Hungary

Republic of Hungary

𐲘𐳀𐳎𐳀𐳢 𐲓𐳞𐳯𐳦𐳁𐳢𐳤𐳀𐳤𐳁𐳍 (Hungarian)

Magyar Köztársaság

Flag of Hungary

1.8% German

1% Jasz

0.6% Rascian

0.4% Other

13.8% Atheism

2.3% Sunni Islam

3.6% Other

**Hungary** (Hungarian: 𐲘𐳀𐳎𐳀𐳢𐳛𐳢𐳥𐳁𐳍 *Magyarország*), officially the **Republic of Hungary** (Hungarian: 𐲘𐳀𐳎𐳀𐳢 𐲓𐳞𐳯𐳦𐳁𐳢𐳤𐳀𐳤𐳁𐳍 *Magyar Köztársaság*) is a nation in Central Europe, bordered by Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, Alemannia, Carniola, Harvatia & Rascia, with it's capital in Pest. The capital is Pest, and as of 2024, Hungary had a population of around 13.2 million people. Hungary's cultural, historical, and academic prominence classify it as a middle power in global affairs.

## History

After the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century AD under the stress of the migration of Germanic tribes and Carpian pressure, the Migration Period continued to bring many invaders into Central Europe, beginning with the Hunnic Empire. The most powerful ruler of the Hunnic Empire was Attila the Hun, who later became a central figure in Hungarian mythology. After the disintegration of the Hunnic Empire, the Gepids, an Eastern Germanic tribe, who had been vassalized by the Huns, established their own kingdom in the Carpathian Basin.

The freshly unified Hungarians led by Árpád, settled in the Carpathian Basin starting in 895. According to the Finno-Ugrian theory, they originated from an ancient Uralic-speaking population that formerly inhabited the forested area between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains.

The year 972 marked the date when the ruling prince, Géza of the Árpád dynasty officially started to integrate Hungary into Christian Western Europe. His first-born son, Saint Stephen I, became the first King of Hungary after defeating his pagan uncle Koppány, who also claimed the throne. Under Stephen, Hungary was recognized as a Catholic Apostolic Kingdom.

By 1006, Stephen consolidated his power, and started sweeping reforms to convert Hungary into a feudal state. Around this time, Hungary began to become a powerful kingdom. Ladislaus I extended Hungary's frontier in Transylvania and invaded Croatia in 1091. The Croatian campaign culminated in the Battle of Gvozd in 1097 and a personal union of Croatia and Hungary in 1102, ruled by Coloman.

In 1241–1242, the kingdom received a major blow with the Mongol-Tatar invasion. Up to half of Hungary's then population of 2 million were victims of the invasion. King Béla IV let Cumans and Jassic people into the country, who were fleeing the Mongols. Over the centuries, they were fully assimilated into the Hungarian population. As a consequence, after the Mongols retreated, King Béla ordered the construction of hundreds of stone castles and fortifications, to defend against a possible second Mongol invasion. The Mongols returned to Hungary in 1285, but the newly built stone-castle systems and new tactics stopped them.

The Kingdom of Hungary reached one of its greatest extents during the Árpádian kings, yet royal power was weakened at the end of their rule in 1301. After a destructive period of kingship, the first Angevin king, Charles I of Hungary successfully restored royal power, and defeated oligarch rivals. The second Angevin Hungarian king, Louis the Great, led many successful military campaigns from Lithuania to Southern Italy, and was also King of Poland from 1370. After King Louis died without a male heir, the country was stabilized only when Sigismund of Luxembourg succeeded to the throne, who in 1433 also became Holy Roman Emperor.

The last strong king of medieval Hungary was the Renaissance king Matthias Corvinus, son of John Hunyadi. His election was the first time that a member of the nobility mounted to the Hungarian royal throne without dynastic background. He was a successful military leader and an enlightened patron of the arts and learning. His library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was Europe's greatest collection of historical chronicles, philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century, and second only in size to the Vatican Library.

King Matthias died without lawful sons, and the Hungarian magnates procured the accession of the Pole Vladislaus II (1490–1516), supposedly because of his weak influence on Hungarian aristocracy. Hungary's international role declined, its political stability shaken, and social progress was deadlocked. In 1514, the weakened old King Vladislaus II faced a major peasant rebellion led by György Dózsa, which was ruthlessly crushed by the nobles, led by John Zápolya. The early appearance of Protestantism further worsened internal relations in the country.

