Hungary (Hungarian Magyarorsz?g), landlocked republic in Central Europe. Hungary's present borders are virtually the same as those established by the post-World War I Treaty of Trianon (1920). The country's capital and largest city is Budapest.
Hungary has a total land area of 93,030 sq km (35,919 sq mi). It is bounded on the north by Slovakia; on the northeast by Ukraine; on the east by Romania; on the south by Serbia and Montenegro (formerly the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or FRY), Croatia, and Slovenia; and on the west by Austria. The country is somewhat oval in shape, with a maximum distance from east to west of about 500 km (about 310 mi) and a maximum distance from north to south of about 315 km (about 195 mi).
Hungary is predominantly flat. The Danube River forms part of Hungary's northwestern border with Slovakia, and then flows south through Budapest, dividing Hungary into two general regions. A low, rolling plain known as the Great Hungarian Plain also called the Great Alf?ld, covers most of the region east of the Danube extending east to Romania and south to Serbia and Montenegro. Highlands along the northern border of the country extend eastward from the gorge of the Danube at Esztergom and include the M?tra mountains, a part of the Carpathian Mountain system. Mount Kékes (1,014 m/ 3,327 ft), in the M?tra Mountains, is the highest peak in Hungary. The area west of the Danube, known as Transdanubia, presents a variety of land forms. In the south rise the isolated Mecsek Mountains. In the north are the Bakony Mountains, a forested range in the Transdanubian Highlands, which overlook Lake Balaton. The Little Alf?ld, or Little Plain, in the extreme northwestern section of Hungary, extends into southern Slovakia.
The Danube is Hungary's most important river. Other major rivers, all tributaries of the Danube, include the Tisza, the longest river in Hungary, and the Raab (R?ba) and Drava (Drau) rivers. Lake Balaton, Hungary's principal lake, is the largest lake in central Europe.
Hungary has a relatively dry continental climate, with cold winters and warm summers. The average daily temperature range in Budapest is -4 to 1C (25 to 34F) in January, and 16 to 28C (61 to 82F) in July; there is little regional variation in temperature. Budapest receives an average of about 610 mm (about 24 in) of precipitation each year. Rainfall is heaviest in early summer, when heavy downpours frequently occur; the most rain tends to fall along Hungary's western frontier.
Some 20 percent of Hungary is forested, mostly with oak, lime, beech, and other deciduous trees in the Transdanubian lands and mountains. Hare, fox, deer, and boar are abundant. Duck, heron, crane, and stork are native to the country, and the Great Hungarian Plain, which is mostly steppe, is a resting spot for many migrating species.
Hungary's principal natural resource is bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is made. The country also has deposits of coal (including lignite), petroleum, natural gas, manganese, uranium, and iron ore. Reserves of most minerals are small, however, and often of low quality.
The alluvial soils of the Great Hungarian Plain are highly fertile, although inferior to the black earth in the southeastern and southern plain extending into Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Croatia. Soils in the northern highland river basins are generally fertile, but in much of Hungary the soil is either of a loose type, called loess, or sandy.
Northern Hungary lacks sufficient water, especially between July and October, when precipitation levels are typically low. Without adequate irrigation, the Great Hungarian Plain in eastern Hungary is prone to droughts. Only 5 percent of Hungary's surface water originates in the country; 66 percent of water used for human consumption is provided by the Danube. Because of the country's mainly flat terrain, only limited water resources can be harnessed for hydroelectric power.
Rapid industrialization in Hungary contributed significantly to a number of major environmental problems, including air, water, and soil pollution. Emissions from automobiles and electric power plants have created most of the air pollution. A significant percentage of the country's forests, waterways, and buildings suffer damage from acid rain, which is caused by sulfur dioxide in the air. Winds carry Hungary's polluted air into neighboring countries, where it has caused similar problems.
River, lake, and groundwater pollution in Hungary are the result of industrial runoff, much of which is untreated when it enters the water. Insufficiently treated sewage also contributes to water pollution, as a large percentage of the country's population does not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. Hungary's Lake Balaton, the largest lake in central Europe, is severely polluted.
Soils are also susceptible to pollution from chemical runoff from local industries. Because Hungary shares its major waterway, the Danube, with other European countries, pollution problems affecting neighboring countries often affect Hungary as well, and vice versa.
Reforestation efforts have allowed the country to steadily gain forestland. About 6.8 percent (1997) of Hungary's land is protected in parks and other reserves, preventing development but not the ill effects of acid rain and water pollution.
Hungary is party to international treaties concerning air pollution, biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, hazardous wastes, and wetlands.
The population of Hungary (2005 estimate) is 10,006,835. The overall population density is 108 persons per sq km (281 per sq mi). Urban areas are home to 65 percent of the population.
Budapest, the largest city, is the capital and also the cultural and economic center of Hungary; its many industries include shipbuilding and metalworking. Other major cities include Debrecen, the trade center of a major agricultural region; Miskolc, the location of iron-and-steel and other metallurgical industries; Szeged, a shipping center for the agricultural products of the Great Hungarian Plain, also noted for its chemical and synthetic-textile industries; and Pécs, home of small manufacturing industries.
About 90 percent of the Hungarian people are Magyars, descendants of the Finno-Ugric and Turkic tribes who mingled with Avars and Slavic tribes in Hungary in the 9th century. The country's largest ethnic minorities are Roma (Gypsies), Germans, Slovaks, Croats, Serbs, and Romanians. A law passed in 1993 permits ethnic minorities to set up self-governing councils.
Hungarian, also called Magyar, is the official language of Hungary. Hungarian is a member of the Ugric branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. It has been influenced by a number of other languages, including Turkish, German, Latin, French, and several Slavic languages. See Hungarian Language.
Because of the country's large number of tourists and the minimal utility of Hungarian in other parts of the world, most Hungarians learn to speak foreign languages. German is the most popular foreign language spoken in Hungary. During parts of the Communist period (1948-1989), when Hungary was under the influence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Hungarians were restricted to learning Russian as an additional language. In the 1990s many young people in Hungary began learning English.
Hungary is predominantly a Roman Catholic country with a large Protestant minority. During the Communist period, the government dissolved most religious orders and seized the properties of the monasteries. Those religious bodies that remained were controlled by the State Office for Church Affairs. About two-thirds of the current population is Roman Catholic and about one-quarter is Protestant, the chief Protestant groups being the Hungarian (Calvinist) Reformed church and the Hungarian Lutheran church. The Orthodox and Unitarian churches are also active. Hungary's Jewish community numbers about 100,000.
