13 50 763 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6ac7410f395676e02818cc53fe896984.pdf 6ee6848fb54c5fa492946fff146e6a3a PDF Text Text SLOVAK.IA 72 The Czecho-Slovak Exile CZECH SOCIAL DEMOCRATS AND RED ESPIONAGE Dr. Mi chael Zibrin July of l91J5 found the "Council of Free Ozechoslovaki:a" just as July of J.ast year left it; without eleded of~ fi.cials, without elected representatives. This is because the CoUIIld, during the 20-month period of its re-organi-. zation, could not reach !any agreement and is operating on a rotation system, i.e., eacth month ,a reipresentati:ve of a diifferent political iparty se:rves as its executive head. This proves what we had said b,e fore: the Council is a coillglomerate of people of quite different bmnds and that Lettrich' s exdamation two years ago - "Gentlemen, I think only dollars keep us here together" - was and is still true. The present chaos in the Council is caused partly by the fact that political partie.s are coming to prevail more than personalities, and the Councril -resembJ.es more and more an enlarged National Front. The purpose of .t his article is to revie;w the past policies and deeds of that part.yin the CoU!Ilcil which did most to communize the o~ooho-1Slov•8Jk Republic and prepare an easy Communist take-over in 1948. ,Such a review is necessitated by the shocking pulblic deception that hias gained influentiral positions for the exile members of th±s ,p arty. Reformed Communists and coUaiboratom can perform valuable functions, but in men who deny their Olbvfous politic,al actions there can be no question of reform. The most flagrant a,id to Communism was given by the Czecho-iSlovak Social ·D emocratic party. In exile today, the leaders of this panty are men who, by their open colfa,boration wit:h Stalin, p~ayed the most important ,part in the bolsheviz;ation o,f Czecho-Slova>k,i1a. These men have always Etood very close to the Communists, even during small political skirmishes like those occasion.any now among Zenkl, Ripka, and Peroutka. Particularly after the Stalin-Benes pact of 1943, they were the most efficient signers and executors of Benes':s bloody decrees, not reaHzing that, once they had finished their jdbs for the Communists, the fate �Sl.JOVAKIA 73 they had prepared for others wo'Ulld become their own. History shows that aliready in 1928 the Soc,i al Demo. cr:ats formulated their program thus: "Today as also in the past we are decided to protect the Soviet Union against any inimical action of the capitalistic governments and against any counter-revolutionary attack." Nine years earlier this belief had been realized in action. When Polish General Pilsudski was fighting a bloody (battle with the Communist ar-my near Wairsaw in 1920, the socialistic ma-· jority in Prague forbade the transportation of military material t.lirnugh ,Ozocho-1Slo,v0Jkia, despite the fact that lhis material was sent by France and a French military mi,s sion was at that time already in Prague. A yea,r earlier, when General Stefanik telegraiphed a wairning to Prague against Bolshevism as the greatest plague o!I' mankind a:nd asked for uruty in tihe f.ight to destroy it, it was this same Social Democratic Party whiclh - wit:h Masarylk's consent - stopped Stefamk's program. Masaryk's consent is less surprising when one remembers that he was actually among the first to hail the Octo!ber Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, which now in Prague !is considered fundamental to the ere. ation of Ozecho-,Slovaki:a. Thus one couid go on ,w ithout end and show that the Social Democratic party was an effective avant garde of Communism in Central Europe, not only in Czecho-!Slovakia. Certainly one of the most important persons in the Czecho-!Slovak .Social Democratic party was V ojta Benes, the oldest brother of the !:ate president. Gottwald officially, on the Cabinet's decision (and Moscow's aippro,vail) , sent him into West Germany in 1949, where he keipt in. regular contact with Prague and acted more oir less ,a,s Gottwald's unofficial ambassador. He did not conce·a l this fact, and t he members of the "Council of Free Czechoslova!ld:a" knew it. Therefore, many times, VojJa Benes took a different position from the official Council and o;piposed some steps undertaken by non.JSocialists in the Council. Benes's brother passed away, ,but equally important representatives remain, particularly: Vacl:av Majer, B. Vilem, the former Sec:retary-General of the Party, and the ill-ifamed Bohumiil Lausman. Ailso, the Social Democratic 1 �74 SLOVAKIA party has its two generalls, Sergei Ingr, and Hasal Niz!borJ sky, and, jn Canada, the former minister Frantisek Nemec, who together with Hasal affected the cession of Ruthenia to .Stalin. To this party belongs also a Communist famous in Europe, Milos Vanek, and some questionaJble individuals in Radio F,ree Europe in MUTI!ich. These are all Czechs. Milos Vanek, who is reported to hruve 1b een a charter mem1ber of the "Czeohoslovak Communist Party," remained an ardent adherent of Czechoslovak-Soviet friendship even after he 1had left that .p arty to ~me a left.;win.g Social Democrat. I personaHy know Mr. Vanek and I must confirm that Vanek was one of the founders of the Communist Party in Europe. This is described in the book of Lu. cien Laurat ",Du Komiintern au Kominfo·r m" (!Paris, France Des 1'sles, 1'951), in which on page 10 we read: "The manifest issued by the second Congress of the Kominform, July, 1920, carries a great number of sigrra:tures - Lenin, Zinoviev, Boukarine, Trotski, for iRussia; Vane'k, Hlula, Zapotocky (the president of Ozecho-;Slovakia today), etc." T,his signer and founder of the Communist Party is today the Chief of the Economics Deparbment of Radio Free Europe and a member of the "Colllilcil of Free Ozechoslovalcia" in New York, ·b oth financed by the Free Europe Committee! On the Slovak side there are: Dr. Ziak, well-known Czecho-'SlovaJk; Dr. Joseph Mrazek, the only •Slov;ak s~gner of the oath of fidelity to Communism in 1948, and posing as a Slovak, a certain Belak, whose real name is Berger. A,bout these people, Kurt Glaser, American writer wrote : "The principa.J Czechs and Slovaks associated with the Free Europe Committee and those employed by Radio Free Europe are not - as is commonly supposed - fi•g hters ag,a inst Communism. Quite on the contrary, they fellow-travele<l. with t•he Communists rfrom at least 1939 to 1948, helpe<l. t'hem to power, and even today follow a Communist-sponsored propaganda line. "These indivjduals belong to an or.ganlzation which has systematically be-trayed members of the democratic underground in CzechoSlovalda by tipping them off to Dictator Gottwald's secret police. "A number of Radio Free Europe staff members are either Communist a.gents or have criminal records. '1Radio Free Europe's Czecho-Slovak program is helping Stalin �SLOVAKIA 75 by s,a,botaging internation-a l understand ing and promoting rivalry and hatred between European peoples. ' "Mr. Peroutka is backed up by two experts in dialectdcal materialis m, Dr. Zak and Dr. (Berger) Belak. Dr. Zak is the editor of •a n intellectual magazine called 'Tribuna' w-hich is forbidden in France and a no-llher called 'Reality' (Sk,utecnost) which is fofibidden in Switzerland. Unfortunately, I have not been able to peruse these journals as I do not read c zech, but I am told that their basic thesis is the need for the party m asses to submit to leadership by the elite cadre. Belak was formerly a Communist Party functionary in Slovalda under the n ame of Berger. He puts out a Germ an-language sheet called 'Militant Democracy' which few Germans read because it takes S<talin's anti-Ger,man line." I. who know this gentleman (Belak-Berger) persona1'ly, must confirm that Mr. Glaser's opinion is 100 percent right! The former membe.r of the Social Democratic party in 1Slov akia, Pavel Viboch, need not be dealt with as a party memlber , and the other three Slovaks mentioned are al,so not significant. Never receiving any mandate from the Slovruk nation, they represent colonialism in Central Europe at a time when oolonialism is. dying even in Africa. The best proof is the elections in 1946, when the Social Demo~ crats in Slovakia could not elect even one representaitive without Ozech help. It was an old Prague trick to transfeT unneeded votes from one district to another. As a rule, the Social Democratic ipanty has been a Czech origani·z ation only. To return to the history of this _p arty, however, one can say that its activities during the second World War are very revooling. The majority of the party ,p oliticians fled wiith Benes, or shoritly after, and served in his "c!libi. net.,in-exile." An e~ception was Ambassador Fierlinger, who remained in Moscow serving the Communists instead of Benes, according to Ripka and Benes himself. When it came to .the wol"st, Benes's "govennment-in-exile" reoolled him to London. Having the support of Moscow, however, Fierlinger refused to return, and Benes, in order .to keep his presidency, ha:d :to. ,g o to Moscow and take ordern from his personal enemy. These statements are proved by the cablegrams exchanged by the "government-in--exile" and Fierlinger, which were published in Fierlinger's hodk. In addition to Moscow's rs upport, Fierlinger also had help within the "government-in-exile." This was the left wing of 1 �76 SLOVAKIA the Social Democrats, wirth Lausman and Bechyne as leaders in London. This group, moreover, closely cooperated with other admirers of the Soviet Union in the Czech National Sodalist party, Rip_ka, Firt, and others. This party supporte'd several pro-Communistic organizations, where Rip'ka rused to be president and Josef Ko!'bel and Tig.rid Schonfeld were in leading ,positions, .pleadin,g for help for Stalin. In 1942 and 1943, Vlase:k and Majer organized the Commu:niisrt demonstrations that heiLpe<l to· force the second front against Churchill's will. We recall that Benes traveled to Moscow in 1943 against the wishes of Eden, Churchill, and other statesmen. There he approved the seill-out o<f Ruthenia and cleared the roa:d to Ozecho-SloV'akia for the Soviet Union. This he did without any regard for the will of the peoples of SlovaJki!a, Bohemia, Moravia and Ruthenia. Nay, even without the full consent of the "Provisional Czechosloviruk Government" in London. The peoples of Slovakia, Bohemia, Moravia, and ,Ruthenia certainly had nothing to do with it. 1 I recaH the speeches of Octdber and November, 1943, in the chambers of the "Czechoslovak State Council" in London. They were made not only by the admirers of the Kremlin, but also by the so-called civil politicians who were blinded by Moscow. Among them were Lausman and Majer, Dr. Uhlir and Paul Macha.eek; all strongly approved the journey to Moscow and insisrted on going along with Communist Valo's proposition even if it meant the loss of asylum in England and the good wiU of the allies. Benes simply had to go to Moscow, they said, because the "higher interests of our nations" demanded it. When Benes returned from his trip to Moscow, he brought the request to Mikolajczyk and the Poles that they renounce a la!lge part of Poland to the Soviets. If any one should quesrtion ,t he truth of my statements, I am ready and willing at all times to produce the repo~ts of the "Czechoslovak Srtate Council,." the speeches Lausman and Uhlir, and even Benes's speech in its entirety after he returned fa-om Moscow. They tel11 us clearly why the Communist "putsch" of Februa:ry 1948 took place so �SLOVAKIA 77 smoothly. Repetition o.f these facts is important for understandmg the effective collaboration of the Social Democrats with the Communists after the ,second war. Showing their allegiance to the principle from 1928, "Never against the Soviet Union," tihe Social Demoorats without an exception pressed for the Benes-Stalin agree~ ment in 1943. Therefore, in the first post-war government, formed in Kosice in 1945, and the most communistic of all governments returning ho.me, they dominated. There was no Slovak representative - evidence that Social Democracy had praictically no influence in Slovakia. Besides Prime Minister Zdenek Fierlinger, there was Frantisek Nemec and the liaison officer between the Red Armv and Benes, General Niziborsky (known now as General Hasal), who is at present, I believe, a consultant in the Pentagon Other ministers in that government were the infamous spy, Bohumil Lausman, and a present leader in the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," Vaclav Majer. We know, that all except Fierlinger came unharimed into exile after February, 1948. Lausman, of course, after having accomplished his espionage in Radio Free Europe, returned to Pra:gue. Clearly Lausman has the lowest character among the contemporary •politicians, but he was a most trusted comrade of ,t he present so-called "anti-Communist" politicians in the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia." They all were united in their pro-Communist activities, and their claim now to belong to this or that wing is no.t at all convincing. In 1946 the •s ame Vaclav Majer praised the top Communist in Czecho-Slovakia lavishly: "Gottwald's name will be forever connected not only with our fight for national liberation, but also with the struggle for social liberation as well as for new forms of life and work. . . . Gottwald, not only by his determination, but also by his understanding for the opinions of others, showed his great qualities as politician and man." Sudh were then the expressions of Vaola.JV Majer, an "anti-Communist" fighter of today. But Ma:jer is not alone in this. After working together for the Communists at home, the Social Democrats came to the United States and suddenly discovered that they, too, have fought Communism. Their present fabrica- �78 SLOVAKIA tions rubout their post-war aotivity, which the following facts disprove, are a deep offense to the witnesses of their activities back home. The first document signed by the ministers and the members of the Executive Committee of the Social Demo~ cratic Party iby which a smooth Communi!zation of thei,r homeland was assured, was their agreement of June 25, 1945, at once after returning to Praigue, to form the "National Front of the Working People." This agreement shows the serviI.fty of the wholle Social Democralti1c Party, not only of the leaders, because it was discussed and una~ nimously approved by aJll the ;party before being signed by the Executive Commiittee. This means tha,t all politicians of the $ociaJ Democratic Party, now posing as anti-Communists in exile, agreed to the bolshevi zation of CzechoSlovakta. Zenkl aind his National Socialists C'an at least attempt to excuse themsel,v es that they did not want to accept this ag,r eement lbut were forced to by the Social Democrats. But it is not a question of who forced wlhom; they all signed and pulblished this agreement and, what is woTse, they put it into effect. The most important parts of this agreement are the following: 1. While maintaining a politica:l and organizational independence, the three parties wil.l closely cooperate and follow a common policy in all matters of .p u!blio life. 2 . . The political iba;si,s o.f the National Front orf Working People is the government program, unanimously a:g-re.ed upon in conference in MoS<:ow and unanimously accepted by the government in Kosice on April 5, 1945. Through this agreemenit, also a Central Coordinating Committee is being created with an equal numlber of representatives from all participating iparties, and also a United Alliance of Trade Organizations, based on voluntary membership, wJll be formed. F'urther wili be formed a Non-.Political Alliance of Czech Farmers and a United Organization of Czech Youth; both of these organizations shaH be supported ,by all parties. This publicly dedared aigreement was signed for the Social Democrats by Zdenek Fierlinger; for the Commun1 �SLOVAKIA 79 ists by Klement Gottwald, and for the National Socialist Party by Peter Zenkl. It is both very int.eresting and quit,e significant that not a single Slovak att.ended that meeting and that among those who· called it were Dr. Peter Zenkl, Dr. Hubert Ripka, and other leaders of Dr. Benes's old Czech National Socilalist Party - the very same people who today are telling the American public and the world that they always hated the Reds and that the Reds "ousted" them from Government. But the truth is something else a;gatin. The fact is that both Zenlcl and Ripika welcomed the Communists, sought their favor, and wanted to win politicrul prestige with the help of the Reds at the exipense of the other political parties. Of course, today we know that they failed. The same thing happened to them ,that had happened and 1s still happening to an tho.se who try to, collruborate with the Communists: The Communists exploit them for what they are worth and then swallo;w them up or get rid of them. The "National Front of the' Working People" created a "Central Coordinating Committee," in which e'very affiliated party had an equal number of representatives. This committee had the task of coordinating the work of the socialist parties. The sooiwlfst bloc prepared the ground for the various activities which led to the suppression of political and religious fireedom - the first st~s taken toward a socialist dictatorship. The Czech Socialists and Communists agreed that the Agrarian Party would be suppressed, the Catholic IDaigle organization outiawed, and that Catholic youth, as such, would not be allowed to orgamize. Together t@y wo,r ked out a plan whereby the non-Communist peasant votes would be done away with and, at the same time, how these votes, together with the Communist-contro lled ..peasant unions, , would he brought into the Communist P,a,rty. They also created and later legalized the Communist trade organizations, then the non-political Fedeiration of Farmers and the United Youth Or,g,anization - all of which were SU!ppo.s ed to be fornned by the joint participation of all parties, but �80 SLOVAKlA actually served onlly to communize Ozecho-iSlovakia from the instant they began to function. Therefore, it is not true that Zenlkl, Rtpka, Vilem, Majer, and other Czech Sooial DemocraJts opposed Com~ munist hegemony from the beginning, but the truth is that from the moment they accepted the so--called "Kosice Agreement ," they were aJlways subordinat ed to and in the train of .t he Communis t Party and willingly continued tha,t way not only on Russian soil, or in Russian-·occuipied Kosice, but a1so in "Jiberated" Pr'cllgue. The "Joint Declaration " to the nation on June 28, 194'5, is indisputalble proof of the fact that they wanted to get into governmen t with the help of the Oommunist s, even at the roopense of democracy, Christ'ianit y, and freedom. This is the sound lesson for all who would col'la!borate with Oommunist s. All such ,p eople are digging their own graves, because Communism recogn.i'zes no agreements , concessions, or compromis es, and swallows wp all who collaborate with it. A Czech Catholic editor, A. J. Jandacek, commented on major effects of this agreement in this manner: "The aims of the socialist bloc were many: "1. First of all not to allow workers to organiz.e in Catholic trade unions, and so far as they are alread,y organized in them, through a mass effort .to storm them into the socialist bloc by maintaining that Oatholic organizations wm anyhow be in the mi· nority an d that, therefore, it is better to go together. "2. Not to ,a llow an independent unification of Catholic farmers. The party of farm people wi ll not be allowed to exist at all, and as far as the Catholics have their Catholic farmers organized, the Communists will divide them among themselves. "3. A United Organization of Czech Youth will be formed and, thus, the Cat·holic you1Jh wJll not have an opportunity to organize on a Oatholic platform, eitilier politiooJly or religiously. Simply, ,a ll youth will be forced to go into the state-formed and socialist-led organization. Thus, organizing an "Alliance of Catholi c Youtll" or ,a "Czechoslovak Orel" will be .impossible. A daily and weekJ.y have already been published for this so-called united youth organization and are led by the Commundsts. "In view of these three aims, it is possible to call the establishing and maintaining of t!he socialist bloc an intention-al act against political and religious freedom and the establishmen t of a socialist dictatorship." Although I am not a Catholic and never was a member �SLOVAKIA 81 of any clerical party, I am ready to sign this analysis by the editor Jandaceik. Whereais, Ze:rukl and his party, in December, 11947, begain not to abide by the 1946 agreement, the Social Democrats kept it even after the Oommunist "putsch" in Februa:ry, 1948. Professor Macek, for instance, accepted lead~ ing positions in o,rganizations which bolsheviized the University, and as president of the Aotion Committee of the University he expelled those students who had participated in demO'Il!Strations against the Communists in February. Furthermore, for a long time he helped the Constitutional Oommittee of Ozecho-Slovakia:n P.arliam.ent and its chairman, Dr. Procha:zka, a leading Communist. As a matte~ of fact, the whole section on Economics in the Communist constitution is his work. Both as an expert and as a member of the :Sociail Demo:cra,tic Party, he supported the Communist bi1ls; a;ctua:1ly, rhe was the right hrui.d of Dr. Procha:zka, the most Communist jurist in Czecho-Slovakia and chairman of the Constitutional Committee. To us it is not surprising that Macek led in the persecution of democratic students after the Communist putsch, since he had earlier been well known as a fervent exponent of Marx at the tUrnversity of Brno, where he was professor of National Eoonomics. The surprise is that he is now a university professor in the United States. Professor Maicek, during the yearn 1929...1939, was a member of Parliament for the Social Democratic Party. Simultaneously, he edited a left-orientated monthly called "Our Times" which was sponso,r ed by Presidents Masaryk and Benes. He published numerous books, a base of which was, repeatedly, the teachings of Marx. In these books Professor Maicek defended the theories orf Marx very emphatica!lly and wanted to introduce them into our social and economic life, evein as early as 1930-1938. He wanted to sociailize everything. His aim was identical to that of the Communi,s ts. They wanted to put it into practice after 194'5. Origtlnafly, Professor Macek migrated to Canada and lived on the fann of a certain Mr. Karel Buzek,. where he wrote artides for the Ozech newspapers in Canada. In his articles he rejeoted and condemned the very same ideas he �82 SLOVAKIA was not so long ago an apostle of and a very able and thorough propagator. From Canada he came to the United States and at the present time he is active as a professor at some university m Pennsylvania. iB. Vilem, as Genera'} Secretary of the Ozech Social Democratic Party, was more a personal "whip" for Fierliniger than a "whip" for the ,party. While I was a member of the Agricultural Committee, we succeeded sometimes in winning over .t he chairman of the committee, who was a Social Democrat, against the Communist proposa!ls. Vilem, however, before the voting day, and often at midnight, cal'led the members of 'his party and dictated: "Fierlinger lets you know that the party cannot stand for your proposals; you have to vote with the Communist Party." One of these Social Democrats that was forced by Vi1em to vote with the Communists is in exile ; several committee memlbers from the other parties who lost ,w ith me because of Vil.em's actions are now in the "Council of Free Ozechosloviaikia," but they wil'l never forget those defeats (Sliva, Torn, and other.s). Wathout this servility to the Communists, Gottwald would never have gained the majority he had. The saddest chapter of the Social Democrati'C Party, however, was written by its memiber who was the Minister of Industry, Bohumil Dausman. He served the at!reernent of June 25, 1945, so faithfully that he went out to disintegrate even the exile and worked for three years as a spy, after being employed by Radio Free Europe with the help of the Social Democrats and other memlbers of the "Council of Free Czechoslo;vakia," particularly Ripka and his group. The case of Lausman's treason was not yet completely closed when new espionage process was started against further exiponent of Prague government and close collaborator of Dr. Hubert Riipka. Hardly had a French .court sentenced Kubala on a charge of espionage for Communist OzechoSlovakia before the Prague radio reacted in this case and the spea,keir, himself a collaJborator of Mr. Ferdinand Peroutka and a former employee of Radio Free EuTope, used the most despiooble language against the West. Slovak newspapers unanimousily reported - unfOTtunaitely without desirable �SLOVAKIA 83 results on the aictions orf Radio F.ree Europe - that Lausman would be followed by the others. The newspapers asked for effect1ve preventive measures in Radio Free Europe rugainst subversive elements but nothing was done. Many very dubious elements are sitting in Radio F,r ee Europe and are paid by the Amerilcan citizens. In the warning concerning espionage, we have not only staJted several times that there are Marxists ood Oommunists in "Czechoslovak" organizations, but we also said openly that they were, and silll are espionage agents of the Prague government. The Prague broadcasts have confirmed our allegation. On the same ibroadlca;st where, some time a;go, Laus-· man broadcast in Prague, now spoke Bruno Folta, who was working as an employee of Radio Free Europe under the protection of Dr. M. Mu.dry and Dr. Kvetko. He minutely copied the style of Lausrnan, H~ confessed that originally he betrayed the Communist government in Prague and filed to the West, requesting political asylum. Here in the West, in Radio Free Europe Folta came to the conclusion that the western world was rotten and readily seized the chance to return home and accept what was offered to him in the inteliligence service conducted by the Czech General Moravec. He repented like Lausman and, hruving the desire to make some reparations, he put himself at the disposal of the "people's Democracy" against the West. He went on to threaten that he would use all the knowledge which he ooquired as an employee of Radio Free Europe. Our reports from Munich and behind the Iron Ourtain explain the Folta case as foHo:ws: Like Lausman, he was sent by the Prague government for espionage purposes and to esta:blish the contacts. When he succeeded and gathered enough material and collaborators, especially in Munich and Paris, he simply ,r eturned to Prague as a highly appreciruted a;gent, in order to accUJSe the anti-Communist citizens at home. of whose attitude he learned while abroad. What is Folita telling the peoples of Czecho~Slova;kia? The Vienna newspapers published long articles explaining how Foll.ta, this confident servant of Mr. Peroutka and Dr. Mudry, was blaming Radio Free Europe and the Western World and praising everything he found after his return to �84 SLOVAK.IA Brague: •~Prague has everything good and new, all the new technical inventions, and everything in plenty. Meantime, in the Weslt, o:nlly the capitalist dwpes have all the goods in their possession and the common people are starving." Thrut is the picture cxf the West presented by Folt'a, who coJ:lected American doJlars from RJFE. When will Washington be conV'inced? The case of Folta is certainly a cha,pter of shameful history, but we feair that even this fact will not be strong enough to convince the F1ree Europe Committee or the Department of State in W8!Shi:nigton. We repeat that such exile orga.n±zations, which are SUipported at the ex;pense of genuine demo-cratic and anti-Communist organizations, wre nuisances and wreckers of all the actiOIIlS of the Western. WorJd in the cold war. In the "Ozechoslovak" orgarazations there have been, since the start, members who were sent West by the Prague go,v ernment only for tlhe purpose of serving the Communists. On the roster of "Czechoslovak" organizations in exile you wilil find many persons who were elected to office on the Oommunist baHot, ,p oliticians who mostly helped the Communists not only to gain control of CzechoSlova!kia, but also the whole Danube valley. The same persons, who with Benes in 1939, in London, were in touch with SDalin's ambrussa.dor, agreed on the invasion of U.iS.IS.IR. south of the Carpathian Mountains. To the Americans in Washington and the Einglishmen in London, they disiplayed an rug·r eement concerning the integrity of the Czecho-Slavaik State while knowing the deficiencies of this treaty. They .co!~JIBitted the same crime as did Lausman and Bruno, Folta. These people simply betrayed the Allies. But beyond that are their protectors, the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia" and its leading representatives Zenkl, Lettrich, IPerou'bka, Mudry and others - iess guilty of betrayal? They 1let Lausma.n into R1adio :ffiree Europe and allowed him to• broadcast for American money. On the payroll they kept Folta, R1.12icka, and others as well; and they still do that and help to betray America. There is no excuse for them, or is there? Parrticipants in a crime are as punishable as the crim1 �SLOVAKIA 86 inal. J>a:rtici:pan.ts in this betriayal can not excuse themselves on the grounds that they did not know anything about suoh action. Several times suspicious caJSes were brought to their notice but they did not pay any ,a ttention to these warnings. What should we say to this criminal negligence on the .part of responsible pemonaHties :in Radio Free Europe Oir in the "Council of ~ree OzechoslovaJda ?" There they are unanimous: Zenkl, Cerny, Osuis'ky -- all plead for the innocence of Peroutka. The continuous scandaJls should waike up the security officials of the Western Powers. Until now only the Germans in Munich asked fo-r a c1erun-1.l'p of Marxists and other elements hostile to democracy in the whole territory of the German Federal Republfo. They aimed at "Czechoslovak" organizations which aire infiltrated with highly suspicious elements. Let us apply our knowledge whi'1e there is still time. Many think that only in Germany are such cases possible. but that is not true. The same oases, even more paradoxi~ cal, we find in Washington where the Czech officers are working. They distinguished themselves in the sell~,ut of Carpathian Ruthenia to the Soviets, or kept in the service of American Intelligence the sister-in-ilaw of a welL known Communist in the old country. Why should we be shocked that in rPairis the Communists received confiden• tial materia'l? Even in Washington security mea5UJres are neglected. We know the persons at wol'k in W81Shington and we will not be surpri,s ed if the Lausman affair breaks out a,gain despite our warning. Those who wHl be suT1prised will be Americans. Let us take lessons from Parts. Since Lausman's return to Prague, the whole CzechoSlovak exile, in its confusion, has been producing deceptions and charges of for.gery. When Mr. Osusky of the "Council of F'lree Ozechoslovakia" does not succeed in his enterprises, .o r the situation changes after his proclamations hawe been pulblished, he simply proclaims them unauthentic or falsified, o:r he simply a&:!rilbes them to Lausman. 'Sometimes the matter is trivial, as it was in the proclamation concerning the is udeten G€Tmans which was allegedly signed by Osusky. There he stressed the necessity �86 SLOVAKIA that the Czechs and the Sudeten Germans are reconciled and charged that Ripka and Zenk! were unsuitalble because of their collaJboration with the Communists. The subj~ct was given great publicity by Josten (a former official of the Foreign Ministry and now editor of "Czechoslovak" in LondO'Il) and his Marxist cell in London, w:hiich always tries to please Prague. In this matter, Osusky probably figured that a dea!l with the ,Sudeten GeI'IDans could per., haps be of he1p to him if he should have trouble in the Council with Ripka and Zenk!. But here chance helped him. R:iipka had difficulties in the United States because of his colla;boration with the Communists and therefore planned to return to his socialist friends in Europe. For this reason he, as weU as Zenkl, did not fight for leading positions .i n the Counchl - a fact that allowed the November reconciliation of the Council. Osusky does not need the Sudeten Germany any longer, whereas for Zenk! and Ripka the Sudeten German question will be a ,problem. So Osusky denied his Sudeten German proclamation and charged tha;t its publfoation in the "Czechoslovak" was a fOTgery . Simila.rly, "Nase Cesta," a Marxist paper printed in the Czech language ,in Vienna, published a who[e issue of articles written by several memibers of the "Council of Free Czechoslovak ia.'' Arfter Osusik y and Zen kl were reconciled and the articles did not fit into the changed opinion of the Council, the editor procilaimed the whole earlier issue a for,g ery. Thus, suddenly we are told that the ,articles were not writt® by the members oif the Council, and that the who'le issue was forged with the purpose of s,plitting the "Czechoslova k" exile. Lt is interesting to see whose names first a;ppea.r as authors o,f the disputed rurticles: Dr. Taiborsky, Benes's secretary; Jan Zak, Slovak socialist and confidant of MaTxists and "Ozechosloivaks" ; Jozef Dieska, member of the Council, etc. I can only dismiss the editor's charge that the whole issue originated with Lau:sman as ridiculous and highly impossible. In the newspruper "Novy Domov," published in Canada, another member of the Council, Fras'tacky, attacked Colonel M~ksohe, who does not go along with the "Ozeichoslova!ks" �f?LOV,AKIA 87 in the Council. (Oolon~l Miksche, a Czecho-Slovak military attache in Pa.r-is, resigned in December, 1947, in protest to the policy of the present members of the Council then in Praigue.) When Colonel Miiksche threatened to sue him, Frastaoky quiokly denied writing the article and declared it a forgery. Certainiy this comedy cannot be cailled anything but ridiculous; fortunately, it did not harm Colonel Miksche. It is regrettruble, however, that the exile "Czechoslovak" press sees in these and other incidents the intervention of Genera:! Molotka of P,r ague, whose assignment, with Lausman, is to influence and distunb the exik It does not at all seem to me that these .incidents, are of Lausman's making, for he would think of different methods among the members of the Ooll!Ilcil. In the Council he feels at home, after spending three years in its midst and working with Council members in Radio Free Europe. There he does not need any mediators and can at any time directly interfere. Using Lausman's name, however, provides Osusky and others wJth a handy scapegoat for the.i~ own failures and a!bandoned projects. SimHarly, the "CzechosloV'ak" exile press is not unanimous and constant in its aocount of the Council's November compromise and in its list of representatives. Sometimes it leaves out Dr. Cerny',s name, and other times it puts it in, depending on whom it serves . .Professor Hlavaty is referred to as a neutraJl sometimes, and at other times as ·a former socialist representative in the temporary National Assembly in Prrugue. Moreover, the "Czechoslovak" exile even today is hel:ping and promoting the accessories of spies as did some other memlbers of the Courrcil while they were ambassadors in the United States and elsewhere. This is the way the "Czechoslovak" organizations operate while the socialist parties in the West do not realize their dange,r . So, for ex-· ample Zdenka Schonova, in :Eingland one of the leading Czech Social Democrats, is supported today by the "Czech Trust Fund," even though her collaboration with the convicted spy, Peter Arton, was proved. It is evident that the persons from the Council do not distinguish between a 1 �88 SLOVAKIA Czech patriot and a Czech spy. For them everyone is first of aH Czech, from Benes down to Lausman, and in this belief they .not only help the spies and pay them, but also pay for their protection and defense It is also well known that Colonel Koenig, who is a leader orf the reporting division of the "Council of Free Ozechos!ovaktla" and also working for the West, still employs the same Hungarian Communis t as his secret,a ry, his sister-in-ilaw, Klara Fedak. Fedfuk is in New York without letting the U. S. authorities know that she is a Oommunist. Her former "1b oy friend" is now chief of the espionage office in Bratislava; yet the persons from the "Co,u ncii of Free Ozechoslov aikia" do not find it difficult to affirm to the West the ,reliaJbiliity of these Communist s. Koonig's group is also responsible for the murder of a Slovak un., dergrmLnd leader and patriot, Pavol Harusiak, and others from Bratislava, whose bordeT-cro ssing they betrayed to the Communis t police. Ifurusiak was my friend, an'd I kn.ow that a member of Koenig's group, iDr. Patek, gained access to him only through representin g himself as from me. When the "Czechosio. vak" exile has such help and affiliations, how lO'Ilg must O'Ile state that this "Czechoslo vak" group is not reliable? It is seen to be a very dangerous group when we realize that it hrus, accomplice s in the un. derground who were given money and introd1..1JCtions by Zenkl and Ripka, as the spy Bohumil Cerny and his accompJices were. This situation is also true orf the "C'zechoslova!k" section of R:adio Flree Europe in Munich, where there is always someone who helps such men as La.usma,,n and Folta, or other ex-Commu nists and .future re-immigrants to Red Prague. Bures, who brought Folta to Radio Free Europe, was dismissed, but his friends - Kvetko, Mudry, and Peroutka - are still in leading positions. If Radio Free Europe and the Voice of Ame11ica would try to lbrea:k the reputation. oif this "Czechoslo vak"' army with truth and with real anti-Comm unist speakers who ha,ve a good reputation and an anti...Communist record at home, it could be done. Not, however, with the present group. What is broadcast and written now - for American money - helps the Oommunis ts more than it harms them. �SLOVAKIA 89 These org,a nizations which are supposed to wage psy. chological warfaire against Communism behind the !iron Curtain do just the opposite - as far as Czecho-Slovakia is concerned. Too often they he:lp spies and broadcast material which does not harm the Communists, but rather amuses them. Sending pigeons and balloons across the Iron Curtain maikes people there laugh or curse, because the police always get some of those who pick up the leaf~ lets. When aJlmost every month someone returns to Pra•g ue and te1'ls of the low moral tone, the scandals, and suicides in the "Czechoslovak" section of Radio Tuee Europe in Munich, the Communists give this excellent publicity. No wonder that Radio· Free Europe does not have any respect there! IDven when Radio Free Euroipe, or the Voice of America, gains some SlovaJk renegade, these organizations are not made 1:.iherelby eiffecti:ve, nor are their names re~ stored at home behind the Iron Curtain. People theTe ceased to believe them loog ago, and after the Lausman and Folta affairs they only curse them. Folta, Ru!zicka, and Bures worked in Radio Free Europe; they were the proteges of those Siova.k employees in Radio Free Europe - Dr. Mu.dry and Dr. Kvetko - who are supposed to represent the r eal Slovak anti-Communist cause. And yet nothing happened to Mu.dry or Kvetko, much less to Peroutka, because they brought Bures and Ruzicka and Folta to RF'E, nor because they paid their comrade Lausmrun, who is also back in Prague. The new chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on In. vesitigations, Senator McCleUan, who is a capable lawyer to whom the security of the United States is of paramount internst is, we hear, curious about many things. We hope, therefore, thlat this suibcommittee will succeed in this mat~ ter also and that the organizations in question will be cleansed of the ,present "Czecho,slovaJk" group. iLausman was so aggressive that during the second World War, after his return from Moscow to London, he succeeded in the State Council in speeding up Benes's trip to Moscow. Further, as he admits in his book, published in Vienna, he forced Benes to na,tionalize aH private industry by presidential decree before the Pro,v isional National As- �90 SLOVAKIA sembly convened in October, 194'5. He also :points out in his book that, whereas he admits his actions, the associates who agireed with hiim on aU the issues of col1aboration now are renouncing him only in order to be accept., able to Washington. In this way, Lausman has unmasked the Sodal Democrats who in exile pre.tend to fight Communism, but actually are responsi!ble for the :f act that Russian territory extends for the first time in history west of the Carpathians into the Danube basJn. In this bolshevik expansion it was two Social Democrats who represented Benes and the whoJ.e state leadership: Flrantisek Nemec and Generail Ni:ziborsky - Hasal. Both went to Moscow from London in 1944 and then fol., lowed the Red Army into Ozecho-1Slovaiki,a to take over the liberated territory :from the Red Army in accordance with the Benes-lSta:li,n treaty. They did it so successfully with the he1p of Fierlinger in Moscow that in three months they gave Stalin the eastern part of Czecho-1Slovaikia, the whole of Ruthenia. Russia ,o ffered to the Slovaks, through the Communists Dr. Husak and Novomesky, an independent ,Slovak State, provided that it would be another Soviet republic. When Husak and Novomesky made the proposal to the Slov,a ks, to Dr. Joseph Tiso, President of S'lovakia and the Slow.1Jk Government, the Slovaks, however, refused the •bolshevi~atio!Il of their country. Nemec was not given a cordial re:ception ~n Ruthenia at all. The in'haibitants everywh&e were signing petitions, sponsored by the Communist Petruscak, which started that the Ruthenians no longer existed and that there were only Sub-Carpathi an Ukrainians in Ruthenia who yearned to be embrruced by their greait mother, Ukrainia. After many long squabbles, Nemec fina:lly got a message through to Benes in London through General Pika. The telegrams that Benes sent through F1ierlinger were never seen by Nemec, ,b ecause Fierlinger already then was Stalin's envoy and never a paitTiotic cii.ti,z en of his own State. It is significant, therefore, that despite these experiences thi,s same traitor, Fierling&, was named, several months later, as the premier by Benes. Nemec was in a very trying position. When he wanted �SLOVAKIA 91 to be connected with London, he had to ask for permission to do so from the Chief of the Russi,an ISJtafif so that he could travel to Moscow, where with the heilp of the vad.io conneotion of General Biika, who was the Chief of the Mtilitary Mission, Nemec could tell Benes how matters were going and koop him informed on Fierlinger. The latter was doing right well. He still is a minister in the Prague Gov~ ernment, but Genera,1 Bika was killed by the Commund.sts. At that time the Communists had asked the Slovak non-Communists whether it would not he more profitable to support tJhe idea of a Slovak Soviet Republic so that the Slovaks could go,vern their own territory rather than adhere to the "Czecho-slova;k" ideology which denied the existence of the Slovak nation. They added that such a Slovak Soviet Reipulblk could be promoted without diff,iculty, because the Slovak State still existed. Husak and Novomesky, however, did not get anywhere with their proposal. The Slova,k non-Commumsrts turned it down, declaring that it was contrary to the Christmas Agreement of December, 1943, as well as the agreement which Ursiny concluded -w ith Dr. Benes in Octolber, 1944, when he acted iJ?