"When men moved across the world for a piece of bread..." Emigration of the Rusyns-Ukrainians from the northeastern Slovakia in the years 1870-1940

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Faculty of Arts, Matej Bel University, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

Masaryk university, Brno, Czech Republic, University ofSs. Cyril and Methodius, Trnava, Slovakia

"When men moved across the world for a piece of bread..." Emigration of the Rusyns-Ukrainians from the northeastern Slovakia in the years 1870-1940

Michal Smigel PhD (History), Associate Professor of Departament of History,

Pavol Tisliar PhD (History), Professor of Department of Archaeology

and Museology, Faculty of Arts, & Professor of

Department of History, Faculty of Arts,

Abstract

The aim of the research is to define causes and impulses of Rusyns-Ukrainians migration flows from the territory of (today's) Slovakia in 1870 - 1940 and review the dimensions of their emigration in relation to population development. It also depicts the formation of the population climate in the overall context of emigration waves from Slovakia and Transcarpathia, as well as government migration and population policy. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, scientific verification, the author's objectivity, moderated narrative constructivism and use of the specially-historical (statistical, historical-typological, historical-systemic, etc.) and general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) methods. The scientific novelty. The issue of migration flows of the population of Slovakia, mainly the issue of migration of Rusyns and Ukrainians since the 1870s and in the first half of the 20th century, is a relatively broad and still open topic. While many historical works are dedicated to the emigration of Slovaks, it does not go for the issue of emigration of Rusyns and Ukrainians from Slovakia. Conclusions. The emigration (permanent or temporary) of Rusyns-Ukrainians from Slovakia had divided families and reduced the settlement area of the minority in many cases and Rusyns-Ukrainians in Slovakia still feel its consequences. Moving of thousands of economically active people for work abroad from the economically backward region in the last third of the 19th - early 20th century and during the interwar years 1920s - 1930s meant that the population of Rusyns and Ukrainians in Slovakia stagnated due to migration. At the end of the 1930s, it even had statistically declining character because of political tension.

Key words: Rusyns and Ukrainians in Slovakia, migration, population development, population climate, demographic processes, population of Slovakia, emigration from Slovakia.

Анотація

“КОЛИ ЧОЛОВІКИ РОЗІЙШЛИСЯ ПО ВСЬОМУ СВІТУ ЗА ШМАТКОМ ХЛІБА...”

ЕМІГРАЦІЯ РУСИНІВ-УКРАЇНЦІВ ІЗ ПІВНІЧНО-СХІДНОЇ СЛОВАЧЧИНИ В 1870 - 1940 РР.

Міхал ШМІҐЕЛЬ

кандидат історичних наук, доцент кафедри історії філософського факультету Університету ім. Матея Бела, Банська Бистриця, Словаччина

Павол ТИШЛЯР

кандидат історичних наук, професор кафедри археології та музеєзнавства філософського факультету Університету Масарика, м. Брно, Чехія, та професор кафедри історії філософського факультету Університету Св. Кирила та Мефодія, м. Трнава, Словаччина

Мета дослідження полягає в розкритті причин та імпульсів міграційних рухів русинів-українцівз території (сьогоднішньої) Словаччини в період 1870-1940рр. та в аналізі розмірів їх еміграції відносно популяційного розвитку меншини, а також формування популяційного клімату в загальному контексті еміграційних хвиль зі Словаччини та Підкарпатської Русі. Методологія дослідження ґрунтується на принципах історизму, науковості, авторської об'єктивності, поміркованого наративного конструктивізму та використання спеціально-історичних (статистичних, історико-типологічних, історико-системових тощо) і загальнонаукових (аналіз, синтез тощо) методів. Наукова новизна: Питання міграційних рухів населення Словаччини і, зокрема, питання міграції русинів-українців в період з 1870-хрр. -у першій половині XXст. є відносно широкою та досі відкритою темою. Хоча велика кількість історичних праць була присвячена еміграції словаків, не можна це сказати про проблему еміграції русинів-українців зі Словаччини. Висновки. Еміграція (постійні чи тимчасовa) русинів-українців зі Словаччини у багатьох випадках розділяла сім'ї та розріджувала територіальне розселення меншини. Її наслідки ще й досі відчуває русино-українське населення у Словаччині. Міграція тисяч економічно активних людей за роботою за кордон з економічно відсталого та аграрт переповненого регіону в останній третині ХІХ - на початку ХХ ст. та в міжвоєнні 1920 - 1930 рр. означав, що популяція русинів та українців у Словаччині під впливом міграції тривалий час стагнувала, а під впливом політичної напруженості наприкінці 1930-хрр. набула статистично занепадаючий характер.

Ключові слова: русини та українці в Словаччині, міграція, популяційний розвитoк, популяційний клімат, демографічні процеси, населення Словаччини, еміграція зі Словаччини.

1. The Problem Statement

Migration, together with population growth, forms the basis of total population growth or decline. It affects not only the population itself, but also all characteristics and demographic processes in the life of the population. It has an influence on economic, social and demographic structures and is an important component of urbanization, territorial concentration of the population, etc., as well. Migration is thus one of the most important factors in population development not only at the national, but also at the regional level (Sprocha & Majo, 2016, p. 144).

