In the interwar period, the traditionally heterogeneous (in terms of language and culture) city of Košice was annexed by Czechoslovakia for the first time. The change of state administration inevitably led to a series of changes in the ethnic identity of the local population, mostly following the Hungarian national idea in the previous – imperial – era. During the 20th century, the scientific controversy of Slovak and Hungarian scientists concerning the ethnic character of Košice resulted in two antagonistic interpretation schemes: in these, both camps accused each other of forced nationalization of this strategic geopolitical venue. In this monograph entitled “Potrianonské Košice” in Slovak, historian Ondrej Ficeri from Košice aims to analyse the structural factors and mechanisms of the transformation of ethnic identities. Based on the empirical reconstruction of the ethno-national transformation of the local population in the crucial years of 1918 and 1938, the author concludes that the significant changes in the ethnic identity reported in the censi occurred due to the fact that not less than the half of the population switched their ethnic identity, depending on the social and political circumstances of the time, since they were – due to their origins – apt to be members of both ethnic groups.
The publication is available here: VEDA Publishing House