Hungary, Cool Facts #174

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1. Hungarian raids in Europe

Hungarians raided in Europe starting from the 800s. In 895 Hungarian tribes united and settled in the Carpathian Basin. The raids continued in the 900s.

Timeline

861 Saint Cyril was attacked by Hungarians in Crimea, but seeing him praying the Hungarians became peaceful
862 First raid in the Carpathian Basin against East Francia by the request of Rastislav of Moravia
892 Hungarian troops attack Great Moravia in alliance with East Francia

895 Hungarians conquer the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin, starting the Hungarian Conquest

899 Hungarian troops attack the Italian kingdom
900 Hungarian army units conquer Pannonia
901 Hungary attacks to Carinthia and Northern Italy
902 Hungary conquers the eastern parts of Great Moravia
906 Hungarian troops devastate the Duchy of Saxony
908 Hungarians attack Thuringia and Saxony
909 Hungarians raid Bavaria and Swabia
912 Hungarians attack Franconia and Thuringia
917 Hungarians attack Basel, Duchy of Alsace, Lotharingia and other places in the same region
924 Campaing in Italy and Southern France
931 Hungarian army burns the Italian city of Piacenza
934 Raids in the Balkans
942 Hungarian army attacks the Caliphate of Cordoba
947 Campaings in Italy
955 Raids in Central Europe
961 Hungarian attacks to Thrace and Macedonia
966 Hungarians attack the First Bulgarian Empire
968 Hungarians attack the Byzantine Empire

970 End of Hungarian invasions of Europe 

Hungarian raids map

2. Battle of Mohács 1526 

Belligerents

The Battle of Mohács was a battle fought between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

Result
The Hungarian state collapsed in the battle as the Ottomans defeated the Hungarians, whose lands were partitioned for several centuries between Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy and the Principality of Transylvania. Further the death of Louis II marked the end of the Jagiellon dynasty in Hungary and Bohemia, whose dynastic claims passed to the House of Habsburg.

Aftermath

After this battle Hungary hasn't been able to get the same influence as it had in Europe. For the following two hundred years after the battle, Hungarian lands were ravaged by constant warfare between the Ottoman Empire and Habsburg Monarchy. In moments of bad luck, Hungarians still say "more was lost in Mohács ".

The Battle of Mohács

Mohács Monument, markers of where bodies were found

3. Budapest

Formation of the city
In 1873 the cities of Buda, Óbuda and Pest were all united to create the new metropolis of Budapest.

Buda
The capital of the Hungarian Kingdom from 1361 until 1541. Between 1541-1686 Buda was under Ottoman rule. Today it comprises about one third of Budapest.

Óbuda
The name means Old Buda and it now forms part of District III-Óbuda-Békásmegyer of Budapest.

Pest
Writing dating back to 1148 reveal that Pest was a separate independent city long time ago. Currently it comprises about two thirds of Budapest's territory.

Buda and Pest in c1850

4. Treaty of Trianon 1920

The Treaty of Trianon was a peace agreement between the Allied and Associated Powers and Hungary. The treaty regulated the status of an independent Hungary and defined its borders. The modern boundaries of Hungary were defined in this treaty, except for three villages that were transferred to Czechoslovakia in 1947.

Terms of the treaty

- Left Hungary only 28% of the pre-war territory of the Kingdom of Hungary, which was part of Austria-Hungary
- The principal beneficiaries of territorial division of pre-war Hungary were the Kingdom of Romania,  Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Czechoslovak Republic
- Population of Hungary was 7,6 million, only 36% of the pre-war population of 20,9 million
- 3,3 million (31%) Hungarians were left outside of post-Trianon Hungary
- Hungary had to pay war reparations to its neighbors

Hungary borders after Treaty of Trianon

5. Hungarian Revolution of 1956 

Background
In World War II, Hungary was a member of the Axis powers, allied with Nazi Germany's side. Hungary participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Soviet Union managed to force back, the invading powers and in 1944 was advancing to Hungary. Hungary feared the invasion and started armistice negotiations with the allies. Then Germany invaded and occupied its ally and set up its own pro-Axis regime in Hungary. In 1945 the Soviet troops defeated both the Hungarian and German troops in the country.

Soviet occupation
After World War I Hungary was a multiparty democracy between until 1949. The Soviets concluded a mutual assistance treaty, Comecon, that granted the Soviet Union rights to continued military presence and assuring ultimate political party. The Hungarian People's Republic was also declared in 1949.

Revolution
In 1956 the revolution started as a student demonstration. One student died, when the State Security Police fired students who tried to enter the radio building to broadcast their demands to the government. The dead person was wrapped in a flag and held above the crowd. This was the start of the revolution. The revolt spread quickly and the government collapsed. Finally the a large Soviet force invaded Budapest and other regions of the country. The resistance was stopped on November 10th.

