Although Slovak-land is an integral part of the Hungarian kingdom, it has proved an attractive field for German colonization since the ninth century. The comitat of Zips was settled by a large colony of Germans in the middle of the twelfth century. Fifty years later the Teutons began to invade the comitats of Pressburg and Neutra[155] by advancing from the west. In Bars and Hont, to both of which they proceeded from the south, they were not known before the thirteenth century. The Germanization of Slovak districts was particularly intense during the Tatar invasion of this period. Hungary had been grievously affected by this eastern scourge, and its kings offered special inducements to repopulate their devastated provinces. Their call was heeded by numerous families of German peasants. In the first half of the sixteenth century almost every town within Slovak boundaries contained one or two German families at least. The heart of this German colonization was situated in the mining districts of the country. Kremnitz and Nemecke Prava, as well as adjoining districts, attracted heavy contingents of Teuton workers. This movement ended in the seventeenth century when the inflow of German colonists was checked by special legislation and the foreign element was absorbed by either the Slovaks or the Hungarians.
The modern boundary of Slovakian language in Hungary starts according to Niederle at Devinska Novaves near the confluence of the Morva[156] and Danube. From this point it extends southeastward to Novezansky and Leva. Thence it is continued south of Abanj as far as Huta, which is the easternmost Slovak village. The line now turns westward and skirts the Galician frontier as far as the German border.
The area included within these confines is not altogether homogeneous. The comitats of Neutra, Turocz, Bars and Gömö contain enclaves of Germans. Polish and Hungarian settlements are also known between Vrable and Neutra as well as at Abanj, west of Kashau. Many Slovak communities exist, however, beyond the region outlined above. These extra-territorial nuclei more than counterbalance numerically the alien total in Slovak-land.
The most important localities inhabited by Slovaks outside of their native land are Gran, in the comitat of Esztergom, and Budapest. The Hungarian capital probably contains between 25,000 and 40,000 Slovaks. Their number in Vienna is estimated at 50,000. In other parts of Hungary, as for instance at Kerepes and Pilis, highly ancient Slovak communities are believed to represent survivals of the people who lived in Hungary prior to the appearance of the Hungarians.
Bohemia’s national enfranchisement, if carried out on a linguistic basis, will rescue the old lands of the Bohemian crown, namely Bohemia, Moravia and the Slovak districts of northwestern Hungary, from Teutonic rule. The historical validity of Bohemia’s claims to independence and the failure of centuries of Germanization to deprive the Bohemian of his individuality establish the country’s right to a distinct place in a Europe of free and harmonious nations. The Bohemian has his own objects in self-development and the achievement of his independence should be no disparagement of the aims and pursuits of other nations.
FOOTNOTES:
[144] Official Austrian figures estimate the number of Slovaks at slightly over 2,000,000. Slavic authorities generally give higher figures.
[145] J. Zemmich: Deutschen und Slawen in den österreichischen Südetenländern, Deutsche Erde, Vol. 2, 1903, pp. 1-4.
[146] L. Bourlier: Les Tchèques et la Bohême contemporaine, Paris, 1897, pp. 143-220.
[147] Census returns for 1910. New Inter. Encyc., New York, 1914.