Hungary
American Heritage Dictionary:
Top
Hun·ga·ry
|
| (Click to enlarge) |
| Hungary |
| (Mapping Specialists, Ltd.) |
A country of central Europe. The area was successively under Roman, Hunnish, Gothic, and Slavic rule before being conquered by Magyars in the late ninth century. Saint Stephen converted them to Christianity and subsequently established the first Hungarian state c. 997. Ruled by the Ottoman Turks after 1526, it later passed to Hapsburg control, under which it became part of Austria-Hungary in 1867. In 1918 it achieved independence again. A Communist regime was established in 1949 and was replaced in 1989 by a democratic republic. Budapest is the capital and the largest city. Population: 9,960,000.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
Top
Hungary
The instrumental version of the national anthem of Hungary.
For more information on Hungary, visit Britannica.com.
Top
The news of Daguerre's invention was announced in Hungary as early as 2 February 1839, in the publication Hasznosm Mulatságok (Useful Inventions), and a translation of Daguerre's manual appeared in the spring of 1840. That year, the Hungarian mathematician Josef Petzval designed an anastigmatic lens with sixteen times greater luminosity than Daguerre's, dramatically shortening exposures, and his design was commercially exploited by Voigtländer. In June 1841 the painter Jacopo Marastoni opened the first photographic studio in Pest. At the 1855 Paris Universal Exhibition Antal Simonyi won an award for an ‘instant’ photography process.
The period until 1900 saw the rise of commercial portraiture and the application of photography to landscape (Balázs Orbán, Károly Divald), ethnography (József Plohn), and astronomy (Jenö Gothard, Miklós Konkoly Thege). After 1890 pictorialist ‘art photography’ established itself with the formation of the Circle of Friends of Photography (1894), the Budapest Photo Club (1899) and the National Association of Hungarian Amateur Photographers (1905), whose journal A fény (The Light) was edited by Mano Mai, the court photographer. Notable portraitists in the pre-1914 period included two women, Olga Máté and Ilka Réva, and József Pécsi (1889-1956), who founded and headed (1913-20) the photography department at Budapest School of Industrial Drawing. In 1930 Pécsi published a seminal book on advertising, Photo und Publizität.
Hungarian newspapers were being increasingly illustrated with photographs from the mid-1890s onwards. The Budapest-based János Müllner started freelance press reportage in 1904, covering female labour and other social issues in the capital. Reportage by Müllner and other photojournalists continued through the First World War and its turbulent aftermath, including, in the summer of 1919, the short-lived Socialist Republic headed by the Communist Béla Kun. During the subsequent period of reaction under Admiral Miklos Horthy, many photographers left Hungary, moving to Germany and France, then to Britain and the USA. They included Kertész, Moholy-Nagy, Brassaï (Gyula Halasz), Robert Capa (Endre Erno Friedman), Cornell Capa, Martin Munkácsi, Nicholas Muray, and György Kepes. Other influential émigrés were Stefan Lorant and Andor Kraszna-Krausz, and the later inventor of holography, Dennis Gabor.
The pictorialists who stayed behind developed a ‘Hungarian’ style, including Pécsi, Rudolf Balogh, Károly Escher (1890-1966), Ernó Vadas, and Zajky Zoltán. Balogh, regarded as the father of Hungarian photojournalism, was an artist-photographer and journalist on the progressive Est newspaper. He recruited Escher, who photographed political events, the arts, and social conditions for 30 years. Documentary photographers also stayed, including the press photographers Klára Langer and Kata Sugár (1910-43), and the left-wing photographers centred on Munka (Work) magazine, whose 1932 exhibition Our Life was closed by the police. Also notable were the teacher Iván Hevesy, his pupil/partner Kata Kálmán, whose Tiborc Album was an outstanding study of Hungarian village life, and Angelo (Pál Funk; 1894-1974), a successful society portraitist.
The post-1945 communist regime permitted little innovative or challenging work. The Association of Hungarian Photographers (AHP), formed in 1956, remained the leading photography organization, publishing Photo Art magazine. Street fighting in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution was documented by photographers, particularly Tibor Szentpétery, József Vas, Károly Kiss, Dezsõ Széki, and Bojár Sándor. Ata Kandó (b. 1913) photographed refugees fleeing across the Austrian border, but although published in the West, she was unacknowledged in Hungary. In the 1960s and 1970s photographers took fine-art or traditional directions to avoid problems with the authorities and Mari Mahr, originally a photojournalist, left for England. Others, such as Demeter Balla (b. 1931), Peter Korniss (b. 1937; a World Press Photo winner and judge), Imre Benko (Eugene Smith Award winner), and György Tóth (b. 1950) produced more challenging conceptual and documentary work into the 1980s.
The liberal atmosphere of the 1990s encouraged all types of photography and new initiatives to preserve historical material. In 1990 the Budapest Photographers' Cooperative and the AHP created the Hungarian Photographic Foundation, to establish a Museum of Hungarian Photography (HMP) in Kecskemét. Started with 75, 000 items collected by the AHP since 1958, the collection has since expanded threefold. In 1998 the Foundation established the Hungarian House of Photography at the restored Mai Manó House, Budapest, for contemporary and historical events. The HMP has also organized many shows of local, historical, and émigré photographers, particularly the 1998 exhibition Photographers Made in Hungary: Some Went Away/Some Stayed Behind, which toured thirteen countries.
— Robert Ashby
Bibliography
- Ford, C., The Hungarian Connection (1987).
- Kincses, K., Photographers Made in Hungary: Some Went Away/Some Stayed Behind (2000).
- Biro, A., Photographies hongroises: des romantismes aux avant-gardes (2001).
- Hungarian Photography Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow (CD-ROM, 2002)
Oxford Dictionary of Dance:
Top
Hungary
Ballet was first performed in Hungary in the mid-18th century at the court of Prince Esterházy but the popularity it gained after visits by Noverre's Vienna dancers in 1772 and by Viganò in the 1790s was eclipsed during the early 19th century by pantomimes, Harlequinades, etc. During this period, however, Hungarian folk dance societies toured Europe with much success. In 1837 the National Theatre was opened in Pest, presenting its first ballet production, La Fille mal gardée (chor. János Kolosánszky, mus. Ferenc Kaczér), in 1839. In 1846 Cerrito and Saint-Léon danced Ondine, Giselle was staged in 1847, and Grahn and Taglioni were among the ballerinas who danced there during the 1850s. The first and greatest Hungarian prima ballerina of the 19th century was Emilia Aranyváry (active 1852-9), but otherwise local ballet activity was mediocre, the resident company being headed by the lacklustre choreographer Frigyes Campilli who mounted versions of romantic ballets (incl. Esmeralda, 1856) between 1846 and 1886.
In 1884 the State Opera House was opened in Budapest with its own ballet company attached. This became the national ballet ensemble (see below) and as such dominated dance activity in Hungary. During the 20th century, though, other companies emerged. In 1946 the first professional provincial company was established in Szegad, performing a repertory largely borrowed from Budapest. During the 1950s it was directed by Zoltán Imre who choreographed much of the repertory and after Imre left Hungary it closed down. In 1986 it re-opened under the direction of impresario R. Bokor, who commissioned works from various guests (including Imre) and also staged older works such as Jooss's The Green Table. Imre returned as director in 1991 but left two years later due to financial constraints.
In 1960 Imre Eck founded the Ballet Sopianae at the National Theatre at Pécs, creating a repertory of youth-oriented political ballets. His was one of the first attempts at a modern style of choreography in Hungary, created largely without access to Western ideas. One of the company's young dancers, Sándor Tóth, emerged as a choreographic talent in What is under your hat? (mus. Jószef Kinczes, 1964), among others, and took over direction of the company in 1968 with Eck as artistic director. Their experimental approach was very popular and the company toured widely in Hungary as well as in Europe and America. It is now known as the Pécs Ballet and since 1992 has been directed by István Herczog.
The Györ Ballet, founded in 1979, is Hungary's only classical company to be financially independent of a theatre, though it performs extensively at the Kisafuldy. It was founded by Iván Markó, and its repertoire was dominated by his own full-length narrative works. Since Markó's departure it stages a diverse repertory of Hungarian and foreign work.
Though financial problems have hindered the development of a large independent modern dance scene there has been sufficient activity to justify the Hungarian Contemporary Dance Festival (founded in 1992). Among the best-known modern groups to emerge is Artus, which was founded by Gábor Goda in 1985 and which performs mixed-media works fusing poetry, dance and acrobatics, TranzDanz, founded by Péter Gerzson-Kovács in 1991, which combines jazz, folk dance, and text, and the Sarbo Company, founded in 1990, which is strongly influenced by de Keersmaeker and the Bozsik company led by Yvette Bozsik whose works, such as The Miraculous Mandarin (1995), draw on folk dance and the styles of Wigman and Bausch.
The Hungarian State Folk Ensemble was founded in 1949 under the direction of Miklós Rábai, as a combined choir, orchestra, and dance troupe. Originally it presented elaborate Soviet-style stagings of folk music and dance numbers, but from the 1980s, under the direction of Sándor Tímár, it began to present more authentic and more intimate stagings of folk material, drawing on older traditions. It has toured world-wide.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
Top
Hungary
Hungary, Hung. Magyarország, republic (2005 est. pop. 10,007,000), 35,919 sq mi (93,030 sq km), central Europe. Hungary borders on Slovakia in the north, on Ukraine in the northeast, on Romania in the east, on Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia in the south, and on Austria in the west. The Danube River forms the Slovak-Hungarian border from a point near Bratislava to another near Esztergom, then turns sharply south and bisects the country. Budapest is Hungary's capital and its largest city.
Land and People
To the east of the Danube, the Great Hungarian Plain (Hung. Alföld) extends beyond the Hungarian boundaries to the Carpathians and the Transylvanian Alps. The Dráva and Tisza rivers are also important waterways. To the west of the Danube is the Little Alföld and the Transdanubian region, which are separated by the Bakony and Vértes mts. The Mátra Mts. in the north reach a height of 3,330 ft (1,015 m) at Kékes, the highest peak in Hungary. Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Hungary and in central Europe, is a leading resort area. Hungary has cold winters and hot summers; springs and autumns are short.
Situated on a plain near the geographic center of Europe, Hungary has been the meeting place and battleground of many peoples, and its heterogeneous population was often the cause of social upheaval before 1919. However, as a result of the separation of non-Hungarian territories after World War I, the great slaughter of the Jews in World War II, and the exchange after the war of Slavic and Romanian minorities for their Magyar counterparts, Hungary is today essentially homogeneous. The Magyars constitute more than 90% of the population. There are small minorities of Gypsies, Germans, Serbs, and other groups. Hungarian is spoken by most people. Over half of the people are Roman Catholic, but there is a large Calvinist minority. Hungary still has the largest Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe (100,000-120,000).
Economy
Hungary has long been an agricultural country, but since World War II it has become heavily industrialized. Through the 1980s, industry was largely nationally owned and two thirds of agricultural output came from collective and state farms. Hungary's economy underwent difficult readjustment in the 1990s, as it moved from producing goods chiefly for export to the USSR to developing a market-based economy and finding new trading partners. By the end of 1995, almost all retail trade had been privatized and less than half of all economic output originated from state-owned enterprises. Economic reforms also brought high unemployment and rising inflation, but today Hungary's economy is one of the most prosperous in Eastern Europe.
About half of Hungary's land is arable. With highly diversified crop and livestock production, the country is self-sufficient in food. Wheat, corn, sunflower seeds, potatoes, sugar beets, and grapes are the major crops. Pigs, cattle, sheep, and poultry are raised.
Hungary has been an important producer of bauxite, and deposits of coal, copper, natural gas, oil, and uranium have been exploited as well. Mining was curtailed in the 1990s as the country moved to a market economy and found it was not cost-effective to exploit the country's minerals at world prices. There has also been a decline in gas and oil production due to the exhaustion of reserves. However, mining and metallurgy are still important, as is food processing and the manufacture of construction materials, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, steel, and motor vehicles. About one third of Hungarian industry is located in or near Budapest. Other industrial centers are Győr, Miskolc, Pécs, Debrecen, Szeged, and Dunapentele. The tourism industry is also an important source of foreign capital. Machinery, equipment, and food products are the most important exports; machinery and equipment, manufactured goods, fuels, and electricity are imported. Germany is the country's largest trading partner by far, followed by Austria, Italy, and France.
Government
Hungary is governed under the constitution adopted in 2011. The president, who is the head of state, is elected by the legislature for a five-year term and is eligible for a second term. The government is headed by the prime minister, who is nominated by the president and elected by the legislature. The unicameral legislature, the National Assembly, has 386 members who are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. Administratively the country is divided into 19 counties, 23 urban counties, and the capital district.
History
Growth of a State
The Roman provinces of Pannonia and Dacia, conquered under Tiberius and Trajan (1st cent. A.D.), embraced part of what was to become Hungary. The Huns and later the Ostrogoths and the Avars settled there for brief periods. In the late 9th cent. the Magyars, a Finno-Ugric people from beyond the Urals, conquered all or most of Hungary and Transylvania. The semilegendary leader, Arpad, founded their first dynasty. The Magyars apparently merged with the earlier settlers, but they also continued to press westward until defeated by King (later Holy Roman Emperor) Otto I, at the Lechfeld (955).
Halted in its expansion, the Hungarian state began to solidify. Its first king, St. Stephen (reigned 1001-38), completed the Christianization of the Magyars and built the authority of his crown-which has remained the symbol of national existence-on the strength of the Roman Catholic Church. Under Bela III (reigned 1172-1196), Hungary came into close contact with Western European, particularly French, culture. Through the favor of succeeding kings, a few very powerful nobles-the magnates-won ever-widening privileges at the expense of the lesser nobles, the peasants, and the towns. In 1222 the lesser nobles forced the extravagant Andrew II to grant the Golden Bull (the "Magna Carta of Hungary"), which limited the king's power to alienate his authority to the magnates and established the beginnings of a parliament.
Under Andrew's son, Bela IV, the kingdom barely escaped annihilation: Mongol invaders, defeating Bela at Muhi (1241), occupied the country for a year, and Ottocar II of Bohemia also defeated Bela, who was further threatened by his own rebellious son Stephen V. Under Stephen's son, Ladislaus IV, Hungary fell into anarchy, and when the royal line of Arpad died out (1301) with Andrew III, the magnates seized the opportunity to increase their authority.
In 1308, Charles Robert of Anjou was elected king of Hungary as Charles I, the first of the Angevin line. His autocratic rule checked the magnates somewhat and furthered the growth of the towns. Under his son, Louis I (Louis the Great), Hungary reached its greatest territorial extension, with power extending into Dalmatia, the Balkans, and Poland.
Foreign Domination
After the death of Louis I, a series of foreign rulers succeeded: Sigismund (later Holy Roman Emperor), son-in-law of Louis; Albert II of Austria, son-in-law of Sigismund; and Ladislaus III of Poland (Uladislaus I of Hungary). During their reigns the Turks began to advance through the Balkans, defeating the Hungarians and their allies at Kosovo Field (1389), Nikopol (1396), and Varna (1444). John Hunyadi, acting after 1444 as regent for Albert II's son, Ladislaus V, gave Hungary a brief respite through his victory at Belgrade (1456).
The reign of Hunyadi's son, Matthias Corvinus, elected king in 1458, was a glorious period in Hungarian history. Matthias maintained a splendid court at Buda, kept the magnates subject to royal authority, and improved the central administration. But under his successors Uladislaus II and Louis II, the nobles regained their power. Transylvania became virtually independent under the Zapolya family. The peasants, rising in revolt, were crushed (1514) by John Zapolya. Louis II was defeated and killed by the Turks under Sulayman the Magnificent in the battle of Mohács in 1526. The date is commonly taken to mark the beginning of Ottoman domination over Hungary. Ferdinand of Austria (later Emperor Ferdinand I), as brother-in-law of Louis II, claimed the Hungarian throne and was elected king by a faction of nobles, while another faction chose Zapolya as John I.
In the long wars that followed, Hungary was split into three parts: the western section, where Ferdinand and his successor, Rudolf II, maintained a precarious rule, challenged by such Hungarian leaders as Stephen Bocskay and Gabriel Bethlen; the central plains, which were completely under Turkish domination; and Transylvania, ruled by noble families (see Báthory and Rákóczy).
The Protestant Reformation, supported by the nobles and well-established in Transylvania, nearly succeeded throughout Hungary. Cardinal Pázmány was a leader of the Counter Reformation in Hungary. In 1557 religious freedom was proclaimed by the diet of Transylvania, and the principle of toleration was generally maintained throughout the following centuries.
Hungarian opposition to Austrian domination included such extreme efforts as the assistance Thököly gave to the Turks during the siege of Vienna (1683). Emperor Leopold I, however, through his able generals Prince Eugene of Savoy and Duke Charles V of Lorraine, soon regained his lost ground. Budapest was liberated from the Turks in 1686. In 1687, Hungarian nobles recognized the Hapsburg claim to the Hungarian throne. By the Peace of Kalowitz (1699), Turkey ceded to Austria most of Hungary proper and Transylvania. Transylvania continued to fight the Hapsburgs, but in 1711, with the defeat of Francis II Rákóczy (see under Rákóczy, family), Austrian control was definitely established. In 1718 the Austrians took the Banat from Turkey.
Hungary and Austria
The Austrians brought in Germans and Slavs to settle the newly freed territory, destroying Hungary's ethnic homogeneity. Hapsburg rule was uneasy. The Hungarians were loyal to Maria Theresa in her wars, but many of the unpopular centralizing reforms of Joseph II, who had wanted to make German the sole language of administration and to abolish the Hungarian counties, had to be withdrawn.
In the second quarter of the 19th cent. a movement that combined Hungarian nationalism with constitutional liberalism gained strength. Among its leaders were Count Szechenyi, Louis Kossuth, Baron Eötvös, Sándor Petőfi, and Francis Deak. Inspired by the French Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian diet passed the March Laws (1848), which established a liberal constitutional monarchy for Hungary under the Hapsburgs. But the reforms did not deal with the national minorities problem. Several minority groups revolted, and, after Francis Joseph replaced Ferdinand VII as emperor, the Austrians waged war against Hungary (Dec., 1848).
In Apr., 1849, Kossuth declared Hungary an independent republic. Russian troops came to the aid of the emperor, and the republic collapsed. The Hungarian surrender at Vilagos (Aug., 1849) was followed by ruthless reprisals. But after its defeat in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), Austria was obliged to compromise with Magyar national aspirations. The Ausgleich of 1867 (largely the work of Francis Deak) set up the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, in which Austria and Hungary were nearly equal partners. Emperor Francis Joseph was crowned (1867) king of Hungary, which at that time also included Transylvania, Slovakia, Ruthenia, Croatia and Slovenia, and the Banat. The minorities problem persisted, the Serbs, Croats, and Romanians being particularly restive under Hungarian rule.
During this period industrialization began in Hungary, while the condition of the peasantry deteriorated to the profit of landowners. By a law of 1874 only about 6% of the population could vote. Until World War I, when republican and socialist agitation began to threaten the established order, Hungary was one of the most aristocratic countries in Europe. As the military position of Austria-Hungary in World War I deteriorated, the situation in Hungary grew more unstable. Hungarian nationalists wanted independence and withdrawal from the war; the political left was inspired by the 1917 revolutions in Russia; and the minorities were receptive to the Allies' promises of self-determination.
In Oct., 1918, Emperor Charles I (King of Hungary as Charles IV) appointed Count Michael Károlyi premier. Károlyi advocated independence and peace and was prepared to negotiate with the minorities. His cabinet included socialists and radicals. In November the emperor abdicated, and the Dual Monarchy collapsed.
Independence
Károlyi proclaimed Hungary an independent republic. However, the minorities would not deal with him, and the Allies forced upon him very unfavorable armistice terms. The government resigned, and the Communists under Béla Kun seized power (Mar., 1919). The subsequent Red terror was followed by a Romanian invasion and the defeat (July, 1919) of Kun's forces. After the Romanians withdrew, Admiral Horthy de Nagybanya established a government and in 1920 was made regent, since there was no king. Reactionaries, known as White terrorists, conducted a brutal campaign of terror against the Communists and anyone associated with Károlyi or Kun.
The Treaty of Trianon (see Trianon, Treaty of), signed in 1920, reduced the size and population of Hungary by about two thirds, depriving Hungary of valuable natural resources and removing virtually all non-Magyar areas, although Budapest retained a large German-speaking population. The next twenty-five years saw continual attempts by the Magyar government to recover the lost territories. Early endeavors were frustrated by the Little Entente and France, and Hungary turned to a friendship with Fascist Italy and, ultimately, to an alliance (1941) with Nazi Germany. The authoritarian domestic policies of the premiers Stephen Bethlen and Julius Gombos and their successors safeguarded the power of the upper classes, ignored the demand for meaningful land reform, and encouraged anti-Semitism.
Between 1938 and 1944, Hungary regained, with the aid of Germany and Italy, territories from Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania. It declared war on the USSR (June, 1941) and on the United States (Dec., 1941). When the Hungarian government took steps to withdraw from the war and protect its Jewish population, German troops occupied the country (Mar., 1944). The Germans were driven out by Soviet forces (Oct., 1944-Apr., 1945). The Soviet campaign caused much devastation.