- the name of thie SloViak National Council. When Husak and N01Vomesky failed to promote the idea of a Slovruk Soviet Repwblic in London, they imrmediiately contacted and ordered their followers in Slovakia to present the ,p rop·a sal to President Joseph Tiso and the Slovruk Govemment. But Tiso· and the Slovak Government would not hear rubout it. Husak and N ovomesky failed in thek mission. Several months later, with mMly Slova;ks in emigration, Clemenitis took up the tune, but he also got nowhere. Today an the leading Reds of Slavrukia are paying dearly for failing in theiT mission. Clementis paJid with his life. Ruthenia was loot. Benes's delegation had to go to Trebisov ·a nd after that things went rather smoothly. ~erliillger ma:de the propositions and Benes aocepted them. When he was returning from Moscow in March, 1945, Benes could no longer enter Ruthenia. In fact he renounced it solemnly on severai occasions. FinaMy, Benes had an agreement prepared which Fierlinger signed for the Czecho1 �92 SLOVAKIA SlovaJk Government with great solemnity in the Kremlin on June 29, 1945. No one outside the CommU'Ilists agreed with this act of Benes. No law, however, could contain or restrain Benes. He acted dictatori.ally at any time that it benefited him. On August 24, 1945, without even corum1tling the Parliament, Benes issued his presidential decree No. 4, concluding the pa:ct between the U .S.S.<R. and the C.S.R. This decree was the basis for assigning new borders to Slovakia in the East. In Octoher, 1946, everything "legalized" on the ,b asis orf foregoing decrees was published in the Col~ lection of Laws and Regulations. T.he text orf the rubove-mentioned agreement is interesting, as well as significant. It begins with the words: ". . . being certain that the provisional National Assembly of the Orecho-1Slovaik Republic shal[ concur with this ag.reement . . . " Benes did not wait. He and John Masaryk and VI-ado Clementis decided matters without Pa.rlia,ment. As good prophets, they knew tha't Parliament would certainly approve this ag,r eement ! Since Ruthenia was not a very big bite, Benes did not stop there, but became even more generous. On June 2, 1945, he issued decree No. 8, whereby a numbeir of homes in the most beautiful seo'tion of BUJbenec - in the modern section of Prague - were donated to the Russian Communist State to commemorate, he said, the greaJt s•a crifices the nations of the U .IS.S.R. had made on the altar of liberation of humanity. WeM, it is a fact that the bolshevik armies to a great extent did l,iibera-te SlwaJcia from a gre,aJt many things the Slovaks could use themselves, but it certamly was not ethical or democratic to sign over whole streets to them without evsen consulting the nation about it. Only dictators act like that. And Benes was a dictator by the grace of MoS<!ow, even id: only a temporary one. 'Besides this generous gesture, several weeks later Benes showed his aP!)Teoiation to the so-called "iLiberator" of Prague, M<rurshaJ Konev, by giving him several very •b eautiful vi1las which were oonfiscated from the 1g ood citi- �SLOVAKIA 93 zens .o f Prague. From these villas Konev has a beautiflrl view of Prague. All these decTees we re signed by General Hasal-Nizborsky, who was at that time Minister of Thansportation, and •by Vaclav iMajer, who was also a member of Benes's caJbinet. The servility to Stalin and Go'titwald, and the boundless adulation iby HasaJl..,Niziborsky a,nd Frantiseik Nemec would be best illustrated if we pu!blished the congratulatory telegrams sent by them to their idols. I mtend to publish all these facts in a book, but they hawe already !been quoted by Fierlinger and Lausman in their books. Later, many Communists who fell out of favor tried to rescue their political careers in exile with the help of membership cards in the Social Democratic Party. Those Communists, rulmost without exception, we find in Radio Free Europe - (Graf, Berger-!Belak, and Ti.grid Schonfeld), or (Josef Konbel, the with other American institutions Communist amlbas:sador from Prague to Tito in Belgrade, now a member of the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia" and a uni,versity professor ,i n the United Staltes). Regarding Tigrid Schonfeld, it is only necessary to note what has been written albout him here in the United States. As it is quite a lo't, I only quote some parts of a more serious character: "Tigrid is a former m emb er of the C2:ech Communist Party. According to tJhe newspaper Christ und Welt (Stuttgart, October 16, 1952), •his political ac tivjty began in 1932 when he published the illegal Communist paper Hal lo Noviny, w,hich specialhr.ed in subversion of morale in the Czecho slovak Army. " He was also a contri butor to the Co mmunist magazine Leva Kultura (Left Culture). Dur:ing Wo r ld W ar II he w as a member of the Communfot-domiuated Czechoslovak staff of t'he British Broadcasting Company, where one of his colleagues and iruti mate friend w.as Colonel Otto BlheJer, the Czech mi.Jitary attache whom the United States Government declared persona non grata in 1949 for es pionage activities." I hope this short excerpt will be enough to show what pro-Communist elements were picked 1by the U. S. Ad-· ministration and by the Firee Europe Commitltee for importa,nt pos,itions. These quotations will also prove tha,t SUJCh people cannot be expected to be trusted 'back a,t home by �94 SLOVAK.IA the Nation as anti-Communist fighters and thaJt the whole expensive propa,gand'a program is practicrully useless and ineffective. About the others aJbove, I must confess the same opinion as to character. The deeds of these men, however, I am intentionally separating from the actions of the leaders of the Czec'h Social Democratic Prurty. I am presenting the Communist co1la:"boration of only those Social Democ~ats who represent the party in exile and who :firom 1945 until they went in to exiile were also of some importance back home. I am leaving aside those persons who are now abusing the sympath4es of the Labor Party in London, because they wd not amount to much back home, being only opporlll!Il.ists and regularly havmg two memib ership cards, one of the Communist and the other of the Social Democratic Party. But these also oannot claim that they opposed the agreement of June 25, 1945; everyone conisenited to it and carried it out in h:is capacity. It is no wonder that :b y 1946 their policy of complete conformance with the Communists had negated the party as opposi,t ion. Simifarly now the party is destroying itself in an attempt to gain strength by accepting and proteotin.g even men who were strong Communrists, like Milos Vanek and Tigrid Schonfeld, or men who possessed membership cards of several Marxist parities, like M8!cek, Kwbel, and others. Furthermore, an affidav1t of anti-Communism signed by the Social Demoorat le·aders is ridiculous, indeed, beca use the party's claim to anti--Communism is itself destroyed by the evidence of its history. During the February, 1948 c,r isis, the Social Democratic Party tried to look neutral, but the fact ilid everything to help t'he COIIllmunists succeed. Hol!cling to the agreement of J.une, 1945, the party as a unit gave its support to the Commumsts and so broke the political equilibrium in favor of the Oorrum.1~sts. Even if it is not pos• sible to .state that without the help of the Sociail. Democrats, Gottwald would not have succeeded in the "putsch" of February, 1948, nevertheless it remains a great guilt against the Sooial Democrats that in the time when it was �SLOVAKIA 95 clear to everyone what tJhe Communists were doing, the Czech Social Democrats stood by them and did not help the opposition. This attitude of the Czech Social Democrats is not very well known and evaluated in the United States; if it were, not one of them could pose in Washington as anti-Communists. And their protector, Steinhardt, U. S. am:bassador to, •Prague in 1948, and former Secretary · of State Acheson could not have secured for them influential positions in the United States on the U. S. payroll. It is worthwhile to note that up to 19-38 the Czech Sociall. Democrats cooperated strongly with the Sudeten German Sociail. Democrats in Ozecho-Slovakia. When the German Social Democrats got into trouble with the N a:llis and were persecuted, there was no Czech Social Democrait to help his coHeague in the Sudetenland; they were betrayed. Later the expulsion. decrees bore the signature of aH the Czech Social Democrat ministers, who had no social or human feeling. It will forever remain -a shame against the Czech Social Democrats that they let their coUe,agues from the German Social Democratic Party be so persecuted, robbed, expelled, and even JnUrdered. They ail.so had a similar attitude towards the Slovaks in their domestic .p olky and always helped Prague centralism and imperia•1ism. Furtherimore, they helped to destroy the Slov:ak Democratic Party ,b y dema.ndiing in the fall of 1947 the .p osition of one commissioner. Thiis commissioner, working hand-in-hand with bloody Ferjencik, then commissioner of police but now in the United States, iru::reased the public terror and forced the courts to serve the police. The Social Democrats in the government of Slovakia held to ,t he agreement from June 25, 1945, until they had performed their jobs in 1945 and then were kioked out when no longer needed by the Communists. Looking over the record of the Czech SociaJl Democratic Party, their willing coUaiboration with Communists and their fierce figiht against every anti-Communist, one cannot understand their presel!t a;lilbi thait they acted only under Russian pressure. One incident epitomizes this contradiction. On the sixtieth anniversary of Karl Marx's death, Mareh 14, 1943, they were living in London. On that day the Czech �96 SLOVAKIA Socia:l Democrats and the Communislts made a piJ.grimage to Mairx's torn!b in an English ·c emetery. At this tomlb, in free England, the present representative of the "Council of Free Ozechosl'Ovakia" in Washington, then Benes's mmiister and member oif his State Council, Vaclav Miajer, delivered a speech in the name of t!he Social Democraits in which he said: "WE BELIEVE WITH MARX THAT SOCIALISM 1,s THE WAY TOWARD INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, TOWARD EVERLASTING PEACE, AND THE WELFARE OF NATIONS . TO•DAY HERE WE ARE, A SMALL GROUP OF SOCIALIST EMIGRANTS FROM CZECHO-SLOVAKIA . BUT THE TIME WILL COME WHEN MARX'S TO,MB WILL BE THE SHRINE OF MANKIND LIBERATED FROM THE BLIND IMPRISONMENT O,F DEAD SOCIAL DOCTRINES." 1M inister -Majer's speech was published on March 19, 1'943, in Benes's officiail newspaper in London, the "Czechoslovak," whikh was financed by Jan Masaryk and Hulbert Ri,pka. In conclusion, I say that the basis of the Communist victory in Czecho-iSiovrukia was 1Jhe agreement of June 25, 1945, which was cauied out with the help of the current members of the "Council of Free Czechoslov;rukia." Their present pose as anti-Communists is undemtandable, of course, because by continumg to deceive Americans is now their only means of survival. • • • WHO SAID IT? "Himself a Slovak, though from Moravia, he had to provide a future for the two million Slovaks, who were even less a!ble to stand alone than the Ozechs. Masaryk revived the radical idea of 1848 and proposed to create a single 'Czechoslovak' nation by will-power. Masaryk knew little of the Slovaks; others !knew even less. This was hi's strength in dealing wi,tll the allied leaders; it could not solve the Slovak prdblem. The few conscious Slovak politicians aspired only to cll!ltural autonomy within Hungary; living in the shadow of Magyar arrogance, they could not imagine the dis8ippearance of the Hungarian frontier." - (A. J. P. Taylor, 'NIE HABSBURG MONARCHY, London, 1948; p . 240). � SLOVAK.IA 72 The Czecho-Slovak Exile CZECH SOCIAL DEMOCRATS AND RED ESPIONAGE Dr. Mi chael Zibrin July of l91J5 found the "Council of Free Ozechoslovaki:a" just as July of J.ast year left it; without eleded of~ fi.cials, without elected representatives. This is because the CoUIIld, during the 20-month period of its re-organi-. zation, could not reach !any agreement and is operating on a rotation system, i.e., eacth month ,a reipresentati:ve of a diifferent political iparty se:rves as its executive head. This proves what we had said b,e fore: the Council is a coillglomerate of people of quite different bmnds and that Lettrich' s exdamation two years ago - "Gentlemen, I think only dollars keep us here together" - was and is still true. The present chaos in the Council is caused partly by the fact that political partie.s are coming to prevail more than personalities, and the Councril -resembJ.es more and more an enlarged National Front. The purpose of .t his article is to revie;w the past policies and deeds of that part.yin the CoU!Ilcil which did most to communize the o~ooho-1Slov•8Jk Republic and prepare an easy Communist take-over in 1948. ,Such a review is necessitated by the shocking pulblic deception that hias gained influentiral positions for the exile members of th±s ,p arty. Reformed Communists and coUaiboratom can perform valuable functions, but in men who deny their Olbvfous politic,al actions there can be no question of reform. The most flagrant a,id to Communism was given by the Czecho-iSlovak Social ·D emocratic party. In exile today, the leaders of this panty are men who, by their open colfa,boration wit:h Stalin, p~ayed the most important ,part in the bolsheviz;ation o,f Czecho-Slova>k,i1a. These men have always Etood very close to the Communists, even during small political skirmishes like those occasion.any now among Zenkl, Ripka, and Peroutka. Particularly after the Stalin-Benes pact of 1943, they were the most efficient signers and executors of Benes':s bloody decrees, not reaHzing that, once they had finished their jdbs for the Communists, the fate �Sl.JOVAKIA 73 they had prepared for others wo'Ulld become their own. History shows that aliready in 1928 the Soc,i al Demo. cr:ats formulated their program thus: "Today as also in the past we are decided to protect the Soviet Union against any inimical action of the capitalistic governments and against any counter-revolutionary attack." Nine years earlier this belief had been realized in action. When Polish General Pilsudski was fighting a bloody (battle with the Communist ar-my near Wairsaw in 1920, the socialistic ma-· jority in Prague forbade the transportation of military material t.lirnugh ,Ozocho-1Slo,v0Jkia, despite the fact that lhis material was sent by France and a French military mi,s sion was at that time already in Prague. A yea,r earlier, when General Stefanik telegraiphed a wairning to Prague against Bolshevism as the greatest plague o!I' mankind a:nd asked for uruty in tihe f.ight to destroy it, it was this same Social Democratic Party whiclh - wit:h Masarylk's consent - stopped Stefamk's program. Masaryk's consent is less surprising when one remembers that he was actually among the first to hail the Octo!ber Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, which now in Prague !is considered fundamental to the ere. ation of Ozecho-,Slovaki:a. Thus one couid go on ,w ithout end and show that the Social Democratic party was an effective avant garde of Communism in Central Europe, not only in Czecho-!Slovakia. Certainly one of the most important persons in the Czecho-!Slovak .Social Democratic party was V ojta Benes, the oldest brother of the !:ate president. Gottwald officially, on the Cabinet's decision (and Moscow's aippro,vail) , sent him into West Germany in 1949, where he keipt in. regular contact with Prague and acted more oir less ,a,s Gottwald's unofficial ambassador. He did not conce·a l this fact, and t he members of the "Council of Free Czechoslova!ld:a" knew it. Therefore, many times, VojJa Benes took a different position from the official Council and o;piposed some steps undertaken by non.JSocialists in the Council. Benes's brother passed away, ,but equally important representatives remain, particularly: Vacl:av Majer, B. Vilem, the former Sec:retary-General of the Party, and the ill-ifamed Bohumiil Lausman. Ailso, the Social Democratic 1 �74 SLOVAKIA party has its two generalls, Sergei Ingr, and Hasal Niz!borJ sky, and, jn Canada, the former minister Frantisek Nemec, who together with Hasal affected the cession of Ruthenia to .Stalin. To this party belongs also a Communist famous in Europe, Milos Vanek, and some questionaJble individuals in Radio F,ree Europe in MUTI!ich. These are all Czechs. Milos Vanek, who is reported to hruve 1b een a charter mem1ber of the "Czeohoslovak Communist Party," remained an ardent adherent of Czechoslovak-Soviet friendship even after he 1had left that .p arty to ~me a left.;win.g Social Democrat. I personaHy know Mr. Vanek and I must confirm that Vanek was one of the founders of the Communist Party in Europe. This is described in the book of Lu. cien Laurat ",Du Komiintern au Kominfo·r m" (!Paris, France Des 1'sles, 1'951), in which on page 10 we read: "The manifest issued by the second Congress of the Kominform, July, 1920, carries a great number of sigrra:tures - Lenin, Zinoviev, Boukarine, Trotski, for iRussia; Vane'k, Hlula, Zapotocky (the president of Ozecho-;Slovakia today), etc." T,his signer and founder of the Communist Party is today the Chief of the Economics Deparbment of Radio Free Europe and a member of the "Colllilcil of Free Ozechoslovalcia" in New York, ·b oth financed by the Free Europe Committee! On the Slovak side there are: Dr. Ziak, well-known Czecho-'SlovaJk; Dr. Joseph Mrazek, the only •Slov;ak s~gner of the oath of fidelity to Communism in 1948, and posing as a Slovak, a certain Belak, whose real name is Berger. A,bout these people, Kurt Glaser, American writer wrote : "The principa.J Czechs and Slovaks associated with the Free Europe Committee and those employed by Radio Free Europe are not - as is commonly supposed - fi•g hters ag,a inst Communism. Quite on the contrary, they fellow-travele<l. with t•he Communists rfrom at least 1939 to 1948, helpe<l. t'hem to power, and even today follow a Communist-sponsored propaganda line. "These indivjduals belong to an or.ganlzation which has systematically be-trayed members of the democratic underground in CzechoSlovalda by tipping them off to Dictator Gottwald's secret police. "A number of Radio Free Europe staff members are either Communist a.gents or have criminal records. '1Radio Free Europe's Czecho-Slovak program is helping Stalin �SLOVAKIA 75 by s,a,botaging internation-a l understand ing and promoting rivalry and hatred between European peoples. ' "Mr. Peroutka is backed up by two experts in dialectdcal materialis m, Dr. Zak and Dr. (Berger) Belak. Dr. Zak is the editor of •a n intellectual magazine called 'Tribuna' w-hich is forbidden in France and a no-llher called 'Reality' (Sk,utecnost) which is fofibidden in Switzerland. Unfortunately, I have not been able to peruse these journals as I do not read c zech, but I am told that their basic thesis is the need for the party m asses to submit to leadership by the elite cadre. Belak was formerly a Communist Party functionary in Slovalda under the n ame of Berger. He puts out a Germ an-language sheet called 'Militant Democracy' which few Germans read because it takes S<talin's anti-Ger,man line." I. who know this gentleman (Belak-Berger) persona1'ly, must confirm that Mr. Glaser's opinion is 100 percent right! The former membe.r of the Social Democratic party in 1Slov akia, Pavel Viboch, need not be dealt with as a party memlber , and the other three Slovaks mentioned are al,so not significant. Never receiving any mandate from the Slovruk nation, they represent colonialism in Central Europe at a time when oolonialism is. dying even in Africa. The best proof is the elections in 1946, when the Social Demo~ crats in Slovakia could not elect even one representaitive without Ozech help. It was an old Prague trick to transfeT unneeded votes from one district to another. As a rule, the Social Democratic ipanty has been a Czech origani·z ation only. To return to the history of this _p arty, however, one can say that its activities during the second World War are very revooling. The majority of the party ,p oliticians fled wiith Benes, or shoritly after, and served in his "c!libi. net.,in-exile." An e~ception was Ambassador Fierlinger, who remained in Moscow serving the Communists instead of Benes, according to Ripka and Benes himself. When it came to .the wol"st, Benes's "govennment-in-exile" reoolled him to London. Having the support of Moscow, however, Fierlinger refused to return, and Benes, in order .to keep his presidency, ha:d :to. ,g o to Moscow and take ordern from his personal enemy. These statements are proved by the cablegrams exchanged by the "government-in--exile" and Fierlinger, which were published in Fierlinger's hodk. In addition to Moscow's rs upport, Fierlinger also had help within the "government-in-exile." This was the left wing of 1 �76 SLOVAKIA the Social Democrats, wirth Lausman and Bechyne as leaders in London. This group, moreover, closely cooperated with other admirers of the Soviet Union in the Czech National Sodalist party, Rip_ka, Firt, and others. This party supporte'd several pro-Communistic organizations, where Rip'ka rused to be president and Josef Ko!'bel and Tig.rid Schonfeld were in leading ,positions, .pleadin,g for help for Stalin. In 1942 and 1943, Vlase:k and Majer organized the Commu:niisrt demonstrations that heiLpe<l to· force the second front against Churchill's will. We recall that Benes traveled to Moscow in 1943 against the wishes of Eden, Churchill, and other statesmen. There he approved the seill-out o<f Ruthenia and cleared the roa:d to Ozecho-SloV'akia for the Soviet Union. This he did without any regard for the will of the peoples of SlovaJki!a, Bohemia, Moravia and Ruthenia. Nay, even without the full consent of the "Provisional Czechosloviruk Government" in London. The peoples of Slovakia, Bohemia, Moravia, and ,Ruthenia certainly had nothing to do with it. 1 I recaH the speeches of Octdber and November, 1943, in the chambers of the "Czechoslovak State Council" in London. They were made not only by the admirers of the Kremlin, but also by the so-called civil politicians who were blinded by Moscow. Among them were Lausman and Majer, Dr. Uhlir and Paul Macha.eek; all strongly approved the journey to Moscow and insisrted on going along with Communist Valo's proposition even if it meant the loss of asylum in England and the good wiU of the allies. Benes simply had to go to Moscow, they said, because the "higher interests of our nations" demanded it. When Benes returned from his trip to Moscow, he brought the request to Mikolajczyk and the Poles that they renounce a la!lge part of Poland to the Soviets. If any one should quesrtion ,t he truth of my statements, I am ready and willing at all times to produce the repo~ts of the "Czechoslovak Srtate Council,." the speeches Lausman and Uhlir, and even Benes's speech in its entirety after he returned fa-om Moscow. They tel11 us clearly why the Communist "putsch" of Februa:ry 1948 took place so �SLOVAKIA 77 smoothly. Repetition o.f these facts is important for understandmg the effective collaboration of the Social Democrats with the Communists after the ,second war. Showing their allegiance to the principle from 1928, "Never against the Soviet Union," tihe Social Demoorats without an exception pressed for the Benes-Stalin agree~ ment in 1943. Therefore, in the first post-war government, formed in Kosice in 1945, and the most communistic of all governments returning ho.me, they dominated. There was no Slovak representative - evidence that Social Democracy had praictically no influence in Slovakia. Besides Prime Minister Zdenek Fierlinger, there was Frantisek Nemec and the liaison officer between the Red Armv and Benes, General Niziborsky (known now as General Hasal), who is at present, I believe, a consultant in the Pentagon Other ministers in that government were the infamous spy, Bohumil Lausman, and a present leader in the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," Vaclav Majer. We know, that all except Fierlinger came unharimed into exile after February, 1948. Lausman, of course, after having accomplished his espionage in Radio Free Europe, returned to Pra:gue. Clearly Lausman has the lowest character among the contemporary •politicians, but he was a most trusted comrade of ,t he present so-called "anti-Communist" politicians in the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia." They all were united in their pro-Communist activities, and their claim now to belong to this or that wing is no.t at all convincing. In 1946 the •s ame Vaclav Majer praised the top Communist in Czecho-Slovakia lavishly: "Gottwald's name will be forever connected not only with our fight for national liberation, but also with the struggle for social liberation as well as for new forms of life and work. . . . Gottwald, not only by his determination, but also by his understanding for the opinions of others, showed his great qualities as politician and man." Sudh were then the expressions of Vaola.JV Majer, an "anti-Communist" fighter of today. But Ma:jer is not alone in this. After working together for the Communists at home, the Social Democrats came to the United States and suddenly discovered that they, too, have fought Communism. Their present fabrica- �78 SLOVAKIA tions rubout their post-war aotivity, which the following facts disprove, are a deep offense to the witnesses of their activities back home. The first document signed by the ministers and the members of the Executive Committee of the Social Demo~ cratic Party iby which a smooth Communi!zation of thei,r homeland was assured, was their agreement of June 25, 1945, at once after returning to Praigue, to form the "National Front of the Working People." This agreement shows the serviI.fty of the wholle Social Democralti1c Party, not only of the leaders, because it was discussed and una~ nimously approved by aJll the ;party before being signed by the Executive Commiittee. This means tha,t all politicians of the $ociaJ Democratic Party, now posing as anti-Communists in exile, agreed to the bolshevi zation of CzechoSlovakta. Zenkl aind his National Socialists C'an at least attempt to excuse themsel,v es that they did not want to accept this ag,r eement lbut were forced to by the Social Democrats. But it is not a question of who forced wlhom; they all signed and pulblished this agreement and, what is woTse, they put it into effect. The most important parts of this agreement are the following: 1. While maintaining a politica:l and organizational independence, the three parties wil.l closely cooperate and follow a common policy in all matters of .p u!blio life. 2 . . The political iba;si,s o.f the National Front orf Working People is the government program, unanimously a:g-re.ed upon in conference in MoS<:ow and unanimously accepted by the government in Kosice on April 5, 1945. Through this agreemenit, also a Central Coordinating Committee is being created with an equal numlber of representatives from all participating iparties, and also a United Alliance of Trade Organizations, based on voluntary membership, wJll be formed. F'urther wili be formed a Non-.Political Alliance of Czech Farmers and a United Organization of Czech Youth; both of these organizations shaH be supported ,by all parties. This publicly dedared aigreement was signed for the Social Democrats by Zdenek Fierlinger; for the Commun1 �SLOVAKIA 79 ists by Klement Gottwald, and for the National Socialist Party by Peter Zenkl. It is both very int.eresting and quit,e significant that not a single Slovak att.ended that meeting and that among those who· called it were Dr. Peter Zenkl, Dr. Hubert Ripka, and other leaders of Dr. Benes's old Czech National Socilalist Party - the very same people who today are telling the American public and the world that they always hated the Reds and that the Reds "ousted" them from Government. But the truth is something else a;gatin. The fact is that both Zenlcl and Ripika welcomed the Communists, sought their favor, and wanted to win politicrul prestige with the help of the Reds at the exipense of the other political parties. Of course, today we know that they failed. The same thing happened to them ,that had happened and 1s still happening to an tho.se who try to, collruborate with the Communists: The Communists exploit them for what they are worth and then swallo;w them up or get rid of them. The "National Front of the' Working People" created a "Central Coordinating Committee," in which e'very affiliated party had an equal number of representatives. This committee had the task of coordinating the work of the socialist parties. The sooiwlfst bloc prepared the ground for the various activities which led to the suppression of political and religious fireedom - the first st~s taken toward a socialist dictatorship. The Czech Socialists and Communists agreed that the Agrarian Party would be suppressed, the Catholic IDaigle organization outiawed, and that Catholic youth, as such, would not be allowed to orgamize. Together t@y wo,r ked out a plan whereby the non-Communist peasant votes would be done away with and, at the same time, how these votes, together with the Communist-contro lled ..peasant unions, , would he brought into the Communist P,a,rty. They also created and later legalized the Communist trade organizations, then the non-political Fedeiration of Farmers and the United Youth Or,g,anization - all of which were SU!ppo.s ed to be fornned by the joint participation of all parties, but �80 SLOVAKlA actually served onlly to communize Ozecho-iSlovakia from the instant they began to function. Therefore, it is not true that Zenlkl, Rtpka, Vilem, Majer, and other Czech Sooial DemocraJts opposed Com~ munist hegemony from the beginning, but the truth is that from the moment they accepted the so--called "Kosice Agreement ," they were aJlways subordinat ed to and in the train of .t he Communis t Party and willingly continued tha,t way not only on Russian soil, or in Russian-·occuipied Kosice, but a1so in "Jiberated" Pr'cllgue. The "Joint Declaration " to the nation on June 28, 194'5, is indisputalble proof of the fact that they wanted to get into governmen t with the help of the Oommunist s, even at the roopense of democracy, Christ'ianit y, and freedom. This is the sound lesson for all who would col'la!borate with Oommunist s. All such ,p eople are digging their own graves, because Communism recogn.i'zes no agreements , concessions, or compromis es, and swallows wp all who collaborate with it. A Czech Catholic editor, A. J. Jandacek, commented on major effects of this agreement in this manner: "The aims of the socialist bloc were many: "1. First of all not to allow workers to organiz.e in Catholic trade unions, and so far as they are alread,y organized in them, through a mass effort .to storm them into the socialist bloc by maintaining that Oatholic organizations wm anyhow be in the mi· nority an d that, therefore, it is better to go together. "2. Not to ,a llow an independent unification of Catholic farmers. The party of farm people wi ll not be allowed to exist at all, and as far as the Catholics have their Catholic farmers organized, the Communists will divide them among themselves. "3. A United Organization of Czech Youth will be formed and, thus, the Cat·holic you1Jh wJll not have an opportunity to organize on a Oatholic platform, eitilier politiooJly or religiously. Simply, ,a ll youth will be forced to go into the state-formed and socialist-led organization. Thus, organizing an "Alliance of Catholi c Youtll" or ,a "Czechoslovak Orel" will be .impossible. A daily and weekJ.y have already been published for this so-called united youth organization and are led by the Commundsts. "In view of these three aims, it is possible to call the establishing and maintaining of t!he socialist bloc an intention-al act against political and religious freedom and the establishmen t of a socialist dictatorship." Although I am not a Catholic and never was a member �SLOVAKIA 81 of any clerical party, I am ready to sign this analysis by the editor Jandaceik. Whereais, Ze:rukl and his party, in December, 11947, begain not to abide by the 1946 agreement, the Social Democrats kept it even after the Oommunist "putsch" in Februa:ry, 1948. Professor Macek, for instance, accepted lead~ ing positions in o,rganizations which bolsheviized the University, and as president of the Aotion Committee of the University he expelled those students who had participated in demO'Il!Strations against the Communists in February. Furthermore, for a long time he helped the Constitutional Oommittee of Ozecho-Slovakia:n P.arliam.ent and its chairman, Dr. Procha:zka, a leading Communist. As a matte~ of fact, the whole section on Economics in the Communist constitution is his work. Both as an expert and as a member of the :Sociail Demo:cra,tic Party, he supported the Communist bi1ls; a;ctua:1ly, rhe was the right hrui.d of Dr. Procha:zka, the most Communist jurist in Czecho-Slovakia and chairman of the Constitutional Committee. To us it is not surprising that Macek led in the persecution of democratic students after the Communist putsch, since he had earlier been well known as a fervent exponent of Marx at the tUrnversity of Brno, where he was professor of National Eoonomics. The surprise is that he is now a university professor in the United States. Professor Maicek, during the yearn 1929...1939, was a member of Parliament for the Social Democratic Party. Simultaneously, he edited a left-orientated monthly called "Our Times" which was sponso,r ed by Presidents Masaryk and Benes. He published numerous books, a base of which was, repeatedly, the teachings of Marx. In these books Professor Maicek defended the theories orf Marx very emphatica!lly and wanted to introduce them into our social and economic life, evein as early as 1930-1938. He wanted to sociailize everything. His aim was identical to that of the Communi,s ts. They wanted to put it into practice after 194'5. Origtlnafly, Professor Macek migrated to Canada and lived on the fann of a certain Mr. Karel Buzek,. where he wrote artides for the Ozech newspapers in Canada. In his articles he rejeoted and condemned the very same ideas he �82 SLOVAKIA was not so long ago an apostle of and a very able and thorough propagator. From Canada he came to the United States and at the present time he is active as a professor at some university m Pennsylvania. iB. Vilem, as Genera'} Secretary of the Ozech Social Democratic Party, was more a personal "whip" for Fierliniger than a "whip" for the ,party. While I was a member of the Agricultural Committee, we succeeded sometimes in winning over .t he chairman of the committee, who was a Social Democrat, against the Communist proposa!ls. Vilem, however, before the voting day, and often at midnight, cal'led the members of 'his party and dictated: "Fierlinger lets you know that the party cannot stand for your proposals; you have to vote with the Communist Party." One of these Social Democrats that was forced by Vi1em to vote with the Communists is in exile ; several committee memlbers from the other parties who lost ,w ith me because of Vil.em's actions are now in the "Council of Free Ozechosloviaikia," but they wil'l never forget those defeats (Sliva, Torn, and other.s). Wathout this servility to the Communists, Gottwald would never have gained the majority he had. The saddest chapter of the Social Democrati'C Party, however, was written by its memiber who was the Minister of Industry, Bohumil Dausman. He served the at!reernent of June 25, 1945, so faithfully that he went out to disintegrate even the exile and worked for three years as a spy, after being employed by Radio Free Europe with the help of the Social Democrats and other memlbers of the "Council of Free Czechoslo;vakia," particularly Ripka and his group. The case of Lausman's treason was not yet completely closed when new espionage process was started against further exiponent of Prague government and close collaborator of Dr. Hubert Riipka. Hardly had a French .court sentenced Kubala on a charge of espionage for Communist OzechoSlovakia before the Prague radio reacted in this case and the spea,keir, himself a collaJborator of Mr. Ferdinand Peroutka and a former employee of Radio Free EuTope, used the most despiooble language against the West. Slovak newspapers unanimousily reported - unfOTtunaitely without desirable �SLOVAKIA 83 results on the aictions orf Radio F.ree Europe - that Lausman would be followed by the others. The newspapers asked for effect1ve preventive measures in Radio Free Europe rugainst subversive elements but nothing was done. Many very dubious elements are sitting in Radio F,r ee Europe and are paid by the Amerilcan citizens. In the warning concerning espionage, we have not only staJted several times that there are Marxists ood Oommunists in "Czechoslovak" organizations, but we also said openly that they were, and silll are espionage agents of the Prague government. The Prague broadcasts have confirmed our allegation. On the same ibroadlca;st where, some time a;go, Laus-· man broadcast in Prague, now spoke Bruno Folta, who was working as an employee of Radio Free Europe under the protection of Dr. M. Mu.dry and Dr. Kvetko. He minutely copied the style of Lausrnan, H~ confessed that originally he betrayed the Communist government in Prague and filed to the West, requesting political asylum. Here in the West, in Radio Free Europe Folta came to the conclusion that the western world was rotten and readily seized the chance to return home and accept what was offered to him in the inteliligence service conducted by the Czech General Moravec. He repented like Lausman and, hruving the desire to make some reparations, he put himself at the disposal of the "people's Democracy" against the West. He went on to threaten that he would use all the knowledge which he ooquired as an employee of Radio Free Europe. Our reports from Munich and behind the Iron Ourtain explain the Folta case as foHo:ws: Like Lausman, he was sent by the Prague government for espionage purposes and to esta:blish the contacts. When he succeeded and gathered enough material and collaborators, especially in Munich and Paris, he simply ,r eturned to Prague as a highly appreciruted a;gent, in order to accUJSe the anti-Communist citizens at home. of whose attitude he learned while abroad. What is Folita telling the peoples of Czecho~Slova;kia? The Vienna newspapers published long articles explaining how Foll.ta, this confident servant of Mr. Peroutka and Dr. Mudry, was blaming Radio Free Europe and the Western World and praising everything he found after his return to �84 SLOVAK.IA Brague: •~Prague has everything good and new, all the new technical inventions, and everything in plenty. Meantime, in the Weslt, o:nlly the capitalist dwpes have all the goods in their possession and the common people are starving." Thrut is the picture cxf the West presented by Folt'a, who coJ:lected American doJlars from RJFE. When will Washington be conV'inced? The case of Folta is certainly a cha,pter of shameful history, but we feair that even this fact will not be strong enough to convince the F1ree Europe Committee or the Department of State in W8!Shi:nigton. We repeat that such exile orga.n±zations, which are SUipported at the ex;pense of genuine demo-cratic and anti-Communist organizations, wre nuisances and wreckers of all the actiOIIlS of the Western. WorJd in the cold war. In the "Ozechoslovak" orgarazations there have been, since the start, members who were sent West by the Prague go,v ernment only for tlhe purpose of serving the Communists. On the roster of "Czechoslovak" organizations in exile you wilil find many persons who were elected to office on the Oommunist baHot, ,p oliticians who mostly helped the Communists not only to gain control of CzechoSlova!kia, but also the whole Danube valley. The same persons, who with Benes in 1939, in London, were in touch with SDalin's ambrussa.dor, agreed on the invasion of U.iS.IS.IR. south of the Carpathian Mountains. To the Americans in Washington and the Einglishmen in London, they disiplayed an rug·r eement concerning the integrity of the Czecho-Slavaik State while knowing the deficiencies of this treaty. They .co!