Editing Hungary (section)

=== From the 18th century to World War I (1699–1918) ===
{{Main|Rákóczi's War of Independence|Hungarian Reform Era|Hungarian Revolution of 1848|4 = Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen|5 = Hungary in World War I}}
[[File:Mányoki, Ádam - Portrait of Prince Ferenc Rákóczi II - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Francis II Rákóczi]], leader of the war of independence against Habsburg rule (1703–1711)]]

Between 1703 and 1711, there was a large-scale [[Rákóczi's War of Independence|war of independence]] led by [[Francis II Rákóczi]], who after the dethronement of the Habsburgs in 1707 at the Diet of [[Ónod]], took power provisionally as the ruling prince for the wartime period, but refused the Hungarian crown and the title "king". The uprisings lasted for years. The Hungarian [[Kuruc]] army, although taking over most of the country, lost the main [[Battle of Trenčín|battle at Trencsén]] (1708). Three years later, because of the growing desertion, defeatism, and low morale, the Kuruc forces surrendered.<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Lendvai|title=The Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UtIr97n3tP0C&pg=PA152|year=2003|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=978-1-85065-673-9|page=152}}</ref>

During the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and afterward, the Hungarian Diet had not convened for decades.<ref>Peter N Stearns, The Oxford encyclopedia of the modern world, Volume 4, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 64</ref> In the 1820s, the emperor was forced to convene the Diet, which marked the beginning of a Reform Period (1825–1848, {{langx|hu|reformkor}}). The Hungarian Parliament was reconvened in 1825 to handle financial needs. A liberal party emerged and focused on providing for the peasantry. [[Lajos Kossuth]] emerged as a leader of the lower [[gentry]] in the Parliament. A remarkable upswing started as the nation concentrated its forces on modernisation even though the Habsburg monarchs obstructed all important liberal laws relating to [[civil and political rights]] and economic reforms. Many reformers ([[Lajos Kossuth]], [[Mihály Táncsics]]) were imprisoned by the authorities.

[[File:E. Poulton Portrait of Lajos Kossuth 1860s.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Lajos Kossuth]], Regent-President during the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848]]]]

On 15 March 1848, mass demonstrations in Pest and Buda enabled Hungarian reformists to push through a list of [[12 points of the Hungarian Revolutionaries of 1848|12 demands]]. Under Governor and President [[Lajos Kossuth]] and Prime Minister [[Lajos Batthyány]], the House of Habsburg was dethroned. The Habsburg ruler and his advisors skillfully manipulated the Croatian, Serbian and Romanian peasantry, led by priests and officers firmly loyal to the Habsburgs, into rebelling against the Hungarian government, though the Hungarians were supported by the vast majority of the Slovak, German and [[Rusyns|Rusyn]] nationalities and by all the Jews of the kingdom, as well as by a large number of Polish, Austrian and Italian volunteers.<ref>[http://www.hungarianhistory.com/lib/jeszenszky/ethnic.pdf Géza Jeszenszky: From "Eastern Switzerland" to Ethnic Cleansing], address at Duquesne History Forum, 17 November 2000, The author is former Ambassador of Hungary to the United States and was Foreign Minister in 1990{{spaced ndash}}1994.</ref> In July 1849 the Hungarian Parliament proclaimed and enacted the first laws of ethnic and [[minority rights]] in the world.<ref>Laszlo Peter, Martyn C. Rady, Peter A. Sherwood: Lajos Kossuth sas word...: papers delivered on the occasion of the bicentenary of Kossuth's birth (page 101)</ref> Many members of the nationalities gained the coveted highest positions within the Hungarian Army, like [[János Damjanich]] and [[Józef Bem]]. The Hungarian forces (''[[Royal Hungarian Landwehr|Honvédség]]'') defeated Austrian armies. To counter the successes of the Hungarian revolutionary army, Habsburg Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph I]] asked for help from the "Gendarme of Europe", Tsar [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]], whose Russian armies invaded Hungary. This made [[Artúr Görgei|Artúr Görgey]] surrender in August 1849. The leader of the Austrian army, [[Julius Jacob von Haynau]], became governor of Hungary for a few months and ordered the execution of [[the 13 Martyrs of Arad]], leaders of the Hungarian army, and Prime Minister Batthyány in October 1849. Kossuth escaped into exile. Following the war of 1848–1849, the whole country was in "passive resistance".

