Szolnok is a city with county status, the seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county and the Szolnok district, one of the most important crossing points of the Tisza.
The origin of his name
According to Lajos Kiss, with the
Hungarian naming derived from mere personal names, he highlights the
personal names Zolnic and Zounuc from the documents of the age as
possible sources. These personal names can be derivatives of the
Hungarian noun “word” with the meaning “advocate”, “follow”.
(Similar to the origin of the place name Fegyvernek.) Others derive
its name from the Slavic salt (sol) because of the early medieval
salt transport route from Transylvania to this day.
Location,
natural features
Szolnok is located in the middle of the Great
Plain, 100 km from Budapest, on the banks of the Tisza, at the mouth
of the Zagyva. Its climate is continental, with hot, dry summers
usually followed by cold winters. This landscape has the highest
number of hours of sunshine, with an average rainfall of 480-500 mm.
Outstanding among the natural endowments is that the city and its
area are very rich in living waters. In addition to the Tisza and
the Zagyva, the Holt-Tisza and the Holt-Zagyva are also rich in
natural values.
Vizei
Just as the existence of Egypt is
due to the Nile, so Szolnok owes its existence to the Tisza (and the
Zagyva). The original core of the town, built at the confluence of
the Tisza and Zagyva, was somewhere in the V-shaped area surrounded
by the two rivers. Prior to the regulation of the Zagyva, the
northern part of the "V" may have been a relatively closed, swampy
area. The Tisza is meant to be a source of livelihood, a transport
route and protection for the people living there at the same time.
The "Centipede" leading to today's Tiszaliget from Szandaszőlős to
Szolnok originally spans over one of the previously abandoned
riverbeds of the Tisza. If we look at the map made during the first
military survey, it can be seen that before the river regulation,
the island of Alcsi, south of the living Tisza, was originally a
peninsula of the Tisza and roads from east and south-west Dead
Tisza. Following the river regulation, this branch moved out of the
"living" Tisza, today a popular kayak. canoeing and fishing spot.
In addition to surface waters, deep hot artesian waters have
also been found, which feed the baths of the Tisza Hotel and the
Tiszaliget, as well as provide drinking water to the population in
several parts of the city.
Earth history
The highest point
of Szolnok is the Pál Beke mound 101.3 m, located on the outskirts
of Szandaszőlős. According to Szandaszőlős, according to deep
drilling, the basin floor is located at a depth of approximately 2
km. The subsurface crust is derived from the European plaque,
crystalline, presumably pre-Cambrian (about 1 billion years old).
Its oldest rocks are those of similar age in the Mecsek, but related
to the rocks on the surface. As a reminder of later ages, deep
boreholes in the north-east-southwest strike direction also found
Triassic-Jurassic limestones in the deep. Cretaceous and the older
Tertiary period left volcanic remnants and fleece sediments. In the
older Tertiary period, fleece deposits formed again under Szolnok,
and then in the younger part of the Tertiary period, thick volcanic
rock layers formed. At the end of the Tertiary period, the
recharging Pannonian Sea left hundreds of meters thick sediments
behind. Due to their plastic nature, these sediments tend to tip
over the topography of the older basin floor. Subsequently, river,
floodplain and lake sediments were deposited. The thickness of the
loess is no more than one or two meters. Finally, the wind blew out
river sand, which can be found on the surface at most points in
Szolnok or several meters thick just below the surface. The
boreholes found artesian water at a depth of about 900m, currently a
well is operating in Szandaszőlős. The presence of natural gas in
the rock layers below the city is also known from deep wells.
Megafauna on the banks of the Tisza
From the river sediments
deposited in the last stage of the Paleolithic, huge bison skulls,
occasionally mammoth bones and the remains of other large mammals,
were found in the Tisza. They were often found in dredges or simple
fishing nets, other times in works that accompanied river
regulation. In the last third of the ice age, there may have been a
real open-air “game park” in what is now Szolnok, with many large
mammals that are now extinct, as well as animals that live much
further north today (e.g. moose, reindeer).
