Hunan Vhii-'nanV or Hu-nan Province (pop., 2002 est.: 66,290,000), central China. It lies south of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) and is bor¬ dered by Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Guangdong provinces, Chongqing municipality, and Guangxi autonomous region. It has an area of 81,300 sq mi (210,500 sq km), and its capital is Changsha. Part of the 3rd- century-BC kingdom of Chu, it passed to the Qin dynasty and became part
Allen's hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin)
ARVIL L. PARKER
Doris Humphrey.
CULVER PICTURES
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
910 I Hundred Days ► Hunkar jskelesi
of the Chinese empire during the Han dynasty (206 bc-ad 220). Hubei and Hunan were one province until split in the mid-17th century. Hunan was invaded in 1852 by Taiping rebels, and in 1934 Mao Zedong led the Long March from Hunan. The scene of bitter fighting during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-45), it became part of communist China in 1949. Much of the terrain is mountainous; Mount Heng, one of China’s sacred mountains, is located there. The economy is basically agricultural. Hunan is one of China’s great rice-producing regions.
Hundred Days French Cent Jours (1815) In French history, the period between Napoleon’s arrival in Paris after escaping from exile on Elba and the return of Louis XVIII to Paris. Napoleon landed on French soil on March 1 and reached Paris on March 20. Austria, Britain, Prussia, and Russia swiftly concluded an alliance against Napoleon and forced a series of military engagements that led up to the Battle of Waterloo. On June 22 Napoleon abdicated a second time and was removed to St. Helena; Louis returned to Paris on July 8.
Hundred Years' War (1337 -1453) Intermittent armed conflict between England and France over territorial rights and the issue of suc¬ cession to the French throne. It began when Edward III invaded Flanders in 1337 in order to assert his claim to the French crown. Edward won a major victory at the Battle of Crecy (1346); after his son Edward the Black Prince managed to capture John II at the Battle of Poitiers (1356), the French were obliged to surrender extensive lands under the treaties of Bretigny and Calais (1360). When John II died in captivity, his son Charles V refused to respect the treaties and reopened the conflict, putting the English on the defensive. After Charles V’s death in 1380 both countries were preoccupied with internal power struggles, and the war lapsed into uncertain peace. In 1415, however, Henry V decided to take advantage of civil war in France to press English claims to the French throne (see Battle of Agincourt). By 1422, the English and their Burgundian allies controlled Aquitaine and all France north of the Loire, including Paris. A turning point came in 1429, when Joan of Arc raised the English siege of Orleans. The French king Charles VII conquered Normandy and then retook Aquita¬ ine in 1453, leaving the English in possession only of Calais. The war laid waste to much of France and caused enormous suffering; it virtually destroyed the feudal nobility and thereby brought about a new social order. By ending England’s status as a power on the continent, it led the English to expand their reach and power at sea.
Hung Hsiu-ch'uan See Hong Xiuquan Hung-shan culture See Hongshan culture Hung-shui River See Hongshui River Hung T'ai-chi See Hongtaiji Hung-tse Hu See Hongze Lake Hung-wu emperor See Hongwu emperor
Hungarian language Finno-Ugric language of Hungary, with sub¬ stantial minority populations in Slovakia, Transylvania in Romania, and northern Serbia. Hungarian has about 14.5 million speakers worldwide— more than any other Uralic language —including 400,000-500,000 in North America. The earliest known text in Hungarian dates from the late 12th century; a continuous literary tradition begins in the 15th century. Contact with Turkic, Iranian, and Slavic languages, and, more recently, High German dialects and Latin, has given Hungarian many loanwords.
Hungarian Revolution (1956) Popular uprising in Hungary follow¬ ing a speech by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in which he attacked the period of Joseph Stalin’s rule. Encouraged by the new freedom of debate and criticism, a rising tide of unrest and discontent in Hungary broke out into active fighting in October 1956. Rebels won the first phase of the revolution, and Nagy Imre became premier, agreeing to establish a mul¬ tiparty system. On November 1 he declared Hungarian neutrality and appealed to the UN. Western powers failed to respond, and on Novem¬ ber 4 the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to stop the revolution. Never¬ theless, Stalinist-type domination and exploitation did not return, and Hungary thereafter experienced a slow evolution toward some internal autonomy.
Hungary officially Republic of Hungary Country, central Europe. Area: 35,919 sq mi (93,030 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 10,078,000. Capitaclass="underline" Budapest. The people are an amalgam of Magyars and various Slavic, Turkish, and Germanic peoples. Language: Hungarian (Magyar;
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© 2002 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
official). Religion: Christianity (mostly Roman Catholic; also Protestant). Cur¬ rency: forint. The Great Alfold (Great Hun¬ garian Plain), with fertile agriculture land, occupies nearly half of the country. Hunga¬ ry’s two most important rivers are the Danube and the Tisza. Lake Bala¬ ton, in the Transdanubian highlands, is the largest lake in central Europe. Forests cover nearly one-fifth of the land. Hungary is one of the more prosperous countries of eastern Europe and a major world producer of bauxite. A conversion from a socialist to a free-market economy was begun in the late 1980s. Hungary is a multiparty republic with one leg¬ islative house; the chief of state is the president, and the head of govern¬ ment is the prime minister. The western part of the country was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 14 bc. The Magyars, a nomadic people, settled in the Great Alfold in the late 9th century. Stephen I, crowned in 1000, Christianized the country and organized it into a strong and independent state. Invasions by the Mongols in the 13th century and by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century devastated the country, and by 1568 the territory of modern Hungary was divided into three parts: Royal Hungary had fallen to the Habsburgs; Transylvania had gained autonomy in 1566 under the Ottoman Turks; and the central plain remained under Ottoman control until the late 17th century, when the Austrian Habsburgs took over. Hungary declared its independence from Austria in 1849, and in 1867 the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was established. Its defeat in World War I (1914-18) resulted in the dismem¬ berment of Hungary, leaving it only those areas in which Magyars pre¬ dominated. In an attempt to regain some of this lost territory, Hungary cooperated with the Germans against the Soviet Union during World War II (1939-45). After the war a pro-Soviet provisional government was established, and in 1949 the Hungarian People’s Republic was formed. Opposition to this Stalinist regime broke out in 1956 but was suppressed (see Hungarian Revolution). Nevertheless, from 1956 to 1988 communist Hungary grew to become the most tolerant of the Soviet-bloc nations of Europe. It gained its independence in 1989 and soon attracted the largest amount of direct foreign investment in eastern and central Europe. It joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.