Undoubtedly, the population of Slovakia in the last decades of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century, its number, characteristics and particularly population development, were to a large extent conditioned by migration flows. These had been influenced by various factors, but mainly by economic motivation. This surely goes for the case of Rusyn-Ukrainian population `living in the northeast of Slovakia, who participated in the various stages of emigration (temporary or permanent) from the country since the last third of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century. Foreign migration represents one of the main phenomenon of population development in Slovak history and in the history of the Rusyns in this period.

The Analysis of Recent Researches and Publications. Many historical works in Slovak (Czechoslovak) historiography have so far been dedicated to migration flows in Slovakia, i.e. flows of Slovaks (emigration or labor migration) in the given period. Czechoslovak demographers, historians, sociologists - pioneers of the issue such as A. Bohac, J. Svetoh F. Bielik, E. Rakos, J. Siracky, E. Jakesova, A. Stefanek, J. Botik, M. Botikova, etc., as well as current researchers (M. Kmet', P. Tisliar, B. Sprocha, I. Harust'ak) had done a remarkable “piece of work” in this topic. There are several specialized proceedings (e.g. Slovaks abroad) and journals, as well as older and newer monographic works and the research continues. However, this cannot be said about the issue of emigration of Rusyns and Ukrainians from Slovakia in the years 1870 - 1950. Although this field includes mainly older works by F. Bielik, I. Vanat, L. Tajtak and several newer works in the form of scientific studies, i.e. more comprehensive works, there is only a partial representation of the issue from M. Belej, M. Gajdos - S. Konecny, M. Smigel' and others. Rusynian emigration has long been in the shadow of migration of Slovaks.

The Purpose of Publication. The aim of our paper is to “open” the issue of Rusyn- Ukrainian emigration from the territory of (today's) Slovakia from the last third of the 19th century to the end of the 1930s. Following older and newer research, we specify the causes and impulses of migration flows of members of this minority and review the dimensions of emigration in relation to population development. The paper also focuses on the formation of population climate in the overall context of emigration waves from Slovakia and Transcarpathia (during Hungarian and Czechoslovak period), regarding government migration and population policy, too.

2. The Basic Material Statement

The marginal geographical location of the Rusynian settlement area at the foothills of northeastern Kingdom of Hungary, as well as the low social and educational level, probably had protected them from assimilation for a long time (Magoczi, 2016, p. 180). Although this had been happening for several centuries, it had fast pace in the second half of the 19th century. The national revival of the Rusyns in the Kingdom of Hungary - as S. Konecny stated - began to develop very promising after the revolution in 1848 - 1849, but obviously, it had stagnated after the change in political conditions and the social atmosphere during the period of dualism. However, the main cause of the national movement crisis even among the Hungarian Rusyns had been demographic development, complex socio-economic conditions and emigration, not new political circumstances (Konecny, 2015, p. 119). We are of the opinion that this is one minority (Ukrainian ethnographic group) within a part of its members had identified (identifies) themselves as Rusyns and the other part as Ukrainians. Therefore, we choose a neutral name from our point of view - Rusyns-Ukrainians, although they had been most often marked as Rusyns in the given period.

Table 1 Number of Rusyns in the Kingdom of Hungary (1840 - 1910) (Magoczi, 2016, p. 181, tab. 10.1)

Note: Data rounded to the nearest hundred

In the second half of the 19th century, the population of the Kingdom of Hungary grew by 46%, while the number of Hungarians grew by 81.4%. However, non-Hungarian ethnic groups only grew by 25.8% (Slovak population grew by 16%). We can even notice a decline of Rusynian population (KoneCny, 2015, p.119). To be more precise, there had been a differentiated development in the case of Carpathian Rusyns - while the number of Transcarpathian Rusyns between 1851 - 1900 increased (but their share in the total population declined), the number of Rusyns from northeastern Slovakia began to decline strongly in the same period (see Table 1).

According to the census of October 31, 1857, there were 230,000 Rusyns living in four Transcarpathian counties, i.e. 69.7% of the county's total population (about 330,000 people). In 1900, there already were 405,994 Rusyns, i.e. 47.8% of the counties' total population (848,000 people). Thus, in the second half of the 19th century, the population of the region actually grew by 157%, but the number of Rusyns by only 76.5%. Most Rusyns had lived in the Marmaroshcounty - 171,000 (47.7%) and in the Bereg county - 117,000 (49.4% of the county's population). There had been 70,000 Rusyns in the Uzhcounty (43.3%) and 48,000 in the Ugochcounty (52% of the county's population) (Konecny, 2015, p. 119).

In the middle of the 19thcentury, there were about 113,000 people living in the east Slovak regions according to Hungarian statistics. In 1900, number of Rusyns declined to 85,000 (Magoczi, 2016, p. 181, tab. 10.1). At that time, the Rusyns lived mainly in three counties and represented a minority population. Thirty-five thousand Rusyns lived in the Zemplincounty (10.6%), 34,000 in theSharishcounty (19.4%) and 14,000 Rusyns in the Spishcounty (8.3% of the county's population). Although Hungarian statistics from this period should not be taken too seriously - “Sharish and Spish county authorities allegedly did not like to record Russian nationality and they often registered Rusyns as Slovaks'`, the main reason of this phenomenon had included: escalating emigration, Magyarization of Rusyns and Slovakization of Rusynian localities in the regions of Slovakia. According to data, there were 37 magyarizated and 176 slovakizated Rusynian villages in Slovakia in 1850 - 1900 (Konecny, 2015, p. 120).

