Slovak Autonomy 1938

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Towards Autonomy: The Creation of the First Republic of Slovakia In the events leading up to WWII, the map of Europe was redrawn, peoples were moved, and a stage was set that would define many nations for the decades to come. The Slovak nation did not escape this transformation; being part of the second Czechoslovakia republic it was at the center of the German plans for expansion. The Slovak people had a long history of occupation and subjection in the modern era starting with the colonization by the kingdom of Hungry, the Ottoman incursion in the sixteenth century and the subsequent empirical rule of the Hapsburgs. This long period of subordination was paralleled with an open and forthright attempt of assimilation through magyarization enforced by the Hungarian elites. The accumulated result of these events is a struggle not only for autonomy but for sheer survival of the Slovak culture as the Slovak nation fought to preserve its uniqueness. With this thought in mind it becomes evident that Slovakia would seek an opportunity to protect itself, ideally through means of autonomous rule. With the rise of Slovak nationalism in the 19th century the idea of a state for the Slovak people gained momentum, garnering political backing leading to an official movement towards independence. The consequence of this and the outbreak of the First World War was the eventually union between the Czechs and the Slovaks in the creation of the Czecko-Slovakia republic. Although ultimately this too brought about further oppression through legislation and administration policies that were favourable to the Czechs, as well as the statistical dominance of the Czech people. Once again this spurred the nationalist movement as the cleavages between the two nations grew, crediting to the rise in popularity of Father Andrej Hlinka and Jozef Tiso’s national political parties and their calls
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