The heyday of the power of medieval Hungary fell on the brilliant reign of Lajos I the Great (1342-1382), who succeeded his father at the age of 16. Under this king, Hungary visibly increased its sphere of influence over Europe, expanded its geographical boundaries, and, in addition, experienced an era of economic growth, accompanied by political transformations. Soon after accession to the throne, the young king undertook an aggressive campaign in southern Italy. The pretext was the death of his brother Andrei, who fell on September 18, 1345 at the hands of his wife, the Neapolitan queen Jeanne I. Lajos easily defeated the Neapolitan army and in 1347 established his power in Naples. However, the plague that raged in Italy forced him to leave this country in 1348. Two years later, he resumed the war, but the pope, after the investigation he had carried out, reconciled the king with Joan.
Following then, Lajos won the city of Zara and all of Dalmatia from Venice, thanks to which Hungary gained access to the Adriatic Sea. From here, Lajos extended his power to the whole of Lower Serbia. He suppressed separatist uprisings in Croatia and made her connection with the Kingdom of Hungary stronger. As a result of several campaigns in 1359-1361. Hungarians conquered Bosnia. The rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia recognized themselves as vassals of Lajos, although his power here remained purely nominal. In Hungary itself, the king ruled as an autocratic monarch. He was a man of strong will and accustomed to act independently, in the spirit of an unlimited monarchy. Under him, diets were practically not convened, and the role of the first ministers and high dignitaries in the state was played by palace servants appointed by Laosh. The Diet, assembled by the king in 1351 and legalizing serfdom, was the last in his reign. Lajos did a lot for the development of cultural life. So in 1367 the king founded a university in Pest, where all the higher sciences were taught.
After the death in 1370 of his uncle Casimir III the Great, Lajos was also elected king of Poland. Unfortunately, he came to the Polish throne under very unfavorable circumstances for him. By this time, a strong oligarchy had already formed in Poland. Lajos could only stay in power thanks to the support of the Polish magnates, but they dearly sold their help to him. In 1374, Lajos signed the so-called Kashau charter, which became something of a renunciation of royal rights. Under this treaty, he freed the nobility from all their duties regarding the state, with the exception of military service, and promised never to limit their privileges. In fact, the dominance of several noble families was established in Poland, dividing the highest positions among themselves. The central government weakened, justice disappeared, theft and robbery were committed everywhere.
In 1382, Lajos the Great died without leaving any sons. The Poles elected his youngest daughter Jadwiga as queen, and only Hungary remained behind the eldest Mary (1382-1387). In addition, she had to fight for power with the Neapolitan king Charles III - the last representative of the Angevin dynasty in the male line. In 1385 Maria married the Bohemian prince Sigismund (1387-1437), who in 1387 was crowned King of Hungary. The Luxembourg dynasty established itself on the Hungarian throne.
- 1301-1305 Laszlo V of Bohemia, died 1306
Wittelsbach
- 1305-1307 Bela V (Otto III (Duke of Bavaria), held the title until his death in 1313)
Angevin dynasty
- 1290 Charles Martell of Anjou (died 1295)
- 1342-1382 Lajos I (Louis I the Great) - also King of Poland in 1370-1382 as Ludwik
Luxembourg
- 1387-1437 Zsigmond Luxembourg - also king of Bohemia as Sigismund I
Habsburgs
- 1437-1439 Albrecht II Habsburg - also Czech king
- 1439-1440 Elisabeth of Luxembourg, wife of Albrecht II
Jagiellons
Habsburgs
- 1444-1457 Laszlo VI - also Czech king
Hunyadi
- 1446-1458 Janos Hunyadi, regent (the throne was formally vacant).
- 1458-1490 Matthias Hunyadi (Matthew Korvin)
Jagiellons
- 1490-1516 Ulaslo II Jagiellon - also King of Bohemia as Vladislav II Jagiellon
- 1516-1526 Lajos II Jagiellon - also King of Bohemia as Ludwik
Habsburgs in the west; Transylvania in the East
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| Controversial contenders (1301-1308) | |
|---|---|
| Anjou Sicilian House (1328-1498) | |
| Luxembourg (1386-1437) | |
| Habsburgs (1438-1439) | |
| Jagiellons (1440-1444) | |
| Habsburgs (1444-1457) | |
| Hunyadi (1458-1490) | |
| Jagiellons (1490-1526) | |
| Zapolya (1526-1570) | |
| articles created to coordinate the work on the development of the topic The barman Fok was the most angry person in the whole house. Natasha loved to try her power over him. He did not believe her and went to ask if it was true? - Oh, this young lady! said Foka, feigning a frown at Natasha. No one in the house sent out so many people and gave them so much work as Natasha. She could not see people with indifference, so as not to send them somewhere. It was as if she was trying to see if she would get angry, if one of them would pout at her, but people did not like to fulfill anyone's orders as much as Natasha's. “What should I do? Where should I go? Natasha thought as she slowly walked down the corridor. - Nastasya Ivanovna, what will be born from me? she asked the jester, who, in his kutsaveyka, was walking towards her. - From you fleas, dragonflies, blacksmiths, - answered the jester. “My God, my God, it’s all the same. Ah, where should I go? What should I do with myself? - And she quickly, clattering her feet, ran up the stairs to Vogel, who lived with his wife on the top floor. Vogel had two governesses, and there were plates of raisins, walnuts, and almonds on the table. The governesses talked about where it was cheaper to live, in Moscow or Odessa. Natasha sat down, listened to their conversation with a serious, thoughtful face, and stood up. “The island of Madagascar,” she said. “Ma da gas car,” she repeated each syllable distinctly, and without answering m me Schoss’s questions about what she was saying, she left the room. Petya, her brother, was also upstairs: he and his uncle arranged fireworks, which he intended to set off at night. - Petya! Petka! she shouted to him, “take me downstairs. c - Petya ran up to her and turned his back. She jumped on top of him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and he jumped up and ran with her. “No, no, it’s the island of Madagascar,” she said, and, jumping off it, went down. As if she had bypassed her kingdom, tested her power and made sure that everyone was submissive, but still boring, Natasha went into the hall, took a guitar, sat in a dark corner behind a cabinet and