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Hungarians in Slovakia

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Area in southern Slovakia inhabited by ethnic Hungarians
János Esterházy - martyr of the Slovakian Hungarians - politician, count

Hungarians in Slovakia are the largest ethnic minority of the country, numbering 520,528 people or 9.7% of population (2001 census). They are concentrated mostly in the southern part of the country, near the border with Hungary. They form the majority in two districts of Slovakia: Komárno (Komáromi járás) and Dunajská Streda (Dunaszerdahelyi járás).

Contents

[edit] History

See also: Slovakization

[edit] Origins of the Hungarian minority in Czechoslovakia

Košice - St. Elisabeth Cathedral
Betliar - Andrássy Castel
Krásna Hôrka

After the defeat of the 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, it was set further south than the Slovak-Hungarian language border. Consequently, the newly created state annexed areas that were overwhelmingly ethnic Hungarian.[1]

When Czechoslovakia was established, many Slovak-language schools were established in Slovak Lands, while some Hungarian-language 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, and 576 Hungarian libraries at schools in the 1930s. 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.[2] The Hungarian University in Bratislava/Pozsony was closed after the Czechoslovak occupation of the town.

[edit] Population statistics before and immediately after the end of World War I

According to the 1910 census conducted in the Kingdom of Hungary, there were 884,309 ethnic Hungarians, constituting 30.2% of the population, in what is now Slovakia. The Czechoslovak census of 1930 recorded 571,952 Hungarians. (In the 2001 census, by contrast, the percentage of ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia was 9.7%, a decrease of two thirds.)

All censuses from the period are disputed, and some give conflicting data. For example, according to the Czechoslovak censuses, 15-20% of the population in Kosice was Hungarian. During the parliamentary elections, however, the ethnic Hungarian parties received 35-45% of the total votes (excluding those Hungarians who voted for the Communists or the Social Democrats)[3]. The fact that a high percentage of bilingual and similarly mixed "Slovak-Hungarian" persons could claim both Slovak and Hungarian ethnicity complicated matters.

Some authors interpreted the difference between the 1910 census and the 1930 census as follows: the decrease between 1918 and 1924 of 106,000 people was due to those who were expelled or fled to Hungary after World War I, when the authorities refused to grant Czechoslovak citizenship to a disproportionate number of Hungarians. Later, when 'Jewish' was introduced as a separate ethnicity, it led to an apparent decrease in the number and percentage of Hungarians (some of whom were Jews.)[1] Slovak sources acknowledge that many Hungarian teachers and civil clerks were forced to leave or left for Hungary voluntarily. The numbers are confusing but the censuses 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. Two famous examples of people forced to leave were the families of Béla Hamvas[4] and Albert Szent-Györgyi). The numerous refugees (including even more from the newly created Romania) necessitated the construction of new housing projects in Budapest (Mária-Valéria telep, Pongrácz-telep), which gave shelter to refugees numbering at least in the ten-thousands.[5]

[edit] The aftermath of World War II

In 1945, at the end of World War II, Czechoslovakia was recreated. Some politicians aimed to completely remove the German and Hungarian minorities from the territory of Czechoslovakia via ethnic cleansing. Many in the nation considered both minorities collectively "war criminals", because representatives from those two minorities had supported redrawing the borders of Czechoslovakia before World War II, via the Munich Agreement and the 1st Vienna Award.[2] In addition, Czechs were suspicious of ethnic German poltical activity before the war. They also believed that the presence of so many ethnic Germans had encouraged Nazi Germany in its pan-German visions. In 1945, President Edvard Beneš revoked the citizenship of ethnic Germans and Hungarians by decree #33, except those with an active anti-fascist past (see Beneš Decrees).

[edit] Population exchanges

Slovak and Hungarian officers are inspecting the relocation of Hungarians at Nové Zámky in September, 1946.[6]

Immediately at the end of World War II, some 30,000 Hungarians left the formerly Hungarian-annexed territories of southern Slovakia (see Vienna Awards). While the Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia, the allies prevented a unilateral expulsion of Hungarians. They did agree to a forced 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; 76,604 or 89,660 Hungarians from Slovakia were exchanged for 60,000; 71,787; or 73,200 Slovaks from Hungary, the exact number depending on the source.[1][7][8][9] Slovaks leaving Hungary moved voluntarily, but Hungarians were forced to leave Czechoslovakia.