Because of external and internal problems, reforms seemed inevitable, and major military defeats of Austria forced the Habsburgs to negotiate the [[Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867]], by which the dual monarchy of [[Austria-Hungary]] was formed. This empire had the second largest area in Europe (after the [[Russian Empire]]), and it was the third most populous (after Russia and the [[German Empire]]). The two realms were governed separately by two parliaments from two capital cities, with a common monarch and common external and military policies. Economically, the empire was a customs union. The old Hungarian Constitution was restored, and Franz Joseph I was crowned as [[King of Hungary]]. The era witnessed impressive economic development. The formerly backward Hungarian economy became relatively modern and industrialised by the turn of the 20th century, although agriculture remained dominant until 1890.<ref>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Ausgleich". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Ausgleich. Accessed 10 April 2025</ref> In 1873, the old capital Buda and [[Óbuda]] were officially united with [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Kinga Frojimovics|title=Jewish Budapest: Monuments, Rites, History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-wUg6rlWS2kC&pg=PA67|year=1999|publisher=Central European University Press|isbn=978-963-9116-37-5|page=67}}</ref> creating the new metropolis of Budapest.<ref>Péter, László. "Budapest". Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Budapest. Accessed 10 April 2025</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mancebo |first=Ivanka Garcia |title=History of Budapest - The history of Obuda, Buda and Pest |url=https://www.budapest.net/history |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=www.introducingbudapest.com |language=en}}</ref> Many of the state institutions and the modern administrative system of Hungary were established during this period.

[[File:Austria-Hungary map.svg|thumb|The [[Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen]] consisted of the territories of the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] (16) and the [[Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia]] (17)]]

After the [[assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] in Sarajevo, Prime Minister [[István Tisza]] and his cabinet tried to avoid the outbreak and escalating of a war in Europe, but their diplomatic efforts were unsuccessful. Austria-Hungary drafted over 4&nbsp;million soldiers from the Kingdom of Hungary on the side of Germany, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The troops raised in the Kingdom of Hungary spent little time defending the actual territory of Hungary, with the exceptions of the [[Brusilov offensive]] in June 1916 and a few months later when the Romanian army made an attack into Transylvania,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwar2.ro/arme/?language=ro&article=114|title=WorldWar2.ro – Ofensiva Armatei 2 romane in Transilvania|website=Worldwar2.ro|access-date=3 August 2017}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=January 2021}} both of which were repelled. The [[Central Powers]] conquered Serbia. Romania declared war. The Central Powers conquered southern Romania and the Romanian capital [[Bucharest]]. In 1916 Franz Joseph died, and the new monarch [[Charles I of Austria|Charles IV]] sympathised with the pacifists. With great difficulty, the Central Powers stopped and repelled the attacks of the Russian Empire.

The [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]] of the Allied ([[Allies of World War I|Entente]]) Powers completely collapsed. The Austro-Hungarian Empire then withdrew from all defeated countries. Despite great success on the Eastern Front, Germany suffered complete defeat on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. By 1918, the economic situation had deteriorated (strikes in factories were organised by leftist and pacifist movements) and uprisings in the army had become common. In the capital cities, the Austrian and Hungarian leftist liberal movements and their leaders supported the separatism of ethnic minorities. Austria-Hungary signed a general armistice in [[Padua]] on 3 November 1918.<ref>{{cite book|author=François Bugnion|title=The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Protection of War Victims|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6K9IAAAAYAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Macmillan Education|isbn=978-0-333-74771-1}}</ref> In October 1918, Hungary's union with Austria was dissolved.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=The National |date=2018-11-02 |title=The National Archives - Milestones to peace: the Armistice of Villa Giusti |url=https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/milestones-peace-armistice-villa-giusti/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=The National Archives blog |language=en-GB}}</ref>