~JIBitted the same crime as did Lausman and Bruno, Folta. These people simply betrayed the Allies. But beyond that are their protectors, the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia" and its leading representatives Zenkl, Lettrich, IPerou'bka, Mudry and others - iess guilty of betrayal? They 1let Lausma.n into R1adio :ffiree Europe and allowed him to• broadcast for American money. On the payroll they kept Folta, R1.12icka, and others as well; and they still do that and help to betray America. There is no excuse for them, or is there? Parrticipants in a crime are as punishable as the crim1 �SLOVAKIA 86 inal. J>a:rtici:pan.ts in this betriayal can not excuse themselves on the grounds that they did not know anything about suoh action. Several times suspicious caJSes were brought to their notice but they did not pay any ,a ttention to these warnings. What should we say to this criminal negligence on the .part of responsible pemonaHties :in Radio Free Europe Oir in the "Council of ~ree OzechoslovaJda ?" There they are unanimous: Zenkl, Cerny, Osuis'ky -- all plead for the innocence of Peroutka. The continuous scandaJls should waike up the security officials of the Western Powers. Until now only the Germans in Munich asked fo-r a c1erun-1.l'p of Marxists and other elements hostile to democracy in the whole territory of the German Federal Republfo. They aimed at "Czechoslovak" organizations which aire infiltrated with highly suspicious elements. Let us apply our knowledge whi'1e there is still time. Many think that only in Germany are such cases possible. but that is not true. The same oases, even more paradoxi~ cal, we find in Washington where the Czech officers are working. They distinguished themselves in the sell~,ut of Carpathian Ruthenia to the Soviets, or kept in the service of American Intelligence the sister-in-ilaw of a welL known Communist in the old country. Why should we be shocked that in rPairis the Communists received confiden• tial materia'l? Even in Washington security mea5UJres are neglected. We know the persons at wol'k in W81Shington and we will not be surpri,s ed if the Lausman affair breaks out a,gain despite our warning. Those who wHl be suT1prised will be Americans. Let us take lessons from Parts. Since Lausman's return to Prague, the whole CzechoSlovak exile, in its confusion, has been producing deceptions and charges of for.gery. When Mr. Osusky of the "Council of F'lree Ozechoslovakia" does not succeed in his enterprises, .o r the situation changes after his proclamations hawe been pulblished, he simply proclaims them unauthentic or falsified, o:r he simply a&:!rilbes them to Lausman. 'Sometimes the matter is trivial, as it was in the proclamation concerning the is udeten G€Tmans which was allegedly signed by Osusky. There he stressed the necessity �86 SLOVAKIA that the Czechs and the Sudeten Germans are reconciled and charged that Ripka and Zenk! were unsuitalble because of their collaJboration with the Communists. The subj~ct was given great publicity by Josten (a former official of the Foreign Ministry and now editor of "Czechoslovak" in LondO'Il) and his Marxist cell in London, w:hiich always tries to please Prague. In this matter, Osusky probably figured that a dea!l with the ,Sudeten GeI'IDans could per., haps be of he1p to him if he should have trouble in the Council with Ripka and Zenk!. But here chance helped him. R:iipka had difficulties in the United States because of his colla;boration with the Communists and therefore planned to return to his socialist friends in Europe. For this reason he, as weU as Zenkl, did not fight for leading positions .i n the Counchl - a fact that allowed the November reconciliation of the Council. Osusky does not need the Sudeten Germany any longer, whereas for Zenk! and Ripka the Sudeten German question will be a ,problem. So Osusky denied his Sudeten German proclamation and charged tha;t its publfoation in the "Czechoslovak" was a fOTgery . Simila.rly, "Nase Cesta," a Marxist paper printed in the Czech language ,in Vienna, published a who[e issue of articles written by several memibers of the "Council of Free Czechoslovak ia.'' Arfter Osusik y and Zen kl were reconciled and the articles did not fit into the changed opinion of the Council, the editor procilaimed the whole earlier issue a for,g ery. Thus, suddenly we are told that the ,articles were not writt® by the members oif the Council, and that the who'le issue was forged with the purpose of s,plitting the "Czechoslova k" exile. Lt is interesting to see whose names first a;ppea.r as authors o,f the disputed rurticles: Dr. Taiborsky, Benes's secretary; Jan Zak, Slovak socialist and confidant of MaTxists and "Ozechosloivaks" ; Jozef Dieska, member of the Council, etc. I can only dismiss the editor's charge that the whole issue originated with Lau:sman as ridiculous and highly impossible. In the newspruper "Novy Domov," published in Canada, another member of the Council, Fras'tacky, attacked Colonel M~ksohe, who does not go along with the "Ozeichoslova!ks" �f?LOV,AKIA 87 in the Council. (Oolon~l Miksche, a Czecho-Slovak military attache in Pa.r-is, resigned in December, 1947, in protest to the policy of the present members of the Council then in Praigue.) When Colonel Miiksche threatened to sue him, Frastaoky quiokly denied writing the article and declared it a forgery. Certainiy this comedy cannot be cailled anything but ridiculous; fortunately, it did not harm Colonel Miksche. It is regrettruble, however, that the exile "Czechoslovak" press sees in these and other incidents the intervention of Genera:! Molotka of P,r ague, whose assignment, with Lausman, is to influence and distunb the exik It does not at all seem to me that these .incidents, are of Lausman's making, for he would think of different methods among the members of the Ooll!Ilcil. In the Council he feels at home, after spending three years in its midst and working with Council members in Radio Free Europe. There he does not need any mediators and can at any time directly interfere. Using Lausman's name, however, provides Osusky and others wJth a handy scapegoat for the.i~ own failures and a!bandoned projects. SimHarly, the "CzechosloV'ak" exile press is not unanimous and constant in its aocount of the Council's November compromise and in its list of representatives. Sometimes it leaves out Dr. Cerny',s name, and other times it puts it in, depending on whom it serves . .Professor Hlavaty is referred to as a neutraJl sometimes, and at other times as ·a former socialist representative in the temporary National Assembly in Prrugue. Moreover, the "Czechoslovak" exile even today is hel:ping and promoting the accessories of spies as did some other memlbers of the Courrcil while they were ambassadors in the United States and elsewhere. This is the way the "Czechoslovak" organizations operate while the socialist parties in the West do not realize their dange,r . So, for ex-· ample Zdenka Schonova, in :Eingland one of the leading Czech Social Democrats, is supported today by the "Czech Trust Fund," even though her collaboration with the convicted spy, Peter Arton, was proved. It is evident that the persons from the Council do not distinguish between a 1 �88 SLOVAKIA Czech patriot and a Czech spy. For them everyone is first of aH Czech, from Benes down to Lausman, and in this belief they .not only help the spies and pay them, but also pay for their protection and defense It is also well known that Colonel Koenig, who is a leader orf the reporting division of the "Council of Free Ozechos!ovaktla" and also working for the West, still employs the same Hungarian Communis t as his secret,a ry, his sister-in-ilaw, Klara Fedak. Fedfuk is in New York without letting the U. S. authorities know that she is a Oommunist. Her former "1b oy friend" is now chief of the espionage office in Bratislava; yet the persons from the "Co,u ncii of Free Ozechoslov aikia" do not find it difficult to affirm to the West the ,reliaJbiliity of these Communist s. Koonig's group is also responsible for the murder of a Slovak un., dergrmLnd leader and patriot, Pavol Harusiak, and others from Bratislava, whose bordeT-cro ssing they betrayed to the Communis t police. Ifurusiak was my friend, an'd I kn.ow that a member of Koenig's group, iDr. Patek, gained access to him only through representin g himself as from me. When the "Czechosio. vak" exile has such help and affiliations, how lO'Ilg must O'Ile state that this "Czechoslo vak" group is not reliable? It is seen to be a very dangerous group when we realize that it hrus, accomplice s in the un. derground who were given money and introd1..1JCtions by Zenkl and Ripka, as the spy Bohumil Cerny and his accompJices were. This situation is also true orf the "C'zechoslova!k" section of R:adio Flree Europe in Munich, where there is always someone who helps such men as La.usma,,n and Folta, or other ex-Commu nists and .future re-immigrants to Red Prague. Bures, who brought Folta to Radio Free Europe, was dismissed, but his friends - Kvetko, Mudry, and Peroutka - are still in leading positions. If Radio Free Europe and the Voice of Ame11ica would try to lbrea:k the reputation. oif this "Czechoslo vak"' army with truth and with real anti-Comm unist speakers who ha,ve a good reputation and an anti...Communist record at home, it could be done. Not, however, with the present group. What is broadcast and written now - for American money - helps the Oommunis ts more than it harms them. �SLOVAKIA 89 These org,a nizations which are supposed to wage psy. chological warfaire against Communism behind the !iron Curtain do just the opposite - as far as Czecho-Slovakia is concerned. Too often they he:lp spies and broadcast material which does not harm the Communists, but rather amuses them. Sending pigeons and balloons across the Iron Curtain maikes people there laugh or curse, because the police always get some of those who pick up the leaf~ lets. When aJlmost every month someone returns to Pra•g ue and te1'ls of the low moral tone, the scandals, and suicides in the "Czechoslovak" section of Radio Tuee Europe in Munich, the Communists give this excellent publicity. No wonder that Radio· Free Europe does not have any respect there! IDven when Radio Free Euroipe, or the Voice of America, gains some SlovaJk renegade, these organizations are not made 1:.iherelby eiffecti:ve, nor are their names re~ stored at home behind the Iron Curtain. People theTe ceased to believe them loog ago, and after the Lausman and Folta affairs they only curse them. Folta, Ru!zicka, and Bures worked in Radio Free Europe; they were the proteges of those Siova.k employees in Radio Free Europe - Dr. Mu.dry and Dr. Kvetko - who are supposed to represent the r eal Slovak anti-Communist cause. And yet nothing happened to Mu.dry or Kvetko, much less to Peroutka, because they brought Bures and Ruzicka and Folta to RF'E, nor because they paid their comrade Lausmrun, who is also back in Prague. The new chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on In. vesitigations, Senator McCleUan, who is a capable lawyer to whom the security of the United States is of paramount internst is, we hear, curious about many things. We hope, therefore, thlat this suibcommittee will succeed in this mat~ ter also and that the organizations in question will be cleansed of the ,present "Czecho,slovaJk" group. iLausman was so aggressive that during the second World War, after his return from Moscow to London, he succeeded in the State Council in speeding up Benes's trip to Moscow. Further, as he admits in his book, published in Vienna, he forced Benes to na,tionalize aH private industry by presidential decree before the Pro,v isional National As- �90 SLOVAKIA sembly convened in October, 194'5. He also :points out in his book that, whereas he admits his actions, the associates who agireed with hiim on aU the issues of col1aboration now are renouncing him only in order to be accept., able to Washington. In this way, Lausman has unmasked the Sodal Democrats who in exile pre.tend to fight Communism, but actually are responsi!ble for the :f act that Russian territory extends for the first time in history west of the Carpathians into the Danube basJn. In this bolshevik expansion it was two Social Democrats who represented Benes and the whoJ.e state leadership: Flrantisek Nemec and Generail Ni:ziborsky - Hasal. Both went to Moscow from London in 1944 and then fol., lowed the Red Army into Ozecho-1Slovaiki,a to take over the liberated territory :from the Red Army in accordance with the Benes-lSta:li,n treaty. They did it so successfully with the he1p of Fierlinger in Moscow that in three months they gave Stalin the eastern part of Czecho-1Slovaikia, the whole of Ruthenia. Russia ,o ffered to the Slovaks, through the Communists Dr. Husak and Novomesky, an independent ,Slovak State, provided that it would be another Soviet republic. When Husak and Novomesky made the proposal to the Slov,a ks, to Dr. Joseph Tiso, President of S'lovakia and the Slow.1Jk Government, the Slovaks, however, refused the •bolshevi~atio!Il of their country. Nemec was not given a cordial re:ception ~n Ruthenia at all. The in'haibitants everywh&e were signing petitions, sponsored by the Communist Petruscak, which started that the Ruthenians no longer existed and that there were only Sub-Carpathi an Ukrainians in Ruthenia who yearned to be embrruced by their greait mother, Ukrainia. After many long squabbles, Nemec fina:lly got a message through to Benes in London through General Pika. The telegrams that Benes sent through F1ierlinger were never seen by Nemec, ,b ecause Fierlinger already then was Stalin's envoy and never a paitTiotic cii.ti,z en of his own State. It is significant, therefore, that despite these experiences thi,s same traitor, Fierling&, was named, several months later, as the premier by Benes. Nemec was in a very trying position. When he wanted �SLOVAKIA 91 to be connected with London, he had to ask for permission to do so from the Chief of the Russi,an ISJtafif so that he could travel to Moscow, where with the heilp of the vad.io conneotion of General Biika, who was the Chief of the Mtilitary Mission, Nemec could tell Benes how matters were going and koop him informed on Fierlinger. The latter was doing right well. He still is a minister in the Prague Gov~ ernment, but Genera,1 Bika was killed by the Commund.sts. At that time the Communists had asked the Slovak non-Communists whether it would not he more profitable to support tJhe idea of a Slovak Soviet Republic so that the Slovaks could go,vern their own territory rather than adhere to the "Czecho-slova;k" ideology which denied the existence of the Slovak nation. They added that such a Slovak Soviet Reipulblk could be promoted without diff,iculty, because the Slovak State still existed. Husak and Novomesky, however, did not get anywhere with their proposal. The Slova,k non-Commumsrts turned it down, declaring that it was contrary to the Christmas Agreement of December, 1943, as well as the agreement which Ursiny concluded -w ith Dr. Benes in Octolber, 1944, when he acted iJ?- the name of thie SloViak National Council. When Husak and N01Vomesky failed to promote the idea of a Slovruk Soviet Repwblic in London, they imrmediiately contacted and ordered their followers in Slovakia to present the ,p rop·a sal to President Joseph Tiso and the Slovruk Govemment. But Tiso· and the Slovak Government would not hear rubout it. Husak and N ovomesky failed in thek mission. Several months later, with mMly Slova;ks in emigration, Clemenitis took up the tune, but he also got nowhere. Today an the leading Reds of Slavrukia are paying dearly for failing in theiT mission. Clementis paJid with his life. Ruthenia was loot. Benes's delegation had to go to Trebisov ·a nd after that things went rather smoothly. ~erliillger ma:de the propositions and Benes aocepted them. When he was returning from Moscow in March, 1945, Benes could no longer enter Ruthenia. In fact he renounced it solemnly on severai occasions. FinaMy, Benes had an agreement prepared which Fierlinger signed for the Czecho1 �92 SLOVAKIA SlovaJk Government with great solemnity in the Kremlin on June 29, 1945. No one outside the CommU'Ilists agreed with this act of Benes. No law, however, could contain or restrain Benes. He acted dictatori.ally at any time that it benefited him. On August 24, 1945, without even corum1tling the Parliament, Benes issued his presidential decree No. 4, concluding the pa:ct between the U .S.S.<R. and the C.S.R. This decree was the basis for assigning new borders to Slovakia in the East. In Octoher, 1946, everything "legalized" on the ,b asis orf foregoing decrees was published in the Col~ lection of Laws and Regulations. T.he text orf the rubove-mentioned agreement is interesting, as well as significant. It begins with the words: ". . . being certain that the provisional National Assembly of the Orecho-1Slovaik Republic shal[ concur with this ag.reement . . . " Benes did not wait. He and John Masaryk and VI-ado Clementis decided matters without Pa.rlia,ment. As good prophets, they knew tha't Parliament would certainly approve this ag,r eement ! Since Ruthenia was not a very big bite, Benes did not stop there, but became even more generous. On June 2, 1945, he issued decree No. 8, whereby a numbeir of homes in the most beautiful seo'tion of BUJbenec - in the modern section of Prague - were donated to the Russian Communist State to commemorate, he said, the greaJt s•a crifices the nations of the U .IS.S.R. had made on the altar of liberation of humanity. WeM, it is a fact that the bolshevik armies to a great extent did l,iibera-te SlwaJcia from a gre,aJt many things the Slovaks could use themselves, but it certamly was not ethical or democratic to sign over whole streets to them without evsen consulting the nation about it. Only dictators act like that. And Benes was a dictator by the grace of MoS<!ow, even id: only a temporary one. 'Besides this generous gesture, several weeks later Benes showed his aP!)Teoiation to the so-called "iLiberator" of Prague, M<rurshaJ Konev, by giving him several very •b eautiful vi1las which were oonfiscated from the 1g ood citi- �SLOVAKIA 93 zens .o f Prague. From these villas Konev has a beautiflrl view of Prague. All these decTees we re signed by General Hasal-Nizborsky, who was at that time Minister of Thansportation, and •by Vaclav iMajer, who was also a member of Benes's caJbinet. The servility to Stalin and Go'titwald, and the boundless adulation iby HasaJl..,Niziborsky a,nd Frantiseik Nemec would be best illustrated if we pu!blished the congratulatory telegrams sent by them to their idols. I mtend to publish all these facts in a book, but they hawe already !been quoted by Fierlinger and Lausman in their books. Later, many Communists who fell out of favor tried to rescue their political careers in exile with the help of membership cards in the Social Democratic Party. Those Communists, rulmost without exception, we find in Radio Free Europe - (Graf, Berger-!Belak, and Ti.grid Schonfeld), or (Josef Konbel, the with other American institutions Communist amlbas:sador from Prague to Tito in Belgrade, now a member of the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia" and a uni,versity professor ,i n the United Staltes). Regarding Tigrid Schonfeld, it is only necessary to note what has been written albout him here in the United States. As it is quite a lo't, I only quote some parts of a more serious character: "Tigrid is a former m emb er of the C2:ech Communist Party. According to tJhe newspaper Christ und Welt (Stuttgart, October 16, 1952), •his political ac tivjty began in 1932 when he published the illegal Communist paper Hal lo Noviny, w,hich specialhr.ed in subversion of morale in the Czecho slovak Army. " He was also a contri butor to the Co mmunist magazine Leva Kultura (Left Culture). Dur:ing Wo r ld W ar II he w as a member of the Communfot-domiuated Czechoslovak staff of t'he British Broadcasting Company, where one of his colleagues and iruti mate friend w.as Colonel Otto BlheJer, the Czech mi.Jitary attache whom the United States Government declared persona non grata in 1949 for es pionage activities." I hope this short excerpt will be enough to show what pro-Communist elements were picked 1by the U. S. Ad-· ministration and by the Firee Europe Commitltee for importa,nt pos,itions. These quotations will also prove tha,t SUJCh people cannot be expected to be trusted 'back a,t home by �94 SLOVAK.IA the Nation as anti-Communist fighters and thaJt the whole expensive propa,gand'a program is practicrully useless and ineffective. About the others aJbove, I must confess the same opinion as to character. The deeds of these men, however, I am intentionally separating from the actions of the leaders of the Czec'h Social Democratic Prurty. I am presenting the Communist co1la:"boration of only those Social Democ~ats who represent the party in exile and who :firom 1945 until they went in to exiile were also of some importance back home. I am leaving aside those persons who are now abusing the sympath4es of the Labor Party in London, because they wd not amount to much back home, being only opporlll!Il.ists and regularly havmg two memib ership cards, one of the Communist and the other of the Social Democratic Party. But these also oannot claim that they opposed the agreement of June 25, 1945; everyone conisenited to it and carried it out in h:is capacity. It is no wonder that :b y 1946 their policy of complete conformance with the Communists had negated the party as opposi,t ion. Simifarly now the party is destroying itself in an attempt to gain strength by accepting and proteotin.g even men who were strong Communrists, like Milos Vanek and Tigrid Schonfeld, or men who possessed membership cards of several Marxist parities, like M8!cek, Kwbel, and others. Furthermore, an affidav1t of anti-Communism signed by the Social Demoorat le·aders is ridiculous, indeed, beca use the party's claim to anti--Communism is itself destroyed by the evidence of its history. During the February, 1948 c,r isis, the Social Democratic Party tried to look neutral, but the fact ilid everything to help t'he COIIllmunists succeed. Hol!cling to the agreement of J.une, 1945, the party as a unit gave its support to the Commumsts and so broke the political equilibrium in favor of the Oorrum.1~sts. Even if it is not pos• sible to .state that without the help of the Sociail. Democrats, Gottwald would not have succeeded in the "putsch" of February, 1948, nevertheless it remains a great guilt against the Sooial Democrats that in the time when it was �SLOVAKIA 95 clear to everyone what tJhe Communists were doing, the Czech Social Democrats stood by them and did not help the opposition. This attitude of the Czech Social Democrats is not very well known and evaluated in the United States; if it were, not one of them could pose in Washington as anti-Communists. And their protector, Steinhardt, U. S. am:bassador to, •Prague in 1948, and former Secretary · of State Acheson could not have secured for them influential positions in the United States on the U. S. payroll. It is worthwhile to note that up to 19-38 the Czech Sociall. Democrats cooperated strongly with the Sudeten German Sociail. Democrats in Ozecho-Slovakia. When the German Social Democrats got into trouble with the N a:llis and were persecuted, there was no Czech Social Democrait to help his coHeague in the Sudetenland; they were betrayed. Later the expulsion. decrees bore the signature of aH the Czech Social Democrat ministers, who had no social or human feeling. It will forever remain -a shame against the Czech Social Democrats that they let their coUe,agues from the German Social Democratic Party be so persecuted, robbed, expelled, and even JnUrdered. They ail.so had a similar attitude towards the Slovaks in their domestic .p olky and always helped Prague centralism and imperia•1ism. Furtherimore, they helped to destroy the Slov:ak Democratic Party ,b y dema.ndiing in the fall of 1947 the .p osition of one commissioner. Thiis commissioner, working hand-in-hand with bloody Ferjencik, then commissioner of police but now in the United States, iru::reased the public terror and forced the courts to serve the police. The Social Democrats in the government of Slovakia held to ,t he agreement from June 25, 1945, until they had performed their jobs in 1945 and then were kioked out when no longer needed by the Communists. Looking over the record of the Czech SociaJl Democratic Party, their willing coUaiboration with Communists and their fierce figiht against every anti-Communist, one cannot understand their presel!t a;lilbi thait they acted only under Russian pressure. One incident epitomizes this contradiction. On the sixtieth anniversary of Karl Marx's death, Mareh 14, 1943, they were living in London. On that day the Czech �96 SLOVAKIA Socia:l Democrats and the Communislts made a piJ.grimage to Mairx's torn!b in an English ·c emetery. At this tomlb, in free England, the present representative of the "Council of Free Ozechosl'Ovakia" in Washington, then Benes's mmiister and member oif his State Council, Vaclav Miajer, delivered a speech in the name of t!he Social Democraits in which he said: "WE BELIEVE WITH MARX THAT SOCIALISM 1,s THE WAY TOWARD INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, TOWARD EVERLASTING PEACE, AND THE WELFARE OF NATIONS . TO•DAY HERE WE ARE, A SMALL GROUP OF SOCIALIST EMIGRANTS FROM CZECHO-SLOVAKIA . BUT THE TIME WILL COME WHEN MARX'S TO,MB WILL BE THE SHRINE OF MANKIND LIBERATED FROM THE BLIND IMPRISONMENT O,F DEAD SOCIAL DOCTRINES." 1M inister -Majer's speech was published on March 19, 1'943, in Benes's officiail newspaper in London, the "Czechoslovak," whikh was financed by Jan Masaryk and Hulbert Ri,pka. In conclusion, I say that the basis of the Communist victory in Czecho-iSiovrukia was 1Jhe agreement of June 25, 1945, which was cauied out with the help of the current members of the "Council of Free Czechoslov;rukia." Their present pose as anti-Communists is undemtandable, of course, because by continumg to deceive Americans is now their only means of survival. • • • WHO SAID IT? "Himself a Slovak, though from Moravia, he had to provide a future for the two million Slovaks, who were even less a!ble to stand alone than the Ozechs. Masaryk revived the radical idea of 1848 and proposed to create a single 'Czechoslovak' nation by will-power. Masaryk knew little of the Slovaks; others !knew even less. This was hi's strength in dealing wi,tll the allied leaders; it could not solve the Slovak prdblem. The few conscious Slovak politicians aspired only to cll!ltural autonomy within Hungary; living in the shadow of Magyar arrogance, they could not imagine the dis8ippearance of the Hungarian frontier." - (A. J. P. Taylor, 'NIE HABSBURG MONARCHY, London, 1948; p . 240). � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1955, Vol. 5 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 14), March 1955.</li> <li>Issue 2-3 (No. 15-16), June-September 1955.</li> <li>Issue 4 (No. 17), December 1955.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1955 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAK.IA 72 The Czecho-Slovak Exile CZECH SOCIAL DEMOCRATS AND RED ESPIONAGE Dr. Mi chael Zibrin July of l91J5 found the "Council of Free Ozechoslovaki:a" just as July of J.ast year left it; without eleded of~ fi.cials, without elected representatives. This is because the CoUIIld, during the 20-month period of its re-organi-. zation, could not reach !any agreement and is operating on a rotation system, i.e., eacth month ,a reipresentati:ve of a diifferent political iparty se:rves as its executive head. This proves what we had said b,e fore: the Council is a coillglomerate of people of quite different bmnds and that Lettrich' s exdamation two years ago - "Gentlemen, I think only dollars keep us here together" - was and is still true. The present chaos in the Council is caused partly by the fact that political partie.s are coming to prevail more than personalities, and the Councril -resembJ.es more and more an enlarged National Front. The purpose of .t his article is to revie;w the past policies and deeds of that part.yin the CoU!Ilcil which did most to communize the o~ooho-1Slov•8Jk Republic and prepare an easy Communist take-over in 1948. ,Such a review is necessitated by the shocking pulblic deception that hias gained influentiral positions for the exile members of th±s ,p arty. Reformed Communists and coUaiboratom can perform valuable functions, but in men who deny their Olbvfous politic,al actions there can be no question of reform. The most flagrant a,id to Communism was given by the Czecho-iSlovak Social ·D emocratic party. In exile today, the leaders of this panty are men who, by their open colfa,boration wit:h Stalin, p~ayed the most important ,part in the bolsheviz;ation o,f Czecho-Slova>k,i1a. These men have always Etood very close to the Communists, even during small political skirmishes like those occasion.any now among Zenkl, Ripka, and Peroutka. Particularly after the Stalin-Benes pact of 1943, they were the most efficient signers and executors of Benes':s bloody decrees, not reaHzing that, once they had finished their jdbs for the Communists, the fate Sl.JOVAKIA 73 they had prepared for others wo'Ulld become their own. History shows that aliready in 1928 the Soc,i al Demo. cr:ats formulated their program thus: "Today as also in the past we are decided to protect the Soviet Union against any inimical action of the capitalistic governments and against any counter-revolutionary attack." Nine years earlier this belief had been realized in action. When Polish General Pilsudski was fighting a bloody (battle with the Communist ar-my near Wairsaw in 1920, the socialistic ma-· jority in Prague forbade the transportation of military material t.lirnugh ,Ozocho-1Slo,v0Jkia, despite the fact that lhis material was sent by France and a French military mi,s sion was at that time already in Prague. A yea,r earlier, when General Stefanik telegraiphed a wairning to Prague against Bolshevism as the greatest plague o!I' mankind a:nd asked for uruty in tihe f.ight to destroy it, it was this same Social Democratic Party whiclh - wit:h Masarylk's consent - stopped Stefamk's program. Masaryk's consent is less surprising when one remembers that he was actually among the first to hail the Octo!ber Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, which now in Prague !is considered fundamental to the ere. ation of Ozecho-,Slovaki:a. Thus one couid go on ,w ithout end and show that the Social Democratic party was an effective avant garde of Communism in Central Europe, not only in Czecho-!Slovakia. Certainly one of the most important persons in the Czecho-!Slovak .Social Democratic party was V ojta Benes, the oldest brother of the !:ate president. Gottwald officially, on the Cabinet's decision (and Moscow's aippro,vail) , sent him into West Germany in 1949, where he keipt in. regular contact with Prague and acted more oir less ,a,s Gottwald's unofficial ambassador. He did not conce·a l this fact, and t he members of the "Council of Free Czechoslova!ld:a" knew it. Therefore, many times, VojJa Benes took a different position from the official Council and o;piposed some steps undertaken by non.JSocialists in the Council. Benes's brother passed away, ,but equally important representatives remain, particularly: Vacl:av Majer, B. Vilem, the former Sec:retary-General of the Party, and the ill-ifamed Bohumiil Lausman. Ailso, the Social Democratic 1 74 SLOVAKIA party has its two generalls, Sergei Ingr, and Hasal Niz!borJ sky, and, jn Canada, the former minister Frantisek Nemec, who together with Hasal affected the cession of Ruthenia to .Stalin. To this party belongs also a Communist famous in Europe, Milos Vanek, and some questionaJble individuals in Radio F,ree Europe in MUTI!ich. These are all Czechs. Milos Vanek, who is reported to hruve 1b een a charter mem1ber of the "Czeohoslovak Communist Party," remained an ardent adherent of Czechoslovak-Soviet friendship even after he 1had left that .p arty to ~me a left.;win.g Social Democrat. I personaHy know Mr. Vanek and I must confirm that Vanek was one of the founders of the Communist Party in Europe. This is described in the book of Lu. cien Laurat ",Du Komiintern au Kominfo·r m" (!Paris, France Des 1'sles, 1'951), in which on page 10 we read: "The manifest issued by the second Congress of the Kominform, July, 1920, carries a great number of sigrra:tures - Lenin, Zinoviev, Boukarine, Trotski, for iRussia; Vane'k, Hlula, Zapotocky (the president of Ozecho-;Slovakia today), etc." T,his signer and founder of the Communist Party is today the Chief of the Economics Deparbment of Radio Free Europe and a member of the "Colllilcil of Free Ozechoslovalcia" in New York, ·b oth financed by the Free Europe Committee! On the Slovak side there are: Dr. Ziak, well-known Czecho-'SlovaJk; Dr. Joseph Mrazek, the only •Slov;ak s~gner of the oath of fidelity to Communism in 1948, and posing as a Slovak, a certain Belak, whose real name is Berger. A,bout these people, Kurt Glaser, American writer wrote : "The principa.J Czechs and Slovaks associated with the Free Europe Committee and those employed by Radio Free Europe are not - as is commonly supposed - fi•g hters ag,a inst Communism. Quite on the contrary, they fellow-travele<l. with t•he Communists rfrom at least 1939 to 1948, helpe<l. t'hem to power, and even today follow a Communist-sponsored propaganda line. "These indivjduals belong to an or.ganlzation which has systematically be-trayed members of the democratic underground in CzechoSlovalda by tipping them off to Dictator Gottwald's secret police. "A number of Radio Free Europe staff members are either Communist a.gents or have criminal records. '1Radio Free Europe's Czecho-Slovak program is helping Stalin SLOVAKIA 75 by s,a,botaging internation-a l understand ing and promoting rivalry and hatred between European peoples. ' "Mr. Peroutka is backed up by two experts in dialectdcal materialis m, Dr. Zak and Dr. (Berger) Belak. Dr. Zak is the editor of •a n intellectual magazine called 'Tribuna' w-hich is forbidden in France and a no-llher called 'Reality' (Sk,utecnost) which is fofibidden in Switzerland. Unfortunately, I have not been able to peruse these journals as I do not read c zech, but I am told that their basic thesis is the need for the party m asses to submit to leadership by the elite cadre. Belak was formerly a Communist Party functionary in Slovalda under the n ame of Berger. He puts out a Germ an-language sheet called 'Militant Democracy' which few Germans read because it takes S<talin's anti-Ger,man line." I. who know this gentleman (Belak-Berger) persona1'ly, must confirm that Mr. Glaser's opinion is 100 percent right! The former membe.r of the Social Democratic party in 1Slov akia, Pavel Viboch, need not be dealt with as a party memlber , and the other three Slovaks mentioned are al,so not significant. Never receiving any mandate from the Slovruk nation, they represent colonialism in Central Europe at a time when oolonialism is. dying even in Africa. The best proof is the elections in 1946, when the Social Demo~ crats in Slovakia could not elect even one representaitive without Ozech help. It was an old Prague trick to transfeT unneeded votes from one district to another. As a rule, the Social Democratic ipanty has been a Czech origani·z ation only. To return to the history of this _p arty, however, one can say that its activities during the second World War are very revooling. The majority of the party ,p oliticians fled wiith Benes, or shoritly after, and served in his "c!libi. net.,in-exile." An e~ception was Ambassador Fierlinger, who remained in Moscow serving the Communists instead of Benes, according to Ripka and Benes himself. When it came to .the wol"st, Benes's "govennment-in-exile" reoolled him to London. Having the support of Moscow, however, Fierlinger refused to return, and Benes, in order .to keep his presidency, ha:d :to. ,g o to Moscow and take ordern from his personal enemy. These statements are proved by the cablegrams exchanged by the "government-in--exile" and Fierlinger, which were published in Fierlinger's hodk. In addition to Moscow's rs upport, Fierlinger also had help within the "government-in-exile." This was the left wing of 1 76 SLOVAKIA the Social Democrats, wirth Lausman and Bechyne as leaders in London. This group, moreover, closely cooperated with other admirers of the Soviet Union in the Czech National Sodalist party, Rip_ka, Firt, and others. This party supporte'd several pro-Communistic organizations, where Rip'ka rused to be president and Josef Ko!'bel and Tig.rid Schonfeld were in leading ,positions, .pleadin,g for help for Stalin. In 1942 and 1943, Vlase:k and Majer organized the Commu:niisrt demonstrations that heiLpe<l to· force the second front against Churchill's will. We recall that Benes traveled to Moscow in 1943 against the wishes of Eden, Churchill, and other statesmen. There he approved the seill-out o<f Ruthenia and cleared the roa:d to Ozecho-SloV'akia for the Soviet Union. This he did without any regard for the will of the peoples of SlovaJki!a, Bohemia, Moravia and Ruthenia. Nay, even without the full consent of the "Provisional Czechosloviruk Government" in London. The peoples of Slovakia, Bohemia, Moravia, and ,Ruthenia certainly had nothing to do with it. 1 I recaH the speeches of Octdber and November, 1943, in the chambers of the "Czechoslovak State Council" in London. They were made not only by the admirers of the Kremlin, but also by the so-called civil politicians who were blinded by Moscow. Among them were Lausman and Majer, Dr. Uhlir and Paul Macha.eek; all strongly approved the journey to Moscow and insisrted on going along with Communist Valo's proposition even if it meant the loss of asylum in England and the good wiU of the allies. Benes simply had to go to Moscow, they said, because the "higher interests of our nations" demanded it. When Benes returned from his trip to Moscow, he brought the request to Mikolajczyk and the Poles that they renounce a la!lge part of Poland to the Soviets. If any one should quesrtion ,t he truth of my statements, I am ready and willing at all times to produce the repo~ts of the "Czechoslovak Srtate Council,." the speeches Lausman and Uhlir, and even Benes's speech in its entirety after he returned fa-om Moscow. They tel11 us clearly why the Communist "putsch" of Februa:ry 1948 took place so SLOVAKIA 77 smoothly. Repetition o.f these facts is important for understandmg the effective collaboration of the Social Democrats with the Communists after the ,second war. Showing their allegiance to the principle from 1928, "Never against the Soviet Union," tihe Social Demoorats without an exception pressed for the Benes-Stalin agree~ ment in 1943. Therefore, in the first post-war government, formed in Kosice in 1945, and the most communistic of all governments returning ho.me, they dominated. There was no Slovak representative - evidence that Social Democracy had praictically no influence in Slovakia. Besides Prime Minister Zdenek Fierlinger, there was Frantisek Nemec and the liaison officer between the Red Armv and Benes, General Niziborsky (known now as General Hasal), who is at present, I believe, a consultant in the Pentagon Other ministers in that government were the infamous spy, Bohumil Lausman, and a present leader in the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," Vaclav Majer. We know, that all except Fierlinger came unharimed into exile after February, 1948. Lausman, of course, after having accomplished his espionage in Radio Free Europe, returned to Pra:gue. Clearly Lausman has the lowest character among the contemporary •politicians, but he was a most trusted comrade of ,t he present so-called "anti-Communist" politicians in the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia." They all were united in their pro-Communist activities, and their claim now to belong to this or that wing is no.t at all convincing. In 1946 the •s ame Vaclav Majer praised the top Communist in Czecho-Slovakia lavishly: "Gottwald's name will be forever connected not only with our fight for national liberation, but also with the struggle for social liberation as well as for new forms of life and work. . . . Gottwald, not only by his determination, but also by his understanding for the opinions of others, showed his great qualities as politician and man." Sudh were then the expressions of Vaola.JV Majer, an "anti-Communist" fighter of today. But Ma:jer is not alone in this. After working together for the Communists at home, the Social Democrats came to the United States and suddenly discovered that they, too, have fought Communism. Their present fabrica- 78 SLOVAKIA tions rubout their post-war aotivity, which the following facts disprove, are a deep offense to the witnesses of their activities back home. The first document signed by the ministers and the members of the Executive Committee of the Social Demo~ cratic Party iby which a smooth Communi!zation of thei,r homeland was assured, was their agreement of June 25, 1945, at once after returning to Praigue, to form the "National Front of the Working People." This agreement shows the serviI.fty of the wholle Social Democralti1c Party, not only of the leaders, because it was discussed and una~ nimously approved by aJll the ;party before being signed by the Executive Commiittee. This means tha,t all politicians of the $ociaJ Democratic Party, now posing as anti-Communists in exile, agreed to the bolshevi zation of CzechoSlovakta. Zenkl aind his National Socialists C'an at least attempt to excuse themsel,v es that they did not want to accept this ag,r eement lbut were forced to by the Social Democrats. But it is not a question of who forced wlhom; they all signed and pulblished this agreement and, what is woTse, they put it into effect. The most important parts of this agreement are the following: 1. While maintaining a politica:l and organizational independence, the three parties wil.l closely cooperate and follow a common policy in all matters of .p u!blio life. 2 . . The political iba;si,s o.f the National Front orf Working People is the government program, unanimously a:g-re.ed upon in conference in MoS<:ow and unanimously accepted by the government in Kosice on April 5, 1945. Through this agreemenit, also a Central Coordinating Committee is being created with an equal numlber of representatives from all participating iparties, and also a United Alliance of Trade Organizations, based on voluntary membership, wJll be formed. F'urther wili be formed a Non-.Political Alliance of Czech Farmers and a United Organization of Czech Youth; both of these organizations shaH be supported ,by all parties. This publicly dedared aigreement was signed for the Social Democrats by Zdenek Fierlinger; for the Commun1 SLOVAKIA 79 ists by Klement Gottwald, and for the National Socialist Party by Peter Zenkl. It is both very int.eresting and quit,e significant that not a single Slovak att.ended that meeting and that among those who· called it were Dr. Peter Zenkl, Dr. Hubert Ripka, and other leaders of Dr. Benes's old Czech National Socilalist Party - the very same people who today are telling the American public and the world that they always hated the Reds and that the Reds "ousted" them from Government. But the truth is something else a;gatin. The fact is that both Zenlcl and Ripika welcomed the Communists, sought their