At the beginning of the 21st century a visible shift Adam Hudek et al. occurred in the Slovak historiography, both thematic and methodological, away from the political history and the nation-centred paradigm of history. The professional development of historiography is more and more inϐluenced by the new generation of historians. In their research they are going beyond what they consider as established stereotypes in research, terminology and historical interpretations. The main goal of this collective monograph is to provide an example of proϐile texts of the historians who conduct their reserach at the Institute of History of Slovak Academy of Sciences. The thematic, chronological and territorial scope of this book is in no way exhaustive. Rather, it is just an example of the topics of historical research addressed currently in the key historical research institution in Slovakia. Twelve chapters of this book cover the period of the 19th and the 20th OVERCOMING THE OLD BORDERS centuries and are devoted to the area of Central Europe with emphasis on the territory of Slovakia. OVERCOMING ISBN 978-80-89396-26-9 THE OLD BORDERS BEYOND THE PARADIGM OF SLOVAK Adam Hudek et al. Adam NATIONAL HISTORY obalka.indd 1 9/7/13 8:11 PM Adam Hudek et al. OVERCOMING THE OLD BORDERS BEYOND THE PARADIGM OF SLOVAK NATIONAL HISTORY Bratislava 2013 Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Prodama Hudek_zalomenie_6.0.indd 1 9/7/13 8:04 PM Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Prodama © Adam Hudek, PhD. et al. © Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences © Authors: Juraj Benko, PhD., Matej Hanula, PhD., Karol Hollý, PhD., Adam Hudek, PhD., Miroslav Michela, PhD., Petra Rybářová, PhD., PhDr. Miroslav Sabol, PhD., PhDr. Michal Schvarc, PhD., Dušan Segeš, PhD., Peter Šoltés, PhD., László Vörös, PhD., Marína Zavacká, PhD. Reviewers PhDr. Slavomír Michálek, DrSc. PhDr. Zuzana Poláčková, CSc. Graic design & cover design Jozef Hupka Translation Mgr. Martin Katuščák Proof reading Lyndsay Warner Publisher Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Prodama This collective monograph was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract No. APVV-0628-11“State borders and identities in modern Slovak history in Central European context“ and Centre of Excellence of Slovak Academy of Sciences SDDE All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or trans- mitted in any form or by any means without written permission of Institute of History and the authors. Bratislava 2013 ISBN 978-80-89396-26-9 Hudek_zalomenie_6.0.indd 2 9/7/13 8:04 PM Adam Hudek et al. OVERCOMING THE OLD BORDERS BEYOND THE PARADIGM OF SLOVAK NATIONAL HISTORY Bratislava 2013 Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Prodama Hudek_zalomenie_6.0.indd 3 9/7/13 8:04 PM CONTENTS Introduction 7 Chapter 1 11 How to Deine a “Nation”? A Thing, a Group, or a Category? László Vörös Chapter 2 25 “Europe in Miniature” Representations of Ethnic Diversity of Hungary in Statistics and Homeland Studies until the Revolution of 1848 – 1849 Peter Šoltés Chapter 3 45 The Historical Narration as a Political Programme. Analysis of Images of the Past in the Texts of the Slovak National Movement’s Programmes from 1848 and 1861. Karol Hollý Chapter 4 59 Emancipation and Assimilation of Jews at the Time of Expansion of Political Anti-Semitism in Hungary Petra Rybářová Chapter 5 71 The State and Its People. The Political Socialisation of the Slovak Population after the Creation of the Czechoslovak Republic Juraj Benko Chapter 6 85 Peasant Cavalry in Slovakia - the Green Army of the Agrarian Party or its Prestigious Club? Matej Hanula Chapter 7 97 “A Home Should Be a Home to All Its Sons”: Cultural Representations of Saint Stephen in Slovakia during the Interwar Period Miroslav Michela Chapter 8 112 Finis Preßburg. Germans in Bratislava 1918 – 1948 Michal Schvarc 4 Hudek_zalomenie_6.0.indd 4 9/7/13 8:04 PM Chapter 9 126 Impact of the Vienna Arbitration on Agriculture, Industry and Infrastructure in Southern Slovakia Miroslav Sabol Chapter 10 138 Slovakia as the Subject of Political Contacts between Poland and Hungary in the Neutral European States during World War II. Dušan Segeš Chapter 11 155 Identity and Conlict. Communist Activist in Local Environment (1949 – 1956) Marína Zavacká Chapter 12 167 Twenty years wasted? Constructing a Narrative of 1989 in Slovakia Adam Hudek Conclusion 179 Literature and sources 183 Authors 212 Name index 213 5 Hudek_zalomenie_6.0.indd 5 9/7/13 8:04 PM ADAM HUDEK ET AL. 6 Hudek_zalomenie_6.0.indd 6 9/7/13 8:04 PM OVERCOMING THE OLD BORDERS INTRODUCTION The Slovak community of historians is presently experiencing a relatively rapid change of generations. The professional development of historiography is more and more inlu- enced by the generation of 30 – 40-year-old historians. This is the result of a speciic development related to the changes in the society after 1989. At the beginning of the 1990s a considerable portion of scientists left the