Among the bones
fished from the Tisza were the remains of primates, red deer,
mammoths, woolly rhinos, primordials, giant deer, primates. These
animals visited the forest-strudel and grassy wasteland habitats of
the river area in large flocks and herds, as well as the former
grove forests. Once upon a time, the fauna along the Tisza was
unparalleled. According to the excavated remains, this megafauna
lived in the last stage of the ice age, the Upper Pleistocene. The
composition of the fauna that can be reconstructed from the bones
found in the Tisza is roughly the same as that lived here for the
last 120-130 thousand years.
At the end of the ice age, large
herds of large animals migrated, using the floodplain of the Tisza
as a resting and feeding place. In the latest phase of the ice age,
reindeer bones were found in the greatest amount.
But it wasn’t just animal remains that came out of this age.
Before the Ice Age, the area and the later exterior and interior of
the city were already inhabited. Finds proving the Paleolithic
settlement of the people in Szolnok also appeared in the 1800s.
Mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, primeval bison remains, bone cups
polished from mammoths and, at Tiszaörvény, a bone cup carved from
the rose part of a moose antler were also found. These finds can be
said to be extremely valuable and unique both domestically and
internationally.
The bones of the following glacial animals
were found (the list is not complete):
Bison priscus
Alces
alces (Moose)
Bos primigenius Őstulok)
Coelodonta antiquitatis
(Woolly rhinoceros)
Mammuthus primigenius (Woolly mammoth)
Megaloceros giganteus (Giant Deer)
A large number of finds from the Tisza (many pieces come from the
Tisza section in Szolnok) were transferred to the Hungarian State
Institute of Geology, in the Earth and Paleontological Museum of the
Hungarian Museum of Natural History. In the latter collection, a
mammoth tibia beaten on a chain is preserved. The bone was fished
out of the Tisza near Szolnok in the early 1800s. After that, the
superstitious people took him to Shepherd, and the mayors of the
village decided to iron him. He was hung over the village gate as a
protective amulet or talisman.
Nice finds can also be seen in
the János Damjanich Museum, the Tiszazugi Geographical Museum in
Tiszaföldvár and the Károly Viski Museum in Kalocsa, as well as in
the Mike Tóth collection. The exact cause of the extinction of the
megafauna is currently unknown, one possible theory being the
so-called A Pleistocene-Holocene impact event that seeks to explain
the worldwide rapid extinction of large animals by celestial impact.
History
From the Late Paleolithic to the Neolithic
The
area has been inhabited since the Paleolithic. The first known
settlers were able to live in temporary tents made of animal skins
laid on wooden piles or covered with reeds, as evidenced by the
surviving pile holes. Their main prey was first mammoth and
reindeer, then deer, deer and wild boar. They also survived stone
tools made of white flint with microlite technique.
From the
Neolithic age, remnants of fishing gear, such as net weights and
hooks, have often survived, which shows the importance of fishing in
the livelihoods of the people of that time. They were usually made
of clay, like the ritual statuettes that form gods, bulls, and
stylized female figures. In Szandszőlős, they came across a
Neolithic community who had already settled in the area on a
permanent basis.
The people of the Mesolithic already lived
in permanent settlements. They dealt with agriculture and animal
husbandry, the reconstructed interior of the house can be seen in
the János Damjanich Museum. The houses were mostly made of wood. The
cart has already been used, and a model of it has survived. Large
pottery washes were used for grain storage.
From the Bronze
Age to the Late Iron Age
During the Bronze Age, new ethnic groups
arrived in the Carpathian Basin. The Kucorgó mound or tell é on the
border of Tószeg near Szolnok. s. 47 ° 06 ′ 01 ″, k. h. In the place
of 20 ° 08 ′ 22 ″ there was an extensive settlement, thick layers of
adobe accumulated from the material of the houses. People at that
time kept horses, pigs, sheep, and cattle and collected shells from
the river. The finds also include bronze tools, swords, and mussel
remains, suggesting the existence of long-distance trade.
The
Romans could not create military positions in the Great Plain, so in
ancient times Scythians, Celts and Sarmatians lived in the area.
Based on the finds, the machining of iron tools and their use, as
well as pottery and discing, were introduced by the Scythians in the
vicinity of Szolnok.
