The biggest Hungarian battles of history

Here are some notable battles throughout Hungarian history, some of which ended in victories while others ended in serious losses.

Battle of Pressburg

The Battle of Pressburg – also known as the Battle of Pozsony or Bratislava – was fought for three days between July 4-6, 907, ending in Hungarian victory. The Hungarian forces went up against the East Francian Army.

Despite being called the Battle of Pressburg (Bratislava), it is not known if it actually took place there; some people claim the battle was fought at “Brezalauspurc” – wherever that may be – or somewhere near Zalavár.

Because of the Battle of Pressburg, the Kingdom of Hungary was established, lands the Hungarians conquered in the Carpathian Basin were secured, and no one tried to invade the Kingdom in the coming 120 years. Another notable outcome of the battle was that the Kingdom of East Francia lost control over the Carolingian March of Pannonia.

The Hungarian casualties were deemed not significant, but the East Francian army was nearly annihilated. From their four commanders, three – Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria, Dietmar I, Archbishop of Salzburg, and Prince Sieghard – died, and only Louis the Child remained. Two other bishops, three abbots, and 19 counts, among many others, were lost as well.

This battle is clearly one of the most significant ones, as it allowed the Kingdom of Hungary to be established and ended the Hungarian conquest. You can read more about the battle HERE.

Battle of Augsburg

The battle that ended with huge Hungarian losses took place on August 10, 955, where German forces defeated the Hungarians near Augsburg.

A year prior to the battle, the son of Otto I, or Otto the Great, Liudolf, conspired against his father, along with his brother-in-law, and they requested help from the Hungarians. Otto I, however, stopped their rebellion before the Hungarians even passed the border. The next year, the Hungarians thought it was time for a new looting campaign, and they sent messengers to Otto I, telling him to pay them taxes, but he only sent presents in return, wrote Dívány.

The Hungarians stumbled into Bavaria in late July and decided to loot and capture Augsburg. The Hungarian forces had fewer than 25,000 people, and Otto I greatly overestimated it, thinking the Hungarian troops consisted of hundreds of thousands of people.

On August 8, the Hungarians started their siege of Augsburg, and the protectors of Augsburg managed to fight them off for three days, when Otto I finally got there, with eight thousand people, divided into eight legions.

When the Hungarians heard the king was on his way, they stopped the siege and went to the other side of the River Lech during the night.

Otto I had figured out the strengths and weaknesses of the Hungarians before they got to the field, and he knew they were not great at close-combat and that they were used to battles on prairies. The rain over the night also helped the Germans’ case, forcing the Hungarians to lower the nerves from their bows.

Although the Germans suffered serious casualties during the battle, it still ended with a decisive Hungarian loss. All three commanders of the Hungarian forces were captured and later executed in Regensburg.

Siege of Eger

Everyone has heard and learned about the Siege of Eger in school and from Géza Gárdonyi’s book, Egri csillagok. It is an emblem of patriotic heroism in Hungary.

The Siege happened during the Ottoman Wars in Europe, in 1552. Kara Ahmed Pasha led the Ottoman Empire to besiege the Castle of Eger, while István Dobó and the defenders of the castle heroically fought against them.

Before the Siege of Eger, two Christian forts fell in Temesvár and Szolnok, which were huge losses to the Hungarians, so when Ahmed and Ali joined their armies before going to Eger, many believed Eger to be a lost cause.