1000–1100 years ago – Hungary in the Carpathian Basin

There are few European states which have been in existence and constantly maintained their statehood for 1100 years. Arriving in the lands around the Tisza and the Danube in 895-896, the Magyars occupied the whole of the Carpathian Basin within a few years and unified the smaller peoples who lived there. In 907, at the Battle of Pozsony (Pressburg), they demonstrated to the whole of Europe their determination and ability to defend their new homeland. After nearly a century of military expeditions across Europe, the new country finalised its borders and established its authority. Its rulers, and particularly the first king, St Stephen, made Hungary into a respected force in Europe, the continent for which it was to serve as a defensive shield over the next thousand years.