Many Scythian sites have been found in
Szolnok and its immediate surroundings. Such was the case of the
settlement remains found during the construction of the Zagyva Dam,
where a fragment of a vessel was found, and a mug was found in
Szandaszőlős.
The Scythians were followed by the Celts. The
Celtic armament left us with navel ornaments of iron swords and
shields, as well as iron parts for horse tools.
Subsequently,
Sarmatians of Iranian origin settled around the city. The Sarmatian
population was at times in war and at other times in trade relations
with the Roman Empire. Roman money, weapons, jewelry and pottery are
not uncommon in the finds. During the expansion of the military
airport (in 1952), 223 Sarmatian and Gepid tombs were excavated.
From here an extremely rich find was found: gilded and ornate
fibulas, iron weapons, bone combs, belt clips and utensils. After
the Sarmatians, Germanic-speaking peoples took possession of the
Great Plain.
The age of migration
Archaeologists have
found a significant treasure of the Gepids in the area of Ó-Szanda
in Szandaszőlős. Glass was already known, they wore heavy beads made
of colored-striped glass. After the retreat of the Gepids, the area
was inhabited by Avars. Like the Hungarians, the richer ones buried
with their horses. The conquering Hungarians settled here in the
10th century, our significant memory is the beautiful golden tarso
plate found in Strázsahalom, Szolnok.
The Hun expansion at
the beginning of the 5th century left no archaeological material in
Szolnok. It is conceivable that the conquered and allied Germanic
peoples remained in place at the time of the attack, or fled and the
area was completely depopulated for a time.
In the middle of
the 6th century, the Avars appeared and their dominance was evident
throughout the 9th century. The Rákóczifalva Castle Cemetery
suggests that they had significant accommodation only 1.5 km from
Szandaszőlős.
Medieval Szolnok
A large number of finds from the Tisza (many pieces come from the
Tisza section in Szolnok) were transferred to the Hungarian State
Institute of Geology, in the Earth and Paleontological Museum of the
Hungarian Museum of Natural History. In the latter collection, a
mammoth tibia beaten on a chain is preserved. The bone was fished
out of the Tisza near Szolnok in the early 1800s. After that, the
superstitious people took him to Shepherd, and the mayors of the
village decided to iron him. He was hung over the village gate as a
protective amulet or talisman.
Nice finds can also be seen in
the János Damjanich Museum, the Tiszazugi Geographical Museum in
Tiszaföldvár and the Károly Viski Museum in Kalocsa, as well as in
the Mike Tóth collection. The exact cause of the extinction of the
megafauna is currently unknown, one possible theory being the
so-called A Pleistocene-Holocene impact event that seeks to explain
the worldwide rapid extinction of large animals by celestial impact.
History
From the Late Paleolithic to the Neolithic
The
area has been inhabited since the Paleolithic. The first known
settlers were able to live in temporary tents made of animal skins
laid on wooden piles or covered with reeds, as evidenced by the
surviving pile holes. Their main prey was first mammoth and
reindeer, then deer, deer and wild boar. They also survived stone
tools made of white flint with microlite technique.
From the
Neolithic age, remnants of fishing gear, such as net weights and
hooks, have often survived, which shows the importance of fishing in
the livelihoods of the people of that time. They were usually made
of clay, like the ritual statuettes that form gods, bulls, and
stylized female figures. In Szandszőlős, they came across a
Neolithic community who had already settled in the area on a
permanent basis.
The people of the Mesolithic already lived
in permanent settlements. They dealt with agriculture and animal
husbandry, the reconstructed interior of the house can be seen in
the János Damjanich Museum. The houses were mostly made of wood. The
cart has already been used, and a model of it has survived. Large
pottery washes were used for grain storage.
From the Bronze
Age to the Late Iron Age
During the Bronze Age, new ethnic groups
arrived in the Carpathian Basin. The Kucorgó mound or tell é on the
border of Tószeg near Szolnok. s. 47 ° 06 ′ 01 ″, k. h. In the place
of 20 ° 08 ′ 22 ″ there was an extensive settlement, thick layers of
adobe accumulated from the material of the houses. People at that
time kept horses, pigs, sheep, and cattle and collected shells from
the river. The finds also include bronze tools, swords, and mussel
remains, suggesting the existence of long-distance trade.
