Szerkesztő:Karesz2/munka1

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Approximate area in south Slovakia inhabited by ethnic Hungarians. Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority of Slovakia, numbering 520,528 people or 9.7% of population (2001 census)

Slovakization (or Slovakisation; magyarul szlovákosítás; ruszinul: Словакізація) is a term used to describe a cultural change in which ethnically non-Slovak people are made to become Slovak. In terms of historical context Slovakization can refer to the government policies in either Slovakia or the former Czechoslovakia in imposing a nation-state.

The term is used for example in relation to Hungarians[1][2], Rusyns (Ruthenians).[3][4][5][6], Poles[7], Germans[8] Jews[9].

Hungarians[szerkesztés]

After WWI[szerkesztés]

Bővebben: Szlovákiai magyarok
Map showing the border changes after the Treaty of Trianon. As a result, Hungary lost over two-thirds of its territory, about two-thirds of its inhabitants under the treaty and 3.3 million out of 10 million ethnic Hungarians.[10][11] (Based on the 1910 census.)

After the defeat of the remaining Hungarian armies in 1919 the Paris Peace Conference that concluded the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 set the southern border of Czechoslovakia due to strategic and economic reasons much further south than the Slovak-Hungarian language border. Consequently, fully Hungarian-populated areas were annexed to the newly created state.[12]

When Czechoslovakia arose as a new country in this situation, many Slovak schools were established, while some Hungarian schools in largely Hungarian regions remained Hungarian and some German schools in largely German regions remained German. The Hungarians, for example, had 31 kindergartens, 806 elementary schools, 46 secondary schools, 576 Hungarian libraries at schools in the 1930s and a Department of Hungarian literature was created at the Charles University of Prague. The number of Hungarian elementary schools increased from 720 in 1923/1924 to the above number 806.[13] The Hungarian University in Bratislava/Pozsony was immediately closed after the Czechoslovak occupation of the town.

According to the 1910 census conducted by the Central Statistical Office of Hungary, there were 884,309 ethnic Hungarians, constituting 30.2% of the population, in what is now Slovakia compared to the 9.7% number recorded in the 2001 census, amounting to a 3 fold decrease in the percentage of Hungarians. The Czechoslovak census of 1930 recorded 571,952 Hungarians. All censuses from the period are disputed, and some give conflicting data for example in Kosice according to the Czechoslovak censuses 15-20% of the population was Hungarian. However during the parliamentary elections the Ethnic Hungarian parties got 35-45% of the total votes (excluding those Hungarians who voted for the Communists or the Social democrats)[14]. The whole matter is complicated by the fact that there was a high percentage of bilingual and similarly "Slovak-Hungarian" persons who could claim being both Slovak and Hungarian.

Slovak sources usually do not deny that many Hungarian teachers and civil clerks were forced to leave or left for Hungary voluntarily, the numbers however are unclear but census do show a rapid decline in the number of Hungarians. Some teachers and civil servants were expelled from Czechoslovakia while some left due to the harsh circumstances. There are many examples of Hungarians who were forced to leave their homes from this territory (two famous ones are the families of Béla Hamvas[15], and of Albert Szent-Györgyi). The high number of refugees (and even more from Romania) necessitated entire new housing projects in Budapest (Mária-Valéria telep, Pongrácz-telep), which gave shelter to refugees numbering at least in the ten-thousands.[16]

The aftermath of World War II[szerkesztés]

In 1945, at the end of World War II, Czechoslovakia was recreated and some politicians aimed to completely remove the German and Hungarian minorities from the territory of Czechoslovakia via ethnic cleansing. Both minorities were considered "war criminals" because representatives of those two minorities, such as Konrad Henlein and János Esterházy, and their two mother countries were instrumental in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia before World War II, via the Munich Agreement and the Vienna Awards.[13] In 1945, President Edvard Beneš revoked the citizenship of Germans and Hungarians by decree #33, except those with an active anti-fascist past (see Beneš Decrees).

