Welcome to the euromost.info Hungary directory

The euromost.info's Hungary Travel Guide with general info on: the national tourist board & local city tourist boards, EU status, currency & weather, low cost airlines offering bargain or cheap European flights and International Airlines flying to Budapest airport. Also details of the Hungarian Rail Network and main coach services, sources of Consular advice and Travel Warnings where given. The Hungary Country Profile includes details of its economy, history, population & religion. The Budapest City Break Guide includes info on the main sightseeing places attractions, clubs, accommodation and hotels. The City of Budapest is one of 28 Euromost cities. More

Later in the evening outraged soldiers their officers and citizens of Budapest came out of their barracks joined up with students and together they pulled a statue of Stalin down amidst chants of "Russians go home" and "Away with Gerő" (the Communist Pary Leader). The ruling Central Committee of the Hungarian Workers Party made a request for military support from Moscow who that night sent Soviet tanks into the centre of Budapest.

A day later (25th October) thousands of protestors gathered in Budapest's Parliament Square. Whe they refused to disperse the Soviet tanks opened fire on them. Witnesses give different accounts of the consequences but at least a dozen protestors were shot dead and between 150 and 200 were injured. The shootings forced the Hungarian Workers Party leader Ernő Gerő leader to resign. He was replaced by Janos Kadar. .

Imre Nagy the Primeminister in a radio broadcastsaid he had taken over the leadership of the Government as Chairman of the Council of Ministers." He was going to implement "the far-reaching democratization of Hungarian public life, the realisation of a Hungarian road to socialism in accord with our own national characteristics to realise our national aim - the radical improvement of the workers' living conditions."

Three days later on the 28th Nagy and supporters took control of the Hungarian Workers Party. Elsewhere in Hungary revolutionary workers councils were formed. Newspapers and radio stations, that had been formerly been controlled by the comminists endorsed Nagy's actions and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary.

On October 30th Nagy announced he was abolishing the one party state and freeingpolitical prisoners. On November 1st he announced that Hungary was no longer going to take part in the Warsaw Pact as it now a 'neutral' state.

Many observers at the time believe that his announcements on November 1st were the final straw as far as the Soviet President Nikita Krushchev was concerned and prompted him to send the Soviet Army and soldiers from the Warsaw Pact Countries into Hungary on November 4th. As the Soviet forces entered the country Nagy broadcast an appeal in Hungarian and English for international help but his pleas were ignored by the west. The Russian forces initially met resistance throughout Hungary but their superior strength and numbers quickly prevailed.

During the Hungarian Uprising it is thought that around 20,000 people were killed, mostly by the Soviet forces that entered the counry on Nov 4th. nearly all during the Soviet intervention. Imre Nagy other members of his government were arrested and replaced by a pro stalinist regime led by Janos Kadar.

Nagy was imprisoned before being executed in 1958 a fate that he shared with around 400 colleagues. Others members of his government remained in prison until they died.

Hungary After 1956

Under Kadors premiership it is thought that up to 35,000 Hungarians were imprisoned for their political activities In 1961 Kadar attempted to stabilise Hungarian society with a slighty more liberal stance before in 1968 introducing economic reforms which slowly improved living standards and Hungary's status internationally. Throughout this period he maintained the Communist control on Hungarian life. He retired in 1988.

A year later communism collasped. On the 23rd of October 1989 exactly 33 years to the day after the Hungarian Uprising the Republic of Hungary was declared. Since then Hungary has had several democratic elections. Hungary has worked at developing good relations with neighbouring countries and became a member of the European Union in 2004

Contributions As a resident of this city or as a visitor city you can make contributions to help us improve this country page. More

Contributions As a resident of this city or as a visitor city you can make contributions to help us improve this country page. More

its time to doss !

Eastern European Dental Treatment & Dentistry

The idea of going to Eastern Europe for dental treatment is a fairly recent phenomenon In the United Kingdom. In the last two years this practice has been widely reported in the media, especially on television because the prices charged for this treatment are a fraction of the cost in the UK.

Some of the best private Eastern European dental clinics can be found in Budapest Hungary. Hungarian dental clinics have for over a decade been frequented by patients from other central european countries especially Austria Germany and Switzerland. Hungarian dentists and the clinics they work for have established themselves as amongst the best in the world. Their expertise in restorative and cosmetic dentistry is enhanced by the Hungarian commitment to training all their dentists to a very high standard with many gaining innovative specialist skills.