The
Romans could not create military positions in the Great Plain, so in
ancient times Scythians, Celts and Sarmatians lived in the area.
Based on the finds, the machining of iron tools and their use, as
well as pottery and discing, were introduced by the Scythians in the
vicinity of Szolnok.
Many Scythian sites have been found in
Szolnok and its immediate surroundings. Such was the case of the
settlement remains found during the construction of the Zagyva Dam,
where a fragment of a vessel was found, and a mug was found in
Szandaszőlős.
The Scythians were followed by the Celts. The
Celtic armament left us with navel ornaments of iron swords and
shields, as well as iron parts for horse tools.
Subsequently,
Sarmatians of Iranian origin settled around the city. The Sarmatian
population was at times in war and at other times in trade relations
with the Roman Empire. Roman money, weapons, jewelry and pottery are
not uncommon in the finds. During the expansion of the military
airport (in 1952), 223 Sarmatian and Gepid tombs were excavated.
From here an extremely rich find was found: gilded and ornate
fibulas, iron weapons, bone combs, belt clips and utensils. After
the Sarmatians, Germanic-speaking peoples took possession of the
Great Plain.
The age of migration
Archaeologists have
found a significant treasure of the Gepids in the area of Ó-Szanda
in Szandaszőlős. Glass was already known, they wore heavy beads made
of colored-striped glass. After the retreat of the Gepids, the area
was inhabited by Avars. Like the Hungarians, the richer ones buried
with their horses. The conquering Hungarians settled here in the
10th century, our significant memory is the beautiful golden tarso
plate found in Strázsahalom, Szolnok.
The Hun expansion at
the beginning of the 5th century left no archaeological material in
Szolnok. It is conceivable that the conquered and allied Germanic
peoples remained in place at the time of the attack, or fled and the
area was completely depopulated for a time.
In the middle of
the 6th century, the Avars appeared and their dominance was evident
throughout the 9th century. The Rákóczifalva Castle Cemetery
suggests that they had significant accommodation only 1.5 km from
Szandaszőlős.
Medieval Szolnok
Szolnok was first mentioned in 1075 in the founding letter of
Géza I. in Garamszentbenedek, in the form of Zounok. Saunik was
probably the first chief of Szolnok county, who was murdered
together with Bishop Gellért during the Vata pagan revolt. A 11-13.
In the 16th century, the city is mentioned in versions ZOUNOK,
SAUNIC, ZOUNUC and ZAWNUCH. During the reign of the Árpád House,
it was a market town, the center of Szolnok County. Depopulated
during the Tartar invasion, IV. Béla repopulated it. They presumably
surrounded the city with an embankment made of earth, which was
destroyed during centuries of urbanization. Szolnok changed hands
several times during these centuries, and its owners did not
undertake major construction projects. Contemporary records
repeatedly mention it only as a village. The castle and the town of
Szolnok were formed by organizing the feudal state on the banks of
the Tisza, at the mouth of the Zagyva. As the seat of Ispánság, it
also served as a church center. It was a church seat erected by ten
settlements according to the decree of St. Stephen.
Szolnok
was a royal estate until the dissolution of the royal county. In the
11th century, the role of the Tisza ferry, customs center and county
center facilitated its rapid development. It is known that goods
from the Maramures salt mines could be transported cheaply to
Szolnok by water on the Tisza. In addition, overland roads also
passed through it. Nevertheless, it retained its market town image
for most of the Middle Ages and did not develop into a larger city.
Until 1552, its castle remained an earthen castle and a palisade
castle. Szolnok was saved from the thirties by King Sigismund of
Luxembourg in 1422 and from customs in 1429, and can be called a
market town from then on. There was a salt office and a thirtieth
office in the town, and due to the disposal of Aranybulla, the two
main salt warehouses in the country were in Szolnok and Szeged until
the arrival of the Turks. (However, the name of the city is
unrelated to the Slavic word 'salt'.)
