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Nimrod

Hungarian legendary-history traces the origins of the nations of the Huns and the Hungarians to the two sons of one man, Nimrod, the great hunter in the Biblical account of Genesis. Nimrod is described in Genesis 10 as "a mighty hunter before the Lord," but also as a descendant of the accursed son of Noah, Ham (according to medieval Hungarian sources, Nimrod was the son of a member of the tribe of Japheth -- but this parent's sex is not identified, leaving open the possibility that it was his mother who was a Japhethite and his father a Ham). Nimrod, in addition to being a hunter, may also have been a priest of the "God of War," or "God of Armies." The latter fact is interesting because the Judeo-Christian God is similarly named the "Lord of Hosts" in the Bible. The Hungarians continued to worship this God and kept Him as one of the focuses of their spiritualism, as is evidenced by Attila's sword, called "the Sword of the War God." Nimrod made his home in the plains of Shinar, the future site of the Tower of Babel, in Mesopotamia.

Hunor and Magor

Nimrod's two sons were Hunor and Magor, and they were hunters like their father. According to the most famous Hungarian legend, the two brothers set out on a hunting trip together, along with their retinues. As they were preparing to turn back at the break of dawn, they spotted a beautiful White Stag. They were unable to catch it, however, and were forced to pitch camp at nightfall without having completed the chase. The next morning, the stag reappeared before them, and again led them in a fruitless chase all day, only to disappear into the mists at night. The hunt went on for weeks, and the hunting party journeyed steadily northward, through the Arabian deserts and around the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. One night, in a forest clearing, the party spotted a hundred beautiful maidens dancing by the moonlight. The two most striking were the twin daughter of the local potentate, King Dul. The hunters encircled the clearing, and carried off the women to be their wives. The land where they had settled was the fertile steppes of the Crimean peninsula and its neighboring regions, among the proto-Turkic and proto-Mongol inhabitants.

Attila (4??-454)

Over time, the Huns developed a severe case of wanderlust, and went on a Eurasian rampage. The Chinese dreaded the barbarians they called the “Hsiung-nu,” and began the construction of the Great Wall in large part to defend themselves from border raids and pillaging. Over time, the Huns migrated back into Europe, specifically a region in the Carpathian Basin known as Pannonia, and terrorized the Roman Empires. Their leader, of course, was the famous Scourge of God, Attila, who rose to power upon the death of his brother, Buda (Buda's resting place was in the city he had founded, and named Óbuda after him. It was one of the three cities unified into modern-day Budapest). Attila, contrary to popular legend, was neither a sadistic madman nor an evil ruler. He had spent some years in his youth in Rome, where he picked up ideas of politics, empire-building, and the finer things in life. Attila built himself a palace in the city later to be called Szeged, complete with Roman-style baths. He administered justice and law himself, and was so highly regarded the historian Jordanus proclaimed, "It was better to be Attila's slave than a noble of Rome." Attila ruled through shows of power, which he used to exact tribute from both of the Roman empires, and charm and intimidation. His army was a melting pot of all sorts of barbarian tribes, and he led them to victory under his banner depicting his crest featuring the mythical Turúl bird of prey, and by his sword, the famed Sword of the War God. Far from the barbaric monster that he is known as today, Attila was a refined gentleman, a visionary ruler, an exceptional and fair leader, and a shrewd negotiator. He had even turned away from sacking Rome, which would have ensured his empire's eternal dominance, at the behest of Pope Leo the Great, who met him outside the city walls to plead for mercy. The encounter ended with Attila asking for the pope to pray for his soul. Attila had a penchant for the conquest of beautiful women, and he even had a child by the empress of Greece. By Hunnish law, however, extra-marital intercourse was strictly forbidden, and thus Attila had accumulated a number of wives. It was on the night after a wedding feast that Attila suffered his untimely death, possibly due to an aneurism, alcohol-related causes, a backed-up nosebleed, or even poisoning by his wife. At the time of his death, the Huns were split into three armies that went their separate ways: an elite army, made up mostly of captains and other high-ranking officers ("ispáns") settled in Catalonia, and lent the area their name; from then on, it assumed the name Hispania. Another third was horribly defeated by a combined Roman-barbarian army, with a remnant that fled from the battlefield and stayed in Pannonia, specifically, Transylvania. These became the Székelys, or Seklers. They remain an ethnic group today. The last third, led by Attila's son by the Greek empress, Csaba, retreated to the ancestral homeland of Crimea, the land of the Magyars.