The abolition of serfdom in the Austrian Empire in 1848 meant for the peasants not only liberation from their landowners, but also bigger freedom. However, it had not improved their economic conditions. These even had gotten worse in certain periods and regions, requiring new agricultural mobility. It had been the beginning of massive emigration processes for Hungarian Rusyns living at the southern hillsides of the Carpathians (i.e. from the northeastern

Slovakia and Transcarpathia), as well as for Rusyns from the Western Galicia (Lemkovyna) (see Tisliar & Sprocha, 2018, pp. 1010-1017).

First of all, since the beginning, i.e. during the second half of the 19th century, some of the Rusyns moved every year during the harvest for seasonal work (6 - 8 weeks) in the fertile plains of the Kingdom of Hungary. While seasonal migration had only been a way for Rusynian families to make some extra money and improve the economic situation, there had also been those who had begun to consider moving to the fertile plains of the Kingdom of Hungary permanently. Others had been attracted by even more distant “fertile plains”. Basically, it had not been innovative in any way - this is how they just followed the large colonization programme of internal resettlements to the Great Hungarian Plain - so-called Lowland area (Kmef, 2010, p. 134) happening since the end of the 17th century. During the 18th century, one fifth of the then Upper-Hungarian (Slovak) population, including Rusyns, emigrated there (Kmef, 2012, pp. 20-21; Janto, 2016, p. 96). Rusynian families had settled in the village of Komloska in the region of the Hungarian town of Sarospatak and together with the Slovaks had gone to the area of Bekes, Csanad and Arad county. Since the half of the 18th century, they went to Vojvodina - historical Bacska, i.e. Bacs-Bodrog county (to be more precise, Bacskeresztur /later renamed as Ruski Kerestur/ and Kucury) and in the first half of the 19th century, the went even more far to the south, the easternmost area ofSlavonia - Srem (Magoczi, 2016, pp. 126-127, 191; Botik, 2007, p. 119). According to some data, in years 1850 - 1860, about 5,000 Rusyns from eastern Slovak counties moved to other regions of the Habsburg monarchy. In the years 1870 - 1875, there were about 100 - 200 Rusynian families moving from Transcarpathian counties every year (Kabuzan, 2006, p. 237).

At the end of the 19th century, Austria-Hungary was characterized by great contrasts in all spheres of social life, which was the result of unfinished capitalist changes in its individual countries and regions. Central industrialized areas “strongly” contrasted with border backward regions, which had just been entering the early stage of industrialization. Although Upper Hungary (basically mainly the territory of Slovakia) had been one of the most industrial areas in the Kingdom of Hungary, contrasts had manifested themselves in this Carpathian country as well. It had been the Slovak as well as the Transcarpathian settlement area of Rusyns-Ukrainians that belonged to the economically most backward regions of the Kingdom of Hungary. Moreover, social status of this population had been the worst of all groups of other nations in this country.

The demographic revolution had begun to affect the population of Upper Hungary much later than in western countries. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, this population was one of the youngest in Europe, with a high fertility rate (it began to gradually decline only after the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic) (Sprocha & Tisliar, 2018, p. 96 a f.). Due to its combination with the traditional way of life in the Slovak countryside and the characteristics of the economy, in which agriculture predominated as a primary source of living, it all resulted into an agrarian overcrowding and an increase in unemployment (Jakesova, 1987, p. 381). However - if we talk about the backwardness of economic sphere in eastern Slovakia - we must not omit that this had manifested itself both in industry and agriculture. Local development had been hindered by a lack of domestic capital (Jewish capital spread there in the first decades of the 20th century. Czech capital expanded later - after the establishment of Czechoslovakia) and poor infrastructure in the indented mountain terrain (particularly in relation to distance to rail transport). Underdeveloped agriculture and the low agrotechnical level of peasantry had been conditioned by the overall economic and cultural backwardness of this region, the lack of arable land and its low yield. Moreover, the law of inheritance had caused the land had constantly been dividing and became economically insecure for the maintenance of families. The only solution would be the restructuring of the then economy which, however, had not been possible due to the possibilities offered by the weak, insufficiently built Hungarian industry. This fact had inevitably driven Rusyns to look for extra income outside the region and later a main income that could support a large family. To some extent, this goes for foreign migration for work which, however, in many cases had taken the character of permanent emigration (Tisliar, 2014b, p. 56).

Within the industrialization of the dualistic monarchy in the second half of the 19th century, its accompanying processes and the effects on the mechanical movement of the population, more and more Rusynian families looked for work in the arising industrial centers of the country. Some of the Rusyns (under the influence of an extensive advertising campaign) had begun to adopt the bold idea of moving to the industrializing United States of North America (after 1865). However, it had not yet been a mass migration of Rusyns (Magoczi, 2016, p. 193). The turning point came after the beginning of economic crisis in 1873. This crisis caused by overproduction (1873 - 1879), lasting in the Kingdom of Hungary until the mid- 1990s and also by the barren year 1879 are considered to be the main impulses of massive emigration flows from the country, mainly to the New World.

Table 2 Population of Slovakia in 1880 - 1950 (Sprocha & Tisliar & Smigef, 2014, pp. 22, 35)

* Data fromyears 1880 - 1919 for present population, in 1921 - 1940 for only Czechoslovak (Slovak) nationals, in 1950 for present population again;

Data from 1938 and 1940 only for the then territory of Slovakia. In 1938, 77,488 Czechs were counted, but in 1940 there were only 3,253 of them in Slovakia.These persons were counted as of Slovak (Czechoslovak) nationality.