National elections were held in 1945 (in which the Communist party received less than one fifth of the vote), and a republican constitution was adopted in 1946. The peace treaty signed at Paris in 1947 restored the bulk of the Trianon boundaries and required Hungary to pay $300 million in reparations to the USSR, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. A new coalition regime instituted long-needed land reforms.
Communist Rule
Early in 1948 the Communist party, through its control of the ministry of the interior, arrested leading politicians, forced the resignation of Premier Ferenc Nagy, and gained full control of the state. Hungary was proclaimed a People's Republic in 1949, after parliamentary elections in which there was only a single slate of candidates. Radical purges in the national Communist party made it thoroughly subservient to that of the USSR. Industry was nationalized and land was collectivized. The trial of Cardinal Mindszenty aroused protest throughout the Western world.
By 1953 continuous purges of Communist leaders, constant economic difficulties, and peasant resentment of collectivization had led to profound crisis in Hungary. Premier Mátyás Rákosi, the Stalinist in control since 1948, was removed in July, 1953, and Imre Nagy became premier. He slowed down collectivization and emphasized production of consumer goods, but he was removed in 1955, and the emphasis on farm collectivization was restored. In 1955, Hungary joined the Warsaw Treaty Organization and was admitted to the United Nations.
On Oct. 23, 1956, a popular anti-Communist revolution, centered in Budapest, broke out in Hungary. A new coalition government under Imre Nagy declared Hungary neutral, withdrew it from the Warsaw Treaty, and appealed to the United Nations for aid. However, János Kádár, one of Nagy's ministers, formed a counter-government and asked the USSR for military support. Some 500,000 Soviet troops were sent to Hungary, and in severe and brutal fighting they suppressed the revolution. Nagy and some of his ministers were abducted and were later executed, and thousands of other Hungarians, many of them teenagers, were imprisoned or executed. In addition, about 190,000 refugees fled the country. Kádár became premier and sought to win popular support for Communist rule and to improve Hungary's relations with Yugoslavia and other countries. He carried out a drastic purge (1962) of former Stalinists (including Mátyás Rákosi), accusing them of the harsh policies responsible for the 1956 revolt. Collectivization, which had been stopped after 1956, was again resumed in 1958-59.
Kádár's regime gained a degree of popularity as it brought increasing liberalization to Hungarian political, cultural, and economic life. Economic reforms introduced in 1968 brought a measure of decentralization to the economy and allowed for supply and demand factors; Hungary achieved substantial improvements in its standard of living. Hungary aided the USSR in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. The departure (1971) of Cardinal Mindszenty from Budapest after 15 years of asylum in the U.S. legation and his removal (1974) from the position of primate of Hungary improved relations with the Catholic church. Due to Soviet criticism, many of the economic reforms were subverted during the mid-1970s only to be reinstituted at the end of the decade.
During the 1980s, Hungary began to increasingly turn to the West for trade and assistance in the modernization of its economic system. The economy continued to decline and the high foreign debt became unpayable. Premier Károly Grósz gave up the premiership in 1988, and in 1989 the Communist party congress voted to dissolve itself. That same year Hungary opened its borders with Austria, allowing thousands of East Germans to cross to the West.
A Democratic Hungary
By 1990, a multiparty political system with free elections had been established; legislation was passed granting new political and economic reforms such as a free press, freedom of assembly, and the right to own a private business. The new prime minister, József Antall, a member of the conservative Hungarian Democratic Forum who was elected in 1990, vowed to continue the drive toward a free-market economy. The Soviet military presence in Hungary ended in the summer of 1991 with the departure of the final Soviet troops. Meanwhile, the government embarked on the privatization of Hungary's state enterprises.
Antall died in 1993 and was succeeded as prime minister by Péter Boross. Parliamentary elections in 1994 returned the Socialists (former Communists) to power. They formed a coalition government with the liberal Free Democrats, and Socialist leader Gyula Horn became prime minister. Árpád Göncz was elected president of Hungary in 1990 and reelected in 1995.
In 1998, Viktor Orbán of the conservative Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union became prime minister as head of a coalition government. Hungary became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999. Ference Mádl succeeded Göncz as president in Aug., 2000. A 2001 law giving ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries (but not worldwide) social and economic rights in Hungary was criticized by Romania and Slovakia as an unacceptable extraterritorial exercise of power. The following year, negotiations with Romania extended the rights to all Romanian citizens, and in 2003 the benefits under the law were reduced. The 2002 elections brought the Socialists and the allies, the Free Democrats, back into power; former finance minister Péter Medgyessy became prime minister.
In August, 2004, Medgyssey fired several cabinet members, angering the Free Democrats and leading the Socialists to replace him. The following month Ferenc Gyurcsány, the sports minister, became prime minister. Hungary became a member of the European Union earlier in the year. A Dec., 2004, referendum on granting citizenship to ethnic Hungarians in other countries passed, but it was not legally binding because less than 25% of the Hungarian electorate voted for it. László Sólyom was elected president of Hungary in June, 2005. In Apr., 2006, Gyurcsány's Socialist-led coalition won a majority of seats in the parliamentary elections, marking the first time a government had won a second consecutive term in office since the establishment of free elections in 1990.
In September, however, the prime minister suffered a setback when a recording of a May, 2006, Socialist party meeting was leaked and he was heard criticizing the government's past performance and saying that the party had lied to win the 2006 election. The tape sparked opposition demonstrations and riots, which were encouraged by the opposition Fidesz, and led to calls for the government to resign. Gyurcsány apologized for not having campaigned honestly, and the coalition was trounced in local elections in early October, but he retained the support of his parliamentary coalition and the government remained in power.
In Apr., 2008, the Alliance of Free Democrats left the governing coalition, and the Socialists formed a minority government. The 2008 global financial crisis led to a sharp drop in the value of the Hungarian currency in October, forcing Hungary to seek a €20 billion rescue package. Economic woes forced the increasingly unpopular prime minister to resign, and Gordon Bajnai, the economy minister, succeeded Gyurcsány in Apr., 2009.
In parliamentary elections a year later, Orbán and Fidesz defeated the Socialists in a landslide, winning more than two thirds of the seats, but the voting also produced a surge for the far right Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), which appealed to anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy sentiments and won nearly 17% of the vote in the first round. Fidesz subsequently passed a law enabling ethnic Hungarians in Central Europe to more easily acquire Hungarian citizenship; the legislation provoked Slovakia, which passed a bill that would generally strip Slovakian citizenship from Hungarians who did so. The government also reduced the powers of the constitutional court, ending its right to rule on budget matters; forced the nationalization of pension plans to cut the budget deficit; and enacted a media law that was denounced as stifling free expression and drew criticism from the European Union.
In June, 2010, Pál Schmitt, the speaker of the National Assembly and a member of Fidesz, was elected to succeed Sólyom as Hungarian president. The failure of an alumina plant sludge pond in Oct., 2010, resulted in an ecological disaster in W Hungary that covered 6 villages and 16 sq mi (40 sq km) with toxic mud and also poisoned local rivers. A new constitution, enacted by Fidesz in Apr., 2011, and effective in 2012, was criticized in a number of quarters for attempting to bind future Hungarian governments to Fidesz's conservative political program. By late 2011, legal changes that reduced the independence of the central bank had led to conflict with the European Union and International Monetary Fund, which broke off negotiations for financial aid.
Bibliography
See P. Teleki, The Evolution of Hungary (1923); D. G. Kosary, A History of Hungary (1941, repr. 1971); C. A. McCartney, A History of Hungary, 1929-1945 (1957, repr. 1962); F. A. Vali, Rift and Revolt in Hungary (1961); N. M. Nagy-Talavera, The Green Shirts and Others (1970); H. G. Heinrich, Hungary (1986); C. M. Hann, ed., Market Economy and Civil Society in Hungary (1990); P. F. Sugar, A History of Hungary (1991); C. Gati, Failed Illusions: Moscow, Washington, Budapest, and the 1956 Hungarian Revolt (2006); V. Sebestyen, Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution (2006). See also bibliography under Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.
Top
Hungary, a country that was primarily agricultural until the mid-nineteenth century, entered the modern era in 1867 with the creation of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. At the start of the twentieth century, in Budapest, which had become a center of cultural life, a group of radical intellectuals demanded the democratization of a country that had remained semi-feudal. Unable to compete in the political sphere, they created institutions like the Free School of Social Science, reviews like Huszadik Szàzad (Twentieth Century) and Nyugat (Occident), to achieve their goal by means of education. For psychoanalysis the Hungarian intelligentsia was fertile terrain, for it held that the liberation of the individual and the liberation of society went hand in hand.
Psychoanalysis was introduced to Hungary by Sándor Ferenczi, who was its leading exponent. A young neurologist, Ferenczi encountered Freudian theory through Carl Gustav Jung's word association test and through the literature of analysis. After his first visit to Freud in February 1908, he quickly became an integral part of the Vienna group and assumed the responsibility of bringing psychoanalysis to Hungary. His efforts were well received in literary and artistic circles, as shown in the writings of Géza Csáth, Dezsö Kosztolànyi, Mihály Babits, and Frigyes Karinthy, while most physicians remained reticent.
The Hungarian Psychoanalytic Association was founded by Ferenczi in 1913. In addition to Ferenczi, its members included the psychiatrist István Hollós, the physician Lajos Lévy, the medical student Sándor Radó, and the journalist and writer Hugó Ignotus (Hugó Veigelsberg), the editor-in-chief of Nyugat.
During World War I, Ferenczi, who had been mobilized, cared for soldiers who had suffered trauma during combat. The psychoanalytic treatment of war neuroses drew the attention of Hungarian officials, with the result that the Fifth Congress of Psychoanalysis, organized in Budapest on September 28 and 29, 1918, was held at the Academy of Sciences in the presence of government representatives. During the congress, Antal (Anton) von Freund, who ran a large beer hall, but also had a PhD in philosophy, a patient and friend of Freud, provided funding for the creation of a psychoanalytic clinic and publishing house. Ferenczi was elected president of the International Psychoanalytic Association, but the political upheavals that shook the country, especially Hungary's independence from Austria, the democratic revolution, the Bolshevik revolution in Budapest in 1919 and its brutal repression, forced him to yield the presidency to the Briton, Ernest Jones.
During the democratic government of Mihály Károlyi, students and progressives demanded that psychoanalysis be officially recognized. Their demand reached the Commune and Ferenczi was appointed professor of psychoanalysis at the university, the first in the world. When the right-wing government of Miklós Horthy came to power, the position was eliminated and, in 1920, Ferenczi was excluded from the Hungarian medical association.
The 1920s turned out to be a phase of expansion for psychoanalysis in Hungary. At the end of the war, Géza Róheim, Imre Hermann, Zsigmond Pfeifer, and other leading figures joined the Hungarian Psychoanalytic Association. Cut off from playing a role in Hungarian public life, psychoanalysts consulted, taught, and published. Róheim developed the notion of psychoanalytic anthropology, Hermann worked on the psychology of creativity, Pfeifer on children's games. This was also the period of the first wave of emigration. Sándor Radó and Jenö Hárnik moved to Berlin and participated in the creation of the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training. During the twenties, József Eisler, Sándor Feldmann, Erzsébet Révész, Béla Felszeghy, Vilma Kovács, and Alice and Mihály Bálint joined the association.
Efforts were made to organize the teaching of psychoanalysis. Seminars on theory were established in 1919, and in 1925 a training method specific to Hungary was developed by Ferenczi and Vilma Kovács.
In 1925, István Hollós was fired from his position as head physician at the psychiatric hospital of Lipótmezö because of his Jewish background. Two years later he published My Farewell from the Yellow House, in which he investigated psychosis from a new and innovative point of view.
In 1928, Géza Róheim traveled to central Australia, Normanby Island, and America. During his research, financed by Marie Bonaparte, he combined anthropological research with psychoanalytic theory.
In 1930, a psychoanalytic clinic for children was created under the direction of Margit Dubowitz. That same year Lilian Rotter and Fanny Hann joined the association. In 1931, in spite of several administrative problems, a polyclinic was opened at 12 Mészáros Street, with Ferenczi as director. The building and funding were provided by Vilma Kovács and her family; analysts from the association provided free consultations.
Ferenczi's students prepared Psychoanalytic Studies for his sixtieth birthday, but the book wasn't published until after his death in 1933. István Hollós then became president of the association and Mihály Bálint director of the polyclinic.
In 1935 and 1937 two meetings, known as the Four Nations, were organized by the psychoanalytic associations of Vienna, Prague, Italy, and Hungary, the first in Vienna, the second in Budapest, and devoted to the problems of psychoanalytic training. At the second meeting, Vilma Kovács detailed the characteristics of the Hungarian method and Anna Freud read a paper by Helene Deutsch criticizing the method.
Hungarian analysts also began a program to develop public awareness of psychoanalysis. Kata Lévy organized seminars with teachers, Alice Bálint with mothers, and Mihály Bálint held discussion groups with general practitioners. In 1933, Lilly Hajdu, a psychiatrist, joined the association.
During the late thirties, threatened by the rise of anti-Semitism and fascism, a number of analysts decided to emigrate. Among them were the Bálints, Géza Róheim, Sándor Feldmann, and Edit Gyömröi. The association continued to function under police surveillance and under the direction of its non-Jewish members, Endre Almássy and Tibor Rajka. In 1944, when German troops invaded Hungary and put Hungarian Nazis in power, several analysts, including Zsigmond Pfeifer, Géza Dukes, László Révész, Miklós Gimes, and József Eisler, became victims of persecution. Imre Hermann and István Hollós barely escaped with their lives.
After 1945, psychoanalysts in Hungary resumed their activities. They participated in the creation of a mental health institute and worked in dispensaries. But the Stalinist government, which came to power in 1948, forced the association to dissolve. From then on psychoanalysis survived in a semi-clandestine fashion, primarily through the help of Imre Hermann, who trained the new generation of analysts: György Vikár, Livia Nemes, Agnes Binét, Teréz Virág. The dark years after 1956 were marked by the suicide of Lilly Hajdu, whose husband was murdered by the Nazis and whose son, a friend of Imre Nagy, had been executed along with the prime minister. During the sixties, the Kádar government became more tolerant of psychoanalysis. István Székács, a member of the Hungarian Psychoanalytic Association since 1939, also began to train psychoanalysts, although not initially a member of Hermann's group.
During the seventies, Hungarian analysts still did not have an officially recognized association, but some public manifestations of recognition took place. In 1969, for example, Imre Hermann was decorated on his eightieth birthday and, in 1974, a commemorative celebration was organized for the Ferenczi centenary. In 1987 an international congress of psychoanalysis was held in Budapest.
After democracy was restored in 1989, the Hungarian Psychoanalytic Association was reconstituted and affiliated itself with the International Psychoanalytic Association. A new generation of analysts was able to practice, teach, and publish openly.
The Ferenczi Society, a broad-based group of people interested in psychoanalysis, began to publish the review Thalassa. While the first generation of analysts trained by Imre Hermann was affected primarily by his ideas, contemporary psychoanalysts were reevaluating the ideas of Ferenczi, which they were forced to read in foreign editions since his complete works had not yet been published in Hungarian because of a lack of funding. They also served as an inspiration for Otto Kernberg.
Hungarian psychoanalysts of the 1930s developed a number of specific ideas that justify referring to them collectively as the Budapest School. These include the importance of trauma in the etiology of mental pathology, the attention given to object relations, consideration of dyadic relations and regression, and insistence on the importance of experience in therapy. Hungarian training methods differed from other methods in that the candidate's first control analysis was undertaken by his own analyst to further an understanding of the counter-transference and better understand his own transference to the analyst.
Ferenczi's students demonstrated considerable creativity. Imre Hermann developed the theory of clinging, Géza Róheim the ontogenetic theory of culture, and Mihály Bálint the theory of primal love (and several others after his emigration). Lilian Rotter developed a body of original work on female sexuality and Alice Bálint on the mother-child relationship. István Hollós and Lilly Hajdu examined psychoses from a psychoanalytic point of view.
Bibliography
Bálint, Michael. (1968). The basic fault: Therapeutic aspects of regression. London: Tavistock Publications.
Brabant-Gerö,Éva. (1993). Ferenczi et L'école hongroise de psychanalyse. Paris: L'Harmattan.
Ferenczi, Sandor. (1955). Selected Papers of Sandor Ferenczi. (Vol. 3, Michael Bálint, Ed.). New York: Basic Books.
Haynal, André. (1988). The technique at issue: Controversies in psychoanalysis from Freud and Ferenczi to Michael Bálint. (Elizabeth Holder, Trans.). London: Karnac. (Original work published 1986)
Hermann, Imre. (1972). L'instinct filial. (G. Kassai, Trans.). Paris: Denoël.
Hungarian Psychoanalytic Association. (1933).Lélekelemzési Tanulmànyok (Psychoanalytic Studies). Budapest: Somló.
—ÉVA BRABANT-GERÖ
Top
Hungary's history from 1450 through 1790 can be divided into three periods. The century from 1450 was the last phase of the independent Hungarian Kingdom, whose major political concern was the Ottoman advance. Hungary lost her long struggle at the battle of Mohács in 1526 and was divided into three parts by the mid-sixteenth century. The second period (1541–1699) is often labeled as the era of the tripartite division of the country. Royal Hungary in the west was under Habsburg rule and Ottoman Hungary in the middle was ruled, at least partly, from Constantinople (Istanbul), whereas the Principality of Transylvania in the east, although an Ottoman satellite state, had considerable autonomy, especially in its domestic affairs. While hostilities and rivalries often divided the Hungarian political elite, with regard to socioeconomic, religious, cultural, and even political developments, the three parts were connected on many levels. The next era can be described as the integration of Hungary into the Habsburg Monarchy that reconquered the country from the Ottomans by the end of the 17th century. This period witnessed a new political compromise between Vienna and the Hungarian estates, as well as visible economic and demographic growth and cultural flourishing.
In the mid-fifteenth century, the Kingdom of Hungary was a regional power in Central Europe. It had an estimated territory of 300,000 square kilometers, a population of 3.1–3.5 million, and annual revenues of 500,000 gold florins under King Matthias (Mátyás) Corvinus of the Hunyadi family (1458–1490). Protected by the natural boundaries of the Carpathian Mountains in the north and in the east, Hungary was bordered by Poland in the north, Bohemia in the northwest, and Habsburg Austria in the west. In the south, the Danube and Sava Rivers—and the southern border defense system built along those rivers—separated the country from the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman threat fostered military reforms and centralization in Hungary. Relying on the towns and the lesser nobility, a reformed tax system, a secular bureaucracy, and a mercenary army of thirty thousand strong, King Matthias curtailed the influence of the aristocracy. Although the king strengthened and reorganized the country's southern defenses, vast resources were spent on his wars against Austria and Bohemia in pursuit of a Danubian monarchy, as well as on the king's lavish court and patronage of the arts and sciences.
During the rules of King Matthias's Jagiello successors (1490–1526), the power-hungry nobility strengthened its position vis-à-vis both the crown and the rest of the society. An influential compilation of Hungarian customary law, called the Tripartitum (1514), codified the rights and privileges of the nobility, including the right to resist the king. The book perceived the nobility, whose members supposedly enjoyed equal rights (una et aedem nobilitas), as "the mystical body" of the "holy crown" that is, the sole representatives of the "political nation." Following the rebellion of 1514, the nobility subjected the peasants to "eternal servitude." Although the Tripartitum was never promulgated and the decrees of the Diet of 1514 were often suspended, they provided the nobility with a legal framework until 1848 and were largely responsible for Hungary's unhealthy social structure.
The annihilation of the Hungarian army at the battle of Mohács (1526) not only meant the end of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary but also marked the beginning of Habsburg-Ottoman military confrontation in Central Europe. Following the Ottomans' withdrawal from Hungary in 1526, competing factions of the nobility elected two kings, János Szapolyai (John Zapolya, 1526–1540), the royal Hungarian governor (or vajda) of Transylvania, and Ferdinand of Habsburg (1526–1564). With Ottoman military assistance, Szapolyai controlled the eastern parts of the country, while Ferdinand ruled the northern and western parts of Hungary. When the death of Szapolyai (1540) upset the military equilibrium between the Habsburgs and Ottomans, Sultan Suleiman I annexed central Hungary to his empire (1541). Hungary's strategically less significant eastern territories were left in the hands of Szapolyai's widow and were soon to become the Principality of Transylvania, an Ottoman vassal state. Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Habsburgs, who remained on the Hungarian throne until 1918, had to content themselves with northern and western Hungary, known as Royal Hungary.
Although the Ottomans launched multiple campaigns against Hungary and the Habsburgs (1529, 1532, 1541, 1543, 1551–1552, 1566, 1663–1564) and the two empires waged two exhausting wars in Hungary (1593–1606 and 1683–1699), the buffer-zone-turned-country saved Habsburg central Europe from Ottoman conquest. Successive peace treaties (1547, 1568, 1606, and 1664) maintained the tripartite division of the country, which ended only in 1699, when, in the treaty of Karlowitz, the Ottomans ceded most of Hungary and Transylvania to the Habsburgs. The country's unity was only partially restored, however, for Vienna administered Transylvania as a separate imperial territory until 1848.
