The next point of contention in the troubled Tang dynasty comes in 895 with the death of Wang Chongying, the military governor of Huguo Circuit (headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), which precipitates a succession struggle between his nephew Wang Ke (the adoptive son of Wang Chongying's brother and predecessor Wang Chongrong and biological son of another brother, Wang Chongjian, whom the Huguo soldiers supports, and his son Wang Gong the military governor of Baoyi Circuit (headquartered in modern Sanmenxia, Henan), who covets the more prosperous Huguo Circuit.

Li Keyong supports Wang Ke, while Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and Han support Wang Gong, and all of them submit competing petitions on the behalf of the feuding cousins.

Emperor Zhaozong approves Li Keyong's petition and makes Wang Ke the military governor of Huguo.

In response, Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and Han march on the capital again, killing the chancellors Wei Zhaodu (who had returned to his position as chancellor after the Xichuan campaign) and Li Xi, whom they perceive to be behind Emperor Zhaozong's decision.

The actions of Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and Han, in turn, draw a strong reaction from Li Keyong, who launches his army, crosses the Yellow River, and prepares to attack the three of them.

Rumors develop that Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu both want to seize the emperor and take him to their domains.

Emperor Zhaozong, in response, flees into the Qinling Mountains with his officials, and the people of Chang'an follow in droves.

Meanwhile, Li Keyong engages and defeats Wang's and Li Maozhen's troops, then puts Wang's capital Bin Prefecture under siege.

Wang flees and is killed by his own subordinates in flight.

Li Maozhen and Han capitulate, sending apologies and tributes to Emperor Zhaozong.

Emperor Zhaozong, who returns to Chang'an, bestows great honors on Li Keyong and his key subordinates, but hesitates when Li Keyong proposes to attack Li Maozhen, believing that if Li Keyong destroys Li Maozhen, the balance of power will be lost.

He therefore forbids Li Keyong from attacking Li Maozhen.

Li Keyong withdraws to Hedong Circuit, and, owing to his eventual defeats at the hands of Zhu Quanzhong, will not be able to return again.

The Magyar band sent to Arnulf had reported back that the plains across the Carpathian Mountains would form a suitable new homeland that could be easily conquered and defended from the rear.

The tribes elect as their unifying leader Árpád, the leader of their most powerful tribe, and, with nowhere else to turn, plan a movement westward from their home in the northern Caucasus.

The earliest reliable source of Árpád's life is an early tenth-century document, the Continuation of the Chronicle by George the Monk.

It narrates that the Emperor Leo VI the Wise sent his envoy Nicetas Sclerus to the Magyars in 894 or 895 "to give presents" and incite them against the Bulgarian Empire.

Sclerus met with their two leaders, Árpád and Kurszán, at the Lower Danube.

Sclerus's mission succeeded: a Magyar army soon crossed the Danube on imperial ships against Bulgaria.

An interpolation in Porphyrogenitus's text suggests that the invading Hungarians were under the command of Árpád's son, Liüntika.

The positions held by Árpád and Kurszán at the time of their negotiations with Sclerus are debated by historians.

Spinei wrote that Árpád was the gyula, and Kurszán was the kende.

In contrast, Kristó said that Kurszán was the gyula and Árpád represented his father, Álmos kende.

The Magyar army defeated the Bulgarians, but the latter hired the Pechenegs against them.

The Bulgarians and Pechenegs simultaneously invaded the Hungarians' territories in the western regions of the Pontic steppes in 895 or 896.

The destruction of their dwelling places by the Pechenegs forced the Hungarians to leave for a new homeland across the Carpathian Mountains towards the Pannonian Plain.

Spytihněv I, the eldest son of Duke Bořivoj I, the first historically documented Bohemian ruler of the Přemyslid dynasty, and his wife Ludmila, had still been a minor upon his father's death in about 889, and the Bohemian lands had been placed under the regency of their suzerain Prince Svatopluk I of Great Moravia.

After Svatopluk died in 894, an inheritance conflict had arisen between his sons Mojmír II and Svatopluk II.

Spytihněv has taken advantage of the situation to free himself from Moravian vassalage.

According to the Annales Fuldenses, he appears at the 895 Reichstag in Regensburg and pays homage to the East Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia.

