Prípravy na evakuáciu územia južného Slovenska v októbri 1938
Preparations to Evacuation of the Territory of Southern Slovakia in October 1938
Autor: VRÁBEL Ferdinand
VRÁBEL, Ferdinand: Prípravy na evakuáciu južného Slovenska v októbri 1938.
VRÁBEL, Ferdinand: Preparations to evacuate the territory of southern Slovakia in October 1938.
Vojenská história, 1, 16, 2012, pp 37-54.
The author of the paper grounds his introduction in the negotiations between Hungary and Czechoslovakia in Komárno, held between 9-13 October 1938. These were, according to the author, meant to resolve the issue of the Hungarian minority “in the spirit of the Munich Agreement”. This means applying the principle of self-determination. However, the negotiations were not successful due to Hungary’s exaggerated claims, since Hungary raised not only claims to such places as Bratislava and Nitra but also demanded that a referendum be organized in the rest of Slovakia, in an unfounded anticipation of the Slovak citizens voting in favour of annexing Slovakia’s entire territory to Hungary. As regards the negotiations in Komárno, Hungarian politicians maintained their perspective, which has, to a great extent, prevailed in historiography up to date, whereby the Czechoslovak counterpart refused to come to an agreement, proposing only unimportant concessions to gain more time. In his article based on research in the archives, the author sheds light on hitherto unused documents of diverse provenance, unambiguously demonstrating that the Czechoslovak counterparts and authorities in Slovakia were very well acquainted with the unconditional requirement to annex southern Slovakia to Hungary and, from 9 October 1938 (the initial day of negotiations) onwards, intense preparations to evacuate the region were already in progress. The evacuation was partially executed as early as the Vienna Arbitration (2 November 1938).
Military history. Slovakia. 1st Czechoslovak Republic. Evacuation of southern Slovakia. October 1938.
Ročník: 16 | Číslo: 1/2012 | Stránky: 37-54