Since Hungary joined the EU in 2004 the practice of combining a trip to the dentist with a city break in the Budapest one of the Danube's most attractive cities has become commonplace. As a consequence 'dental breaks' (forgive the unintended pun) which include flights and hotels are competitively priced and the all in prices available can render considerable savings compared with the single cost of the dental treatment alone in the Uk. For further information on dental treatment in Budapest Hungary please contact 'Perfect Profiles'

Imre Nagy Leader Of the 1956 Hungarian Uprisinging

Hungarian History Since WW1 Until 1939

At the end of WW1 in 1918 the former Austrian Hungarian Empire disintergrated

On October 31st an aristocrat Mihaly Karlovi assumed power and declared Hungary an independent republic. Three weeks later the Romanian government announced if was forming an alliance with leaders in the Hungarian ruled territory of Transylvania. On December 1st Transylvania was proclaimed as part of the Kingdom of Romania. Mihaly Karlovi's government failure to stem the loss of Hungarian terroritry to Romania were seen by many Hungarians as an indictment on the country's dignity and jis popularity waned. His premiership became untenable in March when Romania said it wanted land concessions from Hungary and on March 21st 1919 he resigned.

The power vacum was filled by Bela Hun leader of the Communist Party of Hungary who were elected to power having promised to use the armed factions of his party to restablish Hungary as a military power once again. The first Hungarian Soviet Republic was born. Initially Bela Hun military aspirations were successful and his forces reclaimed land occupied by Czechslovalian troops in northern Hungary but his economic reforms the nationalisation and state ownership of estate proved very unpopular.

An attempt to oust him in a Coup d'etat failed and he sanctioned the arrest and execution without trial of nearly 600 dissenters in an operation known as 'Red Terror'. an act which antagonised those that had supported him. His plans to reclaim land taken by the Romanians in 1918 back fired as Romania invaded Hungary in early August. Bela Hun who has been hoping for the unforthcoming support of the Soviet Red Army in taking on the advancing Romanians fled to Austria on August 6th.

The Romanian forces having rid Hungary of the immediate communist threat to their own adventures empowered a new government similiar in class to that of Mihaly Karlovi to assume power. As the Romania Army withdrew from Hungary it plundered and robbed the indigenious people and destroyed public buildings etc

The new Hungarian regime, was led by Mikolos Horthy who had commanded the navy during the rule of Austrian Hungarian Empire and Istvan Bethlen a pro Romanian aristocrat from Transylvania. They underpinned their power by encouraging their supporters in what became known as 'white power' to hunt down former communists and execute them without trial. In January 1920 following elections were held in Hungary which Mikolos Horthy won. The victory was not convincing as many left wingers were denied the right to vote and those were given it abstained in protest. Horthy became the new Prince Regent and appointed Pal Teleki as Primeminster.

The new regime was recognised internationally by June 1920 when it took part in the The Treaty Of Trianon. Under the Treaty Hungary relenquished over 60% of its pre WW1 territory. With this assignment went significant parts of Hungary' s economic wealth. At the same time about three million Hungarians were displaced when they became reluctant citizens of other countries. This displacement remains an issue in and outside Hungary today.

The premiership of Teleki was to last ten years during which time he presided over the countrys entry into the League of Nations, and payed off the more radical elements of Hungarian politics. As Europe felt the consequences of the Great Depression in 1929 political opinion in Hungary became more right wing and in 1931 Horthy replaced Teleki with Gyula Gombos. The new primeminister marginalised ethnic minorities and orchestrated a trade agreement with Germany.

Though the agreement was economically good for Hungary, Hitler hijacked it as a means to lever and blackmail the Hungarian government to pursue anti-semetic policies. In 1936 Gombos was succeeded by Kalman Daranyi who tried to unsuccessfully to appease Hitler, the newly formed Hungarian facist party - Arrows Cross and the liberals within Hungary . He resigned in May 1938 and was succeeded by the right wing finance minster Bela Imredy.

Imredy aware of the threat posed by Hitler at first tried to court the English and annoyed Hitler in the process. He revised Hungarian policy to appease Hitler and he drafted laws which would single out Jews as second class citizens.

In September 1938 he was succeded by former primeminster Pal Teleki who implemented the anti-semetic laws. In return Hitler indicated that Germany would view Hungary as an ally and support any Hungarian attempt to reclaim the terroritry it lost as result of the The Treaty Of Trianon.

Hungarian History 1939 - 45 .

When WW2 began in September 1939 Hitler believed that his economic and poltical ties with Hungary over the previous eight years and his promises to support their claims to lost terroritry would stand him in good stead. The reality was that the he had manipulated succesive Hungarian primeminsters into reluctantly appeasing him in what they percieved as Hungary's national interest.

