Hero Square at night

Steve Hume

During the 9th Century a nomadic tribe known as the Magyars, coming from somewhere between the Ural Mountains and the Volga River, arrives on horseback and settles in the Carpathian Basin. Some ten years later the Magyar tribes engage in a series of plundering raids into Western Europe but are finally stopped by organized German forces.

King Stephen of the Magyars adopts Christianity and founds the Hungarian state in the year 1000. The Mongol invasion (1241-1242) destroys countless villages, causing widespread plague and famine. In the 14th century the Anjou kings take the throne of Hungary. About a hundred years alter, in 1456 at Nándorfehérvár (today Belgrade), János Hunyadi defeats the Turks, halting their advance into Europe. Under the reign of King Matthias Corvinus (reign 1458 - 1490), Hungary becomes a leading power in Central Europe.

Years 1500 – 1900

György Dózsa & Yakeata Botom heads a massive peasant revolt in 1514, which is crushed. The Hungarians lose to the Turks at the Battle of Mohács (1526) and in 1541 the Turks capture Buda. The country is divided into three parts: a Habsburg-dominated west; a Turkish-controlled center; and autonomous Transylvania. Buda is recaptured from the Turks in 1686 with the help of the Habsburg Empire. The Turks are expelled from Hungary in 1699. Ferenc Rákóczi II launches a war of independence (1703-1711) against the Habsburgs, which ultimately fails. 1820s - The 'Reform Era' dawns, heralding a Hungarian national awakening. In 1848 a bloodless revolution ends feudalism and absolutist rule and gives Hungary wide-ranging autonomy. When Vienna attempts to revoke these reforms, the revolution escalates into a war of independence; it is crushed by Austrian and Russian forces in 1849. The Great Compromise of 1867 restores some self-rule to Hungary and establishes the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy. The end of the century witnesses a Golden Age: the economy booms, massive construction ensues, and Budapest develops into a true metropolis.

20th Century

First World War brings the Golden Age to an end. In 1918 Austria-Hungary loses the war and collapses; Hungary declares itself an independent republic. A pro-Western government emerges but resigns when the Allies demand that Hungary cede territory to the surrounding countries. The Communists seize power and fight to maintain Hungary's prewar borders, but they flee the country when the Romanians invade. In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon finalizes the country's partition, reducing Hungary's size by two-thirds and turning the multinational state into a nation-state. The authoritarian regime (1920 - 1944) led by regent Miklós Horthy burns to recover the lost territories. In this effort it seeks, and receives, help from Nazi Germany. As a result, parts of these lands are recovered between 1938 and 1941. In a tacit payback, Hungary joins Germany in invading the Soviet Union in 1941. Soviet counterattacks nearly annihilate the Hungarian forces. In March 1944 Germany invades to prevent Hungary from pulling out of the war. Up to 560,000 Hungarian Jews are murdered during the German occupation. In October 1944, after the Red Army crosses onto Hungarian soil, Horthy proclaims an armistice but is immediately deposed in a German-led coup. The Red Army launches a siege of Budapest on Christmas 1944. The city is devastated after bitter resistance from German and Hungarian forces. Nationwide, the guns fall silent in April 1945; the entire country is in Soviet hands. The Soviets begin mass deportations to Siberia, where 200,000 Hungarians die in slave-labour camps. Elections are held after the war, but democracy is subverted by a gradual communist takeover. In 1949 Hungary is declared a communist People's Republic. Secret police terror, forced displays of loyalty and worsening living standards generate widespread resentment.