favor, and wanted to win politicrul prestige with the help of the Reds at the exipense of the other political parties. Of course, today we know that they failed. The same thing happened to them ,that had happened and 1s still happening to an tho.se who try to, collruborate with the Communists: The Communists exploit them for what they are worth and then swallo;w them up or get rid of them. The "National Front of the' Working People" created a "Central Coordinating Committee," in which e'very affiliated party had an equal number of representatives. This committee had the task of coordinating the work of the socialist parties. The sooiwlfst bloc prepared the ground for the various activities which led to the suppression of political and religious fireedom - the first st~s taken toward a socialist dictatorship. The Czech Socialists and Communists agreed that the Agrarian Party would be suppressed, the Catholic IDaigle organization outiawed, and that Catholic youth, as such, would not be allowed to orgamize. Together t@y wo,r ked out a plan whereby the non-Communist peasant votes would be done away with and, at the same time, how these votes, together with the Communist-contro lled ..peasant unions, , would he brought into the Communist P,a,rty. They also created and later legalized the Communist trade organizations, then the non-political Fedeiration of Farmers and the United Youth Or,g,anization - all of which were SU!ppo.s ed to be fornned by the joint participation of all parties, but 80 SLOVAKlA actually served onlly to communize Ozecho-iSlovakia from the instant they began to function. Therefore, it is not true that Zenlkl, Rtpka, Vilem, Majer, and other Czech Sooial DemocraJts opposed Com~ munist hegemony from the beginning, but the truth is that from the moment they accepted the so--called "Kosice Agreement ," they were aJlways subordinat ed to and in the train of .t he Communis t Party and willingly continued tha,t way not only on Russian soil, or in Russian-·occuipied Kosice, but a1so in "Jiberated" Pr'cllgue. The "Joint Declaration " to the nation on June 28, 194'5, is indisputalble proof of the fact that they wanted to get into governmen t with the help of the Oommunist s, even at the roopense of democracy, Christ'ianit y, and freedom. This is the sound lesson for all who would col'la!borate with Oommunist s. All such ,p eople are digging their own graves, because Communism recogn.i'zes no agreements , concessions, or compromis es, and swallows wp all who collaborate with it. A Czech Catholic editor, A. J. Jandacek, commented on major effects of this agreement in this manner: "The aims of the socialist bloc were many: "1. First of all not to allow workers to organiz.e in Catholic trade unions, and so far as they are alread,y organized in them, through a mass effort .to storm them into the socialist bloc by maintaining that Oatholic organizations wm anyhow be in the mi· nority an d that, therefore, it is better to go together. "2. Not to ,a llow an independent unification of Catholic farmers. The party of farm people wi ll not be allowed to exist at all, and as far as the Catholics have their Catholic farmers organized, the Communists will divide them among themselves. "3. A United Organization of Czech Youth will be formed and, thus, the Cat·holic you1Jh wJll not have an opportunity to organize on a Oatholic platform, eitilier politiooJly or religiously. Simply, ,a ll youth will be forced to go into the state-formed and socialist-led organization. Thus, organizing an "Alliance of Catholi c Youtll" or ,a "Czechoslovak Orel" will be .impossible. A daily and weekJ.y have already been published for this so-called united youth organization and are led by the Commundsts. "In view of these three aims, it is possible to call the establishing and maintaining of t!he socialist bloc an intention-al act against political and religious freedom and the establishmen t of a socialist dictatorship." Although I am not a Catholic and never was a member SLOVAKIA 81 of any clerical party, I am ready to sign this analysis by the editor Jandaceik. Whereais, Ze:rukl and his party, in December, 11947, begain not to abide by the 1946 agreement, the Social Democrats kept it even after the Oommunist "putsch" in Februa:ry, 1948. Professor Macek, for instance, accepted lead~ ing positions in o,rganizations which bolsheviized the University, and as president of the Aotion Committee of the University he expelled those students who had participated in demO'Il!Strations against the Communists in February. Furthermore, for a long time he helped the Constitutional Oommittee of Ozecho-Slovakia:n P.arliam.ent and its chairman, Dr. Procha:zka, a leading Communist. As a matte~ of fact, the whole section on Economics in the Communist constitution is his work. Both as an expert and as a member of the :Sociail Demo:cra,tic Party, he supported the Communist bi1ls; a;ctua:1ly, rhe was the right hrui.d of Dr. Procha:zka, the most Communist jurist in Czecho-Slovakia and chairman of the Constitutional Committee. To us it is not surprising that Macek led in the persecution of democratic students after the Communist putsch, since he had earlier been well known as a fervent exponent of Marx at the tUrnversity of Brno, where he was professor of National Eoonomics. The surprise is that he is now a university professor in the United States. Professor Maicek, during the yearn 1929...1939, was a member of Parliament for the Social Democratic Party. Simultaneously, he edited a left-orientated monthly called "Our Times" which was sponso,r ed by Presidents Masaryk and Benes. He published numerous books, a base of which was, repeatedly, the teachings of Marx. In these books Professor Maicek defended the theories orf Marx very emphatica!lly and wanted to introduce them into our social and economic life, evein as early as 1930-1938. He wanted to sociailize everything. His aim was identical to that of the Communi,s ts. They wanted to put it into practice after 194'5. Origtlnafly, Professor Macek migrated to Canada and lived on the fann of a certain Mr. Karel Buzek,. where he wrote artides for the Ozech newspapers in Canada. In his articles he rejeoted and condemned the very same ideas he 82 SLOVAKIA was not so long ago an apostle of and a very able and thorough propagator. From Canada he came to the United States and at the present time he is active as a professor at some university m Pennsylvania. iB. Vilem, as Genera'} Secretary of the Ozech Social Democratic Party, was more a personal "whip" for Fierliniger than a "whip" for the ,party. While I was a member of the Agricultural Committee, we succeeded sometimes in winning over .t he chairman of the committee, who was a Social Democrat, against the Communist proposa!ls. Vilem, however, before the voting day, and often at midnight, cal'led the members of 'his party and dictated: "Fierlinger lets you know that the party cannot stand for your proposals; you have to vote with the Communist Party." One of these Social Democrats that was forced by Vi1em to vote with the Communists is in exile ; several committee memlbers from the other parties who lost ,w ith me because of Vil.em's actions are now in the "Council of Free Ozechosloviaikia," but they wil'l never forget those defeats (Sliva, Torn, and other.s). Wathout this servility to the Communists, Gottwald would never have gained the majority he had. The saddest chapter of the Social Democrati'C Party, however, was written by its memiber who was the Minister of Industry, Bohumil Dausman. He served the at!reernent of June 25, 1945, so faithfully that he went out to disintegrate even the exile and worked for three years as a spy, after being employed by Radio Free Europe with the help of the Social Democrats and other memlbers of the "Council of Free Czechoslo;vakia," particularly Ripka and his group. The case of Lausman's treason was not yet completely closed when new espionage process was started against further exiponent of Prague government and close collaborator of Dr. Hubert Riipka. Hardly had a French .court sentenced Kubala on a charge of espionage for Communist OzechoSlovakia before the Prague radio reacted in this case and the spea,keir, himself a collaJborator of Mr. Ferdinand Peroutka and a former employee of Radio Free EuTope, used the most despiooble language against the West. Slovak newspapers unanimousily reported - unfOTtunaitely without desirable SLOVAKIA 83 results on the aictions orf Radio F.ree Europe - that Lausman would be followed by the others. The newspapers asked for effect1ve preventive measures in Radio Free Europe rugainst subversive elements but nothing was done. Many very dubious elements are sitting in Radio F,r ee Europe and are paid by the Amerilcan citizens. In the warning concerning espionage, we have not only staJted several times that there are Marxists ood Oommunists in "Czechoslovak" organizations, but we also said openly that they were, and silll are espionage agents of the Prague government. The Prague broadcasts have confirmed our allegation. On the same ibroadlca;st where, some time a;go, Laus-· man broadcast in Prague, now spoke Bruno Folta, who was working as an employee of Radio Free Europe under the protection of Dr. M. Mu.dry and Dr. Kvetko. He minutely copied the style of Lausrnan, H~ confessed that originally he betrayed the Communist government in Prague and filed to the West, requesting political asylum. Here in the West, in Radio Free Europe Folta came to the conclusion that the western world was rotten and readily seized the chance to return home and accept what was offered to him in the inteliligence service conducted by the Czech General Moravec. He repented like Lausman and, hruving the desire to make some reparations, he put himself at the disposal of the "people's Democracy" against the West. He went on to threaten that he would use all the knowledge which he ooquired as an employee of Radio Free Europe. Our reports from Munich and behind the Iron Ourtain explain the Folta case as foHo:ws: Like Lausman, he was sent by the Prague government for espionage purposes and to esta:blish the contacts. When he succeeded and gathered enough material and collaborators, especially in Munich and Paris, he simply ,r eturned to Prague as a highly appreciruted a;gent, in order to accUJSe the anti-Communist citizens at home. of whose attitude he learned while abroad. What is Folita telling the peoples of Czecho~Slova;kia? The Vienna newspapers published long articles explaining how Foll.ta, this confident servant of Mr. Peroutka and Dr. Mudry, was blaming Radio Free Europe and the Western World and praising everything he found after his return to 84 SLOVAK.IA Brague: •~Prague has everything good and new, all the new technical inventions, and everything in plenty. Meantime, in the Weslt, o:nlly the capitalist dwpes have all the goods in their possession and the common people are starving." Thrut is the picture cxf the West presented by Folt'a, who coJ:lected American doJlars from RJFE. When will Washington be conV'inced? The case of Folta is certainly a cha,pter of shameful history, but we feair that even this fact will not be strong enough to convince the F1ree Europe Committee or the Department of State in W8!Shi:nigton. We repeat that such exile orga.n±zations, which are SUipported at the ex;pense of genuine demo-cratic and anti-Communist organizations, wre nuisances and wreckers of all the actiOIIlS of the Western. WorJd in the cold war. In the "Ozechoslovak" orgarazations there have been, since the start, members who were sent West by the Prague go,v ernment only for tlhe purpose of serving the Communists. On the roster of "Czechoslovak" organizations in exile you wilil find many persons who were elected to office on the Oommunist baHot, ,p oliticians who mostly helped the Communists not only to gain control of CzechoSlova!kia, but also the whole Danube valley. The same persons, who with Benes in 1939, in London, were in touch with SDalin's ambrussa.dor, agreed on the invasion of U.iS.IS.IR. south of the Carpathian Mountains. To the Americans in Washington and the Einglishmen in London, they disiplayed an rug·r eement concerning the integrity of the Czecho-Slavaik State while knowing the deficiencies of this treaty. They .co!~JIBitted the same crime as did Lausman and Bruno, Folta. These people simply betrayed the Allies. But beyond that are their protectors, the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia" and its leading representatives Zenkl, Lettrich, IPerou'bka, Mudry and others - iess guilty of betrayal? They 1let Lausma.n into R1adio :ffiree Europe and allowed him to• broadcast for American money. On the payroll they kept Folta, R1.12icka, and others as well; and they still do that and help to betray America. There is no excuse for them, or is there? Parrticipants in a crime are as punishable as the crim1 SLOVAKIA 86 inal. J>a:rtici:pan.ts in this betriayal can not excuse themselves on the grounds that they did not know anything about suoh action. Several times suspicious caJSes were brought to their notice but they did not pay any ,a ttention to these warnings. What should we say to this criminal negligence on the .part of responsible pemonaHties :in Radio Free Europe Oir in the "Council of ~ree OzechoslovaJda ?" There they are unanimous: Zenkl, Cerny, Osuis'ky -- all plead for the innocence of Peroutka. The continuous scandaJls should waike up the security officials of the Western Powers. Until now only the Germans in Munich asked fo-r a c1erun-1.l'p of Marxists and other elements hostile to democracy in the whole territory of the German Federal Republfo. They aimed at "Czechoslovak" organizations which aire infiltrated with highly suspicious elements. Let us apply our knowledge whi'1e there is still time. Many think that only in Germany are such cases possible. but that is not true. The same oases, even more paradoxi~ cal, we find in Washington where the Czech officers are working. They distinguished themselves in the sell~,ut of Carpathian Ruthenia to the Soviets, or kept in the service of American Intelligence the sister-in-ilaw of a welL known Communist in the old country. Why should we be shocked that in rPairis the Communists received confiden• tial materia'l? Even in Washington security mea5UJres are neglected. We know the persons at wol'k in W81Shington and we will not be surpri,s ed if the Lausman affair breaks out a,gain despite our warning. Those who wHl be suT1prised will be Americans. Let us take lessons from Parts. Since Lausman's return to Prague, the whole CzechoSlovak exile, in its confusion, has been producing deceptions and charges of for.gery. When Mr. Osusky of the "Council of F'lree Ozechoslovakia" does not succeed in his enterprises, .o r the situation changes after his proclamations hawe been pulblished, he simply proclaims them unauthentic or falsified, o:r he simply a&:!rilbes them to Lausman. 'Sometimes the matter is trivial, as it was in the proclamation concerning the is udeten G€Tmans which was allegedly signed by Osusky. There he stressed the necessity 86 SLOVAKIA that the Czechs and the Sudeten Germans are reconciled and charged that Ripka and Zenk! were unsuitalble because of their collaJboration with the Communists. The subj~ct was given great publicity by Josten (a former official of the Foreign Ministry and now editor of "Czechoslovak" in LondO'Il) and his Marxist cell in London, w:hiich always tries to please Prague. In this matter, Osusky probably figured that a dea!l with the ,Sudeten GeI'IDans could per., haps be of he1p to him if he should have trouble in the Council with Ripka and Zenk!. But here chance helped him. R:iipka had difficulties in the United States because of his colla;boration with the Communists and therefore planned to return to his socialist friends in Europe. For this reason he, as weU as Zenkl, did not fight for leading positions .i n the Counchl - a fact that allowed the November reconciliation of the Council. Osusky does not need the Sudeten Germany any longer, whereas for Zenk! and Ripka the Sudeten German question will be a ,problem. So Osusky denied his Sudeten German proclamation and charged tha;t its publfoation in the "Czechoslovak" was a fOTgery . Simila.rly, "Nase Cesta," a Marxist paper printed in the Czech language ,in Vienna, published a who[e issue of articles written by several memibers of the "Council of Free Czechoslovak ia.'' Arfter Osusik y and Zen kl were reconciled and the articles did not fit into the changed opinion of the Council, the editor procilaimed the whole earlier issue a for,g ery. Thus, suddenly we are told that the ,articles were not writt® by the members oif the Council, and that the who'le issue was forged with the purpose of s,plitting the "Czechoslova k" exile. Lt is interesting to see whose names first a;ppea.r as authors o,f the disputed rurticles: Dr. Taiborsky, Benes's secretary; Jan Zak, Slovak socialist and confidant of MaTxists and "Ozechosloivaks" ; Jozef Dieska, member of the Council, etc. I can only dismiss the editor's charge that the whole issue originated with Lau:sman as ridiculous and highly impossible. In the newspruper "Novy Domov," published in Canada, another member of the Council, Fras'tacky, attacked Colonel M~ksohe, who does not go along with the "Ozeichoslova!ks" f?LOV,AKIA 87 in the Council. (Oolon~l Miksche, a Czecho-Slovak military attache in Pa.r-is, resigned in December, 1947, in protest to the policy of the present members of the Council then in Praigue.) When Colonel Miiksche threatened to sue him, Frastaoky quiokly denied writing the article and declared it a forgery. Certainiy this comedy cannot be cailled anything but ridiculous; fortunately, it did not harm Colonel Miksche. It is regrettruble, however, that the exile "Czechoslovak" press sees in these and other incidents the intervention of Genera:! Molotka of P,r ague, whose assignment, with Lausman, is to influence and distunb the exik It does not at all seem to me that these .incidents, are of Lausman's making, for he would think of different methods among the members of the Ooll!Ilcil. In the Council he feels at home, after spending three years in its midst and working with Council members in Radio Free Europe. There he does not need any mediators and can at any time directly interfere. Using Lausman's name, however, provides Osusky and others wJth a handy scapegoat for the.i~ own failures and a!bandoned projects. SimHarly, the "CzechosloV'ak" exile press is not unanimous and constant in its aocount of the Council's November compromise and in its list of representatives. Sometimes it leaves out Dr. Cerny',s name, and other times it puts it in, depending on whom it serves . .Professor Hlavaty is referred to as a neutraJl sometimes, and at other times as ·a former socialist representative in the temporary National Assembly in Prrugue. Moreover, the "Czechoslovak" exile even today is hel:ping and promoting the accessories of spies as did some other memlbers of the Courrcil while they were ambassadors in the United States and elsewhere. This is the way the "Czechoslovak" organizations operate while the socialist parties in the West do not realize their dange,r . So, for ex-· ample Zdenka Schonova, in :Eingland one of the leading Czech Social Democrats, is supported today by the "Czech Trust Fund," even though her collaboration with the convicted spy, Peter Arton, was proved. It is evident that the persons from the Council do not distinguish between a 1 88 SLOVAKIA Czech patriot and a Czech spy. For them everyone is first of aH Czech, from Benes down to Lausman, and in this belief they .not only help the spies and pay them, but also pay for their protection and defense It is also well known that Colonel Koenig, who is a leader orf the reporting division of the "Council of Free Ozechos!ovaktla" and also working for the West, still employs the same Hungarian Communis t as his secret,a ry, his sister-in-ilaw, Klara Fedak. Fedfuk is in New York without letting the U. S. authorities know that she is a Oommunist. Her former "1b oy friend" is now chief of the espionage office in Bratislava; yet the persons from the "Co,u ncii of Free Ozechoslov aikia" do not find it difficult to affirm to the West the ,reliaJbiliity of these Communist s. Koonig's group is also responsible for the murder of a Slovak un., dergrmLnd leader and patriot, Pavol Harusiak, and others from Bratislava, whose bordeT-cro ssing they betrayed to the Communis t police. Ifurusiak was my friend, an'd I kn.ow that a member of Koenig's group, iDr. Patek, gained access to him only through representin g himself as from me. When the "Czechosio. vak" exile has such help and affiliations, how lO'Ilg must O'Ile state that this "Czechoslo vak" group is not reliable? It is seen to be a very dangerous group when we realize that it hrus, accomplice s in the un. derground who were given money and introd1..1JCtions by Zenkl and Ripka, as the spy Bohumil Cerny and his accompJices were. This situation is also true orf the "C'zechoslova!k" section of R:adio Flree Europe in Munich, where there is always someone who helps such men as La.usma,,n and Folta, or other ex-Commu nists and .future re-immigrants to Red Prague. Bures, who brought Folta to Radio Free Europe, was dismissed, but his friends - Kvetko, Mudry, and Peroutka - are still in leading positions. If Radio Free Europe and the Voice of Ame11ica would try to lbrea:k the reputation. oif this "Czechoslo vak"' army with truth and with real anti-Comm unist speakers who ha,ve a good reputation and an anti...Communist record at home, it could be done. Not, however, with the present group. What is broadcast and written now - for American money - helps the Oommunis ts more than it harms them. SLOVAKIA 89 These org,a nizations which are supposed to wage psy. chological warfaire against Communism behind the !iron Curtain do just the opposite - as far as Czecho-Slovakia is concerned. Too often they he:lp spies and broadcast material which does not harm the Communists, but rather amuses them. Sending pigeons and balloons across the Iron Curtain maikes people there laugh or curse, because the police always get some of those who pick up the leaf~ lets. When aJlmost every month someone returns to Pra•g ue and te1'ls of the low moral tone, the scandals, and suicides in the "Czechoslovak" section of Radio Tuee Europe in Munich, the Communists give this excellent publicity. No wonder that Radio· Free Europe does not have any respect there! IDven when Radio Free Euroipe, or the Voice of America, gains some SlovaJk renegade, these organizations are not made 1:.iherelby eiffecti:ve, nor are their names re~ stored at home behind the Iron Curtain. People theTe ceased to believe them loog ago, and after the Lausman and Folta affairs they only curse them. Folta, Ru!zicka, and Bures worked in Radio Free Europe; they were the proteges of those Siova.k employees in Radio Free Europe - Dr. Mu.dry and Dr. Kvetko - who are supposed to represent the r eal Slovak anti-Communist cause. And yet nothing happened to Mu.dry or Kvetko, much less to Peroutka, because they brought Bures and Ruzicka and Folta to RF'E, nor because they paid their comrade Lausmrun, who is also back in Prague. The new chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on In. vesitigations, Senator McCleUan, who is a capable lawyer to whom the security of the United States is of paramount internst is, we hear, curious about many things. We hope, therefore, thlat this suibcommittee will succeed in this mat~ ter also and that the organizations in question will be cleansed of the ,present "Czecho,slovaJk" group. iLausman was so aggressive that during the second World War, after his return from Moscow to London, he succeeded in the State Council in speeding up Benes's trip to Moscow. Further, as he admits in his book, published in Vienna, he forced Benes to na,tionalize aH private industry by presidential decree before the Pro,v isional National As- 90 SLOVAKIA sembly convened in October, 194'5. He also :points out in his book that, whereas he admits his actions, the associates who agireed with hiim on aU the issues of col1aboration now are renouncing him only in order to be accept., able to Washington. In this way, Lausman has unmasked the Sodal Democrats who in exile pre.tend to fight Communism, but actually are responsi!ble for the :f act that Russian territory extends for the first time in history west of the Carpathians into the Danube basJn. In this bolshevik expansion it was two Social Democrats who represented Benes and the whoJ.e state leadership: Flrantisek Nemec and Generail Ni:ziborsky - Hasal. Both went to Moscow from London in 1944 and then fol., lowed the Red Army into Ozecho-1Slovaiki,a to take over the liberated territory :from the Red Army in accordance with the Benes-lSta:li,n treaty. They did it so successfully with the he1p of Fierlinger in Moscow that in three months they gave Stalin the eastern part of Czecho-1Slovaikia, the whole of Ruthenia. Russia ,o ffered to the Slovaks, through the Communists Dr. Husak and Novomesky, an independent ,Slovak State, provided that it would be another Soviet republic. When Husak and Novomesky made the proposal to the Slov,a ks, to Dr. Joseph Tiso, President of S'lovakia and the Slow.1Jk Government, the Slovaks, however, refused the •bolshevi~atio!Il of their country. Nemec was not given a cordial re:ception ~n Ruthenia at all. The in'haibitants everywh&e were signing petitions, sponsored by the Communist Petruscak, which started that the Ruthenians no longer existed and that there were only Sub-Carpathi an Ukrainians in Ruthenia who yearned to be embrruced by their greait mother, Ukrainia. After many long squabbles, Nemec fina:lly got a message through to Benes in London through General Pika. The telegrams that Benes sent through F1ierlinger were never seen by Nemec, ,b ecause Fierlinger already then was Stalin's envoy and never a paitTiotic cii.ti,z en of his own State. It is significant, therefore, that despite these experiences thi,s same traitor, Fierling&, was named, several months later, as the premier by Benes. Nemec was in a very trying position. When he wanted SLOVAKIA 91 to be connected with London, he had to ask for permission to do so from the Chief of the Russi,an ISJtafif so that he could travel to Moscow, where with the heilp of the vad.io conneotion of General Biika, who was the Chief of the Mtilitary Mission, Nemec could tell Benes how matters were going and koop him informed on Fierlinger. The latter was doing right well. He still is a minister in the Prague Gov~ ernment, but Genera,1 Bika was killed by the Commund.sts. At that time the Communists had asked the Slovak non-Communists whether it would not he more profitable to support tJhe idea of a Slovak Soviet Republic so that the Slovaks could go,vern their own territory rather than adhere to the "Czecho-slova;k" ideology which denied the existence of the Slovak nation. They added that such a Slovak Soviet Reipulblk could be promoted without diff,iculty, because the Slovak State still existed. Husak and Novomesky, however, did not get anywhere with their proposal. The Slova,k non-Commumsrts turned it down, declaring that it was contrary to the Christmas Agreement of December, 1943, as well as the agreement which Ursiny concluded -w ith Dr. Benes in Octolber, 1944, when he acted iJ?- the name of thie SloViak National Council. When Husak and N01Vomesky failed to promote the idea of a Slovruk Soviet Repwblic in London, they imrmediiately contacted and ordered their followers in Slovakia to present the ,p rop·a sal to President Joseph Tiso and the Slovruk Govemment. But Tiso· and the Slovak Government would not hear rubout it. Husak and N ovomesky failed in thek mission. Several months later, with mMly Slova;ks in emigration, Clemenitis took up the tune, but he also got nowhere. Today an the leading Reds of Slavrukia are paying dearly for failing in theiT mission. Clementis paJid with his life. Ruthenia was loot. Benes's delegation had to go to Trebisov ·a nd after that things went rather smoothly. ~erliillger ma:de the propositions and Benes aocepted them. When he was returning from Moscow in March, 1945, Benes could no longer enter Ruthenia. In fact he renounced it solemnly on severai occasions. FinaMy, Benes had an agreement prepared which Fierlinger signed for the Czecho1 92 SLOVAKIA SlovaJk Government with great solemnity in the Kremlin on June 29, 1945. No one outside the CommU'Ilists agreed with this act of Benes. No law, however, could contain or restrain Benes. He acted dictatori.ally at any time that it benefited him. On August 24, 1945, without even corum1tling the Parliament, Benes issued his presidential decree No. 4, concluding the pa:ct between the U .S.S.<R. and the C.S.R. This decree was the basis for assigning new borders to Slovakia in the East. In Octoher, 1946, everything "legalized" on the ,b asis orf foregoing decrees was published in the Col~ lection of Laws and Regulations. T.he text orf the rubove-mentioned agreement is interesting, as well as significant. It begins with the words: ". . . being certain that the provisional National Assembly of the Orecho-1Slovaik Republic shal[ concur with this ag.reement . . . " Benes did not wait. He and John Masaryk and VI-ado Clementis decided matters without Pa.rlia,ment. As good prophets, they knew tha't Parliament would certainly approve this ag,r eement ! Since Ruthenia was not a very big bite, Benes did not stop there, but became even more generous. On June 2, 1945, he issued decree No. 8, whereby a numbeir of homes in the most beautiful seo'tion of BUJbenec - in the modern section of Prague - were donated to the Russian Communist State to commemorate, he said, the greaJt s•a crifices the nations of the U .IS.S.R. had made on the altar of liberation of humanity. WeM, it is a fact that the bolshevik armies to a great extent did l,iibera-te SlwaJcia from a gre,aJt many things the Slovaks could use themselves, but it certamly was not ethical or democratic to sign over whole streets to them without evsen consulting the nation about it. Only dictators act like that. And Benes was a dictator by the grace of MoS<!ow, even id: only a temporary one. 'Besides this generous gesture, several weeks later Benes showed his aP!)Teoiation to the so-called "iLiberator" of Prague, M<rurshaJ Konev, by giving him several very •b eautiful vi1las which were oonfiscated from the 1g ood citi- SLOVAKIA 93 zens .o f Prague. From these villas Konev has a beautiflrl view of Prague. All these decTees we re signed by General Hasal-Nizborsky, who was at that time Minister of Thansportation, and •by Vaclav iMajer, who was also a member of Benes's caJbinet. The servility to Stalin and Go'titwald, and the boundless adulation iby HasaJl..,Niziborsky a,nd Frantiseik Nemec would be best illustrated if we pu!blished the congratulatory telegrams sent by them to their idols. I mtend to publish all these facts in a book, but they hawe already !been quoted by Fierlinger and Lausman in their books. Later, many Communists who fell out of favor tried to rescue their political careers in exile with the help of membership cards in the Social Democratic Party. Those Communists, rulmost without exception, we find in Radio Free Europe - (Graf, Berger-!Belak, and Ti.grid Schonfeld), or (Josef Konbel, the with other American institutions Communist amlbas:sador from Prague to Tito in Belgrade, now a member of the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia" and a uni,versity professor ,i n the United Staltes). Regarding Tigrid Schonfeld, it is only necessary to note what has been written albout him here in the United States. As it is quite a lo't, I only quote some parts of a more serious character: "Tigrid is a former m emb er of the C2:ech Communist Party. According to tJhe newspaper Christ und Welt (Stuttgart, October 16, 1952), •his political ac tivjty began in 1932 when he published the illegal Communist paper Hal lo Noviny, w,hich specialhr.ed in subversion of morale in the Czecho slovak Army. " He was also a contri butor to the Co mmunist magazine Leva Kultura (Left Culture). Dur:ing Wo r ld W ar II he w as a member of the Communfot-domiuated Czechoslovak staff of t'he British Broadcasting Company, where one of his colleagues and iruti mate friend w.as Colonel Otto BlheJer, the Czech mi.Jitary attache whom the United States Government declared persona non grata in 1949 for es pionage activities." I hope this short excerpt will be enough to show what pro-Communist elements were picked 1by the U. S. Ad-· ministration and by the Firee Europe Commitltee for importa,nt pos,itions. These quotations will also prove tha,t SUJCh people cannot be expected to be trusted 'back a,t home by 94 SLOVAK.IA the Nation as anti-Communist fighters and thaJt the whole expensive propa,gand'a program is practicrully useless and ineffective. About the others aJbove, I must confess the same opinion as to character. The deeds of these men, however, I am intentionally separating from the actions of the leaders of the Czec'h Social Democratic Prurty. I am presenting the Communist co1la:"boration of only those Social Democ~ats who represent the party in exile and who :firom 1945 until they went in to exiile were also of some importance back home. I am leaving aside those persons who are now abusing the sympath4es of the Labor Party in London, because they wd not amount to much back home, being only opporlll!Il.ists and regularly havmg two memib ership cards, one of the Communist and the other of the Social Democratic Party. But these also oannot claim that they opposed the agreement of June 25, 1945; everyone conisenited to it and carried it out in h:is capacity. It is no wonder that :b y 1946 their policy of complete conformance with the Communists had negated the party as opposi,t ion. Simifarly now the party is destroying itself in an attempt to gain strength by accepting and proteotin.g even men who were strong Communrists, like Milos Vanek and Tigrid Schonfeld, or men who possessed membership cards of several Marxist parities, like M8!cek, Kwbel, and others. Furthermore, an affidav1t of anti-Communism signed by the Social Demoorat le·aders is ridiculous, indeed, beca use the party's claim to anti--Communism is itself destroyed by the evidence of its history. During the February, 1948 c,r isis, the Social Democratic Party tried to look neutral, but the fact ilid everything to help t'he COIIllmunists succeed. Hol!cling to the agreement of J.une, 1945, the party as a unit gave its support to the Commumsts and so broke the political equilibrium in favor of the Oorrum.1~sts. Even if it is not pos• sible to .state that without the help of the Sociail. Democrats, Gottwald would not have succeeded in the "putsch" of February, 1948, nevertheless it remains a great guilt against the Sooial Democrats that in the time when it was SLOVAKIA 95 clear to everyone what tJhe Communists were doing, the Czech Social Democrats stood by them and did not help the opposition. This attitude of the Czech Social Democrats is not very well known and evaluated in the United States; if it were, not one of them could pose in Washington as anti-Communists. And their protector, Steinhardt, U. S. am:bassador to, •Prague in 1948, and former Secretary · of State Acheson could not have secured for them influential positions in the United States on the U. S. payroll. It is worthwhile to note that up to 19-38 the Czech Sociall. Democrats cooperated strongly with the Sudeten German Sociail. Democrats in Ozecho-Slovakia. When the German Social Democrats got into trouble with the N a:llis and were persecuted, there was no Czech Social Democrait to help his coHeague in the Sudetenland; they were betrayed. Later the expulsion. decrees bore the signature of aH the Czech Social Democrat ministers, who had no social or human feeling. It will forever remain -a shame against the Czech Social Democrats that they let their coUe,agues from the German Social Democratic Party be so persecuted, robbed, expelled, and even JnUrdered. They ail.so had a similar attitude towards the Slovaks in their domestic .p olky and always helped Prague centralism and imperia•1ism. Furtherimore, they helped to destroy the Slov:ak Democratic Party ,b y dema.ndiing in the fall of 1947 the .p osition of one commissioner. Thiis commissioner, working hand-in-hand with bloody Ferjencik, then commissioner of police but now in the United States, iru::reased the public terror and forced the courts to serve the police. The Social Democrats in the government of Slovakia held to ,t he agreement from June 25, 1945, until they had performed their jobs in 1945 and then were kioked out when no longer needed by the Communists. Looking over the record of the Czech SociaJl Democratic Party, their willing coUaiboration with Communists and their fierce figiht against every anti-Communist, one cannot understand their presel!t a;lilbi thait they acted only under Russian pressure. One incident epitomizes this contradiction. On the sixtieth anniversary of Karl Marx's death, Mareh 14, 1943, they were living in London. On that day the Czech 96 SLOVAKIA Socia:l Democrats and the Communislts made a piJ.grimage to Mairx's torn!b in an English ·c emetery. At this tomlb, in free England, the present representative of the "Council of Free Ozechosl'Ovakia" in Washington, then Benes's mmiister and member oif his State Council, Vaclav Miajer, delivered a speech in the name of t!he Social Democraits in which he said: "WE BELIEVE WITH MARX THAT SOCIALISM 1,s THE WAY TOWARD INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, TOWARD EVERLASTING PEACE, AND THE WELFARE OF NATIONS . TO•DAY HERE WE ARE, A SMALL GROUP OF SOCIALIST EMIGRANTS FROM CZECHO-SLOVAKIA . BUT THE TIME WILL COME WHEN MARX'S TO,MB WILL BE THE SHRINE OF MANKIND LIBERATED FROM THE BLIND IMPRISONMENT O,F DEAD SOCIAL DOCTRINES." 1M inister -Majer's speech was published on March 19, 1'943, in Benes's officiail newspaper in London, the "Czechoslovak," whikh was financed by Jan Masaryk and Hulbert Ri,pka. In conclusion, I say that the basis of the Communist victory in Czecho-iSiovrukia was 1Jhe agreement of June 25, 1945, which was cauied out with the help of the current members of the "Council of Free Czechoslov;rukia." Their present pose as anti-Communists is undemtandable, of course, because by continumg to deceive Americans is now their only means of survival. • • • WHO SAID IT? "Himself a Slovak, though from Moravia, he had to provide a future for the two million Slovaks, who were even less a!ble to stand alone than the Ozechs. Masaryk revived the radical idea of 1848 and proposed to create a single 'Czechoslovak' nation by will-power. Masaryk knew little of the Slovaks; others !knew even less. This was hi's strength in dealing wi,tll the allied leaders; it could not solve the Slovak prdblem. The few conscious Slovak politicians aspired only to cll!ltural autonomy within Hungary; living in the shadow of Magyar arrogance, they could not imagine the dis8ippearance of the Hungarian frontier." - (A. J. P. Taylor, 'NIE HABSBURG MONARCHY, London, 1948; p . 240).  