** In 1919 - Rusynian nationality, in 1921 - Great-Russian, Ukrainian and Carpatho-Russian, in 1930 - Russian and Little-Russian, in 1938 - Rusynian, in 1940 - Ukrainian (Rusynian); in 1950 - Russian and Ukrainian nationality.

Pre-war emigration (1880 - 1914). Emigration abroad/overseas from the counties of Upper Hungary had not been a mass phenomenon until the 1880s. The turning point came in the 1880s and 1890s, when the mass emigration of the population from this area became a part of a massive emigration flow from almost all European countries. During this period, the former initial areas of emigration (so-called old immigration to America - old immigration) consisting of the regions of Western, Central and Northern Europe, had gradually been replacing the Southern, Eastern, i.e. South-Eastern Europe and partly Central Europe (so-called new immigration).This mass labor migration included emigrants from Italy, the Balkan, the Russian Empire and from the Austro-Hungarian monarchy as well (Harusfak, 2013, p. 215).

The causes of mass emigration from Europe to overseas destinations in the last third of the 19th century - early 20th century (particularly to the USA, less to Canada and South America) did not differ in principle in individual states (or regions). They were mainly the result of demographic and economic “pressure” arising from the imbalance between population growth and its living opportunities (Bade, 2005, p. 152). Starting factors had clearly included the economic situation- the already mentioned economic crisis since 1873, lack of job opportunities, lack of land and massive population growth (Bade, 2005, p. 153). The population in the region of Central and Eastern Europe grew by an average of 75% in 1860 - 1910. This demographic boom, together with the stagnating and declining economic situation and the ongoing process of land division had provoked emigration process of hundreds of thousands of people (Harusfak, 2013, pp. 215, 221-222). Emigration had also been caused due to political or confessional reasons (e.g. massive emigration of Jews from Central and Eastern Europe to overseas, particularly the USA) (Joseph, 1914, p. 164).

On the other hand, the appeal of the New World, spreading through returnees from overseas, correspondence, legally or illegaly active agents of the so-called steam navigation companies and pictures in the periodical press had also played a role here. “Technological progress in transport and communication, lower travel fares and the construction of transnational networks and structures between immigrants in the new society and their country of origin had enabled mobility of these dimensions, which had led to the so-called chain migrations “ (Harusfak, 2013, pp. 215-216).

In the last decade before the outbreak of World War I, this mass transfer of the population had still been continuing. According to statistics, emigration in the years 1900 - 1915 is the most powerful flow of European emigration since 1846 (Bade, 2005, p. 132). In general, about 20 million people left Europe in the years 1870 - 1914. Most emigrants from Central, Eastern and Southern Europe (7.5 million) had belonged to minority “ethnic groups” of the Habsburgmonarchy (Poles, Slovaks, Czechs, Rusyns-Ukrainians, Jews, Slovenes), the German Empire (mainly Poles) and Russian Empire (especially Jews), living in economically marginal regions (Harusfak, 2013, p. 216, note. 74). Regarding the number of emigrants to the USA, Austria-Hungary took the third place in the years 1890 - 1900 (15.5% of all immigrants). In the years 1901-1910, the monarchy took with the number of resettled persons from Europe the first place (23.8%), while Italy (Fatula, 2018) took the second place. In the years 1861 - 1870, there were 7,800 people moving from Austria-Hungary to the USA. In the years 1871 - 1880, it had already been 73,000 people, in 1881 - 1890 - 353,700; in the years 1891 - 1900 - there were 597, 000 people, during years 1901 - 1910 - 1,125,200 people and in 1911 - 1920 - 1,046,200 people. Total number of resettled people reached 3.2 million (in 1861 - 1920) (Kabuzan, 2006, p. 231). The first consistent statistics on migration flows from the Kingdom of Hungary was published in 1893 and included an annual balance of emigrants since 1881 at the level of counties and some towns. However, the data are approximately the same every year until 1897, so it is assumed that this happens due to interpolation and data had not been systematically collected each year. More comprehensive data on emigration from the Kingdom of Hungary are dated back to years 1899 - 1913 (Sprocha & Majo, 2016, p. 145).

Speaking of emigration from the Kingdom of Hungary - in 1901, the authorities recorded more than 70,000 emigrants from the country to the USA, in 1903 there were already 120,000 of them and in 1905 the number of emigrants even reached 180,000 (1/4 of the Hungarian emigration consisted of Slovaks and Carpathian Rusyns). Around 1907, emigration from the Kingdom of Hungary (and thus also from Slovakia) culminated and exceeded number of 200,000 official migrants to the United States. However, efforts to emigrate declined - for example, in 1913, there were 119,159 Hungarian inhabitants emigrating to the USA, including 27,234 Slovaks (Harust'ak, 2013, p. 216) and laterjust before the war, the numbers reached slightly over 100,000 inhabitants per year (Syrny, 2016, pp. 14-15). To sum up this period, there were about 1.5 million emigrants in total, mostly members of non-Hungarian ethnic groups who had left the Kingdom of Hungary (emigrated especially to the USA) (Stefanek, 1944, p. 253). According to Hungarian official statistics, about 27% of Hungarians, 5% of Germans, 24% of Slovaks and 43% of Carpathian Rusyns out of the total number of all emigrants in the last decades of the 19th - early 20th century emigrated (Vanat, 1990, p. 23).

