Slovakia's Past: Austria-Hungary's Influence And Legacy

Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was formed in 1867 as a compromise between Austria and Hungary. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved in 1918 after World War I, leading to the creation of Czechoslovakia, which included Slovakia.

Slovakia was part of the Kingdom of Hungary within the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918

The Slovaks' struggle against Magyarization was long and difficult. In 1848, Slovaks took up arms against the Magyars, demanding a politically autonomous region within Hungary for the first time. However, it was not until the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 that the Kingdom of Hungary was forced to recognise the equality of the Austrian and Hungarian parts of the realm, leading to the formation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Despite this, pressures of Magyarization intensified, and many Slovaks emigrated, mainly to the United States.

The idea of a Czecho-Slovak entity emerged around the start of the 20th century, advocated by some Czech and Slovak leaders. During World War I, the Slovaks showed little enthusiasm for fighting against their fellow Slavs, and many defected to form the Czechoslovak Legion. In 1918, the Slovaks joined the traditional lands of the Bohemian Crown, Bohemia and Moravia, as well as a region bordering Ukraine known as Subcarpathian Rus', to form Czechoslovakia. This marked the end of Slovakia's time as part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the beginning of a new chapter in its history.

The Slovaks struggled against Magyarization and their Hungarian rulers

The Slovaks' struggle against Magyarization and their Hungarian rulers was a long and bitter conflict that began in the 19th century and continued until the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918. During this period, the Slovaks endured ethnic cleansing, forced assimilation, and cultural genocide at the hands of their Hungarian rulers.

Under the Habsburg Empire and later Austria-Hungary, the Magyars, or ethnic Hungarians, dominated the numerous nationalities around them. The Hungarians viewed themselves as patriots and believed that anyone living in the Kingdom of Hungary who did not speak, think, and feel like a Magyar was deficient in patriotism. This doctrine of cultural genocide was known as Magyarization, and it aimed to forcefully assimilate non-Magyar peoples, including the Slovaks, into Magyar culture.

The Slovaks had a long history in the region, arriving in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries. They established the Principality of Nitra in the 9th century, which later became part of Great Moravia, a Slavic state that included the ancestors of the Czechs and Slovaks. However, by the 11th century, the Hungarians had conquered Slovakia, and it became part of the Kingdom of Hungary.

The Hungarians enacted policies to suppress Slovak nationality and culture. Slovak schools and institutions were closed, Slovak children were taken away to be raised as Magyars, and Slovak families were forbidden to learn their language or history in schools or churches. Slovak family names were Magyarized, and vocational advancement was only given through Hungarian channels. The Hungarians even took away Slovak children to be brought up as Magyars.

The Slovaks resisted Magyarization, and their national consciousness continued to develop despite the oppression. They clung to their language and Slavic customs, and their political and cultural revival intensified in the late 19th century. The Slovak National Party emerged as a force opposing Magyarization, but it faced repression from the Hungarian authorities. Slovak intellectuals and activists, such as Janko Kráľ, who led a peasant revolt, were imprisoned or sentenced to death.

The struggle against Magyarization led to active Slovak emigration abroad. Many Slovaks fled to the United States, settling in places like Shamokin, Pennsylvania, to escape the forced assimilation in their homeland. Others became so-called 'Hungarians of Slovak descent', barely cognizant of their Slovak ancestry. Whole villages became Magyarized, unable to communicate in their original language and forbidden to learn about their history. This process bred societal self-hatred, where anything Slovak was hidden or admonished.

The Hungarians' attempts at Magyarization ultimately failed to erase Slovak identity and culture. Despite the oppression, the Slovaks maintained their language, customs, and national consciousness. In 1918, with the collapse of Austria-Hungary, Slovakia gained independence, and the Slovaks were finally free from Hungarian rule and Magyarization.

The Slovaks united with the Czechs in Samo's Empire in the 7th century and in Great Moravia between 833 and 895

The ancestors of the modern-day Slovaks and Czechs were united under the rule of Samo, a Frankish merchant, in the 7th century. This union, known as Samo's Empire or Samo's Kingdom, was the first Slavic state and existed between 623 or 631 AD and 658 AD. It included various West Slavic tribes, such as the Czechs, Slovaks, and Sorbs, and was centred in Moravia and Nitravia (present-day Slovakia, Lower Austria, and the Czech Republic).

Following Samo's death in 658 or 659, the history of the union becomes unclear, but it is assumed that it ended. The Avars, who had previously ruled the region, returned to their territories and entered into a symbiotic relationship with the Slavs.

In the 9th century, the Slavs established the Principality of Nitra, which, together with neighbouring Moravia, formed the core of Great Moravia. Great Moravia existed between 833 and 907, and the Czechs were a part of it for about seven years before they split off in 895. This union is considered a continuation of Samo's Empire and was the last time the two nations were united.

Great Moravia was a significant early Slavic state, reaching its peak under King Svätopluk I, when it encompassed present-day Slovakia, northern and central Hungary, Lower Austria, Bohemia, Silesia, Lusatia, southern Poland, and northern Serbia. During this period, Saints Cyril and Methodius brought Christianity to the region, creating the Glagolitic and Cyrillic scripts that would be adopted by other Slavic countries.

After the death of King Svätopluk in 894, Great Moravia was weakened by internal conflicts and constant warfare with East Francia. It eventually fell to the invading Magyar (Hungarian) tribes around 896, and by the 11th century, the Hungarians had conquered Slovakia.

The Slovaks' national revival was less marked than the Czechs' due to a lack of forum for political expression within Hungary

Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. The territory of present-day Slovakia was incorporated into the Principality of Hungary in the 10th century, which later became the Kingdom of Hungary in 1000. In the 16th and 17th centuries, southern portions of present-day Slovakia were incorporated into provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans recognised the loss of this territory by the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. Most of Hungary, including territories of present-day Slovakia, came under Habsburg rule in the Austrian Empire by the turn of the 18th century.

The Slovaks' struggle for independence continued within Czechoslovakia until 1993

Slovakia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I. In 1918, the state of Czechoslovakia was established by the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, incorporating Slovakia by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920.

Czechoslovakia was a democratic republic championed by Tomáš Masaryk from 1918 to 1937. However, the political elite did not generally allow political autonomy for minority ethnic groups, which led to unrest among the non-Czech population. The state proclaimed the official ideology that there were no separate Czech and Slovak nations but only one nation of Czechoslovaks, to the disagreement of Slovaks and other ethnic groups. Once a unified Czechoslovakia was restored after World War II, the conflict between the Czechs and the Slovaks surfaced again.

In 1968, Czechoslovakia was invaded by Warsaw Pact forces, ending a period of liberalisation under the leadership of Alexander Dubček. In 1969, Czechoslovakia became a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic within the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. However, the centralised political control by the Czechoslovak Communist Party severely limited the effects of federalisation.

In 1989, the Velvet Revolution peacefully ended Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. The Slovaks continued to ask for decentralisation, and in 1991, transfer payments from the Czech budget to Slovakia were stopped. In 1992, the Slovak parliament adopted the declaration of independence of the Slovak nation. On 17 July 1992, Slovakia, led by Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, declared itself a sovereign state, meaning that its laws took precedence over those of the federal government.

On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, sometimes referred to as the Velvet Divorce. The Slovaks' struggle for independence had finally succeeded, and Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993.

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