Národnostné vzťahy v živnostníctve na Slovensku v medzivojnovom období
National relations within the trade community in interwar Slovakia

Summary/Abstract: The present study points out the clash of interests created at the ethnic interface in the interwar trade community in Slovakia. The study approaches a range of questions from an aspect of Slovak-Hungarian relations that has so far been rarely investigated, namely, from an economic point of view, with special regard to the application of trade interests. Slovakian tradesmen were heterogeneous in terms of their national composition: along with Slovaks, the largest group consisted of Hungarian and German craftsmen. In the period examined here, the stumbling block of the defense of the entrepreneurs’ equal rights was the very question of whether it is possible to involve entrepreneurs of non-Slovak origin in decision-making processes, and whether the realization of short-term and long-term ideas is based on an agreement, or whether the mutual trust of communities that differ from each other from a linguistic and cultural point of view will not be overshadowed by confrontation and mistrust. A strong advocacy of interests could rely on such groups to combine their will with the views, needs, and interests of society as a whole. Taking into account the complexity of the entire issue and the lack of basic research in this area, the author can present only some selected factors of the Slovak-Hungarian relationship. That is why the study deals with something other than the process of building Slovak trade organizations. It researches the establishment of a trade union and the application of minority language rights.

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