Hungary

Hungary is a landlocked nation in Europe, situated in the Carpathian Basin. Throughout its history it had been occupied by a successive stream of peoples: Celts, Romans, Huns, Slavs, Gepids, Avars, and then ultimately the Magyar. The foundation of the nation was founded by Grand Prince Arpad in the 9th century. The country converted to Christianity in the 11th century.

Through its modern history, Hungary was a subservient region to the Austrian Empire until the Great War.

The Great War
Hungary played a role in the Great War as part of the greater Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Then prime-minister István Tisza attempted to diplomatically maneuver Hungarian involvement out of the war. But the authority of the Emperor superseded his own and ultimately four-million men were drafted by the Austrians to fight the war on the side of Germany. As a whole, the troops derived from Hungary spent little time physically defending their homeland and fought much of the war on foreign soil, with some exception to the Romanian offense into the kingdom.

Tensions over the conflict broiled into protest within Hungary with the general citizenry dissatisfied with fighting a war they did not feel they were a part of. Protests carried to rallies before the king's palace which were put down by force of arms, at the concern of the king.

Post-War
The war brought a heavy toll onto Hungary. And although the authority of the Austrians had totally eroded over their former subjects, allowing them to de-facto retire from being a territory of the Austrian Hapsburg Empire the nation was still rocked with significant post-war damages. Through the course of the war, the country lost control of its single sea-port at Fiume and much of its industrial sector. Incapable of negotiating for the return of these territories, Hungary became landlocked and without any mode of support to regain its economy.

The economic conditions created uncertainty and a panicked political atmosphere. Among the uncertain future the Hungarian Socialist Party and the Parliamentary Party were capable of surviving and to foster a growing support base among the country. In the 1929 national elections the Socialists won 46% of the votes and the Parliamentary Party 64%. A year later they voted in Don Csonka and Alfréd Bakó into office.

Don Csonka presidency
President Don Csonka's first task was to restore the economy, industrialize the nation once more, and restore national pride. To this effect he is titled among Hungarians as the 'The Greatest President in Hungarian History'. His regime saw the liberal illegalization of child-labor, expanded rights to women, stabilized the Hungarian economy, and built an air force for the nation.

Hungarian-Ukrainian conflict
In a show of political strength within the nation, Hungary invaded Ukraine in July of 1976

The Hungary army was divided into two main branches, a northern one heading for Lviv and later Kyiv and a southern one aiming for Odessa and Crimea. The southern forces did not get very far due to logistical problems, but the northern branch managed to advance very deep into the Ukrainian territory and captured Lviv, forcing the Polish to intervene. In a series of aerial and artillery strikes the Hungarian forces near advancing to Lviv were decimated and forced to retreat.

The defeat of the Hungarian forces in Ukraine was a black-eye to the Hungarian government and shocked their road to reconstruction and their search for renewed pride. The defeat was so bad, that on his deathbed then-former president Don Csonka was quoted as saying, "I am ashamed of being Hungarian."

The defeat shamed the then-president into resigning and he left office peacefully, handing the presidency to acting prime-minister Adél Bak, the granddaughter of Don Csonka. Popular oppinion believed that she could be a new Don, but she has doubts. The transition of power was celebrated during the 50th anniversary of Don Csonka's presidency several days after the transition was official.