Hungary is a small, landlocked country in central Europe. Budapest is its capital and largest city and the center of its culture and industry.
Most of eastern Hungary is nearly flat, but the western part has hills and low mountains. The country’s chief natural resources include fertile soil and a favorable climate for farming.
Great economic and social changes occurred in Hungary in the last half of the 1900’s. Before World War II (1939-1945), most of the country’s income came from agriculture, and the majority of Hungarians lived in rural areas and worked on farms. But in the mid-1900’s, Hungary’s economy began to become industrialized. Today, manufacturing and other industries contribute more to the national income than does farming. More Hungarians work in industry than on farms.
As Hungary became more industrialized, modern city ways of life became popular. Many of the country’s old rural customs disappeared. But Hungarians still love the highly seasoned foods, excellent wines, and lively folk music for which they have long been famous.
Hungary was a large, independent, and powerful kingdom until the late 1400’s. From the early 1500’s to the late 1600’s, the Ottoman Empire ruled much of the country. Hungary then became part of a huge empire ruled by the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs, a powerful European dynasty (line of rulers). The empire of the Habsburgs collapsed after World War I ended in 1918. Hungary then lost about two-thirds of its land but regained its independence.
In the late 1940’s, Hungarian Communists gained control of the country’s government. They began to restrict the freedom of the people and to control the entire economy. In 1956, the Hungarian people revolted against their Communist government and Soviet domination. Soviet troops quickly crushed the revolution. But opposition to Communist control continued.
In the late 1980’s, the Soviet Union made reforms toward giving its people more freedom. The reform movement in Hungary then gained strength. The power and authority of the Communist Party in Hungary began to erode. Public pressure forced the party’s leaders to allow other political parties to form. In 1989, the Communist Party ended its monopoly on Hungary’s government, and it allowed more freedom. Non-Communist parties were officially legalized. In 1990, Hungary held its first multiparty elections since 1949.
Government
National government.
Hungary has a one-house parliament, called the National Assembly. Voters elect the parliament’s members to four-year terms. The Assembly formally enacts all laws.
Hungary's national anthem
The president is the head of state. The National Assembly elects the president to a five-year term. The president’s duties include acting as commander in chief of the armed forces and authorizing elections.
The Assembly elects a prime minister on the recommendation of the president. The prime minister serves as Hungary’s head of government. Government ministers, appointed by the president on recommendation of the prime minister, carry out the day-to-day operations of the government.
Local government.
Hungary is divided into 20 regions, which consist of 19 counties and the capital city of Budapest. A council governs each county or city of county rank, as well as each town and rural community. Council members are elected by the people to five-year terms.
Politics.
Hungary’s main political parties include the Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union and the Hungarian Socialist Party. Fidesz is a conservative right-wing party. The Socialists support continued economic reform to increase private ownership of farms and businesses and to develop a market economy. They also support a closer association with the rest of Europe.
Other parties include the conservative Christian Democratic People’s Party, the far-right Movement for a Better Hungary (known as Jobbik), and the liberal Politics Can Be Different party.
Courts.
The Supreme Court is Hungary’s highest court. Other courts include county, district, labor affairs, and military courts.
Armed forces.
Hungary has an army, an air force, and an internal security force. Military service is voluntary.
People
Ancestry.
Most of the people of Hungary are Magyars. Magyars are descendants of the Magyar tribes that migrated to Hungary from the east in the late 800’s. The people of these tribes became the first Hungarians. Their language developed into the language now spoken in Hungary. Today, Magyars also include people of other ethnic backgrounds who have adopted the Hungarian language and Hungarian customs. These people, in turn, have contributed to Hungarian culture. The country’s other ethnic groups include Croats, Germans, Roma (sometimes called Gypsies), Romanians, Serbs, and Slovaks.
Language.
Magyar (also called Hungarian) is Hungary’s official language and is spoken throughout the country. But members of minority groups use their own language among themselves. In parts of Hungary, the people speak various dialects (local forms) of Magyar. Magyar is a Uralic-Altaic language that is related to Estonian and Finnish. For information on the Uralic-Altaic languages, see Language (Language families) .