Aftermath
The revolt caused the death of 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops and 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees. By January 1957 the new Soviet-installed government had suppressed all public opposition. Public discussion of this revolution was also suppressed in Hungary for more than 30 years.

Revolution in 1956 

Tanks in Budapest

Timeline

35BC-9BC The Roman Empire conquered the territory west of Danube
Before 895 the area was ruled by the Huns and after them the Germanic Ostrogoths, Lombards, Gepids, Avars, East Francia, First Bulgarian Empire and Great Moravia
895 Hungary was established as a federation of united tribes
907-910 The Hungarians defeated thee major East Frankish Imperial Armies

955 The Hungarians lost in the Battle of Lechfeld, when the German King Otto I defeated them
972 The ruling prince Géza officially started to integrate Hungary into the Christian Western Europe
1000 Saint Stephen I became the First King of Hungary after defeating his pagan uncle Koppány
1006 Stephen made reforms to convert Hungary into a Western feudal state. The country switched to use the Latin language, which remained the official language of Hungary until 1844

1102 Personal union of Croatia and Hungary was established
1222 The Golden Bull of 1222 by Andrew II was the first constitution in continental Europe
1241-1242 Mongol invasion killed almost half of Hungary's population
1285 The Mongols returned but the newly built stone-castles and new tactics stopped them
1301-1308 A destructive period of interregnum after the death of the last Árpád king
1411 Sigismund of Luxembourg succeeded to the throne and in 1433 he also became the Holy Roman Emperor
1439 The first Hungarian Bible translation was completed
1458-1490 The Renaissance King Matthias Corvinus was the last strong king of medieval Hungary
1479 Hungarian army destroyed the Ottoman and Wallachian armies at the Battle of Breadfield
1521 The strongest fortress in the South Nándorfehérvár fell to the Ottoman Empire
1526 The Hungarian state collapsed in the Battle of Mohács as the Ottomans defeated the Hungarians

1541 Buda was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, the north-western part was annexed by the Habsburgs and the eastern part became the independent Principality of Transylvania under first Ottoman suzerainty and later Habsburg
1686 The Holy League's army reconquered Buda from the Ottomans
1703-1711 Large scale uprising against the Habsburg's led by Francis II Rákóczi
1718 The entire Kingdom of Hungary was removed from Ottoman rule
1828-1848 Reform period

1848-1849 A revolution by Hungarians in Buda and Pest against the Habsburg dynasty, who managed to suppress the revolution with the help of Russia 

1866 Austria lost against Prussia in the war and had to abandon the German Confederation
1867 Dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary was established
1873 The old capital Buda, Óbuda and Pest were all united to create the new metropolis of Budapest
1910s Hungary allied with the Central Powers in the First World War
1916 Emperor Franz Joseph died
1918 Hungary's union with Austria was dissolved and Hungary became independent 

1919 In March Communists led by Béla Kun overthrew the government and proclaimed the Hungarian Societ Republic, but by August Romanian troops occupied Budapest and ousted Kun
1920 Miklós Horthy was proclaimed Regent of the reestablished Kingdom of Hungary
1938 Hungary occupied Slovakia's southern parts
1940 Hungary formally joined the Axis Powers in World War II, declaring war on the Soviet Union
1944 Germany occupied Hungary,overthrew Horthy and installed a puppet government, because Germany had found out Hungary's secret plan to seek peace with the Allies

1945 Budapest surrendered, the German troops left the country under Soviet military occupation
1946 Hungary was declared republic
1948-1956 Purges of about 350,000 officials and intellectuals imprisoned or executed
1949 Hungarian People's Republic was declared
1955 Hungary joined Warsaw Pact
1956 Revolution in Hungary, Nagy took Hungary out of the Warsaw Pact, which resulted Soviet troops to suppress the revolution
1958 Nagy was captured and executed 

1968 New Economic Mechanism introduced free-market elements into socialist command economy
1980s Living standards steeply declined again due to a worldwide recession
1989 The Republic of Hungary was declared
1990 First free elections were held and the winner was the Hungarian Democratic Forum
1994 The Socialist party won the elections 

1999 Hungary joined Nato
2004 Hungary joined European Union  

2006 Major protests after a socialist PM claimed in his private speech that his party had lied to win the recent elections
2010 The national-conservative Fidesz won the elections and adopted a new constitution and legal changes like banning abortion and gay marriages among other controversial laws 

Sources: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mohács
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_invasions_of_Europe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Trianon
"Maailman maat - liput ja historia" by Kimmo Kiljunen