History of Slovakia
Middle ages on the Slovak territory
The Slavs came to the territory of Slovakia during the 5th century.
The first important state organisation among the western Slavs, the Empire of Samo, was established in the 7th century.
In the 9th century Christianityfirst emerged in the territory of Slovakia by Great Moravian Empire. Thisempire encompassed the lands of modern Slovakia and Moravia as well as parts ofHungary, Austria, Bohemia and the southern part of Poland.
Great Moravia was founded whenMojmír I unified by force two neighboring states, referred to as the “Principalityof Nitra" and the "Principality of Moravia", in 833.
In 863, the brothers Constantinand Method headed a mission to Great Moravia at the invitation of PrinceRastislav. They devised the oldest Slavonic alphabet - Glagolitic - andtranslated liturgical books into Old Church Slavonic, which they codified.
SLOVAKIA in 19th century
Absolute government of Austrian chancellor Metternich, after the end of Napoleon wars,activated protests of Hungarian aristocracy, which, besides the ambitions of constitutional law asserted also Hungarian national requirements.
Hungarian nation aimed at Magyarizationof the nations in Hungary.At that time there was a group of students – the Czecho-Slavic Association that worked on the Bratislava evangelistic seminary. The head of this association was Ľudovít Štúr. Around him there were dedicated fellows, like Michal Miloslav Hodža, Jozef Miloslav Hurban and the others.
In the late thirties Vienna government stiffened up the regime and disjoined students corporations. Work was only possiblein secret. In 1843 Štúrovci (people around Štúr)
met at amanse in Hlboké and they settled on the nationwide use of Slovak language. Oneyear later a nationwide culture organization Tatrín was founded. The establishment of the Slovak standard language confirmed separateness of the Slovak nation.
In 1863 Matica Slovenská came into existence. It layed the foundations of national library, registry and museum. First chairman of Matica Slovenská was a catholic bishop Štefan Moyzes and its vice-president was an evangelistic bishop Karol Kuzmány.
Military defeats, economic distress and fearing the striving of nations to gain independence brought Hapsburg monarchy to Austria-Hungary adjustment in 1867. Empire was divided into two units and it was called Austria-Hungary.Austro-Hungarian adjustment brought great chagrin to Slavic nations living in the monarchy. The Slovaks fell into national persecution again. Step by step the Slovak high schools were closed and in 1875 Matica Slovenská was closed, too. The Slovaks stayed without their national cultural establishment and without Slovak high schools again.
After 1890 Austria-Hungary got into political crisis, which resulted in the fast changing of governments. However,situation of non-Hungarian nations in Hungary stayed unchanged, so in 1895 they arranged a meeting of non-Hungarian nationsin Budapest. TheSlovak delegation was led by a president of the Slovak national party Pavol Mudroň. Hungarian government´s responseto the congress was stiffening up censorship and raising Magyarization again.
At the beginning of a new century Slovak politicians were looking for support in the partnership with the Czechs.The alliance – Czecho-Slavic Union focused on boosting up cultural and economic ennoblement of Slovakia.At the close of 19th century 400,000 Slovaks indefinitely moved to USA, where they could try advantages of a democratic political and social life for the first time.
Battle for Slovak national claims continued also during 1stWorld War and it eventuated in the common state of the Slovaks and Czechs - Czechoslovakia
The Second CzechoslovakRepublic
The Second Czechoslovak Republic refers to the second Czechoslovak state that existed from October 1, 1938 to March 14, 1939 (for only 167 days). It was composed of Bohemia,Moravia,Silesia,and the autonomous regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. The Second Republic was the result of the events following the Munich Agreement, where Czechoslovakia was forced to submit theGerman-populated Sudetenland region to Germany on October 1,1938, and as well as southern parts of Slovakiaand Subcarpathian Ruthenia to Hungary.The Second Czechoslovak Republic was destroyed when Germany invadedit on March 15 1939, and annexed the Czech region into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
Thus,independent Czechoslovakia collapsed in the wake of foreign aggression and internal tensions.
The First Slovak republic
The First Slovak Republic was aquasi-independent national state which existed from 14 March1939 to 8 May 1945 as an ally and client stateof Nazi Germany.It existed on roughly the same territory as present-day Slovakia.Thename “Slovak state" was the form used by almost all history texts during thetime of Communist Czechoslovakia(1948-1989). Another name that was used was the Independent State of Slovakia. The first Slovak Republic's legal existence was retroactively nullified by the World War II victoriousallies through the nullification of the Munich Agreement and all its consequences. The contemporary (Second) Slovak Republic is not considered its legal successorstate.
Communists in Slovakia
At theconclusion of WWII, the reunified Czechoslovakia was under influence of the Soviet Union. The communist party, supported by the U.S.S.R., took over political power on 25 February 1948 and began to centralize power. The next four decades were characterized by strict communist rule. The Communist government began its regime by prohibiting all other political parties. They also nationalized private property and took over control of the factories and many other businesses. Farmers and landowners were forced to join collective farms. The communists sought to control religion. Many monasteries and other holy institutes were closed down, many bishops, priests and nuns arrested and sentto labor camps. People were encouraged not to openly worship, and practicing Christians were often held back in their education or denied the best jobs.The communist rule was interrupted only briefly during the Prague Spring of 1968. The Slovak born Communist leader Alexander Dubcek presided over a thawing of communist power and proposed political,social, and economic reforms in his effort to make "socialism with a humanface" a reality. Concern among other Warsaw Pact governments that Dubcek had gone too far prompted an invasion and Dubcek's removal from his position. In March 1988 the so-called "Candle Demonstration" in Bratislava, was the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The Demonstration,organized by Roman Catholic groups asking for religious freedom in Czechoslovakia, was brutally suppressed by the police. On November 17, 1989, a series of publicprotests, known as the "VelvetRevolution" began and led to the downfall of communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Dissident groups, such as Charter 77 in the Czech Republic andPublic Against Violence in Slovakia, united to form a transitional governmentand assist with the first democratic elections since 1948.
The SlovakRepublic
In June 1992, the Slovak parliament voted to declare sovereignty, the federation dissolved peacefully on January 1, 1993 andthe Slovak Republic was established. Its constitution was approved of on 1 September 1992. Michal Kovac became the first President of the Slovak Republic.
The Slovak democratic governments made political and economic (free market-oriented) reforms that enabled Slovakia to enter the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), close virtuallyall chapters in European Union (EU) negotiations, and make the country a strong candidate for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) accession. Slovakia officially became a member of NATO on March 29, 2004 and joined the EU on May1, 2004.
The main priorities were ensuring a strong Slovak performance within NATO and the EU, fighting corruption, attracting foreign investment, and reforming social services, such as the health care system. The economy grew 8.3% in 2006 (thehighest economic growth among OECD members).
Slovakia entered into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in November 2005, and will join the Euro Zoneon January 1, 2009 having met the Maastricht Criteria.
Present Principal Government Officials
President--Ivan Gasparovic
Prime Minister--Robert Fico
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Jan Kubis.