Way of life
Housing.
Most rural families in Hungary live in small houses. Many of these houses have stucco (rough plaster) outer walls and a tile roof. City dwellers live in apartments or one-family homes.
A housing shortage exists in most Hungarian cities. The shortage began to develop in the mid-1900’s because of the rapid shift of population from the rural areas to the urban areas. Many people left the farms to seek industrial jobs in the cities.
Clothing.
Most of the people of Hungary, especially city dwellers, dress much as people do in Western Europe and North America. Many rural Hungarians once wore colorfully embroidered costumes as everyday clothing. But today, these people wear such costumes only on special occasions.
Food and drink.
Hungarians enjoy soup with their meals. The most famous Hungarian soup is a thick soup, or stew, called goulash. It consists of cubes of beef or other meat, gravy, onions, and potatoes. Other ingredients may also be added to the goulash, which is highly flavored with a seasoning called paprika. Hungarians use paprika in many of their dishes.
Hungarians eat more pork than any other kind of meat, but they also enjoy beef and poultry. Noodles, potatoes, and small dumplings are popular side dishes. Hungary is famous for its pastries. One of the most popular pastries is rétes, or strudel. It consists of a thin, flaky crust filled with fruit or cheese. The country is also famous for its many excellent wines.
Recreation.
Many Hungarians enjoy visiting coffee houses. There, they read or chat with friends over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine or beer. Hungarians also enjoy art exhibits and the theater. Going to concerts and operas is a popular pastime. Hungarians are famous for their lively folk music. 
Soccer is the most popular sport in Hungary. The country’s other favorite sports include basketball, fencing, and volleyball. Many Hungarians also enjoy boating, fishing, and swimming. In addition, the country has many health resorts called spas, which offer medicinal bathing in mineral waters.
Religion.
About one-half of Hungary’s people are Roman Catholics. Much of the rest of the population is Protestant. The Reformed (Calvinist) Church and the Lutheran Church are the largest Protestant groups. Other religious groups include Greek Catholics, Jews, and Unitarians.
Education.
Almost all adult Hungarians can read and write.
Hungarian law requires children from 6 through 16 years of age to attend school. Hungary has eight years of primary school. Primary school graduates may then go on to a two-year vocational school, a three-year skilled worker training school, or a four-year high school.
Hungary has two main kinds of high schools—gymnasiums and technical secondary schools. Gymnasiums, a traditional type of European high school, provide a general education. Technical secondary schools offer their students training in agricultural, commercial, or industrial skills in addition to providing a general education.
The Hungarian government operates most educational institutions. Nearly all primary and secondary school students attend free public schools. Religious groups operate some primary and secondary schools. These schools charge a fee.
Students who complete four years of high school may enter a school of higher learning. Hungary’s many institutions of higher learning include both state-run and church-run universities and colleges. The largest and most important universities are in Budapest.
The arts.
Hungary’s most outstanding contribution to the arts has been in music. The country has produced a number of world-famous composers. Franz Liszt was a prominent composer and pianist of the 1800’s. The expressive and highly original works of Béla Bartók established him as one of the greatest composers of the 1900’s. Bartók’s compositions and those of his friend Zoltán Kodály were strongly influenced by Hungarian folk music. Loading the player...
Hungarian folk song
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Hungarian czardas
Hungary has also produced many fine writers. But few of them are known outside the country. Hungarians highly regard the works of the poet Sándor Petofi and the novelist Mor Jókai, who wrote during the 1800’s. The poets Endre Ady and Attila József rank among the most respected Hungarian writers of the 1900’s. The most famous Hungarian author, Ferenc Molnár, wrote many plays, novels, and short stories in the early 1900’s.
Hungarian writers have traditionally been concerned with political and social problems. In the 1950’s, for example, some writers expressed in their works the people’s discontent with the Communist government. These authors thus spoke for the Hungarian people, whose desire for a better life led them to rebel in 1956. After the unsuccessful revolution, the writers who had criticized the Communist government had to flee the country or were imprisoned. The government also clamped tight controls on literary and other artistic activities.