began to pluck the strings in the bass, making a phrase that she remembered from one opera heard in St. Petersburg together with Prince Andrei. For outsiders, something on her guitar came out that had no meaning, but in her imagination, because of these sounds, a whole series of memories was resurrected. She sat at the cupboard, fixing her eyes on the streak of light falling from the pantry door, listening to herself and remembering. She was in a state of remembrance. Sonya went to the buffet with a glass across the hall. Natasha looked at her, at the gap in the pantry door, and it seemed to her that she was remembering that light was falling through the gap from the pantry door and that Sonya had passed with a glass. "Yes, and it was exactly the same," thought Natasha. Sonya, what is it? Natasha shouted, fingering the thick string. - Oh, you're here! – shuddering, said Sonya, came up and listened. - I do not know. Storm? she said timidly, afraid of making a mistake. “Well, she shuddered in exactly the same way, came up in the same way and smiled timidly when it was already,” Natasha thought, “and in exactly the same way ... I thought that something was missing in her.” - No, this is the choir from the Water Carrier, do you hear! - And Natasha finished singing the motive of the choir in order to make Sonya understand it. – Where did you go? Natasha asked. - Change the water in the glass. I'm painting the pattern now. “You are always busy, but I don’t know how,” said Natasha. - Where is Nikolai? Sleeping, it seems. “Sonya, you go wake him up,” said Natasha. - Say that I call him to sing. - She sat, thought about what it meant, that it all happened, and, without resolving this issue and not at all regretting it, she was again transported in her imagination to the time when she was with him, and he, with loving eyes looked at her. “Oh, I wish he would come soon. I'm so afraid it won't! And most importantly: I'm getting old, that's what! There will be no more what is now in me. Or maybe he will come today, he will come now. Maybe he came and sits there in the living room. Maybe he arrived yesterday and I forgot. She got up, put down her guitar and went into the living room. All the household, teachers, governesses and guests were already sitting at the tea table. People stood around the table - but Prince Andrei was not there, and there was still the old life. “Ah, here she is,” said Ilya Andreevich, seeing Natasha come in. - Well, sit down with me. But Natasha stopped beside her mother, looking around, as if she was looking for something. - Mum! she said. “Give it to me, give it to me, mother, hurry, hurry,” and again she could hardly restrain her sobs. She sat down at the table and listened to the conversations of the elders and Nikolai, who also came to the table. “My God, my God, the same faces, the same conversations, the same dad holds a cup and blows the same way!” thought Natasha, feeling with horror the disgust that rose in her against all the household because they were still the same. | |
The beginning of the post, that is, its first part, all my readers who missed it, as well as guests of my blog who are interested in this story, will be able to find tag "STARS OF EGER" .
And now continuation .
After the almost invincible in the XVI century the army of one of the greatest sultans of the Ottoman Empire Suleiman the Magnificent
(better known in the Islamic world under another equally honorable nickname - "Kanuni", i.e., "Legislator", or "Just") defeated the Czech-Croatian-Hungarian troops in the famous Battle of Mohacs (August 29, 1526)
, in which the king of Bohemia and Hungary drowned in a swamp during his flight Lajos II (aka Louis II Jagiellon)
, the Turks began a rapid advance deep into Central Europe.
Just take a look at portraits of these two monarchs , and you will immediately understand that even if the Czech-Hungarian king received help from other European kings, to whom he appealed in vain on the eve of the Ottoman army's invasion of Hungary, he would hardly be able to defeat the Sultan (I think that the explanatory inscriptions above portraits do not need to be done):
King Lajos II asked for help from the Pope, from the Doge of Venice, from the English King Henry VIII, from his relatives - King of Poland Sigismund I and from the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand. This assistance was either directly refused to him, or promised under certain conditions.
So, the Pope promised support in the event that the unfortunate King Lajos intensifies the fight against the Lutherans, of which there were many in Hungary at that time. (Well, of course, for the papal curia, the threat from the Protestants was more terrible than the advance of the Muslims to the very center of Christian civilization! The Union of Florence in 1439 and the fall of Constantinople in 1453 that followed shortly afterwards ...) are involuntarily recalled.
As you yourself understand, the Hungarian king had no time to fight Luther's followers when the victorious army of Suleiman I approached his possessions. Nevertheless, the king promised the pope that he would fight Lutheranism, and he sent money instead of military assistance, again - with the condition that most of them will be spent on the persecution of Lutherans!
The only one who sent a small army to help the Hungarians was Archduke Ferdinand. But even this help did not arrive in time (or, perhaps, was it not in too much of a hurry?).
Thus, the small army that Lajos II managed to gather turned out to be one on one with the huge invasion army of the Ottoman Empire, which was at the peak of its power.
The details of the battle of Mohacs do not belong to the immediate topic of this narrative. And the fact that it was lost by the Hungarians has already been repeatedly mentioned.
Monument to King Lajos II in Mohacs
,
in my opinion, can cause nothing but a feeling of pity for this unfortunate monarch
(compare with his formal portrait above):
Shortly after the Battle of Mohacs, in August 1529
the Turks took the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary - Buda. This was greatly facilitated by the disunity of the Hungarian feudal nobility, which unleashed a civil war in the country in those years when it was occupied by the conquerors going ahead.
How is this similar to ours? Time of Troubles
!
Part of the Hungarian aristocrats and nobility sided with the Germans and Austrians and their protege - Ferdinand I of Habsburg , who became the Hungarian king after the death of Lajos II, and the other part supported the governor of Transylvania Janos Zapolya , also proclaimed by the Hungarian king, but focused on the Turks and was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.
