Kingdom of Hungary
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Kingdom of Hungary Full name Magyar Királyság | |
|---|---|
| 1000—1944 1945—1946 | |
 Territory of Kingdom of Hungary by the end of the 15th century | |
| Capital | Budapest; Pozsony; Buda; Székesfehérvár; Debrecen; Esztergom |
| Common languages | Hungarian, Latin, German, and others [1] |
| Religion | Roman Catholic, later Calvinism, Lutheranism and others[2] |
| Government | Monarchy |
| Monarch | |
• 1000-1038 | Stephen I of Hungary |
• 1916-1918 | Charles I of Austria |
| History | |
• Coronation of Stephen I of Hungary | 1000 |
• Ottoman occupation of Buda | 1541 |
| 1848 | |
| 1867 | |
| 1920 | |
| 1946 | |
| Area | |
| 1918 | 325.111 km2 (125.526 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 1711 | 3,000,000 |
• 1790 | 8,000,000 |
• 1910 | 18,264,533 |
• 1940 | 14,679,573 |
| Currency | Florentinus (1325), Thaler Austrian Florin (1754-1867), Forint (1867–1892), Korona (1892–1918), Korona (1919–1926), Pengő (1927–1946), Adópengő (1946) |
| ISO 3166 code | HU |
.svg)
| Kingdom of Hungary | |
|---|---|
| en: Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen[5][6][7]
hu: A magyar Szent Korona országai de: Die Länder der heiligen ungarischen Stephanskrone |
|
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The Kingdom of Hungary (short form: Hungary), was a state in Central Europe in 1000-1918 (or 1946) which is a part of historical heritage of several Central European nations: Hungarians, Croatians, Slovaks, Romanians etc. During most of its history it was a considerable state including, besides Hungary proper and Transylvania, Croatia-Slavonia and a territory known as the Military Frontier.[8] It emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from monarchy to republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946 ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary.
Names
In the late Middle Ages, the Latin terms "Natio Hungarica" and "Hungarus" referred to all of the population, as loyalty and patriotism towards the crown existed among all inhabitants, regardless of ethnic origins. However, according to István Werbőczy's Tripartitum, the "Natio Hungarica" referred only to the privileged noblemen (regardless of ethnicity), as subjects of the Holy Crown of Hungary.
The Latin Regnum Hungariae/Vngarie (Regnum meaning kingdom); Regnum Marianum (Kingdom of St. Mary); or simply Hungaria was the form used in official documents from the beginning of the kingdom to the 1840s.
The German name (Königreich Ungarn) was used from 1849 to the 1860s during Austrian regime of military occupation, and the Hungarian name (Magyar Királyság) was used in the 1840s, and again from the 1860s to 1918. The names in other languages of the kingdom were: Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-ro, Croatian: Kraljevina Ugarska, Template:Lang-sl, Template:Lang-cz, Template:Lang-sk, Italian (for the city of Fiume), Regno d'Ungheria.
In Austria-Hungary (1867-1918), the unofficial name Transleithania was sometimes used to denote the regions covered by the Kingdom of Hungary. Officially, the term Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen was included for the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, although this term was also in use prior to that time.
History
The Kingdom of Hungary consisted of present-day Hungary, Transylvania (in present-day Romania), Slovakia, Carpatho Ruthenia (in present-day Ukraine), Vojvodina (in present-day Serbia), Burgenland (in present-day Austria), Slavonia, Dalmatia(present day Croatia), and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders.
Despite the interruption caused by the Mongol invasion of 1241, Transylvania evolved during the following centuries into a distinctive autonomous unit within the Hungarian kingdom, with its special voivode (or governor), its united, although heterogeneous, leadership (descended from Szekler, Saxon, and Magyar colonists), and its own constitution[9] until 1526 when it effectively became independent. [9]
The provinces of Croatia and Slavonia, and later Croatia-Slavonia had autonomy in the Kingdom of Hungary from 1091-1918. [10][11]
The Árpád dynasty
The first kings of the Kingdom were from the Árpád dynasty and the first Christian King was Stephen I of Hungary who was canonized as a Catholic saint. He fought against Koppány and in 998, with Bavarian help, defeated him near Veszprém.