Schooling is compulsory for all children in Hungary from the age of 7 through 16. The literacy rate in Hungary stands at 99 percent of the adult population. Primary education is free, and the government pays the bulk of the cost of secondary and higher education. The educational system consists of general, or primary, schools, which comprise the first eight grades; secondary grammar schools for academic work; technical schools; and institutions of higher learning. Emphasis is placed on vocational training and on education in technical subjects.
There are about 77 institutions of higher education in Hungary, including 10 universities and 9 technical universities. The most important universities are Lor?nd E?tv?s University in Budapest (founded in 1635), Lajos Kossuth University in Debrecen (1912), Janus Pannonius University of Pécs (founded in 1367, refounded in 1922), and Attila J?zsef University in Szeged (founded in 1872, refounded in 1921). A number of colleges specialize in vocational training (including teacher training), technical education, and agriculture.
Despite large-scale urbanization in the area surrounding Budapest, Hungary is best characterized by its rural nature. Fewer than ten cities have a population of more than 100,000, and even the largest of these cities have maintained a rural character. Cities are surrounded by village-type settlements with scattered multilevel apartment buildings. Most Hungarians live in single-family housing. Hungary has an unusually high number of commuters who travel from poor regions to jobs in the cities. More than half of the population pursues agriculture in addition to their main occupation. Hungary has high levels of consumption of goods and services, as compared with other former Communist countries. Still, in the early 1990s living standards fell for most of the population as a result of the country's economic transition. In 1997, 17 percent of the population was living at or below poverty level. While life for many Hungarians revolves around finding the resources necessary to raise a family, there is also a distinct upper class that lives in large houses with swimming pools and tennis courts.
One of Hungary's most pressing social problems is the high incidence of alcoholism. Despite the constitutional guarantee of civil liberties and human rights, several Hungarian minority groups have suffered from discrimination and persecution in recent years; this has been attributed in part to economic frustration resulting from the transition to a capitalist system. In 1993 Hungary passed a law that recognized the Roma population as a national minority. Jews are recognized as a religious minority.
The ancient Magyars had a rich folk culture, which incorporated Eastern themes into its folktales, art, and music. Following the Hungarian conversion to Christianity in the 10th century, pagan and Eastern cultural elements were replaced by Western cultural and social patterns, and Latin became the official and literary language. During the 15th century Italian artists and scholars introduced the humanistic Renaissance into Hungarian culture. In the 16th century Hungarian replaced Latin. In the 18th and 19th centuries Hungary absorbed the Age of Enlightenment and Western European liberalism. The early 20th century saw the rise of the “West” school of Hungarian intellectuals, who favored the integration of Hungarian cultural elements with modern Western culture. After World War II (1939-1945) the Communist regime made efforts to pattern Hungarian culture after that of the USSR.
See Hungarian Literature.
Only a few Hungarian artists are internationally renowned. Hungarian painting reached the peak of its development during the romantic period in the 19th century. Notable painters included Mih?ly Munk?csy, Viktor Madar?sz, P?l Szinyei Merse, and Mih?ly Zichy. L?szl? Moholy-Nagy was a leading 20th-century artist. In sculpture notable works were created by Gy?rgy Z?la and Alajos Str?bl von Lipt?uj?ar. During the Communist period, the cultural movement known as socialist realism predominated in Hungarian art.
The introduction of Christianity into Hungary in the 10th century brought with it the use of sacred music from Western Europe. The music consisted of Gregorian chants and, after the Reformation, of Protestant chorales. Secular music was largely influenced by styles from the East. A new instrumental and vocal style was brought into Hungary during the 15th century by the Roma. Hungarian folk music also absorbed harmony styles from the Ottomans, who occupied the country in the 16th and 17th centuries.
During the 17th and 18th centuries princely courts in Hungary often had orchestras and opera companies of their own, in which foreign musicians were employed. The best-known example is the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, who worked for 30 years for the Esterh?zy family.
In the 19th century Hungary produced its first important native-born composer, Ferenc Erkel, who composed the Hungarian national anthem and the first Hungarian opera. The Hungarian-born composer and pianist Franz Liszt spent most of his life in other countries. Like Erkel, Ernst von Dohn?nyi was greatly influenced by German composers.
German music continued to be the dominant influence on Hungarian music until the 20th century, when the music of Béla Bart?k and Z?ltan Kod?ly began to gain national acceptance. Beginning in 1905, Bart?k and Kod?ly collected and published thousands of Hungarian folk tunes and used them or their characteristic features in their own music. In the late 1950s, however, younger Hungarian composers began to reject this folk-based style and to explore more contemporary approaches to composition. See Folk Music; Music, Western.
Hungary has more than 5,000 public libraries, the largest of which is the National Széchényi Library in Budapest, founded in 1802; it contains some 2.4 million books and 4.2 million other documents. Other important libraries, all in Budapest, are the National Archives (1756), the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1826), and Parliament Library (1870). Besides regional and municipal public libraries, Hungary has trade union libraries and scientific libraries.
Among the leading museums in Hungary are the Hungarian National Museum (1802), which contains collections tracing the history of Magyar society and culture since the 9th century; the Museum of Fine Arts (founded in 1896, opened in 1906); and the Hungarian Natural History Museum (1802). All three are located in Budapest. More than 100 public museums are maintained throughout Hungary.
Before World War II, the economy of Hungary was based primarily on agriculture. What little industry the country had was almost entirely destroyed during the war. After the Communists took power in 1948, the Hungarian government took control of the economy and set forth a series of long-range economic development plans in which the emphasis was on industrialization, particularly the development of heavy industry. However, these plans were not well matched with Hungary's resources and capabilities, and the new industries were not able to meet the government's high production goals. In the late 1950s and 1960s the government was forced to readjust its plans and place more emphasis on agriculture and the manufacturing of consumer goods. In 1968 the government introduced an economic reform program known as the New Economic Mechanism (NEM), which allowed for limited decentralization of the economy. The first years of the NEM were considered a success; the production of consumer goods rose, and Hungarians experienced a substantial improvement in their standard of living. However, opposition among Soviet and Hungarian Communist leaders prevented the full development of the program and the NEM ended in the 1980s.
As the economy continued to decline throughout the 1980s, Hungary began turning to Western nations for trade and economic assistance. At the same time, the government began to encourage the formation of private businesses and partnerships with foreign companies. When non-Communists came to power in 1990, the country accelerated the pace of free-market reforms. The government was particularly successful at attracting foreign investment, and by 1993 Hungary accounted for more than half of all direct foreign investment in Eastern Europe. Numerous state-owned companies were transferred to private ownership as part of a widespread privatization program, and by 1993 the private sector's share of gross domestic product (GDP) was about 50 percent. When socialists gained the majority of parliament in 1994, the pace of privatization and other economic reforms slowed. However, in May 1995 the government passed legislation to accelerate the sale of government-owned enterprises and prepare for the sale of public utilities and a number of major industries, including steel and electricity.