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Czecho-Slovak Exile: Czech Social Democrats and Red Espionage Description An account of the resource Dr. Michael Zibrin Slovakia, Vol. 5, No. 2-3 (15-16), June-September 1955 pp.72-96 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Zibrín, Michal, 1899-1968 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June-September 1955 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8ffad088f5a2634f75e2008d08718d3e.pdf 7e46dcc03dca9649b811d8266585809b PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 37 THE CZECHOSWVAKS AND ANTI-SEMITISM ( JK ) The Czechoslovaks (Czech Slovaks) apparently are getting a bit jittery. While the democratlc peoples gradually are findlng out the truth about Czecho-Slovakla and its former Jeaders, who talked democracy but collaborated with Stalin and the Czech Reds, the socalled "Czechoslovaks" are sweating in a desperate attempt to smear all freedom-loving, patriotic Slovaks. Take the NEW YORKSKÝ DENNO< ("Czechoslovak daily pub· lished in Slovak language" ! ) , for example. For the lack of better arguments it has threatened to expose the Slovak patriots - who always fought against Communlsm and for the lnherent and God-given rlghts of their people to freedom and lndependence - as antl-Semites. For the Czechoslovaks, there are no exceptions: all Slova ks, who believe their nation has a right to be free and independent, are collectively and tota lly supposed to be anti-Semites. For those who are familiar with the Slovak questlon, such an accusation is just a plain lie. But while we are on the question of anti-Semitlsm, leťs look at the record of leading Czechoslovaks and see how these recently born "superdemocrats" (People's Democrats) stood on the Jewlsh question in Slovakla. The Czechoslovaks mmally get up in the morning and go to bed at night with the name of T. G. Masaryk on their lips. What he taught, what he wrote and what he said, that for them ls like the Gospel. Well, how did T. G. Masaryk, the so-called "founder" of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, regard the J ews? Dr. Vavro Šrobär wrote a book in 1946. He was one of Masaryk's most loyal servants in Slovakia and one of the leaders of the so-called "glorious Slovak national rebellion" (1944), during which the Slovak public for the flrst time found out that so many of the present "eminent" Czechoslovaks existed. The book, published in Prague, is called "Z môjho života" (From My Life). Masaryk - the teacher, the model and ideologist of the Czechoslovaks - accordlng to the book: "reproached the Jews, because in a Christian world they did not know how to free themselves from the O!d Testament, the Talmud and the Ghetto. T hey are lsolating themselves from all the subjugated natlons and are slding, according to religious precept, wlth the ruling natlons; a.nd in our country that means they are Germanlzlng and Magyarizing." And the teacher and model of Lettrich, Papanek, Slävik and other Slovak renegades continued ln thls manner: "The Jews ot the ghetto are alien to us with their faith, thelr llves, their views, philosophy and sociology; they are isolating themselves so, that we do not understand them, we fear them and do not llke them" (pg. 245). Masaryk, according to Šrobär, "acknowledged that tbe fight agalnst J ewlsb greed, usury and materlalism, agalnst thelr alllance with our enemles, is justified, especlally in Moravia and Slovakla, where in the villages they bave become the ruín of the nalve, gulllble people. Here tbe privlleges of the tavern trades should be taken away from tbem, or tbere sbould b e a Jaw passed which would protect the people agalnst the temptation of alcohollsm and against Jewisb usury" (op. cit. pg. 246). �38 SLOVAKIA And in like manner argued a ll the "salon anti-Semltes." The socalled vulgar antl-Semltes reallzed these salon vlews only la ter on. Šrobár bimself admits in bis book that wben "tbe farmers came to my office to ask me to talk, on sucb occaslons we used to talk pollUcs and I spared nelther omces nor tbe government, not even the Jews" {pg. 383). For Šrobár tbe Jews were the same red clotb as Magyar omces In government. And that is quite a strong word! And the socalled Czechoslovaks (Czecb S lovaks!) in exlle negotlated with sucb an anti-Semite durlng the "revolution" and even after lt! But T. G. i\lasaryk and Vavro šrobár were not the only Czecboslovaks who felt t ha t way about the Israelltes in Slovakia. Dr. J osepb Lettrlch, Vlce-President ot th e Councll of Free Czechoslovakla and former Chairman of both the Slovak Natlonal Councll and the socalled Democratlc Party ot Slovakia, felt ll ke tbat about the J ews, too. In 1945-1946, by Presldentlal decrees the Magyars and the Germans in Czechoslovakia were robbed not only ot tbelr civil rights, but also ot thelr entire wealtb. Naturally, their properties were conflscated wlthout compensatlon. The fate ot the Magyars and Germans was In no manner envlable: they were placed outslde the law, bunted llke wlld beasts and dellvered to tbe rldicule and brutality ot the n ew " P eople's democratlc" admlnistratton. Decent people anywhere could not want such a rate to overtake even thelr worst enemy. At that Ume Dr. Joseph Lettrlch, as presldent ot the Slovak National Council, demanded that the Jews be dealt witb In the same manner as the Germans and Magyars. In 1945, he proclalmerl: "We must endeavor to drive out of our country wlthout mercy the Magyars and Germans. The Jewa, w ho by their sentiment• and thelr language show ay mpathy t o t he Ger mana o r Magyars, we ahall rega rd those Jews as Germa ns a nd Ma gyars and they w lll have t o auffer the fat e of Germans and M agyars." The pettlfoggery of Mr. Lettrich was perfidlous: the great majority of J ews In Slovakla, as a result of the tralning ot previous reglmes, used German and Magyar as thelr languages in thelr homes and buslnesses. The greatest part of the J ews In Slovakla has traditlonal sympathles for the culture and way of llfe ot the Magyars and the Germans. Accordlng to Lettrich's statement In 1945, the overwhelming majority ot the Jews had to be drlven out ot Slovakla. Is it any wonder, then, that some zealous partners ot Lettrlch saw in thls proclamatlon dlrectlves on how "to get rid ot the J ews"? Actually in 1945- 1946, one could often read in the forelgn press a bout "antf-Semltic deeds in Slovakla." In reality nothing else was happening except that the mentloned directfves ot Lettrich were belng applled by bis zealous followers. However, slnce such expresslona were unpleasant to the reglme, they simply blamed all ot tbls on Slovak "tascists." It ls slgnlflcant that not one ot the leadlng politlclans ot tbat reglme In Slovakla - who are now in emlgratlon organized in tbe Councll ot Free Czechoslovakla - dld not conslder lt necessary to protest agalnst thls antf-Semltlc exploslon of Mr. Lettrlch. And tbere are among them even Ruch people who not only were not bis partfsans, but were also bis competltors In seeklng and galnlng for themselves the favor of tbe Prague governments. �SLOVAKIA 39 Slnce the "NEW YORKSKÝ DENNÍK (New York Dally) seems t o be the organ ot the Czechoslovaks, maybe some of h ls people could offer a plau sible explanatlon for Lettrlch's statement. Or dld they agree In the lnnermost parts of thelr souls wlth Lettrich? They were partlclpan ts of power and every polltlcal chlld recognizes the prlnclple: Sllence means agr eement. Before th e 1946 elections Lettrlch's polltlcal campaigners dld not hesltate to use antl•Semltlc slogans just to gain votes tor Lettrlch. For example In the Žilina dlstrlct, Lettrlch' s men scattered leaflets t hat were tltled: " On ly Jews and dogs vote for Communi11t11.'' In Llplany L ettrlch's dlstrlct secretarlate issued a flyer entltled: "Death to the Jews !" In H rabkov bis followers lssued leaflets th at began wlth th e words: " We w ant S lovakia without the Jewa." S lmilar antl-Semltlc slogans were used by Lettrlch' s followers In many other Slovak t owns and vlllages. It ls strange that Dr. Lettrlch never publlcly condemned such utterances and slogana of the election b attle even though the Slovak press polnted to them several tlmes. And lt ls lnterestlng that even other so-called polltlclans of that reglme - and here we a re not thlnklng of some of the pr esent servants of the New Yorkský Dennlk, (such as Beh arka, Blaho and others) - dld not utter a slngle word of protest agalnst the use of antl-Semltlc lnstlncts ln the pre-electlon campalgn of 1946. - (J-9-6-50) . • • • WHO SAID I T? " I have looked with a great deal of satiafaction upon the accomp. li1hment1 of Prealdent Benes and the people of Czechoslovakia shou ld be congra tulated In havlng auch a reaourceful, capable and loyal c it izen, who has CONSE NTEO to continue In servlce. . . . Under his leadershlp the country attained a reputation for SOL IDARITY and aeh ieved 1uccess UNEQUALLEO by any other FREE natlon.'' ( Congressman Adolph J . Sabath, T H E SLAVONI C MONTHLY, SepLember 1945). • " l never deamed Lhat llttle country (Czecho-Slovakla) would fall inlo the clutches or the Communlsts. The CZECHS a lw ays looked to Rusala. . . Russla was the ONLY country trylng to save tbem from Hitler at Munlch. . . . When the Russlan anny drove out Lhe Nazis and Benes was abl e to return. the country was In a serious condltion. The Gennans h ad looted a nd destroyed. Benes dld EVERY· T H ING posslb le, but some peoole were stlll dissatis!led. Tbe Communists took advantage and promisetl they could do better. They made ralse promises:• - (Representative Adolph Sabath, THE WASHINGTON P OST, 3-H -48). • "Dr. Hubert Rlpka, Czecbos lovak Minister or Fore ign T rade, told a rarewell press conference bere (London) today that he did not eon slder the Western Allies' apprebenslon11 that bis country MIGH T BECOME A VASSAL OF THE SOVIET UNION were grounded . . . . He sald lt waa natural t hat Czechoslovakla sbould seek be r secunty pr lmarlly In rrlendsb lp w ltb the Soviet Union . . . " - (NEW YORK TIMES. 4-15-45) . � SLOVAKIA 37 THE CZECHOSWVAKS AND ANTI-SEMITISM ( JK ) The Czechoslovaks (Czech Slovaks) apparently are getting a bit jittery. While the democratlc peoples gradually are findlng out the truth about Czecho-Slovakla and its former Jeaders, who talked democracy but collaborated with Stalin and the Czech Reds, the socalled "Czechoslovaks" are sweating in a desperate attempt to smear all freedom-loving, patriotic Slovaks. Take the NEW YORKSKÝ DENNO< ("Czechoslovak daily pub· lished in Slovak language" ! ) , for example. For the lack of better arguments it has threatened to expose the Slovak patriots - who always fought against Communlsm and for the lnherent and God-given rlghts of their people to freedom and lndependence - as antl-Semites. For the Czechoslovaks, there are no exceptions: all Slova ks, who believe their nation has a right to be free and independent, are collectively and tota lly supposed to be anti-Semites. For those who are familiar with the Slovak questlon, such an accusation is just a plain lie. But while we are on the question of anti-Semitlsm, leťs look at the record of leading Czechoslovaks and see how these recently born "superdemocrats" (People's Democrats) stood on the Jewlsh question in Slovakla. The Czechoslovaks mmally get up in the morning and go to bed at night with the name of T. G. Masaryk on their lips. What he taught, what he wrote and what he said, that for them ls like the Gospel. Well, how did T. G. Masaryk, the so-called "founder" of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, regard the J ews? Dr. Vavro Šrobär wrote a book in 1946. He was one of Masaryk's most loyal servants in Slovakia and one of the leaders of the so-called "glorious Slovak national rebellion" (1944), during which the Slovak public for the flrst time found out that so many of the present "eminent" Czechoslovaks existed. The book, published in Prague, is called "Z môjho života" (From My Life). Masaryk - the teacher, the model and ideologist of the Czechoslovaks - accordlng to the book: "reproached the Jews, because in a Christian world they did not know how to free themselves from the O!d Testament, the Talmud and the Ghetto. T hey are lsolating themselves from all the subjugated natlons and are slding, according to religious precept, wlth the ruling natlons; a.nd in our country that means they are Germanlzlng and Magyarizing." And the teacher and model of Lettrich, Papanek, Slävik and other Slovak renegades continued ln thls manner: "The Jews ot the ghetto are alien to us with their faith, thelr llves, their views, philosophy and sociology; they are isolating themselves so, that we do not understand them, we fear them and do not llke them" (pg. 245). Masaryk, according to Šrobär, "acknowledged that tbe fight agalnst J ewlsb greed, usury and materlalism, agalnst thelr alllance with our enemles, is justified, especlally in Moravia and Slovakla, where in the villages they bave become the ruín of the nalve, gulllble people. Here tbe privlleges of the tavern trades should be taken away from tbem, or tbere sbould b e a Jaw passed which would protect the people agalnst the temptation of alcohollsm and against Jewisb usury" (op. cit. pg. 246). �38 SLOVAKIA And in like manner argued a ll the "salon anti-Semltes." The socalled vulgar antl-Semltes reallzed these salon vlews only la ter on. Šrobár bimself admits in bis book that wben "tbe farmers came to my office to ask me to talk, on sucb occaslons we used to talk pollUcs and I spared nelther omces nor tbe government, not even the Jews" {pg. 383). For Šrobár tbe Jews were the same red clotb as Magyar omces In government. And that is quite a strong word! And the socalled Czechoslovaks (Czecb S lovaks!) in exlle negotlated with sucb an anti-Semite durlng the "revolution" and even after lt! But T. G. i\lasaryk and Vavro šrobár were not the only Czecboslovaks who felt t ha t way about the Israelltes in Slovakia. Dr. J osepb Lettrlch, Vlce-President ot th e Councll of Free Czechoslovakla and former Chairman of both the Slovak Natlonal Councll and the socalled Democratlc Party ot Slovakia, felt ll ke tbat about the J ews, too. In 1945-1946, by Presldentlal decrees the Magyars and the Germans in Czechoslovakia were robbed not only ot tbelr civil rights, but also ot thelr entire wealtb. Naturally, their properties were conflscated wlthout compensatlon. The fate ot the Magyars and Germans was In no manner envlable: they were placed outslde the law, bunted llke wlld beasts and dellvered to tbe rldicule and brutality ot the n ew " P eople's democratlc" admlnistratton. Decent people anywhere could not want such a rate to overtake even thelr worst enemy. At that Ume Dr. Joseph Lettrlch, as presldent ot the Slovak National Council, demanded that the Jews be dealt witb In the same manner as the Germans and Magyars. In 1945, he proclalmerl: "We must endeavor to drive out of our country wlthout mercy the Magyars and Germans. The Jewa, w ho by their sentiment• and thelr language show ay mpathy t o t he Ger mana o r Magyars, we ahall rega rd those Jews as Germa ns a nd Ma gyars and they w lll have t o auffer the fat e of Germans and M agyars." The pettlfoggery of Mr. Lettrich was perfidlous: the great majority of J ews In Slovakla, as a result of the tralning ot previous reglmes, used German and Magyar as thelr languages in thelr homes and buslnesses. The greatest part of the J ews In Slovakla has traditlonal sympathles for the culture and way of llfe ot the Magyars and the Germans. Accordlng to Lettrich's statement In 1945, the overwhelming majority ot the Jews had to be drlven out ot Slovakla. Is it any wonder, then, that some zealous partners ot Lettrlch saw in thls proclamatlon dlrectlves on how "to get rid ot the J ews"? Actually in 1945- 1946, one could often read in the forelgn press a bout "antf-Semltic deeds in Slovakla." In reality nothing else was happening except that the mentloned directfves ot Lettrich were belng applled by bis zealous followers. However, slnce such expresslona were unpleasant to the reglme, they simply blamed all ot tbls on Slovak "tascists." It ls slgnlflcant that not one ot the leadlng politlclans ot tbat reglme In Slovakla - who are now in emlgratlon organized in tbe Councll ot Free Czechoslovakla - dld not conslder lt necessary to protest agalnst thls antf-Semltlc exploslon of Mr. Lettrlch. And tbere are among them even Ruch people who not only were not bis partfsans, but were also bis competltors In seeklng and galnlng for themselves the favor of tbe Prague governments. �SLOVAKIA 39 Slnce the "NEW YORKSKÝ DENNÍK (New York Dally) seems t o be the organ ot the Czechoslovaks, maybe some of h ls people could offer a plau sible explanatlon for Lettrlch's statement. Or dld they agree In the lnnermost parts of thelr souls wlth Lettrich? They were partlclpan ts of power and every polltlcal chlld recognizes the prlnclple: Sllence means agr eement. Before th e 1946 elections Lettrlch's polltlcal campaigners dld not hesltate to use antl•Semltlc slogans just to gain votes tor Lettrlch. For example In the Žilina dlstrlct, Lettrlch' s men scattered leaflets t hat were tltled: " On ly Jews and dogs vote for Communi11t11.'' In Llplany L ettrlch's dlstrlct secretarlate issued a flyer entltled: "Death to the Jews !" In H rabkov bis followers lssued leaflets th at began wlth th e words: " We w ant S lovakia without the Jewa." S lmilar antl-Semltlc slogans were used by Lettrlch' s followers In many other Slovak t owns and vlllages. It ls strange that Dr. Lettrlch never publlcly condemned such utterances and slogana of the election b attle even though the Slovak press polnted to them several tlmes. And lt ls lnterestlng that even other so-called polltlclans of that reglme - and here we a re not thlnklng of some of the pr esent servants of the New Yorkský Dennlk, (such as Beh arka, Blaho and others) - dld not utter a slngle word of protest agalnst the use of antl-Semltlc lnstlncts ln the pre-electlon campalgn of 1946. - (J-9-6-50) . • • • WHO SAID I T? " I have looked with a great deal of satiafaction upon the accomp. li1hment1 of Prealdent Benes and the people of Czechoslovakia shou ld be congra tulated In havlng auch a reaourceful, capable and loyal c it izen, who has CONSE NTEO to continue In servlce. . . . Under his leadershlp the country attained a reputation for SOL IDARITY and aeh ieved 1uccess UNEQUALLEO by any other FREE natlon.'' ( Congressman Adolph J . Sabath, T H E SLAVONI C MONTHLY, SepLember 1945). • " l never deamed Lhat llttle country (Czecho-Slovakla) would fall inlo the clutches or the Communlsts. The CZECHS a lw ays looked to Rusala. . . Russla was the ONLY country trylng to save tbem from Hitler at Munlch. . . . When the Russlan anny drove out Lhe Nazis and Benes was abl e to return. the country was In a serious condltion. The Gennans h ad looted a nd destroyed. Benes dld EVERY· T H ING posslb le, but some peoole were stlll dissatis!led. Tbe Communists took advantage and promisetl they could do better. They made ralse promises:• - (Representative Adolph Sabath, THE WASHINGTON P OST, 3-H -48). • "Dr. Hubert Rlpka, Czecbos lovak Minister or Fore ign T rade, told a rarewell press conference bere (London) today that he did not eon slder the Western Allies' apprebenslon11 that bis country MIGH T BECOME A VASSAL OF THE SOVIET UNION were grounded . . . . He sald lt waa natural t hat Czechoslovakla sbould seek be r secunty pr lmarlly In rrlendsb lp w ltb the Soviet Union . . . " - (NEW YORK TIMES. 4-15-45) . � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1951, Vol. 1 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1951 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 1), May 1951.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 2), December 1951.</li> </ul> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <ul><li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s261hfmshm7</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>ark:/13960/s21tk2wkzj4</span></a></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 37 THE CZECHOSWVAKS AND ANTI-SEMITISM ( JK ) The Czechoslovaks (Czech Slovaks) apparently are getting a bit jittery. While the democratlc peoples gradually are findlng out the truth about Czecho-Slovakla and its former Jeaders, who talked democracy but collaborated with Stalin and the Czech Reds, the socalled "Czechoslovaks" are sweating in a desperate attempt to smear all freedom-loving, patriotic Slovaks. Take the NEW YORKSKÝ DENNO< ("Czechoslovak daily pub· lished in Slovak language" ! ) , for example. For the lack of better arguments it has threatened to expose the Slovak patriots - who always fought against Communlsm and for the lnherent and God-given rlghts of their people to freedom and lndependence - as antl-Semites. For the Czechoslovaks, there are no exceptions: all Slova ks, who believe their nation has a right to be free and independent, are collectively and tota lly supposed to be anti-Semites. For those who are familiar with the Slovak questlon, such an accusation is just a plain lie. But while we are on the question of anti-Semitlsm, leťs look at the record of leading Czechoslovaks and see how these recently born "superdemocrats" (People's Democrats) stood on the Jewlsh question in Slovakla. The Czechoslovaks mmally get up in the morning and go to bed at night with the name of T. G. Masaryk on their lips. What he taught, what he wrote and what he said, that for them ls like the Gospel. Well, how did T. G. Masaryk, the so-called "founder" of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, regard the J ews? Dr. Vavro Šrobär wrote a book in 1946. He was one of Masaryk's most loyal servants in Slovakia and one of the leaders of the so-called "glorious Slovak national rebellion" (1944), during which the Slovak public for the flrst time found out that so many of the present "eminent" Czechoslovaks existed. The book, published in Prague, is called "Z môjho života" (From My Life). Masaryk - the teacher, the model and ideologist of the Czechoslovaks - accordlng to the book: "reproached the Jews, because in a Christian world they did not know how to free themselves from the O!d Testament, the Talmud and the Ghetto. T hey are lsolating themselves from all the subjugated natlons and are slding, according to religious precept, wlth the ruling natlons; a.nd in our country that means they are Germanlzlng and Magyarizing." And the teacher and model of Lettrich, Papanek, Slävik and other Slovak renegades continued ln thls manner: "The Jews ot the ghetto are alien to us with their faith, thelr llves, their views, philosophy and sociology; they are isolating themselves so, that we do not understand them, we fear them and do not llke them" (pg. 245). Masaryk, according to Šrobär, "acknowledged that tbe fight agalnst J ewlsb greed, usury and materlalism, agalnst thelr alllance with our enemles, is justified, especlally in Moravia and Slovakla, where in the villages they bave become the ruín of the nalve, gulllble people. Here tbe privlleges of the tavern trades should be taken away from tbem, or tbere sbould b e a Jaw passed which would protect the people agalnst the temptation of alcohollsm and against Jewisb usury" (op. cit. pg. 246). 38 SLOVAKIA And in like manner argued a ll the "salon anti-Semltes." The socalled vulgar antl-Semltes reallzed these salon vlews only la ter on. Šrobár bimself admits in bis book that wben "tbe farmers came to my office to ask me to talk, on sucb occaslons we used to talk pollUcs and I spared nelther omces nor tbe government, not even the Jews" {pg. 383). For Šrobár tbe Jews were the same red clotb as Magyar omces In government. And that is quite a strong word! And the socalled Czechoslovaks (Czecb S lovaks!) in exlle negotlated with sucb an anti-Semite durlng the "revolution" and even after lt! But T. G. i\lasaryk and Vavro šrobár were not the only Czecboslovaks who felt t ha t way about the Israelltes in Slovakia. Dr. J osepb Lettrlch, Vlce-President ot th e Councll of Free Czechoslovakla and former Chairman of both the Slovak Natlonal Councll and the socalled Democratlc Party ot Slovakia, felt ll ke tbat about the J ews, too. In 1945-1946, by Presldentlal decrees the Magyars and the Germans in Czechoslovakia were robbed not only ot tbelr civil rights, but also ot thelr entire wealtb. Naturally, their properties were conflscated wlthout compensatlon. The fate ot the Magyars and Germans was In no manner envlable: they were placed outslde the law, bunted llke wlld beasts and dellvered to tbe rldicule and brutality ot the n ew " P eople's democratlc" admlnistratton. Decent people anywhere could not want such a rate to overtake even thelr worst enemy. At that Ume Dr. Joseph Lettrlch, as presldent ot the Slovak National Council, demanded that the Jews be dealt witb In the same manner as the Germans and Magyars. In 1945, he proclalmerl: "We must endeavor to drive out of our country wlthout mercy the Magyars and Germans. The Jewa, w ho by their sentiment• and thelr language show ay mpathy t o t he Ger mana o r Magyars, we ahall rega rd those Jews as Germa ns a nd Ma gyars and they w lll have t o auffer the fat e of Germans and M agyars." The pettlfoggery of Mr. Lettrich was perfidlous: the great majority of J ews In Slovakla, as a result of the tralning ot previous reglmes, used German and Magyar as thelr languages in thelr homes and buslnesses. The greatest part of the J ews In Slovakla has traditlonal sympathles for the culture and way of llfe ot the Magyars and the Germans. Accordlng to Lettrich's statement In 1945, the overwhelming majority ot the Jews had to be drlven out ot Slovakla. Is it any wonder, then, that some zealous partners ot Lettrlch saw in thls proclamatlon dlrectlves on how "to get rid ot the J ews"? Actually in 1945- 1946, one could often read in the forelgn press a bout "antf-Semltic deeds in Slovakla." In reality nothing else was happening except that the mentloned directfves ot Lettrich were belng applled by bis zealous followers. However, slnce such expresslona were unpleasant to the reglme, they simply blamed all ot tbls on Slovak "tascists." It ls slgnlflcant that not one ot the leadlng politlclans ot tbat reglme In Slovakla - who are now in emlgratlon organized in tbe Councll ot Free Czechoslovakla - dld not conslder lt necessary to protest agalnst thls antf-Semltlc exploslon of Mr. Lettrlch. And tbere are among them even Ruch people who not only were not bis partfsans, but were also bis competltors In seeklng and galnlng for themselves the favor of tbe Prague governments. SLOVAKIA 39 Slnce the "NEW YORKSKÝ DENNÍK (New York Dally) seems t o be the organ ot the Czechoslovaks, maybe some of h ls people could offer a plau sible explanatlon for Lettrlch's statement. Or dld they agree In the lnnermost parts of thelr souls wlth Lettrich? They were partlclpan ts of power and every polltlcal chlld recognizes the prlnclple: Sllence means agr eement. Before th e 1946 elections Lettrlch's polltlcal campaigners dld not hesltate to use antl•Semltlc slogans just to gain votes tor Lettrlch. For example In the Žilina dlstrlct, Lettrlch' s men scattered leaflets t hat were tltled: " On ly Jews and dogs vote for Communi11t11.'' In Llplany L ettrlch's dlstrlct secretarlate issued a flyer entltled: "Death to the Jews !" In H rabkov bis followers lssued leaflets th at began wlth th e words: " We w ant S lovakia without the Jewa." S lmilar antl-Semltlc slogans were used by Lettrlch' s followers In many other Slovak t owns and vlllages. It ls strange that Dr. Lettrlch never publlcly condemned such utterances and slogana of the election b attle even though the Slovak press polnted to them several tlmes. And lt ls lnterestlng that even other so-called polltlclans of that reglme - and here we a re not thlnklng of some of the pr esent servants of the New Yorkský Dennlk, (such as Beh arka, Blaho and others) - dld not utter a slngle word of protest agalnst the use of antl-Semltlc lnstlncts ln the pre-electlon campalgn of 1946. - (J-9-6-50) . • • • WHO SAID I T? " I have looked with a great deal of satiafaction upon the accomp. li1hment1 of Prealdent Benes and the people of Czechoslovakia shou ld be congra tulated In havlng auch a reaourceful, capable and loyal c it izen, who has CONSE NTEO to continue In servlce. . . . Under his leadershlp the country attained a reputation for SOL IDARITY and aeh ieved 1uccess UNEQUALLEO by any other FREE natlon.'' ( Congressman Adolph J . Sabath, T H E SLAVONI C MONTHLY, SepLember 1945). • " l never deamed Lhat llttle country (Czecho-Slovakla) would fall inlo the clutches or the Communlsts. The CZECHS a lw ays looked to Rusala. . . Russla was the ONLY country trylng to save tbem from Hitler at Munlch. . . . When the Russlan anny drove out Lhe Nazis and Benes was abl e to return. the country was In a serious condltion. The Gennans h ad looted a nd destroyed. Benes dld EVERY· T H ING posslb le, but some peoole were stlll dissatis!led. Tbe Communists took advantage and promisetl they could do better. They made ralse promises:• - (Representative Adolph Sabath, THE WASHINGTON P OST, 3-H -48). • "Dr. Hubert Rlpka, Czecbos lovak Minister or Fore ign T rade, told a rarewell press conference bere (London) today that he did not eon slder the Western Allies' apprebenslon11 that bis country MIGH T BECOME A VASSAL OF THE SOVIET UNION were grounded . . . . He sald lt waa natural t hat Czechoslovakla sbould seek be r secunty pr lmarlly In rrlendsb lp w ltb the Soviet Union . . . " - (NEW YORK TIMES. 4-15-45) .  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Czechoslovaks and Anti-Semitism Description An account of the resource Slovakia, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1), May 1951 pp. 37-39 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 1951 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ae5428178125aeb910bcd7dd99c6ef17.pdf fa604aa054ec872cd30311720bd3078d PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 27 THE CZECHS FOR A CENTRAL EUROPEAN FEDERATION? Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Ozec):l. emigrants publish a neiwsipa,per in Paris. It is called "The Free Tomorrow" (Svobodny zitfek) and is con.. sidered the mouthpiece of Dr. HUibert Riipka, a weiI.Umown newspaper man, who after 194'5 became one Oif Dr. Benes's ministers. In the sll!mmer olf 1949, this neWSlpaiper published am article of Dr. Riipka's that deserives some attention. It g1ves us am. ide,a of what Dr. Riipl{a's ipro,g ram is. And Dr. Ripka is considered a leading Czech emigrant; he is one of those who initiated the so-called "third revolution" on the Continent - in Paris. We recaU that the other two revolutions for Ozecho.-SlOIVakia originated there also,. This gives his article weight, am.d even though 1t may not be tlle credo of the whole of the Czech emig,raition, in sub.stance it does express the tendency of a great part of it. In that article Dr. Riipka made the following noteworthy statement: "During the last war our pro.g ram was: a free CzechoSlovakia in a free Europe. IDven though this motto loses none of its significance today, it is hardly swffic,ient for us by itself. It is necessary to complement it with an idea which would gain for our cause the sympathies of the democratic world. That idea is the idea Oif federation." And Ripka continues: "Masaryk was well aiware that the disintegration of AustriaJlfongary into nationa!l 'states is not, should not be and cannot be the final airrangement of tihe complex conditions in central Euroipe. 'Dhat is why, in his very :f:i-rst messruge to the liberated naJtion in Decemlber 1918, he encouraged it to seek ways to haive the smaller nations of central IDurope become friends and work together. Masaryk recalled the pOilitical program exipressed by Palacky, m w licek, and Saifarik in 1848: a free federation of free and legally equal nations of the Danube basin. AustriaHungary perished because it did not know how to transform itself into such a free federation. But the naitional sovereignties of the individual central European states, estalblished �28 SLOVAKIA in 1918, also collapsed. In 1938-1941 they strocumbed to German imiperialism and, after Hitler's defeat, in the years 1945.J.948 to Soviet iin!Perialism. "These nations cain preserve theiT freedom only iif tJhey UJllite in a free federation which wouJld. be strong enough, in cooperation with a federation of western ElN"ope, to oppose any Gevman da'Illger or Riussian hegemony." Those rure solber words even irf they probalbly are not ba:sed on conJVilction - as judged hy the remark of. Dr-. Ripka's albout the necessity "of gaining the sympaJthies of the demoorat:i.,c world for the Ozeoh cause with the aid of the f ederatilve idea." Crech enrig.vation, in whose naJllle Dr. llipk,a speaks, has thu:s come close to the conceptions that Slovaks hawe promoted and booked from the beginning of World War II -· am intensively especially sinlce its concliusion, if we can really say that it has ended. True, with a fundamental differen,ce. Dr. Ripka taliks a:bout Czecho~Slova!kia, whereas SlovaJks - the vast majority of whom are nationaJ:ly contJal,k albout Slovatkfa scious alnd think as Euro,peams as a legrefily equal central European unit or part of the proposed Erurqpean federation. The return of Coochs to the central European conception wi1Jh the hope m preser.ving C.zecho-SlO!V'aki•a , b.Olwever is not on:1y in oomliict wi,th our views, but differs also from the views m other central European nations and deviates especially from the histork conceiption of a central European federation. In no plan to reooganize central Europe on a federnlistic basis did we meet with a Czech~Slova!k unit until the ~~ond World War, thowgh there were tens ()If sueih plans from Ostrozinsky to Popovi.ci in the last hoo<lred years. None of the promote~s for a federated central Europe demanded this, nor could d~and it, because such a demand was at variance with 1Jhe ethni:c pvindple and the historic principle concerning territories as well. Slovakia prior to 1918 never did belong to the hlistoric Czech lands." 'l'he assertion that the Great Mora,v,ian Empire.was some sort of "Ozecho--Slovaik" state is a histori'C fuble of recent 1 1 �SLOVAKIA 29 date. The trnfill is that the Ozech territory was included in the GreaJt Morruvi.ian Empire only for a short period as a land co:aquered by Svatopluik, the ruler of the Slovalk people, and that Czech princes called the Germans to help them throw off Svatopluk's ruie. Alb.out the ethnieal differenices of the Ozechts and SlovaJks there was no doubt from 1848 and t1mJt is w!hy, for example, Popoviici in his rather ela!borrute wol1k "Die Vereinigiten Staiaten von GrossOestreich" proposes also the Slovak state a;s a mem/ber of the federation. That Riplm's conception spealks aJbOUJt a "Ozechoslovakia" and not even about a "Ozecho-Sfo:v<8Jkia" (Bohemia and SllO'VaJlcia) is in conlfllict, however, even Wii!th the fiumdannental princitPJ.es of federalism. 'Dhe i'dea of federation originated from the needs of securing freedOIIIl for the smaller national, cul:turaA units. that stT-ive to preserrve their dhamcter, their traddtions and indelpeindoot developmenrt. Federation - as Dr. Ripka correctly writes - "does not mean the suppression of independence, but, coruversel~, federation OIIl fille oither hand: ocganizes national soivereignties into a hitgher system founded on the legal equality of i:ts mem.lbers and ruflfo:rds a guarantee of their free intemial development." A Czecho-Slav'8Jkia is indisputaibi,y a negation of the principles of feiderailtism to the SlQi\71aJk DJation. If Dr. Ripka thought a/bouJt SOIIlle !kind of "Czecho-1Slo1V'ak confederation," then fuat would amount to an unreasoniaJble druipliicity: a federation wirbhin a regioina~ federation, wherein the SlD~ vaJk.s would hawe to sulITender some of their S01Vereignty in the interest of ~ho:4SlO'Vaikia and some to the c~trail. EurQpean felde;ration, but without 'benefit oif doufble prirvileges. A thoughtful person undOOibtedly undembaDlds readily that Dr. Ripkia - and with him a definite part of the Ozeohs - is striving to continue the ~istence of Coocho-Slovakia in EUTO(pe or in a federated centra;l Euirope. Whrut nation in the world was not seduced iby :imiperialism ,MlJd, \PI'3-Y, which one would not be, if it found itself in such a goographica!l location amd ipoliti<cal situation as the Owch nation finds itself in today? �30 SLOVAKIA But why should any one who proclaims himself a disciple of freedom and democracy force the Czecho-Slovak State on a nation that does not want to be a part of it? And this at a time when Ire}a,n!d has proclaimed its indelpendooce, when democratic coll!I1tries aJP!prOIVed the establishment of a Jewish Strute, when Indonesia and several countries in Afric,a and India hruve been reicogindzed as independent. And we still rememlber tJhrat the last bloody war wa s fought by pratctica:llry the whole world against the, pohroy of "lebensraum" that d~anded the swppression of the independence of other nations in the interests of some, •~He&erwo~k" ! The Slovaks have had their fill of Magyars, Czechs and Germans and have emphatically stated and proved time and again that they do not want to be a colony of the Czechs. They proclaimed the independence of their country on March 14, 'J 939, and still insist that they want an independent Slovak State. Why, then, not let them have what they are inherently and by God-given right entitled to? In this connection, however, we must _stress t,he fact that the indination of the Oze-c,h s to the idea of a federated centra:l IDurQPe is a departure from the poiliti~al conceptions and practices of Dr. Edward Benes. If there was any one in IDurope during the ipast 30 years who was an enemy of the idea of a federated Europe with his policies, that person was Benes, anything that he might have said to the contrar~ notwithstanding, I1n his boak "Dissertations about Shwdom" (Uvahy o SlOiV'anstvi) , Benes writes a!bout the formation of a central European federation. Hie says: "I do no:t wish to make such politics a:nd I do not wish th'is fate either for the Ozechs or some kind of new SlovaJk state in a central European federation . . . . lnto such a federation the Ozechs never would be ruble to enter. . . . " In another connection he noted the surrender Oif <Swb..Ca:r,pathian Ruthenia to Moscow, not without pe11sonal satiwruction, as "the end of all dreams of some kind of centra:l European federation" (,vd. his ta1k to Lettri~h and associates,, February 18, 1947). Are the Czechs sincere when they talk a!bout a central .European federation? Those for whom Dr. Ripka speallrs rupparenbly are not. They are for any European system that 1 �31 SLOVAKIA would guarantee the existence oif a 0zeicho-Sloivakia in which they would rule. They 3Jre true foUowers oif Benes: If they are for a central Euroq>ean federation, it is only because of political exiped!iency, or, as Ripka himself so a'PtlY put it: "to gain the sympathies of the demo.craitic world for the CZECH caJuse." The Slovaks, on the other hand, are against any and all forms of Czecho-Slovakia - the federation they were forced into against their will. They are stricmgl,y for a '.Central :IDuropean federation in which Sloiva'kia would be an independent ethnic part, independent oif Bohemia and the 0zechs, and an equal among equals. 1 • • • SLOVAKIA'S RIGHT TO BE HEARD Ann Su Cardwell The Slovak nation has a fong and enrv'iaJble record in the :struggle for freedom and the rights O!f man. That struggle continiues, ,w ith the SlovaJks in this country carrying the'ir share of the rbul'den. How clifrfiicwlt they find it I know only too well it:rom actual experience. '!'here were years when getting the trutJh 1before the Amerilca,n reading 'PUIJ:>lic was next to impossi!ble, and those writers who did succeed oocasional,l y were the ,reciipients ,of letters ()If sha11p criticism and even inrveC:ti!ve. On th3Jt point, too, ·I speak out of experience. It is not necessa'I1)' for me to tell the Slova.tks that Americans in generall hawe ,known ail.I too little of SlovaJkia and its pface in Centra!l European lirfe and 'C!iviliization; and if irn Eastern European life, and dvilization, then in that of Western. Eu1:1oipe and America as well. ,F or despite geograiphical distances am.di differences in lamrgruarge and customs, the entire Western world - and hy that I mean all Europe and Amerrea - is bOIUDd together throughout histo!IY to agree that we do not st-Olp to realize. What haipnot hruppen to one ipeorple has its effect upon pens or the rest, though thait effect may be long in beoom:ing manifest. Surely that point does not need argument these days, does � SLOVAKIA 27 THE CZECHS FOR A CENTRAL EUROPEAN FEDERATION? Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Ozec):l. emigrants publish a neiwsipa,per in Paris. It is called "The Free Tomorrow" (Svobodny zitfek) and is con.. sidered the mouthpiece of Dr. HUibert Riipka, a weiI.Umown newspaper man, who after 194'5 became one Oif Dr. Benes's ministers. In the sll!mmer olf 1949, this neWSlpaiper published am article of Dr. Riipka's that deserives some attention. It g1ves us am. ide,a of what Dr. Riipl{a's ipro,g ram is. And Dr. Ripka is considered a leading Czech emigrant; he is one of those who initiated the so-called "third revolution" on the Continent - in Paris. We recaU that the other two revolutions for Ozecho.-SlOIVakia originated there also,. This gives his article weight, am.d even though 1t may not be tlle credo of the whole of the Czech emig,raition, in sub.stance it does express the tendency of a great part of it. In that article Dr. Riipka made the following noteworthy statement: "During the last war our pro.g ram was: a free CzechoSlovakia in a free Europe. IDven though this motto loses none of its significance today, it is hardly swffic,ient for us by itself. It is necessary to complement it with an idea which would gain for our cause the sympathies of the democratic world. That idea is the idea Oif federation." And Ripka continues: "Masaryk was well aiware that the disintegration of AustriaJlfongary into nationa!l 'states is not, should not be and cannot be the final airrangement of tihe complex conditions in central Euroipe. 'Dhat is why, in his very :f:i-rst messruge to the liberated naJtion in Decemlber 1918, he encouraged it to seek ways to haive the smaller nations of central IDurope become friends and work together. Masaryk recalled the pOilitical program exipressed by Palacky, m w licek, and Saifarik in 1848: a free federation of free and legally equal nations of the Danube basin. AustriaHungary perished because it did not know how to transform itself into such a free federation. But the naitional sovereignties of the individual central European states, estalblished �28 SLOVAKIA in 1918, also collapsed. In 1938-1941 they strocumbed to German imiperialism and, after Hitler's defeat, in the years 1945.J.948 to Soviet iin!Perialism. "These nations cain preserve theiT freedom only iif tJhey UJllite in a free federation which wouJld. be strong enough, in cooperation with a federation of western ElN"ope, to oppose any Gevman da'Illger or Riussian hegemony." Those rure solber words even irf they probalbly are not ba:sed on conJVilction - as judged hy the remark of. Dr-. Ripka's albout the necessity "of gaining the sympaJthies of the demoorat:i.,c world for the Ozeoh cause with the aid of the f ederatilve idea." Crech enrig.vation, in whose naJllle Dr. llipk,a speaks, has thu:s come close to the conceptions that Slovaks hawe promoted and booked from the beginning of World War II -· am intensively especially sinlce its concliusion, if we can really say that it has ended. True, with a fundamental differen,ce. Dr. Ripka taliks a:bout Czecho~Slova!kia, whereas SlovaJks - the vast majority of whom are nationaJ:ly contJal,k albout Slovatkfa scious alnd think as Euro,peams as a legrefily equal central European unit or part of the proposed Erurqpean federation. The return of Coochs to the central European conception wi1Jh the hope m preser.ving C.zecho-SlO!V'aki•a , b.Olwever is not on:1y in oomliict wi,th our views, but differs also from the views m other central European nations and deviates especially from the histork conceiption of a central European federation. In no plan to reooganize central Europe on a federnlistic basis did we meet with a Czech~Slova!k unit until the ~~ond World War, thowgh there were tens ()If sueih plans from Ostrozinsky to Popovi.ci in the last hoo<lred years. None of the promote~s for a federated central Europe demanded this, nor could d~and it, because such a demand was at variance with 1Jhe ethni:c pvindple and the historic principle concerning territories as well. Slovakia prior to 1918 never did belong to the hlistoric Czech lands." 'l'he assertion that the Great Mora,v,ian Empire.was some sort of "Ozecho--Slovaik" state is a histori'C fuble of recent 1 1 �SLOVAKIA 29 date. The trnfill is that the Ozech territory was included in the GreaJt Morruvi.ian Empire only for a short period as a land co:aquered by Svatopluik, the ruler of the Slovalk people, and that Czech princes called the Germans to help them throw off Svatopluk's ruie. Alb.out the ethnieal differenices of the Ozechts and SlovaJks there was no doubt from 1848 and t1mJt is w!hy, for example, Popoviici in his rather ela!borrute wol1k "Die Vereinigiten Staiaten von GrossOestreich" proposes also the Slovak state a;s a mem/ber of the federation. That Riplm's conception spealks aJbOUJt a "Ozechoslovakia" and not even about a "Ozecho-Sfo:v<8Jkia" (Bohemia and SllO'VaJlcia) is in conlfllict, however, even Wii!th the fiumdannental princitPJ.es of federalism. 