The Banned, the Controlled, the Shifted, and the Compulsory
The Banned, the Controlled, the Shifted, and the Compulsory

National Holidays and the Hungarians in Slovakia in 1919

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the paper is to discuss the possibilities that the Hungarian minority in Slovakia had to celebrate public holidays during the first year of the Czechoslovak Republic. The paper examines four holidays, out of which two (March 15, the day commemorating of the 1848–1849 Revolution and War of Independence and August 20, St. Stephen’s Day) are of national significance for the Hungarians. The other two holidays are October 28, the national holiday of Czechoslovakia, and May 1, International Workers’ Day. Through these examples of public holidays, we describe the Hungarian population's relationship to the Czechoslovak state on the one hand; on the other hand, we paint a nuanced picture of the Czechoslovak state’s minority policy towards the Hungarian minority that refines previous academic approaches in the topic.

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