However, if you look at their portraits, they were worth each other (I think it’s not difficult to guess where Ferdinand is and where Janos is)
:
The common people of Hungary were also divided.
Only a small part of the common people, due to patriotism, resisted Germanization or Turkishization. The majority of the Hungarian peasants saw in the Turks almost liberators from the heavy feudal duties with which they were imposed by their compatriots - the nobles, as well as the royal power, perceived by the people as the power of foreigners (after the king Matthias I Hunyadi (Corvina) there was not a single Hungarian on the Hungarian throne).
The Turks, conquering the Hungarian lands, to some extent alleviated the position of the feudally dependent population, which undoubtedly made it easier for them to subjugate more and more territories to the Ottoman Empire.
And there is one more fact that cannot be ignored.
The Magyar tribes came to Central Europe and settled there only at the end of the 9th century. Where did they come from? From those Asian regions where for centuries they - Finno-Ugrians
- adjacent to Turks
. And this close proximity could not but affect the perception of the Turks by the Hungarians as to some extent "their own", even despite the fact that for four centuries they were separated by religious faith.
In addition, in Central Europe, the Hungarians did not always feel comfortable surrounded by Slavic peoples (Croats, Serbs, Czechs, Slovenes, Slovaks, etc.) and German-Austrians, whose speech was completely different from the Magyars. In this case, I mean not to know the Kingdom of Hungary, which, for obvious reasons, was multilingual and easily switched to Polish or German if necessary, but the simple Magyar people, for whom the speech of the Turks was often more understandable than the speech of the German, or, for example , Czech.
A small linguistic digression.
(Even at the present time, the Hungarian language remains completely incomprehensible to everyone who is used to the fact that in the Romano-Germanic languages, as in the Slavic languages, there are some general rules that you can quickly adapt to. But it’s not so easy to adapt to the Hungarian language And not surprisingly, the Hungarian language is one of the few in Europe that does not belong to the Indo-European languages.
I speak from my own experience. During a week or two stay in Italy or Spain (not to mention the Czech Republic or Serbia), I easily absorbed several dozen words and common expressions, enough to, for example, ask for directions and understand the answer in the local language or order lunch at a restaurant. Or understand what the guide is talking about, speaking Spanish or Italian. So, for example, during an excursion in Tangier, a guide - an Arab Moroccan led his story in three languages: Spanish, German and English, and my wife and daughter, who did not speak either Spanish or German, understood almost everything he talked about. told (of course, knowledge of English helped out, but even without it, the basic information was clear, if only because we had already been to Spain more than once).
But for a week spent in Hungary, I could not remember a single word in Magyar, not to mention coherent expressions. It’s good that the universal English helped out, and also that the Hungarians (at least many of them) have not yet forgotten Russian, which in socialist times was compulsory taught at school. However, what surprised me a lot is that Hungarian young people also speak Russian quite well, especially in Budapest, which is apparently due to the great popularity of the Hungarian capital among Russian-speaking tourists.)
All this, of course, made it easier for the Ottomans to conquer the vast (by European standards) territories that were part of the Kingdom of Hungary.
After the Turks captured Buda, the Hungarian royal court and the Magyar aristocracy fled to the north of the country, free from the invaders. For a long time, the capital of Hungary became Pozsony (now Bratislava)
.
The troops of the Ottoman Empire were not going to stop there, continuing their expansion and trying to conquer all the Hungarian lands. In the 30-40s of the 16th century, several Hungarian fortresses in the north-east of the country fell under the onslaught of the Turks. BUT at the beginning of September 1552 large Ottoman army approached the city of Eger , which was considered the "key" to all of Upper Hungary.
The fortress of Eger was not the most powerful among those that had already been taken by the Turks. And its garrison was only about a thousand people (against more than a hundred thousand Turkish army). Most likely, the Eger fortress would have been taken by the Turks without any special problems for them, if once again, as often happens in history, they had not intervened "His Majesty Chance" as Captain István Dobo , commander of the garrison of the fortress of Eger.
You can argue endlessly on the role of chance and personality in history . I, as a historian, still remain an adherent of the Marxist view on this issue: the role of the individual in the historical process increases and becomes significant in cases where this individual acts in accordance with the general laws of historical development.
It’s ridiculous for me to listen to the ranting that if, for example, Adolf Hitler, during the years of his beggarly wanderings around Vienna, would still have been admitted to the Vienna Academy of Arts, then there would be neither the Nazi regime in Germany, nor the Second World War. And other nonsense: if not for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, then the First World War would not have happened ...
The laws according to which the history of mankind develops cannot be changed by any person. Even if Hitler became an artist and never thought about political activity, another "Hitler" would have appeared in Germany in the 20-30s (and it doesn't matter that his name would be Ernst Röhm, Hermann Goering or some Fritz Karke) . And the Germans would have screamed in exactly the same way, going into ecstasy: "Heil Karke!" reconsider film by M. Romm "Ordinary fascism" . Despite the fact that it was filmed back in 1965, in my opinion, it remains relevant today in many ways.
And history of the defense of the Eger fortress , which withstood the onslaught of the Turks in 1552, only confirms the correctness of the Marxist theory of historical development. Yes, then the fortress survived, the merit of its captain Istvan Dobo is more than great. But still, after 44 years (in 1596) the Turks took the fortress. And not because there was no second Istvan Dobo, but because it corresponded to the laws of the historical development of Europe and the Ottoman Empire.
And yet, one cannot help but admire the heroism of the defenders of Eger and the commander of the fortress, who were able to stop the advance of the Turks deep into Europe for some time. Perhaps it was this historical episode that became the key for the entire European civilization.