The Roman Catholic Church received powerful support from Stephen I, who with Christian Hungarians and German knights wanted a Christian kingdom established in Central Europe. It was he, who created the Hungarian heavy cavalry as an example for Western European powers.
After his death, a period of revolts and conflict for supremacy ensued between the royalty and the nobles. In 1051, armies of the Holy Roman Empire tried to conquer Hungary, but they were defeated at Vértes mountain. However they were beaten more times, the second greatest battle was at Pozsony in 1052. Before 1052 Peter Orseolo, a supporter of the Holy Roman Empire was overthrown by king Samuel Aba of Hungary. [12][13]
The second greatest Hungarian king, also from the Árpád dynasty, was Ladislaus I of Hungary, who stabilized and strengthened the kingdom. He was also canonized as a saint. Under his rule Hungarians successfully fought against the Cumans and conquered Croatia in 1091. [10][11][14][15][16]. After Ladislaus, the next famous king of the Árpád dynasty was Coloman of Hungary, who conquered Dalmatia.In 1222 Andrew II of Hungary issued the Golden bull which laid down the principles of law.
Mongol invasion
In 1241, Hungary was invaded by the Mongols and while the first minor battles ended in Hungarian victories, the Mongols finally destroyed the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohi.
The Mongols attacked Hungary with three armies, one of them through Poland in order to withhold possible Polish auxiliaries, defeated the army of Duke Henry II the Pious of Silesia at the Legnica. A southern army attacked Transylvania defeating the voivod and crushing the Transylvanian Hungarian [citation needed] army. The main army led by Khan Batu and Subutai attacked Hungary through the fortified Verecke Pass and annihilated the army led by the count Palatine on March 12, 1241.[17].
Despite the appearance of the Mongol invasion having been a surprise attack, the Hungarians had known, from various sources, that the Mongols were coming. Notable heralds of the oncoming invasion include the Friar Julian group, which warned the king about impending invasion it had established contact with Magna Hungaria and saw the aftermath of the destruction of both the Magna Hungaria and Volga Bulgaria earlier in the 13th century.
In 1242, after the end of the Mongol invasion, numerous fortresses to defend against future invasion were erected by Béla IV of Hungary. In gratitude, the Hungarians acclaimed him as the "Second Founder of the Homeland", and the Hungarian Kingdom again became a considerable force in Europe. In 1260 Béla IV lost the War of Babenberg Succession, his army was defeated at Battle of Kressenbrunn by the united Czech troops, however after in 1278, Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Austrian troops fully destroyed the Czech army at Battle on the Marchfeld.
In 1301, with the death of Andrew III of Hungary, the Árpád dynasty died out. The dynasty was replaced by the Angevins and several rulers who in Hungary did not establish a dynasty (notably Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor and Matthias Corvinus.). In 1490-1526 the kingdom was ruled by the Jagiellonians.
The first Angevin king was Charles I of Hungary, who implemented considerable economic reforms, and defeated the remaining opposition to royal rule by the nobility, led by Máté Csák. Louis I the Great succeeded him. Louis I met with success on the battlefield when he defended the Hungarian Kingdom from new attacks by lesser Mongol forces in the latter half of the 14th century.
The Hunyadi family
The Hungarian kingdom's golden age was during the reign of Matthias Corvinus, the son of John Hunyadi. His nickname was "Matthias the Just", but it is only legend. He further improved the Hungarian economy and practiced astute diplomacy in place of military action whenever possible. Matthias did undertake campaigning when necessary. In 1485, aiming to limit the influence and meddling of the Holy Roman Empire in Hungary's affairs, he occupied Vienna for 5 years. After his death, Vladislaus II of Hungary of the Jagiellonians was placed on the Hungarian throne.