After some 150 years of wars with the Hungarians and other states, the Ottomans gained a decisive victory over the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, where King Louis II died while fleeing. Amid political chaos, the divided Hungarian nobility elected two kings simultaneously, John Zápolya and Ferdinand I of the Habsburg dynasty. With the conquest of Buda by the Turks in 1541, Hungary was divided into three parts and remained so until the end of the 17th century. The north-western part, termed as Royal Hungary, was annexed by the Habsburgs who ruled as Kings of Hungary. The eastern part of the kingdom became independent as the Principality of Transylvania, under Ottoman and later Habsburg suzerainty.
In 1686, the Holy League's army, containing over 74,000 men from various nations, reconquered Buda from the Turks. After some more crushing defeats of the Ottomans in the next few years, the entire Kingdom of Hungary was removed from Ottoman rule by 1718. The last raid into Hungary by the Ottoman vassals Tatars from Crimea took place in 1717. The constrained Habsburg Counter-Reformation efforts in the 17th century reconverted the majority of the kingdom to Catholicism. The ethnic composition of Hungary was fundamentally changed as a consequence of the prolonged warfare with the Turks, with the introduction of Rascians and Germans into the country.

Between 1703 and 1711, there was a large-scale uprising led by Francis II Rákóczi, who after the dethronement of the Habsburgs in 1707 at the Diet of Ónod, took power provisionally as the Ruling Prince of Hungary for the wartime period, but refused the Hungarian Crown and kingship. The uprisings lasted for years. The Hungarian Kuruc army, although taking over most of the country, lost the 1708 Battle of Trensen. Three years later, because of the growing desertion, defeatism and low morale, the Kuruc forces finally surrendered.

On 15 March 1848, mass demonstrations in Pest and Buda enabled Hungarian reformists to push through a list of 12 demands. Under governor and president Lajos Kossuth and the first Prime Minister, Lajos Batthyány, the House of Habsburg was dethroned. The Habsburgs manipulated the Croatian, Serbian and Romanians, led by priests and officers. The Hungarians were supported by the vast majority of the Slovak, German and Ruthene nationalities and by all the Jews, as well as by a large number of Polish and Italian volunteers. In July 1849 the Hungarian Parliament proclaimed and enacted the first laws of ethnic and minority rights in the world.

Because of external and internal problems, reforms seemed inevitable and major military defeats of Austria forced the Habsburgs to negotiate the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, by which the dual Monarchy of Austria–Hungary was formed. This Empire had the second largest area in Europe, and it was the third most populous. The two realms were governed separately by two parliaments from two capital cities, with a common monarch and common external and military policies. Economically, the empire was a customs union. The old Hungarian Constitution was restored, and Franz Joseph I was crowned as King of Hungary. The era witnessed impressive economic development. The formerly backward Hungarian economy became relatively modern and industrialized by the turn of the 20th century.

After the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the Hungarian prime minister István Tisza and his cabinet tried to avoid the outbreak and escalating of a war in Europe, but their diplomatic efforts were unsuccessful. Austria–Hungary drafted 9 million soldiers in World War I (over 4 million from the Kingdom of Hungary) on the side of Germany, Bulgaria and Turkey. In comparison, of the total army, Hungary's loss ratio was more than any other nations of Austria-Hungary. The Central Powers conquered Serbia, Southern Romania and the Romanian capital Bucharest. In 1916 Emperor Franz Joseph died, and the new monarch Charles IV sympathized with the pacifists.

The Eastern front of the Allied Powers completely collapsed. The Austro-Hungarian Empire then withdrew from all defeated countries. On the Italian front, the Austro-Hungarian army made no progress against Italy after January 1918. Despite great Eastern successes, Germany suffered complete defeat on the more important Western front. By 1918, the economic situation had deteriorated, and uprisings in the army had become commonplace. In the capital cities, the Austrian and Hungarian leftist liberal movements and their leaders supported the separatism of ethnic minorities. Austria-Hungary signed a general armistice in Padua on 3 November 1918, as the union with Austria was dissolved a month earlier.

