ZÁLESÍ OF LUHAČOVICE
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES OF VALAŠSKO (VALACHIA) SLOVAKIA AND THE HANÁ DISTRICT IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
RÉSUMÉ
In the year 1929 Czechoslovakia celebrated the millenium of the martyrdom of Saint Venceslas, one of the first of the Christian princes. It is not possible here even briefly to sketch the glorious and moving history of the country of Czechoslovakia, many of whose sons have made valuable contributions to the augmentation of Europe's spiritual wealth.
Visitors coming into the present State of Czechoslovakia, soon observe two striking divisions. The western part of the country is an industrial district with a high agricultural development, in every way closely related to the culture of the occident. On the other hand, the eastern part, likewise inhabited by a Slavonic population, is for the most part an agricultural district, retaining a pastoral culture and in some instances inclining to the so-called Balkan-oriental culture. This is a result not only of its geographic situation, but also of the fact that for an entire thousand years the eastern section was under the rule of the Magyars, who, attempting to assimilate the inhabitants, did not allow the subjugated masses the necessary education; as a result of this, the folk culture of these sections is preserved.
The author of this book published, in the year 1925, an artistic work about western Slovakia, „The Village along the Banks of the Danube in Czechoslovakia". In this book he devotes himself to the study of the forest district of Luhačovice, which is located in eastern Moravia bordering three of the Czech racial groups. Of these the Hanáks represent the people of the plains, with only agriculture highly developed; the Valachs, who, although farmers, at one time occupied themselves with the pasturing of sheep in the mountain districts; and the Slovaks, who represent the plain country.