And not only European. At the same time Russia becomes a kingdom instead of a principality. It is unlikely that Tsar Ivan IV would have been able to subjugate the Kazan (in the same 1552) and Astrakhan (in 1556) khanates if they had been assisted by the Ottoman Empire, and this was more than likely. But Suleiman I at that time was not up to it. So, a seemingly insignificant episode - the defeat of the Turks at the walls of the Eger fortress is also related to our national history.
To be continued.
Sergei Vorobyov.
Roman city on the mountain of healing springs
The beginning of the history of the Hungarian state is closely connected with the history of its capital, Budapest. It was here, on the Buda side, about two thousand years ago that the ancient Romans founded the city of Aquincum, which became the capital of the province of Pannonia, which was part of the Great Roman Empire. It is not difficult to answer the question why the Romans chose this place for their settlement. An extremely convenient strategic position on a hilltop, many mineral springs (by the way, the name of the city of Aquincum comes from the Latin word "aqua" - water), the natural border, which became the wide Danube - these are perhaps the main factors that influenced the choice of the Romans . Aquincum was both a military camp and a civilian town. The ruins of the ancient amphitheater, as well as the remains of the houses of the ancient prototype of Budapest, have survived to this day and are one of the most interesting city attractions. However, internal strife and constant raids by Asian and Germanic tribes gradually led to the disintegration of the once mighty empire. Pannonia, as well as its other regions, were in danger.
Tribes from the East
In 430, huge hordes of the Huns, led by King Attila, began a rapid advance through the territory of the once powerful empire, sweeping away, like dust particles, the Roman troops in their path. Despite the fact that the Roman Empire had to give a significant part of its territories to Asian tribes, Rome itself managed to survive thanks to the request for peace from the Pope. However, Attila soon died under very mysterious circumstances, the Huns, having lost their leader, were forced to return to Central Asia - the powerful empire collapsed.
Following the Huns, many other tribes fought among themselves for the lands that now make up the state of Hungary. Among them were the ancestors of modern Hungarians - the Magyars. The history of this nomadic tribe is as follows. Initially, the Magyars lived in the steppes of the Southern Urals on the territory of modern Bashkiria, from where they, among seven more tribes and three allied ethnic Khazar clans that deviated from Khazaria and began to be called Kavars, migrated through the territory of Ukraine to the lands of present-day Hungary (the steppes of the Middle Danube). Later, the name of one of the Turkic tribes, the Onogurs (lat. hungarus), spread to them, which, having changed, was fixed in European languages. The Magyars were skilled riders and often raided the Holy Roman Empire and Central Europe, gradually becoming a scourge for Western Christianity. However, after suffering a series of serious military defeats, they decided to confine themselves to the territory that is now Central Hungary.
State formation
Following the settlement of the territory of Central Hungary, the period of unification of the Magyar tribes into a single nation began. Prince Geza established centralized power in the newly formed state and adopted Christianity. His son Vaik, who received the name Istvan at baptism, was crowned as the first Hungarian king in 1000 and received signs of royal power from the hands of the legate of Pope Sylvester II. However, it should be noted that in those distant times, Budapest did not yet have the status of a capital, since the royal palace was located in the city of Szekesfehervar, and the main religious center was Eszterg, the residence of the head of the Hungarian Catholic Church. 
Istvan had to face the problem of pacifying the newly formed class of nobles and strengthening ties with Rome. Despite these and other actions useful for strengthening statehood, Istvan did not solve one very important issue - he did not establish the principle of succession to the throne. That is why immediately after the death of the king, a long period of unrest, palace intrigues and struggle for the throne began. Only at the beginning of the 13th century, under King Andrew II, was the law on the rights of the Golden Bull issued, on which every Hungarian king subsequently took an oath. This important document finally determined the position of the nobles: firstly, the Golden Bull, like the English Magna Carta, guaranteed the representatives of this class personal freedom, exemption from taxes and compulsory military service outside the country, and secondly, for the nobles henceforth the right not to recognize illegal royal decrees was secured. Some time after the issuance of the bull, annual meetings of the National Assembly were announced to control and, if necessary, bring to justice the highest royal officials. These assemblies were held in Pest, which contributed to the gradual strengthening of the prestigious status of this part of the city.
Despite all the obvious successes in strengthening Hungary as a single state, in 1241 an event occurred that for a long time suspended the further development of the country - the invasion of the Mongol hordes. Most of the Hungarian cities were devastated and plundered.
The next Hungarian king, Bela IV from the Arpad dynasty, decided that the country needed a strong and reliable fortification and defense system, in connection with which he ordered the construction of a number of powerful fortified fortresses, one of which was Buda located on a high hill. In the same period, the development of cities took place, which in the future formed the capital of Hungary. Once small settlements, spread out on opposite sides of the Danube, Buda and Pest, thanks to the influx of merchants and artisans from all European countries, gradually began to turn into large cities. The territory of the country itself also expanded, which during the reign of King Lajos I the Great turned into a great Slavic power: its southern borders reached Bulgaria, and the Romanian principalities (Wallachia and Moldavia) paid tribute to Hungary. The exorbitant ambitions of the next Hungarian ruler, King Sigismund, who undertook an unsuccessful campaign against the Turks in 1396, became one of the reasons for the subsequent Ottoman invasion of Europe. Thanks to the battle of Nandorfehervar (now Belgrade) in 1456, in which the Hungarian troops under the command of Janos Hunyadi defeated the Turks, the conquest of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire was delayed by almost a hundred years.
King Matthias and the golden age of the Hungarian state
In 1458, the 16-year-old son of Janos Hunyadi, who went down in history as Matthias (Matthew) Corvin, was elected the new king of Hungary. 