Árpád

Attila's death in the 450s (AD) prompted his son's, Csaba's, return to ancient Crimea. Csaba wished to stir up the Magyars living there to return with him to Pannonia to avenge the Huns' loss. The Hungarians, on the other hand, were quite happy with their peaceful agrarian existence. They did not budge. Csaba and his Huns settled down in Pannonia instead. But as the centuries passed, the Magyar population boomed, and the peninsula grew too small for all the people's coexistence. The Magyars, led on prophecies of their holy men, finally packed up and moved away from the land that had supported them for millennia. They still knew the stories of bountiful Pannonia, brought back by the Huns, and decided to join their brethren there. They took quite a circuitous route, however, that led them into the northern Urals before swooping down into the Carpathian Basin. The contemporary reports attested to the "barbarians from the North" and many analysts believed that the Huns had returned. The Magyars were split into Seven Tribes, and had one leader over them all: Árpád, son of Álmos, who was believed to have been the seed of a supernatural intercourse between a legendary Turúl bird and a woman. Armed with this divine right coupled with his Hun ancestry and extraordinary leadership skills, Árpád was able to gain complete leadership over all of the Magyars. Before entering their new, promised homeland, Árpád required a solemn oath of absolute obedience and fraternity from the seven chieftains who led the combined Magyars. This was the famous "Blood Oath," wherein everyone cut their arms to drip their blood into a collective basin, from which they then drank. Now unified and fortified by their sworn brotherhood, the host of 500,000 men, women and children, entered the Basin at the Vereckei Pass in 896, and camped on the River of Ung. There they completed their first military conquest, taking the fortress at Ung and making it their base of operations and military strength. In the Magyar language, "fortress" is "vár," and the locative case is indicated by the suffix "-i." From that victory on, the Magyars were called in Latin and the Western languages by bastardized forms of the word "Ung-vár-i." Árpád swiftly dealt with the native peoples with an all-out assault that decimated those who resisted. Women were carried off, and the local population became assimilated into the Hungarian nation. At no time did the Hungarians fight with the remnant Huns, the Székelys. Two centers of government and trade sprang up: Székesfehérvár in southern Pannonia was the seat of power, while Buda, built near the Huns' Óbuda, was a hub of economy.

István (969-1038)

For well-nigh a hundred years, the Hungarians existed by raiding all of their neighbors. They won victory after victory, and stole immense treasures and kidnapped legions of slaves. Life was good, until all of Christendom grew weary and unified to repel the barbarians. In the latter half of the 10th century AD, the Hungarians suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of a mostly-German army, and were forced to re-evaluate their principles. Two of the chieftains were captured, and after one killed his captor, a German king, were both executed. King Géza, grandson of the grandson of Árpád, had his newborn son, born Voit, baptized in the Holy Roman Church as Stephen, or István. István, once he assumed the throne, began a mass forced-conversion to Christianity, which he and his father saw as the only salvation for the Hungarian people faced with the threat of extermination as pagan barbarians (Géza himself never fully converted; when asked why he donated to churches and sacrificed to the Hungarian God at the same time, he replied that he was rich enough to serve two gods). István faced grave challenges in his quest, starting from his very ascension to the throne. Hungarian tradition dictated the passing of power upon abdication or death to the eldest warrior; hereditary monarchy was a foreign custom. István defeated the pagan candidate, Koppány, and was successful in the extermination of paganism in the mainstream of Hungarian society (paganism lasted as a minor force for at least three more centuries). For this, the Church conferred sainthood upon him, his wife Gisella, and his son Imre, and he is credited by Hungarians today as the savior of the nation. István also was the receiver of the first half of the Holy Crown of Hungary, when he sent an un-announced delegation to the Pope to petition for national recognition by the church. The Poles had similarly just petitioned, and a crown was waiting for them. The Hungarians' oversight did not inconvenience them, however, as they pretended to be the Polish delegation and accepted the finished crown. The Szent Korona, complete with the second half received later by St. King László, is the symbol of Hungarian monarchy. The crown rules, he who wears it simply makes decisions.