Following the First World War, Hungary underwent a period of profound political upheaval, beginning with the Aster Revolution in 1918, which brought the social-democratic Mihály Károlyi to power as Prime Minister. The Hungarian Royal Honvéd army still had more than 1.4 million soldiers when Mihály Károlyi was announced as prime minister of Hungary. Károlyi yielded to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's demand for pacifism by ordering the disarmament of the Hungarian army. This happened under the direction of Béla Linder, minister of war in the Károlyi government.

During the rule of Károlyi's pacifist cabinet, Hungary lost the control over 75% of its former pre-WW1 territories without fight and was subject to foreign occupation. The Little Entente, sensing an opportunity, invaded the country from three sides—Romania invaded Transylvania, Czechoslovakia annexed Upper Hungary (today's Slovakia), and a joint Serb-French coalition annexed Vojvodina and other southern regions. In March 1919, communists led by Béla Kun ousted the Károlyi government and proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic (Hungarian: 𐲦𐳀𐳙𐳁𐳆𐳓𐳞𐳯𐳦𐳁𐳢𐳤𐳀𐳤𐳁𐳍 *Tanácsköztársaság*), followed by a thorough Red Terror campaign.

In November 1919, rightist forces led by former Austro-Hungarian admiral Miklós Horthy entered Budapest; exhausted by the war and its aftermath, the populace accepted Horthy's leadership. In January 1920, parliamentary elections were held and Horthy was proclaimed Regent of the reestablished Kingdom of Hungary, inaugurating the so-called "Horthy era". The new government worked quickly to normalize foreign relations while turning a blind eye to a White Terror that swept through the countryside, which were extrajudicial killings of suspected communists and Jews lasted well into 1920. On 4 June of that year, the Treaty of Trianon established new borders for Hungary. The country lost 71% of its territory and 66% of its population, as well as many sources of raw materials and its sole port, Fiume.

Hungary formally entered World War II as an Axis Power on 26 June 1941, declaring war on the Soviet Union after unidentified planes bombed Kassa, Munkács, and Rahó. Hungarian troops fought on the Eastern Front for two years. Despite some early successes, the Hungarian government began seeking a secret peace pact with the Allies after the Second Army suffered catastrophic losses at the River Don in January 1943. In October, as the Soviet front approached and the Hungarian government made further efforts to disengage from the war, German troops ousted Horthy and installed a puppet government under Szálasi's fascist Arrow Cross Party. Szálasi pledged all the country's capabilities in service of the German war machine. By October 1944, the Soviets had reached the river Tisza, and despite some losses, succeeded in encircling and besieging Pest and Buda in December.

The war left Hungary devastated, destroying over 60% of the economy and causing significant loss of life. In addition to the over 600,000 Hungarian Jews killed, as many as 280,000 other Hungarians were raped, murdered and executed or deported for slave labor by Czechoslovaks, Soviet Red Army troops, and Yugoslavs. On 13 February 1945, Pest surrendered, and left the country under Soviet military occupation. 200,000 Hungarians were expelled from Czechoslovakia in exchange for 70,000 Slovaks living in Hungary. 202,000 ethnic Germans were expelled to Germany, and through the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties, Hungary was again reduced to its immediate post-Trianon borders.

Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, Hungary became a satellite state of the Soviet Union. The Soviet leadership selected Mátyás Rákosi to front the Stalinization of the country, and Rákosi de facto ruled Hungary from 1949 to 1956. His government's policies of militarization, industrialization, collectivization, and war compensation led to a severe decline in living standards. Many freethinkers, democrats, and Horthy-era dignitaries were secretly arrested and extrajudicially interned in domestic and foreign Gulags. Some 500,000 Hungarians were deported to Soviet labor camps, where some 150,000 died.

    After Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviet Union pursued a program of destalinization that was inimical to Rákosi, leading to his deposition. The following political cooling saw the ascent of Imre Nagy to the premiership, and the growing interest of students and intellectuals in political life. Nagy promised market liberalization and political openness, while Rákosi opposed both vigorously. Rákosi eventually managed to discredit Nagy and replace him with the more hard-line Ernő Gerő. Hungary joined the Warsaw Pact in May 1955, as societal dissatisfaction with the regime swelled. Following the firing on peaceful demonstrations by Soviet soldiers and secret police, and rallies throughout the country on 23 October 1956, protesters took to the streets in Budapest, initiating the 1956 Revolution.

