Overview/History of Hungary and the European Union
The nation of Hungary is a country that has come a long way in a short period of time. In the years since the fall of communism in 1989 in this country, Hungary has managed to establish an extremely prosperous economy and population. Because of this, Hungary has developed into one of Eastern Europe¡¯s most attractive business environments. ¡°The level of political, structural and economic stability it has achieved demonstrates the success of its transition into a modern market economy. ¡± This stability has allowed for Hungary to become a member of numerous international organizations, such as the OECD, NATO, and most recently the European Union in May 2004. Hungary¡¯s membership in the EU, although short so far, has brought about many changes in the nation, both positive and negative. The nation has always served as a crossroads that connects Eastern Europe to Western Europe, and this coupled with EU membership will only allow Hungary¡¯s economy to grow more.
The Eastern European nation of Hungary has a population of a little more than 10.2 million people with about 2.5 million, or 25% of the country's population, living in and around the capital city of Budapest. Hungary¡¯s populace is made up of mostly Hungarians with ethnic minorities of Romanians, Germans, Serbs, and Slovaks. The nation is mostly Catholic with minority religions of Calvinism, Lutheran, and other religions. The life expectancy for the total population is 72.25 years and the literacy rate is very high, with 99.5% of the total population able to read and write, which demonstrates the exceptional educational system in this country. The nation has well-established transportation, communication, banking, insurance, accounting, and legal systems. All of this allows for a prosperous nation.
For centuries Hungary had been part of the Holy Roman Empire under the rule of the Hapsburg monarchy. This was until the monarchy was overthrown during WWI and Hungary became a democratic republic; however political and social unrest continued for many years, with the government returning to a monarchy at the end of WWI. The nation also lost two-thirds of its territory as part of the unfair peace settlements following this war. This coupled with economic distress provided ¡°incentive for resurgent Hungarian nationalism. ¡±
After World War II, Hungary became a republic once again and held democratic elections after which a coalition government was formed. However, the Hungarian Communist Party, supported by the Soviet army, did not accept the results and overthrew the lawful government and assumed power.
The European Union has been helped economically ever since World War II. Right after World War II’s end, Europe was struggling to hold on. The countries of the modern-day European Union thought it would be a good idea to come together and help each others struggling economy. To this day, this decision has had a very positive outcome on the EU’s economy. As shown in Diagram 1, the European Union combined together has the world’s highest GDP at 18.3 Trillion USD as compared to the United States’ 17.4 Trillion USD GDP and China’s 10.4 Trillion USD GDP. The idea
The Articles of Confederation was ratified in 1871 and considered to be the first Constitution of the United States. The goal of the Articles of Confederation was to ensure each states maintains its independence, sovereignty, and freedom. The Articles were ratified by all 13 states. (Daniel, P.14, 2010) The Confederation Congress called for a convention to meet in 1787 to be held in Philadelphia. The nature of the convention was to revise the articles of Confederation. The Confederation congress wanted the Constitution to be changed in a way that would render the federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union. (Daniel, P.14, 2010)
The population of the Russian Empire constituted of about 125 million people. However, only 55.65 million were Russians. The rest of the Empire was inhabited by Ukrainians, Poles, Byelorussians and Jews. All these different peoples came from different cultures and had their own language. This variety in population made getting information across the country much harder.
One difference between the Hungarians and the Czechs was the effects of nationalism on the uprisings. Rooted in their history from 1848 Revolution against the Habsburg Empire, the Hungarians sought independence with the death of Stalin. Matyas Rakoski, a Stalin protégé, came to power as General Secretary of the Hungarian Worker’s Party in 1949. Using his authority as General Secretary, Rakoski oppressed the people of Hungary including purging political dissidents and killing 2,000 people of the total population. He used the State Protection Agency to carry out the purges bringing in an administration of absolute control and fear to the people of Hungary. But, the Hungarians would not completely abandon their nationalist hop...
The Articles of Confederation were approved by Congress on November 15, 1777 and ratified by the states on March 1, 1781. It was a modest attempt by a new country to unite itself and form a national government. The Articles set up a Confederation that gave most of the power to the states. Many problems arose and so a new Constitution was written in 1787 in Independence Hall. The new Constitution called for a much more unified government with a lot more power. Let us now examine the changes that were undertaken.
In comparing the Articles of Confederation with the U.S constitution that was produced by the federal convention in 1787, it is important to note that the U.S operated under both documents. During March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation went into effect when it was ratified by Maryland. However, the U.S constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation as soon as it was ratified on June 21, 1788 by New Hampshire. The main difference between the Articles of Confederations and the U.S Constitution is that the constitution didn’t force the laws, but established the why of the constitution. In establishing the why, it warranted the farmers to work on the government being better than the Articles of Confederations. They wanted the government
After the Revolutionary War, the newly formed United States still had a major task ahead of them. They had to form a new government that would satisfy the demands of the people and ensure the success of their nation. The Articles of Confederation was the first system of government that was proposed and put into effect. This attempt at creating a system that protected the people form a strong central government ultimately failed but was an important step in the development of the current government system. The weaknesses presented by the Articles of Confederation helped lead to reforms that made the Constitution successful. Both the Articles and the Constitution demonstrate the struggles that the colonists went through with the British and their desire to establish a new tyranny free government.
