Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-rnpqb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-31T23:59:29.934Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

17 - The Magyar minority in Slovakia before and after the Second World War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2011

Mikuláš Teich
Affiliation:
Robinson College, Cambridge
Dušan Kováč
Affiliation:
Slovak Academy of Sciences
Martin D. Brown
Affiliation:
Richmond: The American International University in London
Get access

Summary

Viewed from a Slovak historical perspective, the Slovak–Magyar and Slovak–Czech relationships were undoubtedly the most important ones for the nation. One of the key features of the relationship between the Magyar and Slovak inhabitants of the old Kingdom of Hungary was the forcible Magyarisation of the Slavic population under the influence of state administrative measures, especially in the final years of the nineteenth century and first decades of the twentieth century. When the Slovak–Magyar frontier was determined after the First World War, the Slovak–Magyar ethnic, or linguistic, border was not clearly defined and remained fluid. As a consequence, Magyars in the Czechoslovak Republic were demoted from the position of the ruling nation to that of a minority.

The Magyar population of Czechoslovakia after 1918 had therefore to adjust to its new minority status. Part of this population perceived the decision of the great powers, which had made them a minority, as an injustice, and they demanded that the frontiers be revised once more. In this way, they came into conflict with the integrity of the new state in which they lived as well as into conflict with the power of the state. Measures enacted by the Czechoslovak state, such as land reform and granting of citizenship, led many Magyars to suspect that the republic was not their home. After the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic, part of this population left its territory (some 105,000 persons by the end of December 1920), and about another 45,000 persons failed to receive Czechoslovak citizenship.

Type
Chapter
Information
Slovakia in History , pp. 269 - 283
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×