This work by Leslie Waters is a long-anticipated exploration of the Hungarian–Slovak borderlands, bringing the region to life in a compelling manner. Her engaging work delves deep into a place marked by the political aspirations of Hungarians and Slovaks, both of whom were close allies of Nazi Germany and competed throughout World War II for Adolf Hitler's attention. The book explores the history of state-sanctioned expulsions, transfers, and ethnic cleansing, offering a comprehensive examination of how borders, peoples, and ideologies interwove. Waters approaches this topic through a dual lens, considering both the broader historical developments and the individual responses to these developments on the ground.
Drawing from an array of academic disciplines, including borderland and nationalism studies, Holocaust studies, and the history of social welfare, Waters navigates the intricate web of this borderland's history with meticulous research and thoughtful analysis. Waters's research is extensive, drawing from nine archives across Slovakia, Hungary, and the United States. Her sources include administrative documentation from both national and local levels, newspaper coverage, as well as early and late witness testimonies.
The book is structured around five geopolitical turning points. These include the November 1938 First Vienna Arbitration, which resulted in the Hungarian seizure of southern Czechoslovakia and southern Carpathian Ruthenia; the collapse of interwar Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1939, with the establishment of the Slovak state and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Hungarian occupation of Carpathian Ruthenia included; the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941; the occupation of Hungary in March 1944 and the subsequent destruction of the Jewish community in the borderlands; and the arrival of the Red Army to the region in early 1945.
Early in the book, one of the notable aspects that becomes apparent is the region's historical complexity, exemplified by the multitude of names used to describe it. From 1918 until 1938—and then again from 1945—the borderland region was referred to by Slovaks as southern Slovakia, while Hungarians called it the Upper Lands or Felvidék. These names were not mere labels, as in just six years people transitioned from living in Czechoslovakia to Slovakia, then to Hungary, and then back to Czechoslovakia. On an almost ongoing basis, borderland dwellers were compelled to adjust their loyalties to the new establishments that now governed their lives.
In the context of political strategies and broader geopolitical aspirations, whether they be those of Nazi Germany, Hungary, or Slovakia, Waters effectively demonstrates the personal agency of variously positioned individuals and groups that lived in this contested region. She reveals, for instance, how individuals navigated the shifting borders by relying on both established and new networks. The fluidity of these borders also gave rise to the agency of mid-level actors, particularly bureaucrats, who played pivotal roles in the lives of the borderland's inhabitants.
The Felvidék loyalty commissions are an intriguing example of this. Established by the Hungarian government, these loyalty commissions were intended for those who worked for the Czechoslovak state and wanted to preserve their position in the Hungarian civil service. Commissions scrutinized a person's behavior under the old system to determine who should retain the privilege of representing the Hungarian state. Deliberations and complaints from residents denied loyalty certificates were common, Waters shows, but most decisions remained intact. Still, the loyalty commissions and the discussion around their verdicts reveal the participative nature of how a nation expands.
The Hungarian strategy to make the region Hungarian (again) came with different implications for different groups. When it comes to the Slovaks, we learn that the Hungarian regime opted for suppression rather than outright expulsion. This is because their aspirations extended beyond the borderlands to the acquisition of Slovakia as a whole. As Waters demonstrates, southern Slovakia, or Felvidék, became “a testing ground for the Hungarian state's attempts to re-establish Hungarian ethnic dominance in the Carpathian Basin” (66–67). Whereas ethnic engineering fantasies could not be fully realized, politicians on both sides did succeed in pushing forward strategies that resulted in a near-total liquidation of Jewish life on the new border. For the Holocaust in Hungary in particular, what unfolded in the reannexed Felvidék had implications that extended beyond the region: it provided the state with “institutional knowledge necessary to expediently carry out Jewish concentrations and deportations, as well as geographic location for many of its apparatuses for facilitating genocide” (178).
Waters sometimes appears to convey multiple arguments simultaneously: how border changes cannot be separated from the Holocaust; how territorial politics intersected with social welfare; how social programmes developed; what strategies states took to dictate mobility and impose ethnic categories; or how individuals and communities reacted to national policies. Perhaps the book's narrative could have been more effectively streamlined for the reader. What is evident, however, is Waters's dedication to give the Hungarian–Slovak borderland the recognition it deserves in the extensive literature on Central and European borderlands. In Borders on the Move, she achieves this and more. Waters brilliantly showcases the intersection of territorial integration strategies with ethnic cleansing, making a point as to why nation-building cannot be understood without acknowledging the role of nation-cleansing in borderlands.
Borders on the Move is an indispensable addition to the study of Central European history. Leslie Waters paints a vivid picture of a region marred by shifting borders and the human stories that unfolded within them. This book should become a cornerstone for scholars interested in understanding the intricate and tumultuous history of the Hungarian–Slovak borderlands during World War II and its aftermath. I personally hope that it will attract more scholars to explore the region itself.