The 2003 budget showed revenues of $30.9 billion and expenditures of $34.6 billion. The GDP in 2003 was $82.7 billion, and per-capita income was about $8,170. Inflation in Hungary has remained high and resistant to Finance Ministry efforts to reduce the rate more quickly. However, it did drop slightly, from more than 28 percent in 1995 to 18 percent in 1996. Between 1990 and 1996 Hungary received $15 billion in foreign investment. Hungary is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). In May 1996 it became a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In May 2004 Hungary and nine other countries joined the European Union (EU) as full members.
The collapse of Communism and resulting decline in industrial production displaced a significant percentage of Hungarian workers. In 1993 the unemployment rate stood at 13 percent; in 2002 it was 5.8 percent. Some 35 percent of the labor force is employed in industry; another 6 percent in farming, forestry, or fishing; and 59 percent in service industries.
In 1992 a labor code was enacted, which recognized the right of workers to associate freely and to organize and bargain collectively. With the exception of military personnel and the police, workers also have the right to go on strike. Following the introduction of this code, the number of strikes in Hungary increased dramatically; most were of short duration, however. The largest union federation is the National Confederation of Hungarian Trade Unions (formerly the Central Council of Hungarian Trade Unions, restructured in 1990), which claimed approximately 1 million members in 1993. A number of other union federations also exist.
Cultivated land covers 50 percent of Hungary's total area. During the Communist period about 90 percent of all farmland was organized into collective and state farms. State farms were owned and managed by the government; in collective farms, families would work together on jointly owned land, and each would receive a salary and a share of the farm's earnings. In the early 1990s the post-Communist government began returning many of these farms to private ownership. Severe droughts during this time, combined with a drop in government subsidies, caused a significant decline in agricultural output.
Hungary's leading agricultural products in the mid-1990s were corn, wheat, sugar beets, barley, potatoes, and sunflower seeds. In addition, grapes were grown in the famous vineyards of the Tokaj region. Livestock included cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, and poultry, and important livestock products included milk, meat, butter, eggs, and wool.
Expansion of agricultural areas, a high rate of exploitation, and inadequate reforestation diminished Hungary's forest resources through the period following World War II. In the 1960s the government restricted cutting and began an extensive reforestation program. The timber cut in 2003 was 5.79 million cu m (204 million cu ft).
Important freshwater fisheries are located on Lake Balaton and the Danube and Tisza rivers. The commercial fish catch consists chiefly of common carp, pike, perch, sheatfish, and shad.
During the Communist period, all subsurface resources were the property of the state and were exploited exclusively by the Hungarian government, except for uranium ore, which was mined by an agency of the USSR. Since the Communist system collapsed in 1989, Hungary's mining sector has decreased considerably. In the mid-1990s the country's chief mineral products were hard coal, lignite, bauxite, petroleum, and natural gas.
During the Communist period, most of Hungary's industries were owned and managed by the state. Since the 1980s, however, private ownership of companies and factories has increased. Because Hungary is limited in natural resources, its industries are dependent on imports of raw materials. Leading manufactures include crude steel, rolled steel, cement, aluminum, textiles, leather footwear, chemicals, buses, and automobiles. The processing of agricultural products is also important.
In 2002 Hungary's output of electricity was 34 billion kilowatt-hours. Because Hungary does not produce enough electrical power to meet its needs, the country has to import large quantities of oil, in addition to some of its coal supply. In the 1980s the government began constructing nuclear reactors in an effort to conserve and reduce dependence on imported energy sources. In 2002 the combustion of coal and oil provided 60 percent of Hungary's electricity; nuclear power facilities supplied 39 percent.
In the 1990s a controversy arose between Hungary and neighboring Slovakia over the hydroelectric project at Gab??kovo-Nagymaros. The project began in 1977 as a joint effort between Hungary and what was then Czechoslovakia. The plan called for the diversion of the Danube and the construction of two dams, one in Gab??kovo in Slovakia and one in Nagymaros in Hungary. In 1989 Hungary decided to abandon the project, claiming that it would endanger the environment. The Czechoslovak government proceeded unilaterally and in 1992 diverted a 17-km (11-mi) stretch of the river, reducing water flow to the Danube floodplain in Hungary. These events produced a major dispute between the two governments. The dispute, inherited by the Slovak government with the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993, was referred that year to the International Court of Justice, the judicial arm of the United Nations. In 1997 the court ruled that both countries had violated the 1977 project agreement and ordered them to compensate one another and continue negotiations to resolve the dispute. Both countries were still in negotiations as of April 1999.
Hungary's tourism industry has developed rapidly since the collapse of Communism, and is an important source of foreign currency. Lake Balaton is a popular vacation spot for boating, fishing, and swimming; Hungary's cities contain numerous historical and cultural attractions; and Budapest holds an annual spring festival of music and drama.
During the Communist period about half of Hungary's annual foreign trade was with the USSR and other Communist nations. However, since the 1980s and early 1990s most of the country's foreign trade has been conducted with Western nations. The leading purchasers of Hungary's exports are Germany, Italy, Austria, Russia, and the United States. The country's chief exports include machinery and transport equipment, consumer goods, agricultural products, chemicals, apparel, textiles, iron and steel, and wine. The leading imports include machinery and transport equipment, crude petroleum, chemicals, metal ores, consumer goods, and agricultural products. The value of exports in 2003 amounted to $42.3 billion, and the value of imports was $46.4 billion.
The monetary unit of Hungary is the forint (224 forints equal U.S.$1; 2003 average), which is subdivided into 100 fillér. The country's central bank is the National Bank of Hungary, located in Budapest. The National Bank issues currency and maintains checking and savings accounts. Other financial institutions include the Foreign Trade Bank, which serves enterprises trading abroad, and the State Development Institution, which finances large-scale investment projects. The Budapest Stock Exchange opened in 1990. Hungary's banking system is still largely underdeveloped, and its level of foreign debt remains high.
The Danube River, which flows from north to south through the center of the country, is a major artery of the Hungarian transportation system. With its navigable tributaries, it provides low-cost transit for a large portion of domestic freight and passenger service, and offers ready access to the markets of central and southeastern Europe and to the Black Sea. The completion of a canal connecting the Main and Danube rivers in 1992 allowed for goods to be shipped from the Black Sea to the North Sea.
Hungary's railroad system, which consists of 7,729 km (4,803 mi) of track, is owned and operated by the government. Although roads have become increasingly popular for transporting goods and people, Hungary's railways have seen an increase in travel to destinations outside of Hungary. Hungary has 159,568 km (99,151 mi) of roads, of which 44 percent are paved and suitable for heavy traffic. The main roads radiate from Budapest. Hungary's national airline was formerly owned entirely by the state but has now been partially privatized. Flights are handled by an international airport located near Budapest.