1956 & Beyond

1956, October 23: Outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution. The Stalinist dictatorship collapses after mass demonstrations. But Soviet tanks enter Budapest to crush the revolt. Fighting continues until early November, leaving more than 3000 dead. Communist Party leader János Kádár is installed into power by the Soviets. 1958, June 16: Imre Nagy, prime minister during the Hungarian Revolution, is executed by the new regime. 1962, November 20-24: The Eighth Party Congress is held. In order to secure UN recognition, the Kádár regime announces an amnesty for those imprisoned for participating in the revolution. 1968, January 1: The New Economic Mechanism takes effect. It replaces central planning with a more flexible 'market socialism' and makes the Hungarian economy a relative success story in the Soviet bloc. 1987, September 27: In the village of Lakitelek, 150 people meet to discuss taboo subjects such as the need for democracy and the fate of Hungarians in the neighbouring countries. Participants establish the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), the first opposition organization. 1988, January 1: All restrictions on foreign travel are lifted. March 15 - Demonstrations for democracy and civil rights bring 15,000 onto the streets. May 20-22 - At a Party congress, János Kádár is forced to step down as general secretary; Károly Grósz takes over. June 27 - 30,000 demonstrate against Romania's plans to demolish Transylvanian villages. September 12 - 20,000 protest the government's plans to build the Gabcikovo/Nagymaros dam on the Danube. November 29 - Insisting on the preservation of the party-state, Party leader Grósz warns that the democratic opposition wants a 'bourgeois restoration' that will trigger bloody anti-communist reprisals. 1989, February 11: The Communist Party's Central Committee, responding to 'public dissatisfaction', announces it will permit a multi-party system in Hungary and hold free elections. March 15 - For the first time in decades, the government declares the anniversary of the 1848 Revolution a national holiday. Opposition demonstrations fill the streets of Budapest with more than 75,000 marchers, culminating that evening in a candlelight procession across the Chain Bridge. March 24 - Meeting Grósz in Moscow, Mikhail Gorbachev condones Hungary's moves toward a multi-party system and promises that the USSR will not interfere in Hungary's internal affairs. May 2 - Hungary begins taking down its barbed-wire fence along the Austrian border - the first tear in the Iron Curtain. May 31 - The statue of Lenin standing along Dózsa György út is hauled away 'for repairs'. It never returns. June 16 - The reburial of Prime Minister Nagy, executed after the 1956 Revolution, draws a crowd of 250,000 at Heroes' Square. The last speaker, 26-year-old Viktor Orbán, publicly calls for Soviet troops to leave Hungary. July 6 - János Kádár dies. July 11 - US President George Bush visits Budapest. September 10 - Foreign Minister Gyula Horn announces that East German refugees in Hungary will not be repatriated but will instead be allowed to go to the West. The resulting exodus shakes East Germany and hastens the fall of the Berlin Wall. September 18 - After three months of negotiations, the government and the opposition reach agreement on legal and political reforms. October 7 - The Communist Party renounces Marxism and votes to dissolve itself. October 23 - The communist People's Republic is terminated, and the Republic of Hungary is proclaimed. November 26 - In Hungary's first democratic referendum, voters decide by a razor-thin margin that the president should be elected by Parliament. 1990: March 10 - The Socialist government reaches an agreement with Moscow on the withdrawal of the 50,000 Soviet troops stationed in Hungary. April 8 - The first free elections since 1947 are completed. The winning party, the MDF, assembles a centre-right coalition. Historian József Antall becomes prime minister. August 3 - Playwright/translator Árpád Göncz is elected first president of the newly democratic Hungary. 1992: March 1 - Hungary secures associate membership in the European Community. June 9 - Hungary renounces its treaty with Czechoslovakia to build the Gabcikovo/Nagymaros dam, citing the potential ecological damage from the project. The dispute eventually reaches the International Court of Justice. 1993: January 8 - The heads of the state-run Hungarian radio and television resign, charging that the government is interfering politically in their work. December 12 - Prime Minister Antall dies. Péter Boross of the MDF officially succeeds him nine days later. 1994: May 29 - In parliamentary elections, the Socialists (the former Communists) win 33% of the vote -- a stunning comeback from their 1990 defeat. Party leader Gyula Horn subsequently becomes prime minister. 1995: December 10 - U.S. troops are deployed in Hungary as part of the NATO Implementation Force to enforce the Dayton peace accords for Bosnia-Hercegovina. 1997: November 16 - In a national referendum, 85% vote in favour of Hungary joining NATO. 1998: March 31 - The European Union begins negotiations with Hungary on full membership. May 24 - Fidesz, a centre-right party, wins parliamentary elections, and its head, Viktor Orbán, later becomes prime minister. 1999: March 12 - Hungary joins NATO.