Ethnic tensions in Czechoslovakia
Encyclopedia
This article describes ethnic tensions in Czechoslovakia from 1918 until 1992.
was founded as a country in the aftermath of World War I
with its borders set out in the Treaty of Trianon
and Treaty of Versailles
, though the new borders were de facto
established about a year prior. One of the main objects of these treaties was to secure independence for minorities previously living within the Kingdom of Hungary
or to reunify them with the "motherland" (even if this meant the expansion of the countries in question with no historical precedent, as in case of Romania), leaving only de facto nation-states.
However most of the territorial claims were based on economic grounds instead of ethnic ones(for instance, the southern border of Slovakia
had to be justified on economic and strategic grounds) which resulted in successor states with percentages of minorities almost as high as in Austria-Hungary
before. Czechoslovakia had the highest proportion of minorities, who constituted 32.4% of the population
Table. 1921 ethnonational census
! Regions
! "Czechoslovaks"
(Czechs and Slovaks)
! Germans
! Hungarians
! Rusyns
! Jews
! others
! Total population
|-
| Bohemia
|4 382 788
|2 173 239
|5 476
|2 007
|11 251
|93 757
|6 668 518
|-
| Moravia
|2 048 426
|547 604
|534
|976
|15 335
|46 448
|2 649 323
|-
| Silesia
|296 194
|252 365
|94
|338
|3 681
|49 530
|602 202
|-
| Slovakia
|2 013 792
|139 900
|637 183
|85 644
|70 529
|42 313
|2 989 361
|-
| Carpathian Ruthenia
|19 737
|10 460
|102 144
|372 884
|80 059
|6 760
|592 044
|-
| Czechoslovak Republic
|8 760 937
|3 123 568
|745 431
|461 849
|180 855
|238 080
|13 410 750
|->
Czechoslovakia was a founding member of the League of Nations
, but even though the organization declared the protection of minorities, numerous attempts were made to assimilate all ethnic groups into the "Czechoslovak nation", including Hungarians, Germans
and Ruthenians
, but also Slovaks
who were viewed as "magyarized Slavs".
was asymmetrical: Slovakia
was considered an agrarian appendage to the highly industrial Czech nation, and the Czechs viewed Slovak culture as lacking in maturity and refinement. The languages of the two nations are closely related and mutually intelligible, many Czechs viewed Slovak as a caricature of Czech.
In 1921, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the Czechoslovak politician told to a French journalist:
of the city was the forced disbandment of the Elisabeth Science University, the only Hungarian university in Czechoslovakia, and the intimidation of its professors by the police in 1919, immediately after the formation of the country.
Most of the professors and former students then left (what was later to become) Bratislava for Budapest
(with the university later being re-established in Pécs
). Zoch had previously stated "...but the question of minorities will be fully solved only after our public perception of morality will condemn ethnical oppression just as much as the oppression of religion".
Tensions mounted further in Bratislava as soldiers of the Czechoslovakian legion fired volleys at civilians, leaving 7 dead and 23 wounded. Most of these soldiers played the main part in the destruction of Hungarian and Habsburg
statues and monuments.
Another aspect of the anti-Hungarian sentiment was the hatred of all the statues and monuments representing Austria-Hungary
or Hungarian historical people. National socialist MP
s of the Czechoslovak National Assembly have been calling for the demolition of such works of art as early as 1920. The hatred however was not limited to sculptures only: Hungarian books were burned in Poprad
and possibly other locations as well. Concurrently some of the statues were destroyed as well: the millennium monument along with the Árpád
statue in Devín
was blown up using dynamite, the statue of Maria Theresa in Bratislava
(pictured) was brought down using ropes tied to trucks. Statues of Lajos Kossuth
were destroyed in Rožňava
, Lučenec
, Dobšiná
and Nové Zámky
, also a statue of Ferenc Rákóczi in Brezno and numerous others. In almost all of these cases the perpetrators were the soldiers of the Czechoslovakian legion. The police and government officials watched the process idly and decided to intervene only after the mob had begun to take over shops and properties of German enterpreneurs.
