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The "Great Migration"
| 1000-1,500 BC |
At this point, the Hungarians are found
to the north of the Ural Mountains and progressively
settling south west on the banks of the Middle Volga
(present day Russia) where they are semi nomadic
horseman. |
| 1st Century AD |
The Romans subjugate the Celts and
occupy Transdanubia which they name Pannonia. |
| Early 2nd Century |
Aquincum (the present day Obuda district
of Budapest) becomes the capital of lower Pannonia |
| 5th Century |
At the beginning of the century the Huns
occupy positions left by the Romans. Attila
unites the tribes in a vast empire before attacking
the Eastern Roman Empire. Some Hungarian tribes move
southwards and settle near the Black Sea. |
| 9th Century |
Breaking away from the Khazars, a people
of Turkish origin from the lower Volga region. The
Hungarian settle between the Don and the Dniestr. A
large region situated east of present day Kiev. They
name it Etelkoz, meaning "the place between the
two rivers. |
| 896 AD |
Conquest of the Carpatian Basin by
prince Arpad and the seven Magyar tribes |
The Arpad Dynasty
| 902 AD |
The Hungarians destroy the Moravian
Empire of Sviatopluk and Moimir II with the assistance
of the Emperor Arnulf |
| 10th Century |
Magyar horseman become notorious for
their raiding and pillaging, which takes them as far
as Burgundy and Aquitaine, to Naples and the shores of
the Bosphous. |
| 955 AD |
The Hungarians are defeated at Lechfeld,
near Augsburg by the German king Otto I the Great.
Their chiefs are executed. This defeat puts an end to
their raids and contributes to their settling process. |
| 972-997 AD |
Reign of Geza. Arpad's great grandson.
The king is baptized and at his request, Bruno, a monk
from Saint Gall, undertakes the conversion of the
country to Christianity |
| 997-1039 AD |
Vajk, Geza's son, baptized Istvan
(Stephen) reigns under the name Stephen I and
continues his father's work. He is considered the real
founder of Hungary |
| January 1, 1001 |
The coronation of Stephen I in Esztergom
Basilica. |
| 1054 |
Schism; the final separation of the
churches of Rome and Constantinople. |
| 1077-1095 |
After intermittent quarrels over the
succession, the reign of Laszlo I (St Ladislaa) began |
| 1095-1116 |
Reign of Kalman (Coloman) the
Bibliophile. During his reign, the Hungarians conquer
Croatia-Slavonia and the center of Bosnia |
| 1141-1162 |
Reign of Geza II. The king of France,
Louis VII and the German emperor. Conrad III, stay in
Hungary during the Second Crusade. |
| 1172-1196 |
Reign of Bela III |
| 1217-1218 |
Andras II organizes a Crusade. He's
accompanied by minnesingers Ruethal and Tannhauser |
| 1222 |
The Golden Bull grants the right to
oppose the king, even by the use of arms, if the king
interferes with their privileges. The consequences of
this charter of nights are considerable. |
| 1241-1242 |
Invasion by the Tatars of Mongols who
defeat the Hungarian army at Muhi. Bela IV is forced
to settle in Trau (present day Trogir in Croatia) |
| 1301 |
With the death of Andras III, the Arpad
Dynasty comes to an end. |
The wars against the Turks
| 1308-1342 |
With Charles Robert of Anjou (Robert
Karoly) the reign of kings of foreign origin begins.
He attacks the power of the great lords who mobilize
almost the entire country against him. |
| 1357 |
The Ottomans settle on the opposite
shore of the Bosphorus in Gallipoli, then in
Adrianople. |
| 1371 |
In the reign of Louis I of Anjou
(1342-82) the Turks attack Hungary for the first time. |
| 1387-1437 |
Sigismund and Luxemburg becomes King of
Hungary through his marriage to the daughter of Louis
I. |
| 1396 |
Sigismund leads a crusade against the
Turks who win a victory at Nicopolis. The news plunges
the west into terror. |
| 1444 |
Vladislas I is defeated by the Turks at
Varna. |
| 1453 |
Mehmet II seizes Constantinople. |
| 1456 |
Janos Hunyadi, a noble from Valachia,
defends Nadorfehervar (present day Belgrade) against
the Turks. His son Matthias is made King. |
| 1458-1490 |
Reign of Matthias Hunyadi, also known as
Matthias Corvinus. |
| 1514 |
Peasant revolt led by Gyorgy Dozsa. |
| 1521 |
The Turks seize Nadorfehervar. |
| August 29, 1526 |
Defeat at Mohacs by Sultan Suleiman I,
the Magnificent. Crushes the troops of Louis II
Jagiello, King of Hungary and Bohemia. The king dies
at the battle. |
The Habsburgs in Hungary
| October 22, 1526 |
Ferdianand of Austria is elected King of
Bohemia in Prague. |
| Nov. 11, 1526 |
The Szekesfehervar Diety elects a
national king in the person of Janos I Szapolyai
(1526-40). Opposed by the Habsburg, Janos I, supported
by the Turks, sees his kingdom reduced to
Transylvania. |
| Dec. 17, 1526 |
Ferdinand of Austria is elected King of
Hungary at Presburg, under the name of Ferdinand I. |
| 1541 |
Fifteen years after the defeat at
Mohacs, Ferdinand controls the north and east of
Hungary (royal Hungary). Suleiman occupies the center.