However, current research indicates that at least half of all emigrants from the Kingdom of Hungary had come from the Upper Hungarian counties - Uzh, Zemplin, Sharish, Spish, Orava, Liptov and Turchan counties. Mass emigration of the population from the Upper Hungarian counties had been first noticed in Sharish county, followed by emigration from Zemplin, Spish and other counties (Harust'ak, 2013, p. 221). Regarding the extent of emigration from the territory of (today's) Slovakia - current demographers estimate that there were 590,000 of emigrants in the years 1870 - 1910 (Sprocha & Majo, 2016, p. 147). According to J. Sveton, the total number of emigrants in 1871 - 1914 is 650,000 (Sveton, 1970, p. 191). Hungarian official statistics in 1899 - 1913 recorded 394,713 emigrants from Slovak counties, and data from US ports documented 451,457 Slovak immigrants to the United States (Sveton, 1958, p. 152; see Tab. 3). The Ministry of Social Welfare of the Czechoslovak Republic (Czechoslovakia) assumed for the years 1899-1914 more than 477,000 emigrantsthat would purely statistically mean resettlement of approximately 30,0 people a year from Slovakia(Deset let..., 1924, p. 94). Based on Hungarian statistics, L. Tajtak calculated that in the years 1900 - 1913, there were 361,074 people who emigrated from the territory of 15 Slovak counties (25,791 people per year). Speaking about mentioned counties, 212,930 persons had emigrated from the territory of four eastern Slovak counties (Zemplin, Sharish, Spish and Abov-Turnian), while from the remaining eleven Slovak counties it had been 148,144 persons. This represented a mutual ratio of 58.9% - 41.1% in favor of emigration from eastern Slovakia, although the mutual ratio of the population represented 27.5% - 72.5% to the east Slovak counties disadvantage (Tajtak, 1980, p. 504; see also Tajtak, 1975, p. 383).

Based on the data above, it can be seen there are significant differences between the published statistics about emigration from Slovak counties (depending on who and how collected and recalculated these data). A similar situation goes for the emigration of Carpathian (Hungarian) Rusyns during this period.

Part of the Carpathian Rusyns continued in their resettlement to Lowlandin the last decades of the 19th and early 20th century. Some Lemko-Rusynian families moved to Slavonia and Northern Bosnia as well (since 1878 under the administration of Austria-Hungary). Rusyns from Spish county, Marmaroshcounty and other Transcarpathian counties had moved to the eastern Banat and the foothills of the southern (Transylvanian) Carpathians in the 1890s and the beginning of the 20th century. In 1910, the number of Banat Rusyns reached 2,500 and Bacs-SremRusyns in Vojvodina reached 15,000 (Magoczi, 2016, pp. 189-191)

Table 3 Emigration from Slovakia in 1899 - 1913 (Sveton, 1958, p. 152)

* Datais missing

However, a much larger number of Hungarian Rusyns had gone overseas during this period, mainly to the USA. Some authors state that in the last decades of the 19th century, more than 150 Rusyns from Northeastern Slovakia and Transcarpathia emigrated to the USA, Canada, Argentina and other countries (Pop, 2011, p. 57). According to other data - approximately 130 - 155,000 persons moved from the territory of Hungarian Russia to the USA until 1914, i.e. almost 1/3 of its population (Svorc, 2007, p. 25). P. R. Magocsigo declares (his information are based on US migration statistics) that the number of Hungarian Rusyns who emigrated to the USA during 1880 - 1914 was not less than 225,000 people (Onufrak, 2019, p. 143 - referring to Magocsi, 2005). The numbers of Carpathian Rusyns who had temporarily or permanently moved from the Kingdom of Hungary abroad / overseas in 1870 - 1914/1920 are estimated to 300 - 400,000 in total (Vanat, 1990, p. 23, note 35; Marunchak, 1991, p. 21). They were mainly from Uzh, Bereg, Zemplin and Sharish county. To conclude, about 500 - 550,000 Rusynians and Ukrainians emigrated from Austria-Hungary in this period (including 360,000 people from Austrian Galicia and Bukovina) (Makar, 2007, p. 12; Kabuzan, 2006, p. 252).

Undoubtedly, the emigration of Rusyns from Northeastern Slovakia began in the late 60s - early 70s and gained mass character in the late 70s - 80s of the 19th century. In the 1880s, about 20,000 people emigrated from Sharish and almost 25,000 persons from Zemplin - they were mostly Rusyns living in the northern districts of these counties(Konecny, 2015, p. 124). Obviously, a similar extent of emigration continued in the 1890s as well. The end of the 19th and particularly the beginning of the 20th century represented crucial periods of foreign emigration from Slovakia. Since more accurate statistics are missing until 1900, the only way is to estimate the numbers -in the last third of the 19th century, it was at least 50,000 Rusyns who emigrated from the eastern Slovak counties (in 1880 - 1900, about 2,300 people a year; including repeated migrations).About 100,000 people had emigrated from the Transcarpathian counties (Konecny, 2015, p. 124), including about 70 - 75,000 Rusyns. To sum up, there had been 125,000 Carpathian Rusyns in total - 80,000 emigrated to the USA, 25,000 to Canada and 18,500 to the Latin America (Kabuzan, 2006, p. 238).