At the time of initial Ottoman encroachment, the Hungarians successfully resisted conquest. John Hunyadi was leader of the Long campaign where the Hungarians tried to expel the Turks from the Balkan, early time it was successful, but finally they had to withdraw. In 1456, John Hunyadi, the father of Matthias Corvinus, delivered a crushing defeat on the Ottomans at the Siege of Nándorfehérvár. The Noon bell remembers about the fallen Christian warriors. In the 15th century, the Black Army of Hungary was a formidable modern mercenary army, with the most skilled troops of the Hungarian cavalry were the hussars. In 1479, under the leadership of Pál Kinizsi, the Hungarian army destroyed the Ottoman and Wallachian troops at the Battle of Breadfield. Army of Hungary, almost all times destroyed the enemies when Matthias was the king.
In 1526, at the Battle of Mohács, the forces of the Ottoman Empire annihilated the Hungarian army and in trying to escape, Louis II of Hungary drowned in the Csele Creek. Leader of the Hungarian army Pál Tomori also died in the battle.
Ottoman occupation
Due to Ottoman pressure, central authority collapsed and a struggle for power broke out The majority of Hungary's ruling elite elected János Szapolyai (10 November 1526). A small minority of aristocrats sided with Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, who was Archduke of Austria, and was related to Louis by marriage. Due to previous agreements that the Habsburgs would take the Hungarian throne if Louis died without heirs, Ferdinand was elected king by a rump diet in December 1526.
On 29 February 1528, King John I of Hungary received the support of the Ottoman Sultan. A three-sided conflict ensued as Ferdinand moved to assert his rule over as much of the Hungarian kingdom as he could. By 1529 the kingdom had been split into two parts: Habsburg Hungary and "eastern-Kingdom of Hungary". At this time there were no Ottomans on Hungarian territories, except Srem's important castles. In 1532, Nikola Jurišić defended Kőszeg and stopped a powerful Ottoman army. By 1541, the fall of Buda marked a further division of Hungary to three areas. Even with a decisive 1552 victory over the Ottomans at the Siege of Eger, which raised the hopes of the Hungarians, the country remained divided until the end of the 17th century. The heroes live more in a famous poet, what was wrote by Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos called: Summáját írom Eger várának, I am writing history of Eger's castle"
Although the borders shifted frequently during this period, the three parts can be identified, more or less, as follows:
- Royal Hungary, which consisted of northern and western territories where Ferdinand I was recognized as king of Hungary. This part is viewed as defining the continuity of the Kingdom of Hungary. The territory along with Ottoman Hungary suffered greatly from the near constant wars taking place.
- Ottoman Hungary The Great Alföld (i.e. most of present-day Hungary, incl. south-eastern Transdanubia and the Banat), partly without north-eastern present-day Hungary.
- The remaining territory became the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom under the Szapolyai family later called the independent Principality of Transylvania. Note that this territory often under Ottoman influence was different from Transylvania proper and included various other territories sometimes referred to as Partium.
In the following centuries there were numerous attempts of pushing back the Ottoman forces like the Long War or Thirteen Years' War (July 29, 1593 - 1604/November 11, 1606) in which a coalition of Christian forces attempted to push back the Ottomans. In 1644 was the Winter Campaign when Miklós Zrínyi burnt the crucial Bridge of Eszék what was a Turkish supply line in Hungary. At Battle of Saint Gotthard (1664) Austrians and Hungarians defeated the Turkish army. After a failed Ottoman invasion of Austria in 1683, the Habsburgs went on the offensive against the Turks and by the end of the 17th century, they managed to conquer the remainder of the historical Kingdom of Hungary and the principality of Transylvania. For awhile in 1686, Buda the capital again became free with European help.