Hungarians (and other minorities e.g. Germans and Rusyns
) were excluded from the constituent assembly, barring them from having any influence on the new Czechoslovak constitution.
Later on, all the minorities gained the right to use their languages in municipalities where they constituted at least 20% of the population even in communication with government offices and courts. However due to gerrymandering
and disproportionate distribution of population between Bohemia
and Slovakia
the Hungarians had little (if any) representation in the National Assembly and thus their influence on the politics of Czechoslovakia remained limited. The same considerations have limited the Slovak intelligentsia
's political power as well.
or the United States
who wanted to follow Jewish lives and freedom. For many years there has been no religious leadership.
and criminal group. This attitude was reflected in the policy of collecting special police evidence--fingerprint collections of members of Romany groups (1925), a law about wandering Roma (1927).
Racism
was not an unknown phenomenon under communism
. Roma people were forced to resettle in small groups around the country left them isolated.This policy of the state was oriented toward one of assimilation of the Roma people (in 1958, Law No. 74, "On the permanent settlement of nomadic and semi-nomadic people"), forcibly limited the movement of that part of the Roma (perhaps 5%-10%) who still traveled on a regular basis. In the same year, the highest organ of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
passed a resolution, the aim of which was to be "the final assimilation of the Gypsy population". The "Gypsy question" was decreased to a "problem of a socially-backward section of the population". During this period, the governments actively supported sterilisation and abortion
for Roma women and the policy was not repealed until 1991.
The popular perception of Roma
even before 1989 was of lazy, dirty criminals who abused social services and posed a significant threat to majority values.
nationality was declared to be Ukrainian
in Czechoslovakia. The Rusyns refused a Ukrainian identity, instead declaring their nationality as Slovak. Rusyn cultural institutions were changed to Ukrainian, and the useage of the Rusyn language in official communications ceased. Most settlement had only a Slovak-language school and a Slovak identity and orientation were adopted by most of the Rusyn populace, and they were, in effect, de-nationalized.
Background
CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
was founded as a country in the aftermath of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
with its borders set out in the Treaty of Trianon
Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon was the peace agreement signed in 1920, at the end of World War I, between the Allies of World War I and Hungary . The treaty greatly redefined and reduced Hungary's borders. From its borders before World War I, it lost 72% of its territory, which was reduced from to...
and Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, though the new borders were de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
established about a year prior. One of the main objects of these treaties was to secure independence for minorities previously living within the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
or to reunify them with the "motherland" (even if this meant the expansion of the countries in question with no historical precedent, as in case of Romania), leaving only de facto nation-states.
However most of the territorial claims were based on economic grounds instead of ethnic ones(for instance, the southern border of Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
had to be justified on economic and strategic grounds) which resulted in successor states with percentages of minorities almost as high as in Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
before. Czechoslovakia had the highest proportion of minorities, who constituted 32.4% of the population
! "Czechoslovaks"
(Czechs and Slovaks)
! Germans
! Hungarians
! Rusyns
! Jews
History of the Jews in Czechoslovakia
-Demography:table 1. Jewish population by religion in CzechoslovakiaTable 2. Declared Nationality of Jews in Czechoslovakia-Holocaust:For the Czechs of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia, German occupation was a period of brutal oppression. The Jewish population of Bohemia and Moravia was...
! others
! Total population
|-
| Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
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| Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
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| Silesia
Czech Silesia
Czech Silesia is an unofficial name of one of the three Czech lands and a section of the Silesian historical region. It is located in the north-east of the Czech Republic, predominantly in the Moravian-Silesian Region, with a section in the northern Olomouc Region...
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| Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
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| Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia is a region in Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast , with smaller parts in easternmost Slovakia , Poland's Lemkovyna and Romanian Maramureş.It is...
