Rusyns in Czechoslovakia: what they expected and what they achieved

Abstract

The right of self-determination for the nations of Europe turned to be one of the key elements of the post-World War I peace treaties. The new-born state Czechoslovakia was built by the union of multiple nations, one of which were the Rusyns who were promised to gain autonomy within the borders of their ethnic lands. In the study we examine the thoughts of the Rusyn leaders regarding their preferences of territorial belonging at the end of World War I, emphasising the differences between various groups in Hungary and the emigration in the USA. In September 1919, the Rusyn lands were incorporated to the Czechoslovak Republic and the new wave of negotiations and internal conflicts started regarding the level of the self-government of the Rusyns and the territory of their authority. The question of full autonomy within the requested borders by the Rusyns was never fully solved and remained on agenda during the entire Czechoslovak era of the Rusyns.