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see also [[Magyar]]
see also [[Magyar]]
[[File:Magyar.jpg|thumb|290px|Arrival of the Magyar peoples]]
The Magyar peoples migrated to the Danube basin from the east around 900AD. Hungary was united as a nation in 1001 under King Stephen I.
It fell under Ottoman rule in the sixteenth century, and subsequently became part of the [[Habsburg]] [[Austrian Empire]]. In 1848-49 the Hungarian people rebelled against the Austrians to gain independence, a movement led by [[Lajos Kossuth]] (1802-1894), but the rebellion was crushed with Russian aid. The creation of the dual monarchy of [[Austria-Hungary]] in 1867 gave Hungary a measure of equality with Austria within the empire. Following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the First World War, Hungary became an independent state. However, the Treaty of Trianon stripped Hungary of much of its territory and population. [[Slovakia]] and [[Ruthenia]] went to the new state of [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Transylvania]] and [[Partium]] to [[Romania]] and the area around Novi Sad to [[Yugoslavia]]. A small area on the western border was ceded to [[Austria]]. In the 1920s around one-third of the Magyar people lived outside the new boundaries of Hungary.
== World War II ==
Hungary sought revision of these treaty losses and allied itself (under the autocratic regent, Admiral [[Miklós Horthy]] (1868-1957)) with [[Germany]]. In the 1939 carve-up of Czechoslovakia, Hungary gained parts of Slovakia and Ruthenia. In 1940 Hitler forced [[Romania]] to return northern Transylvania to Hungarian rule, and Hungary also regained territory from Yugoslavia following Germany's conquest of that country in 1941. As a quid pro quo, Hungarian troops fought with the Germans on the Eastern Front, and as the Germans retreated in 1944 and 1945 Hungary came under Soviet occupation; it was also stripped of all its gains between 1939 and 1945.
== Communist Control ===
Under Soviet protection, the Hungarian communists, led by Mátyás Rákosi (1892-1971) were able to seize control of the state by 'salami tactics' (picking off adversaries one by one). Once in power, Rákosi was a fierce Stalinist, even by the standards of the Soviet bloc; he was removed from office and exiled to the Soviet Union under Soviet pressure following the denouncing of Stalin by [[Nikita Krushchev]] in 1956.
In October 1956 a small student demonstration exploded into a major uprising against the Communist Party which rapidly spread throughout the whole country. The new party leader, [[Imre Nagy]] (1896-1958) agreed to a number of popular demands, including the disbanding of the hated secret police, the ÁVH, and he further announced that Hungary would withdraw from the [[Warsaw Pact]]. This prompted a massive Soviet invasion on 4 November 1956 which, despite fierce resistance, crushed the rebellion by 10 December. Many thousands were executed including (in 1958) Nagy himself.
== The Fall of Communism ==
Nagy was replaced as leader by János Kádár (1912-1989) who instituted 'Goulash Communism': strict political control coupled with more liberal economic and cultural policies. In the short term this led to improved living standards for the Hungarian people: in material terms they, and the East Germans, were the most prosperous nations in the eastern bloc. It also created a readiness to take advantage of the relaxations of ''[[glasnost]]'' and ''[[perestroika]]'' being advocated in the 1980s Soviet Union. In 1989 the Hungarian government opened its border with Austria. This led to a flood of refugees from [[East Germany]] and thus ultimately to the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], the reunification of [[Germany]], and the domino-like collapse of Communist regimes across the Soviet bloc. Democratic elections were first held in 1990; Hungary joined [[NATO]] in 1999 and the [[European Union]] on May 1, 2004.
[[category:European History]]
[[category:European History]]
[[category:Medieval History]]
[[category:Medieval History]]
[[category:Central Europe]]
[[category:Central Europe]]