Timeless Nation

Defeated, divided, doomed

John I (Zapolya) (1526-1540) and Ferdinand I (Habsburg) (1526-1564), the rival kings of Hungary began a long internecine warfare against each other. The Sultan, Suleiman took the role of the amused spectator. He knew that Hungary was neither willing nor able to resist and therefore found it unnecessary to establish a permanent Turkish occupation. The Turks left Hungary unoccupied for fourteen years after Mohacs, while the two kings performed their strange antics in their "fools’ paradise", an’ "independent" Hungary.

Ferdinand, King of Hungary and Archduke of Austria, had already raised his eyes toward the crown of the Holy Roman (German) Empire. He regarded Hungary only as an expendable buffer-province. John I too was only interested in his own advancement.

Many details of the struggle of the two kings are unclear, unexplained or unimportant. The following events represent only the most grievous of the self-inflicted wounds, which hastened the downfall of the once mighty state of Hungary.

After his coronation Ferdinand made a half-hearted attempt at taking Buda, the capital, from John. To Ferdinand’s great surprise, John fled at once to his relatives in Poland. Once out of reach of his opponent, he collected what he thought were his wits and came to a disastrous resolution: he offered his fealty to the Sultan in exchange for help against Ferdinand! He was probably influenced by the Poles,who had been paying a tribute to the Sultan, and by the French, whose Francis I had been an ally of the Turks for years. John Zapolya failed to realize that Poland and France, both at safe distance from the Turk, could afford to ride the tiger", while Hungary could not.

Suleiman magnanimously granted John’s request, and accepted his homage on the very field of Mohacs, on the third anniversary of the battle…

He then chased Ferdinand out of Buda and handed the capital back to John. Later, in 1529 and 1532 Suleiman led his troops against Vienna, but had to call off both campaigns, defeated by the weather (Ferdinand’s ablest general). On the second occasion, the small fortress of Koszeg defied his army for weeks during autumn until it became too cold and rainy to move on. It is not generally known that the Turks relied on camels to transport the heavy supplies of their army and European winters were too cold for these animals.

These abortive campaigns did, however, frighten Ferdinand into negotiations with the Sultan. The result was that the Habsburg king of Hungary agreed to pay the Sultan a yearly tribute in order to be left alone.

In order to save what was left of the independence of Hungary, John’s able advisor, "Frater" (Brother) George, a Pauline monk, arranged a secret pact between the two kings in 1538. John was to "enjoy" the Hungarian throne alone, but after his death Ferdinand was to inherit the crown. (John was not married at the time). The ink was hardly dry on their signatures when both kings set about breaking the pact. Ferdinand hastened to report the secret agreement to Suleiman in order to discredit his opponent. John promptly married the Polish princess, Isabella, who duly bore him a son. He then immediately repudiated the pact and appointed his infant son heir to the Hungarian throne. John died soon afterwards (1540), after having entrusted brother George with the unenviable task of enforcing his son’s claim.

On hearing of John’s death, the Sultan moved to Buda, occupied the royal castle (1541) and set up a permanent Turkish military occupation in the centre of Hungary, which he annexed to the Ottoman (Turkish) empire.

Transylvania

Brother George, the only able Hungarian statesman of the period, arranged with the Sultan to set up a semi-independent principality in the eastern regions of Hungary. This state consisted of the area generally known as Transylvania with some adjoining districts and towns. The infant John Sigismund (1540-1571), Johns son, was accepted as Prince ("Fejedelem") at the first Diet of the three Transylvanian nations (the Magyars, Szekelys and Saxons). Another Diet in Torda, in 1568 granted complete freedom to all religions in the principality. This was incredibly progressive legislation in the Europe of the XVIth century, then in the throes of the bloody "religious wars."

Brother George, the Regent, managed to keep the small country more or less independent by paying tribute to the Sultan (without becoming his vassal) and by remaining on friendly terms with the Habsburg king. He used this fact as a deterrent whenever the Turks became too aggressive. He did not hesitate to take up arms when he found that either the Germans or the Turks had violated their agreements. Thus he defeated the Turks at Lippa by leading a cavalry charge in person (before becoming a monk he had been a cavalry officer).

Eventually Ferdinand’s commander became suspicious of the brilliant diplomat and had him assassinated in 1551. After his death, Isabella. and the young Prince continued the policy of "peaceful coexistence" with the Turks. After Prince John Sigismund’s death, his able commander, Stephen Bathori was elected Prince of Transylvania (1571—1586). Bathori kept paying the tribute to the Sultan but his goal was to reunite Transylvania with the rest of Hungary. Unfortunately for Hungary, the Poles elected him king in 1575 and he accepted. He became Poland’s greatest soldier-king: he defeated both the Russians (Ivan the Terrible) and the Germans.

