Hungarian Minority Social Positions Between the Two World Wars

This paper takes stock of the social position of the Hungarian minority communities in Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia between the two world wars, summarising in outline: population size, ethnic spatial structure (changes in language boundaries), urbanisation, occupational structure, educational attainment, economic position and the institutional framework of religious practice. The demographic, social and economic position of Hungarians in the territories annexed by Hungary deteriorated everywhere and lagged behind that of Hungary. The greatest decoupling from Hungary’s development occurred in the Hungarian communities of Vojvodina and Carpatho-Palatinate. The biggest losers of the political and then economic and social transformation were everywhere the urban middle classes and the small industrial classes. Keywords: Hungarian minorities, Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, demography, social statistics, ecclesiastical institutions