The reign of this king is rightfully considered the golden age in the history of Hungary. It was under Matthias that Buda turned into a major center of the Renaissance: magnificent palaces were built here, the largest royal library on the continent was established, which approved the title of a cultural center outside the city. Matthias's wife, Queen Beatrice, was Italian, thanks to which many elements of the culture of this country penetrated into Hungary. Very often, in different sources, the years of the reign of Matthias are called the time of justice, progress and all kinds of prosperity. He managed not only to consolidate the monarchy and unite the nobility, but also to create a combat-ready mercenary army, which posed a serious threat to the Ottoman troops. This army was called the Black Legion.
After the death of Matthias, the Polish dynasty of the Jagiellons established itself on the Hungarian throne and, as has often happened in the history of Hungary, the era of prosperity and prosperity was replaced by a period of civil strife. Disorder and vacillation in the central authorities led to the weakening of the country's military power and the dissolution of the "black legion". Buda soon lost its high status as a cultural center, and in the first decades of the 16th century, a wave of peasant uprisings swept almost all over Hungary. The largest of these was the uprising led by György Dozsa. Cruelly suppressed by the forces of the nobility, it marked the beginning of a series of harsh measures taken against the peasants. So, for example, in 1222, two new laws appeared in the Golden Bull: one of them said that from now on the peasants were deprived of all civil liberties that they had before, and the second forbade representatives of this class to have any or a weapon. Against the background of the newly begun campaign of the Ottoman Empire troops against European states, the situation in Hungary was simply catastrophic.
Turkish yoke
On August 29, 1526, one of the most infamous European battles took place, called the Battle of Mohacs. 
The Turkish army was led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the Hungarian army was led by King Lajos II. The battle took place in southern Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube. The Hungarians suffered a crushing defeat, losing most of the troops killed and wounded. Lajos II fled the battlefield and drowned in the Chele River.
After the victory, the Turkish troops freely entered Buda, plundered the royal palace and left the city with rich booty, finally setting it on fire. However, despite this, Hungary came under Turkish occupation only 15 years later. In 1541, the Turks already occupied both cities - Buda and Pest - and kept them under their rule for almost 150 years. Only in 1686, after a long and difficult siege, the united army under the leadership of Charles of Lorraine managed to liberate the cities, which at that time were small settlements with a very small number of inhabitants. It should be noted that the whole of Europe celebrated the solemn event: fireworks, festivities and thanksgiving processions took place in many cities from Rome to Amsterdam and from Venice to Madrid.
However, it was still too early to celebrate the victory, because some invaders were soon replaced by others.
Habsburgs
Generally speaking, long before the expulsion of the Turks from the territory of Hungary, the northern and eastern regions of the country belonged to this most powerful European dynasty. After the liberation of Buda, Pest and other cities captured by the Turks, almost the entire territory of Hungary came under the control of the Habsburgs.
The Habsburgs established a military dictatorship in Hungary, trying to protect themselves from possible unrest of the nobles. Unrest could arise primarily on religious grounds, because after the Hungarian Diet of 1571, the Catholics and Protestants of this country were equalized in rights, while in most other European countries the struggle between these two movements continued. The bloody massacre of a mass of Hungarian Protestants, called the "Massacre in Pryashev", caused a wave of protest among the nobility. The situation escalated with each passing day and eventually resulted in an uprising led by the grandson of the Transylvanian prince György II, Ferenc Rakoczi. This uprising lasted five years - from 1703 to 1708 - and, despite the fact that Rakoczi's army managed to win a number of battles, it ended with the defeat of the Protestants in the final battle of Tenchin.
Nevertheless, the Habsburgs learned a lesson from this event, as evidenced by the Peace of Satmar, concluded on April 30, 1711. Under its terms, all the rebelling nobles, including Rakoczi himself, received a full amnesty and their estates back on the condition that they recognize the authority of the Habsburgs. Moreover, the Austrian administration promised the Hungarians administration "in accordance with their own laws and customs". Ferenc Rakoczy, later called by historians "the stubborn Don Quixote", did not recognize the Satmar peace and emigrated to Turkey.
Realizing the important strategic and political importance of Buda and Pest, after the end of the uprising, the Habsburgs began to actively invest in the development of these cities. The period of special prosperity fell on the reign of Empress Maria Theresa (1740-1780). At the same time, there was a closer rapprochement between the Austrian and Hungarian peoples, especially among the nobility. Gradually, Pest turned into a rich trading city, mainly due to the full-flowing Danube, along which merchants from all European countries brought their goods here. The rapid development of the city caused a new wave of emigrants (mostly Serbs and Jews), who contributed to the further economic and cultural development of the city. 
For most of the 18th century, the socio-political situation in Hungary was calm. Remaining predominantly an agricultural country, it was a kind of "food basket" of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Perfectly aware of this fact, the Habsburgs sought to secure Hungary's status as one of the important imperial powers. Buda and Pest continued to grow and develop, in which extensive redevelopment was carried out: buildings in the imperial spirit appeared, beautiful boulevards, like in Vienna, appeared. In fairness, it should be noted that the main reason for such a global restructuring of cities was the severe flood that occurred in 1838, as a result of which the waters of the Danube destroyed a significant part of the buildings - mainly on the flat Pest side.
One of the most prominent personalities who lived in this era was Count Istvan Szechenyi, who received the title of the greatest Hungarian for his services to the fatherland. A well-educated man, a passionate admirer of the arts and a traveler, Széchenyi dreamed of his country becoming one of the leading European powers. It was he who was the founding father of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, carried out a number of important democratic reforms, ordered the construction of the first permanent bridge that connected Buda and Pest and later became the main symbol of the united city. We are talking about the famous Chain Bridge, which is also often called the Szechenyi Bridge.
Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence
Gradually, many Hungarians began to feel deceived, realizing their own lack of rights in their native country. 