The Turkish occupation area

This area, a giant triangle in the centre of Hungary, included most of the Great Plain, the eastern half of Transdanubia and, at various periods, it extended into the lower mountains of the north. The area was a conquered colony of the Ottoman Empire: the indigenous population (called "raya": i.e. "cattle") had hardly any human rights. All land was owned by the Sultan, who gave it to his officers in fief. As no Turk ever settled in an occupied country permanently, the colonists’ only goal was the complete exploitation of the people and their produce. Some larger towns survived only because their citizens bribed the Turkish officers and paid exorbitant taxes to the Sultan. Smaller settlements and villages were at the mercy of the Turks and their Tartar and Balkan auxiliaries who looted and raped at will. They took the young people to the slave markets and slaughtered the others, while rich nobles were kept in prison for ransom and. systematically tortured in order to hasten the payment of the ransom. During the 150 years of Turkish occupation at least 3 million Hungarians were killed or driven like cattle to the Turkish slave markets.

After Suleiman’s unsuccessful attacks against Austria several years of "peace" followed: there were no large-scale campaigns, but the raids along the vaguely defined demarcation line continued. After 1550 the Sultan began to attack systematically the strong fortresses along the demarcation line. Those defended by German troops fell easily, but some smaller forts defended by Magyar troops put up a better resistance. The large fort of Eger, defended by some 2000 Hungarian men and women and commanded by Istvan Dobo, resisted successfully a six-week siege by more than 100,000 Turks in 1552. In 1566 Suleiman’s army was again held up by the fort of Szigetvar (in Transdanubia), which was defended by Miklos Zrinyi with 1000 men. Suleiman died during the siege, but Zrinyi and his men could not hold the fort any longer. They stormed out in a heroic sally and died to the last man. The women and the wounded then blew themselves up in the ammunition tower. During the siege, the Emperor, Maximilian was waiting nearby with his huge army ignoring Zrinyi’s calls for help because it was the height of the duck season and he did not want to interrupt his hunt.

"Royal" Hungary

The western counties of Transdanubia, the northern region and some towns in the northeast belonged to the third of the country, which became the share of the Habsburg king of Hungary. Ferdinand I died in 1564. His successor, Maximilian (1564-1576) did nothing to stop the Turks. In fact his predatory generals and marauding soldiers soon made the Hungarians realize that the Germans were hardly better than the Turks The bitterness of the population found its expression in the saying: "between two heathens we bleed for one country." Maximilian’s successor, Rudolf I (1576-1608), would have settled for peace but the Turks were in an aggressive mood and began the so-called "fifteen years' war." As the Turks were attacking mostly in the general direction of Vienna in western Hungary, Rudolf had to commit larger contingents of his precious troops.

Whether it was "peace" or "war", the fighting along the demarcation line was continuous. The burden of these battles was borne by the soldiers of the ‘frontier posts" manned by Hungarian garrisons ranging from 20 to 200. They fought with tenacious courage and ingenuity as they were very poorly equipped and in case of a major Turkish attack they could not count on help from the Emperor-King’s generals. Many of these "frontiersmen" were volunteer nobles for whom fighting the Turk was the only life they knew.

The "golden age" of Transylvania

The unpredictable Prince, Sigmund Bathori (Stephen Bathori’s successor) (1581-1596) joined the Emperor in the war against the Turks. His able commander, Istvan Bocskai defeated the Turks in Wallachia with the help of the voyvod (Prince) of Wallachia, Michael. Then the Turks counter-attacked in Transylvania and Bathori and his German allies lost an important battle. Sigismund abdicated in favour of his cousin, Cardinal Andrew Bathori. The wily voyvod Michael turned against Andrew and defeated him with the help of the rebellious Szekelys, then proclaimed himself Prince of Transylvania (1600). The Emperor rejected his claim and had him and his Vlach troops chased out of Transylvania by the imperial commander, Basta. After a short interregnum, Istvan (Stephen) Bocskai (1604-1606) was elected Prince of Transylvania and he chased the marooauding Germans, Turks, vlachs and Tartars out of Transylvania. This brilliant soldier decided to reunite Transylvania with Hungary and free the entire country from both Germans and Turks. Helaunched a successful campaign against the imperial (German) troops in northern Hungary. The Emperor-King (Rudolf 1) concluded a peace treaty with Bocskai. He acknowledged the independence of Transylvania and granted religious and constitutional freedom to the Hungarians in his (Rudolf’s) territory. Soon afterwards, Bocskai arranged a peace between the Sultanand the Emperor, giving a much-needed respite to the exhausted Hungarian nation.

Unfortunately, the great soldier-statesman died after only two years of his reign as Prince.

Prince Gabor Bethlen (1613-1629) continued Bocskai’s policy of ‘negotiating from strength." He joined the Thirty Years’ War on the Protestant side (against the German Empire). Though not entirely successful, he obtained important concessions from the Emperor-King and maintained Transylvania’s independence. Under his absolutist, but benevolent rule, Transylvania enjoyed complete religious freedom and a high cultural and social standard unusual in war-torn Europe.

"Royal Hungary" during the XVlIth century

By the end of the XVIth century almost all the Hungarian magnates had adopted Protestantism in protest against the Catholic Vienna regime. This fact only increased the antagonism of the Austrian-German regime against the Hungarians and they began to use forced "Counter-Reformation" as a political weapon. So now the horrors of a religious war were also threatening the nation.