In the 1960’s, the government began to relax its controls on cultural life to make its rule more acceptable to the people. In 1989, constitutional changes gave the people complete artistic freedom.
The land
Most of Hungary’s land is low. About two-thirds of the country lies less than 650 feet (198 meters) above sea level. All of eastern Hungary is nearly flat, except for low mountains in the north. Mount Kékes, Hungary’s highest point, rises 3,330 feet (1,015 meters) above sea level in these mountains. Western Hungary consists mainly of rolling hills and low mountains.
Hungary has four main land regions: (1) the Great Plain, (2) Transdanubia, (3) the Little Plain, and (4) the Northern Highlands.
The Great Plain
covers all of Hungary east of the Danube River, except for the mountains in the north. The region occupies about half the country’s area. Its nearly flat surface is broken only by river valleys, sand dunes, and small hills. The Great Plain is mostly agricultural. The far southeastern section has Hungary’s richest soil.
Transdanubia
covers all of Hungary west of the Danube, except for the northwest corner of the country. Transdanubia consists mostly of hills and mountains. A chain of low, rounded mountains called the Transdanubian Central Highlands stretches along the entire northern side of Lake Balaton. The chain extends to the bend of the Danube north of Budapest. Gently rolling hills lie south of Lake Balaton, and more low mountains lie still farther south. The foothills of the Austrian Alps rise in the west. The southeastern part of Transdanubia is a major farm region.
The Little Plain
occupies the northwest corner of Hungary and is the smallest land region. It is flat except for the foothills of the Austrian Alps along the western boundary. Most of the area is good for farming.
The Northern Highlands
rise northeast of the Danube River and north of the Great Plain. This mountainous region forms part of the great Carpathian mountain system of central Europe. Many of the mountain slopes are steep. Thick forests, small streams, and spectacular rock formations help make the Northern Highlands a region of scenic beauty. It is also an important manufacturing and mining area.
Rivers and lakes.
The country’s longest river is the Tisza, which flows 360 miles (579 kilometers) from northeast to south through eastern Hungary. The Tisza is a branch of Hungary’s most important river, the Danube. The Danube flows through seven European countries, including Hungary. It forms part of Hungary’s northern border, then flows from north to south through the central part of the country. The Danube serves as the chief shipping route for trade between Hungary and its neighbors as well as for trade within the country.
Lake Balaton in western Hungary is the largest lake in central Europe. It covers about 230 square miles (596 square kilometers) and is a popular recreation and vacation spot.
Climate
The climate varies little throughout Hungary because the country is small and has no great variety of natural features. In general, Hungary has cold winters and hot summers. January temperatures average about 29 °F (–2 °C), and July temperatures average about 70 °F (21 °C). The country receives an average of about 24 inches (60 centimeters) of precipitation (rain, snow, and other forms of moisture) each year. May, June, and July are Hungary’s wettest months.
Economy
Before World War II (1939-1945), Hungary was a chiefly agricultural country. After the Communists took control of Hungary in the late 1940’s, the country’s economy became increasingly industrialized. Since the end of Communist rule, the country has changed gradually to a free market economy.
Natural resources.
Hungary’s chief resources include its fertile soil and its climate, which is generally favorable for agriculture. Farms cover about 60 percent of the land and produce most of the food the people need. About 20 percent of Hungary’s land is forested. These forests cannot supply all the timber the country needs. Thus, large amounts of timber are imported.
Bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is made, is an important mineral deposit in Hungary. The country also has deposits of coal, iron ore, manganese, natural gas, and oil. However, the deposits of these minerals are small or of low quality. Hungary thus imports additional supplies. Uranium, the country’s main source of nuclear energy, was discovered in the Mecsek Mountains near Pécs in the 1950’s.
Hungary gets much of its electric power from natural gas, nuclear energy, and petroleum. Hungary’s electric power production does not meet its needs, and so the country imports extra power.