Such sentiments in society and the tense situation in Europe eventually led to the fact that 1848-1849 became the period of the Hungarian Revolution and the War of Independence. The opposition was led by Lajos Kossuth, a journalist, politician and revolutionary figure. On April 14, 1849, a meeting of the State Assembly took place in the Great Protestant Church of Debrecen, at which Kossuth read out the Declaration of Independence and announced the deposition of the Habsburgs. Executive power passed to Kossuth, who was appointed supreme ruler, and the council of ministers. To crush the uprising, the Habsburgs resorted to the use of military forces. In addition to the Austrian army, a corps of Russian troops, sent by Nicholas I to help Emperor Franz Joseph, participated in the suppression of the uprising. In one of the last battles with the Cossacks of Paskevich at Shegeshvar (now this city is called Sighisoara and belongs to the territory of Romania), the Hungarian poet Sandor Petofi died.
The Hungarian National Army suffered a crushing defeat. Having won, the Habsburgs did not compromise with the Hungarians, but began large-scale repressions against the rebels, during which many prominent figures of the state were executed. In addition, in order to combat Hungarian separatism, the entire territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary was divided into administrative districts, along with other provinces of the empire. The time of absolutism has come. Despite all this, the population of the country continued to maintain oppositional sentiments and insist on the restoration of the Hungarian constitution.
Austria-Hungary: progress and prosperity of the new empire
The defeat in the war with Prussia prompted Austria to create dualism, in other words, to give Hungary (which also included Transylvania, Banat and Croatia) full autonomy. At a meeting of the National Assembly in February 1867, the restoration of the Hungarian constitution was announced, a special responsible ministry was established, headed by Count Gyula Andrássy, and financial relations between the two countries were settled. 
Hungary becomes separated from Austria by its own state structure, but united with it by the dynasty and some common departments (in particular, military and foreign affairs). In June 1867, Emperor Franz Joseph was crowned King of Hungary in St. Matthias Cathedral. The period between 1867 and the outbreak of the First World War began to be called the golden age of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, one of the most significant events of which was the unification in 1873 of Buda, Pest and Obuda (the ancient city of queens on the Buda side) into one city - Budapest. The population of the newly formed capital became more and more, various industries began to develop here. Among other things, Pest became the center of a new railway system, a large network that covered the entire empire. Most of the new municipal buildings are located on the Pest side. The same period saw a special flourishing of Hungarian culture, in particular theater and literature. People of art and the intelligentsia liked to gather in numerous coffee houses, which were in no way inferior in sophistication to Viennese ones.
In 1896, magnificent celebrations took place on the occasion of the millennium of the "finding of the homeland by the Hungarians." The construction of the Földatti metro line (now the First Metro Line), the underground railway to Heroes' Square, and the foundation of the Central City Park Varosliget were timed to coincide with these celebrations. By the middle of the century, Budapest had become one of the favorite destinations of wealthy European travelers, and the city's cultural life had reached its peak. However, the events of subsequent years clearly showed how fragile the greatness of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was.
World War I and its aftermath
On June 28, 1914, nineteen-year-old terrorist Gavrilo Princip shot dead Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in Sarajevo. This murder was the reason for the outbreak of the First World War. Emperor Charles IV, who ascended the throne, could no longer restrain the disintegrating Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Habsburg dynasty lost the reins of government and became a thing of the past. Weakened by four years of war and torn apart by internal political divisions between Bolshevik forces backed by the Soviet Republic and the centre-right, the country was unable to influence subsequent peace negotiations. Plus, Romanian and Czech troops, supported by France, occupied part of the territory of Hungary.
On June 4, 1920, the Entente powers signed the Treaty of Trianon (after the name of the palace in Versailles). According to it, Hungary lost 2/3 of its territory, millions of Hungarians remained on the other side of the new borders of the state. The 1920s-30s in Hungary were marked by an increase in pro-Nazi sentiment. Miklos Horthy becomes the main political figure at this time. Due to the fact that the Entente states categorically objected to the reign of the Habsburg dynasty, before the candidacy of the new king was determined, a new post of regent was established, which went to Horthy. The main desire of this ambitious politician was the return of Hungary to its former borders, which prompted Horthy to decide to make an alliance with Germany. Since that time in Hungary - especially in Budapest - anti-Semitic sentiments began to intensify, with each new day the rights of the Jewish part of the population are being reduced more and more.
The Second World War
Having gone over to the side of Nazi Germany, Hungary found itself embroiled in the outbreak of the Second World War. In exchange for a promise to return the lands of Transylvania and Slovakia to Hungary, the Hungarian government agreed to help the Germans and made the fatal decision for the country to send troops to the Soviet Union. After fierce battles near Stalingrad, all the troops that acted on the side of Nazi Germany were forced to capitulate. By the time the Soviet forces were on the territory of Eastern Europe, Budapest had already become one of the main targets of the Entente allies. 
Seeing that the war was lost, Horthy tried to get the country out of this situation by initiating separate negotiations with the Soviet government. However, they were thwarted, because Hitler, not trusting his "ally", brought German troops into Hungary.
The spring of 1944 was the beginning of the Nazi terror in the country: within seven weeks, about 565,000 Hungarian Jews were killed, including 430,000 who were sent to concentration camps. From 30 to 70 thousand gypsies shared their fate. One of the embankments of Budapest is lined with boots and women's shoes. This is a monument to the Jews who were shot by the Nazis right on the banks of the Danube.
Despite the rapid offensive of the Soviet army, the Germans decided to offer the last resistance to the enemy forces, choosing Budapest as their stronghold. As a result of heavy fighting that lasted for several months, the city was almost destroyed, many historical buildings turned into ruins. On April 4, 1945, after a fierce battle near the royal palace, the German troops finally capitulated. On April 12, hostilities in Hungary were finally stopped.
post-war period
On January 1, 1946, the Hungarian People's Republic was proclaimed, and two years after this event, the Communist Party merged with the Social Democratic Party, forming the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, which for many years became the only ruling force in the country. The orthodox Stalinist Matthias Rakosi was elected its general secretary. The beginning of the 50s became a period of mass terror and repressions against those who were not supporters of the pro-Stalinist Hungarian regime. Only the death of Stalin in 1953 gave the Hungarians hope for the possibility of democratic reforms. The initiator of the change in the course of the Hungarian Communist Party was Prime Minister Imre Nagy, who replaced the odious Rakosi in his post. 
