Tanulmányok
Changes in the relations between Hungary and the Hungarian minorities. Minority policy in Central Europe after EU-enlargement
The authors deal with the creation of relationship of minority Hungarians living in Hungary and in the neighbouring countries, mainly incon nection to the disputes of Hungarian national and supporting policy in the 1990s. The background of their topic was given by the elaboration of the part of the new strategy of national consciousness and national politics pertaining to foreign affairs initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The study clears up the characteristics of Hungarian national consciousness, outlines the changes of Hungarian national politics and the policy of Hungarians of the last years.
The Hungarian minority in the political life in Slovakia (on the example of 2007)
The Hungarian Minority in Slovakia and its representation play a significant role in the social and political life of Slovakia. The relationship toward this minority from the side of the governmental policy is after 1989 even a barometer of Europe−likeness and many times even democracy−likeness of governmental groups. This results from opposition that the issue of the position of national minorities has in the European communities and in the policy of the European Union.
In 2007 the Slovak government confirmed with the statements of its representatives the „status quo“ in the position of national minorities. Organisation changes on positions of civil servants dealing with the issue of national minorities ended. In the spirit of the program declaration of the government a course of strengthening the position of the Slovak language in the national education, culture and support of national powers in Slovakia began and mainly in its southern part. Year 2007 was for the governmental policy in the sign of nationalism, but also in entering politics into historical topics. The SMK (Slovak−Hungarian Coalition) freed from coalition obligations, after the changes in the leadership of the party, raised issues that it did not succeed to solve in the last years. The issues of compensating Hungarians and Germans for the decrees of president Beneą and orders of the Slovak National Council, together with the draft for declaration on conciliation evoke a discussion on historical topics, in which the character was defined by politics and the journalists.
The result was the adoption of a problematic resoluti on of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on untouchability of after−war legislation, that declared the untouchability of acts that have been long modified. In spite of positive results of meetings of the Prime−Ministers of the Slovak Republic and the Hungarian Republic another development brought the sharpening of Slovak−Hungarian interstate and inner−state relationships.
Fordította Mészáros Magdolna
The national fight and support in the Hungarian policy of Hungarian people
The internal politics led with over−the−border Hungarians even in 1990, that is during the first free elections appeared in Hungary. Although, the appearance of minority Hungarians whose national living was endangered, in the Hungarian election campaign even enlarged argument system of electoral fighting for political power with one problematic element. With and through them the Hungarian political parties argued not only for their support, but also against their Hungarian political opponents proclaimed the remaining and rising of the entire Hungarian nation, that on the basis of the campaign’s sugges ti on was endangered by the political opponent.
The study analyses the Hungarian politics of Hungarian people, and/or in the election campaign how the situation of minority Hungarians is used by certain persons.
Slovaks living in Hungary and Hungarians living in Slovakia. Empirical analysis on construction of national identity
The goal of the study is the empirical analysis of the constructions of national identity of Slovaks living in Hungary and Hungarians living in Slovakia. These two communities in consequence of historical and political changes got into a minority status, while the national countries (mother countries) remained in their close neighbourhood. The author on the basis of research made in Hungary and Slovakia analyses bothminorities from the point of view of ethnical construction and its possible development.
On the basis of ethnical characteristics of Slovaks living in Hungary and Hungarians living in Slovakia (in the extent of the ana ly sis cho sen by us) introduced here we can state that the ethnical construction of the examined minorities differ from each other. It is evident that they have different ethical selfidentity of different extent thanks to the subjective and objective factors that after all influences their keeping of ethnical identity and their further formation.
In spite of the mentioned differences the ethnical construction of the two minorities has one common characteristic that are evidenced by the results of the research. At balancing the perspectives of their own minority, both minorities consider the remaining and development of the ethnical identity as the most important, moreover through the certain elements, mainly through the strengthening of the mother language. The are properly aware that it is the mother language that is the most important element of ethnical construction, regardless of the fact that what is the position of the given community in society.
The Slovak Roma people in Czechoslovakia in 1945 – 1947 (Regulation of the movement and continuity of persecution)
After the end of the Second World War an extensive movement of certain groups of the population began in the entire Central Europe that evoke spontaneous efforts to find the new home, living, but also a wide applicati on of compulsory and forced migration as tool of the Czechoslovak residential policy. Their part was also the unprecedented migration of the Roma people from Eastern Slovakia, to which the Czech bodies reacted mainly negatively following the practice of older anti−Roma arrangements and the continuity of attitudes toward this culturally different and undesirable minority is indisputable. The migration waves of Roma immigrants from Slovakia caused spontaneously and purposefully that were linked „with their systemless urbanisation“ or not solving and refusing to provide opportunities to settle, accommodate a number of labour force resulted problems and consequences, with which according to the Czech authors not only the Roma minority, but the entire society is still striving.