In the early 1990s the country's telecommunication network remained underdeveloped. Half of the telephones in Hungary are found in Budapest; Hungarians wait an average of two years to have a telephone line installed. Though communications remain largely in state hands, a portion of the state telephone company was sold to foreign investors in 1993. The state-run Magyar R?di? operates three radio stations, and Magyar Telev?zi? maintains two television channels. In April 1994 a new, independent television station began broadcasting. Most Hungarian families own a radio, and many also own a television set.
Since private ownership of publications was legalized in 1989, the print media in Hungary has enjoyed considerable freedom. Most of the country's daily newspapers are partially foreign owned. In 1998 there were 33 daily newspapers being published, with a total circulation of 4.7 million. The most important of these was Népszabads?g (People's Freedom), published in Budapest. Népszabads?g was formerly the central publication of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party but is now independent.
Between 1948 and 1989 the Communists controlled all levels of government in Hungary, and the head of the Communist Party was the country's most powerful leader. In the late 1980s public pressure forced the country's leaders to accept the formation of opposition parties. In 1989 the Communist Party ended its monopoly on power, and renamed itself the Hungarian Socialist Party (HSP). Soon afterward, the Hungarian parliament revised the 1949 constitution to create a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which power is reserved for the people and exercised through their elected representatives.
Multiparty elections were held in 1990, and the Hungarian Democratic Forum, a non-Communist Party, won the majority of parliamentary seats. In subsequent elections held in 1994, the Hungarian Socialist Party (HSP) won control of parliament. In 1998 elections, the ruling party lost power again, as the center-right Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Party gained more seats than the HSP.
Hungary has both a president and a prime minister. The president acts as head of state. He or she is elected by the National Assembly for a four-year term, and may be reelected for a second term. Any citizen who is qualified to vote and at least 35 years of age may be elected president. The prime minister is typically the leader of the party with the most seats in parliament.
Hungary has a one-house parliament called the National Assembly (Orszaggyules). The National Assembly consists of 386 deputies, elected for four-year terms. Of the total number of deputies, 176 are elected directly from local districts; 120 are elected on a proportional basis from county and metropolitan lists; and the remaining 90 are elected indirectly from national lists drawn up by the competing parties. Upon the recommendation of the president, the National Assembly appoints the members of the Council of Ministers, who head the various government departments.
Hungary's highest court is the Supreme Court, which functions mainly as a final court of appeals. All judicial positions are by election. Supreme Court, county court, and district court judges are elected for indefinite periods. The president of the Supreme Court is elected by the National Assembly. The chief public prosecutor, who is nominated by the National Assembly, is responsible for ensuring observance of the law. Judges are not permitted to join political parties or engage in political activities. The Civil Code and the Criminal Code adopted during the Communist period are still in force, although the Hungarian government has made some efforts to democratize the judicial system. A constitutional court was established in 1990.
From 1949 to 1989 the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (HSWP) dominated the nation's political life. In October 1989, with its membership rapidly declining, the HSWP reconstituted itself as the Hungarian Socialist Party (HSP). The constitutional revisions adopted in 1989 officially legalized the formation of other political parties.
Parties represented in the Hungarian parliament include the HSP; the moderately conservative Independent Smallholders' Party; the Alliance of Free Democrats, an ally of the HSP; the far-right Hungarian Justice and Life Party; and the Hungarian Democratic Forum.
During the Communist period each unit of local government was governed by a people's council, which administered economic, social, and cultural activities. These councils were organized hierarchically according to the size of the region, and all local organs were supervised by the national ministries. In 1990 the National Assembly ratified a law providing for the right of citizens to participate extensively in the governing of their local communities. Local affairs are now administered by multi-party self-governing bodies. Local elections are held every four years.
Hungary is divided for administrative purposes into 19 counties plus the capital city of Budapest, which has county status. Counties are subdivided into districts. In rural areas, villages have their own representative bodies. All levels of local government are regarded as equal and independent.
Health care and pension funds are financed by employer-employee contributions totaling approximately 10 percent of the annual wages of each worker. Health insurance is obligatory, and most medical treatment is free. Hungary has a guaranteed minimum wage. Men are usually eligible to receive retirement pensions at age 60, and women at age 55. Social insurance also provides for prenatal and maternity benefits, compensation for unemployment, old age and disability pensions, and aid to orphans and widows.
In 2003 Hungary's armed forces totaled 32,300; the army had 23,950 members and the air force had 7,500 members. A small fleet patrolled the Danube. Other forces included an armed border guard. All males from the age of 18 through 55 are required to serve for 18 months.
Hungary is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The country also participates in the Visegrad Group and the Central European Initiative, both of which were founded to promote cooperation in the region after the end of Communism. In July 1997 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) invited Hungary and two other formerly Communist nations—the Czech Republic and Poland—to become members. All three countries joined the alliance in March 1999.
The region that now comprises Hungary was once part of the ancient Roman province of Pannonia. Situated on the periphery of the Roman Empire, the region was among the first to fall to the Germanic tribes that began to seize the Roman dominions in the closing years of the 2nd century ad. The Germanic tribes were later driven from the region by the Huns. After the death of Attila the Hun, the Germans reoccupied the area, only to be expelled again, in the 5th century, by the Avars, an Asian people. With the decline of Avar power during the 8th century, the Moravians, a Slavic tribe, seized the northern and eastern portions of the region and, between 791 and 797, Charlemagne, king of the Franks, added the remainder of the region to his domains.
A century later, in 895 or 896, the Magyars, a Finno-Ugric tribe, seized control of Pannonia. Under the leadership of their legendary chieftain ?rp?d, the invaders conquered Moravia, raided the Italian Peninsula, and made incursions into Germany. The Magyars ranged over central Europe for more than half a century after the death of ?rp?d in 907, and in 955 they devastated Burgundy. Later in 955 they were defeated by Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, on the Lech River. After this defeat, the Magyars maintained friendlier relations with the Holy Roman Empire, with the result that Christianity and Western culture began to penetrate Hungary. Duke Géza was converted to Christianity in 975. His son Stephen I, the founder of the ?rp?d dynasty, was granted formal recognition as king of Hungary by Pope Sylvester II in 1001 or 1002.
With Stephen (who was canonized in 1083), a new era began for Hungary. Christianity became the official religion, paganism was suppressed, royal authority was centralized, and the country was divided into counties for administrative purposes. The non-Magyar sections of the population were treated as inferior and were forced to shoulder a disproportionate burden of labor and taxation for many centuries. When Stephen died in 1038 the country was left without a direct heir to the throne. Struggles for the throne and pagan revolts bred instability in the country. Ladislas I, who served as king during the latter half of the 11th century, strengthened the country by arranging an alliance with Pope Gregory VII. Ladislas subjugated Croatia, Bosnia, and part of Transylvania; his successor, Koloman, obtained part of Dalmatia.