The price of being the "bastion of Christendom" was the dismemberment of the country and constant warfare along the Muslim-Christian divide with severe economic and social consequences. However, the endurance of Hungarian society and its economy proved to be much stronger than expected. Despite continuous skirmishes and protracted wars, famine, and epidemics, Hungary's population had increased from 3.1 million in the 1490s to 4 million by the early 1680s. In spite of double taxation (Hungarian and Ottoman), many towns in the Great Plain (Alföld) under Ottoman rule profited from the Hungaro-Ottoman condominium and succeeded in strengthening their privileges and self-government. The sixteenth century was the golden age of manorial agriculture and cattle trade. From the 1570s, Hungary exported some eighty thousand to one hundred thousand head of cattle annually to Vienna and to the German and Italian cities through an elaborate chain of cattle keepers and merchants. While defending the border was a major burden on the society, many profited from feeding and supplying imperial armies and Ottoman and Hungarian garrisons.
The tripartite division of the country and the limits of Habsburg authority also fostered the spread of Protestant Reformation. In Transylvania, Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Unitarianism were declared accepted denominations (recepta religio) in 1568. In the 1580s, half of Hungary's population was Calvinist, another quarter followed the Augsburg Confession, and the remaining 25 percent belonged to the Unitarian, Catholic, and Orthodox churches.
Angered by Vienna's lukewarm Turkish policy and aggressive Counter-Reformation, Protestant Magyar nobles rebelled repeatedly against the Catholic Habsburgs in the seventeenth century. They were aided by the princes of Transylvania, which, under the able rule of Gábor Bethlen (1613–1629) and György Rákóczi I (1630–1648) flourished economically and culturally. Allied with the Protestant states in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), the princes launched several campaigns against the Habsburgs and extended the principality's territories at the expense of Royal Hungary. When the Habsburgs conceded further Hungarian territories to the Ottomans in the treaty of Vasvár in 1664 in spite of the former's victory at St. Gotthard, even the loyal Catholic magnates of Royal Hungary were outraged and many joined the anti-Austrian "magnate conspiracy" of 1670–1671. The severe punishment of the members of the plot and Emperor Leopold's "confessional absolutism" triggered new waves of anti-Habsburg rebellions, of which the most serious was the revolt of Imre Thököly's kurucs (a group of Hungarian "national crusaders" or insurgents) in 1681–1683. Thököly's war led to the creation of yet another pro-Ottoman vassal state in Upper Hungary at a critical moment when the Ottomans' failed siege of Vienna (1683) set off an international counteroffensive, which, by the end of the century, had reconquered most of Hungary from the Ottomans.
After 1699, the Habsburgs treated Hungary as a conquered and subjugated province, thus provoking another revolt of the Magyars. The peace treaty of Szatmár (1711), which ended Ferenc Rákóczi's defeated War of Independence (1703–1711), was a wise compromise for both parties. It altered initial Habsburg designs regarding Hungary's incorporation into the monarchy, leaving the county-level administration and jurisdiction in the hands of the Hungarian nobility, which also retained many of its former privileges including tax exemption. On the other hand, Charles VI (Charles III as king of Hungary, 1711–1740) restored Habsburg rule over Hungary, whose Estates recognized his daughter's succession (the Pragmatic Sanction) in the Diet of 1722/23, making Hungary a hereditary Habsburg kingdom.
Within two generations, the population of the country (including Croatia and Transylvania) had doubled, reaching nine million by the late 1780s. This was partly due to voluntary immigration and state-organized settlement policy through which hundreds of thousands of Romanians, Croatians, Slovaks, and Germans arrived in Hungary. This significantly changed the ethnic composition of the country, where the Hungarians lost their absolute majority and comprised less than 40 percent of the inhabitants in the end of the century.
Led by ideas reflecting the Enlightenment and by absolutistic and physiocratic principles, Maria Theresa (ruled 1740–1780) and Joseph II (ruled 1780–1790) initiated important administrative, economic, legal, and cultural reforms, issued as royal patents and carried out by royal commissioners to avoid their blocking by the Estates in the Diet. Many of these reforms were beneficial for Hungary. The Urbarial Patent of 1767 regulated the size of peasant holdings and obligations in order to eliminate inequalities and overtaxation, whereas the Ratio educationis of 1777 reformed the educational system. Joseph II's Edict of Tolerance (1781) permitted the "free practice" of religion for all denominations, enabling their members to become guild masters, earn university diplomas in Hungary, and serve in state offices. However, Maria Theresa's discriminatory tariff regulations (1754), which separated Hungary from the rest of the monarchy and its traditional German and Italian markets, negatively affected Hungary, reinforcing the country's agrarian supplier status and hindering the development of domestic industries. Joseph II's decision to replace Latin with German as the official language of administration was perceived as "Germanization" and, along with his patents that abolished Hungary's old administrative structure, infuriated the Estates. By the end of Joseph II's rule, the country, which was feeling overwhelmed by the severe burden of a new Turkish war (1787–1790), was again on the brink of an insurrection. Facing possible armed rebellion in Hungary, growing Prussian pressure, a changing international order because of the French Revolution, and military defeat in his Turkish war, Joseph II decided to appease his Magyar nobility. In January 1790, the emperor revoked all his reforms, except for his Edict of Toleration and his decrees that benefited the peasantry and parishes.
After the compromise in 1711, loyal Hungarian magnates and the Catholic hierarchy were among the richest people in the monarchy. They were also instrumental in the cultural life of the country. The palaces built by the Esterházy, Károlyi, Pálffy, and Festetics families at Fertõd, Erdõd, Királyfalva, and Keszthely respectively are, along with magnificent churches, the best examples of Hungarian baroque. Many of the magnates were not only patrons of the arts and of literature, but were themselves active writers spreading the ideas of Enlightenment, the most radical of which were discussed in the twenty-some lodges of the Freemasons. While the eighteenth century saw spectacular population growth, solid, though uneven, economic development, and cultural revival, it also witnessed the preservation of the country's medieval and anachronistic "constitution" and social structure. All this, along with the radically changed ethnic composition of Hungary, would considerably complicate the country's history in the nineteenth century.
Bibliography
Balázs, Éva H. Hungary and the Habsburgs, 1765–1800. Budapest, 1997.
Ingrao, Charles. The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618–1815. Cambridge, 1994.
Köpeczi, Béla, ed. History of Transylvania. Budapest, 1994.
Lendvai, Paul. The Hungarians. Princeton, 2003.
Sugar, Peter F., et al., eds. A History of Hungary. Bloomington, Ind., 1994.
—GÁBOR ÁGOSTON
Top
Republic in central Europe, bordered by the former Czechoslovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and south, Yugoslavia and Croatia to the south, and Slovenia and Austria to the west. Its capital and largest city is Budapest.
- Hungary is a former Eastern Bloc country.
- The Austro-Hungarian Empire, in which Austria and Hungary were equal partners, was established in 1867 and collapsed in World War I.
- Soviet troops invaded Hungary in 1956 to put down a revolution against the communist government.
- Hungary held multiparty free elections in October 1990, ending forty-two years of communist rule. In 1999, it joined NATO.
CIA World Factbook:
Top
Hungary
Introduction
| Background: | Hungary became a Christian kingdom in A.D. 1000 and for many centuries served as a bulwark against Ottoman Turkish expansion in Europe. The kingdom eventually became 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 an announced withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact were met with a massive military intervention by Moscow. Under the leadership of Janos KADAR in 1968, Hungary began liberalizing its economy, introducing so-called "Goulash Communism." Hungary held its first multiparty elections in 1990 and initiated a free market economy. It joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004. |
Geography
| Location: | Central Europe, northwest of Romania |
| Geographic coordinates: | 47 00 N, 20 00 E |
| Map references: | Europe |
| Area: | total: 93,030 sq km land: 92,340 sq km water: 690 sq km |
| Area - comparative: | slightly smaller than Indiana |
| Land boundaries: | total: 2,185 km border countries: Austria 366 km, Croatia 329 km, Romania 443 km, Serbia 166 km, Slovakia 676 km, Slovenia 102 km, Ukraine 103 km |
| Coastline: | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims: | none (landlocked) |
| Climate: | temperate; cold, cloudy, humid winters; warm summers |
| Terrain: | mostly flat to rolling plains; hills and low mountains on the Slovakian border |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Tisza River 78 m highest point: Kekes 1,014 m |
| Natural resources: | bauxite, coal, natural gas, fertile soils, arable land |
| Land use: | arable land: 49.58% permanent crops: 2.06% other: 48.36% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 2,300 sq km (2003) |
| Total renewable water resources: | 120 cu km (2005) |
| Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): | total: 21.03 cu km/yr (9%/59%/32%) per capita: 2,082 cu m/yr (2001) |
| Environment - current issues: | the upgrading of Hungary's standards in waste management, energy efficiency, and air, soil, and water pollution to meet EU requirements will require large investments |
| Environment - international agreements: | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note: | landlocked; strategic location astride main land routes between Western Europe and Balkan Peninsula as well as between Ukraine and Mediterranean basin; the north-south flowing Duna (Danube) and Tisza Rivers divide the country into three large regions |
People
| Population: | 9,905,596 (July 2009 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 15% (male 763,553/female 720,112) 15-64 years: 69.3% (male 3,384,961/female 3,475,135) 65 years and over: 15.8% (male 566,067/female 995,768) (2009 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 39.4 years male: 37.1 years female: 42 years (2009 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | -0.257% (2009 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 9.51 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) |
| Death rate: | 12.99 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | 0.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.) |
| Urbanization: | urban population: 68% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 0.3% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.57 male(s)/female total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2009 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 7.86 deaths/1,000 live births male: 8.57 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 73.44 years male: 69.27 years female: 77.87 years (2009 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.35 children born/woman (2009 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.1% (2007 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 3,300 (2007 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | fewer than 100 (2001 est.) |
| Major infectious diseases: | degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A vectorborne diseases: tickborne encephalitis (2009) |
| Nationality: | noun: Hungarian(s) adjective: Hungarian |
| Ethnic groups: | Hungarian 92.3%, Roma 1.9%, other or unknown 5.8% (2001 census) |
| Religions: | Roman Catholic 51.9%, Calvinist 15.9%, Lutheran 3%, Greek Catholic 2.6%, other Christian 1%, other or unspecified 11.1%, unaffiliated 14.5% (2001 census) |
| Languages: | Hungarian 93.6%, other or unspecified 6.4% (2001 census) |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.4% male: 99.5% female: 99.3% (2003 est.) |
| School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): | total: 15 years male: 15 years female: 16 years (2006) |
| Education expenditures: | 5.5% of GDP (2005) |
Government
| Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Hungary conventional short form: Hungary local long form: Magyar Koztarsasag local short form: Magyarorszag |
| Government type: | parliamentary democracy |
| Capital: | name: Budapest geographic coordinates: 47 30 N, 19 05 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
| Administrative divisions: | 19 counties (megyek, singular - megye), 23 urban counties (singular - megyei varos), and 1 capital city (fovaros) counties: Bacs-Kiskun, Baranya, Bekes, Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Csongrad, Fejer, Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Hajdu-Bihar, Heves, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, Komarom-Esztergom, Nograd, Pest, Somogy, Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg, Tolna, Vas, Veszprem, Zala urban counties: Bekescsaba, Debrecen, Dunaujvaros, Eger, Erd, Gyor, Hodmezovasarhely, Kaposvar, Kecskemet, Miskolc, Nagykanizsa, Nyiregyhaza, Pecs, Salgotarjan, Sopron, Szeged, Szekesfehervar, Szekszard, Szolnok, Szombathely, Tatabanya, Veszprem, Zalaegerszeg capital city: Budapest |
| Independence: | 25 December 1000 (crowning of King STEPHEN I, traditional founding date) |
| National holiday: | Saint Stephen's Day, 20 August |
| Constitution: | 18 August 1949, effective 20 August 1949; revised 19 April 1972; 18 October 1989; and 1997 note: 18 October 1989 revision ensured legal rights for individuals and constitutional checks on the authority of the prime minister and also established the principle of parliamentary oversight; 1997 amendment streamlined the judicial system |
| Legal system: | based on the German-Austrian legal system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President Laszlo SOLYOM (since 5 August 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Gordon BAJNAI (since 14 April 2009) cabinet: Council of Ministers prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president; other ministers proposed by the prime minister and appointed and relieved of their duties by the president elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 6-7 June 2005 (next to be held by June 2010); prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president; election last held 14 April 2009 election results: Laszlo SOLYOM elected president by a simple majority in the third round of voting, 185 to 182; Gordon BAJNAI elected prime minister; result of legislative vote - 204 to 0 note: to be elected, the president must win two-thirds of legislative vote in the first two rounds or a simple majority in the third round |
| Legislative branch: | unicameral National Assembly or Orszaggyules (386 seats; members are elected by popular vote under a system of proportional and direct representation to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 9 and 23 April 2006 (next to be held in April 2010) election results: percent of vote by party (5% or more of the vote required for parliamentary representation in the first round) - MSzP 43.2%, Fidesz-KDNP 42%, SzDSz 6.5%, MDF 5%, other 3.3%; seats by party - MSzP 190, Fidesz-KDNP 164, SzDSz 20, MDF 11, independent 1; seats by party as of January 2009 - MSzP 190, Fidesz-KDNP 161, SzDSz 19, MDF 10, independent 5, vacant 1 |
| Judicial branch: | Constitutional Court (judges are elected by the National Assembly for nine-year terms) |
| Political parties and leaders: | Alliance of Free Democrats or SzDSz [Gabor FODOR]; Christian Democratic People's Party or KDNP [Zsolt SEMJEN]; Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz [Viktor ORBAN, chairman]; Hungarian Democratic Forum or MDF [Ibolya DAVID]; Hungarian Socialist Party or MSzP [Ferenc GYURCSANY] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | Air Work Group (works to reduce air pollution in towns and cities); Company For Freedom Rights (Tarsasag a Szabadsagjogokert) or TASZ (personal data protection); Danube Circle (protests the building of the Gabchikovo-Nagymaros dam); Green Future (protests the impact of lead contamination of local factory on health of the people); environmentalists: Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (Magyar Madartani Egyesulet)or MME; Green Alternative (Zold Alternativa) |
| International organization participation: | Australia Group, BIS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Ferenc SOMOGYI chancery: 3910 Shoemaker Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 362-6730 FAX: [1] (202) 966-8135 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador April H. FOLEY embassy: Szabadsag ter 12, H-1054 Budapest mailing address: pouch: American Embassy Budapest, 5270 Budapest Place, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5270 telephone: [36] (1) 475-4400 FAX: [36] (1) 475-4764 |
| Flag description: | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and green |
Economy
| Economy - overview: | Hungary has made the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, with a per capita income nearly two-thirds that of the EU-25 average. The private sector accounts for more than 80% of GDP. Foreign ownership of and investment in Hungarian firms are widespread, with cumulative foreign direct investment totaling more than $60 billion since 1989. The government's IMF-mandated austerity measures, imposed since late 2006, have reduced the budget deficit from over 9% of GDP in 2006 to 3.3% in 2008. Hungary's impending inability to service its short-term debt - brought on by the global credit crunch in late 2008 - led Budapest to seek and receive an IMF-arranged financial assistance package worth over $25 billion. The global financial crisis, declining exports, and low domestic consumption and fixed asset accumulation, dampened by government austerity measures, will result in a negative growth rate of about -1.5% to -2.5% in 2009. |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | $205.7 billion (2008 est.) $208.9 billion (2007) $193.2 billion (2006) note: data are in 2008 US dollars |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | $131.4 billion (2008 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | -1.5% (2008 est.) 1.3% (2007 est.) 3.9% (2006 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | $19,800 (2008 est.) $19,700 (2007 est.) $19,400 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 3.2% industry: 31.9% services: 65% (2008 est.) |
| Labor force: | 4.2 million (2008 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 5% industry: 32.4% services: 62.6% (2005) |
| Unemployment rate: | 8% (2008 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: | 8.6% (1993 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 4% highest 10%: 22.2% (2002) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 28 (2005) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | 15.2% of GDP (January - September 2008) |
| Budget: | revenues: $76.2 billion expenditures: $81.5 billion (2008 est.) |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year |
| Public debt: | 73.8% of GDP (2008 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 6.1% (2008 est.) |
| Central bank discount rate: | 9.5% (1 January 2009) |
| Commercial bank prime lending rate: | 9.48% (26 January 2009) |
| Stock of money: | $36.78 billion (31 December 2007) |
| Stock of quasi money: | $43.07 billion (31 December 2007) |
| Stock of domestic credit: | $109.5 billion (31 December 2007) |
| Market value of publicly traded shares: | $21.9 billion (31 December 2008) |
| Agriculture - products: | wheat, corn, sunflower seed, potatoes, sugar beets; pigs, cattle, poultry, dairy products |
| Industries: | mining, metallurgy, construction materials, processed foods, textiles, chemicals (especially pharmaceuticals), motor vehicles |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 0.4% (2008 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 37.66 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 37.11 billion kWh (2006 est.) |
| Electricity - exports: | 10.69 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
| Electricity - imports: | 14.68 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
| Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 60.1% hydro: 0.5% nuclear: 39% other: 0.3% (2001) |
| Oil - production: | 32,580 bbl/day (2007 est.) |
| Oil - consumption: | 162,800 bbl/day (2007 est.) |
| Oil - exports: | 66,660 bbl/day (2005) |
| Oil - imports: | 178,400 bbl/day (2005) |
| Oil - proved reserves: | 20.18 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.) |
| Natural gas - production: | 2.545 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
| Natural gas - consumption: | 13.36 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
| Natural gas - exports: | 138 million cu m (2007 est.) |
| Natural gas - imports: | 10.45 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
| Natural gas - proved reserves: | 8.098 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.) |
| Current account balance: | -$6.89 billion (2008 est.) |
| Exports: | $109.3 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | machinery and equipment 61.1%, other manufactures 28.7%, food products 6.5%, raw materials 2%, fuels and electricity 1.6% (2003) |
| Exports - partners: | Germany 28.1%, Italy 5.6%, France 4.7%, Austria 4.6%, Romania 4.5%, UK 4.5%, Slovakia 4.2%, Poland 4.2% (2007) |
| Imports: | $107.5 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | machinery and equipment 51.6%, other manufactures 35.7%, fuels and electricity 7.7%, food products 3.1%, raw materials 2.0% (2003) |
| Imports - partners: | Germany 26.6%, China 7.8%, Russia 6.9%, Austria 6.1%, Italy 4.5%, France 4.3%, Netherlands 4.3% (2007) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $30.95 billion (31 December 2008) |
| Debt - external: | $144.2 billion (31 December 2008 est.) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: | $152.4 billion (2008 est.) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: | $79.56 billion (2008 est.) |
| Currency (code): | forint (HUF) |
| Currency code: | HUF |
| Exchange rates: | forints (HUF) per US dollar - 171.8 (2008), 183.83 (2007), 210.39 (2006), 199.58 (2005), 202.75 (2004) |
Communications
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 3.251 million (2007) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 11.03 million (2007) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: the telephone system has been modernized and is capable of satisfying all requests for telecommunication service domestic: the system is digitalized and highly automated; trunk services are carried by fiber-optic cable and digital microwave radio relay; a program for fiber-optic subscriber connections was initiated in 1996; competition among mobile-cellular service providers has led to a sharp increase in the use of mobile cellular phones since 2000 and a decrease in the number of fixed-line connections international: country code - 36; Hungary has fiber-optic cable connections with all neighboring countries; the international switch is in Budapest; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Inmarsat, 1 very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system of ground terminals |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 5, FM 90, shortwave 1 (2008) |
| Radios: | 7.01 million (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations: | 95 (2008) |
| Televisions: | 4.42 million (1997) |
| Internet country code: | .hu |
| Internet hosts: | 1.879 million (2008) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 16 (2000) |
| Internet users: | 4.2 million (2007) |
Transportation
| Airports: | 46 (2008) |
| Airports - with paved runways: | total: 20 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2008) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 26 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 10 (2008) |
| Heliports: | 5 (2007) |
| Pipelines: | gas 4,407 km; oil 987 km; refined products 335 km (2008) |
| Railways: | total: 8,057 km broad gauge: 36 km 1.524-m gauge standard gauge: 7,802 km 1.435-m gauge (2,628 km electrified) narrow gauge: 219 km 0.760-m gauge (2006) |
| Roadways: | total: 159,568 km paved: 70,050 km (30,874 km of interurban roads including 626 km of expressways) unpaved: 89,518 km (2005) |
| Waterways: | 1,622 km (most on Danube River) (2008) |
| Ports and terminals: | Budapest, Dunaujvaros, Gyor-Gonyu, Csepel, Baja, Mohacs (2003) |
Military
| Military branches: | Ground Forces, Hungarian Air Force (Magyar Legiero, ML) (2009) |
| Military service age and obligation: | 18 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription abolished in June 2004; 6-month service obligation (2008) |
| Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 2,391,400 females age 16-49: 2,337,240 (2008 est.) |
| Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 1,887,755 females age 16-49: 1,934,019 (2009 est.) |
| Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: | male: 60,248 female: 57,280 (2009 est.) |
| Military expenditures: | 1.75% of GDP (2005 est.) |
Transnational Issues
| Disputes - international: | bilateral government, legal, technical and economic working group negotiations continue in 2006 with Slovakia over Hungary's failure to complete its portion of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric dam project along the Danube; as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Hungary has implemented the strict Schengen border rules |
| Illicit drugs: | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and cannabis and for South American cocaine destined for Western Europe; limited producer of precursor chemicals, particularly for amphetamine and methamphetamine; efforts to counter money laundering, related to organized crime and drug trafficking, are improving, but remain vulnerable; significant consumer of ecstasy |
Gale World Cuisines:
Top
Hungary
Sunday Dinner Menu |
Recipes
Pörkölt (National Hungarian Stew)Gulyás (Hungarian Goulash)
Paprika Chicken
Stuffed Green Peppers
Pork Cutlets with Potatoes
Hungarian Butter Cookies
Almond Kisses
Hungarian Cold Plate
Small Dumplings
Noodle Pudding
Summer Cucumber Soup
Geographic Setting and Environment
Hungary is a landlocked country in the middle of Europe. It is a little smaller than Indiana, and is a land with fertile soil. Hungarian farmers grow enough wheat, corn, rye, potatoes, and some fruits, to feed its population. Even though many Hungarian farmers raise livestock, the quality of the animals they raise (and the meat they produce) is below the standard of Hungary's neighbors, mostly because there is not enough quality animal food available.