The "revolution of minds" that occurred after a series of reforms that Nagy introduced, in October 1956 led to the Hungarian uprising. This revolution prompted the intervention of the Warsaw Pact forces on November 4, 1956. After the uprising was crushed, Janos Kadar, who led the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, according to Hungarian historians, "entered Budapest on the armor of Soviet tanks" on November 7, 1956.
During the 1970s, Hungary experienced a gradual weakening of the communist regime, which was greatly facilitated by economic reforms aimed at reviving the private sector. In 1988, Hungarian communist reformers ousted Janos Kadar from his post as general secretary, believing that he was obstructing deeper reforms. A year later, the Republic of Hungary was proclaimed, declared an "independent democratic state of law", and in 1990 the Constitution of the newly formed state was adopted. Arpad Genz, a participant in the 1956 uprising, was elected president of the country. In 1995, Genz was re-elected to the presidency for the second time.
On March 12, 1999, Hungary became a member of NATO. In 2000, the celebration of the millennium of the founding of the Hungarian state took place, and Ferenc Madl was elected president of the country. On March 1, 2004, Hungary joined the European Union, and on May 1, 2004 it became a member of the Schengen Agreement (border controls were abolished on December 21, 2007).
A little background
To begin with, let's turn our attention to the state of Europe and the Middle East by the beginning of the second quarter of the 16th century. The strongest states of the continent, Spain and France, are busy sorting things out in Italy - the rich lands of the Apennines were too tasty a morsel to give them to an opponent without a fight. German lands were shaken by peasant (in 1524−25 a real war broke out here) and religious uprisings. Eastern Europe is also unsettled - in addition to an endless series of uprisings, there is a tense confrontation between Poland, Hungary and Austria.
Map of Europe in 1500
The main power of the Middle East - the Ottoman Porte, on the contrary, was in the prime of life. During the reign of Sultan Selim I (1512−20), the territory subject to the Turks doubled. The Sultan conquered vast lands in the east and south - all of Asia Minor, most of Iraq, the Caucasus, Palestine, Hijaz, Egypt, Mesopotamia became part of a huge empire. In 1520, Selim's 26-year-old son Suleiman succeeded to the Istanbul throne. The young Sultan got a vast power with a formidable and advanced army. Suleiman was a gifted politician, who was properly prepared to govern the state. Upon accession to the throne, he immediately drew attention to his European neighbors: Hungary, Moldova, Austria.
Hungarian question
By the beginning of the 1520s, only one independent state remained at the Turkish borders in Europe - the Kingdom of Hungary, however, by the beginning of the war with Turkey, it was in decline, although at the end of the 15th century Hungary was one of the most powerful states in Europe.
Suleiman I the Magnificent and Lajos II
King Matthias Hunyadi (1458−90) or Matthias Corvin (Raven) managed to carry out a whole series of state reforms, put finances and apparatus in order, and create a new army. The illustrious monarch understood that Hungary was a bastion in the fight against the Ottomans, therefore he tried in every possible way to strengthen the state, while creating a stable alliance capable of withstanding the Turkish threat. Matthias achieved great foreign policy successes, uniting under his rule Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic (the latter was divided between him and the Polish king Vladislav. Matthias got Moravia and Silesia) and even Austria, where Corvin moved his capital. During his reign, it was also possible to restrain the aggression of the Turks, apparently, the genes of his father, the great commander and winner of the Ottomans, affected.
Warriors of the Hungarian army
The active dynastic policy, however, played a cruel joke with Matthias: he did not leave a legitimate heir, and the Polish king Vladislav succeeded to his throne. So in Hungary, the Jagiellonian dynasty was established (albeit not for long). Vladislav (1490−1516), crowned with the support of the nobility under the name Ulaslo II, was forced to weaken the royal power in the Hungarian lands and grant more and more rights to the nobility.
Hungary was in decline, although it was flourishing 30 years ago
This was absolutely not what was required before a new aggravation of relations with the Ottomans and the growing expansion of the southern neighbor, but the peasant uprising of 1514, drowned in the blood of the nobility, deprived Hungarian society of the much-needed consolidation at that time.
young king
After the death of Ulaslo, Louis (Lajos II), who was only 10 years old, was declared the new king. For six years, Lajos was ruled by his uncle, and only in 1522 was he crowned ruler of Hungary and the Czech Republic. While the Hungarian nobility, headed by the uncle of the king, was in power, Suleiman sent ambassadors to Buda demanding tribute - the Hungarian magnates arrogantly rejected all proposals, and the ambassadors were thrown into prison. Suleiman seized the opportunity, gathered an army and went on a campaign against Lajos.
Five Years' War
In 1521, the Turkish army invaded Hungary and laid siege to Belgrade, an important fortress in the south. Despite the heroic defense of the stronghold, the city was taken and became the main base of the Turks in their subsequent operations in Hungary.
The forces of the kingdom were knocked down by the revolts of the magnates and the uprisings of the peasants
For five years there was a positional war, and while the Sultan was busy with affairs on other fronts, the Hungarians even managed to defeat Turkish troops several times in local battles. However, in 1526, Suleiman decided to take up European affairs and gathered a large army to invade Hungary - more than 100 thousand people in total (the figure for the huge Ottoman power is quite real), the army was accompanied by the sultan himself, elite Janissary units armed with firearms and fighting in the correct formation , a large number of excellent artillery for that time (about 300 guns!).