Buda is under Turkish control. Szapolyai is Prince of Transylvania. |
| 1566 |
Death of Suleiman I, the Magnificent, at
the siege of Szigetvar. |
| 1571 |
Victory of the Holly League (which
include Transylvania) over the Turks. |
| 1591-1606 |
Fifteen years of war waged by the Habsburgs
to drive the Turks out of Hungary and Transylvania. |
| 1685 |
The Imperial army occupies Transylvania. |
| 1686 |
Liberation of Buda. |
| 1687 |
The Diety declares the crown of Hungary
as the rightful inheritance of the house of Austria. |
| 1699 |
Peace of Karlowitz, marking the end of
Turkish occupation in Hungary |
| 1740-1790 |
The reigns of Maria Teresa (1740-80) and
Joseph II (1780-90) introduce reforms in Hungary and
see the development of the cooperation between the Viennese
court and Hungarian nobility. |
| 1792-1835 |
With Francis II as German Emperor and
King of Bohemia and Hungary under the name of Francis
I, absolutism prevails in all domains. |
The 1848-49 Revolution
| 1825-1827 |
the meeting of the Diety opens up the
era of reform. Count Istvan Szecsenyi plays a very
active role in the country's modernization. Hungarian
is declared the official language. |
| 1832-1836 |
Lajos Kossuth stands for the 1832 Diety.
He's arrested by the conservatives. |
| 1839 |
This third Diety frees political
prisoners and grants non-nobles the right to own land
and hold administrative positions. |
| 1841 |
Kossuth starts the liberal newspaper,
the Pest Gazette. |
| 1843-1844 |
The Assembly declares Hungarian to be
the official language. The decision provokes
opposition from national minorities. |
| February 1848 |
Revolution in Paris where the Second
Republic is proclaimed |
| March 15 1848 |
People's demonstration in Pest. A 12
point program for the establishment of a bourgeois
democracy is passed. [Comparable to the American
Declaration of Independence] |
| March 17 1848 |
Pressured by events, Emperor Ferdinand V
appoints Count Lajos Batthyany to lead the government.
He confirms the laws passed by the Diety; the
abolition of feudalism, the constitution of a
representative national assembly, freedom of the
press, equality of worship and Transylvania's cession
to Hungary. |
| September 1848 |
General J. Jalacic's imperial army
marches on the Hungarian capital. It is stopped at
Szekesfehervar. General Lamberg, sent by Vienna, is
killed by the crowd in Pest. Kossuth takes on the
leadership of a national defense committee. |
| January 1849 |
The Imperial army (Franz Josef has
succeeded Ferdinand V.) occupies the capital. The
committee and the assembly take refuge in Debrecen. |
| April 14, 1849 |
Kossuth pushes through a motion to
depose the Habsburgs. |
| Apr-May 1849 |
The Hungarian army recaptures Pest and
Buda. |
| August 1849 |
Due to the assistance requested by the
Emperor from Tsar Nicholas I, the Hungarian army, now
surrounded, lays down it's arms. Count Batthyany and
13 generals are executed. Hungary is placed under
Austrian control. |
| May 29 1867 |
After the defeat by Prussia at Sedova,
the Austrian Empire seeks to appease Hungarian unrest.
The compromise institutes the Dual Monarchy.
- Hungary, Croatia and Transylvania from and
independent state with it's own government. This State
recognizes the Austrian Emperor as it's head.
The new State has a joint army, an imperial foreign
policy and special financing for joint affairs. |
| 1868 |
Law on Nationalities; civic equality and
recognition of certain cultural religious rights. |
Hungary after World War I.