One of the largest challenges facing Hungary is the preservation of its environment. Hungary has huge problems with air and water pollution, but the government does not have enough money or technology to minimize pollution from factories.
Hungary's principal rivers are the Danube and Tisza, and the largest lake is Balaton. All three provide good fishing areas for Hungary's sport and commercial fishers.
History and Food
The first people to live in present-day Hungary were nomads called the Magyars, who arrived in around A.D. 800. Hungary's national dish, a meat stew called goulash, can be traced to the Magyars' eating habits. They traveled with dried cubes of meat cooked with onions, and water could be added to make a stew.
The reign of King Matthias (1458–90) was a high point in Hungarian history, for both culture and food. Through his Italian wife, Queen Beatrice, King Matthias brought Italian cooking to Hungary. During this period, cooking was raised to a fine art.
When the Turks invaded Hungary in the sixteenth century, they brought their cooking customs with them. These included the use of the spice paprika and a thin, flaky pastry called filo (or phyllo) dough. They also taught the Hungarians how to cook stuffed peppers and eggplants. The Turks introduced coffee to Hungary.
Austria's Hapsburg monarchy gained control over Hungary from the seventeenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. Under Austrian rule, German and Austrian cooking styles influenced Hungarian eating habits. During this period, Hungary became famous for its cakes and pastries.
Foods of the Hungarians
The best-known ingredient in Hungarian food is the red-powdered spice called paprika. It is used to flavor many dishes. Other staples of Hungarian cooking include onions, cabbage, potatoes, noodles, and caraway seeds. Both cream and sour cream are used heavily in Hungarian food. Dumplings (dough wrapped around different kinds of fillings) are very popular as are cabbages or green peppers stuffed with meat and rice. Another favorite is the pancake called a palacsinta. It is often rolled or wrapped around different kinds of fillings.
Hungarians eat a lot of meat, mostly pork or beef. Many meat dishes are dipped in bread and then baked or fried. Hungarians also prepare many different kinds of sausages. The Hungarian national dish is meat stew. People outside Hungary call it "goulash," but the Hungarians have several different names for it, including pörkölt and tokány. The dish they call goulash, or gulyás, is actually a soup made with meat and paprika. Paprika is also a key ingredient in another national dish; a fish soup called halaszle.
The Hungarians are known throughout the world for their elegant pastries and cakes. The flaky pastry dough called filo or phyllo was brought to Hungary by the Turks in the seventeenth century. Instead of the honey and nuts used in Turkish pastry, the Hungarians filled phyllo dough with their own ingredients to make a dessert known as strudel. Strudel fillings include apples, cherries, and poppy seeds. Hungary is known for its wines, especially the sweet wines of the Tokay region.
See Pörkölt (National Hungarian Stew) recipe.
See Gulyás (Hungarian Goulash) recipe.
See Paprika Chicken recipe.
See Stuffed Green Peppers recipe.
See Pork Cutlets with Potatoes recipe.
Food for Religious and Holiday Celebrations
Christmas and New Year's are often celebrated with a roasted stuffed turkey or roasted pig. The turkey is usually stuffed with chestnut dressing. Eating roast pig on New Year's Day is supposed to bring good luck. On New Year's Eve, a spicy punch called Krambambuli is served. It is made from chopped fruit, candied orange peel, walnuts, sugar, rum, and brandy, to which even more ingredients are added.
See Hungarian Butter Cookies recipe.
See Almond Kisses recipe.
Mealtime Customs
Most people who live in the country eat a big breakfast. It may consist of eggs, ham or sausage, cheese, green peppers and tomatoes, and rolls and butter. Adults drink tea or coffee; children drink milk or cocoa. In the city, some people eat a lighter breakfast consisting of a beverage and rolls with honey or jam.
Lunch, eaten between noon and 2:30 P.M., is the main meal of the day. Soup, vegetables, and dessert usually accompany a main meat dish. A light supper is eaten in the evening, between 5:30 and 8:00 P.M. Usually this is a one-course meal, consisting of soup, a vegetable dish, or a "Hungarian cold plate." This is a plate of cold meats, cheeses, vegetables, and hard-boiled eggs. It can be eaten for supper, as a snack, or even for breakfast. Hungarians eat salad as a side dish with the main part of the meal, not before or after. Most Hungarian meals end with something sweet, such as sweet noodles, pancakes, dumplings, or a dessert like strudel or cake. In addition to cold meat, popular snacks include dumplings, noodle dishes, and baked goods such as lángos, or fried dough.
Before each meal, Hungarians wish their friends or relatives a good appetite, saying Jó étvágyat kivánok (YO ATE-vah-dyat KEE-vah-nok). At the end of a meal, they express thanks to their host or hostess, saying Köszönöm (KOH-soh-nohm). The host responds, Váljék kedves egészségére (VAH-lyake KEHD-vesh EH-gase-shay-reh). This means "I wish you good health." Music is commonly played in Hungarian restaurants.
See Hungarian Cold Plate recipe.
See Small Dumplings recipe.
See Noodle Pudding recipe.
See Summer Cucumber Soup recipe.
Politics, Economics, and Nutrition
Almost all Hungarians receive adequate nutrition. There is little scarcity of food, and, except for occasional years when there is not enough rainfall, Hungarian farms produce enough food to feed the people.
Further Study
Books
Albyn, Carole Lisa, and Lois Webb. The Multicultural Cookbook for Students. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1993.
Biro, Charlotte Slovak. Flavors of Hungary. San Ramon, Calif.: Ortho Information Services, 1989.
Chamberlain, Lesley. The Food and Cooking of Eastern Europe. New York: Penguin, 1989.
Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Derecskey, Susan. The Hungarian Cookbook. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Halvorsen, Francine. Eating Around the World in Your Neighborhood. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998.
Hargittai, Magdolna. Cooking the Hungarian Way. Minneapolis: Lerner, 1986.
Segal, Ulrike, and Heinz Vestner. Insight Guides: Hungary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995.
Webb, Lois Sinaiko. Holidays of the World Cookbook for Students. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1995.
Web Sites
Epicurious. [Online] Available http://epicurious.com (accessed February 7, 2001).
SOAR (online recipe archive). [Online] Available http://soar.Berkeley.edu (accessed February 7, 2001).
Barron's Wine Lover's Companion:
Top
Hungary
Hungary produces a wide variety of wines from an equally wide assortment of grapes-some familiar, others a specialty of this eastern European country. Some of the more well-known varieties are cabernet sauvignon, gewürztraminer, Médoc Noir (merlot), Szürkebarát (pinot gris), pinot noir and sylvaner. However, the most popular varieties in Hungary are the red kadarka and the white Olasz Riesling (welschriesling). Other white grapes include Ezerjo, furmint, hárslevelü, kéknyelü and leányka. The popular red Kékfrankos is the same as the blaufränkisch grown in Austria, although not related to gamay, as some believe. Hungary has two famous wines-tokay, a highly regarded dessert wine, and egri bikavér, the red "bull's blood" wine. Hungary's growing regions include the Great Plain in the south central part of the country, which produces over half the total production (most of it very ordinary); the Lake Balaton area in the western part of the country, which includes the higher-quality-wine districts of Mount Badacsony (see badacsonyi), Balaton, Balatonfüred-Csopak, Mór, and Somoló; Eger and Tokay, northeast of Budapest, where Egri Bikavér and Tokay are made; and Sopron in the northwestern corner. The labels of Hungarian wines include the name of the producing areas to which an i is added, making it a possessive form, as in Soproni Kékfrankos-a wine made in the Sopron area from the Kékfrankos variety-or Badacsonyi Szürkebarát-from the Mount Badacsony area and made with Szürkebarát grapes.
The currency abbreviation or currency symbol for the Hungarian Forint (HUF), the currency for Hungary. The Forint is made up of 100 filler and is often presented with the symbol (Ft). The Forint gets its name from gold coins called fiorino d'oro that were minted in the city of Florence in the middle ages.
Investopedia Says:
The Forint was first seen with its present name in Hungary in 1325. This currency was used throughout the middle ages and also the Renaissance, emerging as the currency used by the Austro-Hungarian empire. It was discontinued after World War I and then reactivated in 1946 by the Hungarian Communist Party. The future of the Forint is uncertain; it may be wholly replaced by the Euro after 2012.
Related Links:
Take advantage of foreign currency markets without stepping out of your house. The New World Of Emerging Market Currencies
Find out what can cause a currency to collapse and what central banks can do to help. What Causes A Currency Crisis?
These speculators took big positions - and scored huge profits - in the currency market. The Greatest Currency Trades Ever Made
In this online tutorial, beginners and experts alike can learn the ins and outs of the retail forex market. Forex Tutorial: Introduction to Currency Trading
In this online tutorial, beginners and experts alike can learn the ins and outs of the retail forex market. Forex Tutorial: Reading a Forex Quote and Understanding the Jargon
In this online tutorial, beginners and experts alike can learn the ins and outs of the retail forex market. Forex Tutorial: Forex History and Market Participants
In this online tutorial, beginners and experts alike can learn the ins and outs of the retail forex market. Forex Tutorial: How To Trade & Open A Forex Account
National Anthem:
Top
National Anthem of: Hungary
A magyar nép zivataros századaiból
Isten, áldd meg a magyart
Jó kedvvel, bõséggel,
Nyújts feléje védõ kart,
Ha küzd ellenséggel;
Bal sors akit régen tép,
Hozz rá víg esztendõt,
Megbünhödte már e nép
A multat s jövendõt!
Õseinket felhozád
Kárpát szent bércére,
Általad nyert szép hazát
Bendegúznak vére.
S merre zúgnak habjai
Tiszának, Dunának,
Árpád hõs magzatjai
Felvirágozának.
Értünk Kunság mezein
Ért kalászt lengettél,
Tokaj szõlõvesszein
Nektárt csepegtettél.
Zászlónk gyakran plántálád
Vad török sáncára,
S nyögte Mátyás bús hadát
Bécsnek büszke vára.
Hajh, de bûneink miatt
Gyúlt harag kebledben,
S elsújtád villámidat
Dörgõ fellegedben,
Most rabló mongol nyilát
Zúgattad felettünk,
Majd töröktõl rabigát
Vállainkra vettünk.
Hányszor zengett ajkain
Ozman vad népének
Vert hadunk csonthalmain
Gyõzedelmi ének!
Hányszor támadt tenfiad,
Szép hazám, kebledre,
S lettél magzatod miatt
Magzatod hamvvedre!
Bújt az üldözött s felé
Kard nyúl barlangjában,
Szerte nézett, s nem lelé
Honját a hazában.
Bércre hág, és völgybe száll,
Bú s kétség mellette,
Vérözön lábainál,
S lángtenger felette.
Vár állott, most kõhalom;
Kedv s öröm röpkedtek,
Halálhörgés, siralom
Zajlik már helyettek.
S ah, szabadság nem virúl
A holtnak vérébõl,
Kínzó rabság könnye hull
Árvánk hõ szemébõl!
Szánd meg, isten, a magyart,
Kit vészek hányának,
Nyújts feléje védõ kart
Tengerén kínjának.
Bal sors akit régen tép,
Hozz rá víg esztendõt,
Megbünhödte már e nép
A multat s jövendõt!
Hungarian Anthem in English:
O, my God, the Magyar bless
With Thy plenty and good cheer!
With Thine aid his just cause press,
Where his foes to fight appear.
Fate, who for so long did'st frown,
Bring him happy times and ways;
Atoning sorrow hath weighed down
Sins of past and future days.
By Thy help our fathers gained
Kárpát's proud and sacred height;
Here by Thee a home obtained
Heirs of Bendegúz, the knight.
Where'er Danube's waters flow
And the streams of Tisza swell
Árpád's children, Thou dost know,
Flourished and did prosper well.
For us let the golden grain
Grow upon the fields of Kún,
And let Nectar's silver rain
Ripen grapes of Tokay soon.
Thou our flags hast planted o'er
Forts where once wild Turks held sway;
Proud Vienna suffered sore
From King Mátyás' dark array.
But, alas! for our misdeed,
Anger rose within Thy breast,
And Thy lightnings Thou did'st speed
From Thy thundering sky with zest.
Now the Mongol arrow flew
Over our devoted heads;
Or the Turkish yoke we knew,
Which a free-born nation dreads.
O, how often has the voice
Sounded of wild Osman's hordes,
When in songs they did rejoice
O'er our heroes' captured swords!
Yea, how often rose Thy sons,
My fair land, upon Thy sod,
And Thou gavest to these sons,
Tombs within the breast they trod!
Though in caves pursued he lie,
Even then he fears attacks.
Coming forth the land to spy,
Even a home he finds he lacks.
Mountain, vale - go where he would,
Grief and sorrow all the same -
Underneath a sea of blood,
While above a sea of flame.
'Neath the fort, a ruin now,
Joy and pleasure erst were found,
Only groans and sighs, I trow,
In its limits now abound.
But no freedom's flowers return
From the spilt blood of the dead,
And the tears of slavery burn,
Which the eyes of orphans shed.
Pity, God, the Magyar, then,
Long by waves of danger tossed;
Help him by Thy strong hand when
He on grief's sea may be lost.
Fate, who for so long did'st frown,
Bring him happy times and ways;
Atoning sorrow hath weighed down
All the sins of all his days.
Encyclopedia of the Holocaust:
Top
Hungary
Country in central Europe. After Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933, the Hungarian government became interested in making an alliance with Nazi Germany. The Hungarians felt that such an alliance would be good for them in that the two governments had similar authoritarian ideologies, and because the Germans could help them regain land they had lost in World War I. Over the next five years Hungary moved ever closer to Germany. The Munich Conference of September 1938 allowed Germany to annex the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia. In November Germany carved a piece off of Czechoslovakia---a part that had formerly belonged to Hungary---and handed it back to Hungary to cement relations between the two nations. In August 1940 Germany also gave Hungary possession of northern Transylvania. In October 1940 Hungary joined Germany, Italy, and Japan in the Axis alliance. Hungary was awarded even more land in March 1941 when, despite its alliance with the Yugoslav government, Hungary joined its new ally, Germany, in invading and splitting up Yugoslavia. By that time, with all its new territories, the Jewish population in Greater Hungary had reached 725,007, not including about 100,000 Jews who had converted to Christianity but were racially considered to be Jews.
Hungary began issuing Anti-Jewish Legislation soon after the Anschluss---the annexing of Austria by Germany in March 1938. Hungary passed a law whereby Jewish participation in the economy and the professions was cut by 80 percent. In May 1939 the Hungarian government further limited the Jews in the economic realm and distinguished Jews as a "racial," rather than religious group. In 1939 Hungary created a new type of labor service draft, which Jewish men of military age were forced to join (see also Hungarian Labor Service System). Later, many Jewish men would die within its framework. In 1941 the Hungarian government passed a racial law, similar to the Nuremberg Laws, which officially defined who was to be considered Jewish.
Despite the hardships caused by these anti-Jewish laws, most of the Jews of Hungary lived in relative safety for much of the war. However, one group of Hungarian Jews was subject to tragedy in the summer of 1941: some 18,000 Jews randomly designated by the Hungarian authorities as "Jewish foreign nationals" were kicked out of their homes and deported to Kamenets-Podolski in the Ukraine, where most were murdered in cold blood. Another 1,000 Jews in the section of Hungary newly-acquired from Yugoslavia were murdered in early 1942 by Hungarian soldiers and police in their "pursuit of Partisans."
At the same time as they were passing anti-Jewish laws, the Hungarian authorities were getting more and more entrenched in their alliance with Germany. In June 1941 Hungary decided to join Germany in its war against the Soviet Union. Finally, in December 1941, Hungary joined the axis in declaring war against the United States, completely cutting itself off from any relationship with the West. But after Germany's defeat at Stalingrad and other battles in which Hungary lost tens of thousands of its soldiers, the Regent of Hungary, Miklos Horthy, began trying to back out of the alliance with Germany.
This move was not acceptable to Hitler, and in March 1944 German troops invaded Hungary in order to keep the country loyal by force. Hitler immediately set up a new government that he thought would be faithful, with Dome Sztojay, Hungary's former ambassador to Germany, as prime minister. Accompanying the occupation forces was a Sonderkommando unit headed by Adolf Eichmann, whose job was to begin implementing the "final solution" within Hungary. Anti-Jewish decrees were passed at lightning speed.
From July to October, the Jews of Budapest lived in relative safety. However, on October 15 Horthy announced publicly that he was done with Hungary's alliance with Germany, and was going to make peace with the Allies. The Germans blocked this move, and then simply toppled Horthy's government, giving power to Ferenc
The Arrow Cross immediately introduced a reign of terror in Budapest. Nearly 80,000 Jews were killed in Budapest itself, shot on the banks of the Danube River and then thrown in. Thousands of others were forced on
Tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest were saved during the Arrow Cross reign by members of the Relief and Rescue Committee and other Jewish activists, especially Zionist
Hungary was liberated by the Soviet army by April 1945. Up to 568,000 Hungarian Jews had perished during the
Random House Word Menu:
Top
categories related to 'Hungary'
- Nations of the World - Hungary: Republic of; in central Europe; capital Budapest; area 35,919 sq. mi., pop. 10,546,000; Hungarian; Catholic; forint
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Hungary
This article is about the European country. For other uses, see Hungary (disambiguation).
| Hungary
Magyarország
|
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||
| Anthem: Himnusz "Hymn"  |
||||||
![Location of Hungary (dark green)– in Europe (green & dark grey)– in the European Union (green) — [Legend]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EU-Hungary.svg) Location of Hungary (dark green)
– in Europe (green & dark grey) |
||||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Budapest 47°26′N 19°15′E / 47.433°N 19.25°E |
|||||
| Official language(s) | Hungarian | |||||
| Ethnic groups (2001) | 92.3% Hungarians, 1.9% Roma, 5.8% others and unspecified[1][dead link] |
|||||
| Demonym | Hungarian | |||||
| Government | Parliamentary republic | |||||
| - | President | János Áder | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Viktor Orbán | ||||
| - | Speaker of the National Assembly | László Kövér | ||||
| Legislature | Országgyűlés | |||||
| Foundation | ||||||
| - | Foundation of Hungary | 895 | ||||
| - | Recognized as Christian kingdom | 1000 | ||||
| - | Current 3rd republic | 23 October 1989 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 93,030 km2 (109th) 35,919 sq mi |
||||
| - | Water (%) | 0.74% | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2011 estimate | 10,014,324[2] (83rd) | ||||
| - | 2011 census | 9,982,000[3] | ||||
| - | Density | 107.2/km2 (94th) 279.0/sq mi |
||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $195.640 billion[4] | ||||
| - | Per capita | $19,591[4] | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $140.303 billion[4] | ||||
| - | Per capita | $14,050[4] | ||||
| Gini (2008) | 24.96 (low) (3rd) | |||||
| HDI (2011) |  0.816[5] (very high) (38th) |
|||||
| Currency | Forint (HUF) |
|||||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||||
| Date formats | yyyy.mm.dd, yyyy.mm.dd (CE) |
|||||
| Drives on the | right | |||||
| ISO 3166 code | HU | |||||
| Internet TLD | .hu1 | |||||
| Calling code | 36 | |||||
| 1 | Also .eu as part of the European Union. | |||||
Hungary 
i/ˈhʌŋɡəri/ (Hungarian: Magyarország [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ] (
listen)) is a country, which is located in Central Europe.[6] It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country's capital, and largest city, is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and is a Schengen state. The official language is Hungarian, also known as Magyar, which is part of the Finno-Ugric group and is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.[7]
Following a Celt (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (AD 9 - c. 430) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian prince Árpád, whose great-grandson Saint Stephen I was crowned with a crown sent by the pope from Rome in 1000 AD. The Kingdom of Hungary lasted for 946 years,[note 1] and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centres of the Western world. After about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541–1699), Hungary was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy, and later constituted half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy (1867–1918).