Szolnok in Turkish
times
Szolnok and Szolnok Castle played an important role in the
border fortress system: after the occupation of Timişoara and the
Danube-Tisza-Maros corner, the Turks had to occupy only one major
fortress, Szolnok Castle. After Szolnok, the next significant
fortress to the north is Eger Castle. The ridge of royal Hungary,
the Highlands, was protected from the south by only these two major
castles. Hungarian, Transylvanian, and Viennese intelligence
officers have reported since June 1552 that after the fall of
Timisoara, the Turks would first go on the siege of Szolnok and then
Eger. The occupation of the two castles was in the strong interest
of Ali's pasha in Buda. After the most significant plain forts fell,
II. Sultan Suleiman instructed Ahmed, Ali, and Mohammed to command
their armies against these two frontier castles.
On the site
of the old Szolnok earthen castle, on the instructions of Ferdinand
I, in 1550–51, due to the Turkish threat, Szolnok was surrounded by
a city wall (partly according to the plan of István Dobó), the
castle was fortified and Lőrinc Nyáry was appointed head. Nyáry
commanded 1,400 Spanish, German, Czech and small Hungarian soldiers.
The castle was equipped with 24 cannons, 3,000 rifles, 800 glaze
gunpowder and large quantities of food. Work had already begun in
September 1552 and was proceeding with great haste. They dug today’s
estuary section of the Zagyva, which is therefore not the original
riverbed for the river. (The original part of the riverbed has now
been recharged and only a small lake remains in front of the MÁV
hospital in Szolnok. Today it is known as the remnants of the former
moat.)
On September 2, 1552, a 40,000-strong army of Pasha
Ahmed Ali under siege the castle. First, the German mercenaries
dealt with the idea of escape, but the Hungarian Nazads escaped
for the first time. On the night of September 3, Hungarian and
Spanish riders swam across the Tisza, and then the Nassadians
returned for pedestrians. On the night of September 4, 1552, the
mercenaries fled, leaving the castle to its fate. The castle gate
was left open in the morning, Lőrinc Nyáry of Bedeghi and the 50
Hajdú captive to him fell into captivity. The castle was occupied by
the Turks until 1685.
István Mekcsey wrote to his sister four
days before the Turkish foreman arrived in Eger:
… I can't
write anything else,… but we are waiting for the weight every day,
because Szolnok has now been given by the traitors.
Ahmed and
Mohamed left a garrison of about 2,000 in Szolnok Castle before
setting off against Eger.
The Turks established the Sandzak in Szolnok in 1553 and will
undergo significant construction, a mosque, a bath, a minaret were
built, and in 1562 the first permanent Tisza bridge in the country
was built here. The remains of the Turkish bridge in Szolnok came to
light at the low water level of the Tisza in August 2003. Turkish
relics were completely destroyed during later battles and largely
due to deliberate destruction, leaving only the foundations of the
minaret, the location of which is indicated by a fountain. The only
Turkish codex written in Hungary, which describes Suleiman's
campaign, was copied in Szolnok. From the time of the occupation,
Turkish and Hungarian ceramics remained.
After the Turks
In 1685, the city was liberated from the Turks under the direction
of Generals Sigbert Heister and Claude Florimond de Mercy, which
also caused great damage to it. General Castle Antonio Caraffa
repaired the castle because of its strategic importance. The tasks
of state power and state administration were performed by the
governors of the counties temporarily united by Heves and
Külső-Szolnok until 1876 and by the officers of the Hungarian
Chamber in Bratislava in Óbuda. The former two were usually
represented in Szolnok by a jury and a commissioner. In 1697, Imre
Thököly set the castle on fire. The events of the Rákóczi War of
Independence reached Szolnok in 1703 and 1706 and the city became
equal to the land again. In 1706 II. The leader of Ferenc Rákóczi,
Ferenc Deák, set the castle on fire to prevent the emperors from
using it, and Imperial Commander Jean Rabutin scattered some of the
stones of the ruined castle. In 1710, troops loyal to Rákóczi
recaptured the castle, but it was evacuated again on October 10 from
Marquis Joseph Cusani, Imperial Leader. After the Rákóczi War of
Independence, the castle was permanently destroyed, and its remains
were scattered. The devastation was so large that a 1749 record
makes only mention of a pub and a brewery employing nine people.