Other Kings: St. László (1040-1095), Kálmán (1070-1116), Béla IV (1206-1270)

With István does the true history of Hungary as a country begin. István began a monarchial tradition, and for the next few centuries, his line was unbroken. The most famous kings in the next few centuries included the Saint-King László, to whom a great number of miracles are attributed. The most famous of these is perhaps when he led a small army into battle against a far superior force; as the enemy approached him, he was surrounded by a visible aura, and soldiers could not pierce it with weaponry. The battle was a resounding success. László greatly expanded the country's borders and territories, making it one of the largest states in Europe. In his time was the Holy Crown of hungary first seen in its modern form, as Rome sent an additional top piece for his coronation. Laszlo's successor was Colomann, known as "Könyves Kálmán" (Kálmán with the Many Books), reflecting his great knowledge, his previous profession as church rector, and his enlightened rule: Under his reign, the persecution of witches was banned for the first time in Europe. Under the rule of Béla IV, the Tartars, a sub-race of Mongols, entered Hungary and ravaged it. Up to 50% of the population was massacred. For 50 years, men were killed, women raped, children kidnapped, and villages razed. Béla IV was helpless, and neighbors refused to support the Hungarians. Because of massive attrition in Hungary, however, the Tartars were forced to retreat after 50 years, instead of being able to penetrate Europe. The Hungarian tradition of defending an ungrateful Europe from foreign invaders at the cost of its own wellbeing was begun.

St. László (Alternate Picture 2) Click the names at the top for pictures.

Hunyadi János (1387-1456)

Around the 1300-1400s the Turks began invading Hungary. They grew from a minor nuisance to a grave threat. Hordes of Moslems poured over the borders, kidnapping youths for slave trade and wrecking the country. Hungary again became a military nation; a chain of frontier fortresses were built, the army was mobilized as defenders against the pagan horde, and an epic, centuries-long battle against Hungary's power-hungry neighbor to the South was begun. The greatest hero to arise out of this struggle was a Transylvanian ruler, or "vajda," János Hunyadi. Hunyadi was the illegitimate son of an earlier ruler, and rose to power largely on his own merit. Hunyadi was known as the "Török-vero" -- the Turk Beater. He won a stupendous amount of victories against the Turks, usually with far inferior numbers. He was killed not by Turks in combat, but by the creeping Plague that was overtaking Europe.

Dobó István

Captain István Dobó, as the commander of the fortress of Eger, repelled a Turkish invasion in 1552. Eger had 2,000 men holed up in it; the Turks came on with 200,000. At the conclusion of the one-month siege, the Turks retreated with 60,000 men remaining. At the end, the fortress, built on the top of a hill, was nearly flat, and the fighting had grown so desperate that the women, the peasants and wives of the soldiers, were fighting alongside the men on the walls. When an inspection was undertaken of the fort after the Turks' retreat, over 12,000 cannonballs were found littering the ground in the small fortress. The battle was immortalized in Gárdonyi Géza's excellent book, "Egri Csillagok."

Zrinyi Miklós (1508-1566)

The Baron Miklós Zrinyi, ruler of Horvathia, will forever be remembered for his heroic sacrifice in the battle of Szigetvár. Leading a group of little over 1,000, he held off a Turkish victory for weeks, reducing Turkish numbers so severely that the army, led by the Sultan Suleiman himself, was almost forced to retreat. Only by a freak accident did the Sultan intercept a letter sent by Zrinyi to the Habsburg pretender-to-the-throne that he was not planning on surviving the invasion, leading the Sultan to order one final mass offensive. Zrinyi, realizing his hour of martyrdom had arrived, led the remaining band of 400 men outside the fortress. They had no reason to protect a path of retreat, and fought with such fury that the Turks were nearly destroyed. Zrinyi himself cleaved the Sultan's head in two. Only by the usage of janissaries, armed with long-range muskets, did the Turks manage to kill the Hungarian defenders. Zrinyi’s defense of the fortress was recorded in epic verse a hundred years later by his great-grandson in the famous work “Szigeti Veszedelem.”