academic environment. Many of them moved to the private sector or got employed in lucrative positions within the civil service (e.g. diplomatic corps). Researchers compromised by excessive ideological commitment in the previous regime had to leave scientiic teams, while others became the victims of radical cuts in employee numbers particularly in the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS). However, the situation changed in the second half of the 1990s. New universities were established and required human resources. A better inancial situation in the SAS led to the opening of new job positions. At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries (not only) his- torical research institutions took on an unusually great number of young scientists. This process was also well relected in the largest research institution dealing with the history – the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. It is natural that all members of the new-generation researchers seek to somehow deine themselves in opposition to their predecessors, for example, by going beyond what they consider as established stereotypes in research, terminology and interpretation. In their work, many young historians bring new methodological approaches into the Slovak his- toriography, and re-analyse the traditional historical constructs, or focus on phenomena of historical development which have yet to be explored. When compared with their older colleagues, they have got the undeniable advantage of working in a free society with almost no limitations in choosing research topics and with international coopera- tion opportunities. The main goal of creating and publishing this collective monograph is to provide an exam- ple of proile texts of the new generation of Slovak historians who work in the Institute of History. The twelve chapters of this work cover the period of the 19th and the 20th cen- turies. The chapters are devoted to the area of Central Europe with emphasis on the ter- ritory of Slovakia. The authors have based their work on different theories and apply a variety of methodological approaches. Their common goal is to overcome the negative conceptual models typical for Central European historiographies after 1989 such as the nation-centred paradigm of history and the neo-positivist emphasis on political history. Comprehension of Central and Eastern European history is barely possible without a thorough analysis of the concept of nation, its creation, its use, and its speciic formation in different national communities. This is the main reason why the monograph starts with a methodological study (by László Vörös) which deals with the question of deining and using the concept of “nation“ and the problem with reiication and objectiication of the nation. The political development in Central Europe in the last two centuries was largely turbu- lent, marked by conlicts arising from cultural, ethnic and social heterogeneity of the area. Central Europe is a region generally characterised by a complex, delicate, and constantly changing intersection of political, ethnic, national, linguistic, religious, cultural borders, 7 Hudek_zalomenie_6.0.indd 7 9/7/13 8:04 PM ADAM HUDEK ET AL. and contexts, producing various competing collective identities. The process of nation- alisation had an impact on the society in the Kingdom of Hungary, and initially, it led to questioning the concept of multi-ethnic Hungary in the environment of aristocratic elites. Peter Šoltés points to another trend which was particularly strong in Hungarian intellec- tual discourse before March 1848, to present Hungary as “Europe in miniature”, where in addition to the four major nations (Hungarians, Germans, Slavs and Wallachians), there were more than a dozen other nations. The issues of the (often tragic) developments of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious regions have been analysed by Petra Rybářová using the example of emancipation and assimilation of Jews during the boom of politi- cal anti-Semitism in Hungary. Michal Schvarc has focused on the destiny of the German minority in Bratislava (in German, Pressburg) since the establishment of Czechoslovakia to the actual end of the German community in the city after 1948. In the 20th century the territory of Slovakia and its people were exposed to frequent changes that affected their lives fundamentally. State formations, boundaries and the rul- ing regimes changed in quick succession. The collapse of Austria-Hungary, the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the Munich crisis of 1938, and, a year later, the creation of the Slovak State as a German “vassal”, the restoration of Czechoslovakia in 1945 and its incor- poration into the Communist camp in 1948. The development continued with 40 years of the communist regime, its crises, failed efforts to reform, various forms of constitutional organisation of the state, all culminating in the 1989 “Velvet Revolution” and the division of Czechoslovakia in 1993.