Service industries
employ about two-thirds of Hungary’s workers and account for about two-thirds of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Gross domestic product is the value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year. These industries include such economic activities as education, engineering, finance, health care, and trade. Hungary has several commercial banks, a national securities exchange, and a stock exchange in Budapest. Restaurants and hotels are especially aided by the tens of millions of tourists who visit Hungary each year. Most of these tourists come from Austria, Romania, Slovakia, and other European countries.
Manufacturing
is important to Hungary’s economy. The heaviest concentration of factories in Hungary is in the Budapest area. Hungary’s chief manufactured products include automobiles and other transportation equipment, electrical and electronic goods, food products, machinery, and pharmaceuticals (medicinal drugs) and other chemical products. 
Agriculture.
Much of Hungary’s agricultural production occurs in the Great Plain region. The country’s chief crops include apples, barley, corn, grapes, potatoes, sunflower seeds, tomatoes, and wheat. Farmers raise beef and dairy cattle, chickens, ducks, hogs, sheep, and turkeys. 
International trade.
Hungary’s economy depends heavily on international trade. The country imports about as much as it exports. The leading imports include food products, machinery, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, and transportation equipment. Chief exports include alumina, electronic equipment, food products, machinery, pharmaceuticals, steel, and transportation equipment. Hungary’s main trading partners include Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Slovakia.
Transportation.
Hungary’s railroad system is thousands of miles long. Over half of Hungary’s roads are unpaved. Even though Hungary is a landlocked country, ships can get to the Black Sea via the Danube River. Budapest and Dunaújváros have major ports.
Hungary’s largest international airport is in Budapest. The country also has international airports near Debrecen and west of Lake Balaton.
Communication.
Hungary has dozens of daily newspapers. The country has both private and government-owned radio and television stations. Internet usage has increased rapidly since the early 2000’s.
History
Early years.
People have lived in what is now Hungary for thousands of years. But the history of the Hungarian state began in the late 800’s. At that time, tribes of Magyars swept from the east into the middle Danube Basin—the great lowland region bordering the Danube River that comprises most of present-day Hungary. The tribes were led by a chief named Árpád. As the Magyars entered the area, they began to set up settlements.
During the early 900’s, Magyar armies raided towns throughout much of Europe. But in 955, the German king Otto I defeated the invading Magyars. The Magyars then ended their raids.
The Kingdom of Hungary.
About 970, Árpád’s great-grandson Géza became leader of the Magyars. Géza began to organize the various Magyar tribes into a united nation. After Géza died, his son Stephen carried on the work. Stephen, who was a Roman Catholic, asked Pope Sylvester II to give him the title king of Hungary. The pope agreed, and Stephen I, Hungary’s first king, was crowned in 1000.
As Hungary’s king, Stephen made Roman Catholicism the country’s official religion. For this work, the Catholic Church declared him a saint in 1083, 45 years after his death. As a result of Stephen’s reign, Hungary became closely identified with the culture and politics of Western Europe.
Árpád’s descendants ruled Hungary until 1301, when the last Árpád king died without an heir. During the 300 years of the reign of the Árpáds, Hungary became firmly established as a Christian state.
The country also faced its first great challenge from the east during this period. In 1241, armies of the Mongol Empire invaded Hungary. The Mongols were a warlike people of central Asia who had gradually extended their rule westward into eastern Europe. Within a few months, the Mongol armies had overrun much of Hungary. The death of the Mongols’ ruler forced the invaders to withdraw in 1242. But they left much of the country in ruins. Under the leadership of the Árpád kings, Hungary gradually recovered.
After the death of the last Árpád king in 1301, Hungary remained an independent kingdom for 225 more years. One of the greatest kings during this period was Charles Robert, a member of the Italian branch of the Anjou dynasty. He ruled Hungary from 1308 to 1342. Charles Robert restored order in the country, which had been troubled by civil conflict since the end of the Árpád rule. He also weakened the power of the nobles and strengthened the monarchy. Hungary gained much land through the conquests of Charles Robert’s son Louis I, called “the Great.” But the land was lost during Louis’s lifetime and shortly after his death in 1382.
