Rusíni na Slovensku v dvadsiatom storočí
Rusyns in Slovakia in the Twentieth Century

Summary/Abstract: The issue of the Rusyn minority in Slovakia, immediately after the "Velvet Revolution" in 1989, became a relatively attractive problem that began to resonate in nationwide, and even country-wide contexts. Its relevance was gained not only by almost fifty years of tabooing and latent internal tension from long-unresolved issues, but also by a certain mystery typical of all phenomena in the ethnic sphere. On the other hand, Rusyn affairs did not and do not evoke immediate fears and feelings of threat characteristic of the reactions of the majority society to the activation of national movements in the country, as demonstrated by the example of Hungarian-Slovak relations and political conflicts. Rusyns are generally referred to as an East Slavic ethnic community living mainly in Central Europe, which, however, has gone through a very complex historical path, both from the aspect of its own constitution as a certain historical-social entity, and from the point of view of the formation of its national identity. Rusyns settled along the central Carpathian mountain range, mainly on its southern, but partly also on its northern side. As a result of natural migration, but also Vlach colonization, the Rusyn population has appeared in the northeastern part of the territory of present-day Slovakia since the 14th century, becoming part of the original settlement of this region. The long-term acceptance of religious-ecclesiastical attributes as basic indicators of the Rusyn population's identity in Hungary, the complicated ethnogenesis, the evidently delayed and internally contradictory process of Rusyn national revival, as well as the specific historical conditions of the social development of their settlement area, resulted in the process of transformation of the Rusyn community into a modern nation effectively beginning only in the twentieth century, which in this context acquired a truly key significance for all Carpathian Rusyns. Unfortunately, it was a period in which completely different civilizational, geopolitical, social, ideological, and even global problems were already being resolved in mutual conflicts with many ups and downs. This did not create an ideal framework for the natural, continuous, balanced, and successful development of the Rusyn community, for acquiring all the characteristics of a modern ethnic community, and thus for forming a consistent national identity. The specific historical development of the Rusyns' position in Slovakia only confirmed this. The number of inhabitants claiming to be part of the Rusyn minority during the century actually significantly decreased, and the degree of national consciousness also showed very significant fluctuations and, in some indicators, stagnated at a historical minimum.

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