Today's city has nothing to do with the old. According to
credible data, he died ten times as a result of a hostile rush. But
his worst was his eleventh devastation, which completely swept him
off the face of the earth. On March 12, 1739, a terrible cyclone
raged through a city that had risen from its ruins just two decades
earlier. According to a contemporary description, a fire also broke
out, which together with the windstorm destroyed everything. Not
even a living tree remained in the ground. He also scattered pine
fibers on the Tisza, the bridge was torn by the hurricane and
destroyed by fire. Only the church built at that time and the
monastic monastery escaped the demise, which was due to its
isolation, because the city at that time did not extend beyond the
castle beyond today's marketplace. This terrible destruction
destroyed all the old memories, it destroyed the old valuable
documents of the city. There is therefore almost no line from the
time before 1740 on the activities of the urban magistratus.
-
Dr. István Vörös, high school teacher: Drawings from the past of the
city of Szolnok and Szolnok rt. history of the city, 1926
Noble families
Bedekovics, Czakó, Philippines, Móra, Sándor,
Plot, Dompa, Vincze
The "resurrected" city
The city slowly
began to develop again. The regulation of the Tisza and steam
navigation increased the importance of Szolnok. From 1847 Szolnok
was connected to Pest by rail. The government fleeing Pest from the
Austrians in January 1849 used the new railway.
Szolnok in
the Revolution and War of Independence of 1848-49
The people of
Szolnok also took part in the war of independence in 1848-49.
Before the well-known battle of Szolnok on March 5 - on January
22 - there will be a battle with the Austrian troops led by Perczel.
After the capital was occupied by Austrian troops,
Windisch-Grätz ordered Ottinger's cavalry brigade to chase Mór
Perczel's troops behind the Tisza. The imperial troops arrived in
Szolnok on January 13, 1849 (the Tisza bridgehead was guarded by
only a century). Perczel was ordered from Debrecen to occupy
Szolnok, who was approaching from Törökszentmiklós, and from Tiszabő
to Kazynczi's brigade. The bloodiest and decisive battle of the
battle took place in the city, where in a cavalry the Hungarians
overcame the Austrians, who did not stop until Cegléd. Seeing the
situation, Windisch-Grätz sent more troops to occupy Szolnok. The
Hungarians retreated to the eastern bank of the Tisza due to their
superiority, and on January 28, 1849, the Austrians took possession
of Szolnok again.
The emperors thought that the next attack would be expected from
Szanda (today Szandaszőlős), but Damjanich's troops crossed the left
bank of the Tisza at Cibakháza and marched from Tószeg towards
Szolnok.
On March 5, 1849, in the battle of Szolnok, the
troops of General Damjanich and Count Károly Vécsey won a victory
over the Austrian brigade Karger. Around 9 o'clock in the morning,
to the surprise of the Austrians, the Hungarians launched an attack
around the Indóház and the Újváros School. During the battle of a
few hours, some of the emperors were killed in Zagyva, while others
were able to escape. The Hungarians brought the Tisza crossing under
their control.
Szolnok in the age of the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy
On September 4, 1876, the Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County
Legislature held its inaugural meeting. The new county was
established in XXX76. was created on the basis of an article of law.
From then on, its former areas of Nagykunság, Jászság and Outer
Szolnok were under its authority. The first deputy of the new county
became the last deputy captain of the Jászkun District, Sipos Orbán
from Jászság. On September 25, 1876, the first ordinary assembly of
the new county took place. In doing so, a decision was made on the
coat of arms of the county and an Administrative Commission was
established. In September 1876, a committee was set up to build the
county headquarters, which was completed within a year.
The
county of Külső-Szolnok was temporarily annexed to Heves county
(until 1876). After the compromise, Szolnok became more and more
populous and significant. By 1879, it already had a population of
almost 16,000. Szolnok started to develop rapidly in the 1880s.
