A Brief History of Hungary
The Hungarians, or Magyars, come originally from Asia. The Magyar—which means "man"—first appeared north of the Black Sea (today's Southern Ukraine). In 896, at the request of the Byzantine emperor, seven nomadic tribes made up of over eighty Magyar clans, entered Europe. Under the united leadership of Prince Árpád, they settled along the Danube River.

In the year 997, King Stephen was crowned. Under his leadership, Hungary was divided into counties governed by royal officials. Clan boundaries were disregarded, and the nation moved from animal breeding to agriculture. Stephen forced his family and the tribal leaders to convert to Christianity. He had churches built in every town and large village and encouraged the people to attend. For this, the Pope granted him the title Apostolic King and the right to use the Apostolic double cross. Stephen was later canonized, and his name has been popular in Hungary ever since.

A Country Overrun
In 1241, Hungary was invaded by the Mongols. Nearly one third of the population perished. Many other towns and villages were left in ruins, some vanishing forever. The House of Árpád, which had ruled Hungary for more than 400 years, had ended. Subsequent marriages within the Hungarian crown tied the royal line to the Italians, Poles, and Austrians through the mid-15th century.

In 1458, King Matthias I, called Corvinus the Just, brought Hungary into a Golden Age. The peasants, who paid their tithes to the Church, rent to the landowner, and taxes to the Crown (altogether at least one-third of their produce) were free to move from place to place, sell their surplus produce at markets, engage in craft manufacture, trade in livestock, and to keep all income earned from these sources.

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 ended the era of Byzantium and heralded the coming of Islam. For the next 100 years, the Hungarians, Austrians, and Italians fought to keep the Turks from advancing further north until, in 1526 at the Battle of Mohács the independent Hungarian State was destroyed, and in 1541 the royal seat of Buda fell.

The country was split into three parts: the territory under Habsburg rule, the part conquered by the Turks and Transylvania. The 150 years of Turkish occupation drastically curtailed the country's development and caused severe loss of both material goods and human life.

Habsburg Rule
After the Turks were driven out in 1686, Hungary came under Habsburg rule. An uprising in 1703 was the first attempt to win back the country's independence since the expulsion of the Turks. In contrast to the trend in Western Europe in the 18th century, a second wave of serfdom in Hungary hindered modernization.

The revolution of 1848 created an independent Hungarian government, liberated the serfs, gave them equality before the law and granted them freedom of the press. Later that year, the imperial Austrian government launched an armed attack on Hungary to crush the revolution and do away with the freedoms it had been given. The independent Hungarian army succeeded in holding off the attack, and only surrendered when the Austrians sought help from the imperial Russian troops.

Years of oppression followed and in the wake of defeat in the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy came to an end. The government was forced to sign the Trianon Peace Treaty which placed nearly two thirds of the Hungarian nation outside the borders of the country.

Hungary entered the Second World War on the side of the Axis powers. In 1944 German forces occupied the country and, after an unsuccessful attempt to pull out of the war, the extreme right wing party came to power. In February 1946, a republic was proclaimed and a year later in February 1947, representatives of the Hungarian government signed the Paris Peace Treaty, which effectively restored the Trianon borders.

The first free elections were held immediately after the war in 1945. By 1947, increasing political pressure from the USSR brought the communists to power and along with them a Soviet-type constitution.

Revolution
On October 23, 1956 a popular uprising, which gradually turned into a revolution, broke out against the hated leadership and regime. n 1958, it was crushed by Soviet troops, the dictatorship was restored and hundreds fell victim to reprisals.

On June 16, 1989 a huge crowd gathered to witness a fitting reburial for the martyrs of the 1956 revolution. On October 23, 1989 Hungary was renamed Republic of Hungary. In the spring of 1990 free elections were held with the Hungarian Democratic Forum winning by a large majority, and in 1999 Hungary became a member of NATO.