A Hungarian prelate, Cardinal-Archbishop Peter Pazmany, and his Protestant friends in Transylvania deserve credit for keeping Hungary out of the bloodbath of the European religious wars.

Cardinal Pazmany, born of a Protestant family, joined the Jesuit order after his conversion to Catholicism and eventually became Hungary’s Primate (1616). He convinced the Hungarians that Catholicism was not synonymous with Austrian oppression and that religious debates did not have to degenerate into bloody battles, as in Germany France and England. His Catholic "Counter-Reformation" used only the weapon of the spoken and written word. He established excellent schools and the University of Nagyszombat. He was a true Hungarian patriot and the fate of his nation was his foremost consideration. He approved of the independent policies of the Protestant Transylvanian Princes. Under his influence many aristocratic families returned to Catholicism.

The new Emperor-King, Leopold J (1657-1705), a pious and bigoted tyrant, was endeavoring to turn the remaining Magyars into Catholic-Germans but he was not interested in chasing the Moslem Turks out of Hungary. A few rich Catholic magnates were able to conduct limited, individual campaigns against the Turks. The most eminent of these was Miklos Zrinyi, great grandson of the hero of Szigetvar. He was the greatest Hungarian statesman and soldier of the century and a talented poet and military scientist. A pious Catholic and a loyal subject of the King he had some liberty to fight the Turks using his own troops — whenever this did not interfere with the imperial policy. Once, when Zrinyi. practically forced the cowardly imperial commander into a battle and won it for him, the Emperor immediately concluded a humiliating peace, bribing the Turks with Hungarian territory to stay away from Vienna. Soon after this shameful "peace" treaty, Zrinyi died under very suspicious circumstances. (1664).

Such was the degree of dissatisfaction in Hungary that the (Catholic and Protestant) leaders of the nation began to contemplate the deposition of the Emperor-King, Leopold. These leaders were headed by the Palatine, (the king’s representative in Hungary), Ferenc Wesselenyi, and they were supported by the Transylvanian Prince and encouraged by France’s Louis XI\’. Their aim was to invoke the nations’ constitutional right to "resist", as codified in the Golden Bull. They had legal and moral justification, as Leopold and his ministers had ignored the Hungarian Constitution. But their plans were betrayed and the leaders brought before a military court in Austria. Wesselenyi died before the betrayal, but the others, including Peter Zrinyi, the great hero’s brother, were executed.

Transylvania and the beginning of the "kuruc" uprisings

The military successes of Prince Gyorgy (George) Rdkoczi I (1630-1648), an ally of the Protestant powers in the Thirty Years’ War were of a rather ephemeric nature. More beneficial were the cultural activities of his princess, Zsuzsanna (Susanna) Lorantfy, a lady of remarkable humanistic education and advanced social ideas, a great patron of Protestant education (Sarospatak College).

The Prince George Rakoczy II (1648-1660) continued the forceful policies of his predecessors, but with less success. During one of his futile campaigns, the Turks occupied Transylvania and placed a puppet of their own choice on the throne. This practically ended the independence of Transylvania (1660).

The persecution of Protestants and patriots involved in the "Wesselenyi Plot" forced many Hungarians to flee from ‘royal" Hungary to Transylvania. Imre Thokoly, an able soldier, organised them into troops of freedom fighters against the Germans. They called themselves "Kuruc", the name Dozsa’s crusaders used. With the tacit support of the Turks, Thokoly launched lightning campaigns against Leopold’s forces in northern Hungary (between 1678 and 1682) and won some victories and useful concessions from the Vienna regime. He had to stop his "kuruc" campaigns after the Turkish defeat at Vienna (1683) and eventually took refuge in Turkey.

The liberation of Hungary

The ambitious Turkish Vizier (Commander—in Chief), Kara Mustafa launched an offensive campaign against Vienna in 1683. Emperor Leopold was paralyzed with fear, but the Pope, Innocent XI, managed to organize a veritable crusade against the Turks. Vienna was saved by its able defender and by the Polish and western armies. After Vienna’s relief, the Pope kept urging Leopold and the; crusaders to free Hungary. Thus, an international. Army,, commanded by the able Prince Charles of Lorraine, continued the counter-attack against the Turks. In 1686 they freed Buda where a large contingent of Hungarian troops (many of them Thokoly’s former "Kuruc") fought as their spearhead. By 1697, the southern Hungarian frontier was reached: the Turkish rule ended after 156 years.

Through this international victory, the Christian West paid some of its old debts to Hungary. But it was 300 years and 3 million victims too late. Moreover, the Vienna regime regarded its success as a purely Austrian-German victory and treated Hungary as a re-annexed province of the empire. It resettled the depopulated areas with Balkan Slav, Vlach and German setters and allotted the former Magyar estates to Austrian barons. A ruthless process of Germanification began under which Magyar properties were confiscated and resisting nobles arrested or executed on trumped-up charges.

It was not the first and not the last time in history that a country was "liberated" by a great power only to change masters. Hungary was out of the frying pan…

Timeless Nation