John Hunyadi, a Hungarian nobleman of Romanian descent, led the Hungarians in defeating the Ottoman Empire in 1456. The Ottomans had been advancing into Europe since the mid-1300’s. Hunyadi’s son Matthias Corvinus became king of Hungary in 1458. Like Charles Robert, Matthias worked to strengthen royal power. Hungary prospered during his reign. It also became a center of the Renaissance, the great cultural movement that spread across Europe during the 1400’s and 1500’s.
A period of conflict and disorder followed Matthias’s death in 1490. The Hungarian Diet, which was an assembly of noblemen similar to a parliament, gained much political power during this period, and the monarchy grew weak. At that time, most of Hungary’s people were peasants who worked under wretched conditions for the nobles. As the nobles increased their power, they made the lives of the peasants even more miserable. The peasants revolted unsuccessfully against the nobles in 1514. After the revolt, the peasants were condemned to serfdom (a condition similar to slavery).
Ottoman Empire.
Hungary, weakened by internal problems, was defeated by the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Mohács in 1526. The defeat paved the way for the country’s occupation by foreign troops. The Ottomans seized central Hungary soon after 1526. They made the eastern third of the country, a region called Transylvania, a principality (small state ruled by a prince) dependent on them. The Austrian Habsburgs, who had long wanted to make Hungary part of their empire, took the country’s western and northern sections.
Habsburg rule.
In the late 1600’s, Habsburg forces drove the Ottomans out of most of Hungary. The Habsburgs gained complete control of the country in the early 1700’s.
The Habsburgs governed Hungary, especially the Protestant sections, harshly. The Protestant Reformation had begun in Germany in the 1500’s and gained many followers in Hungary. Transylvania, in particular, had developed a tradition of religious freedom, which allowed Protestants and Unitarians as well as Catholics to establish churches.
The harsh rule of the Habsburgs led to a nationwide uprising in 1703. The uprising was headed by Francis Rákóczi II, a Catholic and the son of a prominent family that included princes of Transylvania. The Habsburgs finally put down the revolt in 1711. However, it had persuaded them to relax their rule and to improve economic and political conditions in Hungary. During the rest of the 1700’s, most Hungarians accepted and benefited from this change of policy.
In the early 1800’s, Count Stephen Széchenyi led a movement to revive Hungarian culture and national pride. He also promoted economic and social reforms. In the 1840’s, Lajos Kossuth became the most important leader of the reform movement and eventually turned it into a drive for Hungarian independence.
During the 1840’s, democratic and liberal nationalist movements were sweeping over Europe. Revolution broke out in France in 1848 and heightened the unrest in other European countries (see Revolution of 1848 ). In Hungary, a government responsible to parliament was formed with Austrian consent in 1848. Other changes were also made, including the freeing of the serfs.
But Hungary had not cut all ties with Austria, and disagreements between the two countries finally led Hungary to fight for its independence. Kossuth became head of a revolutionary Hungarian government, which declared the country’s complete independence from Austria in April 1849. But the Austrians, aided by the Russians, defeated the Hungarian army in August of that year, and Hungary again came under Habsburg rule.
Austria-Hungary.
Austria’s power was soon shaken by two defeats. It lost a war against France and Italy in 1859 and against Prussia and Italy in 1866. In 1867, the Hungarians, led by Francis Deák, were thus able to force the emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph, to give Hungary equal status with Austria. Under this arrangement, which was called the Dual Monarchy, both countries had the same monarch and conducted foreign, military, and certain financial affairs jointly. But each country had its own constitutional government to handle all other matters.
The creation of Austria-Hungary was followed by a period of prosperity in the two countries. During the next 50 years, Hungary’s economy, educational system, and cultural life developed rapidly.
Austria-Hungary included many Slavs, Romanians, and other national groups. These groups made up nearly half of Hungary’s population. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, many of the national groups in Hungary began to demand the right of self-government. But most Hungarian politicians failed to heed these demands.