Royal authority in Hungary declined during the 12th century, chiefly because of internal strife instigated by the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus. Seizing control of the Hungarian throne, he bestowed huge grants of the crown lands on members of the nobility, thereby providing foundations for the development of feudalism. Byzantine influence disappeared after the death of Manuel in 1180, but the barons retained their privileged status. King Andrew II attempted to reestablish a centralized regime. In 1222 he issued the Golden Bull, sometimes called the Hungarian Magna Carta, which extended various rights, including tax exemptions, to the nobility.
Hungary was overrun by the Mongols in 1241, during the reign of Andrew's successor Béla IV. Most of the Mongols withdrew from the country in 1242, but weak leadership and further royal concessions to the barons accelerated the disintegration of the kingdom.
B The Beginnings of Foreign Influence
With the death of Andrew III in 1301 the ?rp?d line of kings became extinct. In 1308 Charles Robert of Anjou secured election as Charles I, thereby establishing the Angevin dynasty in Hungary. During his reign, which ended in 1342, Charles restored order, imposed limitations on the barons, and generally consolidated the realm. He also made a number of territorial acquisitions, including Bosnia and part of Serbia. Through his marriage to Elizabeth, the sister of Kazimierz III, king of Poland, he ensured the succession of his son Louis to the Polish crown.
During the reign of Louis I, which lasted until his death in 1382, Hungary acquired new territory through wars of conquest and became one of the largest realms of Europe. Louis instituted numerous administrative reforms, further curbed the power of the feudal lords, and promoted the development of commerce, science, and industry. In the closing years of his reign, however, the Ottomans, advancing steadily northward into the Balkan Peninsula, established control over several of Hungary's southern buffer provinces. Sigismund, who was crowned king in 1387, organized a crusade against the Ottomans, but was overwhelmingly defeated in 1396. Additional disasters followed, including defeats by the Venetians and costly struggles with the religious reformers known as the Hussites. Sigismund, who had been elevated to Holy Roman emperor in 1411, relentlessly persecuted the Hussites.
Hungary was again menaced by the Ottomans during the two-year reign of Sigismund's Habsburg son-in-law and successor, Albert II. A bitter contest for the throne developed after Albert's death in 1439, and Hungary was saved from Ottoman domination by the military leader J?nos Hunyadi. Still the national hero of Hungary, Hunyadi is best known for breaking the Ottoman siege of Belgrade in 1456.
Hunyadi's son Matthias Corvinus was elected king in 1458, despite strong opposition by supporters of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. The new monarch, probably the most able and enlightened ruler of his time, instituted various administrative reforms, created a standing army, and promoted the commercial and cultural development of the nation. A brilliant military leader, Matthias won control of Austria from the Habsburgs in the 1480s and moved his residence to Vienna. This and his other territorial acquisitions, which included Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia, made Hungary the strongest kingdom of central Europe. After the death of Matthias in 1490, the feudal barons regained their former status. This soon produced factional strife in Hungary, including a peasant rebellion.
General political chaos intensified during the first two decades of the 16th century, and rendered Hungary incapable of effective defense against its foreign foes. In August 1521 an Ottoman army under Sultan Süleyman I captured Belgrade and Šabac (both now in Serbia), the chief strongholds of the kingdom in the south. In 1526 Süleyman crushed the Hungarian army at Moh?cs, where King Louis II and more than 20,000 of his men perished. After his army captured the city of Buda on September 10, 1526, Süleyman withdrew from Hungary.
For more than 150 years after the defeat at Moh?cs, Hungary was the scene of almost continuous strife, chiefly among the Habsburg Holy Roman emperors, who seized control of the western portion of the former kingdom; the Ottomans, who established their control over the central region; and groups of the native nobility, especially that of Transylvania. In the course of the struggle for control of Hungary, Transylvania became the center of the Magyar movement against Ottoman and Austrian, or Habsburg, domination. The Magyars had abandoned the Catholic church during the Protestant Reformation, thereby further offending the Catholic Habsburgs. After the middle of the 16th century and the beginning of the Counter Reformation, the strife between the Protestant Magyars and the Catholic Habsburgs became increasingly violent. At the end of the Long War (1593-1606), Emperor Rudolf II was forced to grant the Magyars of Transylvania political and religious autonomy, additional territory, and other concessions.
The Transylvanians sided against the Habsburgs during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), led at first by Gabriel Bethlen, prince of Transylvania and king of Hungary. George I R?k?czy, who succeeded Bethlen as prince of Transylvania in 1631, resumed the fight against Habsburg domination of western Hungary. In alliance with the Swedes and the French, R?k?czy invaded Austrian territory in 1644. Emperor Ferdinand III was forced to meet many of R?k?czy's demands, including the extension of full freedom of religion to all Hungarians under Habsburg rule.
In the decade following the accession of George II R?k?czy as prince of Transylvania, the Ottomans extended their sphere of influence into Transylvania, gradually reducing it, in effect, to provincial status. Meanwhile, missionary efforts in the Habsburg section of Hungary brought many of the people living there back into the Roman Catholic church. Under the influence of the church, these Hungarians abandoned the nationalist fight against Habsburg rule. Increasingly repressive measures were adopted against Protestants. These persecutions provoked a revolutionary uprising in the Hungarian dominions of the Habsburgs. Led by Count Imre Th?k?ly, the rebels won a series of victories over the forces of Emperor Leopold I. Th?k?ly obtained the military support of the Ottomans in 1682, but in the war that followed, the emperor's armies succeeded in driving the Ottomans from most of Hungary. The collapse of Th?k?ly's insurgent forces followed swiftly. Leopold punished the rebel leaders and forced the Hungarian legislature to declare the crown of Hungary forever hereditary in the house of Habsburg. By the provisions of the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, the Ottomans retained only the Hungarian Banat, a region they lost 19 years later. The Treaty of Karlowitz also granted Transylvania to the Habsburgs.
In 1703 a Hungarian landowner named Ferenc II R?k?czy united peasants and nobles in an uprising against Austrian rule. R?k?czy, who received substantial help from the French, organized a provisional government and held the Austrians at bay until 1708, when he met disastrous defeat at Tren??n. Rebel resistance continued until April 1711, when Emperor Charles VI offered peace terms, providing for a general amnesty, religious freedom, and a variety of political concessions. Relations between the Habsburgs and their Hungarian subjects were generally tranquil for more than a century thereafter.