Habsburg dominance
After the departure of the Ottomans, the Habsburgs dominated the Hungarian Kingdom. The Hungarians' renewed desire for an independent Hungary brought about Rákóczi's War for Independence. The most important reasons of the war were the new and higher taxes and a renewed Protestant movement. Rákóczi was a Hungarian noble, son of Ilona Zrínyi the legendary heroine and also a Ruler of Transylvania. He spent part of his youth in Austrian captivity. Troops of Rákóczi were the Kurucs. Initially, the Kuruc army attained several important victories due to their superior skilled light cavalry. At the Battle of Saint Gotthard (1705), János Bottyán decisively defeated the Austrian army. The famous Hungarian colonel Ádám Balogh, nearly captured in a battle Joseph I, the King of Hungary and Emperor of Austria. In 1708, the Habsburgs finally defeated the main Hungarian army at Battle of Trencsén, and this diminished the further effectiveness of the Kuruc army. While the Hungarians exhausted in the fights, the Austrians defeated the French army in the War of the Spanish Succession and could send more and more troops to Hungary against the rebels from West. Transylvania became part of Hungary again starting at the end of the 17th century, and was led by governors[18][19].
The next ruler of Hungary was the Austrian Emperor Charles VI, who settled numerous Vlach [citation needed] ethnic groups in Transylvania. From this time on, the designation Royal Hungary was abandoned, and the area was once again referred to as the Kingdom of Hungary. Throughout the 18th century, the Kingdom of Hungary had its own Diet (parliament) and constitution, but the members of the Governor's Council (Helytartótanács, the office of the palatine) were appointed by the Habsburg monarch, and the superior economic institution, the Hungarian Chamber, was directly subordinated to the Court Chamber in Vienna. The Hungarian Language reform started under reign of Joseph II. The reform age of Hungary was started by István Széchenyi a Hungarian noble, who built the one of the greatest bridges of Hungary, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge.
The official language of the Kingdom of Hungary remained Latin until 1844. Then, between 1844 and 1849, and from 1867, Hungarian became the official language.
The European revolutions of 1848 swept Hungary as well. The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 sought to redress the long suppressed desire for political change, namely independence. The Hungarian National Guard was created by young Hungarian patriots in 1848. In literature, this was best expressed by the greatest poet of the Revolution, Sándor Petőfi. One of the most famous battles was in 1848 September 29, at the Battle of Pákozd. When Serbs attacked the Hungarians on South, a great general called Ernő Kiss stopped a three Serbian regiments only with 72 hussars [citation needed] it was in 1848.
As war broke out with Austria, Hungarian military successes, which included the brilliant campaigns of the great Hungarian general, Artúr Görgey, forced the Austrians on the defensive. Fearing defeat, the Austrians pleaded for Russian help, which, combined with Austrian forces, quelled the revolution. The desired political changes of 1848 were again suppressed until Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.
Austria-Hungary
Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Habsburg Empire became the "dual monarchy" of Austria-Hungary.
The Austro-Hungarian economy changed dramatically during the existence of the Dual Monarchy. Technological change accelerated industrialization and urbanization. The capitalist way of production spread throughout the Empire during its fifty-year existence and obsolete medieval institutions continued to disappear. By the early 20th century, most of the Empire began to experience rapid economic growth. The GNP per capita grew roughly 1.45% per year from 1870 to 1913. That level of growth compared very favorably to that of other European nations such as Britain (1.00%), France (1.06%), and Germany (1.51%).
The Kingdom of Hungary (to which Transylvania was fully incorporated, and Croatia-Slavonia maintained a distinct identity and a certain internal autonomy within the Kingdom of Hungary), was granted equal status with the rest of the Habsburg monarchy. Each of the two states comprising Austria-Hungary exercised considerable independence, with certain institutions, notably the reigning house, defense, foreign affairs, and finances for common expenditures, remained under joint management. This arrangement lasted until 1918, when the Central Powers went down in defeat in World War I. On the other hand as the political power in the Kingdom of Hungary stayed in the hands of high aristocracy (magnats) the speed of political, social and economical modernisation of the country was not sufficient. In internal politics the main effort was oriented to assimilation (hungarisation, magyarisation) of non-Hungarian ethnical groups or nations (Germans, Slovaks, Romanians, Serbians, Rusyns)[1] who till cca 1890-1900 actually represened together a majority of the whole population[2]. This policy alienated them from the Kingdom of Hungary and its political tradition.
