Czechoslovakia and the Slovak Calvinist Hungarians: from the Contradictions of the Interwar Period to the Crisis Phenomena of 1945–1948

Abstract

The crisis the Czechoslovak Calvinist community faced in 1945–1948 cannot be considered in isolation from the dynamics of the national emancipation of its Slovak part in the interwar period. The contradictions that developed at that time between the Slovak minority and the Hungarian majority within the Reformed Church in Czechoslovakia became the starting point for the subsequent confrontation in the period from the First Vienna Award to the end of World War II, and then during the critical year of 1948. The restoration of the Czechoslovak authorities’ control over the southern regions of Slovakia and the integration of these lands in the post-war period under analysis were carried out with the help of a system of anti-Hungarian discriminatory measures, which are considered in this paper. However, the general anti-Hungarian policy of the Czechoslovak state also had its own characteristics. Its implementation depended on the specific features of a particular group within the Hungarian minority. The paper pays special attention to the existence of the Calvinist Church during this critical period for the Slovak Hungarians. In addition to the anti-Hungarian reasons that determined its functioning, the author touches upon the development of the confrontation between the left forces in the country and the Catholic Church, which is important for understanding its position. Thus, the circumstances that are significant for some Slovak Hungarians are studied, primarily related to the sphere of church-state relations, but at the same time influencing the results of the nationalities policy of Czechoslovakia in relation to the Hungarian national minority. The author used archival materials, including some previously unpublished and discovered abroad.

Received: 13.01.2025.
Revised: 21.01.2025.
Accepted: 16.09.2025.

Citation
Sloistov S. M. Czechoslovakia and the Slovak Calvinist Hungarians: from the Contradictions of the Interwar Period to the Crisis Phenomena of 1945–1948 // Slavic Almanac. 2025. No 3–4. P. 77–105 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2025.3-4.04