Throughout the tumultuous period following the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, the overwhelming majority of the Hungarian population remained loyal to Austria. However, numerous Magyar nationalists were influenced by revolutionary ideas, and their propaganda led to a resurgence of Hungarian nationalism, beginning about 1815. Among other things, this development resulted in the creation of the Liberal Party, which launched a vigorous campaign for constitutional government and other reforms. The Liberal movement, headed by such Hungarian statesmen as Count Istv?n Széchenyi, J?zsef E?tv?s, Ferenc De?k, Lajos Kossuth, and Lajos Batthy?ny, was accompanied by important activity in the field of literature. The Liberals secured the passage of a number of progressive bills, including a measure that curtailed certain feudal restrictions on the peasantry.
D2 The Revolution of 1848 and the Ausgleich
The progressive political groups of Hungary won a decisive victory in the legislative election of 1847. At first the Austrian government ignored the voters' mandate, but when threatened by revolution in Vienna the following year, it yielded to Hungarian nationalist demands and authorized the formation of a Hungarian ministry, with Batthy?ny as premier. By the terms of legislation enacted in March 1848, the ministry severed practically all ties with Austria. Extreme Magyar nationalism, expressed in part by a decree making Hungarian the official language of the state, rapidly alienated the non-Magyar portions of the population, and rebellions broke out among the Romanians and Croats. When the revolutionary movement in Vienna was defeated in November, the Austrian army tried to restore Habsburg rule in Hungary, but was unsuccessful. In April 1849 the Hungarian legislature proclaimed the dethronement of the Habsburg dynasty and the independence of Hungary.
The following month, however, Austria's Emperor Francis Joseph I succeeded in arranging a military alliance with Nicholas I of Russia. The Austrian and Russian armies were uniformly successful against the outnumbered Hungarians, who surrendered in August 1849. On October 6, 1849, which remains a day of national mourning in Hungary, Batthy?ny and 13 other revolutionary leaders were executed. This and other severe reprisals inaugurated a period of centralized Austrian rule that lasted for more than a decade. After Austria's defeat in the Italian War of Liberation in 1859, the imperial regime suffered a succession of diplomatic and military losses. Francis Joseph was consequently obliged to adopt a conciliatory attitude toward his Hungarian subjects. Magyar nationalism, guided by Ferenc De?k, gradually reemerged as an important force in Hungary. In 1865 the imperial government sanctioned the draft of a new constitution for the Magyar nation. Before this document could be completed, Prussia defeated Austria in the Seven Weeks' War (1866), a debacle that vastly strengthened the position of the Hungarians. By the provisions of the compromise (Ausgleich) constitution, which was finally adopted in March 1867, Austria and Hungary became dual monarchies under one ruler. The constitution granted Hungary full sovereignty in the conduct of internal affairs and equal status with Austria in the conduct of national defense, foreign affairs, and certain financial matters. On June 8, 1867, Francis Joseph was crowned king of Hungary. The dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary endured until its defeat in World War I (1914-1918).
E World War I and the Republic
Hungarian political leaders supported the Austrian war effort largely because they feared that a Russian victory would lead to the defection of Hungary's Slavic minorities and the dismemberment of the country. As the conflict continued, however, war losses and food shortages produced extreme dissatisfaction among the people. The death of Francis Joseph on November 21, 1916, and the succession of Emperor Charles I weakened the ties between Hungary and Austria. Internal unrest increased steadily, and on October 25, 1917, Count Mih?ly K?rolyi established a national council, which intensified the struggle for general suffrage, dissolution of the parliament, and the conclusion of peace with the Allies. The empire was officially dissolved on November 11, 1918, and five days later the national council proclaimed the Hungarian Democratic Republic, with K?rolyi as its first president.
Social and political unrest continued, however, and in March 1919 K?rolyi's government was overthrown by the Communists under Béla Kun. The new government confiscated all industrial and commercial enterprises as communal property. Banks were expropriated and a number of newspapers were banned. Meanwhile, the Czechs had invaded Hungary from the north and the Romanians had invaded from the south. Unable to cope with foreign intervention and confronted by growing unrest among the peasantry, Béla Kun resigned on August 1, 1919, and fled into Austria. Three days later Budapest was occupied by the Romanians, who retained control for several months.
Under Allied supervision, an interim government representing the various political parties of Hungary was formed on November 25, 1919. Dominated by , a former Austro-Hungarian admiral who had organized a counterrevolutionary army and government during the brief Communist period, the government immediately instituted severe reprisals against leftists and liberals. At the insistence of the Allies, general elections for a national assembly were held in early 1920. The national assembly dissolved all Hungarian affiliations with Austria, proclaimed the country a monarchy, and named Horthy as regent, in place of a king. On June 4, 1920, the Hungarian government accepted the Treaty of Trianon, which was part of the World War I peace settlements. The treaty stripped about two-thirds of Hungary's territory, including Transylvania, Croatia, and Slovakia.
During the premiership of Count Stephen Bethlen, which lasted from 1921 to 1931, economic distress and desire for revenge inspired by the humiliating terms of the Trianon treaty provided incentive for resurgent Hungarian nationalism. After Horthy appointed fascist-leaning Gyula von G?mb?s as premier in September 1932, this nationalism was characterized by an aggressive foreign policy toward neighboring democracies, and close relations with the fascist regimes of Italy and Germany. Collaboration with Nazi Germany brought substantial rewards following the partition of Czechoslovakia in 1938, when German dictator Adolf Hitler agreed to allocate part of Slovakia and all of Ruthenia to Hungary. The country subsequently withdrew from the League of Nations, and in January 1939, it became a signatory, with Germany, Italy, and Japan, to the Anti-Comintern Pact against the USSR.
At the outbreak of World War II in 1939 the Hungarian government proclaimed official neutrality, but its actions indicated sympathy with the objectives of the Axis Powers. Nationalist demands for the return of Transylvania were partially satisfied in 1940, when Italy and Germany awarded Hungary the northern portion of the Romanian province. In April 1941 the Hungarian regime, taking advantage of the German attack on Yugoslavia, ordered its troops into the part of Croatia that had been awarded to Yugoslavia by the Treaty of Trianon. On June 27, 1941, Hungary declared war on the USSR and on December 13, on the United States. The Hungarian army suffered heavy losses on the Russian front, and in the early fall of 1943 the government began secret negotiations with the Allied powers. In March 1944 German troops occupied the country and with Horthy's consent, installed a puppet regime. This regime immediately embarked on a campaign of terror against all dissidents; several hundred thousand Jews were shipped to German concentration camps where most of them were put to death. In early October 1944 Soviet armies invaded Hungary. Horthy was deposed by the Germans a few days later.
