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

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.