Slovakization

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Slovakization (or Slovakisation; Hungarian: szlovákosítás; Rusyn: 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], or Poles.

Contents 1 Hungarians 1.1 After WWI 1.2 The aftermath of World War II 1.2.1 Population exchanges 1.2.2 re-Slovakization 1.3 1948-1992 1.3.1 Statistics 1.3.2 Institutions 2 Since independence of Slovakia 3 "Wise historism" 4 Rusyns 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Hungarians

[edit] After WWI

In the aftermath of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissoluted and several new states were established. One of the new countries to be established out of the remains of the Empire was Czechoslovakia. This new country was mainly a union of Czechs and Slovaks, but the territory included a sizable German and Hungarian population as well. The Paris Peace Conference that concluded the Treaty of Trianon set the southern border of the new state 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.^[6]

When Czechoslovakia arose as a new country in this situation, in Slovak-populated regions Slovak schools were established, while Hungarian schools in largely Hungarian regions remained Hungarian and 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.^[7]

According to the 1910 census conducted in the Kingdom of Hungary, there were 30.2 % (884,309) Magyars (ethnic Hungarians) in what is now Slovakia. The results of the 1910 census however are disputed by some demographers of Slovakia, Serbia and Romania, although is usually not disputed in present-day Hungary itself.^[8][9] According to the last undisputed Hungarian official census there were only 22.1% (540 492) Hungarians in the same territory in 1880. The equally disputed Czechoslovak census of 1921 yielded 650,597 Hungarians and the Czechoslovak census of 1930 571,952 Hungarians.^[8] 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.

Hungarian authors use to interprete the difference between the 1910 census and the 1930 census as follows: there was a great decrease between 1910 and 1930 by 106,000 people, many fled to Hungary after World War I (partly because they were required to sign an oath of allegiance). The authorities refused to grant Czechoslovak citizenship to a disproportionate number of Hungarians; later, 'Jewish' was also introduced as a separate ethnicity, which led to a further decrease in the number of Hungarians.^[6] Slovak sources usually do not deny that many Hungarian teachers and civil clerks left for Hungary, the numbers however are unclear and they basically left because they have lost their previous jobs. These teachers and civil servants are classified as being "expelled" from Czechoslovakia by some Hungarian sources. There are many examples of Hungarians who were forced to leave their homes in what is now Slovakia (two famous ones are the families of Béla Hamvas^[10], 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.^[11]

[edit] The aftermath of World War II

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.^[7] 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).

[edit] Population exchanges

Some 30,000 Hungarians left the formerly Hungarian-occupied territories of southern Slovakia (see Vienna Awards) immediately at the end of World War II after dropping out of the pension, social and healthcare system ordered by the Benes decrees^[12]. While the Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia, the allies prevented a unilateral expulsion of Hungarians, but agreed to a bilateral population exchange between Czechoslovakia and Hungary, one which was initially rejected by Hungary. This population exchange proceeded by an agreement, whereby 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.^[6][13][14] Slovaks leaving Hungary moved voluntarily, but Hungarians leaving Czechoslovakia were mainly forced.

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, good pays and citizenship. Later on, from November 19, 1946 to September 30, 1946, the remaining 41,666 were resettled by force, under the same conditions as the voluntary group. However, after a few years the resettled Hungarians started to turn back to Slovakia, and by 1948 some 18,536 had returned already, causing conflicts over the ownership of their original houses since they were re-inhabited 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.

[edit] re-Slovakization

Between 1945 and 1948, those Hungarians in Slovakia that could provide documentary evidence that they either have been registered as Slovak in 1930 and/or could prove otherwise that they had Slovak or Slavic ancestors, were "given the possibility" to have their nationality officially changed to Slovak^{[citation needed]}. They were pressured into having their nationality officially changed to Slovak, otherwise they dropped out of the pension, social and healthcare system^[15]. This operation received the official name re-Slovakization. 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.

Decree #33 banning most Hungarians and Germans from Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked on April 13, 1948, immediately restoring citizenship and all other rights for both groups. Because of this, most re-Slovakized Hungarians gradually readopted their Hungarian nationality. As a result, the re-Slovakization commission ceased operations in December 1948.