The result of the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia was a desperate need of work force, especially farmers, in the part of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland. As a result, the Czechoslovak government deported more than 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, deported by the Czechoslovak Police and Army as "livestock" in rail cars and offered to the new Czech settlers of Sudets on village markets as "slaves", farmwork labour for free, without any status/rights[dubious – discuss]. These conditions eased up slowly. After a few years, the resettled Hungarians started to return to their homes in Slovakia. By 1948 some 18,536 had returned, causing conflicts over the ownership of their original houses since they had been taken over by Slovak colonists. The majority of the indentured Hungarians returned by 1950. The status of Hungarians in Czechoslovakia was resolved and the government again allowed citizenship to ethnic Hungarians.

[edit] Re-Slovakization

Materials from Russian archives prove how insistent the Czechoslovak government was on destroying the Hungarian minority in Slovakia.[10] Hungary gave the Slovaks equal rights and demanded that Czechoslovakia offer equivalent rights to Hungarians within its borders. [11]

In the spring and summer of 1945, the Czech government in exile approved a series of decrees that stripped Hungarians of property and all civil rights.[12] In 1946 in Czechoslovakia, the process of "Reslovakization" was implemented with the objective of eliminating the Magyar nationality[13]. It basically required the acceptance of Slovak nationality[13]. Ethnic Hungarians were pressured to have their nationality officially changed to Slovak, otherwise they were dropped from the pension, social and healthcare system[14]. 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.

After Eduard Benes was out of office, the next Czechoslovak government issued decree No. 76/1948 on April 13, 1948, allowing those Hungarians still living in Czechoslovakia, to reinstate Czechoslovak citizenship[13]. A year later, Hungarians were allowed to send their children to Hungarian-language schools, which had been reopened for the first time since 1945[13]. Most re-Slovakized Hungarians gradually readopted their Hungarian nationality. As a result, the re-Slovakization commission ceased operations in December 1948.

Despite 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.[15] 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.[16] Under slogans for the struggle with "class enemies", the process of dispersing dense Hungarian settlements continued in 1948 and 1949.[17] By October 1949 preparations were made to deport 600 Hungarian families.[18] Hungarians remaining in Slovakia were subjected to heavy pressure to assimilate.[19] including the forced enrollment of Hungarian children in Slovak schools.[20]

[edit] Population statistics after World War II

In the 1950 census the number of Hungarians in Slovakia decreased by 240,000 in comparison to 1930. By 1961 census it increased by 164,244 to 518,776. The low number in the 1950 census is likely due to the re-Slovakization; the higher number in the 1961 census is due to the fact that the re-Slovakization was cancelled[citation needed].

The number of Hungarians in Slovakia increased from 518,782 in 1961 to 567,296 in 1991. The number of self-identified Hungarians in Slovakia decreased between 1991 and 2001, due in part to assimilation accelerated by continued pressure from the Slovak society and state institutions, and introduction of new ethnic categories, such as the Roma.

[edit] The Velvet Revolution and the independence of Slovakia

After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Czechia and Slovakia separated peacefully in the Velvet Divorce of 1993. Following the independence of Slovakia, the situation of the Hungarian minority worsened, especially under the reign of Slovak Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar (1993-March 1994 and December 1994-1998).

An official language law required the 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] On January 23, 2007, the local broadcasting committee shut down BBC's radio broadcasting for using English, and cited the language law as the reason.[21]

Especially in Slovakia's ethnic Hungarian areas[22], critics have attacked the administrative division of Slovakia as a case of gerrymandering, designed so that in all eight regions, Hungarians are in the minority. Under the 1996 law of reorganization, only two districts (Dunajská Streda and Komárno) have a Hungarian-majority population. While also done to maximize the success of the party HZDS, the gerrymandering in ethnic Hungarian areas worked to minimize the Hungarians' voting power.[23] In all eight regions, Hungarians are in the minority, though five regions have Hungarian populations within the 10 to 30 per cent range. The Slovak government established new territorial districts from north to south, dividing the Hungarian community into five administrative units, where they became a minority in each administrative unit. The Hungarian community saw a substantial loss of political influence in this gerrymandering. [24]

On March 12, 1997, the Undersecretary of Education sent a circular to the heads of the school districts, ordering that in Hungarian-language schools, the Slovak language should be taught exclusively by native speakers. The same requirement for native Slovak-language speakers applied to teaching of geography and history in non-Slovak schools. In 1998 this measure was repealed by the Mikuláš Dzurinda government.

On April 10, 2008 the Hungarian Coalition Party (MKP) voted with the governing Smer and SNS supporting the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon[25]. This is the result of an alleged political bargain[26]: Robert Fico promised to change the Slovak education law that would have drastically limited the Hungarian minority's usage of their native language in education facilities[27]. The two Slovak opposition parties saw this as a betrayal[26], because originally the whole Slovak opposition had planned to boycott the vote to protest a new press code that limited the freedom of the press in Slovakia[28].