Hunyadi Mátyás (1443-1490)

Backtracking about three-fourths of a century, Hungary's greatest king, Mátyás Hunyadi (known scholastically and outside of Hungary as Matthias Corvinus), son of János Hunyadi, ruled Hungary in her golden age in the latter half of the 15th century. Mátyás expanded Hungary in every sense: the military was strengthened and enlarged, as is signified by Mátyas' successful siege and sack of Vienna. The borders were expanded and strengthened, resulting in the "Great Hungary" that was actually formed under St. Laszlo's reign but had suffered territory losses. Mátyas was a great patron of the arts and sciences, and brought many of the great intellectuals and scientists of the time to his court in Budapest. Mátyas built the Bibliotheca Corviniana, the magnificent library in Budapest which collected and preserved many rare and ancient works of literature and history. Mátyas was known as "the Just," due to his famous endorsement of chivalry and honor codes, and many stories are told about his habit of dressing up in peasant garb to survey his subjects as equals.

Rákóczi Ferenc II (1676-1735)

Rákóczi Ferenc II was one of the greatest freedom fighters history has ever known. Starting a nation-wide revolution in the 1700s against Austrian occupation, he was ultimately unsuccessful in liberating the country from Habsburg rule, but inspired a resurgence of Hungarian culture and nationalism on such a grand scale as had not been seen before. The country was divided into two factions: the “Kurucok” were those opposed to the Austrians, while “Labancok” supported the foreign rule. An entirely new genre of freedom songs, Kuruc songs, were written, and sung nation-wide in support of the liberation efforts (a considerable amount of these were penned by Rákóczi himself). Rákóczi also inspired the arts, with an enormous amount of operas, plays, paintings and sculptures created about him and his fight. The entire nation banded together to fight a common enemy. After their defeat, controls were tightened and life was worse for patriotic Hungarians. Ultimately, however, it was Rákóczi and his battle for freedom that inspired such greats as Petofi and Vörösmarty, and his legacy was carried on in the second great cultural resurgence in the latter half of the 1800s.

Kossuth Lajos (1802-1892) and Petofi Sándor (1823-1849)

Lajos (Louis) Kossuth was perhaps the greatest Hungarian born since the incredible St. István, and in terms of worldwide recognition, certainly the most prolific. Kossuth was born into the aristocracy in 1802, and became a member of the Austrian-dominated Hungarian parliament in 1832. He was acknowledged as a rising star in Hungarian politics, but no one realized what great role he would play in history. In the 1830s and 40s, Europe’s hard-won peace and order was breaking down. Since the final defeat of Napoleon I in 1815, it had been Europe’s goal to maintain its currently existing states and governments. But the ever-revolting French rebelled against their leaders yet again in the 1830s, and it soon became clear that the nations suffering under the heavy yoke of Austrian rule would soon reach a boiling point. In 1848, Europe exploded. The Poles, the Italians and yet again the French all rebelled. And Kossuth led the great Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The revolution was not an chance happening. It was, in fact, ignited not by Kossuth himself, but by the famed poet, Sándor Petofi. Petofi, unlike Kossuth, had been born to a poor Slavic family, and had spent most of his life as a starving artist. He had steadily gained fame in the 1840s for such epics as the fanciful János Vitéz. All his works reflected his love of Hungary, and his hatred for its oppressors. When European order fell apart in 1848, Petofi, inspired by colorful revolutionary leaders such as Kosciusko and Cavour, wrote his famous Nemzeti Dal in a Budapest coffee house on March 15th. He then went out into the city square and read it to the crowds. By the end of his recital, a mass of people had assembled, shouting the refrain in unison. After he had repeated it twice, the crowd, now inflamed with nationalistic fervor, marched on the state house and occupied the newspaper offices. Kossuth, meanwhile, holding council in the Great Reformation Church in the eastern city of Debrecen, had composed a list of ten demands to be delivered to Count Metternich, despot of Austria, concerning Hungarian liberties.