| 1913 |
Government of Istvan Tisza, who ahs
already been in politics for 20 years. |
| 1914-1918 |
Austria-Hungary is swept into war
alongside Germany and 1 million are killed in action. |
| October 31, 1918 |
Bourgeois, democratic revolution and
Mihaly Karolyi's government. |
| March 21, 1919 |
Bela Kun's Communist Party sets up a Council
Republic which only lasts 133 days. This period will
always be remembered as the era of the "red
terror". |
| March 1920 |
With the assistance of the Romanian
army, Miklos Horthy, an administrate in a country
which now has no coastline, establishes himself as
Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary. A reign of
"white terror" is to follow. |
| June 4, 1920 |
The treaty of Treanon imposed by the
Allies, deprives Hungary of two thirds of it's
territory and half of it's population. Hungarian
resentment runs high and is further stirred up by the
Horthy regime which makes the treaty the principal
target of its propaganda. Hitler and Mussolini are to
exploit this situation. The first anti Semite law,
introducing a numerous clausus in universities. |
| 1938 |
Second anti Semite law adopted, as a
result of pressure exerted by Hitler's regime. It
totally barred Jews from entering higher education. |
| June 27, 1941 |
war is declared on the USSR |
| 1943 |
Admiral Horthy makes secret contacts
with the Allies. |
| October 1944 |
The Arrow Cross (the Hungarian Nazis)
seizes power, with the subsequent persecution and
deportation of Jews. 700,000 Jews are deported, mainly
to Auschwitz and Birkenau. Roul Wallenberg, the
Swedish Counsel in Budapest, saves several thousand of
them before his disappearance after being abducted by
the Soviets. |
| 1946 |
A republic is proclaimed. Zoltan Tildy
becomes president. A new currency, the forint
(still in place today) replaces the pengo. |
| 1946-1953 |
Opposition between the two blocks, the
east and the west; marks the beginning of the
"Cold War". The red army is put into
Hungary. |
| 1948 |
The countries of the East form a single
bloc with the USSR. The struggle against the Church
begins. Cardinal Mindszenty is arrested on December
26, charged with plotting against the State. |
| 1949 |
The leader of the Communist Party,
Matyas Rakosi, becomes the head of the government.
Trial of Laszlo Rajk, the home office minister accused
of Titoism. His former friends, including Janos Kadar,
abandon him. He is sentenced to death and executed. |
| 1953-1955 |
The death of Stalin heralds a period of
eased tension. Imre Nagy, a communist reformer becomes
the Prime Minister. A period of trouble follows,
marked by the incessant struggle between the reformers
and hard-line Stalinist. Nagy is excluded from the
Hungarian Workers Party in March 1955 and replaced by
Matyas Rakosi. |
| 1956 |
A so called wind of freedom blows, particularly in
intellectual circles. Laszlo Rajk is returned to
position in
March 27. On October 14, Nagy is reintegrated into the
party. October 1956 marked the start of the People's
uprising against the control of the USSR and communism. |
| June 16, 1958 |
Execution of Imre Nagy in Budapest,
together with several of his supporters. |
| 1963-1988 |
The party led by Janos Kadar, takes
lenient measures. Kadar undertakes economic and
agricultural reforms. He is to stay in power until
1988. During these years, he endeavors to have any
conflict or divergence from the USSR and to maintain
good relationships with the West. He launches a plan
for an International Exhibition with Austria on the
theme "a bridge towards the future".
However, it never materializes. In 1980 is in the
throws of economic difficulties. It survives, thanks
to credit facilities from the West, but is heavily indebted.
An economic crisis breaks out in 1987. Discontent
grows. On May 27, 1988, during and extraordinary
meeting of the PSOH (the Communist Party), Kadar is
dismissed. |
|
|
| 1989 |
In Hegyeshalom, on May 3, the barbed
wire separating Hungary and Austria is symbolically
cut at the main frontier post between the two countries
by the minister of foreign affairs, Gyula Horn and his
Austrian counterpart. On June 16th, Budapest holds a
national funeral ceremony in memory of Imre Nagy and
the 1956 victims. On July 6th, the Hungarian Supreme
Court officially pronounces their government. During
the night of September 10, around 700,000 East Germans
who had come to Hungary are authorized to enter West
Germany via Austria. On October 23, the
Communist-Socialist Republic becomes the Hungarian
Republic. |
| Nov.. 11, 1989 |
The fall of the Berlin wall, heralds the
dismemberment of the Soviet "Eastern bloc". |
| 1990 |
March 8; the signing of an agreement for
the departure of the Soviet troops, before June 30th,
1991.. On March 25 and April 8, the first free
elections are held. The "Democratic Forum"
party comes to power. Jozsef Antal becomes elected as
Prime Minister. Arpad Goncz is elected as first
President of the newly freed republic, by parliament.
In November, Hungary joins the Council of Europe. |
| 1993 |
Hungary becomes an associate member of
the European Union. |
| 1994 |
General elections are held and won by
the Socialist Party (comprised of mostly communist politicians
of the past). Gyula Horn becomes Prime Minister and
forms a coalition government with the "League of
Free Democrats" party. |
| 1998 |
In a referendum, the Hungarians
pronounce themselves in favor of their country joining
NATO. the center-right wing FIDESZ party, wins the
general elections as the second
non-communist/non-socialist government (since Antal
Jozsef). Viktor Orban becomes Prime Minister. |
| 2003 |
A re-organized Socialist party wins the
elections and chose Peter Meggyesi as Prime Minister,
who after some party turmoil chose to step down.
Making way for Ferenc Gyurcsany. |
| 2004 |
Hungary's membership to the European
union is accepted. |
| 2005 |
European Union rules and practices are
adopted and merged into the Hungarian Economy. |
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