MAGYÁRS

The Magyárs have the Power of The Horde.

National bonuses

• Great Destiny : Receive +1x (1/2 the number of nations in play) food for each 1% of world controlled.
• Kabar Alliance : Mounted units created 10% cheaper and 20% faster. Corrals spawn Horse Archers when built: 1 for each level of Miltary research up to 3.
• Proficient Raiders : Your units suffer 50% less attrition damage. Forage line of research are free at Foundry.

Units and structures

UU gallery:

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Structures:

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Wonders:

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Leaders

Álmos; Árpád; Előd; Szabolcs; Kend; Kond; Kund; Korcán; Kurszán; Kaplon; Ond; Ete; Tas; Lehel; Huba; Tétény; Töhötöm; Horka; Gyula; Örs; Kusid; Kupian; Lél; Vérbulcsú

Settlements

History

In the centuries before Genghis Khan's conquests, various Turkic and Mongol-Tungusic tribes inhabited the steppes of Central Asia, Siberia and Mongolia. These various ethnic groups alternatively ruled each other during this time, one group would gain power and subdue the others until another group formed to topple the previously superior power, at which point the loser would migrate westward ... until they reached Europe. However, while the numbers of nomadic Asian tribes that migrated to Europe are counted in myriads, and some could found nations and empires of their own, only one of these has held out long enough to survive to this very day: the Magyars.

The Magyar peoples migrated into the Danube basin from the east around 900CE. From there, they would then have an impact as great as their Hunnic and Avar predecessors had on Europe, raiding and pillaging as far away as northern France, before finally being driven back and subjugated by the Frankish Holy Roman Empire. Even in defeat, however, it was not the end of the Magyars - under their grand prince Vajk, the Magyars would soon embrace Christianity; while their grand prince, now stylised as king Stephen, would found the modern nation we now today know as Hungary.

The First Hordes: The Huns and Pannonia

Although Hungary as a modern nation today occupies the Central Plains of Pannonia, it was not in Europe that the Magyars have their origin, but rather in Asia - namely, in a vast region stretching from Ukraine to the Urals. However, it is nearly impossible to discuss the Magyars or even comprehend their rich and complex prehistory before some contemplation is given to the major nomadic empires that preceded them: the Huns, the Khazars and the Avars.

Ever since the beginning of humanity's existence Central Asia had long been the home of various nomadic tribes based on the practice of animal herding and horses. Humans had inhabited the region ever since the prehistoric period. The land lends itself to breed a people who were used to harsh living conditions, mobility and war — elements that make for an ideal military force, so it is no coincidence that some of the most successful conquerors and invaders came from this region of the world. One group of these successful invaders were the Xiongnü - or "Hongnu" or "Hunnu" as they may have been called by the Chinese, whose lands they terrorised for most of the Qin, Han and Jin dynasties. 

At the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, a nomad chieftain named Modu (or possibly Bordur) made himself chanyu, or ruler over the Xiongnü tribes. The territory that was inhabited or roamed by the Xiongnu tribes stretched from the Ili Basin in the far west of modern China to the pastures of modern Mongolia. When the Xiongnu subjugated neighbouring tribes, these were incorporated into the Xiongnu federation and took over the name of the Xiongnü although they might be of a very different ethnicity. This custom was followed by all subsequent mighty steppe peoples that should dominate the Mongolian grasslands (and is one of the theories linking the peoples known as Xionites, Huns or Hunas in Western Asia and Rome to the Asian Xiongnü, and to others - albeit possibly spuriously - to the Avars and the Magyars).

Throughout generations, the Hunnu posed a constant threat to ancient China, and were the cause for the Qin to build the Great Wall, but even so this was not enough. The following Han dynasty, however, had better success - combining military acumen with shrewd diplomacy, and political trickery, the Han managed to oust the Hunnu, first by provoking a civil war amongst the Hunnu, and then sending armies to destroy one of the two parties in the Altai mountains in 89CE. The result of this however was that a westward migration of these nomadic horse-riding tribes would course its way toward Europe. Some of the tribes would eventually arrive at the gates of Rome in the 4th century, to be known to the western world as the Huns. Leveraging the weakness of Rome and her conflicts with the Germans, the Huns would eventually rally around a chieftain called Attila, who then formed a loose confederacy of different peoples - Huns, Germans, Alans, and sometimes, a few Roman defectors.

The Roman soldier Ammianus Marcellinus, who had the ill luck to fight them noted:

They have a sort of shapeless lump, if I may say so, not a face, and pinholes rather than eyes.