Kossuth escaped the country just before an iron-fisted regime clamped down on it for 40 years. He fled to Turkey, which gave him refuge – for a time. Buckling under threats from Austria, Turkey gave Kossuth and a handful of other Hungarian refugees a ship and requested that they leave the country. It was this ship that, when it had almost run out of food and supplies, was intercepted by a rescue ship from the United States of America. President Millard Fillmore had decided to give Kossuth, who had now attracted worldwide sympathy and support, refuge in America. Kossuth turned down the rescue ship, deciding instead to tour England for a month, but accepted the American offer of sanctuary. Kossuth Lajos stayed in America for four years, along with his wife and two daughters. His arrival in New York City was greeted with the most festivities since Lafayette’s. In his time in America, he delivered a total of 52 speeches, and became so popular that each one was reproduced verbatim in all major newspapers. It is interesting to note that a young Senator by the name of Abraham Lincoln was one of the major proponents of bringing Kossuth over to America, and followed his actions and speeches closely. Kossuth’s influence on this future president ranged from Lincoln’s signature beard, a copy of Kossuth’s, to Lincoln’s speeches. As Kossuth stated in a famous speech, “All for the people and all by the people, nothing about the people without the people – that is Democracy!” Kossuth, after concluding in America, left for the free Italian city of Turin, where he lived and worked until his peaceful death in 1848, at age 92.

Széchényi István(1791-1860)

István Széchényi is oftentimes called “the greatest Hungarian.” His actions show clearly why this is so. Széchényi, like Kossuth, fought the Austrian oppression all his life. But unlike Kossuth, who saw complete freedom won by blood as the only way out, Széchényi believed that he could ease the Austrian tyranny through and negotiation, and he coupled his diplomatic efforts by funding great public works in Hungary. Széchényi built not only the first bridge over the Danube connecting Buda and Pest (and making the unification of the cities possible) and the city's greatest university, but also funded the extraordinary regulation of the river Tisza. The Tisza flooded yearly, causing great damage to riverside farms and villages. By straightening and regulating the banks, Széchényi greatly helped the rural farmers and agriculture in general. However, by opposing Kossuth’s more radical positions on Austrian rule, he set himself up as Kossuth’s greatest political rival. He did not take part in the 1848 revolution directly, but certainly aided the Hungarian side greatly. Afterwards, he stayed in Hungary to try to smooth things over with the Austrians, but as the situation deteriorated, so did Széchényi’s health. By the mid-1850s, he was in a constant state of depression, and was forced into an asylum, from where he continued his work of writing critical papers about Austrian rule and publishing his underground newspaper. However, as the Austrians clamped down hard on Hungarian liberties, Széchényi, taking all of the country’s problems upon himself, entered a state of extreme depression, and committed suicide in 1860.

Vörösmarty Mihály (1800-1855), Erkel Ferenc (1810-1893), Egressy Béni (1814-1851), Kölcsey Ferenc (1790-1838), Munkácsy Mihály (1844-1900), Fadrusz János (1858-1903)

The new Nemzeti Szinház is one of the centers of culture in Budapest. Click the names at the top for pictures.

The 19th century was a golden age for Hungarian culture. Music, literature, and the arts flourished and spread like never before. Six names are listed in this section, and for each one a dozen like him produced great works of Hungarian culture. And each one contributed more to mankind than could be written here. So I will only touch extremely lightly on each one. Vörösmarty, along with Petofi, wrote some of the most amazing poetry ever published. In fact, Vörösmarty wrote the great Szózat, the secondary Hungarian anthem, to which Egressy Béni, primarily a lyricist, composed the music. Egressy is also famous for the great national opera, Bánk Bán. Ferenc wrote the music for Bánk Bán, and with lyrics supplied by Kölcsey Ferenc, created the National Anthem. At the end of this list of greats are Munkácsy Mihály and Fadrusz János, a painter and sculptor, respectively. Munkácsy’s greatest work was the magnificent Christ Trilogy. Fadrusz was a genius on the level of Michelangelo, but worked in stone, wood, clay, bronze and iron. Some of his work can be sampled here.

