Hungary continued to fall into different hands at this time. By the early 9th century, when the Magyars first began to migrate to Hungary, or Pannonia as it was then known, the area was ruled by a Slavonic monarchy. The Magyars, a race that legend says descended from Attila the Hun, soon began to dominate however. In 1000 AD, St Stephen, a Christian of Magyar descent, became the first king of a unified Hungary following his coronation at the hands of Pope Silvester II. Hungary developed under a succession of kings for the next 200 years but suffered disaster in the middle of the 13th century. Under King Bela IV, Hungary succumbed to invasion and defeat at the hands of the marauding Mongols and half of the population died. By chance, however, the Mongols left the country soon afterwards with King Bela IV still in power as the rebuilding process began. The reign of King Mattias Cornivus at the end of the 15th century saw Hungary’s rise continue as it began to establish itself as a cultural beacon in Europe. However, the Hungarians could not hold out against the Ottomans for long and in 1526 the country was invaded and occupied for the next 160 years. Infighting among the Hungarians only served to weaken the country’s hand in the face of an Ottoman Empire that had reached its zenith. During this lengthy period of occupation and chaos, Hungary’s population was again cut by half. No sooner had Hungary rebounded than it was to face yet another disaster. Having joined the side of the Germans in WWI, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was left defeated and ruined in 1918; this allowed the communists to take over Hungary a year later. A spat with Romania saw half of the country come under foreign occupation yet again; but the Romanians left by the end of the year. In 1920, Hungarian rule was restored under the army of Miklos Horthy who filled the power vacuum, becoming more dictatorial over his 24-year reign. Russian control and communism followed as Hungary became a full-fledged member of the Soviet bloc while practicing planned economics. Hope of disengagement from the USSR soon faded in 1956 following an unsuccessful revolution that saw Russian tanks and 150,000 troops marshal Hungarian territory. The Russians stayed until 1991 as the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc fell apart. Since then, Hungary has slowly developed into one of the more successful former communist Eastern European states, joining the EU in 2004 to much fanfare. | 