The new borders set in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon, ceded 72% of the historically Hungarian territory of the Kingdom of Hungary to the neighbouring and newly created states. The beneficiaries were Romania, and the newly formed states of Czechoslovakia, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. This left more than 3,5 million ethnic Hungarians outside the new borders (mostly along the other side of the new borders and in Szekler Land), contrary to the terms laid out by US President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, which meant to honour the ethnic makeup of the territories.
Kingdom of Hungary between 1920-1944
After the pullout of occupation forces of Romania in 1920 the country went into civil conflict, with Hungarian anti-communists and monarchists purging the nation of communists, leftists and others by whom they felt threatened. Later in 1920, a coalition of right-wing political forces united, and reinstated Hungary's status as a constitutional monarchy. Selection of the new King was delayed due to civil infighting, and a regent was appointed to represent the monarchy. Former Austro-Hungarian navy admiral Miklós Horthy became that regent.
The Kingdom of Hungary, which existed from 1920 to 1944, was a de facto regency under Regent Miklós Horthy, who officially represented the abdicated Hungarian monarchy. Attempts, by Charles IV King of Hungary, to return to the throne, were prevented by threats of war from neighbouring countries, and by lack of support from Horthy (see Charles IV of Hungary's conflict with Miklós Horthy).
The regime of Miklós Horthy strongly objected the way of splitting Hungary, and the main objective the country's foreign policy was a revision of the Treaty of Trianon. The first ten years of this reinstated kingdom saw increased repression of the Hungarian minorities. Limits on the number of Jews permitted to go to university were placed[20], and corporal punishment was legalized. Under the leadership of Prime Minister István Bethlen, democracy dissipated as Bethlen manipulated elections in rural areas which allowed his political party, the Party of Unity to win elections repeatedly. Bethlen pushed for the revision of the Treaty of Trianon, but after the collapse of the Hungarian economy between 1929 to 1931, the national uproar pushed Bethlen to resign.
This state was conceived of as a "kingdom without a king", since there was no consensus on either who should take the throne of Hungary, or what form of government should replace the monarchy. The Kingdom of Hungary was one of the Axis powers during World War II until its attempted defection in 1944. This resulted on being occupied and dissolved by Nazi Germany, and replaced by a briefly-existing puppet state.
Historical perceptions
In present-day Hungary, the Kingdom of Hungary is seen as a stage in the history of the state. This is clearly seen as the national symbols (e.g. flag, national anthem) are still the same as in the Kingdom. Holidays, culture and folklore also show that for Hungarians, the Kingdom of Hungary is the predecessor of current Hungary. The continuity is natural for Hungarians and most do not even know of an alternative perspective of the surrounding nations.
The former minority nations' (e.g. Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, Serbian, etc.) scholars even deny the legal[citation needed] continuity and see modern post-Trianon Hungary as a new state of the Hungarian ethnicity, although the new borders did not follow the ethnic borders and were drawn through Hungarian majority areas, leaving millions of Hungarians out of post-Trianon Hungary, many of them living in areas of over 90% Hungarian majority.
The modern Croatians, Slovaks, Romanians etc. do not describe their position in the former Kingdom of Hungary as "minorities" (although their number was less than that of Hungarians) but "nations" (the modern concept of nation emerged in the 19th century), which were or should have been equal in political rights with ethnical Hungarians (Magyars). Hungarians also agree that these nations (before the French Revolution rather 'ethnic groups') of the Kingdom of Hungary formed a political Hungarian nation ("natio hungarica") speaking 4 or 5 different languages.
