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History
1. Poland
(from http://www.warsaw-hotel-guide.net/en/poland-tourist-information/history.php)
Poland begins her history from the 10th century, when the Polish accepted Christianity, and the new kingdom suffered from inner and outer enemies through the following centuries, but succeeded to preserve its identity in the Medieval era.
In the 14th century, the country united with Lithuania, and the union lasted until the end of the 18th century, making Poland a strong state in Europe, but the ruling Jagiellon dynasty lost control over the determined nobles gradually.
The Polish Parliament, the Sejm became the main legislative power in the 16th century. After the death of the last Jagiellon king in 1569, Poland became an elective monarchy, a quasi-democratised state while all the Europe at tha time is in the era of the absolute monarchies.
The once powerful state gradually lost competitiveness against the stronger neighbours in the 17th and 18th century, and was partitioned by the former Austria, Prussia and Russia. The idea of Polish independence was kept alive through the 19th century, resulting in an uprising against the Tsar.
Poland regained its independence after World War I for two decades, but became the first to fall against the German and Soviet attack at the beginning of World War II. Many thousands Poles served in the armies of the Allied Forces. During the war 6 million Polish citizens were killed by Germans, 2.5 million were transported to labour or extermination camps.
After World War II, Poland became a satellite state of the Soviet Union, under communist regime. The uprisings in 1956 and 1968 were suppressed. In 1978 Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. In 1989, led by a reform movement called Solidarity, Poland became the first Eastern European state to break free of the Communism.
The economy of Poland developed into one of the most robust in Eastern Europe. Poland joined NATO on May 27, 1999 and the European Union on May 1, 2004.
2. Slovakia
(from http://www.localhistories.org/slovakia.html)
Slavs settled in what is now Slovakia in the 6th century AD. They were soon conquered by a people called the Avars but at the end of the 8th century they drove out the Avars.
In the 9th century Slovakia became part of the state of Great Moravia, which included parts of Germany, Hungary and Poland. The Moravian Empire lasted from 830 to 906. During its lifetime St Cyril and St Methodius converted Slovakia to Christianity.
However in the early 10th century a people called the Magyars (ancestors of today¡¦s Hungarians) destroyed the Moravian Empire. The Magyars settled down and formed the state of Hungary but they still ruled Slovakia. Hungary was to rule Slovakia for the next 1,000 years!
During the Middle Ages some economic development took place in Slovakia. Mining of gold, silver and copper developed and Slovakia exported fur and amber. In the 13th century Germans settled in the country and town life flourished.
In 1526 the Turks won the battle of Mohacs. Afterwards Hungary was dismembered. Part of it, together with Slovakia came to be ruled by the Hapsburgs of Austria. So Slovakia became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Meanwhile in the early 17th century the Reformation reached Slovakia. Protestantism spread rapidly but the Catholic Counter-Reformation reconverted many people.
For most of the 18th century Slovakia was in the doldrums. However at the end of the century Slovak nationalism began to grow. In 1792 Anton Bernolak founded the Slovak Learned Society and in the 19th century a Slovak National Revival began. It was led by Ludovit Stur (1815-1856). In 1845 he published the first periodical in the Slovak language.
Then in 1848 Europe was rocked by revolutions. The Hungarians rebelled against the Austrians. However they refused to make any concessions to the Slovaks. The Slovaks drew up a list of demands called the Demands of the Slovak Nation but the Hungarians refused all of them. However the Austrians managed to regain control and the old order returned.
Then in 1867 the Austro-Hungarian Empire became a dual monarchy. It was split into two parts, Austria and Hungary with both parts sharing an emperor. In the late 19th century the Hungarians tried to 'Hungarianize' Slovakia. For instance only the Hungarian language could be used in schools. To escape the oppression many Slovaks emigrated to the USA.
In 1914, not surprisingly the Slovaks were not keen to fight for the Austrians. Many defected and fought against the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the eastern front. Czechs and Slovaks now demanded independence. They formed an alliance and in May 1918 they signed the Pittsburgh Declaration agreeing to form a new state after the war. On 30 October 1918 as Austria collapsed the formation of a new Czech-Slovak state was announced. It was called Czechoslovakia.
The 1920s were year of prosperity for Czechoslovakia. However like the rest of the world the country suffered in the depression of the 1930s.