Although the Huns under Atilla did create an empire that reached from Germany all the way to the Ukraine, centred around the former Roman province of Pannonia, it was not their fate to survive beyond Attila's demise - after his death, the weakly organised empire disintegrated, as the sons of Attila fought each other, encouraging the Ostrogoths, a German subsidiary tribe, to take advantage. The Huns were defeated by some sort of uprising, and by around 455CE, the Huns were no more. Still, they would not be the last Asiatic horde to conquer and settle in Europe - a century or so after the last Huns were scattered, Pannonia would once more host a new equestrian nomadic people from Asia - the Avars. 

The Romanovs

Upon Michael's passing away in 1645, the tsar was succeeded by his young son Alexis. After initial difficulties, the Tsar won a victory for Russia with the Treaty of Andrusovo, which saw several territorial gains for Russia at the expense of the Poles who they had been at war with. Unfortunately, serfdom became a legal reality during his reign in order to prevent the lical peasants from running away and bankrupting the agrarian Russian economy. Alexis did encourage trade and links with the West (Europe) and thus expanded Russian influence and interest into that sphere. In 1676, Fyodor III succeeded his father Alexis to the throne of Russia. Despite increasing protestations from the clergy, Fyodor continued to emphasis building up relations with Russia's neighbours in Europe, but it was not until the arrival of Peter I (Peter the Great) by 1696 that Russia began opening up to Europe. He took a tour of Europe and returned full of new ideas. The turning of the tide came atPoltava in 1709, when Peter's new army managed to turn back the invading Swedes. Russia made several further territorial gains by the end of the war. Peter also worked on internal reforms and modernised the Russian army along European standards amd also began the construction of St Petersburg, one of the greatest cities in Russia.

Upon his death in 1725, a series of successions followed — Peter the Great had left no clear idea as to who was to succeed him after his death. It was in 1762 that stability and strong leadership was again brought to Russia with Catherine II (Catherine the Great). She began an aggressive expansionist policy that brought large territorial gains for Imperial Russia. After several Russian campaigns against the Turks, Frederick the Great of Prussia brought up the Polish question to divert further Russian expansion in the Balkans against the Turks. Russia actively participated in the first and second partitions (dismantling) of Poland, gaining large chunks of land as a result. Catherine continued the modernising and social reforms of Peter the Great, and was herself a skilled diplomat. During the end of her reign however, the populous ideals of the French revolution caused her to become increasingly defensive and conservative in her policies, and many of the liberal reforms she instituted early in her career were reversed and again the peasantry grew further towards distress. In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia with a force of over half a million men. Marshal Kutukov of the Russian forces knew he could not defeat Napoleon's massive army head on. So he conducted a defensive campaign, raiding the French Forces whenever the opportunity presented itself. By the time Napoleon made it to Moscow, he has lost two thirds of his forces, and found the city deserted and devoid of supplies and even shelter. The Russians were still not ready to surrender, and waited for Napoleon to grow tired of waiting in Moscow for peace terms, which never came. Napoleon was forced to withdraw empty handed, unfortunately by then winter began to set in. His already withered forces were forced to endure a long match through a vast land battered by the Russian winter, and pursued by the Russian forces. By the time they returned to France, only 10,000 troops remained. Ironically, Russia emerged as more powerful and respected as a result of this invasion then she had been previously been, but there were storm clouds hovering on the horizon.

Stephen I

Saint-King Stephen "the Great" (Szent István király, in Hungarian) (about 975 - August 15, 1038),

was the first king of Hungary. His father was the Magyar chieftain Géza: his mother was named Sarolt,

and Stephen was given the name Vajk (meaning hero) at birth. Born a pagan in the village of

Esztergom, Vajk was baptized, as a precondition of accepting the crown from Rome, at age 10 by Saint

Adalbert of Prague, and given the baptismal name Stephen (in honor of the original early Christian

Saint Stephen), protector of the church at Passau).

He was married in 995 to Gisela (Giselle, Gizella in Hungarian) of Bavaria, the daughter of Henry II

the Wrangler, Duke of Bavaria, and his wife Gisela of Burgundy. Stephen and Gisela had many

children, we know the names of the sons Imre (Henry), Ottó (Otto) and Bernát (Bernard), and the

daughters Ágota (Agatha) and Hedvig (Hedwig). Hedwig's daughter was canonized as Saint Cunigunda

of Luxemburg. Saint Astricus served as Stephen's advisor, and Stephen also had Saint Gerard Sagredo

as the tutor for his son Saint Emeric (Imre). 