[edit] The situation of the Hungarian minority today

The 1992 Slovak constitution is derived from the concept of the Slovak nation state.[29] The preamble of the Constitution, however, cites 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 Party of the Hungarian Coalition(SMK) is represented in Parliament and was part of the government coalition from 1998 to 2006.

After the Regions of Slovakia became autonomous in 2002, the SMK was able to take power in the Nitra Region. It became part of the ruling coalition in several other regions. Since the new administrative system was put in place in 1996, the SMK has asked for the creation of a Hungarian-majority Komárno county. Although a territorial unit of the same name existed before 1918, the borders proposed by the SMK are significantly different. The proposed region would encompass a long slice of southern Slovakia, with the explicit aim to create an administrative unit with an ethnic Hungarian majority. Hungarian minority politicians and intellectuals are convinced that such an administrative unit is essential for the long-term survival of the Hungarian minority. The Slovak government has so far refused to change the boundaries of the administrative units, and ethnic Hungarians continue as minorities in each.

The coalition formed after the parliamentary elections in 2006 saw the Slovak National Party headed by Ján Slota (frequently described as ultra-nationalist[30][31], right-wing extremist[30][32] and neo-fascist[33]) become a member of the ruling coalition, led by the allegedly social-democratic Smer party. After its signing of a coalition treaty with far-right extremist party SNS, the Smer's Social-Democratic self-identification was questioned.

In August 2006, a few incidents motivated by ethnic hatred caused diplomatic tensions between Slovakia and Hungary. Mainstream Hungarian and Slovak media blamed Slota's anti-Hungarian statements from the early summer for the worsening ethnic relations. The Party of European Socialists, with which the Smer is affiliated, regards SNS as a party of the racist far-right. It reacted to news of the coalition by expressing grave concern. The PES suspended Smer's membership on 12 October 2006 and decided to review the situation in June 2007. The decision was then extended until February 2008, when Smer's candidacy was readmitted by PES. On 27 September 2007, the Slovak parliament reconfirmed the Beneš decrees, appearing to legitimize the historic accusation of collective guilt and deportation of Hungarians and Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II.[34]

[edit] Culture

[edit] Education

Some 585 schools in Slovakia, kindergartens inclusive, use the Hungarian language as the main language of education. Nearly 200 schools use both Slovak and Hungarian. In 2004, the J. Selye University of Komárno was the first state-financed Hungarian-language university to be opened outside Hungary.

[edit] Hungarian political parties

[edit] Towns with large Hungarian populations

Note: only towns are listed here, villages and rural municipalities are not.

[edit] Towns with a Hungarian majority

  • Veľký Meder (Nagymegyer) - 9,113 inhabitants, of whom 84.6% are Hungarian
  • Kolárovo (Gúta) - 10,756 inhabitants, of whom 82.6% are Hungarian
  • Dunajská Streda (Dunaszerdahely) - 23,562 inhabitants, of whom 79.75% are Hungarian
  • Kráľovský Chlmec (Királyhelmec) - 7,966 inhabitants, of whom 76.94% are Hungarian
  • Štúrovo (Párkány) - 11,708 inhabitants, of whom 68.7% are Hungarian
  • Šamorín (Somorja) - 12,339 inhabitants, of whom 66.63% are Hungarian
  • Fiľakovo (Fülek) - 10,198 inhabitants, of whom 64.40% are Hungarian
  • Šahy (Ipolyság) - 7,971 inhabitants, of whom 62.21% are Hungarian
  • Tornaľa (Tornalja) - 8,016 inhabitants, of whom 62.14% are Hungarian
  • Komárno (Komárom) - 37,366 inhabitants, of whom 60.09% are Hungarian
  • Čierna nad Tisou (Tiszacsernyő) - 4,390 inhabitants, of whom 60% are Hungarian
  • Veľké Kapušany (Nagykapos) - 9,536 inhabitants of whom 56.98% are Hungarian
  • Želiezovce (Zselíz) - 7,522 inhabitants, of whom 51.24% are Hungarian
  • Hurbanovo (Ógyalla) - 8,041 inhabitants, of whom 50.19% are Hungarian

[edit] Towns with a Hungarian population of between 25% and 50%

  • Moldava nad Bodvou (Szepsi) - 9,525 inhabitants of whom 43.6% are Hungarian
  • Sládkovičovo (Diószeg) - 6,078 inhabitants of whom 38.5% are Hungarian
  • Galanta (Galánta) - 16,000 inhabitants of whom 36.80% are Hungarian
  • Rimavská Sobota (Rimaszombat) - 24,520 inhabitants of whom 35.26% are Hungarian
  • Nové Zámky (Érsekújvár) - 42,300 inhabitants of whom 27.52% are Hungarian
  • Rožňava (Rozsnyó) - 19,120 inhabitants of whom 26.8% are Hungarian