In 1899 - 1913, about 82,500 people emigrated from Zemplin county, 50,000 from Sharish and 46,000 from Spish county - i.e. 178,500 people in total, including 128,900 Slovaks (Saposova, 2004, pp. 11-12, tab. 1 - referring to Szarka,1995, pp. 246-247). About 17,000 - (Konecny, 2015, p. 124) 20,000 Rusyns had emigrated from these three counties (at first places in ranking of emigration from Slovak counties) in the mentioned period, i.e. 10-11% from the number of emigrants of these counties (an average of1,250 people per year). From 1900 to the World War I, over 200,000 people emigrated from the four Transcarpathian counties, including about 60 - 70,000 Rusyns (Fatula, 2018, referring toliko, 1973; Kabuzan, 2006, p. 252). Of course, some emigrants had returned home after some time (but some had been emigrating repeatedly, even several times), so the absolute decline in population had been much lower. However - as S. Konecny emphasized - it does not change the fact that in the years 1899-1914, an average of 3,500 Rusyns per year emigrated abroad (according to Hungarian incomplete statistics). There had been Rusynian villages from where up to a quarter of the population had emigrated (Konecny, 2015, p. 124). “In some places in Zemplin County, only women, children and the elderly remained, because men moved across the world for a piece of bread," - contemporaries state (Vanat, 1990, p. 23).

In 1870 - 1914, about 70,000 Rusyns from northeastern Slovakia and 130 - 145,000 Transcarpathian Rusyns migrated to various parts of the world (temporarily or permanently). Although moving abroad/overseas had meant to be only a temporary solution in many cases, it is estimated that up to 2/3 of all emigrants had stayed in the new country and 1/3 returned home (Sprocha & Tisliar, 2018, p. 250). If we regard this aspect and deal with the number of 300 - 400 Hungarian Rusyns-emigrants, this construct is being fulfilled. According to data, more than 200,000 Rusynian emigrants from Hungary lived in the United States during the World War I. (Konecny, 2015, p. 128), while the number of people from Slovakia reached 620,000 (Putnik..., 1928, p. 98). However, these figures include the natural increase of settled emigrant families as well (at the beginning, the habit of starting traditional large familieshad been obvious here).

An important aspect of foreign emigration from Slovakia until theWorld War I. had been significant prevalence of men. This only confirms the originally prevailing intention of temporary labour migration. In 1899 - 1913, only 544 women per 1,000 men on average emigrated. Regarding their age, emigrants had been of younger age (approximately 1/3 of emigrants were 20-29-year- old, the second most numerous group were persons under 20). The low educational structure of emigrants had also been a specific feature of emigration (Sprocha & Majo, 2016, p. 146)

According to Harust'ak, the social structure of Upper Hungary emigrants had logically been dominated by agricultural workers (up to 80%), who at first only looked for temporary work in order to earn money to improve living conditions or pay off debts. Some of them had settled in the New World permanently and others had made several other journeys (Harust'ak, 2013, pp. 216-217). Labour migration had meant an improvement in socio-economic situation of emigrants from other European countries, while most Hungarian Rusyns hadconsidered it a way of maintaining a bare existence which isindicated by its mass character (Vanat, 1990, p. 22).

For many emigrants, emigration was a form of silent social protest against unsatisfactory living conditions in their native land, which emigration could easily get them rid of (Harust'ak, 2013, p. 217).

However, the causes had varied within the Upper Hungary region depending on the economic, cultural, demographic and natural specifics of the particular counties as well (Janto, 2017, p. 52). In addition to the main factors, i.e. the economic situation and population growth, other factors such as migration social networks, chain migration and individual decision-making process had an impact on emigration, too. Further factors include the so- called emigrant fever, evasion of military service, the activities of emigrant agents, preserving positive image of America (Harust'ak, 2013, p. 222) and Magyarization.

The intensity and extent of emigration from the Upper Hungarian counties had not only been influenced by the desire for a better (or any) financial reward and a better life. It had been determinated by emigration policy of the Kingdom of Hungary and immigration policy of the United States as well (in fact, until the beginning of the World War I., immigration to the United States was almost unrestricted). The Hungarian government had not prohibited emigration from the country de jure (which would be contrary to the Hungarian constitution), but only regulated the activities of emigration agents and agencies with activities in the territory of the kingdom of Hungary (Harust'ak, 2013, pp. 217-218).

Mass emigration from the entire region of Central and Eastern Europe had left permanent traces in the population structure of the affected regions. Since the end of the 19th century, the number of men had decreased in some areas which affected not only the natural increase of the population, but also the labor market, supply and demand for men's labor (Harust'ak, 2013, p. 219).

In the case of Rusyns-Ukrainians from northeastern Slovakia, migration for work abroad/ overseas had a direct population effect - in contrast to seasonal labor migration appearing indirectly in the form of longer partners separation (Sprocha & Tisliar, 2018, p. 103) - and it is possible to speak of a significant population stagnation (see Table 4). Actually, for 40 years - in 1880 (78,941 people) - 1921 (85,629 people), the number of Rusyns grew only by 6,687 people in total, i.e. by 8.4% (to compare - in 1880 - 1921 the number of Rusyns increased from 244,700 to 376,200 in Transcarpathia, i.e. by 131,500 people - which is almost 54%). Of course, regarding the numbers of “Slovak” Rusyns, it is necessary to see the results of the process of Magyarization/Slovakization, as well as the demographic crisis of the war years 1915 - 1918 and the increase in mortality. However, the total population of Slovakia had statistically grown by 500,000 people - almost 20.4% in the same period. The cause of such a difference between the whole Slovak and Rusynian population growth is undoubtedly emigration factors.