Population exchanges[szerkesztés]

Some 30,000 Hungarians left the territories which were re-annexed by Hungary in 1938 (see Vienna Awards) and then re-attached to Czechoslovakia after of World War II. This was due to dropping out of the pension, social and healthcare system [17], the loss of their citizenship and property ordered by the Benes decrees. Over 40,000 Hungarians were deported to Czech territories recently cleared of Sudeten Gemans.[18] The Czechoslovak leadership pressed for a complete cleansing of the country and the deportation of all Hungarians, however the allies prevented an unilateral expulsion. After the initial plan failed Czechoslovakia pressed for a bilateral population exchange, to remove Hungarians, and gain Slovak population, thus changing the ethnic makeup of the country. This plan was initially rejected by Hungary under Soviet occupation at the time. As a result of this population exchange initiated by Czechoslovakia, 55,487, 74,407 or 89,660 Hungarians from Slovakia were exchanged for 71,787 or 73,200 Slovaks from Hungary, the exact number depending on the source used.[12][19][20] Slovaks leaving Hungary moved voluntarily, but Hungarians leaving Czechoslovakia were forcibly deported and their property taken away.

The result of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia was a desperate need of work force in that country, especially farmers, in the part of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland. As a result, the Czechoslovak government resettled more than 100,000 Slovaks and some 44,129 Hungarians from Slovakia to the Sudetenland between 1945 and 1947. Of the above 44,129 Hungarians, some 2,489 were resettled voluntarily, receiving houses, work and citizenship. Later on, from November 19, 1946 to September 30, 1946, the remaining 41,666 were deported by force. However, after a few years the resettled Hungarians started to return to the eastern parts of Czechoslovakia, and by 1948 some 18,536 had returned already, causing conflicts over the ownership of their original houses since they were taken away by others. The government therefore decided to transport all the Hungarians back to Slovakia in an organized way. 24,565 Hungarians were brought back to Slovakia in early 1949; the remaining 1,028 Hungarians preferred to stay in the Czech lands.

re-Slovakization[szerkesztés]

Materials from Russian archives prove how insistent the Czechoslovak government was on destroying the Hungarian minority in Slovakia.[21] Hungary itself gave the Slovaks equal rights and demanded the same solution to the issue from Czechoslovakia.[22]

In the spring and summer of 1945, a series of decrees stripped Hungarians of property and all civil rights.[18] In 1946 in Czechoslovakia the process of "Reslovakization" was implemented with the objective of eliminating the Magyar nationality[23]. It basically referred to the forced acceptance of Slovak nationality[23]. They were pressured into having their nationality officially changed to Slovak, otherwise they dropped out of the pension, social and healthcare system[24]. Since Hungarians in Slovakia were temporarily deprived of many rights at that time (see Benes decrees), as much as some 400,000 (sources differ) Hungarians applied for, and 344,609 Hungarians received a re-Slovakization certificate and thereby Czechoslovak citizenship.

With the disappearance of Eduard Benes from the political scene, the Czechoslovak government issued decree No. 76/1948 on April 13, 1948, allowing those Hungarians still living in Czechoslovakia, to reinstate Czechoslovak citizenship[23]. A year later, Hungarians were allowed to send their children to Hungarian schools, which had been reopened for the first time since 1945[23].

Most re-Slovakized Hungarians gradually readopted their Hungarian nationality. As a result, the re-Slovakization commission ceased operations in December 1948.

Despite their promises to settle the issue of the Hungarians in Slovakia, in 1948 Czech and Slovak ruling circles still maintained the hope that they could deport the Hungarians from Slovakia.[25] According to a 1948 poll conducted among the Slovak population 55% were for resettlement (deportation) of the Hungarians, 24% said "don't know", 21% were against.[26] Under slogans for the struggle with class enemies the process of dispersing dense Hungarian settlements continued in 1948 and 1949.[26] By October 1949 preparations were made to deport 600 Hungarian families.[26]

Hungarians remaining in Slovakia were subjected to extremely heavy pressure to assimilate.[26] including the forced enrollment of Hungarian children in Slovak schools.[26]


Institutions[szerkesztés]

Czechoslovakia (being a Communist country at that time) financed the following purely Hungarian institutions for the Hungarians in Czechoslovakia as of early 1989: 386 kindergartens, 131 elementary schools, 98 secondary schools, 2 theatres, 1 special Hungarian language publishing house (6 publishing houses also publishing Hungarian literature) and 24 newspapers and journals. The first Hungarian-language university in Slovakia was opened at the beginning of the 21st - the Selye János University.