In 1914, a Serbian student from Bosnia-Herzegovina assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary suspected its southern neighbor Serbia was responsible for the killing. As a result, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, marking the start of World War I (1914-1918). In the war, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire supported Austria-Hungary, forming the Central Powers. The Central Powers fought the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Serbia, and other nations that made up the Allies. The United States entered the war on the Allied side in April 1917. See World War I. 
Between world wars.
A defeated Austria-Hungary signed an armistice on Nov. 3, 1918. On November 16, the Hungarian people revolted and declared Hungary a republic. Count Michael Károlyi became president. But Hungarian Communists and Socialists joined together to form a coalition (combined parties) government in March 1919. Károlyi resigned, and Béla Kun, leader of the Communists, took control of the new government as a dictator.
Kun’s rule lasted only a few months. It collapsed largely because Kun could not defend Hungary against armed attacks by Romania, which sought Hungarian territory. Romanian troops occupied much of Hungary, including Budapest. In addition, most Hungarians did not support Kun’s policies, which included taking over the country’s factories and farms.
Late in 1919, Admiral Nicholas Horthy came to power. His conservative government lasted 25 years. Under Horthy, Hungary again became a monarchy, though it had no king. Instead, Horthy ruled as regent (temporary ruler in the place of a monarch).
Hungary and the Allies signed the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. The treaty was part of the World War I peace settlements. It stripped Hungary of more than two-thirds of its territory. Parts of Hungary went to Czechoslovakia, Romania, Austria, and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later called Yugoslavia). Hungary’s present boundaries are about the same as those set by the treaty. See Trianon, Treaty of. 
Under the Treaty of Trianon, about one-third of the Hungarian population was left outside of the country’s borders. They continued to be a source of tension with the new governments of neighboring countries.
World War II.
The rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930’s had far-reaching effects on Hungary. Adolf Hitler, the German dictator, promised the return of some territory that Hungary had lost under the Treaty of Trianon. Beginning in 1938, Hitler allowed Hungary to take parts of Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia. In April 1941, Hungary aided Hitler in an attack on Yugoslavia and so entered World War II. It joined Germany, Italy, and other Axis countries in fighting the Allies, which included the United Kingdom, France, and, by the end of 1941, China, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Japan entered the war on the Axis side in December 1941.
By 1943, Hitler no longer considered Hungary a reliable ally. He seized the country in March 1944. More than 500,000 Hungarian Jews were shipped to German concentration camps, where most of them were put to death in gas chambers. The Germans jailed Horthy in October and set up a Hungarian Nazi government.
The Soviet Union invaded Hungary late in 1944, and Hungary and the Allies signed an armistice in January 1945. Hungary agreed to give up all the territory it had gained since 1938. Hungary and the Allies signed a peace treaty in 1947. See World War II.
Communist Hungary.
Elections were held in November 1945. Early the next year, Hungary was declared a republic. After the November elections, a coalition government was formed. This government introduced many social and economic reforms, including land distribution among the peasants. The coalition consisted of the Smallholder, Social Democratic, Communist, and National Peasant parties. The Smallholder Party had won a clear majority of the votes in the elections. However, Communists gradually gained control of the government, largely because of the continued presence of Soviet troops in Hungary. 
Elections were held again in 1947, and the Communists again failed to win a majority of the votes. But by then, Communist Party leaders held important positions at all levels of government and in major nongovernmental organizations. Only a small percentage of Hungary’s people belonged to the party. However, Communist Party members held enough key government posts to extend their control over the country. The general secretary, head of the Communist Party, became the most powerful leader in Hungary.
The Communist leaders made the Communist Party the country’s only legal political party, and they banned all opposition parties. In 1949, the Communists gave Hungary a constitution patterned on the Constitution of the Soviet Union.