When the war broke out Hitler returned parts of Czechslovakia and Transylvania to Hungary . In return in November 1940 Hungary was persuaded by Germany to Tipartite Pact sign between the two counties and Italy. Less than a month later the Hungarian Primeminster Pal Teleki also signed a Treaty of Eternal Friendship with the pro Hitler Yugoslavian government.

When the Yugoslavian governent was overthrown by a coup Hitler asked Pal Teleki to invade Yugoslavia which he had wanted to use as springboard for attacking Russia. Pal Teleki who never had any intention of leading Hungary into a war with Yugoslavia committed sucide.

Hungary's new primemister Laszlo Bardossy who was a staunch anti communist decided that Hungary would support Hitler's armies as this would enable Hungary to reclaim some of the land it had previously lost. The Hungarian Regent Admiral Horthy sanctioned this plan and on July 1st 1941 Hungarian troops under the guidance of Hitler advanced into Southern Russia. They destroyed 20 divisions of the Soviet Army.

Admiral Horty who was not comfortable with his countrys dependency on the military judgements of Hitler whilst his troops were in Russia decided that Hungary would ultimately be better off supporting the allies. He removed Bardossy who was not like minded from his premiership and replaced him with Miklos Kallay. Kallay ordered his troops to continue to fight the Soviets whilst at the same time he was in secret negotiations with the Allies.

In January 1943 the Hungarian 2nd Army was defeated by the Red Army at the Battle of Stalingrad. However Hungarian troops continued their action whilst Kallay talked to the Allies. By early 1944 Hitler had wind of the talks between Hungary and the Allies and in March he invaded Hungary. To placate the Nazis Admiral Horty replaced Kallay with a pro nazis primeminster Dome Sztójay. In May and June Sztojay aided by SS Colonel Eichmann deported over 430,000 Jews to concentration camps in Poland (see Auschwitz & Birkenau).

By August the deportations had stopped as German troops had left Budapest as the Red Army advanced towards Hungary. Admiral Horty installed a anti-facist government. In September Russian troops entered Hungary Eastern Hungary in mid October and Horty agreed an Armistice with the Soviets. The German response was to return to Budapest kidnap Horty's son to force him to renounce the armistice. He was then made to install Ferenc Szalasi the founder of the Hungarian facist party 'the Arrows Cross as primeminster. Horty resigned as Prince Regent.

Under Szalasi the deportation of Jews was reinstated but thousands were also shot by his party members. The Red Army advance towards Budapest continued and on December 29th 1944 the Russians had surrounded the city. Outside Budapest the Hungarians had established a 'provisional government' led by Bela Miklos.

The German troops and Hungarian supporters of SzalasI that were trapped in Budapest resisted the Red Army advance into Budapest for just over six weeks. . During this battle nearly 40,000 civilians were killed on top of the 100,000 Jews who had been slaughtered by the Nazis in the previous year.

During this time the the Hungarian Provisional Government signed an armistice agreement with Russia. Russian forces finaly defeated all the last of the remaining German troops in Hungary on April 4th 1945.

Hungary After WW2

At the end of the war Zoltan Tildy was the provisional prime minister. In National Elections held in November 1945 the Hungarian Smallholders Party received 57% support and the Communist Party 17%. The commander of the Soviet troops in Hungary refused to allow the winning party to form a government until they agreed to form a coalition with Communists. In the new government the Communist Party's Laszlo Rajk became the Interior Minister. Rajk immediately established the 'Secueity Police' who in early 1946 started to arrest members of the coalitions majority party - the Smallhoders Party.

Fresh elections were held in 1947 which were won by the Hungarian Workers Party - formed by the merger of the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party. Within in year the new party was controlled by the communists who had forced former leaders of the SDP to resign or leave Hungary. Those who refused were arrested on various charges and sent to prisons sometimes in Siberia.

On August 18th 1949, the Communist dominated Hungarian Parliament voted for a new Hungarian Constitution. The country was renamed People's Republic of Hungary, "the country of the workers and peasants" where "every authority is held by the working people". The constitution itself mirrod the 1936 Soviet Constitution and included a new Hungarian coat or arms showing classical symbols of Soviet communistm -including a red star hammer and scythe.

The 1956 Hungarian Uprising

The bodies of civilian Hungarians killed in Budapest by invading Soviet forces.

Image: former Soviet news Agency TASS

The ill fated Hungarian Uprising began in Budapest on October 23rd with a peacefull rally asking for reforms and more freedom to express poltical thought. As the students listed the measures they wanted interior ministry police began to arrest the student leaders and fired tear gas to disperse the main crowd. When some students tried to free their arrested peers - the police fired shots into the crowd