Meanwhile there were many Germans living in the border region of Czechoslovakia, the Sudetenland. In 1938 the Germans demanded they be allowed to cede from Czechoslovakia and join Germany. Hitler, of course, also demanded the Sudetenland. On 30 September 1938 the British and French allowed the Germans to absorb the Sudetenland - without consulting the Czechs. However on 15 March 1939 the German army occupied the rest of what is now the Czech Republic. Slovakia became nominally independent (although it was really a German puppet).
The new Slovak government was led by Jozef Tiso, who introduced a repressive regime. Furthermore during World War II about 73,000 Slovakian Jews were deported to be murdered. Many Slovakian Roma shared their fate.
Then in August 1944 a rebellion called the Slovak National Uprising took place. However Germany troops crushed the rebellion. Yet by the end of 1944 Czech and Russian troops had entered Slovakia and on 4 April 1945 a provisional government was formed. It consisted to Socialists, Social Democrats and Communists.
3. Hungary
(from http://www.budapest.com/hungary/about_hungary/hungarian_history.en.html)
In the 5th century, the Hungarian tribes left the area of the Urals and passed along the Volga and the Caspian Sea. After several hundred years of wandering, they reached the Carpathian Basin, and under the leadership of Arpad, they settled down in the basin in A.D. 896.
In the years of 997-1038, King Stephen of the Arpad dynasty ruled the country. In 1000, he became converted to Christianity, and after his death, he was canonised.In 1055, the abbey of Tihany was constructed. The foundation charter of the church is the earliest written record in Hungarian language.
In 1241, the Mongolian Tatars devastated the country, and their presence, which lasted a year, halted development for at least a century. After the warfare with the Hungarians, the Tatars did not continue towards the west. During the rule of King Matthias in 1458-1490, his residences (Buda and Visegrad) became cultural centers in Europe.
In 1526, at Mohacs, the present southern frontier of the country, the Turks defeated the Hungarian army and 150 years of Turkish occupation started. And in 1541, the Turks occupied Buda so that Hungary was split into three parts. The Habsburg governed the western part of the country, the central area was ruled by the Turks, and only the south-east Transylvanian principality remained Hungarian. In 1686, Buda was recaptured from the Turks.
In 1703-1711, under the leadership of Ferenc Rakoczi II, Prince of Transylvania, a freedom war was started against the Habsburgs. The rebels defeated the Imperial army in several battles, but did not receive the promised French support and failed.
In the first half of the 19th century, a national reform movement was launched for the political and economic transformation of the country and for the support of the Hungarian language and culture. This was when the National Anthem was born, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences was set up. The building of the Chain Bridge started with the support of Count Istvan Szechenyi, one of the main characters of the Reform Ages.
In 1848-1849, a revolution broke out in Pest and extended over the entire country. The Habsburg Emperor was dethroned after the Hungarian army won several significant battles. Lajos Kossuth was elected Governor. Only with the help of the Russian army the Habsburgs could beat the longest European national revolution in the summer of 1849.
In 1867, the Hungarians concluded a compromise with the Habsburgs and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was established with Vienna and Pest-Buda as centres. And in 1873, Pest, Buda and Obuda were unified, with Budapest becoming a European metropolis. Monuments like the Opera House, the National Gallery, the Parliament were built.
In 1918, Germany and its allies, including the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, lost the world war. The monarchy disintegrated. In 1920, the Trianon Treaty reduced Hungary's area by two thirds and the population by one third. Since then, considerable Hungarian minorities have been living in the neighbouring countries.
In 1938-1940, Germany concluded treaties in Munich and Vienna, according to which Southern Slovakia and Northern Transylvania were returned to Hungary.
In 1944, The Nazis occupied Hungary, as they did not consider it a reliable ally. During World War II, the Hungarians suffered grave losses on the Soviet front. At the end of the war, Fascists took over the governing of the country.
In 1945, the Soviet Army liberated, and then occupied Hungary. At the hastily held elections, the Communists won only 17 percent of the votes. and in 1947, the last, relatively free elections were followed by the years of Communist control: executions, deportation of hundreds of thousands, imprisonment, harassment, forced industrial development, fall of living standards, and Stalinist dictatorship.
In 1956, a revolution against Stalinism started, but the uprising was defeated by Soviet troops. Janos Kadar, who acquired power with their assistance, promised democratic socialism; in the meantime, retaliation and executions started.
In 1965, cautious economic reforms were launched, living standards were rising and the iron curtain became penetrable. And in 1988, the Hungarian transition period began.
In 1990, the Communist party voluntarily gave up its autocracy. A multi-party parliamentary democracy came into being in the country. The Soviet army left Hungary. And in 1999, Hungary became full member of NATO.