After battling and defeating the pagan nobles who opposed him (including his uncle, a powerful warlord

named Koppány), Stephen successfully united all the Magyar clans in the Carpathian Basin territory

under his rule in the year 997. According to Hungarian tradition, Pope Silvester II sent a magnificent

jeweled gold crown to Stephen along with an apostolic cross and a letter of blessing in the beginning of

January, 1001 to officially recognize him as a Christian king of Europe.

Stephen divided Hungary up into 50 counties, and continued the work of his father Geza by applying the

decimal organizational system of his ancestors and setting up ten dioceses in Hungary, ordering every

ten villages to erect one church and maintain a priest. He founded the cathedrals of Szekesfehervar and

Esztergom, the Nunnery of Veszprem, the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma, and the Monastery of

Saint Peter and Paul in Obuda. Inside the abbeys and monasteries, schools were established and they

became important centers of culture. Stephen discouraged pagan customs and strengthened Christianity

with various laws, including ending the use of the old Hun-Magyar runic alphabet and making Latin the

official language of the royal court. Stephen gave generously to the churches, personally visited them

often, and supervised their construction. He often disguised himself as a peasant whenever he traveled,

and freely gave money to any poor people he met (in one account, Stephen was beaten and robbed by a

group of beggars he was giving alms to, but he forgave them and spared their lives).

He intended to retire to a life of holy contemplation and hand the kingdom over to his only son Emeric

(Imre), but in 1031 Emeric was wounded in an unfortunate hunting accident and died. In Stephen's

words of mourning:

"By God's secret decision death took him, so that wickedness would not change his soul and false

imaginations would not deceive his mind — as the Book of Wisdom (The Bible) teaches about early

death."

Stephen mourned a very long time over the loss of his favorite son, which took a great toll on his health.

He eventually recovered, but he never regained his original vitality. Most of Stephen's other children

also died young, and he could not find anyone among his remaining relatives who was able to rule the

country competently and willing to maintain the Christian faith of the nation. Unable to choose an heir,

King Stephen died at Székesfehérvár (a city he built in central Hungary) on the Feast of the

Assumption, and was buried there. Both his nobles and his subjects were said to have mourned for 3

straight years afterwards.

Shortly after his death, healing miracles were known to have occurred at his tomb. Stephen was

canonized by the Vatican as Saint Stephen of Hungary in 1083. Catholics venerate him as the patron

saint of: Hungary, kings, the death of children, masons, stonecutters, and bricklayers. His feast is on

September 2, but in Hungary his chief festival is observed on August 20, the day on which his sacred

relics were transferred to the city of Buda. His crown is currently enshrined in the National Museum of

Budapest.

Excerpt from Saint Stephen's admonitions to his son Emeric:

My beloved son, delight of my heart, hope of your posterity, I pray, I command, that at every time and

in everything, strengthened by your devotion to me, you may show favor not only to relations and kin, or

to the most eminent, be they leaders or rich men or neighbors or fellow countrymen, but also to

foreigners and to all who come to you. By fulfilling your duty in this way you will reach the highest

state of happiness. Be merciful to all who are suffering violence, keeping always in your heart the

example of the Lord who said, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." Be patient with everyone, not only

with the powerful, but also with the weak.

Finally be strong lest prosperity lift you up too much or adversity cast you down. Be humble in this life,

that God may raise you up in the next. Be truly moderate and do not punish or condemn anyone

immoderately. Be gentle so that you may never oppose justice. Be honorable so that you may never

voluntarily bring disgrace upon anyone. Be chaste so that you may avoid all the foulness of lust like the

pangs of death. 

All these virtues I have noted above make up the royal crown, and without them no one is fit to rule here

on earth or attain to the heavenly kingdom.

Fall of the Empire

Prior to his death, Alexander II had been planning to convert Russia to a constutional monarchy, but his assassination ended any chances of reform - the last tsars to follow him all strengthened autocratic rule and repression further in an attempt to protect themselves, but to no avail. By 1868, a new nation, Japan was looming on the horizon in the north Pacific. Territorial ambitions bred tensions which led to overt military conflict, which resulted in the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1906, forcing Russia to cede Manchuria and part of the strategically located island to Sakhalin. A decade later, the Russians were drawn into the First World War, and again found itself unprepared in many aspects for modern warfare. Despite the Russian tsar personally joining the fight with his men against Austria and Germany in Poland, Russia continued to suffer defeat after defeat and the reactionary government eventually led the long-suffering people of Russia to finally revolt in 1917, resulting in the fall of the tsardom and the death of the tsar and his family, along with civil war throughout Russia between a variety of pro-tsarist, republican, communist, and anarchist factions as well as intervening expeditions sent by the foreign power

References

1. (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-57378-8)
2. (https://is.muni.cz/el/sci/podzim2004/Z0097/zajimave_texty.pdf)

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