On January 20, 1945, representatives of a Soviet-sponsored provisional government signed an armistice with the Allied nations, and on February 13 Budapest fell to Soviet troops. The provisional government instituted large-scale economic reforms, including distributing land among the country's peasants. Elections to the National Assembly were held in November 1945, and were won by the Independent Smallholders' Party, led by Zolt?n Tildy. Hungary was declared a republic, and Tildy was elected president. A coalition cabinet was formed, with Ferenc Nagy, a prominent member of the Smallholders' Party, as premier and M?ty?s R?kosi, the general secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party, as vice-premier.
For many months after the creation of the republic, Hungary was on the verge of bankruptcy. Lack of food, inflated prices, a damaged transportation system, and other economic problems severely impeded national recovery.
In January 1947 some of the leaders of the Smallholders' Party were charged with conspiring to overthrow the republic and were arrested by the Communists. Premier Nagy was forced to resign in May; he was succeeded by another member of the Smallholders' Party, Lajos Dinnyés. Officers suspected of disloyalty to the Communists were purged from the army. In July the national legislature was dissolved and in August elections for a new parliament were held. Although the Communists won only 22 percent of the votes, they dominated the coalition government formed by Dinnyés. Under pressure, the Social Democratic Party in 1948 joined with the Communist Party to form the Hungarian Workers' Party. A purge of the new party early in 1949 further consolidated the Communists' power. In May 1949 parliamentary elections were held again, and this time the voters were presented with a single list of candidates consisting only of Communists and their supporters. In August the assembly adopted a constitution, establishing the Hungarian People's Republic.
Meanwhile, the transformation of Hungary in accord with Communist policies had begun. The government signed treaties of friendship and cooperation with the USSR and other Communist countries. Most church schools were nationalized, and hundreds of priests and nuns who opposed the action were arrested. In 1948 J?zsef Cardinal Mindszenty, the head of the Catholic Church in Hungary, was arrested, tried, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Many of the country's industries were taken over by the government. Peasants who could not be persuaded to collectivize had their land confiscated and turned over to the collective farms. Thousands of opponents of the Communist regime were sent to labor camps as punishment.
Following the death of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in 1953 the Hungarian government liberalized some of its policies. M?ty?s R?kosi, who had become prime minister in 1952, retained his position as Communist Party chief, but was succeeded as premier by Imre Nagy. A new, less rigid economic program was launched, and the government granted amnesties to some political prisoners and abolished labor camps. Relations with other Communist countries remained close, however. Hungary joined the USSR and other Eastern European Communist countries in forming the Warsaw Pact for mutual defense and in enlarging the functions of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON).
Indications that the period of liberalization was coming to an end appeared in April 1955, when Nagy was dismissed from the premiership and expelled from the party for alleged anti-Soviet beliefs and failure to follow the pattern of the USSR in his policies. He was succeeded by Andr?s Hegedüs, a protégé of R?kosi. In July 1956 R?kosi was dismissed as party leader, but he was replaced by another hardliner, Ern? Ger?. However, following a denunciation of Stalin by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1956, government policies were softened again.
Popular discontent mounted throughout 1956 (see Hungarian Revolt of 1956). Students demonstrated against compulsory courses in the Russian language and in Marxism-Leninism and, along with the Writers' Union, expressed their sympathy with the anti-Soviet movement that was taking place in Poland. Workers joined these groups in demanding the reinstatement of Nagy as premier. On October 23 Premier Hegedüs, unable to control the demonstrations, called for help from Soviet troops. The Workers' Party stepped in and replaced Hegedüs with Nagy, and Ger? with J?nos K?d?r, who had previously been jailed for treason. Nagy sided with the demonstrators, announcing that the one-party system would be discontinued and free elections held. He promised economic reforms, freed Cardinal Mindszenty, demanded the withdrawal of Soviet forces, and, denouncing the Warsaw Pact, proclaimed Hungary a neutral state. The USSR promised concessions, but demonstrations continued. In early November Soviet troops and tanks suppressed the insurgents. Hundreds of Hungarians were executed, thousands more were imprisoned, and about 200,000 fled the country.
A new Communist dictatorship was set up, with K?d?r as premier and head of the renamed Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (HSWP). The Soviet government promptly promised $250 million in aid and full support. Punishment of insurgents continued through 1957 and 1958, and thousands were deported to the USSR. Nagy and many of his associates were executed. Cardinal Mindszenty took refuge in the U.S. legation (now the U.S. Embassy) in Budapest, where he remained until he was permitted to leave the country in 1971. Nagy's promise of free elections was repudiated.
K?d?r remained firmly in control for more than three decades, serving mainly as the head of the Communist Party, although he held the premier's office intermittently. The strict controls imposed after the 1956 uprising were relaxed somewhat beginning in 1967. In general elections held in March of that year opposing candidates were permitted to run in certain parliamentary and local contests, although they had to be approved by the regime. The government remained committed to the USSR, and participated in the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia.
In 1968 the New Economic Mechanism (NEM) was introduced. An important new departure, the NEM was designed to increase efficiency and productivity, make Hungary more competitive in world markets, and help to ensure political stability. To achieve these goals, the NEM called for much less central control of the economy and greater freedom for individual business managers. After five years the NEM appeared to be a success, although the industrial growth rate had slowed somewhat.
In the early 1970s Hungary increased its trade and cultural contacts with non-Communist countries. In 1972 Hungary signed a consular convention (agreement) with the United States, and in 1973 it began negotiations with West Germany aimed at establishing normal diplomatic relations. Relations with the Roman Catholic church also improved.
Hungary's contacts with the West continued to increase throughout the 1970s. The economy was allowed to operate partly according to free market forces, and the standard of living improved somewhat. By the early 1980s, however, rising inflation prompted K?d?r to make some changes in the political leadership. In 1987 K?roly Gr?sz became prime minister. Gr?sz initiated a tough economic program that included levying new taxes, cutting subsidies, and encouraging the growth of the private sector. As further signs of liberalization, the government relaxed censorship laws, allowed the formation of independent political groups, and legalized the right to strike and to demonstrate.
Despite these developments, mass demonstrations demanding further reforms were held in Budapest, and in May 1988 Gr?sz replaced K?d?r as head of the Communist Party. In 1989 the government provided a state burial for Imre Nagy, revered as a national hero for standing up to the Soviets, and enacted a series of reforms. It eased restrictions on emigration, revised the constitution to provide for a democratic multiparty system, and changed the country's name from the People's Republic of Hungary to the Republic of Hungary.