A great power until the end of World War I, Hungary has lost about 70 percent of its territory, along with one third of its ethnically Hungarian population,[8] and all its sea ports under the Treaty of Trianon,[9] the terms of which have been considered excessively harsh by many in Hungary.[10] The kingdom was succeeded by an authoritarian regime, and then a Communist era (1947–1989) during which Hungary gained widespread international attention during the Revolution of 1956 and the seminal opening of its border with Austria in 1989, thus accelerating the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. The present form of government is a parliamentary republic, which was established in 1989. Today, Hungary is a high-income economy[11] and a regional leader in some[vague] respects.[12][13][14][15]
Hungary is one of the thirty most popular tourist destinations of the world, attracting 8.6 million tourists a year (2007).[16][17] The country is home to the largest thermal water cave system[18] and the second largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz), the largest lake in Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grasslands in Europe (Hortobágy).
|
Contents
|
History
Main article: History of Hungary
Before 895
Main articles: Hungarian prehistory and Hungarian mythology
The Roman Empire conquered territory west of the Danube between 35 and 9 BCE. From 9 BCE to the end of the 4th century Pannonia was part of the Roman Empire, located within part of later Hungary's territory. Later came the Huns, who built a powerful empire. After Hunnish rule, the Germanic Ostrogoths, Lombards, and Gepids, and the polyethnic Avars, had a presence in the Carpathian Basin.[19] In the late 9th century the land was inhabited by Slavic peoples and Avars. On the eve of the arrival of the Hungarians, East Francia, the First Bulgarian Empire and Great Moravia ruled the territory of the Carpathian Basin. Additionally, the Avars formed a significant part of the population of the Carpathian Basin at the end of the 9th century; both contemporary sources[20][21] and a growing number of archaeological evidences suggest that groups of the Avars survived the disintegration of their empire.
The freshly unified Magyars (Hungarians)[22] led by Árpád settled in the Carpathian Basin starting in 895.[21][23] According to linguists, they originated from an ancient Uralic-speaking population that formerly inhabited the forested area between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains.[24]
Medieval Hungary 895–1526
Main article: Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages
As a federation of united tribes, Hungary was established in 895, some 50 years after the division of the Carolingian Empire at the Treaty of Verdun in 843, before the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Initially, the rising Principality of Hungary ("Western Tourkia" in medieval Greek sources)[25] was a state consisting of a semi-nomadic people. However, it accomplished an enormous transformation into a Christian realm during the 10th century. This state was well-functioning and the nation's military power allowed the Hungarians to conduct successful fierce campaigns and raids from Constantinople to as far as today's Spain.[26] The Hungarians defeated no fewer than three major East Frankish Imperial Armies between 907 and 910.[27] A later defeat at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955 signaled a provisory end to most campaigns on foreign territories, at least towards the West.
Age of Árpádian kings
Main article: Árpád dynasty
103.jpg)
The year 972 marked the date when the ruling prince (Hungarian: fejedelem) Géza of the Árpád dynasty officially started to integrate Hungary into the Christian Western Europe.[28] 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.[29] Applying to Pope Sylvester II, Stephen received the insignia of royalty (including probably a part of the Holy Crown of Hungary, currently kept in the Hungarian Parliament) from the papacy.
By 1006, Stephen had consolidated his power, and started sweeping reforms to convert Hungary into a Western feudal state. The country switched to using the Latin language, and until as late as 1844, Latin remained the official language of Hungary. Hungary became a powerful kingdom.[30] Ladislaus I extended Hungary's frontier in Transylvania and invaded Croatia in 1091.[31][32][33][34] The Croatian campaign culminated in the Battle of Gvozd Mountain in 1097 and a personal union of Croatia and Hungary in 1102, ruled by Coloman.[35]
The most powerful and wealthiest king of the Árpád dynasty was Béla III, who disposed of the equivalent of 23 tonnes of pure silver a year. This exceeded the income of the French king (estimated at 17 tonnes) and was double the receipts of the English Crown.[36]
Andrew II issued the Diploma Andreanum which secured the special privileges of the Transylvanian Saxons and is considered the first Autonomy law in the world.[37] He led the Fifth Crusade to the Holy Land in 1217, setting up the largest royal army in the history of Crusades. His Golden Bull of 1222 was the first constitution in Continental Europe. The lesser nobles also began to present Andrew with grievances, a practice that evolved into the institution of the parliament (parlamentum publicum).
In 1241–1242, the kingdom received a major blow with the Mongol (Tatar) Invasion. Up to half of Hungary's then population of 2,000,000 were victims of the invasion.[38] King Béla IV let Cumans and Jassic people into the depopulated country, who were fleeing the Mongols.[39] Over the centuries they were fully assimilated into the Hungarian population.[40]
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 (using a higher proportion of heavily armed knights) stopped them. The invading Mongol force was defeated[41] near Pest by the royal army of Ladislaus IV of Hungary. As with later invasions, it was repelled handily, the Mongols losing much of their invading force.
Age of elected kings
Main article: Ottoman–Hungarian Wars
.png)
The Kingdom of Hungary reached one of its greatest extent during the Árpádian kings, yet royal power was weakened at the end of their rule in 1301. After a destructive period of interregnum (1301–1308), the first Angevin king, Charles I of Hungary – a bilineal descendant of the Árpád dynasty – successfully restored royal power, and defeated oligarch rivals, the so called "little kings". The second Angevin Hungarian king, Louis the Great (1342–1382), led many successful military campaigns from Lithuania to Southern Italy (Kingdom of Naples), 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 (1387–1437) succeeded to the throne, who in 1433 also became Holy Roman Emperor. Sigismund was also (in several ways) a bilineal descendant of the Árpád dynasty.
The first Hungarian Bible translation was completed in 1439. For half a year in 1437, there was an antifeudal and anticlerical peasant revolt in Transylvania, the Budai Nagy Antal Revolt, which was strongly influenced by Hussite ideas.
From a small noble family in Transylvania, John Hunyadi grew to become one of the country's most powerful lords, thanks to his outstanding capabilities as a mercenary commander. He was elected governor then regent. He was a successful crusader against the Ottoman Turks, one of his greatest victories being the Siege of Belgrade in 1456.
The last strong king of medieval Hungary was the Renaissance king Matthias Corvinus (1458–1490), 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.[42] 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. The library is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[43] The serfs and common people considered him a just ruler because he protected them from excessive demands from and other abuses by the magnates.[44] Under his rule, in 1479, the Hungarian army destroyed the Ottoman and Wallachian troops at the Battle of Breadfield. Abroad he defeated the Polish and German imperial armies of Frederick at Breslau (Wrocław). Matthias' mercenary standing army, the Black Army of Hungary, was an unusually large army for its time, and it conquered parts of Austria, Vienna (1485) and parts of Bohemia.
Decline of Hungary (1490–1526)
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.[42] Hungary's international role declined, its political stability shaken, and social progress was deadlocked.[45] 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 János Szapolyai. The resulting degradation of order paved the way for Ottoman pre-eminence. In 1521, the strongest Hungarian fortress in the South, Nándorfehérvár (the Hungarian name of Belgrade, Serbia), fell to the Turks. The early appearance of Protestantism further worsened internal relations in the anarchical country.
Ottoman wars 1526–1699
Main articles: Habsburg Hungary, Ottoman Hungary, Principality of Transylvania (1571–1711), and Ottoman–Habsburg wars
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, János Szapolyai 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. The remaining central area, including the capital Buda, was known as the Pashalik of Buda.
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.[46] 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. A large part of the country became devastated, population growth was stunted, and many smaller settlements perished. The main inhabitants of the Ottoman-ruled area were ethnically Hungarians, hence their number was substantially diminished.[47] The Austrian-Habsburg government settled large groups of Serbs and other Slavs in the depopulated south and settled Germans in various areas, but Hungarians were not allowed to settle or re-settle in the south of the Great Plain.[48]
From the 18th century to World War I
Main article: History of Hungary 1700–1919
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 the title "King". The uprisings lasted for years. After 8 years of war with the Habsburg Empire, the Hungarian Kuruc army lost the last main battle at Trencsén (1708).[49]
The Period of Reforms
During the Napoleonic Wars and afterwards, the Hungarian Diet had not convened for decades.[50] In the 1820s, the Emperor was forced to convene the Diet, which marked the beginning of a Reform Period (1825–1848, Hungarian: reformkor).
Count István Széchenyi, one of the most prominent statesmen of the country, recognized the urgent need of modernization and his message got through. The Hungarian Parliament was reconvened in 1825 to handle financial needs. A liberal party emerged and focused on providing for the peasantry. Lajos Kossuth – a famous journalist at that time – emerged as leader of the lower gentry in the Parliament. A remarkable upswing started as the nation concentrated its forces on modernization even though the Habsburg monarchs obstructed all important liberal laws relating to human civil and political rights and economic reforms. Many reformers (Lajos Kossuth, Mihály Táncsics) were imprisoned by the authorities.
Revolution and War of Independence
Main article: Hungarian Revolution of 1848
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 Habsburg Ruler and his advisors skillfully manipulated the Croatian, Serbian and Romanian peasantry, led by priests and officers firmly loyal to the Habsburgs, and induced them to rebel against the Hungarian government, though the Hungarians were supported by the vast majority of the Slovak, German and Rusyn nationalities and by all the Jews of the kingdom, as well as by a large number of Polish, Austrian and Italian volunteers.[51] In July 1849 the Hungarian Parliament proclaimed and enacted the first laws of ethnic and minority rights in the world. Many members of the nationalities gained the coveted highest positions within the Hungarian Army, like General János Damjanich, an ethnic Serb who became a Hungarian national hero through his command of the 3rd Hungarian Army Corps.
Initially, the Hungarian forces (Honvédség) defeated Austrian armies. To counter the successes of the Hungarian revolutionary army, Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph I asked for help from the "Gendarme of Europe", Czar Nicholas I, whose Russian armies invaded Hungary. This made Artúr Görgey surrender in August 1849. The leader of the Austrian army, Julius Jacob von Haynau, became governor of Hungary for a few months, and ordered the execution of the 13 Martyrs of Arad, leaders of the Hungarian army, and Prime Minister Batthyány in October 1849. Lajos Kossuth escaped into exile.
Following the war of 1848 – 1849, the whole country was in "passive resistance".
Austria–Hungary 1867–1918
Main articles: Austria-Hungary and Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen
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 (after the Russian Empire), and it was the third most populous (after Russia and the German Empire). 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 country was mixed with regard to both mother tongue and religion.
Religions (1910 census, Croatia-Slavonia excluded):[citation needed]
- Roman Catholic 49.3% (Hungarians, Germans, Slovaks)
- Calvinist 14.3% (Hungarians)
- Greek Orthodox 12.8% (Romanians, Serbs)
- Greek Catholic 11.0% (Ruthenians, Romanians)
- Lutheran 7.1% (Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians)
- Jewish 5.0% (Hungarians, Germans)
- Unitarian 0.4% (Hungarians)
First language (1910 census, Croatia-Slavonia excluded):[citation needed]
- Hungarian 54.5%
- Romanian 16.1%
- Slovak 10.7%
- German 10.4%
- Serbian 2.5%
- Ruthenian 2.5%
- Croatian 1.1%
The era witnessed impressive economic development. The formerly backward Hungarian economy became relatively modern and industrialized by the turn of the 20th century, although agriculture remained dominant until 1890. In 1873, the old capital Buda and Óbuda were officially united with Pest,[52] thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest.
Technological change accelerated industrialization and urbanization. The GNP per capita grew roughly 1.45% per year from 1870 to 1913. The growth was even higher, by a substantial amount, in the Hungarian-language area of the country. 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%).[citation needed] Many of the state institutions and the modern administrative system of Hungary were established during this period.
World War I 1914–1918
Main article: Hungary in World War I
After the Assassination in Sarajevo, the Hungarian prime minister István Tisza and his cabinet, the only one in Europe to do so, tried to avoid the outbreak and escalating of a war in Europe, but their diplomatic efforts were unsuccessful.
Austria–Hungary drafted 9 million (fighting forces: 7.8 million) soldiers in World War I (over 4 million from the Kingdom of Hungary) on the side of Germany, Bulgaria and Turkey. The Central Powers conquered Serbia. Romania declared war. The Central Powers conquered Southern Romania and the Romanian capital Bucharest. In 1916 Emperor Franz Joseph died, and the new monarch Charles IV sympathized with the pacifists. With great difficulty, the Central powers stopped and repelled the attacks of the Russian Empire.
The Eastern front of the Allied (Entente) 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 (strikes in factories were organized by leftist and pacifist movements) and uprisings in the army had become commonplace. In the capital cities, the Austrian and Hungarian leftist liberal movements (the maverick parties) and their leaders supported the separatism of ethnic minorities. Austria-Hungary signed a general armistice in Padua on 3 November 1918.[53] In October 1918, Hungary's union with Austria was dissolved.
Between the World Wars 1918–1941
Main articles: Hungary between the two world wars and Hungarian interwar economy
Majority Hungarian areas detached from Hungary
The success of the 1918 Aster Revolution in Budapest brought Mihály Károlyi to power as prime minister and later as president of the first republic of Hungary.[56] a devotee of Entente. Károlyi ordered the full disarmament of the Hungarian Army, leaving Hungary without any national defence.
Romania took control of Transylvania and other parts of eastern Hungary, Czechoslovakia took control of the northern parts (also known as Upper Hungary), and a joint Serbian and French army took control of the southern parts. These territories had majority populations of the respective occupying nations, but territories were occupied further than the ethnic boundaries, and so each had a significant Hungarian population as well. The post-War Entente backed the subsequent annexations of these territories.
In March 1919, the Communists took power in Hungary. In April, Béla Kun proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Kun's government, like its immediate predecessor, proved to be short-lived. Despite some initial military successes against the Czechoslovakian Army, the Romanian Army defeated Kun's troops and took Budapest, ousting his regime.
On 4 June 1920, the Treaty of Trianon was signed, which established new borders for Hungary. Hungary lost 71% of its territory and 66% of its population. About one-third of the ethnic Hungarian population (3.4 of 10 million Hungarians) became minorities in neighboring countries. The new borders separated Hungary's industrial base from its sources of raw materials, and Hungary also lost its only sea port at Fiume (today Rijeka). The revision of the Treaty of Trianon rose to the top of Hungary's political agenda. Some wanted to restore the full pre-Trianon area, others only the ethnic Hungarian majority territories.
Rightist Hungarian military forces, led by the former Austro-Hungarian Admiral Miklós Horthy, entered Budapest in the wake of the Romanian Army's departure and filled the vacuum of state power. In January 1920, elections were held for a unicameral assembly. Admiral Horthy was elected Regent, thereby formally restoring the monarchy to Hungary. However, there would be no more kings of Hungary despite attempts by the former Habsburg ruler Charles IV to return to his former seat of power. Horthy ruled as Regent until 16 October 1944. Hungary remained a parliamentary democracy, but after 1932, autocratic tendencies gradually returned as a result of Nazi influence and the Great Depression.
World War II 1941–1945
Main articles: Hungary during World War II and Soviet occupation of Hungary
The Germans and Italians granted Hungary a part of southern Czechoslovakia and Subcarpathia in the First Vienna Award of 1938, and then northern Transylvania in the Second Vienna Award of 1940. In 1941, the Hungarian army took part in the invasion of Yugoslavia, regaining some more territories. On 22 June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union under Operation Barbarossa; Hungary joined the German effort and declared war on the Soviet Union, and formally entered World War II on the side of the Axis Powers. In late 1941, the Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front experienced success at the Battle of Uman. By 1943, after the Hungarian Second Army suffered extremely heavy losses at the River Don, the Hungarian government sought to negotiate a surrender with the Allies. In 1944, as a result of this duplicity, German troops occupied Hungary in what was known as Operation Margarethe. Miklós Horthy made a token effort to disengage Hungary from the war, but he was replaced by a puppet government under the pro-German Prime Minister Ferenc Szálasi of the Arrow Cross Party.[57]
In late 1944, Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front again experienced success at the Battle of Debrecen, but this was followed immediately by the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the Battle of Budapest. During the German occupation in May–June 1944, the Arrow Cross Party and Hungarian police deported nearly 440,000 Jews, mostly to Auschwitz.[58] The Swedish Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg managed to save a considerable number of Hungarian Jews by giving them Swedish passports, but when the Soviets arrived, he was arrested as a spy and disappeared.[59] Rudolf Kastner (original spelling Kasztner), one of the leaders of the Hungarian Aid and Rescue Committee, negotiated with senior SS officers such as Adolf Eichmann to allow a number of Jews to escape in exchange for money, gold, and diamonds.[60][61][62] Other diplomats also organized false papers and safe houses for Jews in Budapest and hundreds of Hungarian people were executed by the Arrow Cross Party for sheltering Jews.
The war left Hungary devastated, destroying over 60% of the economy and causing huge loss of life. Many Hungarian men, women, and children were raped, murdered and executed or deported for slave labour by Czechoslovaks,[63][64][65][66][67][68] Soviet Red Army troops,[69][70][71] and Yugoslavs[72] (mostly Serbian partisans and regular units)— by the end of the war approximately 500,000–650,000 people.[citation needed]
On 13 February 1945, the Hungarian capital city surrendered unconditionally. By the agreement between the Czechoslovakian president Edvard Beneš and Joseph Stalin, expulsions of Hungarians from Czechoslovakia and Slovaks from Hungary started. 250,000 ethnic Germans were also transferred to Germany pursuant to article XIII of the Potsdam Protocol of 2 August 1945.[73]
The territories regained with the Vienna Awards and during World War II were again lost by Hungary with the Paris Peace Treaty in 1947.
Communist era 1947–1989
Main articles: Republic of Hungary (1946–1949), People's Republic of Hungary, and Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Following the fall of Nazi Germany, Soviet troops occupied all of the country, and Hungary gradually became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union.
An estimated 2,000 people were executed and over 100,000 were imprisoned. Approximately 350,000 officials and intellectuals were purged from 1948 to 1956.[74] Many freethinkers and democrats were secretly arrested and taken to inland or foreign concentration camps without any judicial sentence. Some 600,000 Hungarians were deported to Soviet labour camps after the Second World War and at least 200,000 died in captivity.[75]
Rákosi adhered to a militarist, industrialising, and war compensation economic policy, and the standard of living fell. The rule of the Rákosi government led to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Hungary's temporary withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. The multi-party system was restored by Prime Minister Imre Nagy. Many people were shot and killed by Soviet and Hungarian political police (ÁVH) at peaceful demonstrations throughout the country, creating a nationwide uprising.
Spontaneous revolutionary militias fought against the Soviet Army and the ÁVH in Budapest. The roughly 3,000-strong Hungarian resistance fought Soviet tanks using Molotov cocktails and machine pistols. Though the preponderance of the Soviets was immense, they suffered heavy losses, and by 30 October most Soviet troops had withdrawn from Budapest to garrisons in the Hungarian countryside.
On 4 November 1956, the Soviets retaliated, sending in over 150,000 troops and 2,500 tanks.[76] During the Hungarian uprising an estimated 20,000 people were killed, nearly all during the Soviet intervention. Nearly a quarter of a million people left the country during the brief time that the borders were open in 1956.[77]
Kádár Era 1956–1988
See also: Goulash Communism
In the first days of November, the Soviet leadership was still undecided about the developments in Hungary, but soon the position prevailed that an intervention was necessary to prevent Hungary from breaking away from the Soviet bloc. János Kádár (Minister of State in the Imre Nagy cabinet) was chosen by the Soviet party leadership to act as the head of the new government intended to replace Imre Nagy's coalition cabinet. In the reprisals following the crushing of the uprising by the Soviet troops, 21,600 mavericks (democrats, liberals, and reformist communists) were imprisoned, 13,000 interned, and 230 brought to trial and executed.Imre Nagy, the legal Prime Minister of the country, was condemned to death and executed in 1958.
Following the invasion, Hungary was under Soviet military administration for a couple of months, but Kadar was capable of stabilizing the political situation in a remarkably short time. In 1963, general amnesty was granted and the majority of those imprisoned for their active participation in the uprising were released. Kadar proclaimed a new policy line according to which the people were no longer compelled to profess loyalty to the party if they tacitly accepted the Socialist regime as a fact of life, in other words "Those who are not against us are with us," as Kadar put it in one of his political speeches. Kádár introduced new planning priorities in the economy. Consumer goods and food were produced in greater volumes and military production was reduced to one-tenth of the pre-revolutionary level. This was followed in 1968 by the New Economic Mechanism (NEM), which introduced free market elements into Socialist command economy. From the 1960s through the late 1980s, Hungary was often referred to as "the happiest barrack" within the Eastern bloc. As a result of the relatively high standard of living, a more liberalised economy, a less oppressed press, and less restricted travel rights than elsewhere in the Eastern Bloc, Hungary was generally considered one of the more liberal countries in which to live in Eastern Europe during the Cold War.
