Slovak History

Brief History of Slovakia from 1918 to 2011

1918-1938 period between great wars

Tomas Garrigue Masaryk
-first president of Czechoslovakia

Milan Rastislav Štefánik
-the Czechoslovak minister of war

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 played a significant role in the Slovak history. The idea of Czechoslovakia state appeared very early among the Slovaks and was related to the progress of the war. Beyond the domestic rebellion the foreign Czechoslovakia’s revolt led by Tomáš G. Masaryk and Slovak Milan Rastislav Štefánik also evolved. Their task was to organize foreign military legions. In October, Czechoslovakia’s government was formed. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk became the first president of the Czechoslovakia. On 28th of October in 1918 the state of Czechoslovakia was declared. Peace Agreements in Paris finally established the Czechoslovakia as a new state on the map of Europe.

On 29th of February 1920 the Constitution of Czechoslovakia was approved. The relatively peaceful conduct of the first decade of Czechoslovakia had severe shocks in the second decade. The international security of Czechoslovakia was built on the postwar international treaties and relied on the guarantee of Great Britain and France. Germany and Russia, however, were increasingly starting to enter the international scene.
The greatest threat to Czechoslovakia was the accession of Hitler to power and his increasing aggression. He did not dissemble that he wants to liquidate the Czechoslovakia. With the assistance of the political leaders of the German minority, conducted by Conrad Heinlein, they continuously increased the pressure against Czechoslovakia.
The plan of breaking up the Czechoslovakia had a name the Green case – Fall Grün. Hitler’s pretext for action against Czechoslovakia was the protection of the German population. On 15th of September in 1938 Hitler met with British Prime Minister Chamberlain, who said at the meeting that he has no fundamental objection to the resignation of Czech border to Germany. German requirements were solved on conference in Munich, where on 29th of September in 1938 representatives of Germany, Italy, Great Britain and France – Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain and Daladier were meeting.

Here, without the participation of Czechoslovakia, they decided that the Czechoslovak Republic has to give border regions of Bohemia and Moravia to Germany. The agreement of states from Munich, however, intervened also Slovakia – Vienna Arbitration on 2nd of November in 1938 cut off the southern parts of Slovakia from Czechoslovakia and annexed them to Hungary.

1939-1945 World War II – political situation

Eduard Beneš 
-president of Czechoslovakia
in office: 1935 –1938

The population was not satisfied with the government. Dissatisfaction was gradually growing to revolt. The government with the help of an extensive organized police apparatus monitored the suspects. At that time, the revolt was particularly pronounced in foreign countries.
Many Slovaks came into active combat on the side of anti-Hitler bloc. Edvard Beneš, who immigrated after Munich to London, tried to organize foreign resistance, as at the time of World War I. At the same time he wooed for recognition of this government by the States of anti Hitler bloc. After Winston Churchill became the British prime minister he signed the official recognition of the Beneš foreign government, which in the summer of 1941 was confirmed by the Soviet Union. The end of war was close.

On 6th of October in 1944 the Red Army as well as her Czechoslovak Army Corps entered the Slovak territory. On 4th of April in 1945 German troops were displaced from Bratislava and most of the Slovak territory was reclaimed from Germans. President Edvard Beneš came to Košice on 3rd of April. On 5th of April new government appointed by Beneš, proclaimed the program known as Košice’s government program.   

1948-1989 Communist era

Alexander Dubček
-Chairman of the federal Czecho-Slovak parliament.

In 1946, the communists won the first postwar elections. After communists grasped the power, they sought to establish a totalitarian, uncontrollable power very quickly. Dissatisfaction with the dictatorship of communists was increasing among the population since the fifties. In 1968, the changes in the highest state functions started.

First Slovak – Alexander Dubček was elected at the forefront of the government. Together with the so-called reformed communists he began to implement fundamental political and social changes that were enthusiastically supported by a simple majority of the population. They hoped that period of “socialism with a human face” would begin. Events resulted in the Prague Spring 1968. The censorship was abolished, the public meetings continued, the religious freedom partly occurred. One of the achievements of the Prague Spring was the idea of creating a Czech-Slovak Federation. The Constitutional Law of Federation was finally adopted by the parliament on 27th of October in 1968.

Sympathies of the population and abroad, however, did not convince the leaders of the USSR led by Leonid Brezhnev and many other representatives of the Communist Party. Therefore they decided to stop this process by using violence. On the night of 20th to 21st of August in 1968 the army of five Warsaw Pact countries (People’s Republic of Bulgaria, People’s Republic of Hungary, People’s Republic of Poland, Socialist Republic of Romania, and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) entered Czechoslovakia. An attempt to reform the socialism in democratic way was brutally suppressed.

17.11.1989 Fall of Communism and Velvet Revolution

Václav Havel
-first president of Czech republic
in office: 1993 – 2003

The year of changes was 1988. On 25th of March Catholic Church organized a peaceful demonstration with candles in Bratislava. The Communist government dispelled the peaceful demonstration with the use of force.