Deák Ferenc (1803-1876)

Where Széchényi failed, Ferenc Deák succeeded magnificently. Only time would tell how horrible the consequences of his success would be. Deák was born into a well-to-do family and trained as a lawyer; he, like Kossuth and Széchényi, grew in political fame and soon became as powerful as they were. In the 1840s, he sided with Kossuth against Széchényi on the great question of how to best ease the Austrian situation, and when the Revolution broke out, he attained a high government post. But unlike Kossuth, who was forced to flee to Turkey after Hungary’s defeat, Deák was able to stay in the country and continued his work, trying to find some resolution to the ever-worsening political situation. In 1867, he finally succeeded in convincing the Austrian authorities to accept a list of resolutions and concessions in the famous Kiegyezés (Ausgleich). This revolutionized both Austria and Hungary. Since Austria had lost its Polish and Italian holdings, it only truly ruled itself and its southeastern neighbor; now, the government allowed an “equal” rule divided between Austria and Hungary, united under an (Austrian) Habsburg emperor. The Austro-Hungarian empire was born. Of course, under an Austrian emperor, there was little equality: all industry and government was in the Austrian half; Hungary was relegated to agriculture. Hungarians had no say in the workings of the empire, and the Hungarian parliament was a puppet. Nonetheless, on paper, the two nations were equal and unified, and the extreme repression of Hungarian culture ended. Conditions were again beginning to improve for Árpád’s people.

Horthy Miklós de Nagybánya (1868-1857)

Alternate Picture

Up through this chaos rose one man: Admiral Miklós Horthy. Horthy had been an admiral of the royal fleet in World War I, but as Hungary became landlocked, it lost its fleet. Although retired, he employed his time building up support against a communist government that had set itself up in Hungary in the confusion of Trianon. He successfully launched a counterrevolution, and was made the regent in 1920. It was meant to be a temporary position until the exiled king could again be crowned, after Hungary recovered its stolen territories. Horthy was a popular leader, and though he was an absolute one, ruling in place of a monarch, he was perhaps the only person in modern history to whom the phrase “benevolent dictator” could be applied. He rebuilt the spirit of the people like Hitler, but unlike Hitler, did not inspire them to hatred, even of Western Europe. He rebuilt Hungary’s commerce and transportation infrastructures and commissioned large public works like Mussolini, but unlike Mussolini, did not kidnap or destroy political rivals. In fact, the only rivals he had were in fact communists. Though these were kept under watch by the elite Csendorség, they were not molested or persecuted. Horthy has been called a fascist, but he recognized the government to be the helper and protector of the people, and not vice-versa, as is the official position of fascism. Horthy did ally with the Axis Powers, however. The West was busy granting concessions to Hitler, and Horthy realized that Hungary might be able to regain some of its own land without fighting. The reaquisition of territories was Hungary's absolute priority in foreign policy. In cooperation with Nazi Germany, he demanded back territories seized in Trianon. Unlike Hitler, he never wanted more than what was lost in the previous war. When in 1939 the West ceased trying to appease Germany and war broke out, Horthy also stepped into war after a Hungarian city was bombed, ostensibly by Russian forces. The Hungarian army mobilized, and began reclaiming areas of land North Southeast of Hungary. In every city the army entered, they were greeted with parades and wild celebration. For a brief time, Hungary, was again on the rise. In 1942, however, the Admiral’s eldest son, next in line for the regency and an outspoken critic of Hitler, was killed in an airplane accident. German sabotage has not been ruled out. As Hitler put into action plans to exterminate Jews in Hungary in addition to his own territories, Horthy began openly counteracting his ally. Trains carrying Jews were stopped, and orders to molest them were halted. As Germany began to weaken, Admiral Horthy recognized that history was going to repeat itself: dragged into another defeat, Hungary would suffer for the sins of its allies. Horthy began negotiating peace with the Soviet Union. No sooner had talks begun his second son was kidnapped by Hitler’s henchman, the wicked Count Skorzeny. Horthy was forced to abdicate, and was arrested by the SS. Nearing the end of the war, he was freed by American forces and held in protective custody until 1945. He was released following the Nuremberg trials, where he was not charged. He moved to Portugal, all his expenses provided for by three prominent Jewish families grateful for his actions in the war. He lived out the rest of his life in exile, helpless as his beloved country fell behind the Iron Curtain.

