Hungary

1. Hungary

2. The Hungarian peoples were formed on the Eurasian steppes between 1200 and 1500 BC. Our roots can be traced back to Turkish and partly to Finno-Ugric origins. Our ancestors migrated from the Urals to the Carpathian Basin as mounted nomads on ’the highway of peoples’. Around 830 the autonomous nomadic state was set up under the leadership of Grand Prince/Duke Álmos.

3. Commanded by Grand Prince/Duke Árpád, they marched in and occupied the Carpathian Basin between 895 and 907. We consider this event the Conquest of Hungary. The equestrian archers conducted raids all Europe and allied with heads of provinces in the territories of present-day Germany, Italy and France to take part in their fights against each other.

4. In 1000 Saint Stephen of Hungary, a descendant of Árpád, Christianized the country in the Latin Rite. He received a crown from Pope Sylvester II and founded the Hungarian Kingdom. He married Blessed Gisela, the sister of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor. As an independent ruler he issued law codes and diplomas. He had his own coin minted. He set up the ecclesiastical organization of the Catholic church in Hungary with Esztergom as an independent archbishopric. The royal court is established in Székesfehérvár.

5. 1000-1526 Royal dynasties Árpádház Anjou In 1240 the Mongols devastated most of the country. Hunyadi In 1456 Hungary defeated the main army of the Ottoman Sultan. The Noon Bell rings every day to commemorate this victory. Luxemburgi Habsburg AttheCouncil of Constanz King Sigismunddeserves credit forputting an end tothe Western Schismin Europe. Jagelló King Matthias Corvinus held a magnificent Renaissance court in Buda. He founded a most significant library, established a university, and summoned Italian artists to work in his court.

6. The Kingdom of Hungary is dividedintothreepartsbetween 1526 and 1699. 1526 erlittenwirbei Mohács eineschwere, erschütterndeNiederlage von den Türken. We successfully defended the stronghold of Eger against overwhelming numbers of the Ottomans Transsylvania was ruled by strong dukes. The predecessor of present-dayuniversity ELTE, Budapest, wasestablishedbytheJesuits and archbishop Péter Pázmány in Nagyszombat, western Hungary. Transsylvania wastheeaternmoststatein Europe tohavethegothicstyle of architecture, feudalsystem and protestantism. Most parts of HungariansoilfellintothehandsoftheOttomanTurks. Occupation and constantwarsdevastatedthearea. Debrecen is a centre forcalvinistprotestantswith a college famedall over Europe. Even under the constant pressure from the neighbouring empires Hungary remained a sovereign state and developed their own culture and language.

7. 1711-1830 Hungary is a sovereignstate of the Habsburg empire One of the largest-scale revolts against the absolutistic Habsburg-reign was headed by Ferenc Rákóczi II The laws of the country were enected in the two chamber parliament GovernmentworkwasdirectedbytheViennesecourt, oftenusingabsolutisticmethods. Hungarianhussarsbecamewellknownduringthe 18th centuryinthe European wars. The onlymining and metallurgicalacademyinthe empire wassituatedin Selmecbánya, Upper Hungary. IntheenlightmentmovementHungarianlanguagewascultivated and renewedbyintellectualsgatheringaroundreadingcirclesnewspapersandperiodicals. Count György Festetich (lord of thepalaceinthepicture) established a college foreconomy and agriculture, named Georgikon, whereyoungpeoplecouldstudy free, regardless of theirfaithornationality. From 1761, Joseph Haydn composedhismasterpiecesinthe service of theCount Eszterházy family.

8. 1830-1848 Carrying out reforms Hungary started to become a nation state. In this era our nation sought to modernize the country through lawful reforms to avoid destructive revolutions. Between 1832-1848 four National Assemblieswereheldwherethenecessarychangesweredebated. Count István Széchenyi was the first to word (draft) the programme of civil transformation. Count Széchenyi had thefirststonebridgebuilt ( inthepicture), plannedtheregulation of ourgreatrivers and promoted/ supportedthecauses of steamshipping and railways. He establishedtheHungarianAcademy of Science. After a longstruggletheHungarianlanguagebecameofficial. Ourliterary life wasflourishing and the National Anthemwaswrittenby Ferenc Kölcsey. Lajos Kossuth wastheleader of theliberal reform- oppositionrepresentingthecause of theHungarianfreedomsince 1849 in England and the USA. The firstrailway line wasopenedin 1846.

9. Following the uprisings in Italy, Paris and Vienna revolution broke out in Bp. on 15th March 1848. However, law was still prevailing in Hungary. Fundamental changes were brought about by The National Assembly in Pozsony. 1848 The first Hungarian government was formed by Earl Lajos Batthyány To defend her freedom Hungary was forced into a long war and defeated the imperial forces several times. InApril 1848 theFirstHungarian Civil Constitutionwascreated. Finally, however, in the name of the Holy Alliance the interfering Russian army defeated our country.On 6th October 1848, Count Lajos Batthyány, the Prime Minister, along with his thirteen commanders were executed. Years of oppression followed.