According to The Minorities at Risk Project:


„ During the communist regime, Slovak nationalism was largely kept in check by the strongly centralist Prague regime. The 1968 switch to a federal arrangement gave greater scope to Slovak nationalism, however. New policies of assimilation included progressive Slovakization of education, elimination of Hungarian place-names from signs, bans on using Hungarian in administrative dealings and in institutions and workplaces, and pressure to Slovakize Hungarian names. Nonetheless, the most significant exclusionary factor in Hungarians’ social situation under the communist regime was most likely their own refusal to integrate into the Czechoslovak system and to learn the language. Without a fluency in the official language, their economic and political opportunities were severely limited.[27] ”

However, some Slovak sources they claim that:

  • the federalisation was only notional (see e.g. Slovak Socialist Republic)
  • no change to the minority laws occurred with respect to the year 1968
  • during this time the number of Hungarian language schools and Hungarian-speaking people increased in Slovakia. (While in truth the share (percentage) of Hungarians decreased extremely fast from over 30% in 1910 to 10% today)
  • the names did not have to be Slovakized, it was only required that they have the non-Hungarian word order

Oppression since the independence of Slovakia[szerkesztés]

Independence of Slovakia from the former Czecho-Slovakia increased the hardship faced by the Hungarian minority. The 1992 Slovak constitution is derived from the concept of the Slovak nation state[28], to the exclusion of minorities.

According to Miklós Duray, a politician of the Party of the Hungarian Coalition:

"The oppression of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia gained momentum with the formation of the Slovak state in 1993, increasing even more sharply since Vladimír Mečiar came to power for the third time in December of 1994."

1. An official language law was promulgated providing the legal framework for the official use of the Slovak language not only in official communications but also in everyday commerce, in the administration of religious bodies, and even in the realm of what is normally considered private interaction, for example, communications between patient and physician.[forrás?] Since 23 January 2007, BBC's radio broadcasting was shut down by the local broadcasting committee giving the language law as the reason[29]

2. Administrative division of Slovakia were geographically modified in a clear case of gerrymandering. The administrative system governed by laws created in 1991, included 17 regions and 2 regions with a majority Hungarian population. The 1996 law eliminated this system of administration. SMK asked in vain for the creation of a Hungarian majority Komárno county. Although a territorial unit of this name existed before 1918, the borders proposed by SMK were significantly different. The proposed region would have encompassed a very long slice of southern Slovakia, with the explicit aim to create an administrative unit with ethnic-Hungarian majority. Hungarian minority politicians and intellectuals thought that such kind of administrative unit is essential for the long-term survival of the Hungarian minority. The Slovak government refused to draw any administrative border along ethnic lines.

In the reorganized system only 2 districts (Dunajská Streda and Komárno) have a Hungarian majority population. Furthermore, 8 regions were created, 5 with Hungarian populations in the 10 to 30 per cent range. After the regions became autonomous in 2002, SMK was able to take power in the Nitra Region and it became part of the ruling coalition in several other regions.

3. On March 12, 1997 (i.e. under Mečiar's government), the Undersecretary of Education sent a circular to the heads of the school districts making known the following regulations:

In Hungarian schools the Slovak language should be taught exclusively by native speakers. The same exclusion criteria applies to non-Slovak schools in the teaching of geography and history. (The Undersecretary modified the language of this regulation later by changing the term "exclusively" for "mainly".)

This measure was immediately changed by the Mikuláš Dzurinda government (1998).

In communities where the Hungarian community exceeds 40% of the total population the teachers of Slovak schools receive supplementary pay.[forrás?]