I Free Elections and Democracy in Hungary
In March and April 1990 a coalition of center-right parties, led by the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), won a parliamentary majority in the nation's first free legislative elections in 45 years. In May the new government took office, with J?zsef Antall as prime minister. After a referendum providing for direct presidential elections failed because of a low voter turnout, the National Assembly chose a writer, ?rp?d G?ncz, as head of state. In November 1990 Hungary became the first Eastern European nation to join the Council of Europe.
Illness forced Antall to take periodic leaves of absence throughout 1993. He died in December 1993 and was replaced by Péter Boross, another MDF leader. By early 1994 the governing coalition had lost considerable public support, and in May elections the Hungarian Socialist Party (formerly the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party) regained a majority in parliament. The Socialists named Gyula Horn, a member of the former Communist government, as its choice for prime minister. Although it had a majority, in June the party formed a coalition with the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats, which had taken second place in the elections. The coalition commanded the two-thirds majority required to pass certain legislation.
In August 1994 the government introduced economic austerity measures aimed at reducing Hungary's budget deficit and making exports more competitive. Further austerity measures were introduced the following year. In June 1995 the National Assembly reelected G?ncz for a second five-year term as president. G?ncz was succeeded as president in 2000 by Ferenc M?dl, a former law professor.
In 1991 and 1992 Hungary signed declarations of cooperation with Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, and Ukraine. Relations with neighboring Romania and Czechoslovakia were strained during the early 1990s over the treatment of ethnic Hungarian minorities in those countries, including some 1.7 million in Romania. Wars in the former Yugoslavia sent thousands of refugees fleeing to Hungary during this time, and by mid-1992 the number of refugees had reached about 100,000 (see Wars of Yugoslav Succession). The Hungarian government appealed to Western European nations for assistance in dealing with the refugees.
In July 1994 Horn took a step toward reconciliation with Romania and Slovakia (formerly part of Czechoslovakia) when he offered to drop Hungarian claims on Slovakian and Romanian territory in return for a guarantee of safety for ethnic Hungarians living in those countries. In December Hungary and the other member-nations of the Council of Europe approved a Convention on the Protection of National Minorities; the convention provided for linguistic rights and the right to freedom of religion, among others; Hungary ratified the convention in February 1995. Also in 1994 Horn issued an official apology for Hungary's role in the deaths of 600,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. The following year, the Hungarian government adopted a law to compensate Jewish groups for their persecution during World War II.
In 1995 Hungary engaged in negotiations over the status of Hungarian minorities in Romania and Slovakia. In March 1995 the governments of Hungary and Slovakia signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation that guaranteed the rights of ethnic minority groups. In September 1996 Hungary and Romania reached agreement on a basic treaty that was ratified by Romania's parliament in the fall of 1996 and by the Hungarian parliament in early 1997. President G?ncz made an unprecedented visit to Romania in May 1997.
A dispute between Hungary and Slovakia concerning the massive Gab??kovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric project on the Danube continued through the late 1990s and into the 2000s. The dispute stemmed from Hungary's decision in 1989 to back out of a joint construction plan, which had been authorized by a 1977 treaty. Hungary's decision stemmed from concerns over the negative environmental impacts of the project, completed in 1992. In 1993 the countries referred the dispute to the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands, for arbitration. In 1997 the court ruled that both countries had violated the 1977 agreement and ordered them to continue negotiations to resolve the conflict. An intergovernmental commission established in 2003 was charged with coordinating the ongoing negotiations.
In February 1994 the European Union (EU) admitted Hungary as an associate member. Two months later, Hungary became the first country in Eastern Europe to apply for full EU membership. In 2002 the EU formally invited Hungary and nine other countries to join the organization on May 1, 2004. Hungarian voters approved a referendum to join the EU in April 2003, and Hungary's leading political parties agreed to work together to prepare Hungary for membership.
Hungary began membership discussions with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1997. NATO formally admitted Hungary as a member in March 1999, following a referendum in which Hungarian voters overwhelmingly approved the country's membership bid. The same month it was admitted to NATO, Hungary allowed NATO forces to use Hungarian military bases and airspace to conduct its air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY, now Serbia and Montenegro). In 2003, United States forces used a Hungarian airbase in preparations for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq (see U.S.-Iraq War of 2003). Hungary later sent a small number of peacekeeping troops to Iraq.
In May 1998 parliamentary elections, the Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Party defeated the Hungarian Socialist Party, and Gyula Horn lost his position as prime minister. Fidesz leader Viktor Orb?n took over as prime minister in July and formed a center-right coalition government with the Independent Smallholders' Party and the Hungarian Democratic Forum. Orb?n pledged to reduce crime, increase economic growth, and maintain continuity in Hungary's foreign relations, including building closer ties to Western Europe.
In June 2001 Orb?n's government passed a law granting ethnic Hungarians living in neighboring countries education, health, and employment rights in Hungary. The measure drew protests from Romania and Slovakia on the grounds that it violated their sovereignty and discriminated against their nonethnic Hungarian populations.
In April 2002 parliamentary elections, the Hungarian Socialist Party and its ally, the Alliance of Free Democrats, narrowly defeated Orb?n's coalition. Péter Medgyessy, an official in the former Communist government and a finance minister under Horn, was sworn in as prime minister in May, leading a center-left coalition government with the Free Democrats. The Socialists selected Medgyessy as their candidate, even though he was not a party member. Medgyessy pledged to raise the minimum wage and to increase pay for public-sector workers. He also reaffirmed Hungary's aim to join the EU in May 2004.
The government faced a serious test in June 2002 amid revelations that Medgyessy had served as a counterintelligence officer in the late 1970s and early 1980s while working in the finance ministry. In a public address to the parliament, Medgyessy sought to defend his past, explaining that he had worked to prevent foreign intelligence organizations from obtaining Hungarian secrets.
Opposition conservatives rejected Medgyessy's explanation and called for his immediate resignation. Some government critics accused Medgyessy of informing on other finance ministry officials, a serious charge that Medgyessy strongly denied. The Socialists and Free Democrats quickly threw their support behind Medgyessy, and his government announced plans for legislation that would grant the public greater access to Communist-era secret files.
In August 2004 Medgyessy lost the confidence of the Free Democrats after he reshuffled his cabinet and dismissed the economy minister, despite the Free Democrats' opposition. Medgyessy tendered his resignation on August 25, preempting a no-confidence vote in the parliament. The move capped weeks of disagreement within the government over how best to limit government spending and reduce Hungary's large budget deficit, a course of action required by Hungary's membership in the EU and its hopes of adopting the EU's single currency, the euro, by 2010. On the day Medgyessy resigned, the Socialists announced they had chosen Ferenc Gyurcs?ny, the government's sports minister, as their candidate to replace Medgyessy. Gyurcs?ny was expected to be approved by the parliament.
Contributed By:
Daniel N. Nelson
Hungary: Flag and Anthem
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