National and Political Relations between Slovenes and Hungarians in the Prekmurje Region during the Period of Dualism

Abstract

In the area of present-day Prekmurje, at the western edge of the Pannonian lowlands, Slovene and Hungarian ethnic groups have been evolving and living side by side since the 9th century. Influencing each other, they have preserved contacts to the present. The first conflicts between them were the result of the demands to realize their national sovereignty. After adopting the concept of dualism, which brought different laws and statistics, and when the Hungarian nation started to become the political majority within the monarchy, although in reality it was not, the conflict became more severe. It brought about the disintegration of the whole Austro-Hungarian state. These national and political relations between Slovenes and Hungarians in the period of dualism are but one of numerous, yet very important, parts that consist the history of Prekmurje in the 20th century.