The caliph again advances into the province in January 895: his intended target this time is Hamdan ibn Hamdun, due to the latter's association with Harun and the Kharijites.

After first battling against some tribal Arabs and Kurds in the region, al-Mu'tadid proceeds toward Hamdan's fortress at Mardin.

Hamdan decides to flee and the defenders quickly surrender to the caliph.

Al-Mu'tadid then returns to Mosul and sends an order to Hamdan to submit to him, but when Hamdan ignores the summons he sends his commanders Wasif Mushgir and Nasr al-Qushuri against him.

Hamdan's forces are quickly defeated by Wasif and he himself is compelled to flee; eventually, however, he surrenders to the caliph's forces and is put under guard.

The caliph, following Hamdan's surrender, turns his focus to Harun himself.

Nasr al-Qushuri writes a threatening latter to the Kharijite leader, in an attempt to persuade him to submit; Harun, however, writes back a defiant response, rejecting Nasr's demands.

When al-Mu'tadid is shown the letter, he appoints al-Hasan ibn 'Ali Kurah over Mosul and charges him with combatting the Kharijites.

After crossing the Zab, al-Hasan encounters Harun and the two armies begin a grueling engagement.

The battle finally ends in defeat for the Kharijites; Harun flees to the desert and some of his followers surrender to the caliph.

The Magyars, as mounted nomads in contact with and often in alliance with Turkic tribes, have moved westward under Árpád and Kukszan, with one group following the Lower Danube valley and two other groups crossing the Carpathian passes, one of which enters into Transylvania in 895.

Having elected as their chief Árpád, the leader of their most powerful tribe, the Magyars cross the Carpathians en masse, probably in 895, and easily subjugate the peoples of the sparsely inhabited central plain, their first place of settlement.

Thought of as returning Huns, the Magyars come to be known as Hungarians.

Constantinople, unable to effectively respond to the Bulgarian campaign due to the engagement of its forces against the Arabs, persuades the Magyars to attack Bulgaria, promising to transport them across the Danube using the imperial navy.

Leo VI may have also concluded an agreement with Arnulf to make sure that the Franks do not support Simeon against the Magyars.

In addition, the talented commander Nikephoros Phokas is called back from southern Italy to lead a separate army against Bulgaria in 895 with the mere intention to overawe the Bulgarians.

Simeon, unaware of the threat from the north, rushes to meet Phokas' forces, but the two armies do not engage in a fight.

Instead, Constantinople offers peace, informing him of both the imperial foot and maritime campaign, but intentionally does not notify him of the planned Magyar attack.

Simeon does not trust the envoy and, after sending him to prison, orders the imperial navy's route into the Danube closed off with ropes and chains, intending to hold it until he has dealt with Phokas.

Despite the problems they encounter because of the fencing, the imperial forces ultimately manage to ferry the Magyar forces led by Árpád's son Liüntika across the Danube, possibly near modern Galaţi, and assists them in pillaging the nearby Bulgarian lands.

Once notified of the surprise invasion, Simeon heads north to stop the Magyars, leaving some of his troops at the southern border to prevent a possible attack by Phokas.

Simeon's two encounters with the enemy in Northern Dobruja result in Magyar victories, forcing him to retreat to Drǎstǎr.

The Magyars, after pillaging much of Bulgaria and reaching Preslav, return to their lands, but not before Simeon has concluded an armistice with Constantinople towards the summer of 895.

A complete peace is delayed, as Leo VI requires the release of the imperial captives from the Trade War.

…Guaimar, together with his wife, is captured en route to Benevento by Adelfer, the gastald of Avellino, who he had tried to assassinate.

Guy has to go down and besiege Avellino to get his release.

Guaimar returns to Salerno in disgrace.

A new embassy had arrived in Regensburg in September 895, beseeching Arnulf's aid, and in October Arnulf undertakes his second campaign into Italy.

He crosses the Alps quickly and takes Pavia, then continues slowly, garnering support among the nobility of Tuscany.

First Maginulf, Count of Milan, and then Walfred, Count of Pavia, joins him.

Eventually, even the Margrave Adalbert II abandons Lambert.