According to an unofficial website, which is run by a group of immigrants in Canada and definitely not very up to date, all communities which include a Hungarians population and where there is no school or there is no Slovak school, wherever possible a Slovak school should be opened, but not a Hungarian one.[28]

After the parliamentary elections in 2006, the nationalist party of Ján Slota became member of the ruling coalition led by Robert Fico. In August a few incidents motivated by ethnic hatred caused diplomatic tensions between the countries. Mainstream Hungarian and Slovak media blamed Slota's anti-Hungarian statements from the early summer for worsening ethnic relations. (Further informations: 2006 Slovak-Hungarian diplomatic affairs, and Hedvig Malina).

On 27 September 2007 the Beneš decrees were reconfirmed by the Slovak parliament which legitimized the Hungarians and Germans calumination and deportation from Czechoslovakia after World War II.[30]

Ján Slota, the chairman of Slovak government Party SNS, according to whom the Hungarian population of Slovakia "is a tumour in the body of the Slovak nation."[31][32][33]

In 2008, the dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Slovakia were reorganized. 8 dioceses were introduced in place of the previous 6. Until the reform the area of Žitný ostrov (Hungarian: Csallóköz), the Matúšova zem (Mátyusföld) and Poiplie (Ipolymente) - where a big portion of the Hungarians of Slovakia resides - belonged to the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava. Now it belongs to four different dioceses. This triggered the protest of Hungarian catholic worshippers and priests.[34] However, the reform was introduced by the Vatican, not by the Slovak Republic.

Also in 2008, Ján Mikolaj (SNS), minister of education propagated changes in the Hungarian schools of Slovakia. According to a new education law plan, the Hungarian language which was educated as mother tongue until now will be considered a foreign language - and therefore taught in less number of lessons. The only textbooks allowed to be used in Hungarian schools will be those translated from Slovak books and approved by Slovak administration[35].
In October 2008 Hungarian parents and teachers sent back Hungarian textbooks to the Minister of Education.[36] The books contained geographical names only in Slovak violating the basic rules of the Hungarian language and the minorities' right of usage of their native language.[36]
In November 2008 Prime Minister Robert Fico has again promised, this time at a cabinet meeting in Komárno (Révkomárom), southern Slovakia, that an ongoing problem with textbooks for ethnic Hungarian schools in Slovakia will be resolved.[37]. Though as of November 2008 Ján Slota still insists on the grammatically incorrect version (Slovak language names in Hungarian sentences) and having the correct Hungarian name only afterwards.[38][39] [40] [41].

The Slovak authorities denied the registration of a Hungarian traditional folk art association, because they used the Hungarian word Kárpát-medence (Carpathian Basin). According to Dušan Čaplovič the word and the association is against the sovereignty of Slovakia, only one nation lives in the territory of the Republic of Slovakia, the Slovak nation, furthermore the word is fascist, it is familiar with the German Lebensraum, and Hungarians use it in this ideology.[42] [43] [44] [45][46] On September 1, 2009 more than ten thousand Hungarians held demonstrations to protest against the so-called language law that limits the use of minority languages in Slovakia.[47] The law calls for fines of up to £4,380 for anyone "misusing the Slovak language.[48]

"Wise historism"[szerkesztés]

Since deputy prime minister Robert Fico declared the "wise historism" concept, the history books are getting rewritten in a faster pace than before, and in an increased "spirit of national pride",[49] [nincs a forrásban] [50] which Krekovič, Mannová and Krekovičováare claim are mainly nothing else, but history falsifications.[50] Such new inventions are the interpretation of Great Moravia as a (proto)-Slovak state, or the term "proto-Slovak" itself,[50] along with the "refreshing" of many "old traditions", that are in fact did not exist or were not Slovak before.[50] The concept received criticism in Slovakia pointing out that the term proto-Slovak cannot be found in any serious publication, simply because it lacks any scientific basis.[51] Miroslav Kusý Slovak political scientist explained that by adopting such scientificly questionable rhetoric Fico aims to "strengthen national consciousness by falsification of history".[52]

Rusyns[szerkesztés]