Table 4 Number of Rusyns and Ukrainians in Slovakia and their share in the total number of population in the years 1880 - 1921

Note.: Tables4, 6 and 7are based on data from table 2.

Interwar migration of the Rusyns-Ukrainians

Migration in the 1920s. In the years 1914 - 1915, the Eastern Carpathians became the scene of World War I and front-line operations of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian army. The war had left great material damage here and the suffering of inhabitants had been enormous. Many villages of the Bardejov, Svidnik, Stropkov, Medzilaborce and Sninadistricts (including a major part of the Rusynian population) had been destroyed. Both armies had confiscated cattle and horses. Roads and bridges had also been destroyed, limiting access to particular villages quite far from railway connections. After moving the front back to the Carpathians, the Hungarian government had confirmed relief activities to provide emergency shelter to the war-affected population. However, this assistance was insufficient. The allocation of discarded military horses and young cattle had represented only a partial help for revive long-term backward agriculture in the region (Vanat, 1976, pp. 52-53).

With this legacy, Rusyn-Ukrainian society had entered the created Czechoslovak state (according to Czechoslovak statistics from 1921 - there were 461,849 Rusyns in total, including 85,628 living in Slovakia) (Toth, Novotny & Stehhk, 2012, p. 625; Ceskoslovenska statistika, sv. 9, 1924, p. 60*). It had consisted of two different economic units: the Czech lands belonging to the most economically developed areas of Austria and the relatively backward parts of the Upper Hungary - Slovakia and Subcarpathian Rus' (Shnitser, 2019, p. 99). In the settlement area of Rusyns-Ukrainians in Slovakia, i.e. in the northern parts of Zemplin, Sharish and Spish counties, socio-economic problems had still persisted.

The population of the northeastern areas of Slovakia had expected improving its position from the newly created Czechoslovak state. However, their living conditions had not improved. On the contrary - due to the loss of the Hungarian lowland, where some poor farmers from mountainous areas went for seasonal agricultural work until the war - they had worsened. Even employment in industry in eastern Slovakia did not increase in 1920 when compared to the western and central part of the country. Moreover, it fell below the level of the year 1900. Poor supply situation, shortage of daily consumer goods (flour, sugar, footwear, clothing, kerosene) and flourishing smuggling (export of rations and scarce goods to Poland which had led - after government intervention - to the declaration of martial law in border districts and guarding borders by selected military units) had exacerbated the situation (Vanat, 1976, pp. 53-54). It is understandable that under such socio-economic conditions there could be no improvement in the social position of the population. Especially languishing of agriculture in this region had required several immediate measures which the new Czechoslovak administration had not really been able to implement in a short time.

After the end of World War I, the emigrant fever had returned to Slovakia (and Subcarpathian Rus'). If we could specify it more, it had happened after expulsion of Hungarian Bolsheviks and integration of the eastern Slovakia and Trancarpathia into integral Czechoslovak republic superiority in August, 1919 (Smigef & Syrny, 2019, p. 63). Particularly in the USA, the first post-war years had brought considerable prosperity for immigrants and home returning re-emigrants (for example, in 1922 up to 5,220 people (Stefanek, 1944, p. 247)) aroused the interest of others which was used by several migration agencies and ocean shipping companies. In the imagination of Rusynian peasants, emigration thus had become the only option how to earn money for living as soon as possible, i.e. acquire capital to build a house, enhance own farm or buying land. In the post-war years, the region had been flooded with expatriate agents and crowds had been waiting daily in front of the authorities for a passport to be issued.

Emigration agitation and illicit emigration in Eastern Slovakia had taken on such extension that the Chamber of Deputies (at the suggestion of deputies Sopka, Hodza, Stodola etc.) passed a resolution on December 20, 1920, demanding the Czechoslovak government to prevent mass emigration from this region. According to US statistics, in the fiscal year 1920/21, 40,884 emigrants from the Czechoslovak Republic moved to the USA, including migrants from Slovakia and Subcarpathian Rus'as the major group(Vanat, 1976, p. 56; Bielik, 1964, p. 301).

The Czechoslovak state had failed to take such economic and social measures that would provide employment and support for living for this population. Thus, the state had not restricted economic migration at all - it had tried to give it an organized character by helping people with leaving a country (Tisliar, 2014a, pp. 43-62). Foreign migration had been seen as a kind of “necessary release” removing the possible causes of the various economic and social conflicts that had thus been prevented to some extent (Tisliar, 2014b, pp. 59-60). However, the measures came from the other side - in May 1921, the US government passed the so-called Emergency Quota Act restricting the number of immigrants annually to 3% of the number of residents from that same country. The quota for the Czechoslovak Republic had been initially set at 14,282 persons per year and in 1924 it was reduced to 3,073 persons. As a result of measures of the US government, the number of emigrants from the Czechoslovak Republic declined after 1922 when compared to the pre-war years and the direction of migration changed as well (Vanat, 1976, pp. 56-57). Mainly Slovaks and Rusyns-Ukrainians from Czechoslovakia had continued to moveto countries such as Canada, Argentina, Brazil and Western Europe, but also to Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand etc.For example, demand for emigrant passports to Central American countries in the years 1920 - 1925 had been gradually increasing every year by 200-300 people (Fordinalova, 1983, p. 33).