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| Czechoslovak Republic
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Czechoslovakia was a founding member of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
, but even though the organization declared the protection of minorities, numerous attempts were made to assimilate all ethnic groups into the "Czechoslovak nation", including Hungarians, Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
and Ruthenians
Ruthenians
The name Ruthenian |Rus']]) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used. Initially, it was the ethnonym used for the East Slavic peoples who lived in Rus'. Later it was used predominantly for Ukrainians...
, but also Slovaks
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
who were viewed as "magyarized Slavs".
Conflicts between Czechs and Slovaks
After the Word War I, the Czechs outnumbered Slovaks two to one in the new Czechoslovak state. The Slovaks lived in the shadow of the more internationally recognized Czech leadership and the great capital of Prague. The relationship between the Czechs and SlovaksSlovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
was asymmetrical: Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
was considered an agrarian appendage to the highly industrial Czech nation, and the Czechs viewed Slovak culture as lacking in maturity and refinement. The languages of the two nations are closely related and mutually intelligible, many Czechs viewed Slovak as a caricature of Czech.
In 1921, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the Czechoslovak politician told to a French journalist:
Hungarians in Czechoslovakia
During the Dual Monarchy there was strong anti-Hungarian sentiment among certain sections of the Czech population, and not surprisingly this persisted to some extent in Czechoslovakia. It seemed to hit the city of Pressburg (soon to be renamed as Bratislava) the most: one of the very first measures brought by Samuel Zoch, the newly appointed županZupan
Żupan was a long garment, always lined, worn by almost all males of the noble social class in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, typical male attire from the beginning of the 16th to half of the 18th century, still surviving as a part of the Polishnational dress.- Derivation :The name żupan has...
of the city was the forced disbandment of the Elisabeth Science University, the only Hungarian university in Czechoslovakia, and the intimidation of its professors by the police in 1919, immediately after the formation of the country.
Most of the professors and former students then left (what was later to become) Bratislava for Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
(with the university later being re-established in Pécs
Pécs
Pécs is the fifth largest city of Hungary, located on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the south-west of the country, close to its border with Croatia. It is the administrative and economical centre of Baranya county...
). Zoch had previously stated "...but the question of minorities will be fully solved only after our public perception of morality will condemn ethnical oppression just as much as the oppression of religion".
Tensions mounted further in Bratislava as soldiers of the Czechoslovakian legion fired volleys at civilians, leaving 7 dead and 23 wounded. Most of these soldiers played the main part in the destruction of Hungarian and Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
statues and monuments.
Another aspect of the anti-Hungarian sentiment was the hatred of all the statues and monuments representing Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
or Hungarian historical people. National socialist MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
s of the Czechoslovak National Assembly have been calling for the demolition of such works of art as early as 1920. The hatred however was not limited to sculptures only: Hungarian books were burned in Poprad
Poprad
Poprad is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the tenth largest city in Slovakia with a population of approximately 55,000.The Poprad-Tatry Airport is...
and possibly other locations as well. Concurrently some of the statues were destroyed as well: the millennium monument along with the Árpád
Árpád
Árpád was the second Grand Prince of the Hungarians . Under his rule the Hungarian people settled in the Carpathian basin. The dynasty descending from him ruled the Hungarian tribes and later the Kingdom of Hungary until 1301...
statue in Devín
Devín
Devín originally a separate town at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers, is now a suburb of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is an important archaeological site, famous for the ruins of Devín Castle...
was blown up using dynamite, the statue of Maria Theresa in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
(pictured) was brought down using ropes tied to trucks. Statues of Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.-Family:Lajos...
were destroyed in Rožňava
Rožnava
Rožňava is a town in Slovakia, approximately 71 km by road from Košice in the Košice Region, and has a population of 19,120.The town is an economic and tourist center of the Gemer. Rožňava is now a popular tourist attraction with a beautiful historic town centre. The town is an episcopal seat...
, Lučenec
Lucenec
Lučenec is a town in the Banská Bystrica Region of south-central Slovakia. Historically, it was part, and in the 18th century the capital, of the Nógrád county of the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1918, as a result of the Treaty of Trianon, it became a part of Czechoslovakia...
