraway territories. The expansion of the Ottoman Empire reached the kingdom under Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387–1437). The first king of Hungary without dynastic ancestry was Matthias Corvinus (1458–1490), who led several successful military campaigns and also became the King of Bohemia and the Duke of Austria.

Seat of power: Visegrád

Rulers

Kingdom of Hungary, 1526–1867 Draft, not yet reviewed

After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the country was ruled by two crowned kings (John I and Ferdinand I). This unsettled period lasted until 1570 when John Sigismund Zápolya (John II) abdicated as King of Hungary in Emperor Maximilian II's favor. Under the terms of the Treaty of Karlowitz, which ended the Great Turkish War in 1699, the Ottomans ceded nearly all of Ottoman Hungary. The kingdom became a dual monarchy in 1867, known as Austria-Hungary.

Seat of power: Bratislava

Rulers

Kingdom of Hungary, 1867–1918 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which was a military and diplomatic alliance of the two sovereign states. Under the Compromise, the lands of the House of Habsburg were reorganized as a real union between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, headed by a single monarch who reigned as Emperor of Austria in the Austrian half of the empire, and as King of Hungary in the Kingdom of Hungary. The Cisleithanian (Austrian) and Transleithanian (Hungarian) states were governed by separate parliaments and prime ministers. Austria-Hungary remained a European great power until World War I.

Seat of power: Budapest

Rulers

Kingdom of Hungary, 1920–1946 Draft, not yet reviewed

The interwar Kingdom of Hungary existed as a country from 1920 to 1946 under the rule of Miklós Horthy, Regent of Hungary, who officially represented the Hungarian monarchy. The Kingdom of Hungary was an Axis power during World War II, intent on regaining Hungarian-majority territory that had been lost in the Treaty of Trianon, which it mostly did in early 1941 after the First and Second Vienna Awards and after joining the German invasion of Yugoslavia. By 1944, following heavy setbacks for the Axis, Horthy's government negotiated secretly with the Allies, and also considered leaving the war. Because of this Hungary was occupied by Germany and Horthy was deposed.

Seat of power: Budapest

Rulers

Hungarian People's Republic, 1949–1989 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Hungarian People's Republic was the Hungarian state from 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed communist state, governed first by the Hungarian Working People's Party and after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party. Political repression and economic decline led to a nationwide popular uprising in October–November 1956 known as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which was the largest single act of dissent in the history of the Eastern Bloc. After initially allowing the Revolution to run its course, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops and tanks to crush the opposition and install a new Soviet-controlled government under Kádár, killing thousands of Hungarians and driving hundreds of thousands into exile.

Seat of power: Budapest

Rulers

Hungary, 1989 to today Draft, not yet reviewed

During the Revolutions of 1989, Hungary peacefully transitioned into a democratic parliamentary republic. Free elections were held in May 1990, and the Hungarian Democratic Forum, a major conservative opposition group, was elected to the head of a coalition government. Like most other post-communist European states, Hungary broadly pursued an integrationist agenda, joining NATO in 1999 and the European Union on 1 May 2004. Under the leadership of Viktor Orbán and Fidesz from 2010 to 2026, the country experienced democratic backsliding.

Seat of power: Budapest

Rulers

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.