Turkish occupation (1541- 1686) and the Royal Hungary (1526-1699)
In 1541, at the first battle of Buda, the Turks came out victoriously, and Hungary became divided into three parts in which Buda and the rest of the central areas as well as the eastern parts of the kingdom fell under Ottoman rule while the north-western part (Slovakia, northeastern Hungary, Transdanubia, Burgenland and parts of Croatia) stayed under Habsburg rule. During the Habsburg Monarchy, this latter became the Royal Hungary in which Habsburg Emperors had been crowned as Kings of Hungary. Although the Siege of Eger in 1552 brought Hungarian victory under the leadership of István Dobó, the Ottomans continued their expansions almost without interruption until 1556. However, they could not ever conquer the northern and western parts of the country. Nevertheless, the years between 1453 and 1566 are known as the classical age of the Ottoman Empire in which the sultan´s absolute authority reached its apex.
A turning point came in 1683 at the Siege of Vienna, which changed the power balances in the area. Subsequently, at the second Battle of Buda in 1686, the Christian forces of the Holy League also reconquered the Hungarian capital. The second battle of Mohács in 1687 also resulted in Hungarian victories as well as many other upcoming fights against the Ottomans. Nevertheless, Transylvania (the parts around Timișoara – Temesvár) remained under Ottoman rule up until the 17th century.
Between 1490 and 1526, internal conflicts and the expanding Ottoman Empire created conditions that led to unforeseen loss of independence for Hungary. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Hungary became occupied by the Ottomans (1541-1699), and after the Turkish conquest at Buda in 1541, the old Kingdom of Hungary became divided into three parts. Whereas the eastern part of Hungary (Transylvania = Eastern Hungarian Kingdom 1526-1570) gradually became a vassal state of the Ottomans, the northern and western parts they could not conquer. These, while initially independent territories, later became a part of the Habsburg Monarchy under the realm of King Ferdinand (Holy Roman Emperor 1556-1564). The Habsburgs needed economic power for the wars against the Ottomans, and Hungary became their primary source of revenue.
Royal Hungary and Transylvania as Ottoman vassal state were constantly at civil war with each other, and the duality of state government was noticeable in many areas of life. For instance, people living in Ottoman provinces could only survive in bigger towns, where they were owned and protected by the Sultan. The Ottomans granted far-reaching autonomy to their vassals in internal affairs, and in the self-governed towns of Ottoman provinces trade flourished, and a new middle class emerged. Nonetheless, the only interest for the Ottoman landowners was to squeeze as quickly and as much wealth as possible from their land. While peasants living on Ottoman territory fled to the woods and formed a kind of guerilla troop (Hajdú), the burghers and nobility who lost their lands moved to Royal Hungary. In the late 1600s, the Habsburg Emperor, Leopold I (1658- 1705 – Holy Roman Emperor), was recognized as a righteous hereditary successor of the throne of Royal Hungary (King of Hungary 1655). But liberated lands from the Turks did not go back to the Protestant nobles of the country or to other Hungarians, as they were considered disloyal to the crown. Instead, these territories were redistributed to foreigners. Altogether Hungary (mainly the central parts) had suffered more than 150 years under Turkish occupation (1541-1699), and during this period, many of the smaller settlements had vanished, population growth diminished, and; as a result of prolonged wars; the composition of the population changed. Deportations and massacres resulted in demographic losses of ethnic Hungarians, and when the estates were returned to landowners, labor shortages emerged. As a result, the Habsburg government started a new resettlement of Slavs at the southern borders and Germans (Danube Swabians) in other areas of the Kingdom. Simultaneously, ethnic Hungarians were prohibited from resettling south of the Great Plain. Demographers estimate that whereas 80% of the population was ethnic Hungarians before the Battle of Mohács, later (in the middle of the 19th century) this number declined to as low as about 42%.
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The Ages of Enlightenment and Anti-Habsburg uprisings (1604-1711)
Subsequently to the expulsion of the Turks, the majority of the remaining population reconverted to Catholicism. Although the Ottomans were indifferent towards the religious practices of their subjects, the counter-reformation couldn´t reach Hungarians living in Ottoman areas, and as a consequence, these people became Protestant, predominantly Calvinists. Nevertheless, in 1558 the Diet of Turda (Transylvanian parliament) prohibited Calvinism, whereas Catholicism and Lutheranism were still free to practice. In addition, service-taking soldiers in the Ottoman fortresses were mainly Orthodox and Muslim Balkan Slavs. This religious division in conjunction with the political chaos caused by rivaling monarchs elected by the divided nobility was a contributing factor to weakened internal unity.
Correspondingly, several anti-Habsburg uprisings shook Royal Hungary during the 1600s; all of which were organized from Transylvania. The raison d’être of uprisings was the Austrian rule and restrictions concerning non-Catholic parishes. Similarly, in the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48), Royal Hungary fought on the Catholic side, while Transylvania was on the Protestant side. In addition, Francis II Rákóczi (II Rákóczi Ferenc – landlord and count) also led uprisings with the aim of national liberation against the Habsburgs between 1703 and 1711. The main goal of these revolts was to secure economic and social development in the country, as well as to keep the rights of various social orders. In 1705, a meeting was held by the Diet (parliament) near Szécsény (Hungary, Nógrád County) at which Rákóczi became elected as a “Ruling Prince” (vezérlő fejedelem) of Hungary and just two years later, in 1707, the Diet of Ónod deprived the Habsburgs of their throne. However, the rebellious anti-Habsburg Kuruc army was, by and large, unsuccessful and lost both the Battle of Trencin (Trencséni csata, Slovakia) in 1708 and also the 1711 uprisings. The Battle of Trencin marked the end of Rákóczi´s War of Independence as parts of the rebels deserted the Kuruc army of Rákóczi and instead joined the Habsburgs after the loss of the North-western territories (such as Nitra and Zvolen in Slovakia and Hont in Hungary, Nógrád County) of Hungary. At the time of the 1711 uprisings Rákóczi was in Poland, and shortly thereafter he fled to Turkey, where he died in 1735, in Tekirdağ (Rodostó).
After defeating the Kuruc uprisings of 1711, the Austrians demolished most castles on the border between earlier Ottomans-occupied territories and Royal Hungary with the aim to make armed resistance infeasible. The same year (1711) Charles VI became (Austrian Emperor) the ruler of Hungary and even though Hungary had its own constitution and Diet, the Governors were appointed by the monarch and the Hungarian Chamber was also subordinate to the Chamber of Vienna. In this way, the Habsburgs kept their control over Royal Hungary except for the taxation of nobles. During the reign of Charles VI and his successor, Maria Theresa (1740-1780), the lack of work escalated, and the country’s economy further declined. Albeit the improvements in infrastructure at the turn of the 19th century boosted urbanization, the Napoleonic wars (1803-1815) also increased the demand for necessities such as cloth and food. Besides, the benefits of the amends went unabbreviated to the magnates. Hence, the economics of Hungary did not change for the better. Moreover, Latin remained the official language of Hungary up until 1836 (according to some other sources than the one used here, Hungarian became the official language of Hungary in 1844)[1]. Whereas Ottoman rule came to its end in the entire Kingdom in 1718, it was not before the 1900s that Hungary reached complete independence.
[1] “In 1844 a law was enacted making Hungarian the country’s exclusive official language.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1848
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Written by Gertrúd Windberg 2023, Sundbyberg
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