'Dhe i'dea of federation originated from the needs of securing freedOIIIl for the smaller national, cul:turaA units. that stT-ive to preserrve their dhamcter, their traddtions and indelpeindoot developmenrt. Federation - as Dr. Ripka correctly writes - "does not mean the suppression of independence, but, coruversel~, federation OIIl fille oither hand: ocganizes national soivereignties into a hitgher system founded on the legal equality of i:ts mem.lbers and ruflfo:rds a guarantee of their free intemial development." A Czecho-Slav'8Jkia is indisputaibi,y a negation of the principles of feiderailtism to the SlQi\71aJk DJation. If Dr. Ripka thought a/bouJt SOIIlle !kind of "Czecho-1Slo1V'ak confederation," then fuat would amount to an unreasoniaJble druipliicity: a federation wirbhin a regioina~ federation, wherein the SlD~ vaJk.s would hawe to sulITender some of their S01Vereignty in the interest of ~ho:4SlO'Vaikia and some to the c~trail. EurQpean felde;ration, but without 'benefit oif doufble prirvileges. A thoughtful person undOOibtedly undembaDlds readily that Dr. Ripkia - and with him a definite part of the Ozeohs - is striving to continue the ~istence of Coocho-Slovakia in EUTO(pe or in a federated centra;l Euirope. Whrut nation in the world was not seduced iby :imiperialism ,MlJd, \PI'3-Y, which one would not be, if it found itself in such a goographica!l location amd ipoliti<cal situation as the Owch nation finds itself in today? �30 SLOVAKIA But why should any one who proclaims himself a disciple of freedom and democracy force the Czecho-Slovak State on a nation that does not want to be a part of it? And this at a time when Ire}a,n!d has proclaimed its indelpendooce, when democratic coll!I1tries aJP!prOIVed the establishment of a Jewish Strute, when Indonesia and several countries in Afric,a and India hruve been reicogindzed as independent. And we still rememlber tJhrat the last bloody war wa s fought by pratctica:llry the whole world against the, pohroy of "lebensraum" that d~anded the swppression of the independence of other nations in the interests of some, •~He&erwo~k" ! The Slovaks have had their fill of Magyars, Czechs and Germans and have emphatically stated and proved time and again that they do not want to be a colony of the Czechs. They proclaimed the independence of their country on March 14, 'J 939, and still insist that they want an independent Slovak State. Why, then, not let them have what they are inherently and by God-given right entitled to? In this connection, however, we must _stress t,he fact that the indination of the Oze-c,h s to the idea of a federated centra:l IDurQPe is a departure from the poiliti~al conceptions and practices of Dr. Edward Benes. If there was any one in IDurope during the ipast 30 years who was an enemy of the idea of a federated Europe with his policies, that person was Benes, anything that he might have said to the contrar~ notwithstanding, I1n his boak "Dissertations about Shwdom" (Uvahy o SlOiV'anstvi) , Benes writes a!bout the formation of a central European federation. Hie says: "I do no:t wish to make such politics a:nd I do not wish th'is fate either for the Ozechs or some kind of new SlovaJk state in a central European federation . . . . lnto such a federation the Ozechs never would be ruble to enter. . . . " In another connection he noted the surrender Oif <Swb..Ca:r,pathian Ruthenia to Moscow, not without pe11sonal satiwruction, as "the end of all dreams of some kind of centra:l European federation" (,vd. his ta1k to Lettri~h and associates,, February 18, 1947). Are the Czechs sincere when they talk a!bout a central .European federation? Those for whom Dr. Ripka speallrs rupparenbly are not. They are for any European system that 1 �31 SLOVAKIA would guarantee the existence oif a 0zeicho-Sloivakia in which they would rule. They 3Jre true foUowers oif Benes: If they are for a central Euroq>ean federation, it is only because of political exiped!iency, or, as Ripka himself so a'PtlY put it: "to gain the sympathies of the demo.craitic world for the CZECH caJuse." The Slovaks, on the other hand, are against any and all forms of Czecho-Slovakia - the federation they were forced into against their will. They are stricmgl,y for a '.Central :IDuropean federation in which Sloiva'kia would be an independent ethnic part, independent oif Bohemia and the 0zechs, and an equal among equals. 1 • • • SLOVAKIA'S RIGHT TO BE HEARD Ann Su Cardwell The Slovak nation has a fong and enrv'iaJble record in the :struggle for freedom and the rights O!f man. That struggle continiues, ,w ith the SlovaJks in this country carrying the'ir share of the rbul'den. How clifrfiicwlt they find it I know only too well it:rom actual experience. '!'here were years when getting the trutJh 1before the Amerilca,n reading 'PUIJ:>lic was next to impossi!ble, and those writers who did succeed oocasional,l y were the ,reciipients ,of letters ()If sha11p criticism and even inrveC:ti!ve. On th3Jt point, too, ·I speak out of experience. It is not necessa'I1)' for me to tell the Slova.tks that Americans in generall hawe ,known ail.I too little of SlovaJkia and its pface in Centra!l European lirfe and 'C!iviliization; and if irn Eastern European life, and dvilization, then in that of Western. Eu1:1oipe and America as well. ,F or despite geograiphical distances am.di differences in lamrgruarge and customs, the entire Western world - and hy that I mean all Europe and Amerrea - is bOIUDd together throughout histo!IY to agree that we do not st-Olp to realize. What haipnot hruppen to one ipeorple has its effect upon pens or the rest, though thait effect may be long in beoom:ing manifest. Surely that point does not need argument these days, does � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1953, Vol. 3 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 6), April 1953.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 7), July 1953.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 8), September 1953.</li> <li>Issue 4 (No. 9), December 1953.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1953 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 27 THE CZECHS FOR A CENTRAL EUROPEAN FEDERATION? Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Ozec):l. emigrants publish a neiwsipa,per in Paris. It is called "The Free Tomorrow" (Svobodny zitfek) and is con.. sidered the mouthpiece of Dr. HUibert Riipka, a weiI.Umown newspaper man, who after 194'5 became one Oif Dr. Benes's ministers. In the sll!mmer olf 1949, this neWSlpaiper published am article of Dr. Riipka's that deserives some attention. It g1ves us am. ide,a of what Dr. Riipl{a's ipro,g ram is. And Dr. Ripka is considered a leading Czech emigrant; he is one of those who initiated the so-called "third revolution" on the Continent - in Paris. We recaU that the other two revolutions for Ozecho.-SlOIVakia originated there also,. This gives his article weight, am.d even though 1t may not be tlle credo of the whole of the Czech emig,raition, in sub.stance it does express the tendency of a great part of it. In that article Dr. Riipka made the following noteworthy statement: "During the last war our pro.g ram was: a free CzechoSlovakia in a free Europe. IDven though this motto loses none of its significance today, it is hardly swffic,ient for us by itself. It is necessary to complement it with an idea which would gain for our cause the sympathies of the democratic world. That idea is the idea Oif federation." And Ripka continues: "Masaryk was well aiware that the disintegration of AustriaJlfongary into nationa!l 'states is not, should not be and cannot be the final airrangement of tihe complex conditions in central Euroipe. 'Dhat is why, in his very :f:i-rst messruge to the liberated naJtion in Decemlber 1918, he encouraged it to seek ways to haive the smaller nations of central IDurope become friends and work together. Masaryk recalled the pOilitical program exipressed by Palacky, m w licek, and Saifarik in 1848: a free federation of free and legally equal nations of the Danube basin. AustriaHungary perished because it did not know how to transform itself into such a free federation. But the naitional sovereignties of the individual central European states, estalblished 28 SLOVAKIA in 1918, also collapsed. In 1938-1941 they strocumbed to German imiperialism and, after Hitler's defeat, in the years 1945.J.948 to Soviet iin!Perialism. "These nations cain preserve theiT freedom only iif tJhey UJllite in a free federation which wouJld. be strong enough, in cooperation with a federation of western ElN"ope, to oppose any Gevman da'Illger or Riussian hegemony." Those rure solber words even irf they probalbly are not ba:sed on conJVilction - as judged hy the remark of. Dr-. Ripka's albout the necessity "of gaining the sympaJthies of the demoorat:i.,c world for the Ozeoh cause with the aid of the f ederatilve idea." Crech enrig.vation, in whose naJllle Dr. llipk,a speaks, has thu:s come close to the conceptions that Slovaks hawe promoted and booked from the beginning of World War II -· am intensively especially sinlce its concliusion, if we can really say that it has ended. True, with a fundamental differen,ce. Dr. Ripka taliks a:bout Czecho~Slova!kia, whereas SlovaJks - the vast majority of whom are nationaJ:ly contJal,k albout Slovatkfa scious alnd think as Euro,peams as a legrefily equal central European unit or part of the proposed Erurqpean federation. The return of Coochs to the central European conception wi1Jh the hope m preser.ving C.zecho-SlO!V'aki•a , b.Olwever is not on:1y in oomliict wi,th our views, but differs also from the views m other central European nations and deviates especially from the histork conceiption of a central European federation. In no plan to reooganize central Europe on a federnlistic basis did we meet with a Czech~Slova!k unit until the ~~ond World War, thowgh there were tens ()If sueih plans from Ostrozinsky to Popovi.ci in the last hoo<lred years. None of the promote~s for a federated central Europe demanded this, nor could d~and it, because such a demand was at variance with 1Jhe ethni:c pvindple and the historic principle concerning territories as well. Slovakia prior to 1918 never did belong to the hlistoric Czech lands." 'l'he assertion that the Great Mora,v,ian Empire.was some sort of "Ozecho--Slovaik" state is a histori'C fuble of recent 1 1 SLOVAKIA 29 date. The trnfill is that the Ozech territory was included in the GreaJt Morruvi.ian Empire only for a short period as a land co:aquered by Svatopluik, the ruler of the Slovalk people, and that Czech princes called the Germans to help them throw off Svatopluk's ruie. Alb.out the ethnieal differenices of the Ozechts and SlovaJks there was no doubt from 1848 and t1mJt is w!hy, for example, Popoviici in his rather ela!borrute wol1k "Die Vereinigiten Staiaten von GrossOestreich" proposes also the Slovak state a;s a mem/ber of the federation. That Riplm's conception spealks aJbOUJt a "Ozechoslovakia" and not even about a "Ozecho-Sfo:v<8Jkia" (Bohemia and SllO'VaJlcia) is in conlfllict, however, even Wii!th the fiumdannental princitPJ.es of federalism. 'Dhe i'dea of federation originated from the needs of securing freedOIIIl for the smaller national, cul:turaA units. that stT-ive to preserrve their dhamcter, their traddtions and indelpeindoot developmenrt. Federation - as Dr. Ripka correctly writes - "does not mean the suppression of independence, but, coruversel~, federation OIIl fille oither hand: ocganizes national soivereignties into a hitgher system founded on the legal equality of i:ts mem.lbers and ruflfo:rds a guarantee of their free intemial development." A Czecho-Slav'8Jkia is indisputaibi,y a negation of the principles of feiderailtism to the SlQi\71aJk DJation. If Dr. Ripka thought a/bouJt SOIIlle !kind of "Czecho-1Slo1V'ak confederation," then fuat would amount to an unreasoniaJble druipliicity: a federation wirbhin a regioina~ federation, wherein the SlD~ vaJk.s would hawe to sulITender some of their S01Vereignty in the interest of ~ho:4SlO'Vaikia and some to the c~trail. EurQpean felde;ration, but without 'benefit oif doufble prirvileges. A thoughtful person undOOibtedly undembaDlds readily that Dr. Ripkia - and with him a definite part of the Ozeohs - is striving to continue the ~istence of Coocho-Slovakia in EUTO(pe or in a federated centra;l Euirope. Whrut nation in the world was not seduced iby :imiperialism ,MlJd, \PI'3-Y, which one would not be, if it found itself in such a goographica!l location amd ipoliti<cal situation as the Owch nation finds itself in today? 30 SLOVAKIA But why should any one who proclaims himself a disciple of freedom and democracy force the Czecho-Slovak State on a nation that does not want to be a part of it? And this at a time when Ire}a,n!d has proclaimed its indelpendooce, when democratic coll!I1tries aJP!prOIVed the establishment of a Jewish Strute, when Indonesia and several countries in Afric,a and India hruve been reicogindzed as independent. And we still rememlber tJhrat the last bloody war wa s fought by pratctica:llry the whole world against the, pohroy of "lebensraum" that d~anded the swppression of the independence of other nations in the interests of some, •~He&erwo~k" ! The Slovaks have had their fill of Magyars, Czechs and Germans and have emphatically stated and proved time and again that they do not want to be a colony of the Czechs. They proclaimed the independence of their country on March 14, 'J 939, and still insist that they want an independent Slovak State. Why, then, not let them have what they are inherently and by God-given right entitled to? In this connection, however, we must _stress t,he fact that the indination of the Oze-c,h s to the idea of a federated centra:l IDurQPe is a departure from the poiliti~al conceptions and practices of Dr. Edward Benes. If there was any one in IDurope during the ipast 30 years who was an enemy of the idea of a federated Europe with his policies, that person was Benes, anything that he might have said to the contrar~ notwithstanding, I1n his boak "Dissertations about Shwdom" (Uvahy o SlOiV'anstvi) , Benes writes a!bout the formation of a central European federation. Hie says: "I do no:t wish to make such politics a:nd I do not wish th'is fate either for the Ozechs or some kind of new SlovaJk state in a central European federation . . . . lnto such a federation the Ozechs never would be ruble to enter. . . . " In another connection he noted the surrender Oif <Swb..Ca:r,pathian Ruthenia to Moscow, not without pe11sonal satiwruction, as "the end of all dreams of some kind of centra:l European federation" (,vd. his ta1k to Lettri~h and associates,, February 18, 1947). Are the Czechs sincere when they talk a!bout a central .European federation? Those for whom Dr. Ripka speallrs rupparenbly are not. They are for any European system that 1 31 SLOVAKIA would guarantee the existence oif a 0zeicho-Sloivakia in which they would rule. They 3Jre true foUowers oif Benes: If they are for a central Euroq>ean federation, it is only because of political exiped!iency, or, as Ripka himself so a'PtlY put it: "to gain the sympathies of the demo.craitic world for the CZECH caJuse." The Slovaks, on the other hand, are against any and all forms of Czecho-Slovakia - the federation they were forced into against their will. They are stricmgl,y for a '.Central :IDuropean federation in which Sloiva'kia would be an independent ethnic part, independent oif Bohemia and the 0zechs, and an equal among equals. 1 • • • SLOVAKIA'S RIGHT TO BE HEARD Ann Su Cardwell The Slovak nation has a fong and enrv'iaJble record in the :struggle for freedom and the rights O!f man. That struggle continiues, ,w ith the SlovaJks in this country carrying the'ir share of the rbul'den. How clifrfiicwlt they find it I know only too well it:rom actual experience. '!'here were years when getting the trutJh 1before the Amerilca,n reading 'PUIJ:>lic was next to impossi!ble, and those writers who did succeed oocasional,l y were the ,reciipients ,of letters ()If sha11p criticism and even inrveC:ti!ve. On th3Jt point, too, ·I speak out of experience. It is not necessa'I1)' for me to tell the Slova.tks that Americans in generall hawe ,known ail.I too little of SlovaJkia and its pface in Centra!l European lirfe and 'C!iviliization; and if irn Eastern European life, and dvilization, then in that of Western. Eu1:1oipe and America as well. ,F or despite geograiphical distances am.di differences in lamrgruarge and customs, the entire Western world - and hy that I mean all Europe and Amerrea - is bOIUDd together throughout histo!IY to agree that we do not st-Olp to realize. What haipnot hruppen to one ipeorple has its effect upon pens or the rest, though thait effect may be long in beoom:ing manifest. Surely that point does not need argument these days, does  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Czechs for a Central European Federation? Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 3, No. 4 (9), December 1953 pp. 27-31 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1953 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ad754c17ffd0726b669df45a412ffa67.pdf 626587d3cc501b645608829879b6d94f PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 129 The Declining Democratic Facade: Czecho-Slovakia 1948-1960* The two constitutions of Czecho-Slovakia enacted by the Communist regime were the Ninth-of-May Constitution of 1948 and the recent Soviet-model Constitution of 1960. Granted that these two constitutions of a Soviet satellite country are anything but the binding fundamental laws that constitute our Western idea of a constitution, still, the difference between these two documents epitomizes the extent to which Czecho-Slovakia's political institutions have been sovietized during the twelve years that separate the Ninth-of-May Constitution and its 1960 successor. It is somewhat ironical to consider constitutions of communist dictatorial systems because in the first place it is enigma why these rulers care to have any written constitution at all. The decisions that arise, usually are made within the supreme party organization. Members of this body are in control of everything in every part of the country and in every segment of life. The communists insist on limiting its own powers, by elaborate systems of constitutional prescriptions and restrictions that are protected legally, but this is only to say that this system operates nominally. The reasons which underlie the Czecho-Slovak communist philosophy of constitutionalism are much the same as those in Soviet Union and in other "people's demo- * The purpose of the study is to examine the forced decline of so-called democracy in Czecho-Slovakia. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the wording of the Bill of Rights of both the 1948 and 1960 Constitutions. Rather than repeat in footnotes unduly on each page, it is simpler to state that all quotes on pages three to six are from the 1948 Costitution of Czecho-Slovakia which is given in Slovakia-A Political History 1918-1950 by Joseph Mikus. Quotes from pages six to ten are from the Constitution drafted on November, 1960. More implicit than explicit, the Constitution forms are much more emergent in 1960 than in the twelve years previous. �130 SLOVAKIA cracies." It is one of the basic maxims of Marxist-Leninist teaching on the relations between the Party and the State that the Party makes policy, that it guides and controls but does not directly carry out its decisions. So, for that reason, the party has a machinery of government separation on the party apparatus and continues to maintain it until the State "withers away." Therefore the Constitution serves a function which the dictatorship of the proletariat operates. No political system, it seems, misuses the concept of popular sovereignity more than the regime of Marxist-Leninism, and Czecho-Slovakia proves to be no exception. "The people are the master in this country. The people, liberated, politically, socially, and economically thus attain through a new Constitution a permanent guarantee of their full and real freedom." "The new Constitution guarantees that the will of the people will henceforth be the law of the country." Both the Ninth-of-May Constitution and the new Constitution of 1960 abound with references to the "people". As in the American Constitution, the introductory "We the People" formula is used and "the people" or the "working people" are designed as the sole source of all power. The reason for this illusion that the Communists try t0 create in that they alone are the servants of too people and worthy of complete confidence is probably the main reason for having this constitution. But it is not our main concern here to examine and analyze the Constitution of 1948 and 1960 in totality or to find in what they differ or in what they are similar. The Communists themselves have stated, referring to the 1948 Constitution, that "our new Constitution will contain two component parts" from the West and the East. It will be our concern to take a specific section, the Bill of Rights, and analyze the forms in the 1948 and the 1960 Constitutions respectively. The crisis of the Third Czecho-Slovak Republic of February 1948 was unleashed by the problem of the new Constitution. The conceptions of the parties confronting one another on fundamental principles were in such opposition that normal political activity had been practically paralyzed by the Communist veto. Communist legal technicians needed only two and a half months to perfect all of the details of the fundamental �SLOVAKIA 131 law. On May 9, 1948, the Constitution was unanimously voted upon by the 246 deputies present. At the solemn session of the National Assembly in the coronation room of the Hradcany Castle in Prague, Prime Minister Gottwald declared that, without the Soviet Union, the setting in motion of the Constitution would have been impossible. The Bill of Rights of the Ninth-of-May Constitution, was heavily loaded with Soviet-style additions and deletions, although, more often than not, it used the democratic wording of the 1920 Czecho-Slovak Constitution. In the first chapter of the Constitution, all the traditional liberties of the citizens were enumerated; equality before the law, liberty of person, liberty of domicile, privacy of correspondence and communications, liberty of place, liberty of patrimony, protection of family and youth, rights to an education, liberty of conscience and confession, liberty of expression and protection of cultural assets, right to petition, right of meeting and association, social rights. In line with the Soviet example, political rights were supplemented with social rights in the Constitution, such as the right to work, to leisure, to just renunciation of work, and to protection of health. While the inclusion of these social rights in the Constitution proper was generally welcomed by the people, the same could not be said of other Eastern admixtures which took the heart out of most of the freedoms that were so solemnly guaranteed. Certain discreet limitations were provided. No one can be arrested if he is not caught in the act, except on a judge's warrant, written and justified. The warrant must be delivered at ,t he time of the arrest and, if possible, within the following forty-eight hours. (Art. 3, §2) No one is to be imprisoned outside of cases provided for by law; every person must either be released within the forty-eight hours following his imprisonment or else referred to the court or authority competent to carry on the proceedings. (Art. 3, §3) For police agents who wished to effect a visit, a search or a confiscation of certain objects in the domicile of a citizen, it was sufficient "to present a written and justified order delivered by a judge or a public authority within the forty-eight hours following." (art. 5, sec. 2 and 3) These �132 SLOVAKIA warrants which authorized searches were to be issued, of course, not exclusively by a judge but also by other "competent authority." The constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press was virtually nullified by a provision that left it to the state to decide who should publish papers and periodicals and under what conditions, as well as to determine "the manner and planned direction of the issue and the distribution of non-periodical publications." Nor was a situation made any better by the monopoly conferred by the state in the field of motion pictures, television and radio broadcasting. "Films, radio broadcasting and television become the exclusive domain of the State." (art.22) Except for the generally insignificant right to petition, the exercise of civil rights was subject to further definition or regulation by the laws to be issued. Therefore, the Bill of Rights in the Ninth-of-May Constitution proved to be a bare skeleton that left the decision-making and enforcement to the communist-dominated national assembly. The Communist Constitution draftsmen made it a Constitutional duty of every citizen to be loyal not only to the Republic, obliged to uphold the Constitution and to obey any call to the defense of the State, but also to "observe in all its actions, the interests of the State, to assist and maintain the furthemnce of the national property and to guard against its being diminished" by the following which puts the citizen on his guard regarding any other than a materialistic philosophy: "No conception of the world, no faith or conviction can bear prejudice to any one, nor can it constitute a sufficient reason to refuse to fulfill a duty imposed by the law." (Art. 15, §2) They were very efficient in balancing the right to work with the duty to work: Each citizen is endowed with the right to work; each citizen also has the duty to work in the interest of the community, according to his capacity. (Art. 26 and 32) According to article 25, workmen were allowed to group themselves into a unified trade union organization in order to defend their interests. Since this organization had been in the hands of Communists since 1945, the �SLOVAKIA 133 workmen had therefore only to accept its constitutional character. Joseph A. Mikus in Slovakia-A Political History 19181950 says it most pointedly and with grim humor, although no humor is really intended: "Furthermore, in fact, it was not possible for workmen to remain outside of this organization. A variety o! administrative pressures were exerted to persuade the workers to join it freely." 1 Finally, in order that the Bill of Rights not to be misunderstood, they added to it a broadly phrased warning that "Statements and acts that constitute a treat to the independence, the totality and unity of the State, to the Constitution, the Republican form of government, and the People's Democratic Order are punishable by law and the misuse of civil rights and liberties to such ends is inadmissable." Furthermore they provided in a clause, so elastic that it could be stretched limitlessly, for a further restriction o! citizens' rights and liberties in time of war "when events occur that threaten in increased measure the independence, totality, unity o! State, Constitution, the Republican form of government and the People's Democratic order or public law and order." (art. 38) In the last analysis, the Ninth-of-May Constitution was a Janus-like creature with one face toward the East and the other looking nostalgically to the West. Considering the circumstances under which it was adopted, it was a remarkably moderate document. Having just overcome their opponents and acquired absolute power within Czechoslovakia, the Communist leaders could have promulgated a full-pledged Soviet style constitution. Instead, they decided to display some unusual restraint and create a fundamental law in which Western elements clearly predominated over the transplants from t:ae East. In spite of Communist interpretation, the frequent use of uniquely democratic phraseology is surprising. This is mentioned in order to provide a better concept to the Bill of Rights in the Ninth-of-May Constitution. While there were many loopholes that vitiated the value of many of the Constitution's guarantees, especially in the field of �134 SLOVAKIA civil rights, there were relatively few positive provisions that could be said to infringe upon the basic principles of democratic rule. The worst violation of democracy was in the overall, intent of the Ninth-of-May Constitution, in its interpretation, and in the way in which it was applied by the Communist leaders, rather than in the letter of the Constitution itself. Despite the rumors which predicted its premature end, the Ninth-of-May Constitution remained in force for more than twelve years. It was not until the fall of 1959, that the KSC (Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia) decided to replace it with a new fundamental law. On April 19, 1960, the draft of a new Constitution was published as a special supplement to the Party's daily Rude Prdvo. It was approved without opposition by a national Party conferences in July, 1960, and passed unanimously by the National Assembly on July 11, 1960. The basic reason for the replacement of the Ninth-ofMay Constitution with the new "socialist" constitution of 1960 stems from the re~ime's claim of a "virtual completion of socialist construction" in Czecho-Slovakia. The preamble of the Constitution proclaims that"Socialism has triumphed in our country!" "We have entered a new stage in our history, and we are determined to go forward to new and still higher goals. While completing the socialist construction of our country, we are proceeding towards the construction of an advanced socialist society and gathering strength for the transition to communism." (Declaration No. I, p. 41) And so with this change came a corresponding modification in the constitutional framework. In the twelve years of communist control, life in Czecho-Slovakia had outgrown the moderate clauses of the Ninth-of-May Constitution. By 1955-1960, conditions were so outrageously different from what the Constitution had specified, that if a change in the constitution had not been implemented, it would be a farce providing occasions for open ridicule and disrespect. The process of sovietization of civil rights, begun in 1948 was completed in the Constitution of 1960. While the civil rights clauses of the Ninth-of-May Constitution sound- �SLOVAKIA 135 ed like a distant echo of the democratic past, their 1960 version carries an unmistakable made-in-Moscow trade mark. The Czecho-Slovak Bill of Rights like its Soviet model emphasizes economic and social rights. According to article 21: All citizens shall have the right to work and to renumeration for work done according to its quantity, quality and social importance. Article 22: All working people shall have the right to leisure after work. Article 23: All working people have the right to the protection of their health and to medical care, and to material security in old age and when incapable to work and Article 24: All citizens shall have the right to education. Further on in this article is the statement that The State shall ensure citizens of Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish nationality every opportunity and all means for education in their mother tongue and for their cultural development. After reading in the beginning of the Declaration: "The two nations, Czechs and Slovaks, which created the CzechoSlovak Republic, live in fraternal harmony" one cannot help wondering why the Slovaks were not mentioned in the above article also. After stipulating the above mentioned articles on economic and social rights, the Bill of Rights on the other hand de-emphasizes civil rights proper. Thus it elevates above all the others, the duty and the right to work, as article 19 states: "In a society of working people an individual can attain the fullest development of his capabilities and the realization of his legitimate interests only through active participation in the development of his society, particularly through an appropriate share in social work. Therefore, work for the benefit of the whole is the foremost duty, and the right to work is the foremost right of every citizen." Ii:iterestingly enough there was no mention of workers right to join a union as in the 1948 Constitution. Similarly, in guaranteeing basic political freedoms of speech and assembly, the 1960 Constitution adopts a Soviet strategem of binding them all together in one notorious phrase "in conformity with the interests of the working people, these freedoms shall be guaranteed to all citizens." Also, in contrast to its 1948 predecessor, it no longer contains specific guarantees of freedom of association, �136 SLOVAKIA creative work, and scientific research. Nor does it include the limited habeas corpus provision found in the Ninth-ofMay Constitution. · The Constitution provides for religious freedom but nullifies the practice of religion by declaring that "religious faith or conviction shall not constitute grounds for anyone to refuse to fulfill the civic duties laid upon him by law." (art. 32, §2) We may thus conclude that the entire 1960 Bill of Rights is riddled with various restrictive clauses which negate whatever value the constitutional guarantees of citizens' civil rights may have been. These, of course, are found towards the end of the pages of the Bill of Rights. Among manifold duties, it imposes upon the Czecho-Slovak citizens such obligations as Article 34: "Citizens shall be in duty bound to uphold the Constitution and other laws, and in all their actions to pay heed to the interests of the socialist State and society of the working people." "Citizens shall be bound in duty to protect and strengthen socialist ownership as the inviolable foundation of socialist order and the source of the welfare of the working people, the wealth and strength of the country and finally to abide by the rules of socialist life." This strong emphasis on the duties of citizens toward society is, of course, the logical outgrowth of the Communist concept of the subordination of the individual to collective interests. The Czecho-Slovak constitution-makers stood on solid ideological ground when they placed a basic clause to that effect at the very head of their new Bill of Rights: "In society of the working people, where exploitation of man by man is abolished, the development of the interests of each member of the society are in harmony with the development and interests of the society as a whole." Besides seeing this as being good Marxism-Leninism, we. may look upon the clause as meant also to serve for the additional limitation of individual rights. As explained by a member of the commission for the preparation of the 1960 Constitution, the said clause "gives a directive in the interpretation of various provisions regarding the citizens' rights and duties in case someone would want to misuse his right contrary to the interests of the whole and to the detriment of the society." 2 �SLOVAKIA 137 In 1948 the Communist party, yet unsure of its power, phrased a Constitution that, though impotent, promised freedom and individual endeavors. The constitution was not effected and the absolute power of the state, masked by phrases like "except," or "in case of," "however" and "only if", was nonetheless manifest. By 1960 the Communist party, now firmly entrenched, was strong enough to issue a new Constitution, without the democratic trappings that were featured in 1948. Here the power of the state was confirmed and the use of democratic phrases was reduced to a minimum. Even though there are liberties that are, if nothing else, only nominally expressed in the 1948 Constitution, nevertheless, they suggest a democratic form. There is in general, liberty of person, liberty of domicile, personal :privacy and assurance of secrecy in correspondence and communications. In the 1960 Constitution there is no mention of these. In the 1948 Constitution there is the protection of family and youth, the right to education and liberty of conscience and confession and the liberty of expression and protection of cultural assets. The 1960 Constitution disregards these. In 1960, motherhood, marriage and the family are to to the extent that the state is to give special health care during pregnancy and confinement. Freedom of expression, speech, p.ress all must be consistent with the interests of the working people. These freedoms are given mainly for thQ economic and cultural development of the state. be protected by the State. Provision is made even With the right of meeting and association provided in the 1948 Constitution, there was the so-called trade union organization which existed for the benefit of workers' interests but there is no mention of this in the 1960 Constitution. In the matter of arrest within a specified time lapse in the 1948 Constitution there is no such reference in 1960. Offenders often were punished only by due process of law. �138 SLOVAKIA No longer was a person educated freely but by 1960, education was compulsory and was based on a scientific world outlook and on close ties between school life and the work of the people. Finally in the 1948 Constitution the phrases that nullified each of the freedoms were dispersed throughout the Bill of Rights in a more or less disguised manner. But in the 1960 Constitution the Communist state no longer needed this subterfuge and the articles were lifted; the "guaranteed" freedoms are expressed and positioned obviously and boldly at the conclusion of the Bill of Rights. Although liberal in statement, they are rather explicit in the actions they demand. "Citizens shall be in duty bound to serve in the armed forces" (art. 37) "Citizens shall be in duty bound to protect and strengthen socialist ownership" (art. 35) "The decency of the country and its socialist social order shall be the supreme duty of every citizen." (art. 36) Having gone through this work then, and being familiar with the country itself, this writer finds it transparent that the democratic facade of the 1948 Constitution is stripped away from the sovietized constitution of 1960. Thus the new constitution of the Czecho-Slovak Socialist Republic, as Czecho-Slovakia has been renamed after the Soviet occupation, and the manner in which the Bill of Rights contrasts with the Ninth-of-May Constitution of 1948, reflect with considerable accuracy the extent to which Czecho-Slovakia's political body has been sovietized in the twelve years that separate the two fundamental laws. s. J.B. FOOTNOTES 1) Joseph A. Mikus, Slovakiar-A Political History 1918-1950 (Milwau- kee: Marquette University Press, 1963), p. 229. 2) Edward Taborsky, Communism in Czechoslovakia 1948-1960 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961), p. 182. �SLOVAKIA 139 BIBLIOGRAPHY Borsody, Stephen: The Tragedy of Central Europe. New York, Collier Books, c1960. The Constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic, Prague, Orbis, 1960. <".:ulen, Konstantin: Vznik a zanik Demokratickej strany na Slovensku. (The Rise and the Decline of the Democratic Party in Slovakia.) Middletown, Pa., 1950. Dobis, P. G.: Slovensko vo svetle historickych udalosti. 1900-1970. (Slovakia in the Light of Historical Events. 1900-1970). Rakusko, vlastnym nakladom, 1971. t>urcansky, Ferdinand:Pravo Slovakov na samostatnost'. Vo svetle dokumentov. Biela Kniha. (The Right of the Slovak Nation to Autonomy. In the light of historic documents. The White Book.) Buenos Aires, Slovensky oslobodzovaci vybor, 1954. Facts about Czechoslovakia. Prague, Orbis, 1962. Glaser, Kurt: The Iron Curtain and American Policy. Washington, D. C., Public Affairs Press, cl953. Kirschbaum, Joseph M.: Neis boj o samostatnost' Slovenska. Cleveland, The Slovak Institute, 1958. (Our Struggle for the Independence of Slovakia.) An Outline of Slovakia's Struggle for Independence. 2d ed. Toronto, The Canadian Slovak League, 1964. Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York, Robert Speller, c1960. Memorandum of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America to the State Department of the United States. April 25, 1951. Mikus, Joseph A.: Slovakia-A Political History. 1918-1949. Milwaukee, Marquette University Press, 1949. Rudinsky, Jozef F .: ceskoslovensky stat a Slovenska Republika. (The Czechoslovak State and the Slovak Republic.) Munich, Akademischer Verlag Dr. Peter Belej, 1968. Shub, Anatole: An Empire Loses Hope. New York, W. W. Norton, c1970. Sidor, Karol : Moje poznamky k historickym dnom. (My observations on the historic days.) Do tlace pripravil F . Vnuk. Middletown, Pa. Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, 1971. Sprinc, Mikulas: Slovenska republika. (The Slovak Republic.) Scranton, Obr ana , 1949. � SLOVAKIA 129 The Declining Democratic Facade: Czecho-Slovakia 1948-1960* The two constitutions of Czecho-Slovakia enacted by the Communist regime were the Ninth-of-May Constitution of 1948 and the recent Soviet-model Constitution of 1960. Granted that these two constitutions of a Soviet satellite country are anything but the binding fundamental laws that constitute our Western idea of a constitution, still, the difference between these two documents epitomizes the extent to which Czecho-Slovakia's political institutions have been sovietized during the twelve years that separate the Ninth-of-May Constitution and its 1960 successor. It is somewhat ironical to consider constitutions of communist dictatorial systems because in the first place it is enigma why these rulers care to have any written constitution at all. The decisions that arise, usually are made within the supreme party organization. Members of this body are in control of everything in every part of the country and in every segment of life. The communists insist on limiting its own powers, by elaborate systems of constitutional prescriptions and restrictions that are protected legally, but this is only to say that this system operates nominally. The reasons which underlie the Czecho-Slovak communist philosophy of constitutionalism are much the same as those in Soviet Union and in other "people's demo- * The purpose of the study is to examine the forced decline of so-called democracy in Czecho-Slovakia. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the wording of the Bill of Rights of both the 1948 and 1960 Constitutions. Rather than repeat in footnotes unduly on each page, it is simpler to state that all quotes on pages three to six are from the 1948 Costitution of Czecho-Slovakia which is given in Slovakia-A Political History 1918-1950 by Joseph Mikus. Quotes from pages six to ten are from the Constitution drafted on November, 1960. More implicit than explicit, the Constitution forms are much more emergent in 1960 than in the twelve years previous. �130 SLOVAKIA cracies." It is one of the basic maxims of Marxist-Leninist teaching on the relations between the Party and the State that the Party makes policy, that it guides and controls but does not directly carry out its decisions. So, for that reason, the party has a machinery of government separation on the party apparatus and continues to maintain it until the State "withers away." Therefore the Constitution serves a function which the dictatorship of the proletariat operates. No political system, it seems, misuses the concept of popular sovereignity more than the regime of Marxist-Leninism, and Czecho-Slovakia proves to be no exception. "The people are the master in this country. The people, liberated, politically, socially, and economically thus attain through a new Constitution a permanent guarantee of their full and real freedom." "The new Constitution guarantees that the will of the people will henceforth be the law of the country." Both the Ninth-of-May Constitution and the new Constitution of 1960 abound with references to the "people". As in the American Constitution, the introductory "We the People" formula is used and "the people" or the "working people" are designed as the sole source of all power. The reason for this illusion that the Communists try t0 create in that they alone are the servants of too people and worthy of complete confidence is probably the main reason for having this constitution. But it is not our main concern here to examine and analyze the Constitution of 1948 and 1960 in totality or to find in what they differ or in what they are similar. The Communists themselves have stated, referring to the 1948 Constitution, that "our new Constitution will contain two component parts" from the West and the East. It will be our concern to take a specific section, the Bill of Rights, and analyze the forms in the 1948 and the 1960 Constitutions respectively. The crisis of the Third Czecho-Slovak Republic of February 1948 was unleashed by the problem of the new Constitution. The conceptions of the parties confronting one another on fundamental principles were in such opposition that normal political activity had been practically paralyzed by the Communist veto. Communist legal technicians needed only two and a half months to perfect all of the details of the fundamental �SLOVAKIA 131 law. On May 9, 1948, the Constitution was unanimously voted upon by the 246 deputies present. At the solemn session of the National Assembly in the coronation room of the Hradcany Castle in Prague, Prime Minister Gottwald declared that, without the Soviet Union, the setting in motion of the Constitution would have been impossible. The Bill of Rights of the Ninth-of-May Constitution, was heavily loaded with Soviet-style additions and deletions, although, more often than not, it used the democratic wording of the 1920 Czecho-Slovak Constitution. In the first chapter of the Constitution, all the traditional liberties of the citizens were enumerated; equality before the law, liberty of person, liberty of domicile, privacy of correspondence and communications, liberty of place, liberty of patrimony, protection of family and youth, rights to an education, liberty of conscience and confession, liberty of expression and protection of cultural assets, right to petition, right of meeting and association, social rights. In line with the Soviet example, political rights were supplemented with social rights in the Constitution, such as the right to work, to leisure, to just renunciation of work, and to protection of health. While the inclusion of these social rights in the Constitution proper was generally welcomed by the people, the same could not be said of other Eastern admixtures which took the heart out of most of the freedoms that were so solemnly guaranteed. Certain discreet limitations were provided. No one can be arrested if he is not caught in the act, except on a judge's warrant, written and justified. The warrant must be delivered at ,t he time of the arrest and, if possible, within the following forty-eight hours. (Art. 3, §2) No one is to be imprisoned outside of cases provided for by law; every person must either be released within the forty-eight hours following his imprisonment or else referred to the court or authority competent to carry on the proceedings. (Art. 3, §3) For police agents who wished to effect a visit, a search or a confiscation of certain objects in the domicile of a citizen, it was sufficient "to present a written and justified order delivered by a judge or a public authority within the forty-eight hours following." (art. 5, sec. 2 and 3) These �132 SLOVAKIA warrants which authorized searches were to be issued, of course, not exclusively by a judge but also by other "competent authority." The constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press was virtually nullified by a provision that left it to the state to decide who should publish papers and periodicals and under what conditions, as well as to determine "the manner and planned direction of the issue and the distribution of non-periodical publications." Nor was a situation made any better by the monopoly conferred by the state in the field of motion pictures, television and radio broadcasting. "Films, radio broadcasting and television become the exclusive domain of the State." (art.22) Except for the generally insignificant right to petition, the exercise of civil rights was subject to further definition or regulation by the laws to be issued. Therefore, the Bill of Rights in the Ninth-of-May Constitution proved to be a bare skeleton that left the decision-making and enforcement to the communist-dominated national assembly. The Communist Constitution draftsmen made it a Constitutional duty of every citizen to be loyal not only to the Republic, obliged to uphold the Constitution and to obey any call to the defense of the State, but also to "observe in all its actions, the interests of the State, to assist and maintain the furthemnce of the national property and to guard against its being diminished" by the following which puts the citizen on his guard regarding any other than a materialistic philosophy: "No conception of the world, no faith or conviction can bear prejudice to any one, nor can it constitute a sufficient reason to refuse to fulfill a duty imposed by the law." (Art. 15, §2) They were very efficient in balancing the right to work with the duty to work: Each citizen is endowed with the right to work; each citizen also has the duty to work in the interest of the community, according to his capacity. (Art. 26 and 32) According to article 25, workmen were allowed to group themselves into a unified trade union organization in order to defend their interests. Since this organization had been in the hands of Communists since 1945, the �SLOVAKIA 133 workmen had therefore only to accept its constitutional character. Joseph A. Mikus in Slovakia-A Political History 19181950 says it most pointedly and with grim humor, although no humor is really intended: "Furthermore, in fact, it was not possible for workmen to remain outside of this organization. A variety o! administrative pressures were exerted to persuade the workers to join it freely." 1 Finally, in order that the Bill of Rights not to be misunderstood, they added to it a broadly phrased warning that "Statements and acts that constitute a treat to the independence, the totality and unity of the State, to the Constitution, the Republican form of government, and the People's Democratic Order are punishable by law and the misuse of civil rights and liberties to such ends is inadmissable." Furthermore they provided in a clause, so elastic that it could be stretched limitlessly, for a further restriction o! citizens' rights and liberties in time of war "when events occur that threaten in increased measure the independence, totality, unity o! State, Constitution, the Republican form of government and the People's Democratic order or public law and order." (art. 38) In the last analysis, the Ninth-of-May Constitution was a Janus-like creature with one face toward the East and the other looking nostalgically to the West. Considering the circumstances under which it was adopted, it was a remarkably moderate document. Having just overcome their opponents and acquired absolute power within Czechoslovakia, the Communist leaders could have promulgated a full-pledged Soviet style constitution. Instead, they decided to display some unusual restraint and create a fundamental law in which Western elements clearly predominated over the transplants from t:ae East. In spite of Communist interpretation, the frequent use of uniquely democratic phraseology is surprising. This is mentioned in order to provide a better concept to the Bill of Rights in the Ninth-of-May Constitution. While there were many loopholes that vitiated the value of many of the Constitution's guarantees, especially in the field of �134 SLOVAKIA civil rights, there were relatively few positive provisions that could be said to infringe upon the basic principles of democratic rule. The worst violation of democracy was in the overall, intent of the Ninth-of-May Constitution, in its interpretation, and in the way in which it was applied by the Communist leaders, rather than in the letter of the Constitution itself. Despite the rumors which predicted its premature end, the Ninth-of-May Constitution remained in force for more than twelve years. It was not until the fall of 1959, that the KSC (Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia) decided to replace it with a new fundamental law. On April 19, 1960, the draft of a new Constitution was published as a special supplement to the Party's daily Rude Prdvo. It was approved without opposition by a national Party conferences in July, 1960, and passed unanimously by the National Assembly on July 11, 1960. The basic reason for the replacement of the Ninth-ofMay Constitution with the new "socialist" constitution of 1960 stems from the re~ime's claim of a "virtual completion of socialist construction" in Czecho-Slovakia. The preamble of the Constitution proclaims that"Socialism has triumphed in our country!" "We have entered a new stage in our history, and we are determined to go forward to new and still higher goals. While completing the socialist construction of our country, we are proceeding towards the construction of an advanced socialist society and gathering strength for the transition to communism." (Declaration No. I, p. 41) And so with this change came a corresponding modification in the constitutional framework. In the twelve years of communist control, life in Czecho-Slovakia had outgrown the moderate clauses of the Ninth-of-May Constitution. By 1955-1960, conditions were so outrageously different from what the Constitution had specified, that if a change in the constitution had not been implemented, it would be a farce providing occasions for open ridicule and disrespect. The process of sovietization of civil rights, begun in 1948 was completed in the Constitution of 1960. While the civil rights clauses of the Ninth-of-May Constitution sound- �SLOVAKIA 135 ed like a distant echo of the democratic past, their 1960 version carries an unmistakable made-in-Moscow trade mark. The Czecho-Slovak Bill of Rights like its Soviet model emphasizes economic and social rights. According to article 21: All citizens shall have the right to work and to renumeration for work done according to its quantity, quality and social importance. Article 22: All working people shall have the right to leisure after work. Article 23: All working people have the right to the protection of their health and to medical care, and to material security in old age and when incapable to work and Article 24: All citizens shall have the right to education. Further on in this article is the statement that The State shall ensure citizens of Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish nationality every opportunity and all means for education in their mother tongue and for their cultural development. After reading in the beginning of the Declaration: "The two nations, Czechs and Slovaks, which created the CzechoSlovak Republic, live in fraternal harmony" one cannot help wondering why the Slovaks were not mentioned in the above article also. After stipulating the above mentioned articles on economic and social rights, the Bill of Rights on the other hand de-emphasizes civil rights proper. Thus it elevates above all the others, the duty and the right to work, as article 19 states: "In a society of working people an individual can attain the fullest development of his capabilities and the realization of his legitimate interests only through active participation in the development of his society, particularly through an appropriate share in social work. Therefore, work for the benefit of the whole is the foremost duty, and the right to work is the foremost right of every citizen." Ii:iterestingly enough there was no mention of workers right to join a union as in the 1948 Constitution. Similarly, in guaranteeing basic political freedoms of speech and assembly, the 1960 Constitution adopts a Soviet strategem of binding them all together in one notorious phrase "in conformity with the interests of the working people, these freedoms shall be guaranteed to all citizens." Also, in contrast to its 1948 predecessor, it no longer contains specific guarantees of freedom of association, �136 SLOVAKIA creative work, and scientific research. Nor does it include the limited habeas corpus provision found in the Ninth-ofMay Constitution. · The Constitution provides for religious freedom but nullifies the practice of religion by declaring that "religious faith or conviction shall not constitute grounds for anyone to refuse to fulfill the civic duties laid upon him by law." (art. 32, §2) We may thus conclude that the entire 1960 Bill of Rights is riddled with various restrictive clauses which negate whatever value the constitutional guarantees of citizens' civil rights may have been. These, of course, are found towards the end of the pages of the Bill of Rights. Among manifold duties, it imposes upon the Czecho-Slovak citizens such obligations as Article 34: "Citizens shall be in duty bound to uphold the Constitution and other laws, and in all their actions to pay heed to the interests of the socialist State and society of the working people." "Citizens shall be bound in duty to protect and strengthen socialist ownership as the inviolable foundation of socialist order and the source of the welfare of the working people, the wealth and strength of the country and finally to abide by the rules of socialist life." This strong emphasis on the duties of citizens toward society is, of course, the logical outgrowth of the Communist concept of the subordination of the individual to collective interests. The Czecho-Slovak constitution-makers stood on solid ideological ground when they placed a basic clause to that effect at the very head of their new Bill of Rights: "In society of the working people, where exploitation of man by man is abolished, the development of the interests of each member of the society are in harmony with the development and interests of the society as a whole." Besides seeing this as being good Marxism-Leninism, we. may look upon the clause as meant also to serve for the additional limitation of individual rights. As explained by a member of the commission for the preparation of the 1960 Constitution, the said clause "gives a directive in the interpretation of various provisions regarding the citizens' rights and duties in case someone would want to misuse his right contrary to the interests of the whole and to the detriment of the society." 2 �SLOVAKIA 137 In 1948 the Communist party, yet unsure of its power, phrased a Constitution that, though impotent, promised freedom and individual endeavors. The constitution was not effected and the absolute power of the state, masked by phrases like "except," or "in case of," "however" and "only if", was nonetheless manifest. By 1960 the Communist party, now firmly entrenched, was strong enough to issue a new Constitution, without the democratic trappings that were featured in 1948. Here the power of the state was confirmed and the use of democratic phrases was reduced to a minimum. Even though there are liberties that are, if nothing else, only nominally expressed in the 1948 Constitution, nevertheless, they suggest a democratic form. There is in general, liberty of person, liberty of domicile, personal :privacy and assurance of secrecy in correspondence and communications. In the 1960 Constitution there is no mention of these. In the 1948 Constitution there is the protection of family and youth, the right to education and liberty of conscience and confession and the liberty of expression and protection of cultural assets. The 1960 Constitution disregards these. In 1960, motherhood, marriage and the family are to to the extent that the state is to give special health care during pregnancy and confinement. Freedom of expression, speech, p.ress all must be consistent with the interests of the working people. These freedoms are given mainly for thQ economic and cultural development of the state. be protected by the State. Provision is made even With the right of meeting and association provided in the 1948 Constitution, there was the so-called trade union organization which existed for the benefit of workers' interests but there is no mention of this in the 1960 Constitution. In the matter of arrest within a specified time lapse in the 1948 Constitution there is no such reference in 1960. Offenders often were punished only by due process of law. �138 SLOVAKIA No longer was a person educated freely but by 1960, education was compulsory and was based on a scientific world outlook and on close ties between school life and the work of the people. Finally in the 1948 Constitution the phrases that nullified each of the freedoms were dispersed throughout the Bill of Rights in a more or less disguised manner. But in the 1960 Constitution the Communist state no longer needed this subterfuge and the articles were lifted; the "guaranteed" freedoms are expressed and positioned obviously and boldly at the conclusion of the Bill of Rights. Although liberal in statement, they are rather explicit in the actions they demand. "Citizens shall be in duty bound to serve in the armed forces" (art. 37) "Citizens shall be in duty bound to protect and strengthen socialist ownership" (art. 35) "The decency of the country and its socialist social order shall be the supreme duty of every citizen." (art. 36) Having gone through this work then, and being familiar with the country itself, this writer finds it transparent that the democratic facade of the 1948 Constitution is stripped away from the sovietized constitution of 1960. Thus the new constitution of the Czecho-Slovak Socialist Republic, as Czecho-Slovakia has been renamed after the Soviet occupation, and the manner in which the Bill of Rights contrasts with the Ninth-of-May Constitution of 1948, reflect with considerable accuracy the extent to which Czecho-Slovakia's political body has been sovietized in the twelve years that separate the two fundamental laws. s. J.B. FOOTNOTES 1) Joseph A. Mikus, Slovakiar-A Political History 1918-1950 (Milwau- kee: Marquette University Press, 1963), p. 229. 2) Edward Taborsky, Communism in Czechoslovakia 1948-1960 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961), p. 182. �SLOVAKIA 139 BIBLIOGRAPHY Borsody, Stephen: The Tragedy of Central Europe. New York, Collier Books, c1960. The Constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic, Prague, Orbis, 1960. <".:ulen, Konstantin: Vznik a zanik Demokratickej strany na Slovensku. (The Rise and the Decline of the Democratic Party in Slovakia.) Middletown, Pa., 1950. Dobis, P. G.: Slovensko vo svetle historickych udalosti. 1900-1970. (Slovakia in the Light of Historical Events. 1900-1970). Rakusko, vlastnym nakladom, 1971. t>urcansky, Ferdinand:Pravo Slovakov na samostatnost'. Vo svetle dokumentov. Biela Kniha. (The Right of the Slovak Nation to Autonomy. In the light of historic documents. The White Book.) Buenos Aires, Slovensky oslobodzovaci vybor, 1954. Facts about Czechoslovakia. Prague, Orbis, 1962. Glaser, Kurt: The Iron Curtain and American Policy. Washington, D. C., Public Affairs Press, cl953. Kirschbaum, Joseph M.: Neis boj o samostatnost' Slovenska. Cleveland, The Slovak Institute, 1958. (Our Struggle for the Independence of Slovakia.) An Outline of Slovakia's Struggle for Independence. 2d ed. Toronto, The Canadian Slovak League, 1964. Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York, Robert Speller, c1960. Memorandum of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America to the State Department of the United States. April 25, 1951. Mikus, Joseph A.: Slovakia-A Political History. 1918-1949. Milwaukee, Marquette University Press, 1949. Rudinsky, Jozef F .: ceskoslovensky stat a Slovenska Republika. (The Czechoslovak State and the Slovak Republic.) Munich, Akademischer Verlag Dr. Peter Belej, 1968. Shub, Anatole: An Empire Loses Hope. New York, W. W. Norton, c1970. Sidor, Karol : Moje poznamky k historickym dnom. (My observations on the historic days.) Do tlace pripravil F . Vnuk. Middletown, Pa. Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, 1971. Sprinc, Mikulas: Slovenska republika. (The Slovak Republic.) Scranton, Obr ana , 1949. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1973, Vol. 23 Description An account of the resource Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 129 The Declining Democratic Facade: Czecho-Slovakia 1948-1960* The two constitutions of Czecho-Slovakia enacted by the Communist regime were the Ninth-of-May Constitution of 1948 and the recent Soviet-model Constitution of 1960. Granted that these two constitutions of a Soviet satellite country are anything but the binding fundamental laws that constitute our Western idea of a constitution, still, the difference between these two documents epitomizes the extent to which Czecho-Slovakia's political institutions have been sovietized during the twelve years that separate the Ninth-of-May Constitution and its 1960 successor. It is somewhat ironical to consider constitutions of communist dictatorial systems because in the first place it is enigma why these rulers care to have any written constitution at all. The decisions that arise, usually are made within the supreme party organization. Members of this body are in control of everything in every part of the country and in every segment of life. The communists insist on limiting its own powers, by elaborate systems of constitutional prescriptions and restrictions that are protected legally, but this is only to say that this system operates nominally. The reasons which underlie the Czecho-Slovak communist philosophy of constitutionalism are much the same as those in Soviet Union and in other "people's demo- * The purpose of the study is to examine the forced decline of so-called democracy in Czecho-Slovakia. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the wording of the Bill of Rights of both the 1948 and 1960 Constitutions. Rather than repeat in footnotes unduly on each page, it is simpler to state that all quotes on pages three to six are from the 1948 Costitution of Czecho-Slovakia which is given in Slovakia-A Political History 1918-1950 by Joseph Mikus. Quotes from pages six to ten are from the Constitution drafted on November, 1960. More implicit than explicit, the Constitution forms are much more emergent in 1960 than in the twelve years previous. 130 SLOVAKIA cracies." It is one of the basic maxims of Marxist-Leninist teaching on the relations between the Party and the State that the Party makes policy, that it guides and controls but does not directly carry out its decisions. So, for that reason, the party has a machinery of government separation on the party apparatus and continues to maintain it until the State "withers away." Therefore the Constitution serves a function which the dictatorship of the proletariat operates. No political system, it seems, misuses the concept of popular sovereignity more than the regime of Marxist-Leninism, and Czecho-Slovakia proves to be no exception. "The people are the master in this country. The people, liberated, politically, socially, and economically thus attain through a new Constitution a permanent guarantee of their full and real freedom." "The new Constitution guarantees that the will of the people will henceforth be the law of the country." Both the Ninth-of-May Constitution and the new Constitution of 1960 abound with references to the "people". As in the American Constitution, the introductory "We the People" formula is used and "the people" or the "working people" are designed as the sole source of all power. The reason for this illusion that the Communists try t0 create in that they alone are the servants of too people and worthy of complete confidence is probably the main reason for having this constitution. But it is not our main concern here to examine and analyze the Constitution of 1948 and 1960 in totality or to find in what they differ or in what they are similar. The Communists themselves have stated, referring to the 1948 Constitution, that "our new Constitution will contain two component parts" from the West and the East. It will be our concern to take a specific section, the Bill of Rights, and analyze the forms in the 1948 and the 1960 Constitutions respectively. The crisis of the Third Czecho-Slovak Republic of February 1948 was unleashed by the problem of the new Constitution. The conceptions of the parties confronting one another on fundamental principles were in such opposition that normal political activity had been practically paralyzed by the Communist veto. Communist legal technicians needed only two and a half months to perfect all of the details of the fundamental SLOVAKIA 131 law. On May 9, 1948, the Constitution was unanimously voted upon by the 246 deputies present. At the solemn session of the National Assembly in the coronation room of the Hradcany Castle in Prague, Prime Minister Gottwald declared that, without the Soviet Union, the setting in motion of the Constitution would have been impossible. The Bill of Rights of the Ninth-of-May Constitution, was heavily loaded with Soviet-style additions and deletions, although, more often than not, it used the democratic wording of the 1920 Czecho-Slovak Constitution. In the first chapter of the Constitution, all the traditional liberties of the citizens were enumerated; equality before the law, liberty of person, liberty of domicile, privacy of correspondence and communications, liberty of place, liberty of patrimony, protection of family and youth, rights to an education, liberty of conscience and confession, liberty of expression and protection of cultural assets, right to petition, right of meeting and association, social rights. In line with the Soviet example, political rights were supplemented with social rights in the Constitution, such as the right to work, to leisure, to just renunciation of work, and to protection of health. While the inclusion of these social rights in the Constitution proper was generally welcomed by the people, the same could not be said of other Eastern admixtures which took the heart out of most of the freedoms that were so solemnly guaranteed. Certain discreet limitations were provided. No one can be arrested if he is not caught in the act, except on a judge's warrant, written and justified. The warrant must be delivered at ,t he time of the arrest and, if possible, within the following forty-eight hours. (Art. 3, §2) No one is to be imprisoned outside of cases provided for by law; every person must either be released within the forty-eight hours following his imprisonment or else referred to the court or authority competent to carry on the proceedings. (Art. 3, §3) For police agents who wished to effect a visit, a search or a confiscation of certain objects in the domicile of a citizen, it was sufficient "to present a written and justified order delivered by a judge or a public authority within the forty-eight hours following." (art. 5, sec. 2 and 3) These 132 SLOVAKIA warrants which authorized searches were to be issued, of course, not exclusively by a judge but also by other "competent authority." The constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press was virtually nullified by a provision that left it to the state to decide who should publish papers and periodicals and under what conditions, as well as to determine "the manner and planned direction of the issue and the distribution of non-periodical publications." Nor was a situation made any better by the monopoly conferred by the state in the field of motion pictures, television and radio broadcasting. "Films, radio broadcasting and television become the exclusive domain of the State." (art.22) Except for the generally insignificant right to petition, the exercise of civil rights was subject to further definition or regulation by the laws to be issued. Therefore, the Bill of Rights in the Ninth-of-May Constitution proved to be a bare skeleton that left the decision-making and enforcement to the communist-dominated national assembly. The Communist Constitution draftsmen made it a Constitutional duty of every citizen to be loyal not only to the Republic, obliged to uphold the Constitution and to obey any call to the defense of the State, but also to "observe in all its actions, the interests of the State, to assist and maintain the furthemnce of the national property and to guard against its being diminished" by the following which puts the citizen on his guard regarding any other than a materialistic philosophy: "No conception of the world, no faith or conviction can bear prejudice to any one, nor can it constitute a sufficient reason to refuse to fulfill a duty imposed by the law." (Art. 15, §2) They were very efficient in balancing the right to work with the duty to work: Each citizen is endowed with the right to work; each citizen also has the duty to work in the interest of the community, according to his capacity. (Art. 26 and 32) According to article 25, workmen were allowed to group themselves into a unified trade union organization in order to defend their interests. Since this organization had been in the hands of Communists since 1945, the SLOVAKIA 133 workmen had therefore only to accept its constitutional character. Joseph A. Mikus in Slovakia-A Political History 19181950 says it most pointedly and with grim humor, although no humor is really intended: "Furthermore, in fact, it was not possible for workmen to remain outside of this organization. A variety o! administrative pressures were exerted to persuade the workers to join it freely." 1 Finally, in order that the Bill of Rights not to be misunderstood, they added to it a broadly phrased warning that "Statements and acts that constitute a treat to the independence, the totality and unity of the State, to the Constitution, the Republican form of government, and the People's Democratic Order are punishable by law and the misuse of civil rights and liberties to such ends is inadmissable." Furthermore they provided in a clause, so elastic that it could be stretched limitlessly, for a further restriction o! citizens' rights and liberties in time of war "when events occur that threaten in increased measure the independence, totality, unity o! State, Constitution, the Republican form of government and the People's Democratic order or public law and order." (art. 38) In the last analysis, the Ninth-of-May Constitution was a Janus-like creature with one face toward the East and the other looking nostalgically to the West. Considering the circumstances under which it was adopted, it was a remarkably moderate document. Having just overcome their opponents and acquired absolute power within Czechoslovakia, the Communist leaders could have promulgated a full-pledged Soviet style constitution. Instead, they decided to display some unusual restraint and create a fundamental law in which Western elements clearly predominated over the transplants from t:ae East. In spite of Communist interpretation, the frequent use of uniquely democratic phraseology is surprising. This is mentioned in order to provide a better concept to the Bill of Rights in the Ninth-of-May Constitution. While there were many loopholes that vitiated the value of many of the Constitution's guarantees, especially in the field of 134 SLOVAKIA civil rights, there were relatively few positive provisions that could be said to infringe upon the basic principles of democratic rule. The worst violation of democracy was in the overall, intent of the Ninth-of-May Constitution, in its interpretation, and in the way in which it was applied by the Communist leaders, rather than in the letter of the Constitution itself. Despite the rumors which predicted its premature end, the Ninth-of-May Constitution remained in force for more than twelve years. It was not until the fall of 1959, that the KSC (Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia) decided to replace it with a new fundamental law. On April 19, 1960, the draft of a new Constitution was published as a special supplement to the Party's daily Rude Prdvo. It was approved without opposition by a national Party conferences in July, 1960, and passed unanimously by the National Assembly on July 11, 1960. The basic reason for the replacement of the Ninth-ofMay Constitution with the new "socialist" constitution of 1960 stems from the re~ime's claim of a "virtual completion of socialist construction" in Czecho-Slovakia. The preamble of the Constitution proclaims that"Socialism has triumphed in our country!" "We have entered a new stage in our history, and we are determined to go forward to new and still higher goals. While completing the socialist construction of our country, we are proceeding towards the construction of an advanced socialist society and gathering strength for the transition to communism." (Declaration No. I, p. 41) And so with this change came a corresponding modification in the constitutional framework. In the twelve years of communist control, life in Czecho-Slovakia had outgrown the moderate clauses of the Ninth-of-May Constitution. By 1955-1960, conditions were so outrageously different from what the Constitution had specified, that if a change in the constitution had not been implemented, it would be a farce providing occasions for open ridicule and disrespect. The process of sovietization of civil rights, begun in 1948 was completed in the Constitution of 1960. While the civil rights clauses of the Ninth-of-May Constitution sound- SLOVAKIA 135 ed like a distant echo of the democratic past, their 1960 version carries an unmistakable made-in-Moscow trade mark. The Czecho-Slovak Bill of Rights like its Soviet model emphasizes economic and social rights. According to article 21: All citizens shall have the right to work and to renumeration for work done according to its quantity, quality and social importance. Article 22: All working people shall have the right to leisure after work. Article 23: All working people have the right to the protection of their health and to medical care, and to material security in old age and when incapable to work and Article 24: All citizens shall have the right to education. Further on in this article is the statement that The State shall ensure citizens of Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish nationality every opportunity and all means for education in their mother tongue and for their cultural development. After reading in the beginning of the Declaration: "The two nations, Czechs and Slovaks, which created the CzechoSlovak Republic, live in fraternal harmony" one cannot help wondering why the Slovaks were not mentioned in the above article also. After stipulating the above mentioned articles on economic and social rights, the Bill of Rights on the other hand de-emphasizes civil rights proper. Thus it elevates above all the others, the duty and the right to work, as article 19 states: "In a society of working people an individual can attain the fullest development of his capabilities and the realization of his legitimate interests only through active participation in the development of his society, particularly through an appropriate share in social work. Therefore, work for the benefit of the whole is the foremost duty, and the right to work is the foremost right of every citizen." Ii:iterestingly enough there was no mention of workers right to join a union as in the 1948 Constitution. Similarly, in guaranteeing basic political freedoms of speech and assembly, the 1960 Constitution adopts a Soviet strategem of binding them all together in one notorious phrase "in conformity with the interests of the working people, these freedoms shall be guaranteed to all citizens." Also, in contrast to its 1948 predecessor, it no longer contains specific guarantees of freedom of association, 136 SLOVAKIA creative work, and scientific research. Nor does it include the limited habeas corpus provision found in the Ninth-ofMay Constitution. · The Constitution provides for religious freedom but nullifies the practice of religion by declaring that "religious faith or conviction shall not constitute grounds for anyone to refuse to fulfill the civic duties laid upon him by law." (art. 32, §2) We may thus conclude that the entire 1960 Bill of Rights is riddled with various restrictive clauses which negate whatever value the constitutional guarantees of citizens' civil rights may have been. These, of course, are found towards the end of the pages of the Bill of Rights. Among manifold duties, it imposes upon the Czecho-Slovak citizens such obligations as Article 34: "Citizens shall be in duty bound to uphold the Constitution and other laws, and in all their actions to pay heed to the interests of the socialist State and society of the working people." "Citizens shall be bound in duty to protect and strengthen socialist ownership as the inviolable foundation of socialist order and the source of the welfare of the working people, the wealth and strength of the country and finally to abide by the rules of socialist life." This strong emphasis on the duties of citizens toward society is, of course, the logical outgrowth of the Communist concept of the subordination of the individual to collective interests. The Czecho-Slovak constitution-makers stood on solid ideological ground when they placed a basic clause to that effect at the very head of their new Bill of Rights: "In society of the working people, where exploitation of man by man is abolished, the development of the interests of each member of the society are in harmony with the development and interests of the society as a whole." Besides seeing this as being good Marxism-Leninism, we. may look upon the clause as meant also to serve for the additional limitation of individual rights. As explained by a member of the commission for the preparation of the 1960 Constitution, the said clause "gives a directive in the interpretation of various provisions regarding the citizens' rights and duties in case someone would want to misuse his right contrary to the interests of the whole and to the detriment of the society." 2 SLOVAKIA 137 In 1948 the Communist party, yet unsure of its power, phrased a Constitution that, though impotent, promised freedom and individual endeavors. The constitution was not effected and the absolute power of the state, masked by phrases like "except," or "in case of," "however" and "only if", was nonetheless manifest. By 1960 the Communist party, now firmly entrenched, was strong enough to issue a new Constitution, without the democratic trappings that were featured in 1948. Here the power of the state was confirmed and the use of democratic phrases was reduced to a minimum. Even though there are liberties that are, if nothing else, only nominally expressed in the 1948 Constitution, nevertheless, they suggest a democratic form. There is in general, liberty of person, liberty of domicile, personal :privacy and assurance of secrecy in correspondence and communications. In the 1960 Constitution there is no mention of these. In the 1948 Constitution there is the protection of family and youth, the right to education and liberty of conscience and confession and the liberty of expression and protection of cultural assets. The 1960 Constitution disregards these. In 1960, motherhood, marriage and the family are to to the extent that the state is to give special health care during pregnancy and confinement. Freedom of expression, speech, p.ress all must be consistent with the interests of the working people. These freedoms are given mainly for thQ economic and cultural development of the state. be protected by the State. Provision is made even With the right of meeting and association provided in the 1948 Constitution, there was the so-called trade union organization which existed for the benefit of workers' interests but there is no mention of this in the 1960 Constitution. In the matter of arrest within a specified time lapse in the 1948 Constitution there is no such reference in 1960. Offenders often were punished only by due process of law. 138 SLOVAKIA No longer was a person educated freely but by 1960, education was compulsory and was based on a scientific world outlook and on close ties between school life and the work of the people. Finally in the 1948 Constitution the phrases that nullified each of the freedoms were dispersed throughout the Bill of Rights in a more or less disguised manner. But in the 1960 Constitution the Communist state no longer needed this subterfuge and the articles were lifted; the "guaranteed" freedoms are expressed and positioned obviously and boldly at the conclusion of the Bill of Rights. Although liberal in statement, they are rather explicit in the actions they demand. "Citizens shall be in duty bound to serve in the armed forces" (art. 37) "Citizens shall be in duty bound to protect and strengthen socialist ownership" (art. 35) "The decency of the country and its socialist social order shall be the supreme duty of every citizen." (art. 36) Having gone through this work then, and being familiar with the country itself, this writer finds it transparent that the democratic facade of the 1948 Constitution is stripped away from the sovietized constitution of 1960. Thus the new constitution of the Czecho-Slovak Socialist Republic, as Czecho-Slovakia has been renamed after the Soviet occupation, and the manner in which the Bill of Rights contrasts with the Ninth-of-May Constitution of 1948, reflect with considerable accuracy the extent to which Czecho-Slovakia's political body has been sovietized in the twelve years that separate the two fundamental laws. s. J.B. FOOTNOTES 1) Joseph A. Mikus, Slovakiar-A Political History 1918-1950 (Milwau- kee: Marquette University Press, 1963), p. 229. 