Hungary

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**Hungary**
Flag of Hungary
Capital	Budapest
Inhabitants	10.005.000
Language(s)	Hungarian

Hungary is a small, landlocked country in central Europe. Great economic and social changes have occurred in Hungary since the late 1940's.

Before that time, most of the country's income came from agriculture, and the majority of Hungarians lived in rural areas and worked on farms. But Hungary's economy has become increasingly industrialized.

Today, manufacturing and other industries contribute more to the national income than does farming. More Hungarians now work in industry than on farms. Almost a fifth of Hungary's people live in Budapest, the country's capital and largest city.

Hungary was part of the polyglot Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed during World War I. The country fell under communist rule following World War II. In 1956, a revolt and announced withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact were met with a massive military intervention by Moscow.

In the more open Gorbachev years, Hungary led the movement to dissolve the Warsaw Pact and steadily shifted toward multiparty democracy and a market-oriented economy.

Following the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Hungary developed close political and economic ties to Western Europe. It joined NATO in 1999 and is a frontrunner in a future expansion of the EU.

History

Hungary lies in the Carpathian Basin, surrounded by the Carpathian mountain chain, the Alps and the southern Slav Mountains. In the early as the mid-8th century, the nomadic tribe known as Magyars had settled here first. Known for their equestrian skills, the Magyars raided far and wide, until the Germans stopped them in 955.

The defeat left the Magyar tribes in disarray, and later forced them into an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire. In the year 1000, the Magyar prince Stephen was crowned 'Christian King' Stephen I. After his death in 1038, Hungary, was a nascent Christian culture, increasingly westward-looking and multi-ethnic.

The next two and a half centuries - during the reign of the House of Árpád - tested the New Kingdom to the limit. The period was marked by constant struggles between rival claimants to the throne, and land grabs by powerful neighbors. Hungary's descent into anarchy was arrested only after Andrew III, the Árpád's last in line, died in 1301.

After the death of Andrew III, Hungary flourished. A succession of able rulers, beginning with Charles Robert and culminating in the golden reign of Matthias Corvinus, made the country one of Europe's leading powers. However, the death of Matthias in 1490 resulted in another setback. His successor Vladislav was unable to maintain royal authority, funds were squandered, and retrograde laws reduced the peasantry to serfdom. In 1526, the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Mohács crushed Hungary's motley army.

The defeat marked the end of a relatively prosperous and independent Hungary, and sent the nation into a tailspin of partition, foreign domination and despair. Turkish occupation did little to improve the country, and resistance to their rule forced the Turks out in 1699.

The expulsion hardly created a free and independent Hungary. Instead, the country became a province of the Austrian Habsburg Empire. Thus began a period of enlightened absolutism. Hungary blossomed economically and culturally under the Habsburgs, but so did thoughts of nationalism. In 1849, under the rebel leadership of Lajos Kossuth, Hungary declared full independence and the dethronement of the Habsburgs. The Habsburgs replied by quickly crushing the revolution and instigating a series of brutal reprisals. Hungary was again merged into the empire as a conquered province, and absolutism was reinstated. However, passive resistance among Hungarians and a couple of disastrous military defeats for the Habsburgs prompted negotiations between the two sides.

The outcome was the Compromise of 1867, which created the Dual Monarchy of Austria the empire and Hungary the kingdom. This 'Age of Dualism' set off an economic, cultural and intellectual rebirth in Hungary, but there were worrying signs that all was not well in the kingdom.

After accelerating the collapse of Communism by dismantling the fence along its border with Austria, the nation became the Republic of Hungary in 1989.

Hungary has since held free elections - the first in more than four decades. Despite initial success in curbing inflation and lowering interest rates, a host of economic problems has slowed the pace of development.