, Dobšiná
Dobšiná
Dobšiná is a town in the Slovenské rudohorie mountains in Slovakia, on the Slaná River, north-west of Košice.-Geography:...
and Nové Zámky
Nové Zámky
Nové Zámky is a town in southwestern Slovakia.-Geography:The town is located on the Danubian Lowland, on the Nitra River, at an altitude of 119 metres. It is located around 100 km from Bratislava and around 25 km from the Hungarian border. It is a road and railway hub of southern...
, also a statue of Ferenc Rákóczi in Brezno and numerous others. In almost all of these cases the perpetrators were the soldiers of the Czechoslovakian legion. The police and government officials watched the process idly and decided to intervene only after the mob had begun to take over shops and properties of German enterpreneurs.
Hungarians (and other minorities e.g. Germans and Rusyns
Rusyns
Carpatho-Rusyns are a primarily diasporic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language, or Ukrainian dialect, known as Rusyn. Carpatho-Rusyns descend from a minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the use of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in the early twentieth century...
) were excluded from the constituent assembly, barring them from having any influence on the new Czechoslovak constitution.
Later on, all the minorities gained the right to use their languages in municipalities where they constituted at least 20% of the population even in communication with government offices and courts. However due to gerrymandering
Gerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
and disproportionate distribution of population between Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
and Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
the Hungarians had little (if any) representation in the National Assembly and thus their influence on the politics of Czechoslovakia remained limited. The same considerations have limited the Slovak intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
's political power as well.
Jews in Czechoslovakia
During communism there was no any signs of organized Jewish life and the situation was similar to others communities of Central and Eastern Europe controlled directly by state. Most of the Jewish left the country for IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
or the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who wanted to follow Jewish lives and freedom. For many years there has been no religious leadership.
Situation of Roma people
After the Word War I, the Roma people formed an ethnic community, living on the social periphery of the mainstream population. The state always focused on the Roma population not as a distinct ethnic minority, but rather perceived it as a particularly anti-socialAnti-social behaviour
Anti-social behaviour is behaviour that lacks consideration for others and that may cause damage to society, whether intentionally or through negligence, as opposed to pro-social behaviour, behaviour that helps or benefits society...
and criminal group. This attitude was reflected in the policy of collecting special police evidence--fingerprint collections of members of Romany groups (1925), a law about wandering Roma (1927).
Racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
was not an unknown phenomenon under communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. Roma people were forced to resettle in small groups around the country left them isolated.This policy of the state was oriented toward one of assimilation of the Roma people (in 1958, Law No. 74, "On the permanent settlement of nomadic and semi-nomadic people"), forcibly limited the movement of that part of the Roma (perhaps 5%-10%) who still traveled on a regular basis. In the same year, the highest organ of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
passed a resolution, the aim of which was to be "the final assimilation of the Gypsy population". The "Gypsy question" was decreased to a "problem of a socially-backward section of the population". During this period, the governments actively supported sterilisation and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
for Roma women and the policy was not repealed until 1991.
The popular perception of Roma
Roma people
The Romani, who are known collectively in the Romani language as Romane or Rromane and also as Romany, Romanies, Romanis, Roma or Roms, are an ethnic group living mostly in Europe, who trace their origins to the Indian Subcontinent...
even before 1989 was of lazy, dirty criminals who abused social services and posed a significant threat to majority values.
Rusyns in Czechoslovakia
After the Word War II, the RusynRusyns
Carpatho-Rusyns are a primarily diasporic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language, or Ukrainian dialect, known as Rusyn. Carpatho-Rusyns descend from a minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the use of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in the early twentieth century...
nationality was declared to be Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
in Czechoslovakia. The Rusyns refused a Ukrainian identity, instead declaring their nationality as Slovak. Rusyn cultural institutions were changed to Ukrainian, and the useage of the Rusyn language in official communications ceased. Most settlement had only a Slovak-language school and a Slovak identity and orientation were adopted by most of the Rusyn populace, and they were, in effect, de-nationalized.