10. In 1867, followingthe (state)unioninbothItaly and Germany, the House of Habsburg and theHungarianpoliticiansreached a compromise and the 1867-1914 Austro-HungarianMonarchycameintoexistence Hungary was prospering/flourishing in peace. The firstsubterraneantrainonthecontinentstartedtooperatein Budapest. Count Gyula Andrássy servingastheforeignminister of theMonarchydid a lotforthealliance of theAustro-HungarianMonarchy and Germany. Déry, Bláthy,Zipernowsky inventedthetransformer. The milleniumwascelebratedwith a series of festiveevents. Kálmán Kandó, a Hungarianengineer, wasthefirstto design theelectriclocomotive. The Benedictineteacher, Ányos Jedlik, developedtheelectricengine and thedynamo. The firstswitchboardwasinventedby Tivadar Puskás.

11. SupportingtheAlliestheHungariansoldiersfoughtinthe Great WarinmanybattlefieldsfromItalytotheBalkans and theCarpathianpasses. 516 thousandHungariansoldierwerekilledinaction. 1914-1920 The FirstHungarianRepublicwasdeclaredin 1918. In 1919 a Soviet-stylecommunistregimecameintopower. AftertheMonarchy had fallenapartthedefeated Hungary was made tosignthe Trianon Treatyin Versailles, soreeventoday. The number of theinhabitantsdroppedfrom 20,886,487 to 7,615,117. 3.3 millionHungarianswereforcedtolivebeyondtheborders of theirshrunkenhomeland. Afterthefall of theRepublic and thered terror, MiklósHorthy, thelastadmiral of theMonarchy, stabilizedthepoliticalsituation. The monarchywasrestoredbytheelectedparliament. Charles Habsburg IV wasdethroned and Miklos Horthy becamegovernorinthename of theCrown.

12. Between the two world wars the conditions of the political, economic and cultural life were stabilized in Hungary. 1920-1939 A new currency/pengő/ was introduced. The main goal of our foreign policy was the peaceful review of Trianon. In 1937 Albert Szent-Györgyi was awarded by Nobel prize for developing Vitamin-C. Prosperous and variegated cultural life developed. More than 5000 public schools were established or renovated. In 1924 the Hungarian Radio broadcasted its first programme. New universities were founded in Szeged and Debrecen.

13. 1939-1945 In1943 cease-fire agreement was made between Hungary and England. Although, backing off was impossible because of the failure of disembarkation. During the second world war more than 900 thousand Hungarian people died. We took part in fights in Balkan and against the Soviet Union. Finally our country became the main battlefield of the last period of the war. On 19th March 1944 the German troops invaded Hungary. More than 600 thousand Jewish people became victims of the Nazi terror. After the turning point in Stalingrad, the second Hungarian army had to succumb to Soviet majority forces. In 1944-1945 the Soviet Union took control of Hungary. Their soldiers did not leave our country until 1991. Our nation suffered bitterly during the Soviet invasion. Hundreds of thousands of people became prisoners of war or suffered captivity in GULAG.

14. After 1945, communist dictatorship and terror had begun by the help of Soviet power. All the civilian parties, social associations and federations were dissipated. On behalf of the atheist propaganda, they wanted to liquidate our churches. They secularized the whole Hungarian economy. - The religious orders were dissolved. - The schools of church were taken under the control of state. Card.JozsefMindszenthy archbishop was brought to justice. The dictators forced their own personality cult. Thousands of people suffered in jails of the flagrant state police, called AVO. The prisoners were violated by both physically and psychically. Some thousands of families were deported. GULAG-like prison camps were operated everywhere in the country. The most notorious was in Recsk. Our excellent sportsmen brought us the only solace. These legendary footballers had not been defeated for long. On the Olympic Games in 1952 in Helsinki our excellent sportsmen won 16 gold medals that made Hungary the third most successful nation of that time.

15. 1956 On 23 October an uprising broke out. It was the biggest ever against the communist dictatorship. We demanded wanted liberty, life without fear and a free and neutral Hungary. Common young workers got into guerrilla fight against the world’s biggest army. The revolution started with a demonstration in sympathy with the revolution of Polish workers. During the revolution an unprecedented unity of the nation evolved. Although the revolution was crushed by the force of numbers of the soviets it still debilitated the communist system on the long run.

16. 1956-1990 After 1956 the party that came to power by the help of the soviets started a cruel revenge -more than 300 executions -23,761 people were sentenced for political crime. A kind of relative consolidation started that was full of contradictions. About 200,000, mainly young, people were forced to emigrate. Following the so called planned economy hundreds of thousands of high rise blocks of flats were built. Ikarus, was the leading brand of buses in the soviet block. Socialist agricultural co-operations. The dictatorship of the party invariably went on.

17. 1989-90 the collapse of socialism At the end of the 1980s movements and parties opposing the party system were founded. 1990 free election 1989 the reburial of Nagy Imre (the martyred PM of 1956) and his companions. 1988 demonstrations in support of the villages in Transylvania. Thank you for your attention! Protest against the dam on the Danube.