The Heroes of 1956

After the defeat of Hungary at the hands of the Russians in World War II, it quickly fell under a communist regime. Although the Russians promised free elections, anyone who believed them was a naïve fool. Hungary suffered miserably under the despicable Mátyas Rákosi. He exploited and abused his power, and made life a living hell for patriotic Hungarians. But as Rákosi passed out of power, a new, more idealistic premier was “elected:” Imre Nagy. Nagy belonged to a breed of communists who believed in the proletariat utopia of Marx and not the repressive totalitarianism of Stalin and Russian communism. As he grew more and more disenchanted with the realities of communism, he found that the hopeless, bleak atmosphere which had settled over Hungarian life and culture since 1948 hid a growing undercurrent of dissent and nationalistic pride. Before Nagy could push through major reforms, however, he was ousted in 1955 by hard-core Stalinists. In the summer of 1956, Poland underwent a minor revolution that was quickly quelled. On October 23rd, during a peaceful student demonstration, some dissidents attacked a statue. Communist security forces could not stop the thousands of protestors who were quickly becoming violent. Police and the army were brought in. They brought extra weaponry for the students, and ropes with which to topple statues of Lenin and Stalin. The Soviets stationed there were called, but they too had seen the suffering of the Hungarians, and chose to provide extra assistance and heavy weaponry for the revolutionaries. Within hours, the government had fallen and Hungary opened its borders and lines of communication to the West. Nagy Imre was put into power. A path had opened through which the free world could strike at communism, the greatest threat it had ever faced. For thirteen days, the Hungarians waited. On the fourteenth day, Soviet tanks entered Budapest. People laid down in the streets, just to slow them. Homemade grenades and Molotov cocktails were made and thrown. The Soviets were now unstoppable. The loathsome, vile, János Kádár assumed power.

The West had shown how indecisive it was. Initially, the USA had mobilized to be ready to enter Hungary, and had urged the United Nations to intercede. But the UN decided it was not the right time to anger Moscow, and decided to let the whole embarrassing affair blow over. The US would not attack communism by itself; it to stood down. In response, a group of Hungarians who had escaped in the two weeks of freedom tied a giant black blindfold across the eyes of the Statue of Liberty. They were denounced as terrorists. In the end, however, the 1956 Revolution did much good. Many great men were able to leave the country in the two weeks, among them many political prisoners and national heroes who would have faced eventual execution. After the revolution, communism lost much of its edge, as Soviet leaders feared to anger the volatile Hungarian populace again. And perhaps most importantly, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 showed the entire world, for the first time undisputably, that communism is not the utopaic workers’ paradise the Soviet Union made it out to be. From 1956, communism’s days were numbered.

In 1989, without any warning, communism fell.

Immediately, the Hungarian flag, coat of arms, and national holidays were reinstated. Restoration and rebuilding projects were put into place.

In 1998, under the leadership of the charismatic Prime Minister Orbán Viktor, Hungary rocketed to first place in economic growth and democratic freedom among former Soviet bloc countries.

Nonetheless, the tiny nation faces major problems left over form communism ranging from heavy pollution and ramapant crime to a negative population growth rate due to abortion and suicide.

In 2002, Hungary elected a former soviet secret policeman and his Socialist Party to the prime ministry and Parliament.

In 2004, Hungary surrendered its long tradition of autonomy and isolation to enter the European Union.