The third Hungarian Republic 1989–present
See also: Revolutions of 1989 and 2006 protests in Hungary
 |
This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help improve the article by updating it. There may be additional information on the talk page. (January 2012) |
In June 1988, 80,000 demonstrated against Romania's communist regime's plans to demolish Transylvanian villages. In March 1989, for the first time in decades, the government declared the anniversary of the 1848 Revolution a national holiday. Opposition demonstrations filled the streets of Budapest with more than 75,000 marchers. Premier Károly Grósz met Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow, who accepted Hungary's moves toward a multi-party system and promised that the USSR would not interfere in Hungary's internal affairs. The Opposition Round Table Consultations with the representatives of the government, which was founded for the stated goal of introducing multi-party democracy, market economy and change of power, and defining its characteristics, started its sessions. In May, Hungary began taking down its barbed wire fence along the Austrian border – the first tear in the Iron Curtain.
June brought the reburial of former Prime Minister Imre Nagy, executed after the 1956 Revolution, drawing a crowd of 250,000 at the Heroes' Square. The last speaker, 26-year-old Viktor Orbán, publicly called for Soviet troops to leave Hungary. In September, Foreign Minister Gyula Horn announced that East German refugees in Hungary would not be repatriated but would instead be allowed to go to the West. The resulting exodus shook East Germany and hastened the fall of the Berlin Wall. On 23 October, Mátyás Szűrös declared Hungary a republic.
The majorities in the decisive bodies of the state party agreed to give up their monopoly on power, paving the way for free elections in March 1990. The party's name was changed from the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party to simply the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP] and a new programme advocating social democracy and a free-market economy was adopted. This was not enough to shake off the stigma of four decades of autocratic rule, however, and the 1990 election was won by the centre-right Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), which advocated a gradual transition towards capitalism. The liberal Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ), which had called for much faster change, came second and the Socialist Party trailed far behind. As Gorbachev looked on, Hungary changed political systems with scarcely a murmur and the last Soviet troops left Hungary in June 1991. In coalition with two smaller parties, the MDF provided Hungary with sound government during its hard transition to a full market economy.
The economic changes of the early 1990s resulted in declining living standards for most people in Hungary. In 1991 most state subsidies were removed, leading to a severe recession exacerbated by the fiscal austerity necessary to reduce inflation and stimulate investment. This made life difficult for many Hungarians, and in the May 1994 elections the Hungarian Socialist Party led by former Communists won an absolute majority in parliament.
All three main political parties advocated economic liberalisation and closer ties with the West. In 1998, the European Union began negotiations with Hungary on full membership. In a 2003 national referendum, 85% voted in favour of Hungary joining the European Union, which followed on 1 May 2004.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Hungary
See also: List of national parks of Hungary
.jpg)
Hungary lies between latitudes 45° and 49° N, and longitudes 16° and 23° E.
Slightly more than one half of Hungary's landscape consists of flat to rolling plains of the Pannonian Basin: the most important plain regions include the Little Hungarian Plain in the west, and the Great Hungarian Plain in the southeast. The highest elevation above sea level on the latter is only 183 metres (600 ft).
Transdanubia is a primarily hilly region with a terrain varied by low mountains. These include the very eastern stretch of the Alps, Alpokalja, in the west of the country, the Transdanubian Mountains, in the central region of Transdanubia, and the Mecsek Mountains and Villány Mountains in the south. The highest point of the area is the Írott-kő in the Alps, at 882 metres (2,894 ft).
The highest mountains of the country are located in the Carpathians: these lie in the North Hungarian Mountains, in a wide band along the Slovakian border (highest point: the Kékes at 1,014 m/3,327 ft).
Hungary is divided in two by its main waterway, the Danube (Duna); other large rivers include the Tisza and Dráva, while Transdanubia contains Lake Balaton, a major body of water. The largest thermal lake in the world, Lake Hévíz (Hévíz Spa), is located in Hungary. The second largest lake in the Carpathian Basin is the artificial Lake Tisza (Tisza-tó).
Phytogeographically, Hungary belongs to the Central European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Hungary belongs to the ecoregion of Pannonian mixed forests.
Hungary has 10 national parks, 145 minor nature reserves and 35 landscape protection areas.
Climate
Hungary has a continental climate,[78] with hot summers with low overall humidity levels but frequent rainshowers and mildly cold snowy winters. Average annual temperature is 9.7 °C (49.5 °F). Temperature extremes are about 41.9 °C (107.4 °F) on 20 Jul 2007 at Kiskunhalas in the summer and −35 °C (−31.0 °F) on 16 Feb 1940 Miskolc-Görömbölytapolca in the winter. Average high temperature in the summer is 23 °C (73.4 °F) to 28 °C (82 °F) and average low temperature in the winter it is −3 °C (27 °F) to −7 °C (19 °F). The average yearly rainfall is approximately 600 mm (23.6 in). A small, southern region of the country near Pécs enjoys a reputation for a Mediterranean climate, but in reality it is only slightly warmer than the rest of the country and still receives snow during the winter.
Hungary is ranked sixth in an environmental protection index by GW/CAN.[79]
Politics
Main article: Politics of Hungary
The President of the Republic, elected by the members of the National Assembly every five years, has a largely ceremonial role, but he is nominally the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and his powers include the nomination of the Prime Minister who is to be elected by a majority of the votes of the Members of Parliament, based on the recommendation made by the President of the Republic.
By the Hungarian Constitution, based on the post-WWII Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Prime Minister has a leading role in the executive branch as he selects Cabinet ministers and has the exclusive right to dismiss them (similarly to the competences of the German federal chancellor). Each cabinet nominee appears before one or more parliamentary committees in consultative open hearings, survive a vote by the Parliament and must be formally approved by the president.
A controversial constitutional change in force from 1 January 2012 repealed the words "Republic of" from the country's official name.[80][81]
The unicameral, 386-member National Assembly (Országgyűlés) is the highest organ of state authority and initiates and approves legislation sponsored by the Prime Minister. Its members are elected for a four-year term. 176 members are elected in single-seat constituencies, 152 by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies, and 58 so-called compensation seats are distributed based on the number of votes "lost" (i.e., the votes that did not produce a seat) in either the single-seat or the multi-seat constituencies. The election threshold is 5%, but it only applies to the multi-seat constituencies and the compensation seats, not the single-seat constituencies.
A 15-member Constitutional Court has power to challenge legislation on grounds of unconstitutionality.
Political parties
Main article: List of political parties in Hungary
Military
Main article: Military of Hungary
The Military of Hungary, or "Hungarian Armed Forces" currently has two branches, the "Hungarian Ground Force" and the "Hungarian Air Force". The Hungarian Ground Force (or Army) is known as the "Corps of Homeland Defenders" (Honvédség). This term was originally used to refer to the revolutionary army established by Lajos Kossuth and the National Defence Committee of the Revolutionary Hungarian Diet in September 1848 during the Hungarian Revolution.
Hussar: A type of irregular light horsemen was already well established by the 15th century in medieval Hungary. Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry created in Hungary[82] in the 15th century and used throughout Europe and even in America since the 18th century. Some modern military units retain the title 'hussar' for reasons of tradition.
Administrative divisions
Administratively, Hungary is divided into 19 counties. In addition, the capital (főváros), Budapest, is independent of any county government. The counties and the capital are the 20 NUTS third-level units of Hungary.
The counties are further subdivided into 174 (1 January 2011.) subregions (kistérségek), and Budapest is its own subregion. Since 1996, the counties and City of Budapest have been grouped into 7 regions for statistical and development purposes. These seven regions constitute NUTS' second-level units of Hungary.
There are also 23 towns with county rights (singular megyei jogú város), sometimes known as "urban counties" in English (although there is no such term in Hungarian). The local authorities of these towns have extended powers, but these towns belong to the territory of the respective county instead of being independent territorial units.
- Regions
- Northern Hungary
- Northern Great Plain
- Central Hungary
- Central Transdanubia
- Western Transdanubia
- Southern Transdanubia
- Southern Great Plain
- Counties (county seats)
Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Hungary
Economy
Main article: Economy of Hungary
Hungary held its first multi-party elections in 1990, following four decades of Communist rule, and has succeeded in transforming its centrally planned economy into a market economy. Both foreign ownership of and foreign investment in Hungarian firms are widespread. Hungary has a requirement to reduce government spending and further reform its economy in order to meet the 2020[83] target date for accession to the euro zone.
Highest-value banknote of the Hungarian Forint (obverse)
The private sector accounts for over 80% of GDP. Hungary gets nearly one third of all foreign direct investment flowing into Central Europe, with cumulative foreign direct investment totaling more than US$185 billion since 1989. It enjoys strong trade, fiscal, monetary, investment, business, and labor freedoms. The top income tax rate is fairly high, but coporate taxes are low. Inflation is low, it was on the rise in the past few years[when?], but it is now[when?] starting to regulate. Investment in Hungary is reported to be "easy", although it is subject to government licensing in security-sensitive areas. Foreign capital enjoys virtually the same protections and privileges as domestic capital. The rule of law is strong, a professional judiciary protects property rights, and the level of corruption is low.
The Hungarian economy is a medium-sized, structurally, politically, and institutionally open economy in Central Europe and is part of the EU single market. Like most Eastern European economies, it experienced market liberalisation in the early 1990s as part of a transition away from communism.
Today, Hungary is a full member of OECD and the World Trade Organization.
OECD was the first international organization to accept Hungary as a full member in 1996, after six years of successful cooperation.
Hungarian economy today
Hungary, as a member state of the European Union may seek to adopt the common European currency, the Euro. To achieve this, Hungary would need to fulfill the Maastricht criteria.
In foreign investments, Hungary has seen a shift from lower-value textile and food industry to investment in luxury vehicle production, renewable energy systems, high-end tourism, information technology.
The austerity measures introduced by the government are in part an attempt to fulfill the Maastricht criteria.
The austerity measures include a 2% rise in social security contributions, half of which is paid by employees, and a large increase in the minimum rate of sales tax (levied on food and basic services) from 15 to 20%.
Hungary, which joined the European Union in 2004, has been hit hard by the late-2000s recession because of its heavy dependence on foreign capital to finance its economy and has one of the biggest public deficits in the EU.[84][85]
Total government spending is high. Many state-owned enterprises have not been privatized. Business licensing is a problem[by whom?], as regulations are not applied consistently.[86] According to the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, Hungary's economy was 67.2% "free" in 2008,[86] which makes it the world's 43rd-freest economy. Its overall score is 1% lower than last year, partially reflecting new methodological detail. Hungary is ranked 25th out of 41 countries in the European region, and its overall score is slightly lower than the regional average.[86]
In 2011 Hungarian economy showed signs of recovery with decreasing tax rates and a moderate 1.7 percent GDP growth from the previous financial crisis,[87] however, in November 2011 Moody’s has downgraded Hungary's sovereign credit rating to Ba1, just below investment grade, because of mounting financial-sector funding pressures and the general government debt which is of 81% of GDP (2010).[88] Economic reform measures such as health care reform, tax reform, and local government financing are being addressed by the present government.
Education
Main article: Education in Hungary
In the year 1276 the university of Veszprém was destroyed by the troops of Péter Csák and it was never rebuilt. A university was established in Pécs 1367. Sigismund established a university at Óbuda in 1395. Another, Universitas Istropolitana, was established 1465 in Pozsony by Mattias Corvinus. Nagyszombat University was founded in 1635 and moved 1777 to Buda and is today called Eötvös Loránd University. The world's first institute of technology was founded in Selmecbánya, Kingdom of Hungary (since 1920 Banská Štiavnica, now Slovakia) in 1735. Its legal successor is University of Miskolc in Hungary. The Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) is considered the oldest institute of technology in the world with university rank and structure. Its legal predecessor was founded in 1782 by Emperor Joseph II.
Science and technology
Hungary is famous for its excellent mathematics education which has trained numerous outstanding scientists. Famous Hungarian mathematicians include father Farkas Bolyai and son János Bolyai, designer of modern geometry (non-Euclidian geometry) 1820–1823. Paul Erdős, famed for publishing in over forty languages and whose Erdős numbers are still tracked;[89] and John von Neumann, Quantum Theory, Game theory a pioneer of digital computing and the key mathematician in the Manhattan Project. Many Hungarian scientists, including Erdős, von Neumann, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner and Edward Teller emigrated to the US. Thirteen Hungarian or Hungarian-born scientists received the Nobel Prize, all of whom emigrated, mostly because of persecution of communist and/or fascist regimes. Contemporary, internationally well-known Hungarian scientists include: mathematician László Lovász, physicist Albert-László Barabási, physicist Ferenc Krausz, biochemist Árpád Pusztai.
Hungarian inventions
- The English word "coach" came from the Hungarian kocsi ("wagon from Kocs" referring to the village in Hungary where coaches were first made).[90]
- Wolfgang von Kempelen invented a manually operated speaking machine in 1769.
- János Irinyi invented the noiseless match.
- In 1827 Ányos Jedlik invented the electric motor. He created the first device to contain the three main components of practical direct current motors: the stator, rotor and commutator.
- Donát Bánki and János Csonka invented the Carburetor.
- Ottó Bláthy, Miksa Déri and Károly Zipernowsky invented the modern transformer in 1885.[91][91]
- Kálmán Kandó invented the Three-phase Alternating Current Electric locomotive, and was a pioneer in the development of electric railway traction.
- Tivadar Puskás invented the Telephone Exchange.
- Loránd Eötvös: weak equivalence principle and surface tension
- Albert Szent-Györgyi discovered Vitamin C and created the first artificial vitamin.(Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937)
- Theodore Kármán - Mathematical tools to study fluid flow and mathematical background of supersonic flight and inventor of swept-back wings, "father of Supersonic Flight"
- Leó Szilárd: hypothesized the nuclear chain reaction (therefore he was the first who realized the feasibility of an atomic bomb), patented the Nuclear reactor, invented the Electron microscope
- Dennis Gabor invented the Holography (Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971)
- László Bíró invented ballpoint pen
- Edward Teller hypothesized the thermonuclear fusion and the theory of the hydrogen bomb
- Ernő Rubik invented the Rubik's Cube
Transport
Main article: Transport in Hungary
Hungary has a highly developed road, railway, air and water transport system. Budapest, the capital of the state, serves as an important node in the public transport network.
The Hungarian railway system is centralized around Budapest, where the three main railway stations are the Eastern (Keleti), the Western (Nyugati) and the Southern (Déli). Déli is the most modern but Keleti and Nyugati are more decorative and architecturally impressive. Other important railway stations countrywide include Szolnok (the most important railway junction outside Budapest), Tiszai Railway Station in Miskolc and the stations of Pécs, Győr, Szeged and Székesfehérvár.
Four Hungarian cities have tram networks, and the four cities are Budapest, Debrecen, Miskolc and Szeged . The Budapest Metro is the second-oldest underground metro system in the world, and its iconic Line 1 (dating from 1896) was declared a World Heritage Site in 2002. The system consists of three lines (the fourth being under construction). Budapest also has a suburban railway service in and around the city (HÉV).
Hungary has a total length of approximately 1,314 km (816.48 mi) motorways (Hungarian: autópálya). Motorway sections are being added to the existing network, which already connects many major economically important cities to the capital.
The most important port is Budapest. Other important ones include Dunaújváros and Baja.
There are five international airports in Hungary. Budapest Liszt Ferenc, Debrecen, Sármellék (also called FlyBalaton for its proximity to Lake Balaton, Hungary's number one tourist attraction), Győr-Pér and Pécs-Pogány. The national carrier, Malév Hungarian Airlines operated flights to over 60, mostly European cities, but ceased operations on 3 February 2012.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Hungary
Due to migrations and significant territorial changes, the demographics of Hungary have significantly fluctuated over time. In modern times, Hungary has become an ethnically homogeneous state. According to the 2001 Hungarian Census, Hungarians constituted 92.3%, whilst the largest minority are the Roma people (1.9%).
Language
.
93.6% of the population speak Hungarian, a Uralic language unrelated to any neighboring language and distantly related to Finnish and Estonian. The main minority group are the Roma.[92] Other groups include: Germans, Slovaks, Croats and Bunjevcis, Romanians, Ukrainians, Serbs and Slovenes.[93] A fringe theory that is well known by linguists is that the Hungarian language is a descendant of Sumerian. Some linguists and historians (like Ida Bobula, Ferenc Badiny Jós, dr Tibor Baráth and others) have published this theory. There are some artifacts which they claim support this view (like the Tartaria tablets). Mainstream linguists reject the Sumerian theory as pseudoscience. Hungarian has often been claimed to be related to Hunnish, since Hungarian legends and histories show close ties between the two peoples; also, the name Hunor is preserved in legends and (along with a few Hunnic-origin names, such as Attila) is still used as a given name in Hungary. Many people share the belief that the Székelys, a Hungarian ethnic group living in Romania, are descended from the Huns.
Religion
Main article: History of Christianity in Hungary
See also: History of the Jews in Hungary and Bahá'í Faith in Hungary
In the Eurostat – Eurobarometer poll of 2005, 44% of Hungarians answered that they believed there is a God, 31% answered they believed there is some sort of spirit or life force, and 19% that they do not believe there is a God, spirit, nor life force.[94]
| Denominations | Population | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Catholicism | 5,558,901 | 54.5 |
| Roman Catholics | 5,289,521 | 51.9 |
| Greek Catholics | 268,935 | 2.6 |
| Protestantism | 1,985,576 | 19.5 |
| Calvinists | 1,622,796 | 15.9 |
| Lutherans | 304,705 | 3.0 |
| Baptists | 17,705 | 0.2 |
| Unitarians | 6,541 | 0.1 |
| Other Protestants | 33,829 | 0.3 |
| Orthodox Christianity | 15,298 | 0.1 |
| Other Christians | 24,340 | 0.2 |
| Judaism | 12,871 | 0.1 |
| Other religions | 13,567 | 0.1 |
| All religions | 7,610,553 | 74.6 |
| No religion | 1,483,369 | 14.5 |
| Did not wish to answer | 1,034,767 | 10.1 |
| Unknown | 69,566 | 0.7 |
| total | 10,198,315 | 100.00 |
The majority of Hungarians became Christian in the 11th century. Hungary's first king, Saint Stephen I, took up Western Christianity, although his mother, Sarolt, was baptized in the Eastern Rite. Hungary remained predominantly Catholic until the 16th century, when the Reformation took place and, as a result, first Lutheranism, then soon afterwards Calvinism, became the religion of almost the entire population.
In the second half of the 16th century, however, Jesuits led a successful campaign of counterreformation among the Hungarians. The Jesuits founded educational institutions, including Péter Pázmány Catholic University, the oldest university that still exists in Hungary, but organized so-called missions too in order to promote popular piety. By the 17th century, Hungary had once again become predominantly Catholic.[citation needed]
Some of the eastern parts of the country, however, especially around Debrecen ("the Calvinist Rome"), still have significant Protestant communities. Orthodox Christianity in Hungary has been the religion mainly of some national minorities in the country, notably, Romanians, Rusyns, Ukrainians, and Serbs.[96]
Hungary has been the home of a sizable Armenian Catholic community as well. They worship according to the Armenian Rite, but they have united with the Catholic Church under the primacy of the Pope.
Faith Church is one of the Pentecostal churches, accepts the results and spiritual, moral values of both early Christianity and the Reformation, as well as other revival movements serving the progress of the Christian faith. Based on the 1% tax designation to churches, Faith Church is the seventh most supported church in Hungary.[97] The weekly Sunday service of the Church is regularly broadcast in live television.[citation needed]
Historically, Hungary was home to a significant Jewish community, especially when many Jews, persecuted in Russia, found refuge in the Kingdom of Hungary during the 19th century. The census of January 1941 found that 6.2% of the population, i.e., 846,000 people, were considered Jewish according to the racial laws of that time. Of this number, 725,000 were considered religiously Jewish as well.[98] Some Hungarian Jews were able to escape the Holocaust during World War II, but most (perhaps 550,000[99]) either were deported to concentration camps, from which the majority did not return, or were murdered by the Hungarian Arrow Cross fascists. Most Jewish people who remain in Hungary live in the centre of Budapest, especially in district VI. The largest synagogue in Europe is located in Budapest.[100]
Legislation at the end of 2011 vested in Parliament instead of the judiciary the power to grant the officially recognized status of a church. The number of registered churches fell from over 300 under previous legislation to 32. Among those dropped was the socially active Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship. The legislation was criticized as discriminatory in an invited Opinion by the Venice Commission.[101]
Urbanization
| Rank | City | County | City | Agglomeration | Metro | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Budapest | Budapest | 1,733,685 |
2,539,828 | 3,104,259 | |||||
| 2 | Debrecen | Hajdú-Bihar | 208,016 |
234,928 | 254,008 | |||||
| 3 | Szeged | Csongrád | 170,275 |
210,477 | 238,992 | |||||
| 4 | Miskolc | Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén | 168,075 |
208,114 | 271,220 | |||||
| 5 | Pécs | Baranya | 157,721 |
178,215 | 208,221 | |||||
| 6 | Győr | Győr-Moson-Sopron | 131,267 |
180,007 | 204,029 | |||||
| 7 | Nyíregyháza | Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg | 117,852 |
134,055 | 158,007 | |||||
| 8 | Kecskemét | Bács-Kiskun | 113,275 |
145,104 | 205,973 | |||||
| 9 | Székesfehérvár | Fejér | 101,943 |
124,992 | 150,223 | |||||
| 10 | Szombathely | Vas | 79,590 | 119,800 | - | |||||
| 11 | Szolnok | Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok | 74,544 | 93,410 | - | |||||
| 12 | Tatabánya | Komárom-Esztergom | 70,169 | 130,012 | - | |||||
| 13 | Kaposvár | Somogy | 67,979 | 82,601 | - | |||||
| 14 | Érd | Pest | 65,043 | - | ||||||
| 15 | Veszprém | Veszprém | 64,339 | 82,007 | - | |||||
| 16 | Békéscsaba | Békés | 64,074 | 148,888 | - | |||||
| 17 | Zalaegerszeg | Zala | 61,970 | 76,412 | - | |||||
| 18 | Sopron | Győr-Moson-Sopron | 60,755 | 70,012 | - | |||||
| 19 | Eger | Heves | 56,530 | 74,013 | - | |||||
| 20 | Nagykanizsa | Zala | 49,850 | 50,082 | - | |||||
| 2011 census data
Culture
Main article: Culture of Hungary
Architecture
See also: List of Hungarian architects
_2.jpg)
Hungary is home to the largest synagogue in Europe (Great Synagogue), the largest medicinal bath in Europe (Széchenyi Medicinal Bath), 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 (Pécs).
