Under Habsburg absolutism (1699-1848)

After the Tokaj Kuruc uprising in 1697 and the struggle for freedom (1703–11) under Franz II. Rákóczi, who declared the House of Habsburg deposed in 1707, Emperor Charles VI secured . (1711–40 as Hungarian King Charles III.) In the Peace of Sathmar in 1711 the estates constitution and freedom of religion; In the years that followed, the estates repeatedly asserted their special rights (tax exemption for the nobility, serfdom system). The Peace of Belgrade (1739) established the borders valid until 1918.

Serbs and Croats who fled the Turks were settled in the area of ​​the military border. The colonization of (including German) farmers in the deserted Batschka and in the Banat (Banat Swabia), v. a. under Maria Theresa (1740–80), the Magyars became a minority in the country. Maria Theresa owed her assertion of her throne in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) not least to the support of Hungary. The expansion of the military border to Transylvania (1764/66), which was elevated to the status of a Grand Duchy in 1765, the growing centralism and the neglect of the manufacturing sector triggered complaints in Hungary that occurred during the reign of Joseph II. (1780–90), who could not be crowned, condensed into protests. Not so much the toleration of non-Catholic Christian denominations (tolerance patent, 1781) and the abolition of serfdom (1785), but the drastic administrative reforms with German (instead of Latin) as the official and teaching language (1784) aroused the displeasure of the nobility, Leopold II (1790–92) knew how to appease the objectionable ordinances by withdrawing them. After a conspiracy by Hungarian »Jacobins« was discovered in 1794/95, King Franz I (Ferenc I, 1792–1835; as Franz II. 1792–1806 Roman Emperor, from 1804 Emperor of Austria) only broke the resistance of the counties to the high tax requirements in 1822/23, although dissatisfaction with the “Metternich system” spread across the board. In 1825, after a 13-year break, the state parliament had to be convened again under pressure from the estates. The awakening Hungarian national consciousness, accompanied by a cultural upswing, manifested itself during the »reform era« at the »long meeting of the estates« (from 1831) and was also shared by the ethnic groups that made up the majority of the population, the Romanians, Slovaks, Germans (later also called »Danube Swabians«), Croatians and Serbs, with. While the Liberals under the influence of Count I. Széchenyi gave priority to the social and economic restructuring according to the Western model, L. Kossuth, as spokesman for the radical reformers in the state parliament, demanded the constitutional form of government with an independent ministry for Hungary (1847/48).

Revolution, neo-absolutism and dualism (1848–1918)

The outbreak of the February Revolution in Paris and the March Revolution in Vienna caused the “March Youth”, led by the poet S. Petőfi, to lay down their 12-point reform ideas in Pest on March 15, 1848, which were adopted by the Diet and by King on March 17 Ferdinand V (1835–48; as Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I) were accepted. The nationalities as well as the peasants who were dissatisfied with the conditions of their liberation protested against the April laws passed by the reform ministry under L. Count Batthyány (April 11th; abolition of serfdom, freedom of the press, union with Transylvania, etc.). In September 1848 there was an open break with Habsburg and its troops Defeated Kossuth with the Honvéd Army (spring 1849). Because of the imposed constitution (March 4, 1849) by Emperor Franz Joseph I (1848–1916) and the dethronement of the House of Habsburg-Lothringen following the victories over imperial troops in April, the declaration of Hungarian independence and the appointment of Kossuth The Hungarian struggle for freedom escalated to provisional head of state (April 14, 1849); it was ended only after the defeat of the Honvéd army at Segesvár (Sighişoara; July 31) with the help of Russian troops on August 13, 1849. Austria justified the brutal action against the insurgent leaders (executions, deterrent judgments) with the “forfeiture theory”; Hungary, which was reduced in size by Transylvania and Croatia with Slavonia and the Banat, was henceforth administered directly from Vienna by the so-called Bach Hussars, disregarding its previous special position within the framework of the neo-absolutist system of the Interior Minister A. Bach, following the example of the other Austrian crown lands.

After Austria’s defeat in the German War in 1866, the reform-oriented politicians around F. Deák achieved the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, through which Hungary became an independent kingdom in real union with Austria; the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was created with a dualistic structure (k. u. k.; Austria-Hungary, Austria, history); on June 8, 1867, Franz Joseph was crowned King of Hungary. The Croatian-Hungarian equalization, which was proclaimed by the Emperor on November 8, 1868 and adopted by the Croatian Parliament on November 11, 1868 by the Hungarian Parliament, regulated relations with Croatia with Slavonia (by the Croatian Parliament on October 29, 1918 except Force set); the union of Transylvania with Hungary was finally completed in December 1868. The Banat returned to Hungary in 1860.

According to securitypology, growing political and national disputes between the two halves of the Austro-Hungarian Empire weakened cohesion and prevented the implementation of overdue political and socio-economic reforms. The Magyarization policy initiated by the government under K. Tisza (1875–90) set in motion both an assimilation process and defensive measures by the national minorities and a wave of emigration overseas. Social contradictions also intensified (workers’ unrest).

During the First World War, in view of the intensified national-state propaganda by the minorities and after the announcement of the Fourteen Points program by American President W. Wilson (January 8, 1918), the division of the country had to be expected. Emperor Karl I (1916–18; as Karl [Károly] IV. Hungarian King) proclaimed the federal reorganization of Austria-Hungary with the »People’s Manifesto« of October 16, 1918, but it should not apply to Hungary; on November 13th he abdicated.