Rusíni v československých vojenských jednotkách ve Francii 1939–1940
Ruthenians in Czechoslovak Military Units in France 1939–1940

Summary/Abstract: The Ruthenians and other inhabitants of Carpathian Ruthenia joined the Czechoslovak military resistance-in-exile in the course of WWII and many of them enlisted in Czechoslovak military units organised in various countries. While their number in units on Eastern front was high and important, on the Western front they represented only a minor part of the personnel. Their portion from total number of 11 000 soldiers of the 1st Czechoslovak Division in France, formed in 1939–1940, was slightly over one per cent. Indeed, this group of Ruthenians, who enlisted to Czechoslovak forces in France, was chosen as a model group for this study. The study is methodologically based on quantitative approaches in history and it presents their possibilities on an actual example. The introduction focuses on often omitted issues of national identification, definition of respective criteria and their identification in Czechoslovakia and in Czechoslovak army-in-exile and their re-interpretation. Due to electronic evidence of Czechoslovak military forces members it is possible to analyse social, professional, age, health and other aspects of the selected group, as well as its inter-connections and its confessional and national context. To the most important findings belong a distinctive professional composition of the Ruthenian community in France, its age structure reflecting history of inter-war emigration and consequences of French regulation in war industry. The study clearly illustrates the significance of following national and confessional traits (especially in question of proportion of soldiers with Jewish origin). A comparison with a group of other natives from Carpathian Ruthenia is included. The results provide an interesting supplement to research on emigration of Czechoslovak Ruthenians to France and on Czechoslovak community in France in general.

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