Notable architectural styles in Hungary include Historicism and Art Nouveau, or rather several variants of Art Nouveau. In contrast to Historicism, Hungarian Art Nouveau is based on the national architectural characteristics. Taking the eastern origins of the Hungarians into account, Ödön Lechner (1845–1914), the most important figure in Hungarian Art Nouveau, was initially inspired by Indian and Syrian architecture, and later by traditional Hungarian decorative designs. In this way, he created an original synthesis of architectural styles. By applying them to three-dimensional architectural elements, he produced a version of Art Nouveau that was specific to Hungary.
.jpg)
Turning away from the style of Lechner, yet taking inspiration from his approach, the group of "Young People" (Fiatalok), which included Károly Kós and Dezsö Zrumeczky, were to use the characteristic structures and forms of traditional Hungarian architecture to achieve the same end.
Besides the two principal styles, Budapest also displays local versions of trends originating from other European countries. The Sezession from Vienna, the German Jugendstil, Art Nouveau from Belgium and France, and the influence of English and Finnish architecture are all reflected in the buildings constructed at the turn of the 20th century. Béla Lajta initially adopted Lechner's style, subsequently drawing his inspiration from English and Finnish trends; after developing an interest in the Egyptian style, he finally arrived at modern architecture. Aladár Árkay took almost the same route. István Medgyaszay developed his own style, which differed from Lechner's, using stylised traditional motifs to create decorative designs in concrete. In the sphere of applied arts, those chiefly responsible for promoting the spread of Art Nouveau were the School and Museum of Decorative Arts, which opened in 1896.
Foreigners have unexpectedly "discovered" that a significantly large portion of the citizens live in old and architecturally valuable buildings. In the Budapest downtown area almost all the buildings are about hundred years old, with thick walls, high ceiling and motifs on the front wall.[23][102]
Music
Main article: Music of Hungary
.jpg)
The music of Hungary consists mainly of traditional Hungarian folk music and music by prominent composers such as Liszt and Bartók, considered as the greatest Hungarian composers. Other composers of international renown 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 dactylic rhythm, as the language is invariably stressed on the first syllable of each word. Hungary also has a number of internationally renowned composers of contemporary classical music, György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Péter Eötvös, Zoltán Kodály and Zoltán Jeney among them. One of the greatest Hungarian composers, Béla Bartók was also among the most significant musicians of the 20th century. His music was invigorated by the themes, modes, and rhythmic patterns of the Hungarian and neighboring folk music traditions he studied, which he synthesized with influences from his contemporaries into his own distinctive style.
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. Hungarian folk music has been significant in former country parts that belong – since the 1920 Treaty of Trianon – to neighboring countries such as Romania, Slovakia, southern Poland and especially in southern Slovakia and the Transylvania: both regions have significant numbers of Hungarians. After the establishment of a music academy led by Ferenc Erkel and Franz Liszt Hungary produced an important number of art musicians:
- Pianists: Ernö von Dohnányi, Ervin Nyíregyházi, Andor Földes, Tamás Vásáry, Gyorgy Sandor, Géza Anda, György Cziffra, Edward Kilényi, Balint Vazsonyi, András Schiff, Zoltán Kocsis, Dezsö Ránki, Jenö Jandó and others.
- Violists: Joseph Joachim, Leopold Auer, Jenö Hubay, Jelly d'Arányi, Joseph Szigeti, Sándor Végh, Emil Telmanyi, Zathurecky, Zsigmondy, Franz von Vecsey, Zoltán Szekely, Tibor Varga and newcomers Antal Szalai, Vilmos Szabadi, Kristóf Baráti (b. 79) and others.
- organists: Varnus Xaver
- Opera singers: Astrid Varnay, József Simándy, Julia Varady, Julia Hamari, Kolos Kováts (Bluebeard in Bartoks Bluebeard)
- Conductors: Eugene Ormandy, George Szell, Antal Doráti, János Ferencsik, Fritz Reiner, sir Georg Solti, István Kertész, Ferenc Fricsay, Zoltán Rozsnyai, Sándor Végh, Arpad Joó, Ádám Fischer, Iván Fischer, Péter Eötvös, Zoltán Kocsis, Tamás Vásáry, Gilbert Varga and others
- String Quartets: Budapest Quartet, Hungarian Quartet, Végh Quartet, Takács Quartet, Kodály Quartet, Eder Quartet, Festetics Quartet,
Broughton claims that Hungary's "infectious sound has been surprisingly influential on neighboring countries (thanks perhaps to the common Austro-Hungarian history) and it's not uncommon to hear Hungarian-sounding tunes in Romania, Slovakia and southern Poland".[103] It is also strong in the Szabolcs-Szatmár area and in the southwest part of Transdanubia, near the border with Croatia. The Busójárás carnival in Mohács is a major Hungarian folk music event, formerly featuring the long-established and well-regarded Bogyiszló orchestra.[104]
Hungarian classical music has long been an "experiment, made from Hungarian antedecents and on Hungarian soil, to create a conscious musical culture [using the] musical world of the folk song".[105] Although the Hungarian upper class has long had cultural and political connections with the rest of Europe, leading to an influx of European musical ideas, the rural peasants maintained their own traditions such that by the end of the 19th century Hungarian composers could draw on rural peasant music to (re)create a Hungarian classical style.[106] For example, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, two of Hungary's best known composers, used folk themes in their music. Bartók collected folk songs from across Eastern Europe, including Romania and Slovakia, whilst Kodály was more interested in creating a distinctively Hungarian musical style.
During the era of Communist rule in Hungary (1944–1989) a Song Committee scoured and censored popular music for traces of subversion and ideological impurity. Since then, however, the Hungarian music industry has begun to recover, producing successful performers in the fields of jazz such as trumpeter Rudolf Tomsits, pianist-composer Károly Binder and, in a modernized form of Hungarian folk, Ferenc Sebő and Márta Sebestyén. The three giants of Hungarian rock, Illés, Metró and Omega, remain very popular, especially Omega, which has followings in Germany and beyond as well as in Hungary. Older veteran underground bands such as Beatrice from the 1980s also remain popular.
Literature
Main article: Hungarian literature
In the earliest times Hungarian language was written in a runic-like script (although it was not used for literature purposes in the modern interpretation). The country switched to the Latin alphabet after being Christianized under the reign of Stephen I of Hungary (1000–1038).
The oldest remained written record in Hungarian language is a fragment in the founding document of the Abbey of Tihany (1055) which contains several Hungarian terms, among them the words feheruuaru rea meneh hodu utu rea, "up the military road to Fehérvár" The rest of the document was written in Latin.
The oldest remained complete text in Hungarian language is the Funeral Sermon and Prayer (Halotti beszéd és könyörgés) (1192–1195), a translation of a Latin sermon.
The oldest remained poem in Hungarian is the Old Hungarian Laments of Mary (Ómagyar Mária-siralom), also a (not very strict) translation from Latin, from the 13th century. It is also the oldest surviving Uralic poem.
Among the first chronicles about Hungarian history were Gesta Hungarorum ("Deeds of the Hungarians") by the unknown author usually called Anonymus, and Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum ("Deeds of the Huns and the Hungarians") by Simon Kézai. Both are in Latin. These chronicles mix history with legends, so historically they are not always authentic. Another chronicle is the Képes krónika (Illustrated Chronicle), which was written for Louis the Great.
Renaissance literature flourished under the reign of King Matthias (1458–1490). Janus Pannonius, although he wrote in Latin, counts as one of the most important persons in Hungarian literature, being the only significant Hungarian Humanist poet of the period. The first printing house was also founded during Matthias' reign, by András Hess, in Buda. The first book printed in Hungary was the Chronica Hungarorum. The most important poets of the period was Bálint Balassi (1554–1594) and Miklós Zrínyi (1620–1664). Balassi's poetry shows Mediaeval influences, his poems can be divided into three sections: love poems, war poems and religious poems. Zrínyi's most significant work, the epic Szigeti veszedelem ("Peril of Sziget", written in 1648/49) is written in a fashion similar to the Iliad, and recounts the heroic Battle of Szigetvár, where his great-grandfather died while defending the castle of Szigetvár. Among the religious literary works the most important is the Bible translation by Gáspár Károli (The second Hungarian Bible translation in the history), the Protestant pastor of Gönc, in 1590. The translation is called the Bible of Vizsoly, after the town where it was first published. (See Hungarian Bible translations for more details.)
The Hungarian enlightenment took place about fifty years after the French enlightenment. The first enlightened writers were Maria Theresia's bodyguards (György Bessenyei, János Batsányi and others). The greatest poets of the time were Mihály Csokonai Vitéz and Dániel Berzsenyi. The greatest figure of the language reform was Ferenc Kazinczy. The Hungarian language became feasible for all type of scientific explanations from this time, and furthermore many new words were coined for describing new inventions.
Hungarian literature has recently gained some renown outside the borders of Hungary (mostly through translations into German, French and English). Some modern Hungarian authors have become increasingly popular in Germany and Italy especially Sándor Márai, Péter Esterházy, Péter Nádas and Imre Kertész. The latter is a contemporary Jewish writer who survived the Holocaust and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2002. The older classics of Hungarian literature and Hungarian poetry have remained almost totally unknown outside Hungary. János Arany, a famous 19th century Hungarian poet is still much loved in Hungary (especially his collection of Ballads), among several other "true classics" like Sándor Petőfi, the poet of the Revolution of 1848, Endre Ady, Mihály Babits, Dezső Kosztolányi, Attila József and János Pilinszky. Other well-known Hungarian authors are Ferenc Móra, Géza Gárdonyi, Zsigmond Móricz, Gyula Illyés, Albert Wass and Magda Szabó.
Cuisine
Main article: Cuisine of Hungary
See also: Hungarian wine and Hungarian beer
.jpg)
The Hungarian cuisine is a prominent feature of the Hungarian culture, just like the art of hospitality. Traditional dishes such as the world famous Goulash (gulyás stew or gulyás soup) feature prominently. Dishes are often flavoured with paprika (ground red peppers), a Hungarian innovation.[107] Thick, heavy Hungarian sour cream called tejföl is often used to soften the dishes flavour. The famous Hungarian hot river fish soup called Fisherman's soup or halászlé is usually a rich mixture of several kinds of poached fish. Other dishes are Chicken Paprikash, Foie gras made of goose liver, pörkölt stew, vadas, (game stew with vegetable gravy and dumplings), trout with almonds and salty and sweet dumplings, like túrós csusza, (dumplings with fresh quark cheese and thick sour cream). Desserts include the iconic Dobos Cake, Strudels (rétes), filled with apple, cherry, poppy seed or cheese, Gundel pancake, plum dumplings (szilvás gombóc), somlói dumplings, dessert soups like chilled Sour cherry soup and sweet chestnut puree, gesztenyepüré (cooked chestnuts mashed with sugar and rum and split into crumbs, topped with whipped cream). Perec and kifli are widely popular pastries.
The csárda is the most distinctive type of Hungarian inn, an old-style tavern offering traditional cuisine and beverages. Borozó usually denotes a cozy old-fashioned wine tavern, pince is a beer or wine cellar and a söröző is a pub offering draught beer and sometimes meals. The bisztró is an inexpensive restaurant often with self-service. The büfé is the cheapest place, although one may have to eat standing at a counter. Pastries, cakes and coffee are served at the confectionery called cukrászda, while an eszpresszó is a cafeteria.
Pálinka: is a fruit brandy, distilled from fruit grown in the orchards situated on the Great Hungarian Plain. It is a spirit native to Hungary and comes in a variety of flavours including apricot (barack) and cherry (cseresznye). However, plum (szilva) is the most popular flavour. Beer: Beer goes well with many traditional Hungarian dishes. The five main Hungarian brands are: Borsodi, Soproni, Arany Ászok, Kõbányai, and Dreher.
Wine: As Hugh Johnson says in The History of Wine, the territory of Hungary is ideal for wine-making. Since the fall of communism there has been a renaissance of Hungarian wine-making. The choice of good wine is widening from year to year. The country can be divided to six wine regions: North-Transdanubia, Lake Balaton, South-Pannónia, Duna-region or Alföld, Upper-Hungary and Tokaj-Hegyalja. Hungarian wine regions offer a great variety of style: the main products of the country are elegant and full-bodied dry whites with good acidity, although complex sweet whites (Tokaj), elegant (Eger) and full-bodied robust reds (Villány and Szekszárd). The main varieties are: Olaszrizling, Hárslevelű, Furmint, Pinot gris or Szürkebarát, Chardonnay (whites), Kékfrankos (or Blaufrankisch in German), Kadarka, Portugieser, Zweigelt, Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet franc and Merlot. The most famous wines from Hungary are Tokaji Aszú and Egri Bikavér.
Tokaji: Tokaji, meaning "of Tokaj", or "from Tokaj" in Hungarian, is used to label wines from the wine region of Tokaj-Hegyalja in Hungary. Tokaji wine has received accolades from numerous great writers and composers including Beethoven, Liszt, Schubert and Goethe; Joseph Haydn's favorite wine was a Tokaji. Louis XV and Frederick the Great tried to outdo one another in the excellence of the vintages they stocked when they treated guests like Voltaire to some Tokaji. Napoleon III, the last Emperor of the French, ordered 30–40 barrels of Tokaji for the Court every year. Gustav III, King of Sweden, never had any other wine to drink. In Russia, customers included Peter the Great and Empress Elizabeth of Russia.
Zwack Unicum: For over 150 years, a blend of 40 Hungarian herbs has been used to create the liqueur Unicum. Unicum is a bitter, dark-coloured liqueur that can be drunk as an apéritif or after a meal, thus helping the digestion. The recipe is held secret by the Zwack family.
Recreation
Hungary is a land of thermal water. A passion for spa culture and Hungarian history have been connected from the very beginning. Hungarian spas feature Roman, Greek, Turkish, and northern country architectural elements.[108]
Because of an advantageous geographical location thermal water can be found with good quality and in great quantities on over 80% of Hungary's territory. Approximately 1,500 thermal springs can be found in Hungary. There are approximately 450 public baths in Hungary.
The Romans heralded the first age of spa in Hungary, the remains of their bath complexes are still to be seen in Óbuda, to this day. The spa culture was revived during the Turkish Invasion who used the thermal springs of Buda for the construction of a number of bathhouses, some of which are still functioning (Király Baths, Rudas Baths).
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 Gellért Baths, Lukács Baths, Margaret Island, and Széchenyi Medicinal Bath are a reflection of this resurgence in popularity.
Folk art
100.jpg)
Ugrós (Jumping dances): Old style dances dating back to the Middle Ages. Solo or couple dances accompanied by old style music, shepherd and other solo man's dances from Transylvania, and marching dances along with remnants of medieval weapon dances belong in this group.
Karikázó: a circle dance performed by women only accompanied by singing of folksongs.
Csárdás: New style dances developed in the 18–19th centuries is the Hungarian name for the national dances, with Hungarian embroidered costumes and energetic music. From the men's intricate bootslapping dances to the ancient women's circle dances, Csárdás demonstrates the infectious exuberance of the Hungarian folk dancing still celebrated in the villages.
Verbunkos: a solo man's dance evolved from the recruiting performances of the Austro-Hungarian army.
The Legényes: is a men's solo dance done by the ethnic Hungarian people living in the Kalotaszeg region of Transylvania. Although usually danced by young men, it can be also danced by older men. The dance is performed freestyle usually by one dancer at a time in front of the band. Women participate in the dance by standing in lines to the side and sing/shout verses while the men dance. Each lad does a number of points (dance phrases) typically 4 to 8 without repetition. Each point consists of 4 parts, each lasting 4 counts. The first part is usually the same for everyone (there are only a few variations).
It was in the beginning of the 18th century that the present style of Hungarian folk art took shape, incorporating both Renaissance and Baroque elements, depending on the area, as well as Persian Sassanide influences. Flowers and leaves, sometimes a bird or a spiral ornament, are the principal decorative themes. The most frequent ornament is a flower with a centerpiece resembling the eye of a peacock's feather.
.jpg)
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.
The finest achievements in their textile arts are the embroideries which vary from region to region. Those of Kalotaszeg in Transylvania are charming products of Oriental design, sewn chiefly in a single color – red, blue, or black. Soft in line, the embroideries are applied on altar cloths, pillow cases and sheets.
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. The embroidery motifs applied to women's wear have also been transposed to tablecloths and runners suitable for modern use as wall decorations.
These vessels, made of black clay, reflect more than three hundred years of traditional Transdanubian folk patterns and shapes. No two are precisely alike, since all work is done by hand, including both the shaping and the decorating. The imprints are made by the thumb or a finger of the ceramist who makes the piece.
Porcelain
Main articles: Herend Porcelain and Zsolnay
Founded in 1826, Herend Porcelain is one of the world's largest ceramic factories, specializing in luxury hand painted and gilded porcelain. In the mid-19th century it was purveyor to the Habsburg Dynasty and aristocratic customers throughout Europe. Many of its classic patterns are still in production. After the fall of communism in Hungary the factory was privatised and is now 75% owned by its management and workers, exporting to over 60 countries of the world.[109]
Zsolnay Porcelain Manufacture is a Hungarian manufacturer of porcelain, pottery, ceramics, tiles, and stoneware. The company introduced the eosin glazing process and pyrogranite ceramics. The Zsolnay factory was established by Miklós Zsolnay in Pécs, Hungary, to produce stoneware and ceramics in 1853. In 1863, his son, Vilmos Zsolnay (1828–1900) joined the company and became its manager and director after several years. He led the factory to worldwide recognition by demonstrating its innovative products at world fairs and international exhibitions, including the 1873 World Fair in Vienna, then at the 1878 World Fair in Paris, where Zsolnay received a Grand Prix.
Sport
Only seven countries (US, USSR, UK, France, Italy, China and Germany) have won more Summer Olympic gold medals than Hungary. At the all time total medal count for Olympic Games, Hungary reaches the 9th rank out of 211 participating nations, with a total of 465 medals. See All-time Olympic Games medal table (2008 data).
One of the reasons of this achievement is the Hungarians' success in water sports: in water polo the Hungarian team is the leading medal winner by a significant margin (See: Water polo at the Summer Olympics) and in swimming the men are fourth most successful overall while the women are eighth most successful overall. (See: List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men). List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women).) There has also been success in canoeing.
Some of the world's leading best Sabre (fencing) athletes have historically hailed from Hungary.[110][111]
In 2009 the Hungarian national ice hockey team qualified for their first IIHF World Championship.
See also: Hungary national football team
Hungary has remarkable football history, having won three Olympic titles, finishing runners-up in the 1938 and 1954 FIFA World Cups, and third in the 1964 UEFA European Football Championship. Hungary revolutionized the sport in the 1950s, laying the tactical fundamentals of Total Football and dominating international football with the remarkable Golden Team which included legends like Ferenc Puskás, top goalscorer of the 20th century,[112][113][114] whom FIFA dedicated[115] its newest award, the Puskás Award. The side of that era has the all-time highest Football Elo Ranking in the world, with 2166, and one of the longest undefeated runs in football history, remaining unbeaten in 31 games, spanning over more than 4 years and including matches such as the Match of the Century.
The post-golden age decades saw a gradually weakening Hungary, though recently there is renewal in all aspects. The Hungarian Children's Football Federation was founded in 2008, as youth development thrives. For the first time in Hungarian football's history, they hosted the 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship in Budapest and Debrecen, the first time the MLSZ staged a UEFA finals tournament. Also, the national teams have produced some surprise successes such as beating Euro 2004 winner Greece 3–2[116] and 2006 FIFA World Cup winner Italy 3–1.[117] Although they have not qualified for a major tournament's finals since 1986, they came semi-finalists at the 2008 European Under-19 Championship and qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup which saw their U-20 national team gaining third place to bring home Hungary's first major tournament medal in nearly half a century, feeding their hopes of a future revival.