Many founders believed that the Articles of Confederation were moving smoothly and everyone was completely satisfied on how the government was moving. It all started with Patrick Henry who stated that many citizens believed that they were not represented by government which led to the New Jersey Plan and Virginia Plan controversy. This controversy began with the Virginia Plan, which was a plan drafted by James Madison that contained two houses and wanted representation in Congress to be based off of population. However, in rebuttal to the plan, the New Jersey Plan was raised, which boasted a unicameral government, which consisted of one house, and wanted each state to have equal representation, essentially numbing and denying population and
Government". This statement is invalid on the premise that "an unregulated global economy dominated by corporations that recognize money as their only value is inherently unstable, egregiously unequal, destructive of markets, democracy, and life, and is impoverishing humanity in real terms even as it enriches a few in financial terms." 1 John Dickenson’s original drafted model of the Articles of Confederation for the young United States as a nation was modified by Congress to protect individual powers of the states. It is important to note that the question specifies from the time of the articles ratification to the point where the first session of Congress took place under the Constitution. The Articles made a central government consisting of a unicameral legislature where each state was given a vote, with nine votes out of thirteen necessary to pass laws that were considered important; whereas a Committee of States, with one representative from each state could make minor decisions when the full Congress was not in session. An amendment of the articles required a unanimous vote. The most important powers of the government under the articles included the power to wage war, make treaties, send diplomatic representatives, and borrow money. The government lacked the power to regulate commerce, or to collect taxes, and this forced the congress to rely on the taxes which were voted by each state. The congress also did not have the power to enforce its laws. The lack of these fundamental powers rendered the government ineffective. The people involved in the crafting of the Articles as weak did so. The government put forth,...
Internally, several factors lead to the radical events in October of 1956. the forces of the Soviet Union pressed the ideas of soviet communism almost unilaterally, ?the Soviet Embassy supervised all activities in Hungary?Soviet ?experts? were present in all important agencies (Felkay 45).? The communist regime in Hungary wanted to remake Hungary in the image of the Soviet Union, ?the newly elected Peoples? Front adopted a new Hungarian Constitution , almost an exact copy of the Soviet Constitution of 1936 (Felkay 43).? Such Sovietization was of course aided by the Soviet Union, and it had been a policy of Stalin, to ?aid and support the fledgling Soviet states by any and all means necessary (?
The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States of America. The Articles of Confederation were first drafted by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1777. This first draft was prepared by a man named John Dickinson in 1776. The Articles were then ratified in 1781. The cause for the changes to be made was due to state jealousies and widespread distrust of the central authority. This jealousy then led to the emasculation of the document.
The Articles of Confederation was America’s first constitution. The Articles of Confederation were adopted by Congress in 1777 and provided for a “firm league of friendship” between the thirteen independent states. The Articles were in force from March 1, 1781, to June 21, 1788 and had both positive and negative effects on the states. The Articles of Confederation provided a very effective form of government with respect to the western lands but, in contrast, the government under the Articles of Confederation struggled in terms of foreign relations.
In the period directly following Cornwallis’s surrender, the fresh nation discovered a new task, governing their now-sovereign territories. A meeting of the minds, of the upper echelon of society, was convened to draft a document that would lay out the blueprints for the inaugural government. The resulting document was the Articles of Confederation. The Articles turned out to be a horrible system in practice. In theory they prevented central abuse of power by not allocating relevant power to the government and disallowing a head of state, a president. States squabbled with one another and resembled something of an early day United Nations. The Federal government could do nothing to settle inter-state disputes, nor could they levy taxes, hold a military, or enforce laws. Needless to say the government projected a national and international front that was poor, weak, and inefficient. The very founders who sought a limited government new that vast change was needed, and scrapping the Articles altogether was not out of the question.
Hungary is in Central Europe, Northwest of Romania. It was “a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until its collapse during World War I” (Factbook). After World War II, the country fell to Stalin’s regime. The announcement of Hungary’s removal in the Warsaw Pact caused a vast riot. The Hungarian Revolution was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-forced policies. It was the first major threat to Soviet control since the USSR's forces drove out the Nazis at the end of World War II. In spite of the failure of the revolution, it was exceedingly significant, and came to play a position in the downfall of the Soviet Union years later.
The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007 has been termed as the largest single expansion of the EU with a total of 12 new member states – bringing the number of members to 27 – and more than 77 million citizens joining the Commission (Murphy 2006, Neueder 2003, Ross 2011). A majority of the new member states in this enlargement are from the eastern part of the continent and were countries that had just emerged from communist economies (EC 2009, Ross 2011), although overall, the enlargement also saw new member states from very different economic, social and political compared to that of the old member states (EC 2009, Ross 2011). This enlargement was also a historical significance in European history, for it saw the reunification of Europe since the Cold War in a world of increasing globalization (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). For that, overall, this enlargement is considered by many to have been a great success for the EU and its citizens but it is not without its problems and challenges (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). This essay will thus examine the impact of the 2004/2007 enlargements from two perspectives: firstly, the impact of the enlargements on the EU as a whole, and thereafter, how the enlargements have affected the new member states that were acceded during the 2004/2007 periods. Included in the essay will be the extent of their integration into the EU and how being a part of the Commission has contributed to their development as nation states. Following that, this essay will then evaluate the overall success of the enlargement process and whether the EU or the new member states have both benefited from the accessions or whether the enlargement has only proven advantageous to one th...