Residents are already predominantly engaged in industry and
commerce, not agriculture. In 1876 Szolnok became the county seat
again.
During the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Szolnok was home
to (among other things) kir. court, district court, kir. notary,
financial directorate, state architectural office, kir. school
inspectorate, gendarmerie wing command. He also had a tobacco
substitute inspectorate and office, a salt office, a Hungarian king.
river engineering office, tax office, and also had a state high
school. with a civilian girls 'school, an association's civil boys'
school, a commercial school, several financial institutions, several
large factory companies (large mills, steam saws, mechanical
carpentry workshops, a power station, a Hungarian state railway
workshop), a railway and steamboat station, a post office and a
telegraph office and a telephone station. It had a population of
only 10,617 in 1850, 15,847 in 1870 and 32,539 in 1920. According to
religious divisions, 27,475 Roman Catholics, 2,425 Reformed and
2,103 Israelis lived in the city. The number of houses was 4333 at
that time. The inhabitants of Szolnok were engaged in agriculture,
poultry farming and fishing, as well as many in trade and industry.
There was a lot of freight here on the railways. Water transport was
much more significant than it is today: there is a very lively trade
in timber, wheat and cattle on steamboats. There were also many
public cultural, non-profit and philanthropic associations and
industrial associations in Szolnok. Its penitentiary institution
(Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County Penitentiary), which still exists
today, was founded in 1902 in the building housing the Palace of
Justice.
Szolnok from 1918 to 1956
With the fall of the
Monarchy and the division of the country into several parts,
virtually everything has changed.
In May 1919, there was a
long and desperate battle between the Romanian army, which had
invaded the line of the Tisza, and the Red Army. During the Soviet
Republic, the attack by the Romanian royal army caused enormous
damage, with the front dragging here for 77 days. After the defeat
of the Red Army beyond the Tisza, in July 1919, the Romanians
crossed the Tisza and occupied the city. The occupation did not end
until February 25, 1920. The restoration of the railway bridge,
which was blown up during the fighting, was not completed until
1923. It is historic that the “glorious 133 days” of 1919 lasted one
day, in a way that is unique in the country. The Romanian occupation
lasted until February 1920.
In 1930, the city had a
population of 38,764. His educational institutions were: state civic
boys' and girls' schools, state real high school, state girls' high
school, public. upper trade boys' school, state vocational school
for wood and metal industry, common. women's trade course, state
midwifery school. Its plants between the two world wars: locksmith
and scales, mirrors, furniture, vinegar, rum and liqueurs, ice,
cotton wool, steam bricks, sugar factories, ore foundries and
metalworks, machinery and iron foundries, two power distributors,
four sawmill, four steam mills, waterworks.
Between the two world wars, the damage was largely repaired.
During World War II, Szolnok was bombed twelve times, by several
Americans, causing severe casualties in both human life and
buildings. In Operation Frantic (June 2, 1944 - September 19, 1944),
a major grouping of 600 attacking planes bombed Debrecen. The right
wing attacked Oradea, Cluj-Napoca, Szeged, Balmazújváros, and the
left wing attacked Szolnok and Miskolc. The cities could not defend
themselves, as with the exception of Szolnok and Miskolc they did
not have the opportunity to defend themselves. Nevertheless, Szolnok
lost a lot of lives and suffered great damage.
On the night
of June 2, the British station attacked Szolnok railway station -
due to the fault of the target marking machines, with almost zero
efficiency, mostly bombing the area forty kilometers from the
station, the attack left the railway station untouched for the time
being. Most of the bombing followed during the day: in the attack,
the 15th AAF stations in Debrecen, Cluj-Napoca, Miskolc, Oradea,
Szeged and Szolnok were carpet-bombed by the 15th AAF.
Most
of the population fled, the incoming Soviet army found only a few
thousand people.
Szolnok in the 1956 revolution
Many
people only know about Szolnok's role in the 1956 revolution that
János Kádár's infamous radio speech about Szolnok, which returned
behind the Soviet troops marching to defeat the revolution, was
broadcast. Although this is a common mistake, the residents of the
city took an active part in the events.