Before World War II (1939-1945), Hungary had been chiefly an agricultural country. After the Communists gained control of the government, they took control of many industries and farms and began to manage the nation’s economy. To carry out their program, they started a series of highly detailed plans that stressed industrial development. As a result, Hungary became increasingly industrialized. Many Hungarians moved from the rural areas to cities and towns to work in the country’s growing industries.
The government’s economic plans required frequent readjustment, however. By the early 1950’s, for example, the country’s industries could not meet the government’s extremely high production goals. Farm production lagged because the government did little to promote agriculture. The people of Hungary reacted strongly against these policies, and the government was forced to set more realistic industrial goals and place more emphasis on agriculture.
While Hungary was under Communist control, most of the country’s farmland was privately owned. The rest of the farmland was organized into large state farms and collective farms.
On state farms, the government owned the land and appointed a director to manage each farm. Workers received a salary. On collective farms, many families worked together. The workers owned the equipment and some of the farm’s land as a group. Each member received a wage and a share of the farm’s earnings.
Matthias Rákosi, head of the Communist Party and head of the Hungarian government, ruled as a dictator in the early 1950’s. His policies nearly ruined the economy and produced widespread discontent among the people. In 1953, Imre Nagy replaced Rákosi as head of the government. But Rákosi remained head of the party. Nagy adopted policies that gave Hungarians more personal freedom and that aimed at improving their living conditions. But Rákosi and other party members opposed these reforms. As the leader of the Communist Party, Rákosi forced Nagy out of the government and the party in 1955.
Unsuccessful revolution.
Rákosi’s policies again caused unrest, especially among writers, young people, and others deeply concerned with human rights and freedom of expression. Rákosi was replaced as party leader in mid-1956, but his policies were continued. 
In October, discontent with these policies erupted into street fighting in Budapest. The revolution spread swiftly through Hungary. Many political prisoners were freed, including József Mindszenty, a cardinal and head of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary. The Communists had jailed him in 1949.
Nagy again became prime minister and declared Hungary to be a neutral country. But the new government lasted only a few days. Soviet forces poured into the country and put down the uprising in November.
Thousands of Hungarians were killed or jailed as a result of the revolution. About 200,000 fled Hungary. Mindszenty took refuge in the U.S. Legation (now the U.S. Embassy) in Budapest, where he lived until allowed to leave Hungary in 1971. Nagy and his co-workers were charged with helping plot the revolution. They were convicted of treason and were executed in 1958.
Beginnings of change.
After the 1956 revolution, the Soviet Union kept Hungary under tight control. János Kádár, the new head of the Communist Party, served as prime minister from 1956 to 1958 and from 1961 to 1965. At first, he followed stern policies designed to prevent further revolutionary acts. But in the 1960’s, Kádár’s government tried to win increased support from the people by easing some of its restrictions on cultural, economic, and social life.
In 1968, the government adopted a new economic program that introduced features of a free market system into the socialized economy. The program was called the New Economic Mechanism (NEM). At first, the NEM resulted in higher economic growth and an improved standard of living. But opposition to the NEM within the Soviet and Hungarian Communist parties prevented the full development of the program. As a result, it ended by the early 1980’s.
In the 1970’s, an increase in the price of petroleum and other raw materials resulted in inflation, slower economic growth, and a serious trade deficit. By the late 1970’s, living standards had begun to decline as a result of the worsening economy. Kádár opposed further economic reforms. His unwillingness to give in to the wishes of an embittered public led to his replacement as head of the Communist Party by Károly Grósz in 1988. Grósz had been appointed prime minister in 1987. Miklós Németh replaced Grósz as prime minister at the end of 1988. New political parties appeared, and parties that had been destroyed by the Communists in the late 1940’s began to reorganize.
In an attempt to reduce the trade deficit and restore economic growth, the government instituted sweeping changes in the economy during the 1980’s. Company managers were allowed more power in decision making. The government stopped funding some companies that lost money and allowed successful companies to pay workers higher wages. It encouraged the formation of private businesses and businesses that formed partnerships with foreign companies. In the mid-1990’s, the trade deficit began to decline.
