Krajinská kresťansko-socialistická strana v reflexii dobových slovenských periodík (1923 – 1927)
Land Christian Socialist Party in the reflection of contemporary Slovak periodicals (1923 – 1927)

Summary/Abstract: The political system of First Czechoslovak Republic was characterized by the large number of political parties organized on ideological, religious and ethnic grounds. Besides Czechs and Slovaks, which constituted a majority of the population, Germans, Hungarians, Ruthenians and members of other ethnic minorities lived in Czechoslovakia. The multi-ethnic composition of Czechoslovakia resulted in the creation of a number of political parties which represented the ethnic minorities. In Slovakia one of the opposition political parties representing the Hungarian community was the Land Christian Socialist Party (Orságos Kerestényszocialista Párt). Though the Land Christian Socialist Party (LCHSP) endeavored to represent as well as Hungarians also a segment of Slovaks, Jews and Ruthenias who were magyarized by the pre-War Hungarian regime, this aim had only marginal success, and the LCHSP was primarily a political party representing Hungarians. In regard to the Czechoslovak Republic, during its existence it assumed a strictly oppositional attitude. The main aim of the political strategy of LCHSP was to constitute an alliance of “historic” inhabitants of Slovakia; that is Slovaks, Hungarians, Germans, Ruthenians and others who would be united in their resistance against the Czechs, who were perceived as occupants of Slovakia to the detriment of all others ethnic communities. This aim, however, was not successful, not only in regard to non-Hungarian communities living in Slovakia but also in regard to the Hungarian community as a whole. Besides the left-oriented Hungarians who joined the Communist Party, political opposition was not the exclusive domain of LCHSP. A large segment of Hungarians were adherents to the influential Hungarian opposition party, the Hungarian National Party (Magyar Nemzety Párt), which pursued a relatively moderate approach to the Czechoslovak political establishment, and therefore differed and competed with the LCHSP. Relations between both parties were frequently tense and conflicting, and only in 1936, when they succumbed to the pressure of Hungary, were the Land Christian Socialist Party and Land Christian Socialist Party united.

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