According to I. Vanat, the number of people who were issued an emigration passport in the years 1922 - 1927 is 195,183, including 107,222 who went overseas. According to Czechoslovak statistics in the years 1922 - 1929, there were 6,262 Rusyns-Ukrainians who emigrated from the northeastern Slovakia (Vanat, 1976, p. 57) - i.e. an average of 783 people per year, but these figures are clearly questionable and the number of emigrants had been much higher. Statistics of foreign migration from Czechoslovakia (keeping since 1922) had been incomplete, as many left without emigrant passports with the help of emigrant agents (therefore numbers stated above should be perceived as the lowest). Emigrants from Eastern Slovakia (and also from Subcarpathian Rus') had continued to look for their place in “overseas” and - unlike Slovaks - only a small percentage had stayed in European countries (Kmet', 2014, p. 73).

Seasonal migration of the population had still belonged to common (and since Hungarian times also traditional) forms of earnings, especially for population of the northern regions of Slovakia (Slovaks and Rusyns). It displayed as internal migration within Slovakia, for example, seasonal migrants had found work more often in southwestern Slovakia and since the early 1920s in Bohemia and Moravia as well, but also abroad - especially migration to neighboring countries (Hungary, Austria, but also Germany, French, etc.) (Tisliar, 2014b, p. 58). In the period from the 1920s to the 1930s, more than 220,000 people in total seasonally migrated abroad in this way. persons (on average more than 11,000 persons per year). In the first half of the 1920s, more than 40,000 people per year participated in internal migration (within the territory of the Czechoslovak Republic. These numbers had not fallen significantly until the 1930s due to the global economic crisis (Sveton, 1958, pp. 176-178), when particular states closed their economies off to immigrants. In comparison to these figures, it is evident that official statistics of Rusyns migrating for labour in the 1920s (i.e. the above-mentioned 6,262 people - an average of 783 people per year) are unlikely and the real number probably reached at least 900 - 1000 people per year.

Although the interwar emigration of Rusyns and Ukrainians from Slovakia had not been as massive as in the previous period, the possibilities of emigration had not been comparable to the natural increase in population and the chances of free labor employment in the industrial sectors of the region. The issue of reviving agriculture by its gradual intensification had become very urgent after the war. The improvement of the social status of the population had depended on the solution of this problem, requiring several immediate measures: compensation for war damage, expansion of agricultural land - including forest land (expansion of pasture lands), land consolidation, increasing qualification of farmers and their temporary exemption from taxes, provision of state support for the purchase of high-quality seeds, seedlings, breeding cattle and agricultural inventory, accelerated construction of infrastructure. Although some steps had been taken, several of them had not been completed and thus had only a partial effect. Similarly, land reform in Northeastern Slovakia lasting practically throughout the whole interwar period, had not helped to expand the land fund of Rusynian-Ukrainian agriculture (unlike other regions of Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and even Transcarpathia), suffering from shortages of land (Sprocha & Tisliar, 2012, p. 220). As a result, the social status of Rusyns- Ukrainians in Slovakia, where a small agrarian element had predominated, had been the worst of all nationalities in the republic (Vanat, 1976, pp. 58-59, 62-63, 72).

Migration during the 1930s. The global economic crisis of the 1930s, result of which the whole world had felt, had been another “blow” during the interwar period. It had led the masses of peasants of the interwar Czechoslovakia national peripheries to a total collapse, including Subcarpathian Rus'and northern districts of the eastern Slovakia. The economic crisis had paralyzed the most sensitive area of the economy of these regions - forestry and woodworking industry, glass industry and tinkers. This had led to massive unemployment and in some cases to the hopeless situation of the mountain regions population in the Eastern Slovakia as well. During the crisis, the agrarian overpopulation of the region had appeared again (the number of inhabitants in the northern districts of eastern Slovakia grew by an average of 12% in 1921 - 1930) (Vanat, 1990, p. 199). For impoverished farmers, the only solution of the difficult situation had been migration for earnings again.

According to Czechoslovak official statistics of the year 1930, the largest number of people willing to emigrate from the Czechoslovak Republic were Rusyns-Ukrainians among all ethnic groups of the republic. In 1929, there were 2,606 Rusynian inhabitants (762 from Slovakia and 1,944 from Transcarpathia), 1,668 Hungarian, 1,641 German, 252 Polish and 346 Jewish inhabitants who applied for a passport. Speaking in whole-state figures, while in the 1920s the share of resettlers from Slovakia represented 55% and 61.3% from Subcarpathian Rus', in 1929 the number of resettlers from the eastern part of the republic (i.e. Slovakia and Subcarpathian Rus'together) reached 75.6%, t. j. 2/3 of all Czechoslovak emigrants. Natives of Subcarpathian Rus'and Slovakia hadrepresented 86.4% of the total number of emigrant farmers (Vanat, 1990, p. 200).

Emigration to European and transoceanic countries from the eastern parts of the Czechoslovak Republic reached its imaginary peak in 1930 when passports were issued to 16,682 inhabitants from Slovakia and 2,706 from Transcarpathia. In the following years, the number of issued passports (according to official statistics) had decreased significantly (Vanat,1990, pp. 200-201, tab. 21), however, it had not corresponded to the actual number of the resettlers.