Vol. XXXVI · 2005

M. Mark Stolarik

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Paul Robert Magocsi has written a thought-provoking essay on the role of North American political diasporas from east central Europe before and after the seminal years of 1918 and 1989. While he showed that the pre-1918 diasporas had a major impact on the future of east central Europe during and after World War I, he found very little evidence of a similar impact before and after 1989. He suggested that we look closely at 1989 to see what, if any, impact such diasporas had at the end of the twentieth century. While I agree with Magocsi's conclusions regarding 1918, I do see more of an émigré impact upon the period 1945-89 and later, especially when viewed through the prism of Slovak émigré history. Furthermore, even though the title of Magocsi's article refers to diasporas in "North America," he concentrated mainly on their impact upon the United States and had little to say about Canada. North American diasporas were truly "North American," and the border between Canada and the United States mattered very little to most of them.