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The Hungarian Minority in Croatia and Slovenia1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

András Bertalan Székely
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Extract

In December 1918, Hungary ceded 21,000 square kilometers to what was soon to become the Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian Monarchy. According to 1910 census data, of the total 577,000 ethnic Hungarian population on the ceded territory, one-fifth came under the jurisdiction of Croatia, approximately one-twentieth came under the jurisdiction of Slovenia, and the rest became citizens of Serbia in the region that was to become the autonomous province of Vojvodina. According to 1991 census data, the Hungarian-speaking minority decreased by 200,000 (over one-third), and its proportion of the population also changed: currently, only 6 percent live in independent Croatia and 2 percent in independent Slovenia. The population of Hungarians in Croatia decreased by four-fifths, and that of Slovenia decreased by two-thirds. Already between 1980 and 1990, the decrease in the Hungarian minority population exceeded 10 percent in both republics. Despite the differences in the condition of the Hungarian community in Croatia and Slovenia, their total assimilation can be averted only if serious measures are taken. An analysis of the political, economic, demographic, cultural and other factors contributing to the population decline since the post-world war peace treaties is beyond the scope of this article. I would merely like to point out the general demographic trends and indicate that, according to estimates, the Hungarian population is 1.5 times larger (22,400 in Croatia and 8,500 in Slovenia) than the figure revealed by census data.

Type
II Hungary and Hungarian Minorities
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , September 1996 , pp. 483 - 489
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 Association for the Study of Nationalities of Eastern Europe and ex-USSR, Inc. 

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References

Notes

1. In the present article, reference is made to historical data only where required by the specific context.Google Scholar

2. For more on this, see Károly Kocsis and Eszter Hodosi Kocsis, Magyarok a határainkon túl—a Kárpátmedencében (Budapest: Tankönyvkiado, 1992), p. 66.Google Scholar

3. Also see András Bertalan Székely, “Etnikai folyamatok 0064éli határaink mentén,” Magyar Szemle (new series), Vol. 2, No. 2, March 1992, pp. 308–312.Google Scholar

4. Regarding demographic processes in the twentieth century, see György Eger, Rudolf Joó and András Bertalan Székely, “Egy horvátmagyar közös nemzetiségkutatás néhány településszociológiai tapasztalata,” Magyar Tudomány, Vol. XCVI (New series Vol. XXXIV), No. 1, January, pp. 22–26.Google Scholar

5. Mák, Ferenc, “A Horvátországi Magyarok Szövetségének szerepe müvelödési életünk fejlesztésében,” Horvátországi Magyarok Szövetsége évkönyv 1. (Eszék: HMSZ, 1979), pp. 149–151.Google Scholar

6. “Magyar tragédia I-II,” Ring, Vol. 4, No. 20, May 1992, pp. 38–39 and No. 22, June 1992, pp. 37–38.Google Scholar

7. “A horvátországi magyarok segélykiáltása: Folytatódik az etnikai tisztogatás,” Magyar Nemzet, Vol. LVI, No. 10, January 13 1993, p. 5.Google Scholar

8. For additional information regarding the above-mentioned issues in Slovenia, see András Bertalan Székely, A Rábától a Muráig. Nemzetiségek egy határ két oldalán (Budapest, 1992), pp. 101–113.Google Scholar

9. The results of their research have been published in both countries: Madzari in Slovenci. Sodelovanje in sozitje ob jugoslovansko-madzarski meji (Ljubljana, 1987), p. 618, and Magyarok és Szlovének I-II. Együttélésük és együttmükodésük a jugoszláv-magyar határ mentén (Budapest, 1987), p. 739.Google Scholar

10. On the differential treatment of “guest worker” immigrants and the native Serb and German minority populations, see Imre Szilágyi, “Kisebbségi politika—kisebbségi lét Szlovéniában,” Társadalmi Szemle, Vol. XL VII, No. 6, June 1992, pp. 54–59.Google Scholar

11. “Convention on the Guarantee of Special Rights for the Slovenian National Minority Living in the Republic of Hungary and the Hungarian National Community Living in the Republic of Slovenia,” Dunatáji Figyeló, Vol. I, Nos. 2-3, November-December 1992, pp. 11–13.Google Scholar