Siege of Belgrade 1521
In Buda, they were in no hurry to mobilize - the collection of the royal army began only in July, when the Sultan's army was already at the borders. The difficult political situation (social and economic problems hurt the prestige of the government) hindered the mobilization of forces - some of the magnates and nobles refused to go on a campaign at all, the Croatian contingents were still far away, and the units reformed by Matthias, recruited from commoners, could not be relied upon after the bloody massacres of the previous years.
Suleiman sent the best troops and a huge artillery park
The hastily assembled army consisted of Hungarian light cavalry (ancestors of the famous Hungarian hussars) and heavy shock cavalry units of southern Hungarian nobles and magnates and their servants. The infantry was represented by detachments of German landsknecht mercenaries; these were the most professional and combat-ready units of the Hungarian army.
Suleiman I Turkish Infantry
Over the summer, the Ottomans managed to take a number of fortresses on the border, crossed the Drava and reached the Mohacs plain, located only 250 kilometers from Buda, where Lajos was already waiting for them.
Mohacs field
At the end of the summer, the two armies met on the Mohacs Plain in southern Hungary. The troops of King Lajos - about 25 thousand people with 53 guns were built in battle order when they were discovered by the Sultan's intelligence. Suleiman invited the Hungarians to surrender, but they responded with a decisive refusal. The Sultan was not in vain confident in his superiority - he concentrated at least twice as large forces on the battlefield (and the Turks were better trained and equipped) and had a triple superiority in artillery.
Lajos tried to break the Turks in parts - at first even successfully
The battlefield was a hilly plain with a small stream in the south, where the Turkish camp was located, bounded by the Danube from the east. The hills prevented the Turks from finding out the true intentions of the Hungarians - they pretended to set up camp and were not going to fight, then part of the Turkish army (Rumeli army), which had already approached the battlefield, also began to set up camp. This was the idea of King Lajos - he realized that in battle with the entire Turkish army he had no chance, then he tried to break the Sultan's army in parts.
Schematic of the Battle of Mohacs
While the Turks were setting up bivouacs, the Hungarians rushed into battle - the Ottoman soldiers did not expect such a turn of affairs at all, so the first attack of the Hungarian knights was a resounding success. The forces of the Rumelian army offered not even a shadow of resistance and immediately rushed to flee. It seemed that the adventure of Lajos could be successful and the Turks could be defeated piece by piece. At that moment, approaching Turkish corps began to descend from the slopes of the hills in the south, including regiments of janissaries and detachments of sipahis.
Janissaries armed with muskets played a significant role in the victory.
Suleiman, having learned that the enemy was the first to strike and the Rumelians had a hard time, mobilized engineering teams that quickly repaired roads in the way of the rest of the army and, at the first opportunity, sent troops into battle. The right wing of the Hungarians, where most of the shock cavalry was concentrated, stopped its attack. The reason was banal: having defeated the first echelon of the Turkish army, the knights and soldiers began to rob the enemy camp, deciding that the battle had already been won. At this time, the Janissaries hit the Hungarian center, mowing down entire ranks of the Hungarians with musket fire. Artillery, actively used on both sides, added to the turmoil - here it produced more noise and smoke, which clouded the battlefield, while its effectiveness is questioned by historians.
Duel of cavalrymen. Miniature of the 16th century.
As soon as Turkish reinforcements entered the battle, the Hungarian knights and light-horsemen realized that things were bad and rushed to flee. Only detachments of hired infantry held out, but they could not do anything, being actually surrounded. The battle turned into a rout.
Aftermath of the battle
The Hungarian army was annihilated by the Turks: about 15 thousand Christians fell, more than a thousand noble Hungarian nobles and barons remained lying on the field of the Mohacs battle. King Lajos himself died by drowning while crossing the Danube. All prominent commanders and commanders from the Hungarian side were killed or captured. No wonder the day of the Battle of Mohacs is called "the greatest tragedy of Hungarian history." The losses of the Turks are estimated at one and a half to two thousand people.
Suleiman at Mohacs. Turkish miniature of the 16th century
The political and military consequences of the Battle of Mohacs can hardly be overestimated: just a few days later, Suleiman solemnly entered Buda, three years later he laid siege to Vienna, threatening reprisals now against the Habsburgs, and not the Jagiellons. Hungary, where it was already restless, plunged into the abyss of civil war - the confrontation between the pro-German and pro-Turkish parties, each of which had its own contender for the throne, since Lajos did not leave an heir (the dynasty of the Hungarian Jagiellons, which lasted less than half a century, was cut short on it ).
The battle sentenced Hungary - there was no one to stop the Sultan
In the end, Hungary was divided between the Turks and the Austrians: southern and central Hungary became part of the Turkish vilayet of Buda (the capital of the former Hungary was finally occupied by the Turks only in 1541), and northern Hungary now became part of the Habsburg zone of influence. For a century and a half, most of Hungary was part of the Ottoman Empire, and as an independent state, Hungary disappeared from the map of Europe for a long 400 years.
Map of Hungary for 1550
In the art of war, the Battle of Mohacs most clearly demonstrated the superiority of firearms over cold weapons. Like the Battle of Pavia just a year before Mohacs, artillery, and especially infantry with muskets, were essential to achieve a quick and decisive victory. It took only an hour and a half for the Sultan's troops to deal with the Hungarians. After Mohacs, all over Europe realized that the fight against the Ottomans was a coalition affair - the victory over the Turks at Lepanto (1571) became a kind of lesson learned from the Mohacs battle.
Mohacs is called "the tragedy of the Hungarian people"
Nevertheless, in the memory of the Hungarians, the Battle of Mohacs remains one of the most notable and heroic pages in the history of the people. The image of King Lajos, who deliberately entered into an unequal battle with the Turk, is romanticized and surrounded by a halo of heroism and courage, and the word Mohacs is associated not only with a terrible defeat, but also with the courage and desperation with which ordinary nobles fought to defend their land from invaders.