The ethnic relationship of Prešov Region is complex and volatile. A long-term cultural and everyday cohabition of Rusyns, Eastern Slovaks and Hungarians, under the prepodence of the non-Rusyn element led to the linguistic Slovakization of Rusyns, while in some parts (in cities and ethnic islands in the south) they were Magyarized. Still, in both cases they preserved their religion (Greek Catholicism). Until the 1920s, the Slovak-speaking Greek-Catholics composed a transitional group that was connected with the Rusyns through religion and traditions, with Slovak as their language. Their number was gradually increasing with the transition of the parts of Rusyn population to the Slovak language. Slovakization of the Rusyn population increased in the times of the Czechoslovakian authorities (since 1920). The Greek Catholics and Orthodox started to perceive themselves as Slovaks. It is difficult to estimate the distribution of the Orthodox and the Greek Catholics by the language as well as to determine the number of Rusyns because both the Hungarian and Czechoslovakian censuses provided the incorrect number of Rusyns, but it contains roughly 50-100 000 people. According to censuses The decrease of the number of Rusyns was influenced not only by Slovakization but also by emigration of a significant number of Rusyns from Prešov, mainly to the Czech lands.

The Slovakian pressure on Rusyns in Slovakia increased after 1919 when Czechoslovakia incorporated Transcarpathia to the west of the Uzh River. The Slovakization of Rusyns (and Ukrainians) was a part of the program of the Slovak People's Party, whose leader refused to cooperate with the Rusyn politicians of Transcarpathia but cooperated with Hungarian-speaking A. Brody. Therefore, the Rusyn politicians opened the links with the Czech political parties which were supportive of neutrality towards the Rusyn question. The cultural Slovak-Rusyn relations at the time were minimal.

(from the Entsyklopediia Ukrainoznavstva)

Lásd még[szerkesztés]

Footnotes[szerkesztés]

