Rethinking “Indifference” in Rural Slovak History (26.3.2026 16:00)

Today’s show explores a new research project by historian Ladislav Vörös from the Slovak Academy of Sciences, titled National and political indifference? The understanding of nation and politics among the Slovak-speaking rural population in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Slovak Republic under the Scholarship for Excellent Researchers. Historian Ladislav Vörös from the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. It challenges the long-standing image of Slovak rural populations as politically indifferent at the turn of the 20th century. Drawing on letters, newspapers, and everyday accounts, the research reveals a much more complex reality of how ordinary people understood nation, politics, and their place in society. The programme looks at how these findings reshape our understanding of Slovak history and why they still matter when interpreting social and political attitudes today.