[edit] Towns with a Hungarian population of between 10% and 25%

  • Senec (Szenc) - 15,193 inhabitants of whom 22% are Hungarian
  • Šaľa (Vágsellye) - 24,506 inhabitants of whom 17.9% are Hungarian
  • Lučenec (Losonc) - 28,221 inhabitants of whom 13.11% are Hungarian
  • Levice (Léva) - 35,980 inhabitants of whom 12.23% are Hungarian

[edit] Famous Hungarians born in Slovakia

[edit] Born before 1918 in the Kingdom of Hungary

[edit] Born after 1918 in Czechoslovakia

[edit] Born in Czechoslovakia, career in Hungary

[edit] Hungarian politicians in Slovakia

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c 1
  2. ^ a b Marko, Martinický: Slovensko-maďarské vzťahy. 1995
  3. ^ kovacs-4.qxd
  4. ^ HamvasBéla.org
  5. ^ Magyarország a XX. században / Szociálpolitika
  6. ^ Rubicon, történelmi folyóirat, 2005/6 (in Hungarian) Rubicon Hungarian History Magzine, 2006/6.
  7. ^ Bobák, Ján: Maďarská otázka v Česko-Slovensku. 1996
  8. ^ http://www.psa.ac.uk/journals/pdf/5/2003/Erika%20Harris.pdf
  9. ^ Zvara, J.: Maďarská menšina na Slovensku po roku 1945. 1969
  10. ^ Alfred J. Rieber (2000). Forced Migration in Central and Eastern Europe, 1939-1950. Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 9780714651323. 
  11. ^ Rieber, p. 91
  12. ^ Mandelbaum, p. 40
  13. ^ 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". http://migrationeducation.de/15.1.html?&rid=14&cHash=944ca081bb. 
  14. ^ Largest Hungarian portal's article about re-Slovakization
  15. ^ Rieber, p. 92
  16. ^ Rieber, p. 93
  17. ^ Rieber, p. 93
  18. ^ Rieber, p. 93
  19. ^ Rieber, p. 93
  20. ^ Rieber, p. 93
  21. ^ "BBC's radio license yanked for use of English". The Slovak Spectator. http://slovakspectator.sk/clanok-26424.html. 
  22. ^ O'Dwyer, Conor : Runaway State-building, p. 113 online
  23. ^ O'Dwyer, Conor : Runaway State-building, p. 113 online
  24. ^ Minton F. Goldman: Slovakia since independence, p. 125. online
  25. ^ "SMK will vote for Lisbon Treaty, to SDKÚ & KDH dismay". Slovak Spectator. 2008-04-10. http://www.spectator.sk/articles/view/31392/10/smk_will_vote_for_lisbon_treaty_to_sdku_kdh_dismay.html. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  26. ^ a b "Csáky "tehénszar" helyett már "tökös gyerek" - Fico "aljas ajánlata"" (in Hungarian). Hírszerző. 2008-04-14. http://www.hirszerzo.hu/cikkr.csaky_tehenszar_helyett_mar_tokos_gyerek_-_fico_aljas_ajanlata.63108.html. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  27. ^ "Készek tüntetni a szlovákiai magyarok" (in Hungarian). Hírszerző. 2008-03-26. http://www.hirszerzo.hu/cikk.keszek_tuntetni_a_szlovakiai_magyarok.61236.html. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  28. ^ "Fico's post-Press Code era has begun". The Slovak Spectator. 2008-04-14. http://www.spectator.sk/articles/view/31432/11/ficos_post_press_code_era_has_begun.html. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  29. ^ Hungarian Nation in Slovakia | Slovakia
  30. ^ a b New Slovak Government Embraces Ultra-Nationalists, Excludes Hungarian Coalition Party HRF Alert: "Hungarians are the cancer of the Slovak nation, without delay we need to remove them from the body of the nation." (Új Szó, April 15, 2005)
  31. ^ Inernational Herald Tribune's article about Hungarian-Slovak relations
  32. ^ The Steven Roth Institute: Country reports. Antisemitism and racism in Slovakia
  33. ^ Democratic Dilemma - OhmyNews International
  34. ^ "The Beneš-Decrees Are Untouchable" (in English) (PDF). mkp. 2007. http://www.mkp.sk/eng/images/pdf/MINORITY%20REPORT%20-%20OCTOBER.pdf. Retrieved on October 2008. 

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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