The Czechoslovak-Hungarian population exchange and the list of names of Hungarians living in Slovakia assigned for resettlement
The London Czechoslovak emigration led by Edvard Beneą led in 1941 to that conviction that it is necessa ry to resettle the German and Hungarian population from the after the war to−be renewed Czechoslovakia and the country borders are to be changed to ethnic borders.
The population exchange that began in 1947 − with longer or shorter interruptions − lasted to December 1948, and from Czechoslovakia 89 660 Hungari ans were resettled, and/or settled voluntarily or forcefully to Hungary. In contrary to the exchange transports and regime transports, and/or on the basis of the decision No. 48 and 60 of the Czechoslovak−Hungarian Joint Committee that was in charge of the population exchange a total of 71 787 Slovaks arrived from Hungary to Czechoslovakia.
Therefore, the population exchange was not executed in the extent planned by Czechoslovakia − it did not succeed to settle the „war criminals“ as it was planned − the settlement of almost fifteen percent of Hungarians living in Slovakia in the most concerned regions (mainly in the regions by the river of Hron and in Upper Csallóköz, Mátyusföld, Komárom and Érsekújvár, in a smaller extent in Gemer), still it result ed extensive change of the ethnical compositions of a lot of before homogenous Hungarian territories.
Repelled ethnic Germans, settled Székelys from Bukovina. Some of the connections of the changes of the land reform and social structure in Southern Transdanubia (1945–1949)
After the Second World War the rightful effort of the social and politi cal elite was the change of the out of date social structure of Hungary. It was also understandable that with this change the new elite wanted to strengthen its own power situation. Although, from the point of view of historical assessment of the process the deciding aspect is that these efforts contributed to the creati on of more effective and more wellbalanced social relationships.
The execution of the land reform and settlements significantly influenced the nationality composition of this region. The only significant minority of the country became the German, counting 475 491. This process reached its peak after the Second World War as effect of settlements, frightening and open pressure. At the population census in 1949 ninety−eight percent of the population from the aspect of nationality and mother language considered itself Hungarian.
The study states that the robbing and expel ling of Germans in Hungary − together with other similarly inhuman processes − did not change the structure of society in the direction of a more effective and more well−balanced social relationships.
In Hungary during the process the national principle was not declared and had no legal form − like the AVNOJ decisions in Yugoslavia −, but during the practical execution it was applied according to the needs. The power in the stirring of anti−German tem pers did not reach the final limit, but in the press enabled such tones in order to „accept“ the arrangements.
The national homogenising process that began after the First World War in Hungary reached its peak after the Second World War. As conse quence of the execution of settle ments the country practically became uni−national. Although, as part of the Sovietisation process the forced economic, political, cultural restructructuralisation of the society was carried out, the loo sing of national identity of nationality minorities − of Germans, too − see med to be irreversible. Although, the revitalisation processes after 1990 show that the Germans in Hungary − similarly like the other groups of the society − even after the influence of the general policy and assimilation pressu re did not „disappear“, and did not loose its self−identity. The questi on that what extents will the language, cultural and economic revitalisation have, will be answered by the next decades.
The former Jewish population of lower- and upper Saliby (Alsószeli and Felsőszeli)
About the small Jewish communities of the two neighbouring settlements of Mátyusföld we can find a few short surveys in literature and in works of place history, on the basis of which we can broadly outline their history. This study analyzes two sources that have not been used in literature: the cemeteries and the civil registers; conclusions drawn from these and partly from other sources shade our knowledge on the communities. The cemeteries and the civil register comprehend almost the same period: a half century between the last decade of the 19th C and the end of the 1940s, with a lot references back to the middle of the 19th C.
Thanks to the study we are given a picture about the migration of Jewish fam− ilies to the examined villages, their practice of name−giving, the social compo− sition and the religious institutions of the local Jewish communitity, conse− quences of the anti−Jewish legislation and the fate of the Jews in Saliby during the Holocaust.
Konferencia
Könyvek