History History

Installation of the Aquincum Roman camp, erected as a Lower Pannonian metropolis in 106.

The Huns drove the Romans out of the province of Valeria to which Aquincum was attached.

Arrival of the seven Magyar tribes led by their chief Árpád, who settle in Óbuda and the island of Csepel.

Baptism of István (Stephen), a descendant of the Arpádian lineage, who is crowned king of Hungary. He settles in Székesfehérvár (70 km west of Budapest). During the reign of Béla III (dynasty of the Árpádians), in 1189, the court settles again in Óbuda.

Invasion of Pest first, then Buda and Óbuda by the Mongols. The city is in ruins. Five years later, the construction of the royal castle of Buda begins. In the 14th century, the Angevins then the Luxembourgers took over the dynastic torch. In 1445, the extension of the royal palace in Buda, where Sigismund of Luxembourg settled, was completed.

Reign of Mátyás Corvin. His wife, Beatrice of Aragon, imports the Renaissance from her native Italy. A great patron of the arts and sciences, the Hungarian sovereign received important foreign personalities such as Filippo Lippi and Botticelli at his court.

Battle of Mohács, which the Hungarians lost to the Ottomans. The Ottoman occupation begins. Buda becomes the capital of one of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire, while Óbuda, hard hit by the invasion, is only a village. The Ottomans build baths and mosques.

Conquest of Pest, then of Buda by Eugene of Savoy, general of the Habsburgs who hunted the Turks. The Habsburg dynasty will reign until 1918. Budapest is repopulated. The old centre of Pest, reduced to nothing, welcomes the influx of Germans.

Unfortunate War of Independence, led by Ferenc Rákóczi II at the head of the uprising against the Habsburgs. The royal palace, destroyed during the Ottoman siege, was finally rebuilt in 1771.

A period of modernization reforms of the city and the country led by Count István Széchenyi, "the greatest of Hungarians". He was responsible for the establishment of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the construction of the tunnel under the castle, and the Chain Bridge (the first permanent bridge between Pest and Buda).

Hungarian Revolution against the Habsburgs. Sándor Petőfi, one of Hungary's greatest poets, elevated to the rank of national hero, and his companions circulate a twelve-point text containing the required liberal reforms and copies of the national song. But the failure of the War of Independence, crushed by the Habsburg and Tsarist armies, accentuates Austrian despotism.

Austro-Hungarian Compromise: Hungary remains linked to Austria by the Ministries of War, Finance and Foreign Affairs. Franz Joseph and Elisabeth begin their reign.

Unification of Buda, Pest and Óbuda into a single city: Budapest, which quickly reaches one million inhabitants.

Celebrations of the millennium of the "creation" of Hungary by the Magyar tribes. Budapest has a wealth of new buildings and prestigious institutions.

The First World War led to the defeat of the Austrians and Hungarians. A severe economic, political and social recession hits Hungary. The Hungarian Republic is proclaimed to capitulate. One year later, Béla Kun proclaimed his three-month communist republic.

Treaty of Trianon. Hungary loses two thirds of its territory and one third of its population, which is distributed among the surrounding countries (Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Austria, Slovenia).

Hungary, under Miklós Horthy, promulgates its first anti-Jewish laws. In 1941, the country enters the war on Germany's side. But Admiral Horthy practises a policy of "swinging" and promises not to engage in deportations while continuing the war on the side of Nazi Germany.

Miklós Horthy is driven out by the Nazi occupiers, the Arrow Crosses, the Hungarian fascist party, take power. Jewish deportations begin. Late, they will nevertheless be massive.

Soviet troops liberate Budapest. Three years later, the communist regime is established.

Uprising against Stalinism crushed by Soviet tanks, battles rage in Budapest, 200,000 Hungarians leave the country.

Kádár's communist regime established a soft dictatorship and economic comfort.

The fall of communism in Hungary and the return of democracy. Ten years later, Hungary joins NATO.

Parliamentary elections marked by a record turnout since the first free elections in 1990 (73.47% in the second round). The left, led by Peter Medgyessy, won. It was a bitter defeat for the coalition led by Viktor Orbán - prime minister from 1998 to 2002 - which won only 188 seats out of 386.

Integration of Hungary into the European Union. Ferenc Gyurcsány (member of the Magyar Szocialista Párt, MSZP) succeeds Peter Medgyessy as Prime Minister, following a government crisis. In 2006, the ruling centre-left coalition won a majority in parliament. Ferenc Gyurcsány was reappointed.

In an internal recording broadcast on state radio, Ferenc Gyurcsány bluntly admits that he has done "nothing but bullshit " since coming to power and deliberately lied to voters. On the night of 18-19 September, several thousand demonstrators tried to ransack the premises of the state television station. More than 150 people were injured in the clashes, including around 100 law enforcement officials. The event will mark Hungarian politics for more than a decade.

Hungary enters the Schengen area.

Prime Minister Gyurcsány eventually resigned and left his place to Gordon Bajnai. Hungary was hit hard by the economic crisis of 2008 and implemented austerity plans (wage freeze, abolition of the 13th month...).

Viktor Orbán (re)becomes Prime Minister after the victory of the FIDESZ (right-wing conservative) in the April parliamentary elections. He has the constitutional majority (two-thirds of the seats) in parliament. In the autumn, municipal elections across the country confirmed FIDESZ's advance. Budapest becomes, for the first time since 1990, a right-wing city with the election of István Tarlos (FIDESZ ally).

The controversial media law, amended in part at the request of the European Commission, came into effect. It was followed a few months later by a new constitution, which was widely criticized both inside and outside the country.

The parliamentary elections largely won by the FIDESZ-KDNP (a new two-thirds majority) reappointed Viktor Orbán as head of the Hungarian executive. At the end of 2014, 100,000 demonstrators obtained the withdrawal of the bill aimed at taxing Internet use in Hungary.

Hungary closes its border with Serbia and Croatia to stem the flow of refugees into the country (400,000 illegal entries in 2015). A year later, the Orbán government launched a referendum on refugee distribution quotas, initiated by the European Commission. Voters overwhelmingly rejected the idea of a quota, but the result was invalidated due to a lack of sufficient turnout. A few days later, the largest opposition daily newspaper, Népszabadság, ceased to be published, due to the alleged economic difficulties of the title.

Parliamentary elections won by FIDESZ-KDNP, Viktor Orbán begins his third consecutive term. His ruling coalition once again has two-thirds in Parliament. At the end of 2018, Nikola Gruevski, a former North Macedonian prime minister sentenced to two years in prison in his country, was granted political asylum in Hungary. In the fall of 2019, to everyone's surprise, the municipal elections in Budapest bring an opposition candidate (left/environmentalist) to the mayor's office. A month later, the Central European University makes its move to Vienna, as the accreditation of its American degrees has not been renewed by the government of Viktor Orbán. In April 2022, for the first time since 2010, Viktor Orbán faced a united opposition at the ballot box that tried to steal his fourth consecutive election. Yet his party won the parliamentary elections by 54 per cent.

The year 2023 marks 150 years since the unification of Buda, Óbuda and Pest. To mark the occasion, almost 100 events are being organized and will run until 2024. For example, the Chain Bridge will reopen in autumn 2023, the Budapest Marathon will welcome runners from all over the world in October, the History Museum will host a new exhibition, hotels will reopen or be inaugurated..

Hungary is also experiencing tensions with Ukraine, following the transfer of Ukrainian soldiers from Transcarpathia in early June 2023.