[edit] 1948-1992

[edit] Statistics

In the 1950s census the number of Hungarians in Slovakia decreased by 240,000 (or 160,000 if we subtract the post-WWII population exchange) in comparison to 1930 and in the 1961 census it increased again by 164,244 to 518,776. The low number in the 1950 census is due to the above mentioned re-Slovakization, the higher number in the 1961 census is due to the fact that the re-Slovakization was cancelled. The difference between the 1930 and the 1961 census is ca. 50,000 Hungarians, which implies that after subtracting the 80,000 Hungarians exhanged within the population exchange after WWII, the number of Hungarians (except those exchanged within the population exchange) increased by ca. 30 000 between 1930 and 1961 in Slovakia.

The further development of the number of Hungarians in Slovakia was as follows: the number of Hungarians in Slovakia increased from 518,782 in 1961 to 567,296 in 1991. The number of Hungarians in Slovakia decreased after decades between 1991 and 2001, but this was due to the introduction of new categories in the last census (Roma, Moravians etc. – many previous Hungarians are Roma now) and also to the negative demographic development of the Hungarians in Slovakia.

As a proof for the latter: cf. the natality and mortality numbers of Slovaks and Hungarians in Slovakia (per 1000 persons; natality is the first, mortality the second number):

• Slovaks: 1980-1984: 18.8 / 9.9, 1985-1989: 16.5 / 10.0, 1990-1994: 14.6 / 10.0
• Magyars: 1980-1984: 15.6 / 11.0, 1985-1989: 14.0 / 10.7, 1990-1994: 12.1 / 10.9^[8][16]

[edit] Institutions

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.[17]

”

However, Slovak sources assert that this is not true, 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. (see above)
• the signs have always been bilingual^{[citation needed]} and an attempt to change this in the 1990s lead to protests
• the names did not have to be Slovakized, it was only required that they have the Indoeuropean word order (first name first, second name next) to prevent confusion

[edit] Since independence of Slovakia

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^[18]. However, the Preamble of the Constitution cite Slovaks and ethnic minorities as the constituency. Moreover, the rights of the diverse minorities are protected by the Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights, and various other legally binding documents. The Hungarian minority enjoys the special rights due to the Basic Treaty of Friendship between Slovakia and Hungary. It is also represented in the parliament by its own political party SMK, which was part of the government coalition from 1998 to 2006. In the same period, Pál Csáky from SMK was the deputy prime minister for the minority rights. He was criticized for allocating most of the government resources to the Hungarian minority, ignoring other minorities, such as Roma people.^[19] Similar criticism was raised after the Assembly of the Nitra Region (controlled by SMK) gave the Hungarian schools in the region much more money per pupil than it gave the Slovak schools.

Nevertheless, the period between 1993 and 1998 was not completely unproblematic. According to Miklós Duray, a nationalist^[20] 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.^{[citation needed]} Since 23 January 2007, BBC's radio broadcasting was shut down by the local broadcasting committee giving the language law as the reason[2]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[18]

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.

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 triggerd the protest of Hungarian catholic worshippers and priests.^[21] 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 tought 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 a central comittee. Another aim is to cease the use of Hungarian geografical names in Hungarian textbooks. ^[22]

[edit] "Wise historism"

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",^[23][24] which are mainly nothing else, but history falsifications.^[24] Such new inventions are the interpretation of Great Moravia as a (proto)-Slovak state, or the term "proto-Slovak" itself,^[24] along with the "refreshing" of many "old traditions", that are in fact did not exist or were not Slovak before.^[24] 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.^[25] Miroslav Kusý Slovak political scientist explained that by adopting such scientificly questionable rhetoric Fico aims to "strengthen national consciousness by falsification of history".^[26]

[edit] Rusyns

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 Ukrainian population to the Slovak language. Slovakization of the Ukrainian 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 Ukrainians was influenced not only by Slovakization but also by emigration of a significant number of Ukrainians 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 (and Ukrainian) politicians opened the links with the Czech political parties which were supportive of neutral towards the Rusyn question. The cultural Slovak-Rusyn relations at the time were minimal.

(from the Entsyklopediia Ukrainoznavstva)

[edit] See also

• Magyarization
• Hungarian minority in Slovakia

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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