Holidays and domestic animals
Main articles: Public holidays in Hungary and Hungarian animals
See also
.png){kind=small}
- Outline of Hungary
- Index of Hungary-related articles
- Public holidays in Hungary
- Telecommunications in Hungary
- Countrywide Blue Tour in Hungary
- Curse of Turan
- Healthcare in Hungary
- History of the Jews in Hungary
- Hungarian American
- Hungarian castles and mansions
- Hungarian cuisine
- Hungarian domestic animals
- Hungarian language
- Hungarian notation
- Hungarian people
- Hungarian Scout Association
- Hungarian Unix Portal
- Hungarians in Romania (Transylvania)
- Hungarians in Slovakia
- Hungarians in Vojvodina
- Music of Hungary
- Name days in Hungary
- National symbols of Hungary
- Old Hungarian script
- Serbs in Hungary
- Transportation in Hungary
- Wendish question
- Tourism in Hungary
Lists:
- Common Hungarian surnames
- Eastern name order used in Hungarian personal names
- List of cities in Hungary
- List of twin towns and sister cities in Hungary
- List of castles in Hungary
- List of Hungarians
- List of Hungarian rulers
- List of Hungarian writers
- List of universities in Hungary
- List of colleges in Hungary
- List of Hungarian Americans
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg)
Notes
- ^ The form of government was at times changed or ambiguous, causing short interruptions
References
- ^ "Population Census 2001 – National and county data – Summary Data". Nepszamlalas.hu. http://www.nepszamlalas.hu/eng/volumes/06/00/tabeng/1/load01_10_0.html.
- ^ Eurostat. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
- ^ Hungarian Central Statistical Office Census Data 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Hungary". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2009&ey=2012&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=49&pr1.y=2&c=944&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2011". United Nations. 2011. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Table1.pdf. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
- ^ "Geography ::Hungary". cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/hu.html. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
- ^ Globally speaking: motives for adopting English vocabulary in other languages – Google Books. Google Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=nlWU3CkTAi4C&lpg=PA82&ots=wiY3TdhJ5F&dq=%22largest%20non-indo%20european%22%20europe%20hungarian&pg=PA82#v=onepage&q=%22largest%20non-indo%20european%22%20europe%20hungarian&f=false. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ^ "The plain facts – History". MTI. http://english.mti.hu/default.asp?cat=36&menu=6. Retrieved 11 November 2008.[dead link]
- ^ Bernstein, Richard (9 August 2003). "East on the Danube: Hungary's Tragic Century". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07E3D91531F93AA3575BC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
- ^ "Hungary". Encarta. Archived from the original on 31 October 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5kwr5jh3Q. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
- ^ World Bank Country Classification, 2007
- ^ "Index – Belföld – A magyar kamasz iszik, dohányzik és könnyen teherbe esik". Index.hu. http://index.hu/belfold/2009/09/16/a_magyar_kamasz_iszik_dohanyzik_es_konnyen_teherbe_esik/. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "PowerPoint bemutató" (PDF). http://www.amcham.hu/events/2008/20060326ICEG/Panel%201/Presentation_Retfalvi.pdf. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ "Index – Világméretű influenzajárvány jöhet". Index.hu. http://index.hu/tudomany/bulvar081015/. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ "ITD Hungary – Supply Chain Management – Logistics, Distribution". Itdh.com. http://www.itdh.com/engine.aspx?page=Itdh_Priority_Sectors_Logistics. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
- ^ "UNWTO World Tourism Barometer". World Tourism Organization. http://www.tourismroi.com/Content_Attachments/27670/File_633513750035785076.pdf. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- ^ "MTH.gov.hu". http://www.mth.gov.hu/download.php?ctag=download&docID=185. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
- ^ "Search – Global Edition – The New York Times". International Herald Tribune. 29 March 2009. http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/11/18/europe/OUKWD-UK-HUNGARY-CAVE.php. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "The Avar Khaganate". Allempires.com. 31 May 2007. http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=The_Avar_Khaganate. Retrieved 20 September 2009.[dead link]
- ^ For example, the Abbot Regino of Prüm mentions the plains of the Pannons and the Avars; Kristó, Gyula op. cit. (1993) pp. 96.
- ^ a b A Country Study: Hungary. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+hu0013). Retrieved 6 March 2009.
- ^ Encyclopedia Americana (2000). 24.. 370: Grolier Incorporated.
- ^ a b "Magyar (Hungarian) migration, 9th century". Eliznik.org.uk. http://www.eliznik.org.uk/EastEurope/History/migration-map/hungarian-migration.htm. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Origins and Language. Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
- ^ Peter B. Golden, Nomads and their neighbours in the Russian steppe: Turks, Khazars and Qipchaqs, Ashgate/Variorum, 2003. "Tenth-century Byzantine sources, speaking in cultural more than ethnic terms, acknowledged a wide zone of diffusion by referring to the Khazar lands as 'Eastern Tourkia' and Hungary as 'Western Tourkia.'" Carter Vaughn Findley, The Turks in the World History, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 51, citing Peter B. Golden, 'Imperial Ideology and the Sources of Political Unity Amongst the Pre-Činggisid Nomads of Western Eurasia,' Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi 2 (1982), 37–76.
- ^ Stephen Wyley (30 May 2001). "The Magyars of Hungary". Geocities.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20091021171416/http://geocities.com/egfrothos/magyars/magyars.html. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Peter Heather, Empires and Barbarians, Pan Macmillan, 2011
- ^ Attila Zsoldos, Saint Stephen and his country: a newborn kingdom in Central Europe: Hungary, Lucidus, 2001, p. 40
- ^ Asia Travel Europe. "Hungaria Travel Information | Asia Travel Europe". Asiatravel.com. http://www.asiatravel.com/europe/hungaria/travelinfo.html. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ James Minahan, One Europe, many nations: a historical dictionary of European national groups, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, p. 310
- ^ [1] Encyclopædia Britannica, 2002
- ^ "Marko Marelic: The Byzantine and Slavic worlds". http://www.korcula.net/history/mmarelic/byzant.htm.
- ^ "Hungary in American History Textbooks". http://www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/hunyadi/hu02.htm.
- ^ "Hungary, facts and history in brief". http://erwin.bernhardt.net.nz/hungary/hungaryfacts.html.
- ^ Ladislav Heka (October 2008). "Hrvatsko-ugarski odnosi od sredinjega vijeka do nagodbe iz 1868. s posebnim osvrtom na pitanja Slavonije [Croatian-Hungarian relations from the Middle Ages to the Compromise of 1868, with a special survey of the Slavonian issue]" (in Croatian). Scrinia Slavonica (Hrvatski institut za povijest – Podružnica za povijest Slavonije, Srijema i Baranje) 8 (1): 152–173. ISSN 1332-4853. http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=68144. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ^ A concise history of Hungary – Google Books. Google Books. http://books.google.co.uk/books?ct=result&id=y0g4YEp7ZrsC&dq=%22B%C3%A9la+III%22+annual+revenue&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&sig=ACfU3U2STdXJyC_RFJp9Ipb3Rw4SmsrWww&q=ladis#PPA28,M1. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "Hungarianhistory.com" (PDF). http://www.hungarianhistory.com/lib/autonomy/komlossy.pdf. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
- ^ The Mongol invasion: the last Arpad kings, Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Autonomies in Europe and Hungary. (PDF). By Józsa Hévizi.
- ^ cs. "National and historical symbols of Hungary". Nemzetijelkepek.hu. http://www.nemzetijelkepek.hu/onkormanyzat-jaszbereny_en.shtml. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Pál Engel, Tamás Pálosfalvi, Andrew Ayton: The Realm of St. Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895-1526, I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd, London, pp. 109 [2]
- ^ a b "Hungary – Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/276730/Hungary#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Hungary%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ "Hungary – The Bibliotheca Corviniana Collection: UNESCO-CI". Portal.unesco.org. Archived from the original on 18 March 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080318044516/http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=15976&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ "Hungary – Renaissance And Reformation". Countrystudies.us. http://countrystudies.us/hungary/9.htm. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "A Country Study: Hungary". Geography.about.com. http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/hutoc.html. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Géza Dávid, Pál Fodor (2007). "Ransom slavery along the Ottoman borders: early fifteenth-early eighteenth centuries". BRILL. p.203. ISBN 90-04-15704-2
- ^ Csepeli, Gyorgy (2 June 2009). "The changing facets of Hungarian nationalism – Nationalism Reexamined | Social Research | Find Articles at BNET". Findarticles.com. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2267/is_n1_v63/ai_18501094/. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "Ch7-1" (PDF). http://www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/unmaking/part1-7.pdf. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Paul Lendvai, The Hungarians: a thousand years of victory in defeat, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2003 Google Books
- ^ Peter N Stearns, The Oxford encyclopedia of the modern world, Volume 4, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 64
- ^ Géza Jeszenszky: From "Eastern Switzerland" to Ethnic Cleansing, address at Duquesne History Forum, 17 November 2000, The author is former Ambassador of Hungary to the United States and was Foreign Minister in 1990 – 1994.
- ^ Kinga Frojimovics, Géza Komoróczy, Jewish Budapest: monuments, rites, history, Central European University Press, 1999 p.67 Google Books
- ^ François Bugnion, International Committee of the Red Cross, The International Committee of the Red Cross and the protection of war victims, Macmillan Education, 2003 Google Books
- ^ Molnar, A Concise History of Hungary, p. 262 online
- ^ Richard C. Frucht, Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture p. 359-360 online
- ^ Library of Congress country study on Hungary
- ^ J.Lee Ready (1995), World War Two. Nation by Nation, London, Cassell, page 130. ISBN 1-85409-290-1
- ^ "United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Holocaust Encyclopedia". Ushmm.org. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?ModuleId=10005458. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Alfred de Zayas "Raoul Wallenberg" in Dinah Shelton Encyclopedia of Genocide (Macmillan Reference 2005, vol. 3)
- ^ Braham, Randolph (2004): Rescue Operations in Hungary: Myths and Realities, East European Quarterly 38(2): 173–203.
- ^ Bauer, Yehuda (1994): Jews for Sale?, Yale University Press.
- ^ Bilsky, Leora (2004): Transformative Justice : Israeli Identity on Trial (Law, Meaning, and Violence), University of Michigan Press.
- ^ University of Chicago. Division of the Social Sciences, Human Relations Area Files, inc, A study of contemporary Czechoslovakia, University of Chicago for the Human Relations Area Files, inc., 1955, Citation 'In January 1947 the Hungarians complained that Magyars were being carried off from Slovakia to Czech lands for forced labor.'
- ^ Istvan S. Pogany, Righting wrongs in Eastern Europe, Manchester University Press ND, 1997, p.202 Google Books
- ^ Alfred J. Rieber, Forced migration in Central and Eastern Europe, 1939–1950, Routledge, 2000, p. 50 Google Books – "A presidential decree imposing an obligation on individuals not engaged in useful work to accept jobs served as the basis for this action. As a result, according to documentation in the ministry of foreign affairs of the USSR, approximately 50,000 Hungarians were sent to work in factories and agricultural enterprises in the Czech Republic."
- ^ Canadian Association of Slavists, Revue canadienne des slavistes, Volume 25, Canadian Association of Slavists., 1983
- ^ S. J. Magyarody, The East-central European Syndrome: Unsolved conflict in the Carpathian Basin, Matthias Corvinus Pub., 2002
- ^ Anna Fenyvesi, Hungarian language contact outside Hungary: studies on Hungarian as a minority language, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2005, p. 50 Google Books
- ^ Norman M. Naimark, The Russians in Germany: a history of the Soviet Zone of occupation, 1945–1949, Harvard University Press, 1995, p. 70 Google Books
- ^ László Borhi, Hungary in the Cold War, 1945–1956: between the United States and the Soviet Union, Central European University Press, 2004, p. 57 Google Books
- ^ Richard Bessel, Dirk Schumann, Life after death: approaches to a cultural and social history of Europe during the 1940s and 1950s, Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 142 Google Books
- ^ Tibor Cseres, Titoist atrocities in Vojvodina, 1944–1945: Serbian vendetta in Bácska, Hunyadi Pub., 1993 Google Books
- ^ Alfred de Zayas "A Terrible Revenge" (Palgrave/Macmillan 2006)
- ^ "Granville/ frm" (PDF). http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2003/sample/granville%20chap.pdf. Retrieved 20 September 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "Hungary's 'forgotten' war victims". BBC News. 7 November 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8347146.stm. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
- ^ Findley, Carter V., and John Rothney. Twentieth Century World. sixth ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 278.
- ^ Hungary's 1956 brain drain. BBC News. 23 October 2006.
- ^ Andrew Speedy. "Hungary". Fao.org. http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/doc/Counprof/Hungary/hungary.htm. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ "Hungary ranked sixth in world for environmental protection". Caboodle.hu. 10 December 2007. http://www.caboodle.hu/nc/news/news_archive/single_page/article/11/hungary_rank-1/. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
- ^ Huge crowds protest Hungary's new constitution CNN sourced 4 January 2012
- ^ Hungary loses ‘Republic’ in name, and protests fill capital Washington Post Blog sourced 4 January 2012
- ^ "Hussar". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. 2008. http://britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/277525/hussar. Retrieved 15 August 2008.[dead link]
- ^ Hungary eurozone entry "unimaginable" before 2020, says PM Orbán: Realdeal.hu
- ^ "Hungary has surpassed worst part of financial crisis: PM". Eubusiness.com. 20 July 2009. http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1225823530.76. Retrieved 20 September 2009.[dead link]
- ^ Hungary’s Recession Deepens on Plunging Export Demand. Bloomberg.com. 9 June 2009.
- ^ a b c McNamara, Sally. "Index of Economic Freedom". Heritage.org. http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=Hungary. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
- ^ "Hungary GDP grows 1.4% yr/yr in Q4, up 1.7% in 2011". BBJ. http://www.bbj.hu/economy/hungary-gdp-grows-14percent-yr-yr-in-q4-up-17percent-in-2011_62619. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ^ Simon, Zoltan; Balazs, Edith (25 November 2011). "Hungary Debt-Grade Cut to Junk Boosts Need for IMF as Rate Pressure Rises". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-24/hungary-s-credit-rating-cut-to-junk-by-moody-s-after-last-minute-imf-plea.html.
- ^ The Contribution of Hungarians to Universal Culture[dead link] (includes inventors), Embassy of the Republic of Hungary, Damascus, Syria, 2006.
- ^ "Definition "coach" in Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus". Dictionary.reverso.net. http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definitions/coach. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ a b "IEC – Techline Otto Blathy, Miksa Déri, Károly Zipernowsky". Iec.ch. http://www.iec.ch/cgi-bin/tl_to_htm.pl?section=technology&item=144. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "Hungary's anti-Roma militia grows". Csmonitor.com. 13 February 2008
- ^ "Population Census 2001 – National and county data – Summary Data". Nepszamlalas.hu. http://www.nepszamlalas.hu/eng/volumes/06/00/tabeng/1/load01_10_0.html. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ "Social values, Science and Technology" (PDF). http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ "18. Demographic data – Hungarian Central Statistical Office". Nepszamlalas.hu. http://www.nepszamlalas.hu/eng/volumes/18/tables/load1_26.html. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XCe-grzP4swC&lpg=PT77&dq=.%20Orthodox%20Christianity%20in%20Hungary%20has%20been%20the%20religion%20mainly%20of%20some%20national%20minorities%20in%20the%20country%2C%20notably%2C%20Romanians%2C%20Rusyns%2C%20Ukrainians%2C%20and%20Serbs&pg=PT77#v=onepage&q&f=false
- ^ http://www.apeh.hu/szja1_1/kimutat/2010_rend_egyh_kiem.html
- ^ Volume 3, p.979, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1982
- ^ Braham, Randolph L. A Magyarországi Holokauszt Földrajzi Enciklopediája [The Geographic Encyclopedia of the Holocaust in Hungary]. Budapest:Park Publishing, 3 vol. (2006). Vol 1, p. 91.
- ^ http://www.greatsynagogue.hu/gallery_syn.html
- ^ Opinion on Act CCVI/2011: Retrieved 26 March 2012.
- ^ "General information on various student flats and building types in Budapest". Budapest Corner. http://budapestcorner.com/index.php/flats/general-information. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
- ^ Szalipszki, p. 12
Refers to the country as "widely considered" to be a "home of music". - ^ Broughton, pp. 159–167
- ^ Szabolcsi, The Specific Conditions of Hungarian Musical Development
"Every experiment, made from Hungarian antedecents and on Hungarian soil, to create a conscious musical culture (music written by composers, as different from folk music), had instinctively or consciously striven to develop widely and universally the musical world of the folk song. Folk poetry and folk music were deeply embedded in the collective Hungarian people’s culture, and this unity did not cease to be effective even when it was given from and expression by individual creative artists, performers and poets." - ^ "Szabolcsi". Mek.oszk.hu. http://mek.oszk.hu/02100/02172/html/index.html. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "Sulinet: Magyar növény-e a paprika?". Sulinet.hu. http://www.sulinet.hu/tart/fcikk/Kjc/0/23144/1. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ http://www.visitspas.eu/hungary/
- ^ "Herend Porcelain Manufactory Ltd". Herend.com. http://www.herend.com/. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "FIE 2009–2010 men's rankings". Fie.ch. http://www.fie.ch/Competitions/RankingList.aspx?param=8C508173B39155DD53B81E624647082B999A7254268EA043313A21E19F3CCE115928F31266BFED5C96744EFE404921371BA0B553CB9419D947CC609C9FC6CCFB48C6AE112ABA5A4EB917D1B7B1AFEA73D9301125242F40950B39007F8B30803B1428FD85451599C7E8B640F55FBB99F96E85563733B996F4DA086222E241E75C. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ "FIE 2009–2010 women's rankings". Fie.ch. http://www.fie.ch/Competitions/RankingList.aspx?param=F822EFF311A4B9B772C67048D9DA32F4B0EED82CC9D791272D364D08FDA7CEAE08236B030B5BAF7869033790E5CBFE0B1DE4945E6BF24D1B417CA444D76B51ABFDBEC84449C9BB34B6AC942A1FF403A3D9301125242F40950B39007F8B30803B1428FD85451599C7E8B640F55FBB99F96E85563733B996F4DA086222E241E75C. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ "FIFA President: FIFA to help the Galloping Major". FIFA. 12 October 2005. Archived from the original on 7 October 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061007122035/http://www.fifa.com/en/organisation/president/index/0,4095,110412,00.html?articleid=110412. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
- ^ "Coronel Puskas, el zurdo de oro" (in Spanish). AS. 17 November 2006. http://www.as.com/articulo/Futbol/Coronel/Puskas/zurdo/oro/dasftb/20061117dasdasftb_2/Tes/. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
- ^ Mackay, Duncan (13 October 2005). "Lineker tees up another nice little earner". The Guardian (London). http://sport.guardian.co.uk/golf/story/0,10069,1590809,00.html. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
- ^ "Blatter unveils FIFA Puskas Award". Fifa.com. 21 October 2009. http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/awards/gala/news/newsid=1120835.html. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ "Hungary 3–2 Greece: Euro champions stunned". ESPN. 24 May 2008. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=238244&cc=5739. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ "Hungary 3–1 Italy: World Champions stunned". ESPN. 22 August 2007. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=223003&cc=5739. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
External links
| Find more about Hungary on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
 |
Definitions and translations from Wiktionary |
 |
Images and media from Commons |
 |
Learning resources from Wikiversity |
 |
News stories from Wikinews |
 |
Quotations from Wikiquote |
 |
Source texts from Wikisource |
 |
Textbooks from Wikibooks |
- Official site of the National Assembly
- Chief of State and Cabinet Members
- Hungary entry at The World Factbook
- Hungary at UCB Libraries GovPubs
- Hungary at the Open Directory Project
- Wikimedia Atlas of Hungary
Geographic data related to Hungary at OpenStreetMap- Hungary travel guide from Wikitravel
- Hungary Guide
- History of Hungary: Primary Documents
- History of Hungary from The Corvinus Library
- In The Land of Hagar: The Jews of Hungary a virtual exhibition
- Translation of Hungarian literary works database
- Agricultural land use profile
- Your most up-to-date guide to Hungary
 |
Republic of Austria | Slovak Republic | Ukraine | |
| Republic of Slovenia |  |
Ukraine | ||
 Hungary  |
||||
 |
||||
| Republic of Croatia | Republic of Serbia | Romania |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
Top
Hungary
Français (French)
n. - Hongrie
Português (Portuguese)
n. - Hungria
Español (Spanish)
n. - Hungría
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
匈牙利
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 匈牙利
한국어 (Korean)
헝가리(인민공화국) (유럽 중부; 수도 Budapest)
If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
Oxford Companion to the Photograph
The Oxford Companion to the Photograph. Copyright © 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Dance
The Oxford Dictionary of Dance. Copyright © 2000, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
Read more
Gale Dictionary of Psychoanalysis
International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. Copyright © 2005 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Gale Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Geography
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and
James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Read more
CIA World Factbook
The World Factbook 2009 is prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Read more
Gale World Cuisines
Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World. Copyright © 2002 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Barron's Wine Lover's Companion
Wine Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2003 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Investopedia Financial Dictionary
Copyright ©2010, Investopedia.com - Owned and Operated by Investopedia US, A Division of ValueClick, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Encyclopedia of the Holocaust
Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. Copyright © H.H. The Jerusalem Publishing House, Ltd. © Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority. All rights reserved.
Read more
Random House Word Menu
© 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier.
Write Brothers Inc.
All rights reserved.
Read more
Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Hungary.
Read more