  1. ↑ Managing cultural, ethnic and religious diversities on local, state and international levels in Central Europe: the case of Slovakia - UNESCO - by Dr. Dov Ronen, Principal Investigator - May 1999
  2. ↑ IREX Research Report - James Mace Ward - 30 September 2005
  3. ↑ Dr. Anna Plišková, PhD. Institute of Regional and National Minority Studies, Prešov University, Prešov, Slovak Republic, http://www.rusynacademy.sk/english/language.htm
  4. ↑ "The Ukraine and the Czechoslovak Crisis", By Grey Hodnett, Peter J Potichnyj. ISBN 0-7081-0266-2
  5. ↑ "Encyclopedia of Rusyn History and Culture", By Paul Robert Magocsi, Ivan Pop. ISBN 0-8020-3566-3
  6. ↑ "Case Stud Human Rights & Fundamental Freedoms Vol 1 World Survey: A World Survey", edited by Ruut Veenhoven, W a Veenhoven. ISBN 90-247-1780-9
  7. ↑ Yeshayahu A. Jelinek. The Lust for Power: Nationalism, Slovakia, and the Communists, 1918-1948. East European Monographs, 185. o. (1983). ISBN 0880330198, 9780880330190 
  8. ↑ Forced Migration in Central and Eastern Europe, 1939-1950 Author: Alfred J. Rieber, Alfred J. Rieber Publisher: Routledge, 2000 ISBN 071465132X, 9780714651323,
  9. ↑ A Social and Economic History of Central European Jewry Author: Yehudah Don, Viktor Karády Publisher: Transaction Publishers, 1989 ISBN 0887382118, 9780887382116
  10. ↑ Macartney, C.A.. Hungary and her successors - The Treaty of Trianon and Its Consequences 1919-1937. Oxford University Press (1937) 
  11. ↑ East on the Danube: Hungary's Tragic Century. The New York Times, 2003. augusztus 9. (Hozzáférés: 2008. március 15.)
  12. ↑ a b 1
  13. ↑ a b Marko, Martinický: Slovensko-maďarské vzťahy. 1995
  14. ↑ kovacs-4.qxd
  15. ↑ HamvasBéla.org
  16. ↑ Magyarország a XX. században / Szociálpolitika
  17. ↑ Index - A magyarok kitelepítése: mézesmadzag a szlovákoknak
  18. ↑ a b Mandelbaum, p. 40
  19. ↑ Bobák, Ján: Maďarská otázka v Česko-Slovensku. 1996
  20. ↑ Zvara, J.: Maďarská menšina na Slovensku po roku 1945. 1969
  21. ↑ Alfred J. Rieber. Forced Migration in Central and Eastern Europe, 1939-1950. Routledge, 84. o. (2000). ISBN 9780714651323 
  22. ↑ Rieber, p. 91
  23. ↑ a b c d Human Rights For Minorities In Central Europe: Ethnic Cleansing In Post World War II Czechoslovakia: The Presidential Decrees Of Edward Benes, 1945-1948
  24. ↑ Largest Hungarian portal's article about re-Slovakization
  25. ↑ Rieber, p. 92
  26. ↑ a b c d e Rieber, p. 93
  27. ↑ MAR | Data | Assessment for Hungarians in Slovakia
  28. ↑ a b Hungarian Nation in Slovakia | Slovakia
  29. ↑ [1] Slovak Spectator
  30. ↑ The Beneš-Decrees Are Untouchable (PDF). mkp, 2007. (Hozzáférés: 2024. október 25.)
  31. ↑ Separatist Movements Seek Inspiration in Kosovo. Der Spiegel, 2008. február 22. (Hozzáférés: 2008. augusztus 6.)
  32. ↑ Slovakia and Hungary just won't get along
  33. ↑ Slovakia and Hungary 'Dangerously Close to Playing with Fire'
  34. ↑ bumm.sk Nyílt levél a szlovák püspökkari konferenciához. (27th February 2008)
  35. ↑ bumm.sk Sínen a školský zákon. Duray: ravasz módszerekkel próbálkoznak (05th March 2008)
  36. ↑ a b Visszaküldik a magyar neveket bojkottáló szlovák tankönyveket (hungarian nyelven). Figyelő. Sanoma, 2008. október 8. (Hozzáférés: 2008. november 20.)
  37. ↑ SFico says Hungarian textbooks problem will be resolved, 2008. november 19. (Hozzáférés: 2008. november 22.)
  38. ↑ Slota: Meghátráltunk, kétnyelvűek lesznek a településnevek (hungarian nyelven), 2008. november 21. (Hozzáférés: 2008. november 21.)
  39. ↑ http://www.felvidek.ma/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9344&Itemid=33 (in Hungarian), 2008-11-21
  40. ↑ http://nol.hu/kulfold/slota_megforditana_fico_javaslatat, Népszabadság, 2008-11-21 (in Hungarian)
  41. ↑ http://www.delilap.hu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16721&Itemid=1, 2008-11-21 (in Hungarian)
  42. ↑ http://www.hirszerzo.hu/cikk.a_karpat-medence_a_lebensraum_magyar_megfeleloje_a_szlovak_miniszterelnok-helyettes_szerint.87635.html Hírszerző, (in Hungarian)
  43. ↑ http://ujszo.com/online/kozelet/2008/11/19/a-belugy-eltorolte-a-karpat-medencet ( in Hungarian)
  44. ↑ http://atv.hu/hircentrum/2008_nov_caplovic__a__karpat_medence__ugyanaz__mint_a_naci__eletter__.html (In Hungarian)
  45. ↑ http://www.mno.hu/portal/598288?searchtext=lebensraum (in Hungarian)
  46. ↑ http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=92341355, (in ENGLISH) Nov 20, 2008 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX)
  47. ↑ Protests over Slovak language law
  48. ↑ [[2]]
  49. ↑ Matica Slovenská cancels history textbook, Slovak Spectator, July 31, 1996
  50. ↑ a b c d Eduard Krekovič, Elena Mannová, Eva Krekovičová: Mýty naše slovenské, Bratislava, AEPress, 2005, ISBN 8088880610
  51. ↑ Népszabadság Online: Fico: Szvatopluk volt első királyunk
  52. ↑ MN Magyar Nemzet

References[szerkesztés]

External links[szerkesztés]

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