On October 23, 1956,
a student meeting was held at the Faculty of Szolnok, Budapest
University of Technology and Economics, at which an independent
student organization called MEFESZ was established. This is followed
in the evening by Countess Marica. the piece was interrupted and the
audience was informed about what had happened in Pest, as well as
reciting the National Song. On the afternoon of October 24, approx.
A crowd of 500 walked along the main street of Szolnok, and in the
evening they sang the Anthem and the Word at the Damjanich statue.
October 25 was the first demonstration in the city.
The
Soviet troops arrived on the main road No. 4, and from October 24 to
November 2, 10 of the 17 divisions involved in the attack crossed
Szolnok on the pontoon bridge they had built on the Tisza. The
Soviets considered Szolnok and Abony as their station, and later
remained in Szolnok with great force, until 1989.
On October
26, 1956, a mass meeting was held in Szolnok with the participation
of 15-20 thousand people in Kossuth Square. From here, the crowd set
out to knock down the “cigar” (an obelisk) that symbolized the
Soviet occupation (interestingly, the Soviet-style “tough”
“monument” could only be knocked down after several hours of trying,
using the Petroleum Research Company’s tracked “Stallet” tractor),
and then all other Soviet monuments were also removed. Then, in the
afternoon, the Revolutionary Workers' Council was elected at the
county hall, chaired by József Dancsi.
On October 30, 1956, a
delegation arrived in the Parliament from Szolnok. The delegation
was received in the corridor by János Kádár, the then first
secretary of the Central Committee of the MDP, who wrote a letter to
the people of Szolnok with a pencil, and then authenticated it with
Prime Minister Imre Nagy in the meeting room. The message was
brought to Szolnok by Ferenc Bulyáki.
We know of 68-69
workers' councils in Szolnok, which had about 840 members.
On
October 30, 1956, in the wake of the Soviet attack, military
formations occupied defensive positions in their garrisons, in many
places in the countryside as well. There were minor clashes in and
around Békéscsaba, Kaposvár, Szeged, Dunaföldvár, Székesfehérvár,
Miskolc, Szolnok, Veszprém. It can be seen from this that Szolnok
took an active part in the events of the revolution.
Between
November 1 and 4, 1956, Soviet forces commanded the “Whirlwind”
operation from Szolnok under the leadership of Marshal Konyev.
Marshal Zhukov was also in Szolnok on November 3. The Soviet attack
actually began on November 1 with an operation against the Szolnok
military airport, while the real comprehensive operation began on
November 4 with the complete closure of the city.
By November
4, the disarmament of military airport soldiers was completed.
According to oral tradition, János Kádár arrived in Szolnok on this
morning and announced the formation of the Hungarian Revolutionary
Workers 'and Peasants' Government in the presence of the Soviet
generals and some Hungarian leaders around 11:30. In fact, the first
announcement was made at 5 a.m. on a radio recording broadcast by
the Uzhhorod radio station. In order to conceal the location of the
tax, the recording was dated from Budapest.
On November 4, around 5 pm-6pm, Kádár met with local political
leaders at the then County Party House. He informed them about why
he left the Imre Nagy government and why he formed a new government.
It was about midnight when he went back into the barracks and no
more came out of there. From Szolnok, on the night of November 6,
they set off for tanks in Budapest.
Retaliation against the
population was probably the earliest in the country in Szolnok.
Districts
The population of the districts of Szolnok can be
seen in brackets after the city quarters based on the data of the
2001 census.
Districts of Szolnok:
Downtown/Belváros (7578
inhabitants)
Városközpont (17 105 inhabitants)
Kertváros (1525
inhabitants)
Alcsi (1154 inhabitants)
Alcsiszög (372
inhabitants)
Pletykafalu (3251 inhabitants)
Tallinn városrész
(3474 inhabitants)
Szandaszőlős (9690 inhabitants)
Széchenyi
városrész (15 453 inhabitants)
Üdülőtelep (591 inhabitants)
Vegyiművek lakótelep (230 inhabitants)
József Attila lakótelep
(4669 inhabitants)
Zagyvaparti lakótelep (3663 inhabitants)