In 1989, the Communist Party declared that the trial of Imre Nagy and his co-workers and their executions in 1958 had been illegal. Hungary’s Supreme Court invalidated the unlawful sentences. Nagy and his co-workers were ceremoniously reburied with honor in June 1989.
End of one-party rule.
In 1988, the Communist Party’s power and authority began to erode. Public pressure forced the party’s leaders to agree to allow other political parties to form. In October 1989, the Communist Party ended its monopoly on power in the country. It declared itself socialist and renamed itself the Hungarian Socialist Party. Some Communist Party members opposed the move. These members formed a new Communist organization, which came to be called the Hungarian Workers’ Party.
Later in October, Hungary’s National Assembly made sweeping revisions in its Constitution. The revisions increased the freedom of the people. For example, the changes granted the people complete religious freedom. The revisions also changed the structure of the government from a one-party Communist state to a multiparty democratic, parliamentary system.
At that time, it was common practice for the National Assembly to elect 21 of its members to serve as the Presidential Council. The head of the council acted as Hungary’s head of state. But the changes to the Constitution abolished the Presidential Council and created the office of president. The president became the country’s top government official. Mátyás Szúrös was chosen to serve as president until multiparty elections were held.
Multiparty elections.
Hungary’s first multiparty elections since 1949 were held in March and April 1990. The Hungarian Democratic Forum—a non-Communist party—won a majority of the parliamentary seats. It formed a coalition government with two smaller non-Communist parties, the Independent Smallholders’ Party and the Christian Democratic People’s Party. The National Assembly elected Árpád Göncz as Hungary’s new president.
In 1990, Hungary’s newly elected non-Communist government began to introduce reforms to further limit government control over businesses. These reforms included the sale of state-owned businesses and were designed to increase competition and productivity in Hungary’s economy.
By the mid-1990’s, the government had divided up most of the state farms and collective farms and had sold the parcels to individual farmers. The remaining collective farms were run by businesses, and the remaining state farms were held by the government.
In parliamentary elections held in May 1994, the Hungarian Socialist Party, made up mainly of former members of the Communist Party, won a majority of seats. The party formed a coalition government with the Alliance of Free Democrats, a smaller liberal party. The coalition pledged to continue the reforms begun in 1989.
In 1995, Göncz was reelected president. The Hungarian government remained concerned about the position of the large number of Hungarians who formed minorities in neighboring states. In 1995, Hungary signed a treaty with Slovakia to protect the rights of Hungarians within that country. Hungary’s parliament ratified the pact in 1995, and the parliament of Slovakia ratified it in 1996. Also in 1996, a similar treaty between Hungary and Romania went into effect.
In 1998 parliamentary elections, the Federation of Young Democrats-Hungarian Civic Party, a moderately conservative party now called Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union, won the most seats in the National Assembly. Fidesz leader Viktor Orbán became prime minister. In 1999, Hungary became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) , a military alliance of Western nations.
Recent developments.
In 2002, Péter Medgyessy became prime minister, as a coalition of the Hungarian Socialist Party and Free Democrats took control of the National Assembly. In 2004, Hungary joined the European Union (EU) , an organization of European countries that promotes economic and political cooperation among its members. In 2006 parliamentary elections, the Socialist-Free Democrat coalition, now headed by Ferenc Gyurcsány, retained power. 
Hungary suffered a severe economic recession following a global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. To prevent economic collapse, the nation accepted an emergency loan offered by the countries that use the euro and by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 2010, Fidesz regained control of parliament, and Viktor Orbán returned as prime minister.
On Jan. 1, 2012, a new Hungarian constitution took effect, replacing one from 1949. Government leaders said that the new constitution was necessary to finish the transition from Communism to democracy. But human rights groups criticized the new charter, saying it failed to protect citizens’ rights. In 2014 elections, Fidesz easily retained control of parliament. In 2015, a refugee crisis brought on by violence in the Middle East led Hungary to close its borders and introduce tough new immigration laws. In 2018, Fidesz again won elections, allowing Orbán to remain as prime minister.