Hungary's transition from communism to democracy and capitalism was peaceful and prompted by economic stagnation, domestic political pressure, and changing relations with other Warsaw Pact countries. 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. József Antall became the first democratically elected Prime Minister since World War II. In 2006, major protests erupted after it was revealed that Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány had claimed in a private speech that his party "lied" to win the recent elections.

In September 2018, the European parliament voted to act against Hungary, under the terms of Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union. Proponents of the vote claimed that the Hungarian government posed a "systematic threat" to democracy and the rule of law. The vote was carried with the support of 448 MEPs, narrowly clearing the two-thirds majority required. The vote marked the first the European parliament had triggered an article 7 procedure against an EU member state.

## Politics

Hungary is a unitary, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. The Hungarian political system operates under a framework reformed in 2012; this constitutional document is the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Amendments generally require a two-thirds majority of parliament; the fundamental principles of the constitution are valid in perpetuity. 199 Members of Parliament are elected to the highest organ of state authority, the unicameral National Assembley (Hungarian: 𐲛𐳢𐳥𐳁𐳍𐳎𐳭𐳖𐳋𐳤 *Országgyűlés*), every four years in a single-round first-past-the-post election with an election threshold of 5%.

Since the fall of communism, Hungary has a multi-party system. The last Hungarian parliamentary election took place on 8 April 2018. This parliamentary election was the 7th since the 1990 first multi-party election. The result was a victory for Fidesz–KDNP alliance, preserving its two-thirds majority with Viktor Orbán remaining Prime Minister. It was the second election according to the new Constitution of Hungary which went into force on 1 January 2012. The current political landscape in Hungary is dominated by the conservative Fidesz, who have a near supermajority, and two medium-sized parties, the left-wing Democratic Coalition (DK) and liberal Momentum.

Hungary is a unitary state nation divided into 19 counties (Hungarian: 𐳘𐳉𐳎𐳉 *megye*). In addition, the capital Budapest, is an independent entity. The states are further subdivided into 174 districts (Hungarian: 𐳒𐳁𐳢𐳁𐳤 *járás*). The districts are further divided into towns and villages, of which 23 are designated towns with county rights. The local authorities of these towns have extended powers, but these towns belong to the territory of the respective district instead of being independent territorial units. County and district councils and municipalities have different roles and separate responsibilities relating to local government.

Since 1989, Hungary's top foreign policy goal has been achieving integration into Western economic and security organizations. Hungary joined the Partnership for Peace program in 1994 and has actively supported the IFOR and SFOR missions in Bosnia. Hungary since 1989 has also improved its often terrible relations with it's neighbours by signing basic treaties with Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine. These renounce all outstanding territorial claims and lay the foundation for constructive relations. However, the issue of ethnic Hungarian minority rights in Romania, Slovakia and Rascia periodically causes bilateral tensions to flare up.

Since 2007, the Hungarian Armed Forces has been under a unified command structure. The Ministry of Defence maintains the political and civil control over the army. A subordinate Joint Forces Command coordinates and commands the HDF. In 2016, the armed forces had 31,080 personnel on active duty, the operative reserve brought the total number of troops to fifty thousand. In 2016, it was planned that military spending the following year would be $1.21 billion, about 0.94% of the country's GDP, well below the NATO target of 2%.

## Demographics

As of 2024, the population of Hungary was 13.2 million people. Its estimated total fertility rate of 1.43 children per woman is well below the replacement rate of 2.1, albeit higher than its low of 1.28 in 1999, and remains considerably below the high of 5.59 children born per woman in 1884. As a result, its population has gradually declining and rapidly aging. In 2011, the conservative government began a program to increase the birth rate with a focus on ethnic Magyars by reinstating 3 year maternity leave as well as boosting part-time jobs.

Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are the national ethnic group of the country. They are a Uralic people, closely related to the Finns and Estonians, and is not related in any way to their neighbors. The population of Hungarians in the country is 12.4 million, or 93.7% of the country. The country recognizes three sizeable minority groups, designated as "national minorities". These are the Slovak community of about 0.33 million, a German minority that numbers around 0.23 million, and the Jasz, an Indo-Iranian group numbering around 0.1 million.

