Throughout its history, Hungary has changed its form of government several times.
The Kingdom of Hungary existed from AD 1000 to 1946. It was a power in Central Europe throughout the Middle Ages, but in the 16th Century, part of Hungary was occupied by the Ottoman Empire, a Principality of Transylvania, with Royal Hungary under the reign of the House of Hapsburg.
In 1867, Hungary joined with the Austrian Empire, creating the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with the Austrian Emperor also holding the Hungarian throne. At the end of World War I, the empire collapsed, and Hungary saw a series of abortive republics (including a communist soviet) from 1918 to 1920, until the kingdom was re-established. Ironically, the sole head of state was Miklos Horthy, who never claimed the title of king, ruling instead as a regent.
The kingdom fell permanently in 1946 after the Soviet Union occupied the country at the end of World War II, which thwarted all attempts to form a non-communist republic. The Hungarian People's Republic was established in 1949. The head of state was the Chairman of the Presidential Council. However, as was common in Stalinist states, the General Secretary of the ruling party held the true power in the country.
The Hungarian People's Republic ended in 1989, and a new parliamentary republic was established. The president continues to be the head of state, but the office is largely ceremonial.
Harry Turtledove has referenced numerous heads of state of Hungary in his fiction.
Southern Victory[]
Under the rule of the Hapsburg dynasty, Austria-Hungary emerged victorious, if not particularly strong, from the Great War and the Second Great War in the 20th century.
| № |
Monarch | Reign | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Ferenc József I | 
|
1848-1916 |
| 4 | Károly IV | 
|
1916- Incumbent at series' end, 1945 |
Other heads of state[]
Other incumbent heads of state of Hungary in all its forms, including Austria-Hungary, are mentioned in Turtledove works.
József II is the incumbent monarch in "The More it Changes," although the story emphasizes his rule of Austria rather than Hungary.
Miklos Horthy is the incumbent head of state in The War That Came Early, Joe Steele, and ""Zigeuner". In the Early series, he is still in power at the end of the series. In the other two, he is overthrown in 1944 as in OTL.
Ferenc Szálasi succeeds Horthy in 1944 in "Zigeuner," as in OTL.
An unnamed Hapsburg Emperor in The Two Georges rules an Austria Empire which includes Hungary in 1995. As the POD came about in the 1760s, it is likely he also maintains his Hungarian title.
An unnamed Emperor rules Austria-Hungary in 2096 in Curious Notions.