Important dates of Hungarian history

5th century: The Hungarian tribes left the area of the Urals. They passed along the Volga and the Caspian Sea. After several hundred years of wandering, they reached the Carpathian Basin.
896: Under the leadership of Árpád, the Hungarian tribes settled in the Carpathian Basin. They drove out part of the residents and absorbed the other part.
997-1038: King Stephen of the Árpád dynasty ruled the country.
1000: Stephen was converted to Christianity. After his death, he was canonized.
1055: An abbey was set up at Tihany. The foundation charter was drawn up on the northern shore of Lake Balaton. This is the earliest written record extant in the Hungarian language.
1241: The Mongolian Tatars devastated the country. Their presence, which lasted a year, halted development for at least a century. After the warfare with the Hungarians, the Tatars did not continue towards the west.
1458-1490: The rule of King Matthias. Cultural life of a European standard flourished in his palaces at Buda and Visegrád. For a few decades, Hungary lived on a West European standard.
1526: At Mohács, the present southern frontier of the country, the Turks defeated the Hungarian army. 150 years of Turkish occupation started.
1541: The Turks occupied Buda. Hungary was split into three parts. The Habsburg governed the western part of the country, the central area was ruled by the Turks, and the south-east Transylvanian principality (today part of Roumania) for a long time was the citadel of Hungarian culture.
1686: Buda was recaptured from the Turks. (The Turks - similarly to the Tartars - could only advance in Europe to the territory of Hungary. Here they were faced by obstacles, after which no strength was left for the siege of Vienna.)
1703-1711: A freedom war under the leadership of Ferenc Rákóczi II, Prince of Transylvania, against the Habsburgs. The rebels defeated the Imperial army in several battles, but did not receive the promised French support and failed.
First half of the 19th century: A national reform movement was launched for the political and economic transformation of the country, for Hungarian language and culture. This was when the National Anthem was born, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences was set up. The building of the Chain Bridge started. The initiator of these was Count István Széchenyi, an eminent figure of the Reform Age.
1848-1849: A revolution broke out in Pest, which extendedover the entire country. The Habsburg Emperor was dethroned after the Hungarian army won several significant battles. Lajos Kossuth was elected Governor. The longest European national revolution could only be oppressed in the summer of 1849 by the Habsburgs with the help of the Russian army.
1867: The Hungarians concluded a compromise with the Habsburgs. A double-centred monarchy was set up with seats in Vienna and Pest-Buda. A spectacular industrial upswing started.
1873: Pest, Buda and Obuda were unified: Budapest became a European metropolis. The buildings of that time - the Opera House, the National Gallery and Parliament - still determine the skyline of the city. The first subsurface underground railway on continental Europe was put into operation.
1918: Germany and its allies, including the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, lost the world war. The monarchy disintegrated.
1920: The Trianon Treaty reduced Hungary's area by two thirds and the population by one third. Since then, considerable Hungarian minorities lived in the neighbouring countries.
1938-1940: Germany concluded treaties in Munich and Vienna, according to which Southern Slovakia and Northern Transylvania were returned to Hungary.
1944: The Nazis occupied Hungary, as they did not consider it a reliable ally. During the Second World War, the Hungarians suffered grave losses on the Soviet front. At the end of the war, Fascists took over the governing of the country.
1945: The Soviet Army liberated, then occupied Hungary. At the hastly held elections, the Communists gained only 17 percent of the votes.
1947: The last, relatively free election was followed by the years of Communist control: show trials, executions, forced settlement of hundreds of thousands, imprisonment, harassment, forced industrial development, a drop in living standards, and Stalinist dictatorship.
1956: A revolution against Stalinism. The uprising was defeated by Soviet troops. János Kádár, who acquired power with their assistance, promised democratic socialism; in the meantime, retaliation and executions started.
1965: The new system became consolidated, and cautious economic reforms were launched. Living standards were rising and the iron curtain became penetrable.
1988: The Hungarian transition period began.
1990: The Communist party voluntarily gave up its autocracy. A multi-party parliamentary democracy came into being in the country. The Soviet army left Hungary.
1999: Hungary became full member of NATO.

Culture

Hungary was the homeland of Franz Liszt, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, whose music was inspired by the rich national folk traditions. In the 19th century Hungary produced its first important native-born composer, Ferenc Erkel, who composed the Hungarian national anthem and the first Hungarian opera. Hungary is a highly musical country; its violinists and pianists are particularly celebrated virtuosi world-wide. Hungary has more than 5000 public libraries, and more than 100 public museums are maintained throughout the country.

In 2001 Hungary continued to strengthen the structures necessary to participate in Community structures. The decision of the Association Council on the participation of Hungary in the "Culture 2000" program was adopted by the Government and entered into force in July 2001.

Hungarian art and architecture is laced with Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau influences. The country has one of the finest folk traditions in Europe, producing excellent examples of embroidery, pottery, ceiling and wall painting, and objects carved from wood or bone. Its musical contributions are just as rich, and range from the rhapsodies of Franz Liszt and the operas of Ferenc Erkel to Gypsy and folk music. Literature has been shaped by the monumental events of the nation's history, which have given rise to swashbuckling odes, stirring poems of independence, gritty tales of realism, and strident polemic. Soccer is far and away the favourite spectator sport, while chess is also popular.

Hungarians tend to have a sceptical view of faith (some suggest this is why they have a high success rate in science and mathematics), but of those declaring religious affiliation, most would say they're either Roman Catholic, Calvinist or Lutheran. The country also has a small Greek Catholic and Orthodox population, and a thriving Jewish community in Budapest.

You'll have to dig a little to unearth the wonders of Hungarian cuisine. The natural abundance of fruits and vegetables should make eating here a delight, but unfortunately this is often not the case. Generally, basic dishes consist of fatty meat (pork is generally preferred) or overcooked fish, some sort of starch, and a teensy-weensy garnish of pickles. These include: pörkölt (stew, and what everyone calls 'goulash' abroad); gulyás (a thickish beef soup); and halászlé (spicy fish soup cooked with paprika). If you keep your eyes open for jokai bableves (bean soup), hideg gyumolcsleves (cold fruit soup made from sour cherry) or palacsinta (stuffed crepes) your tastebuds will thank you for it. Decent wine isn't difficult to find (but you'll have to look hard for the very good stuff), while the beer is good, and the brandy (pálinka) strong.

Events

coming soon...

National holidays

Jan 1: New Year's Day
Mar 15: Revolution Day
May 1: Labor Day
May 20: Whit Monday
Aug 20: National Day
Oct 23: Republic Day
Nov 1: All Saints Day
Dec 25: Christmas Day
Dec 26: Boxing Day
Easter Monday

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