The legislature until 19th century paid only a limited attention to ethnical differencies between inhabitants (as was normal in that age, being for example religion more important than ethnicity) and usually confirmed the unity and equal legal status of all inhabitants of the Kingdom regardless their "language". The share of Hungarians in the Kingdom decreased drastically in the second half of its history because of migrations. From the 80% value of 1500, Hungarians share had decreased to 31% by the end of the 18th century[21]. The Kingdom's Magyarization (assimilation to Hungarian) actions raised this value to about 50% of the start of the 20th century.
Historically only Croatia (Croatia-Slavonia) governed their inner issues autonomously during the time of the Kingdom of Hungary (see Sabor), and this relation is seen by Croatian scholars as a simple personal union. The area of Croatia-Slavonia was also exceptional as the number of ethnical Hungarians living there had been very limited for centuries.
Refusal of continuity is also reflected by different names of several Slavic languages (Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Slovenian, Serbian) for the Kingdom of Hungary (from the roots like "ugar-", "uhor-") and present-day Hungary (from the Hungarians' self-describing name "magyar"). For example in the Croatian language the name of the Kingdom of Hungary is "Ugarska", while the name for today's Hungary is "Mađarska". In the Slovak language this dualism is expresed by notions "Uhorsko" and "Maďarsko".
These different perspectives of the common history are sources of disputes and mutual misunderstandings even today.
See also
- List of Hungarian rulers
- Nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary
- Administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Hungary
- Demographics of the Kingdom of Hungary
- Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary)
- History of Hungary
- Transylvania
- Vojvodina
- Transcarpathia
- Prekmurje
- History of Croatia
- Croatia in personal union with Hungary
References
- ^ Other languages spoken by minorities include Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Serbian, Slovene, Rusyn,
- ^ Also Eastern Orthodoxy, Unitarianism, Judaism
- ^ Historical World Atlas. With the commendation of the Royal Geographical Society. Carthographia, Budapest, Hungary, 2005. ISBN 963-352-002-9CM
- ^ The majority of Hungarian people became Christian in the 10th century.Hungary's first king, Saint Stephen I, took up Western Christianity. Hungary remained Catholic until the 16th century, when the Reformation took place and, as a result, first Lutheranism, then soon afterwards Calvinism started to spread.
- ^ Peter Revay: Commentarius De Sacra Regni Hungariae Corona, "Commentary on the Kingdom of the Holy Crown of Hungary" 1613.
- ^ Peter Revay: "About the state of Hungary and the Holy Hungarian Crown( of St. Stephen)", 1613
- ^ Engel, Pal; Palosfalvi, Tamas; Ayton, Andrew (2005). The Realm of St Stephen (illustrated ed.). I.B.Tauris. ISBN 185043977X, 9781850439776. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Aldásy, Antal. "Hungary." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07547a.htm>.
- ^ a b "Transylvania". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ a b http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Ladislaus+I
- ^ a b http://www.thefreedictionary.com/croatia
- ^ http://www.csongrad-megye.hu/turizmus/szoborpark/03.htm
- ^ http://www.sulinet.hu/oroksegtar/data/100_falu/Feldebro/pages/003_aba.htm
- ^ "Marko Marelic : The Byzantine and Slavic worlds".
- ^ "Hungary in American History Textbooks".
- ^ "Hungary, facts and history in breef".
- ^ Saunders, J. J. (1971). The History of the Mongol Conquests, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. ISBN 0-8122-1766-7
- ^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/603323/Transylvania
- ^ http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Grand+Principality+of+Transylvania
- ^ Numerus clausus
- ^ http://www.hhrf.org/xantusz/mv_bevezeto_tanulmany.html Hungarian Human Rights Foundation
External links
- Hungary in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
- Atlas and gazetteer of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1914
- Racial problems in Hungary