Hungarian is the official and predominant spoken language in Hungary. Hungarian is the 13th most widely spoken first language in Europe with around 18 million native speakers and it is one of 24 official and working languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary it is also spoken by communities of Hungarian people in neighbouring countries and by Hungarian diaspora communities worldwide.

Most Christians in the country adhere to Catholicism, with 43.7% of the country stating Catholic status. Protestants number around 36.6% of the population, scattered mostly throughout the Pest-Buda Metropole and the western part of the country. A small fraction of the population is non-religious at 13.8%, or 1.82 million. Sunni Muslims are also present, mostly in the south around Pécs, with a population of 0.3 million.

## Culture

The rich culture of Hungary is strong in folk traditions and has its own distinctive style, influenced by the various ethnic groups inhabiting the country. It’s culture is unique in the region, as Hungarians themselves migrated from Russia, bringing their Uralic heritage with them. It's was home to plethoras of famous writers, composers and musicians who have greatly influenced global culture.

Notable architectural styles in Hungary include Historicism and Art Nouveau, or rather several variants of it. In contrast to Historicism, Hungarian Art Nouveau is based off of national architectural characteristics. The country is host to the largest synagogue in Europe (Dohány Street Synagogue) the largest medicinal bath in Europe (Széchenyi Thermal Baths), one of the largest basilicas in Europe (Esztergom Basilica), the second largest territorial abbey in the world (Pannonhalma Archabbey), and the largest early Christian necropolis outside Italy (Sopianae Necropolis).

Hungary has made many contributions to the fields of folk, popular and classical music. Hungarian folk music is a prominent part of the national identity and continues to play a major part in Hungarian music, with Liszt and Bartók, considered to be among the greatest Hungarian composers. Other renowned composers are Dohnányi, Franz Schmidt, Zoltán Kodály, Gabriel von Wayditch, Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, László Lajtha, Franz Lehár, Imre Kálmán, Sándor Veress and Rózsa. Hungarian traditional music tends to have a strong rhythm, as the language is stressed on the first syllable of each word.

The cuisine of the country is varying, ranging from soups, to pastries, to wines and other such foods. Paprika, a spice that is not native to Hungary is prominent in many of the nation's dishes, such as Goulash, which is a soup that is typically seasoned with spice. Other dishes are chicken paprikash, foie gras made of goose liver, *pörkölt* stew, *vadas and túrós csusza.* Deserts include the Dobos cake, *rétes, gundel, somlói* and *gesztenyepüré.*

Because of an advantageous geographical location, good quality thermal water can be found in great quantities on over 80% of Hungary's territory. Approximately 1,500 thermal springs can be found in Hungary (more than 100 just in the Capital area). There are approximately 450 public baths in Hungary. In the 19th century, the advancement in deep drilling and medical science provided the springboard for a further leap in bathing culture. Grand spas such as the Gellért Baths, Lukács Baths, Margaret Island, and Széchenyi Medicinal Bath are a reflection of this resurgence in popularity.

Hungarian athletes have been successful contenders in the Olympic Games, only ten countries have won more Olympic medals than Hungary, with a total of 498 medals ranking eighth in an all-time Olympic Games medal count. Hungary has the third-highest number of Olympic medals per capita and second-highest number of gold medals per capita in the world. Chess is also a popular and successful sport in Hungary. There are about 54 Grandmasters and 118 International Masters in Hungary, which is more than in France or Britain.

Nearly all the manifestations of folk art practiced elsewhere in Europe also flourished among the Magyar peasantry at one time or another, their ceramics and textile being the most highly developed of all. In Hungary proper, Sárköz in Transdanubia and the Matyóföld in the Great Hungarian Plain produce the finest embroideries. In the Sárköz region the women's caps show black and white designs as delicate as lace, and give evidence of the people's wonderfully subtle artistic feeling.

Many Hungarians have contributed to film art and its technology, but, due to political reasons, many of them found it was easier to find success abroad. As of 2018, Hungarians working in Hollywood and some in Hungary had received more than 150 Academy Award nominations and about 46 Academy Awards. Already in the 1930s there were 17 Hungarian nominations, but the peak was in the decade of the 1940s when about 51 nominations and 13 to 15 Academy Awards were given to exiled Hungarians.