On 16th of November in 1989 students from Bratislava on the eve of International Students Day organized a demonstration. It was not as wild as that on the following day (17th of November) in Prague. 27th of November was another great day for Czechoslovakia. Two hours long general strike across the country was accompanied by massive demonstrations, in which people called for the end of the one-party, free elections, the resignation of Husák from the post of President and for democracy.
The collapse of the communist totalitarian regime in Czechoslovakia came into the awareness of global and domestic public as soft or velvet revolution. This attribute was for the peaceful and bloodless course. President Husák appointed a new government and then resigned. At the end of 1989, Dubček was elected as a chief of the National Assembly and Václav Havel as president. And it has been only a step to the first free elections after years of totalitarianism – in June 1990.

01.01.1993 Separation of the Czechoslovak Federation

Vladimír Mečiar
-prime minister of Slovakia
in office: from 1990 to 1991, from 1992 to 1994, and from 1994 to 1998

Václav Klaus
-president of the Czech republic

Elections in 1992 indirectly decided about the separation of the Czechoslovak Federation. In July 1992 Slovak National Council adopted a declaration on the sovereignty of the Slovak Republic and in September they approved the Constitution of the Slovak Republic.

On 1st of January 1993 the Slovak Republic came into the world family of independent states. In contrast to the Czech Republic, which kept the most institutions of the former federation, Slovakia had to build most of the institutions from the beginning. The government and the entire country had indeed very serious economic problems. Gradually, however, they managed to stop the uneven development.
On 29th of March 2004 Slovakia become a member of the North Atlantic Pact

On 1st of May 2004 a member of the European Union. At present time, the Slovak Republic started the path of economic reforms and progressive changes, which resulted in improving the growth of living standards.

Mikuláš Dzurinda
-prime minister of Slovakia
in office: 1998 - 2006

The Schengen area is a territory of 23 member countries of the European Union + 2 associated countries of the European Economic Area, which agreed on the abolition of border controls between themselves, this way allowing free movement of persons and goods inside of the area. There are no border barriers, passport or customs controls and these countries have common visa politics. People can cross the border wherever they want without passport control, unless it is a protected area above the second level of nature protection. At places under higher levels of nature protection (national parks and protected landscape areas) it is mandatory to respect the law of nature protection and visitors’ codes, i.e. the visitors can freely move only on marked paths or cycling routes.

The Schengen area consists of EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Italy.

January 01, 2009 Slovakia changed the currency
Slovakia adopted the common European currency on 1st of January 2009. EU leaders agreed with Slovakia’s entry in the Euro zone at the summit on the 19th of June 2008 in Brussels.  

The current President of Slovakia is Ivan Gasparovic and the Prime Minister Iveta Radicova.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

History of Slovakia ( the Middle Ages - 1918 )

The oldest archeological Slovak artefacts, especially stone tools, date back to the Early Paleolithics. Tools and pottery found in Slovakia give evidence of prehistoric settlement during the Neolitic times. The area of recent Slovakia has been permanently settled since the Bronze Age, represented by Thrace tribes, Hallstat Culture and Celtic tribes.

The Celts built oppida during the Celtic dominance in the Iron Age, who were followed by Germanic icursions. 

The Roman occupation started around 20 AD and Marcus Aurelius achieved his northernmost point in Laugaritio by 179, today`s Trencin town. 

The Slavs formed a relatively compact settlement at the turn of the 5th and 6th century. In the first part of the 6th century Avars established their realm around the area. Charles the Great and his sons brought Avar`s rule to the end at the turn of the 8th century. The Principality of Nitra was formed in the south- east of Slovakia. Around 833, Prince Mojmir I. joined the Principality of Nitra with his Moravian Principality and the Empire of Great Moravia was established.
Cyril and Methodius created the first slavic alphabet and established first large school. Between 9th and 11th century, the old Hungarians invaded the present-day Slovakia territory and at the turn of the 10th century, the Kingdom of Hungary arouse. Parish houses and stone churches were built in the settlements. Land was under the ownership of the King, church and magnates.
After the Tatar invasion in the 13th century another process of recolonization lasted for decades. In the second part of the century, an extensive network of stone castles with manor houses surrounding them was built.

The Hungarians were defeated by the Ottoman Turks in the battle of Mohac in 1526, who subsequently occupied the country. The Kingdom of Hungary was renamed to “Royal Hungary“ and the present-day Bratislava, then Pressburg or Pozsony became its capital and the coronation town. During the 18th century, the Slovak National Movement aroused, leading to first codification of the Slovak language by A. Bernolak at the end of the century.

However, it was Ludovit Stur, who developed the official Slovak language, approved by both the Catholics and Protestants in the 19th century. During the WWI, the Slovaks, as well as the other nations from Austria-Hungary were helped by patriots living abroad.

Great contribution was made by M. R. Stefanik, a politician, diplomat and astronomer, the general of the French army and at the same time the Czechoslovak Minister of War.