User:Gyalu22/sandbox/Slovjak people and language

The Slovjak movement was a cultural and political movement wanting the Slovjak culture to be recognized as independent from the Slovak. The Slovjak (also known as Eastern Slovak) people lived in today's Prešov and Košice regions and Zakarpattia Oblast in the 19th and 20th centuries. Their language or dialect is considered archaic by modern linguists.

Rise and golden age
The first literary work to be written in Slovjak was published in 1844.

In the 1860s, József Répánszky, Hungarian pastor of Enyicke (Haniska) was the first who proposed the use of Slovjak in the local education. Répánszky requested the Ministry of Religion and the Ministry of Education to publish school books in the local dialect because students don't understand the literary Slovak language. In the next decade, the use of Slovjak in the regional education and Roman Catholic and Evangelic churches became standard.

Slovak nationalists heavily opposed the support of the government from the beginning. Pastor Jonáš Záborský was the first to speak against the new movement. He said that it is dangerous for the Slovak people and accused the Hungarians of trying to "cut them to a hundred pieces". However, the following decades were the golden age of the language. Many Slovjak books were published in Upper Hungary and the USA, and an independent newspaper titled Naša Zastava ("Our Flag") was published in 1907 and edited by István Dessewffy.

Gejza Zsebránczky, one of the Eastern Slovjak thinkers deemed the literary Slovak works—even the cathechisms—dangerous for the national consciousness of the local people. He said that they should be given writings in their own language and should write as they speak. Similar views were held by another man, Š. Lessko who stated "we don't need Slovak grammar, every man in Šariš is the grammar himself". He professed in the newspaper Eperjesi Lapok "the main aspiration of my whole life was neglection of grammar in the Šariš dialect and the sustainance of the clean Šariš dialect".



Attempts to save
During the Czech occupation of Upper Hungary, the language was banned. After being denied the slightest autonomy, most of Slovjak intellectuals (many being of Hungarian descent themselves) became Hungarophiles. Their leader, Viktor Dvorčák founded the Eastern Slovak National Council at Prešov (Eperjes) in 1918, which demanded independence for the Slovjak-speaking territory. On 11 December, he proclaimed the Eastern Slovak Republic at Košice (Kassa) with the capital of Prešov, to be a cultural autonomy in Hungary with an independent council. Dvorčák sent a memorandum to Oszkár Jászi, Hungarian Minister for National Minorities, explaining that the Slovjaks are ethnically, linguistically, culturally and geographically different from Slovaks. He requested the Hungary to recognize the new state and not intervene in the land reform and let the majority of schools there get under their jurisdiction, ensuring the rights of all minorities. He also pleased for the creation of a Slovak section in the ministry and the arrangement him to be the representator of the Slovak nation. The Hungarian National Council didn't accept the memorandum with the reason that this can't be discussed until the upcoming peace conference consents. The Czech leadership found his concept outrageous, Karel Kramář blamed the Hungarians for sparking this endeavor of the Eastern Slovaks, while Karol Bulissa, charge d'affaires of the Slovjak movement in Budapest tried to show that they couldn't do so. Bulissa even sent telegraph to Woodrow Wilson through Fernand Vix, however he didn't find support in America. As the Czechoslovak army approached Košice, the Slovak People's Republic began the formation of the Slovak National Guard to defend the city, however the Czechoslovaks arrived too early and Dvorčák took the train to Budapest, as his people's republic disintegrated. Many of his associates followed him, many retired and many converted to Czechoslovakism. After the communist takeover, he fled to Poland and opposed the creation of the Slovak Soviet Republic. After the restoration of order, he went back to Budapest, writing papers from emigration in which he argued for revision. He came to be known as Dvortsák Győző.

During the partition of Czechoslovakia, he was tasked by the Hungarian government to restart the Slovjak movement by smuggling flyers through the border with the help of the secret service. In 1939, the Naša Zastava restarted from Hungarian funds, becoming self-sufficient after the partition of Czechoslovakia in 1940, however it continued to be banned by the First Slovak Republic. In 1941 Dvorčák founded the Ojčizma ("paternal legacy"), which published Slovjak dictionary and textbook. The association has been accused by Czechoslovak papers of serving Polish interests and planning to connect Poland with Hungary in Eastern Slovakia. The help however started to fade away, so Alfréd Mertens, representative of the United Hungarian Party (Hungarian minority party) in Michalovce said to Lajos Kuhl, Hungarian ambassador in Bratislava that if the support would stop, the Slovjaks would be forcefully assimilated. Kuhl denied that the Hungarian government would plan to shut down the movement, only intend to move its centre from Hungary to Slovakia, thus prove that it doesn't depend on foreign help. He also suggested that Dvorčák should withdraw from public life, as his personality isn't sympathetic to the people. This didn't happen.

Replying to the letter of Prime Minister Pál Teleki asking his opinion about the Slovjak question, Bishop of Košice István Madarász said that Slovjak is not a language but a foolish dialect and supporting it only raises linguistic tensions. Ferenc Kászonyi thinks that the two has enough strong differences for Slovjak to be considered a separate language, as a monolingual person speaking either can't understand a sentence from the other, only some words here and there. Sándor Vájlok has also commented on the debate, noticing the big differences between Eastern and Western Slovaks not just in language but also in mentality, as the Slovaks are much more self-conscious and nationalistic, while the Slovjak youth is not anymore professing to be Slovjak.

Final decline
The impatience and distraction of the Hungarian leadership to the war effort led to the Slovjak support losing all foreign support. Viktor Dvorčák died in 1943, and without an appropriate man to take his place, Budapest chose to cool down the tense Hungarian-Slovak relations and not to discuss the question. Naša Zastava was last published in 1944 by Emil Timkó. The movement wasn't able to influence the cultural identity of the Slovaks anymore.

Ladislav TAJTÁK: K otázke vydávania učebníc vo východoslovenskom nárečí. Nové obzory, 6. Košice, 1964.