2) Edward Taborsky, Communism in Czechoslovakia 1948-1960 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961), p. 182. SLOVAKIA 139 BIBLIOGRAPHY Borsody, Stephen: The Tragedy of Central Europe. New York, Collier Books, c1960. The Constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic, Prague, Orbis, 1960. <".:ulen, Konstantin: Vznik a zanik Demokratickej strany na Slovensku. (The Rise and the Decline of the Democratic Party in Slovakia.) Middletown, Pa., 1950. Dobis, P. G.: Slovensko vo svetle historickych udalosti. 1900-1970. (Slovakia in the Light of Historical Events. 1900-1970). Rakusko, vlastnym nakladom, 1971. t>urcansky, Ferdinand:Pravo Slovakov na samostatnost'. Vo svetle dokumentov. Biela Kniha. (The Right of the Slovak Nation to Autonomy. In the light of historic documents. The White Book.) Buenos Aires, Slovensky oslobodzovaci vybor, 1954. Facts about Czechoslovakia. Prague, Orbis, 1962. Glaser, Kurt: The Iron Curtain and American Policy. Washington, D. C., Public Affairs Press, cl953. Kirschbaum, Joseph M.: Neis boj o samostatnost' Slovenska. Cleveland, The Slovak Institute, 1958. (Our Struggle for the Independence of Slovakia.) An Outline of Slovakia's Struggle for Independence. 2d ed. Toronto, The Canadian Slovak League, 1964. Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York, Robert Speller, c1960. Memorandum of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America to the State Department of the United States. April 25, 1951. Mikus, Joseph A.: Slovakia-A Political History. 1918-1949. Milwaukee, Marquette University Press, 1949. Rudinsky, Jozef F .: ceskoslovensky stat a Slovenska Republika. (The Czechoslovak State and the Slovak Republic.) Munich, Akademischer Verlag Dr. Peter Belej, 1968. Shub, Anatole: An Empire Loses Hope. New York, W. W. Norton, c1970. Sidor, Karol : Moje poznamky k historickym dnom. (My observations on the historic days.) Do tlace pripravil F . Vnuk. Middletown, Pa. Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, 1971. Sprinc, Mikulas: Slovenska republika. (The Slovak Republic.) Scranton, Obr ana , 1949.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Declining Democratic Facade: Czecho-Slovakia 1948-1960 Description An account of the resource S. J. B. Slovakia, Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973 pp. 129-139 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/5ba51466eb2c6a48d6534028ecbcea2d.pdf c28a1530c11c2ff3197ecce61b791010 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 33 The Democratic Party and the Execution of Jozef Tiso James Ramon Felak On April 15 , 1947, Igor Daxne r, Chairman of the National Court in Brati s lava, pronounced the verd ict agai nst Father Jozef Ti so, the head of Slovakia's wartime state that was closely alli ed with Naz i Germany. The Co urt found Ti so guilty of 95 of 11 3 charges aga inst him, in c ludin g treason, betraya l of the Slovak National Uprising , co ll aborati on with the Naz is, and de portation of Slovak Jews to Naz i death ca mps. Hi s sente nce was death by han g in g, to be carried out within 48 hours. At once, Tiso, along w ith hi s two defense attorneys , submitted a requ est for c le me ncy. 1 Thi s pape r w ill in vesti gate the fate of thi s request, the last official chance to spare Ti so from death. Though the final deci sion on clemency rested with Czechoslovakia ' s Pres ide nt Edvard Be nes, the request passed like a hot potato over the next dozen ho urs, from Daxner to Slovakia's Commissioner of th e Interior Iva n Stefanik, to Slovakia ' s c hi ef organ of se lf-governme nt , the Slovak Nation al Council (SNC) , to the Czechoslovak gove rnme nt in Prague , and ultimatel y to Be nes. De mocra tic Party (DP) leaders had lobbi ed for c lemency during the tri al, voted for it at the gove rnme nt 's mee tin g on the eve nin g of April 16, a nd frantically appea led on its behalf to Be nes in the hours before Tiso ' s exec uti on. However, they c uri ously refused to take a stand for clemency at the meeting of the SNC's Pres idium on the afternoon of April 16, where they had a 3-to-2 majority and where a stand on Ti so 's behalf would have g ive n offic ial sanction to the view , w idely shared by many and 1 ' One of the three prosecutors. l.'.udovft Ri gan. also made a request for clemency to the Court; K arel K aplan, Dva retribucnf procesy . Komentovane dokumenty, (Prague. I 992), p. 221 (Document 37). �SLOVAKIA 34 probably most Slovaks, that Tiso should not be executed. The Democrats' refusal to take a stand in the SNC meant that Tiso's opponents could point to the failure of any official Slovak organs to recommend clemency as proof that his execution reflected the will of the Slovak people. The fate of Jozef Tiso was very much connected with the DP's fortunes in Czechoslovak and Slovak politics . Shortly after her liberation from Nazi rule and reattachment to Czechoslovakia, Slovakia had only two significant political parties-the Communist Party of Slovakia (CPS) and the Democratic Party (DP). The latter, in many ways a legacy of the interwar Agrarian party, emerged out of the Lutheran-dominated wing of the resistance to the Tiso regime. When the Catholic and nationalist Slovak People's Party (SPP) was outlawed at war ' s end , many Slovak Catholics became political orphans.2 In the spring of 1946, however, the DP adopted them through the so-called April Agreement, a pact between the party's leaders and important Catholic political activi sts whereby Catholics were promised a large share of influence in the DP and a Democratic commitment to promote the Catholic Church ' s position on issues such as education in exchange for Catholic electoral support. The fruit of the April Agreement was a landslide victory for the DP over the Communists in the May 1946 parliamentary elections, with Democrats winning 63 % of the vote to the Communists' 30%. From that point on , the CPS focused its energies on undoing the electoral results by seeking to paralyze, fracture , or dis solve the DP. Among other things, the Tiso trial figured in Communist calculations of how to cripple their rival. The Communist plan was to force the DP to navigate between the Scylla of angering its Catholic members and voters , who had hopes that the Democrats would rescue Tiso from a death sentence, and the Charybdis of being sucked into a police investigation for 2 Catholics comprised nearly 80% of the Slovak population. The majority of Slovak Catholics voted for the SPP during the interwar period. �SLOVAKIA 35 allegations of pandering to the reactionaries and war criminals it was all egedl y harboring th anks to the April Agreeme nt. Idea ll y, the DP wo uld be di scredited in the eyes of Catholics as an ineffectua l and lukewarm defe nder of Ti so, while concurrently di sc redited in the eyes of everyone else as a haven for reactionaries. With little room for mane uver, and in the face of enormo us press ure, the DP had to face thi s chall enge. What fo ll ows is how the Com muni sts were able to acco mpli sh these end s, partl y due to the ir own tactics, partl y due to the dynami c of the situ ati on, and part ly due to the cho ices made by the Democrats. Ri ght after the anno unceme nt of the verd ict, Ti so's lawyers, Ernest Zabkay and Martin Greco, submitted an official requ est for c lemency, as king for a more "appropriate" sentence for the ir c lient. 3 They particularly stressed lega l tec hni ca lities. Tiso's lawyers argued th at the defense was not all owed to speak with the acc used without the sec urity organs present-a violati on of a fund amental principle of criminal tri al procedure-and that the defense did not have certain archiv al materials at its disposal , while the prosec uti on did. Furthermore, records of testimony were not made avail able within the requisite three days, but lagged by nearly two month s, thereby mak in g it impossible for the defense to c ite testimon y made after January 15 in its concluding statements. In addition to these and a number of other technicalities, Tiso ' s lawyers arg ued th at the trial was po litica ll y biased, both because Daxner himse lf was bi ased, as the SNC itself had recognized in the past, and because, despite a leg islati ve order ca llin g for political pari ty in the Senate, no me mbers of the DP took part in the judg ment. Tiso's attorn eys a lso arg ued that Tiso was being puni shed for eve nts beyond his co ntro l. They claimed th at he did not prepare for Slovakia's independence in 1939, or he lp cause it, and that he showed no initiative and intention ality in hi s cooperation wi th Nazi Germany. Rather, he simpl y tri ed to make the best of a bad situ ation that was thru st upo n him . Finally, Ti so's atto rneys, in the .1 Kaplan, Ova retribucnf procesy. pp. 2 15-2 19 (Document 35) . �SLOVAKIA 36 onl y argument that the DP would make its ow n, argued th at clemency would strengthen Czech-Slovak relations, e liminate the threat of ill will between Slovakia ' s Catholics and Protestants, and strengthen ti es between Slovak emigrants and their motherl and. The National Court quick ly decided agai nst recommending c lemency for Ti so, and passed Tiso ' s request on to Slovak Commissioner of Ju stice Ivan Stefanik , a Democrat. Stefa nik in turn supported Tiso's request, and submitted a proposal to the Presidium of the SNC, which read , " I propose that the death se ntence of Dr. Jozef Ti so be commuted to life impri sonment. " 4 The proposal was to the point, absent the argumentation included in Ti so ' s request, and un like Ti so ' s request, allowed for no sentence less than life impri sonment. On April 16, the SNC ' s Presidium met to consider Stefa nik ' s proposal, along with some other matters connected with Ti so ' s tri al. When the Pres idium convened, it was already under enormous pressure. By law , Tiso ' s exec ution was to be carried out within 48 hours of the announcement of the verdict, so matters had to be considered quickly. Moreover, the gove rnm ent in Prag ue was meet in g later that day to discuss c lemency , and was eagerly awaiting the views of Slovakia 's leadin g organs on the matter. Adding to the pressure was the fact that the Presidium received the 214 page judgment aga inst Tiso only shortl y before its meeti ng.5 Moreover, te legrams, letters, and petitions (for and against c leme ncy) were pourin g in to the President 's office, the government, and the SNC, while Parti san and labor organizations staged anti-Ti so rallies across Slovakia and de legation s from trade union s, hou sing estates, and espec ially resistance organizations arrived in Brati slava to add their presence to the de liberations. 6 Though there were no reported cases of violence, it is not difficult to imagine the presence of these groups, enco uraged if not orchestrated by the Communists, adding a menac in g character to 4 K aplan , Dva relribucnf procesy. p. 220 (Document 36). ' Th e DP claimed the Presidium had onl y ten minutes to look over the length y judgmen t; see Cas. April 23 , 1947 , no. 93, p. I. 6 Cas, Apri l 23, 1947, no. 93 , p. I. �SLOVAKIA 37 the already inte nse pressure on the Presidium , or more prec ise ly, its Democratic me mbers. For example, a consortium of major res istance organi zati o ns iss ued a decl aration on April 16 th at conde mned c lemency as a "s hameful defilement (popl'u vanie) of all the sac rifi ces of o ur nation al stru gg le" th at co uld e mbolde n Ti so's supporte rs into provokin g unrest in S lovakia aimed at undermining the Re public.7 If cle mency was gra nted to Tiso, these organizations promi sed to assess the situation and cons ide r what mean s to emp loy in de fe nse of the Republic and the ga ins of the Slovak National Upri sin g. The DP had a majority on the Presi dium , which conta ined three Democrats (Jozef Lettrich, who was chairman of both the DP and the SNC, Andrej Cvincek, Milan Po la k) a nd two Communi sts (Karol Smidke, Ivan Horvath ). Nevertheless, the Pres idium did not e ndorse Stefanik's proposa l for c le me nc y; rather, it reso lved to submit the proposa l to the governme nt without co mme nt. In hi s me moirs, Jan Ursfny, a top DP leader and its Deputy Chairman, argued that Lettric h went into the meetin g with the intention of avo idin g debate over clemency, a position Ursfny strongly advised against. 8 Lettrich 's behav ior at the meeting does betray the actions of a man inte nt on avoi ding debate. 9 First of all , most of the meetin g 's di scuss ion dea lt with De mocratic di ssati sfaction with Daxner's ha ndling of the tri al. Whe n the Presidium did get around to the Ti so verdict, Le ttri c h made it clear th at he fe lt th at the press ure of time mad e it imposs ible to acq uire sufficie nt knowledge to take a pos ition on c le mency, and that any recommendation would thu s have to be " politica l." The Communi st Horvath the n proposed that the Presidium take no stand , but simpl y pass on Stefa nik 's proposa l to the government without co mment. He argued that a recomme nd ation from the SNC was ne ithe r requi- 1 Pravda. Apri l 18, 1947 . no. 90, p. I: th e Slovak term pop!ii vct nie could be rendered as .. spitting on". • Jan Ursfny. Z m6jho i i votct. (M artin . 2000), pp. 123- 124. " See Sl ovensky narod ny archfv (hereafter referred to as SNA). Fond Urad predsednfctva Slovenskej narodnej rady , Carton 139, Folder 134. Folios 49-58 , S R Presidiu m meetin g of A pril 16. 1947. �SLOVAKIA 38 red nor necessary, for it was the government and Benes whose views would be decisive. According to Horvath, since the Communists were opposed to clemency, they would be unable to support Stefanik ' s proposa l, and hence any vote in the SNC would be on a parti san basis, setting a bad precedent for future Communist-Democratic cooperation. When it came time to vote on Horvath ' s proposal , the Presidium accepted it unanimously. Before examining why the SNC , or more specifically its Democratic members, opted not to recommend c lemency for Tiso, let us track the proposal ' s course to Prague and ultimately to Benes. The Communists and Social Democrats were openly hostile to Tiso, and the non-parti san mini sters, Ludvfk Svoboda (Defense) and Jan Masaryk (Foreign Affairs), could be expected to be so as well. Together, these constituted 13 of the 23 members of the government, enough to tip any vote to Ti so's detriment. On top of that, the Czech National Soc ialists were at best ambivalent. A number of leading National Socialists opposed clemency and wanted their party to vote against it or at least to abstain. 10 However, Minister of Justice Prokop Drtina, one of the party's top leaders, had earlier assured Lettrich that he would support clemency provided the SNC did. 11 In the last of a series of meetings on the issue , held right before the government session began , Drtina managed to convince his colleagues to agree to the following position : to oppose clemency, but only after first proposing that the request for clemency be returned to the Presid ium of the SNC for that organ's recommendation. In thi s way, Drtina could present himself as makin g a good faith effort to honor hi s promise to Lettrich , while entertaining hopes that a vote to return the request to the SNC would fail, thu s getting himself off the hook. 12 The government meeting opened at approximately 5: 15 p.m ., after a delay of over an hour as its members waited for reports from ° Kaplan. Dva retribucnf procesy. p. 25 . 1 " Prokop Drtina. Ceskos lovensko muj osud, II. 2, (Toronto, I 982). pp. 297-298. 302. 12 Drtina, Ceskoslovensko muj osud. II , 2, p. 302. �SLOVAKIA 39 Slovakia. 13 Within ten minutes, a delegation of representatives from the Union of Czechoslovak Partisans and so me similar organizations asked to be admitted. Since the National Socialists had yet to arrive, mak ing their last minute plans in a nearby room , the meetin g was adjourned for 45 minutes while the parti san organizations were given the opportunity to press ure the mini sters to vote against clemency. 14 Once the de legation s had their say and engaged some of the mini sters over the iss ue , and the National Sociali st mini sters had arrived, the meeting was reconvened. Prime Mini ster Kl ement Gottwald began by sharin g two pieces of information he had just rece ived from Slovaki a- the memorandum from the SNC' s Pres idium pass in g on Stefanik's proposal for clemency without comment, and a telegram from Gu stav Husak, Chairman of Slovakia 's Board of Commissioners (Cabinet). Husak noted that Stefanik 's proposal did not reflect the views of the Board of Commissioners nor its Presidium, whose standpoint Stefanik did not seek, and should therefore be regarded as hi s own personal proposal. Husak added that he did not agree with the proposa l. Thus, the meeting opened with reports from Slovakia 's two chief political organs, neither of which endorsed clemency. Gottwald, leader of the Czechoslovak Communist Party , then proposed that the government reso lve aga inst clemency, since the National Court in Brati slava recommended against it, and the Pres idium of the SNC did not recommend for it. In a long and sometimes pass ionate debate, mini sters from both sides weighed in on the que stion, with positions breaking down along party lines. The Communists led the charge against clemency. Vladimfr Clementi s, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and a Slovak, read a CPS 13 For the minutes of the meeting. see K apl an, Dva retribucnf procesy. pp. 225-254. 14 Ursfny . in his memoirs, recou nts be ing asked by one member of the parti san dele- gati on: "M r. Deput y Chairman, tell me, w ith whom do you wan t to go. w ith th e Ludak underground. or with us?" A nother partisan representati ve. however, spoke up for Ursfny as ··one of the greates t partisans. " (see Ursfny, Z m6jho i ivota, p. 125): see footnote 17 for an ex planation of the term " Ludak. " �40 SLOVAKIA decl aration that la id o ut the Co mmuni st pos iti on. The dec larati o n stressed the did acti c function of the tri al, that is, its purpose in di sco urag ing enemies of the Republic. A death sentence co uld do that far better than a life sentence in thi s res pect. C lemency, on the co ntrary, would onl y encou rage enemi es of the state and sympathizers of Ti so and hi s reg ime . Reactionari es, as before, were tryin g to take over Slovaki a "even at the price of the Re public." 15 The dec laration arg ued that c leme ncy would evoke di stru st in the judic ial sys tem. Veterans of the Sl ovak Nati onal Upri sin g would be upset with the de parture from the idea ls of the res istance; peo ple wo uld note the inj ustice of lesser crimin als hav ing been more harshl y puni shed than Ti so; and politics would be seen once more as " panske huncutst vo", that is "gentl emen's mi sc hi ef." 16 The declarati o n noted in parti cul ar that Ti so showed no remorse for hi s crimes, and in fac t gave succor to th e Re public 's ene mi es in hi s co ncludin g statement at hi s tri al. Much of what Cleme nti s read was identica l to a dec larati on made a day earli er by Slovaki a's res istance organi zati o ns, testifyin g to the leadin g ro le the Co mmuni sts pl ayed in those orga ni zati o ns and the success the party had in coordin atin g various soc ial orga ni zati ons on behalf of its objecti ves . Indeed , both dec laration s co nc luded with the sa me threat to assess the s ituation and consider what mea ns to employ in defense of the Republic and its character. Czech Communi sts also spoke out again st clemency, asserting th at Ti so was a traitor and a war crimina l, and that fa ilin g to exec ute him would be a blow to Czec hos lovakia 's unity and inde pendence. Communi st speakers also arg ued th at it was the will of th e Slovak people that Ti so be exec u- 15 The express ion ··ani za ce nu republiky", th at is, •·even at the price of the rep ublic" . was a reference to a statement made by HSL:S leader A ndrej Hlin ka at a rall y in Trencfn in 1932, where he asse rted th e degree to whi ch his party wo uld pu rsue Slovak interests; see James Ramon Felak, •A l the Price of the Republic·_. Hlinka 's Slovak People 's Party. 1929- 1938. (Pittsburg h, 1994 ), p. 96. 16 " Poli tika je panske huncutstvo" was an expression curre nt among Slovaks , rooted in Slovakia ' s feudal pas t. It was the recog nition by peasan ts th at pol itics was the domain where the lords made mi sch ief. �SLOVAKIA 41 ted , as ev ide nced by the pos iti ons of the Nati ona l Co urt, the SNC, and the Board of Co mmi ss ione rs, all organs composed e ntire ly of Slova ks and re prese nting S lovakia. Thi s was why, the Czec h Co mmuni st Vac lav Kopecky noted , the DP would not speak up fo r c leme ncy on the SNC's Pres idium. Th e Soc ia l De mocrati c mini sters we re just as o pposed to c lemency as the Communi sts, and no less assertive about the ir pos iti on. Zdene k Fierlin ger, the leader of the SOP and a Deputy Prime Minister, argued th at a vote fo r c le me ncy wo uld upset Czec hoslovaki a's alli es in the Slav ic world , in part because it would fu e l Slova k independe nce, whi c h itse lf th reate ned Czec hos lovaki a 's border w ith the Sov iet Uni o n. Fie rlinger even re marked th at how o ne voted o n the cleme ncy questi on was a test of one's patri oti sm. With respect to the reli g io us dim e ns ion of the ques ti o n, the Soc ial De mocrati c leade r asserted th at the fac t of Tiso's be ing a priest was not a miti gating c irc um stance, but rathe r one th at made matters worse. He noted th at it was not good for the Catho lic Churc h to e ncumbe r itse lf with Ti so . Whil e Fie rlinger re prese nted the pro-C ommuni st left-win g of the SOP, that party's ri ght-wing was no less vehe me nt about Ti so. Vaclav Maj er, the leader of the ri ght-wing Soc ial De mocrats, referred to the Sl ovak pri est as one of the chi e f war crimin als, guilty of mass murder. The most ex te ns ive attac k on Ti so a nd argume nt against cle me ncy, however, came not fro m the mini ste rs o f the le fti st parties, but from the oste nsibl y ne utra l (a lbeit c loset Communi st) Ludvfk Svoboda, the Mini ster o f Defe nse. As a Czec hoslovak hero of both the First and Second World Wars, Svoboda's word s carri ed a certain cac het. Svoboda spoke at le ngth about why T iso mu st die . He came o ut strong ly aga inst so-ca ll ed ha lf-so luti o ns; at ha nd was a definiti ve hi stori ca l qu esti o n w ith long- te rm impli cati o ns th at sho uld not be judged accordin g to the needs a nd mood of the mo me nt. Ti so was �42 SLOVAKIA not just a war criminal ; he was the sy mbol of " Ludakism," 17 fasci sm, treason , and collaboration . To grant clemency to Tiso, according to Svoboda, would render hi s trial vain and superfluous. If alive, Ti so would remain to poison cooperation and unity between Czechs and Slovaks; clemency would encourage hi s supporters, while disappointing others. Like many speakers and writers of the time, Svoboda noted that Tiso showed no remorse. He ca lled for a firm and resolute action agai nst him as a means of strengthening Czechoslovakia's international position and prestige. To those w ho argued th at Ti so should be spared because he was a priest, Svoboda dec lared that "we are not judging a priest, but a traitor, a destroyer of the Czechoslovak state, and a criminal. That Tiso is a priest only makes matters worse; he profaned the priestly office and Church at a time when thou sands of other priests fought bravely again st Nazi sm and perished in concentration camps and prisons." On the other s ide of the equation were those mini sters who championed c lemency-on ly the Democrats and Czech Populi sts. Here the most prominent speaker was Ursfny . The Democratic Deputy Chairman argued that clemency would improve relations between Czechs and Slovaks, Lutherans and Catholics, and aid in the overall consolidation of the post-war Republic. Such a goodwi ll gesture might also win over some of Czechoslovakia' s enemi es. Ursfny noted that religiou s fee lings ran strong in Slovakia, where the exec ution of a priest was a serious , and potentiall y upsetting matter. He pointed out that many good people were for clemency, includin g so me bishops and hi gh functionari es in the Lutheran church , a church that itself had suffered under Ti so's regi me. The Democratic Minister of Transportation Ivan Pietor also spelled out a number of reasons for clemency. He argued that Ti so was popular among the majority of Slovaks, and that the preva ilin g majority of Slovaks would vote for 17 Lud aki sm, or "l'udactvo" was the term employed to refer to fo ll owers of th e Slovak People 's Party, whose members were know n as '• Ludaks" or " l'udaci ." It best approximates the Engli sh word " Populi sm. " Communi sts applied the term to any Slovak Catholics they did not like. �SLOVAKIA 43 clemency if given the chance, thou gh thi s did not mean they agreed with Ti so ' s politics. He too noted that important Lutheran leaders sent ardent appeals on Tiso's behalf in the interest of the peaceful deve lopment of Slovaki a and Czechoslovakia. The g iven politica l s ituation , accordin g to Pietor, demanded statesmanlike thinkin g, wi sdom , and sensiti vity to the prevailing political condition s and mood. In such a co ntext, clemency would be a gesture to win over hearts in Slovakia and bring the Czech and Slovak nation s together. While the Court may have unanimou sly estab lished Tiso 's guilt and ca ll ed for hi s exec ution , that was a judicial decision , not a political one. What the Republic now faced was a manifestly political deci sion , and that was the task of the government to settl e, in accordance with political considerations. The Czec h Populi sts, as members of a Catholic party with moderate inclinations, also supported clemency. Minister Franti se k Ha.la (Post Office), him se lf a Catholic priest, presented c le mency as the most suitable solution for Czechoslovak and Slovak interests. The Populi st Adolf Prochazka (Health ) remarked that c lemency was the des ire of most Slovaks, and of the Lutheran church leadership . Jan Kopecky (Mini ster without Portfolio) supported clemency as a way to consolidate the Repub li c, and reminded hi s mini sterial colleagues that life impri sonment was not tantamount to acq uittal. In makin g hi s case, Ursfny co ntended that the SNC did not recommend aga inst c lemency ; rather it was not the Pres idium 's function to ex press a position on the proposa l, but only to pass it on to the government. Technically , he was correct because the Second Prague Agreement of April I I , 1946, the statute under which such matters were regulated , stated that the commissioner's proposal be submitted to the go vernment "v ia the Pres idium of the Slovak National Counci l. " 18 However, this strict construction is not the way the SNC had hitherto been dealing with proposa ls. Gottwald snide ly noted that the '" Jan Mechyr. Slo vensko v Ceskoslovensku : Slovensko-ceske vztahy I 9 I 8- 199 I . (Prague. 1991 ). �44 SLOVAKIA Pres idium had sudde nl y dec ided in thi s case to limit itse lf to the ro le of a post office, and al ong with Fie rlinger, he regarded Ursfny 's expl a nati on as sophi stry. They were not bu ying th e De moc rats ' claim that the Pres idium ' s position was not a fa ilure to endorse c le mency. It was the centri st parties, however, that ex pressed the most anger over the SNC 's sile nce regardin g c leme ncy - a sil e nce th at, because the DP had a majority in the Pres idium, was c learl y bl a med on the De mocrats. A number of Nati ona l Soc iali st and Populi st mini ste rs vo iced their indi gnati on at the SNC's atte mpt to pass th e buck. Jaroslav Stra nsky (Edu cati on) said th at he wa nted Ursfny and hi s frie nds to recogni ze the situ ation into whi ch they had gotte n the governme nt , whi c h thanks to the m now had to dec ide on a matter about whi c h it did not have s uffic ie nt kn ow ledge. In thi s s itu ati on, th e gove rnm e nt co uld be bl a med if Ti so did not get cle me ncy, thereby bein g burde ned with what is primaril y a Sl ovak pro bl e m. Drtina, s imil arly, sa id he was perpl exed by the Pres idium ' s unex pected course of acti on, one whi ch now put the go vernme nt in a diffi c ult situati on. He pro posed se ndin g th e pro posal bac k to th e Pres idium fo r its opini o n, in acco rdance with the Second Prague Agree me nt, whi c h stipul ated that the governme nt return proposa ls to the SNC's Pres idium if it had objecti ons to them from the point of view of statew ide inte res ts. Foll o win g suit , Nation a l Soc ia li st Mini ste r o f Fore ig n Trade Hube rt Ripka noted hi s party ' s astoni shme nt at th e SNC's acti on - how it limited its ro le to th at of a mailbox in the way it interpre ted the Seco nd Prag ue Agree me nt. He noted th at Sl ovaki a ' s se lf-proc laimed leadin g orga n did not have the courage to ex press itse lf on a questi on of suc h importance fo r the future and fa te of the Slovak people . Accordin g to Ripka, it was c lear that the SNC Pres idium wa nted to shi ft the res po nsibility for Ti so's fate o nto the governme nt. He in sisted that the Pres idum ex press itse lf on the iss ue, and as qui ckl y as poss ibl e. Hala, spea kin g for th e Czech Populi sts, echoed the sentiments o f the Nation al Soc ia li sts, notin g th at the Presidium ' s action greatl y surpri sed him and that it see med to want to pass responsibility onto the governme nt. �SLOVAKIA 45 While the National Sociali sts and Populi sts expressed agreement with Drtina 's motion to return the proposa l to the SNC, the leftist parties adamantly opposed it. Gottwald, Fierlinger, and others noted that the SNC had already taken a position by failing to endorse clemency. They argued that further delay of Ti so's execution would only drag thin gs out, sustain a state of tension and provoke and evoke supporters of Ti so, as well as open the floodgates for clemency for others sentenced to death. When Drtina 's motion to return the proposal to the Presidium of the SNC came to a vote, it was defeated 13 to I0 . The voting broke down according to party lines: the National Socialists, Populists, and Democrats supported the proposal; the leftist parties and non-parti san ministers opposed it. While the Populists may well have sincerely believed that the best remedy for the crisis would have been for the SNC to voice its opinion on the matter, the National Socialists made and supported the motion simply for cosmetic purposes, hoping that it would fail. 19 The Democrats, of course, were in a quite unenviable position. The motion' s failure meant that they would not be g iven a second chance to make a stand for clemency in the Presidium. At the same time, it is not certain that they would have known what to do with a second chance; the factors that kept them from endorsing clemency the first time around were still operative. As the debate over Stefanik 's proposal resumed , the National Socialists came out against clemency, and sought to present the anticlemency position as the one identified with Slovakia. Drtina, noting th at the government was not fully informed of the detail s of the case, thought the matter should be best settled by Slovakia, as it indeed was - a Slovak Court had establi shed Tiso's guilt and had unanimously rejected clemency, which the SNC had also failed to recommend. Ripka , de mon stratin g the sort of Czech ignorance of Slovakia that ran kles Slovaks, claimed that Ti so, long before 1938 , was as bad or worse than Vojtech Tuka, Ti so 's main political rival during the war 19 Drtina adm its thi s in hi s me moirs: see Ceskoslovensko mu) osud, II , 2, p. 302. �46 SLOVAKIA and the leader of the radically pro-Nazi faction ple 's Party. 20 in the Slovak Peo- Because the consequences of Ludakism had not yet di- sappeared from Slovakia, clemency should be rejected. Ripka not only came out again st it, but also appealed to the DP and Czech Populists to abstain on the vote, so the government could present a united front. He addressed the Democrats with the rebuke that, if they did not vote for clemency in Slovakia, they should not now at the governmental level, where the domestic and international ramifications of such a vote were great. After more di sc uss ion, the government ultimately passed a resolution voicing its opposition to c lemency, on the grounds th at the National Court in Brati slava had recommended against it, and that the Pres idium of the SNC did not endorse it when pass ing Stefanik's proposal on to Prague. The vote was 17 in favor , 6 against. All mini sters rejected c lemency except those from the DP and Czech People 's Party. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Shortly thereafter, Gottwald took the government 's recommendation to Benes, who accepted it and informed Slovakia's Commissioner of Ju stice that hi s request for clemency had been officially denied. 2 1 Upon learn in g of the dec ision , Lettrich made a last-ditch intervention , telephoning Benes ' s chancellery. He conveyed the message that the government's standpoint was in conflict with Article I.b. of the Second Prague Agreement, which instructed the government, if it had objections aga inst a proposal from Slovaki a, to return that proposal to the SNC' s Presidium, not pass it on to Benes with a 20 Tuka was a notoriou s ri ghti st rad ica l who made a political career out of intriguing with foreign enemi es of the Czec hos lovak Republi c almost right from th e Republi c ' s founding. He spent most of th e 1930s in pri son for treason, and was executed for war crimes in the summer of 1946. we ll before the tri al of Tiso. 21 K apl an, D va retribucnf procesy, p. 27: Benes had informed Gottwald the day before th at he planned to ac t in accordance wi th whatever th e governm ent recommended regardin g clemency fo r Tiso, K apl an, D va retribucnf procesy, pp. 222-224 (Document 38). �SLOVAKIA 47 recommendation. 22 Lettrich warned Benes of possible " immense political consequences" that could resu lt from a rejection of clemency, and fo r which the DP could not accept responsibility . Lettrich conc luded by notin g th at the DP had an absolute majority in the SNC and its Pres idium and fully agreed with Stefanik ' s proposal, considering clemency as a paramount state and nation al interest. Benes received the message early the next morning, instructing hi s chancellery to tell Lettrich that he had gone to the countryside, and would discuss the matter with Gottw ald if Lettrich so desired. 23 Ursfny too attempted an appeal on behalf of clemency, and also found out that the rej ection of clemency was an accomplished fact and that Benes was incommunicado. 24 Stefanik him self made a final attempt on Tiso ' s behalf, asking the National Court that Tiso be tran sferred to the jail of the Office of the Public Prosec utor, so he could be questioned regarding some other cases. Thi s the National Court rejected on the ground s that Ti so could be just as eas ily be questioned at its own jail. 25 With all avenues for clemency now ex hausted , Ti so was hanged early on the morning of April 18, officiall y pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m. It was no surpri se that Ti so was found guilty, nor th at he was sentenced to die. Nor was it astoni shing that the majority of government mini sters in Prague rejected the reco mmendation for clemency, and that Benes acted in accordance with their position. But what was puzzling was the behavior of the DP -supporting clemency in Prague , but not in Bratislava; desperately appealin g for clemency on the 22 Mi chal Barn ovsky , Na ceste k monopolu moci, ( Bratislava , 1993) , p. 145 n; K apl an, Dva retribucnf procesy, p. 28. 23 Kaplan , D va retribucnf procesy, p. 28 ; Robert Letz, S/ovensko v rokoch I 945- 1948, (Bratislava, 1994 ), p. 48 . 24 Ursfny, Z m6jho t i vota, p. 127 . 25 K aplan, Dva retribucnf procesy, p. 29; the motive behind this attempt was to delay Ti so ' s exec uti on and thu s increase the chances that he would ultimately receive clemency . �48 SLOVAKIA eve of Tiso 's exec uti on, while letting the issue pass right throu gh the hands of the SNC Presidium that they had dominated the day before. Did the DP want the appeal for c lemency to fail? Such a view ca n be found in the po lice record , where a report me nti ons that Lettrich was opposed to cle me ncy for Tiso. 26 Like many scenarios sketched out by police inform ants, however, this one seems to be w ithout merit. Lettrich had earli er lobbi ed Tiso ' s three prosecutors for c lemency, and had persuaded Minister of Ju sti ce Drtina to promi se hi s support as well. These are hardl y the acti ons of a man desiring Tiso 's execution . Other ex planat io ns must li e behind the timidity of Lettrich and the DP at the notoriou s SNC Pres idium meeting of April 16. Hi storian s who have exa mined the meetin g, a nd the issue of clemency overall, ha ve co me up with a numbe r of ex pl anation s, which will be di sc ussed here in ascend in g order of pl a usibility and influence. 27 Most dubi o us is the view th at the De mocrats trusted that Benes would grant clemency regardless of the recommendations he rece ived. Whil e the re appare ntly was public spec ulation that Be nes mi ght spare Tiso, the DP leadership had littl e reason to put their tru st in such suppos ition s. Benes had already g ive n Lettrich and Ursfny quite c lear indication s of hi s oppositi on to cle mency. 28 Another of the weaker arguments for why the SNC did not take a stand on c le me ncy was the one the DP used to ex pl ai n itse lf at the 26 Barno vsky, Na ceste. p. 130. 27 For exp lanati ons of why the OS acted the way it did at th e SNR Pres idiu m mee- ting of Apri l 16, see Barnovsky , Na ceste, p. 130: Letz, Slovensko. pp. 47-48: Kaplan . Ova relribucnf procesy, pp. 24-26 : Ursfny, Z m6jho i i vota. pp. 123- 124 : for the DP ' s attempt to j ustify its ac ti ons at the time, see Cas. April 23, 1947. no. 93 . p. I. 28 Lettrich , in a meeting with the three state prosecutors of the Tiso trial on March 12. I 94 7, mentioned that he had discussed the matter of clemency for Tiso w ith Benes on two occasions, and th at Benes's positi on was th at he would not take a stand but rather all ow th e governmen t' s decis ion on th e matter to guide him : (see SNA. Demokraticka strana, Carton 2, Bundle 99 , Folios 1-2): moreover. Ursfny claims in hi s memoirs that in fall of 1946. Daxner asked Benes how he shou ld handle the Tiso case, to which Benes replied, " I th in k that he deserves death, but thi s is an affair for an independent court. "; (see Ursfny, Z m6jho i ivota. p. 11 3). �SLOVAKIA 49 government meetin g of April 16 and thereafter, i.e. that accordin g to the 2 nd Prague Agreement , the S C's role in the process was simpl y to pass proposals on to the Government and not to co mment on them, and that i f the government had obj ection s to Stefanik's proposa l, it wo uld soli cit the SNC Presidium 's views on it. Upon refl ec ti on, thi s ex plan ati on holds no more water th an it did at the tim e. A party that believed Slovak organs should speak for Slovakia, and a good bit of whose appeal was based on its advocacy of autonomy fo r Slovakia, is behav ing out of character w hen it surrenders to Prague the prerogati ve to decide on a matter so c lose to th e hearts of so many Slovaks. Another ex pl anation put forth by the DP was that it lacked sufficient time to stud y the doc umentation pertinent to th e Tiso tri al. Whil e on the surface thi s is true , still , the SNC was not being asked to render a lega l or judicial judgment, but a politi ca l one. In the latter case, the party could have made up its mind on a pos ition long before the verdi ct, as the Communists had. M ore convincing are the views th at th e DP was simpl y afra id th at a vote for clemency wo uld prompt the Communi sts to provoke a politica l crisis in Slovakia, halting cooperation w ithin the SNC, mobili zing Parti san and trade union groups against the Democrats, and forcing Prague to step in . Indeed, such threats and pressures were already ev ident on the Slovak political stage for over a yea r, and were com mon everywhere else in East Central Europe w here Communi st parti es were acti ve. In thi s view , the DP simpl y lost its nerve and opted to pass the matter on to Prague ra ther than deal w ith it in Bra ti slava. Thi s explanati on seems va lid enough because Communi st pres sure was al ways an influence. However, i f fear of reperc uss ions was the main reason for keeping the DP quiet, w hy did Democrats vote for clemency at the government sess ions in Prag ue? Wa s it to gi ve public assura nce to th eir co nstitu ents th at th ey opposed clemency , but at a ven ue w here they did not have to worry about their vote carry ing any influence and thereby provoking a clemency- induced �SLOVAKIA 50 cris is back home? This question is moot , give n the influence of the most significant factor of all. A final ex pl anati on is most like ly the crucial o ne - that the DP could not co unt on one of its own representatives on the Presidi um , Milan Po lak , to vote for c le mency. Po lak ' s record, both before and after 1947, place him on the left wing of the DP. A former Parti san, and leader in the Parti sa n vetera ns' movement, Po lak collaborated with the Communists durin g and after the February co up of 1948 . 29 Unable to co unt on hi s vote, Lettrich preferred no vote on c lemency to one in which Polak would abstain or vote no. Thus he chose the leas t pa inful but st ill damaging option. While many of Slovakia ' s Catholics would be upset if the DP-controll ed Presidium failed to take a vote on clemency, they wo uld be even more outraged if a DPcontrolled Pres idium rejected clemency, or could not mu ste r th e three votes needed to pass it. Ursfny 's memo irs prov ide further ev idence for thi s ex planation. Ursfny reported that, when on a vis it to the United States in the fa ll of 1967 , he spoke by telephone with Lettrich , who told him that he wanted the SNC to avoid the iss ue of clemency because Pol ak wo uld not have voted for it. 30 Thus, while the DP owed its success to a large ly Catholic e lectorate, it contained a core of resistance veterans who simpl y could not countenance anything short of Ti so's exec ution. Since the leader of those veterans he ld the deciding vote on the SNC Presidium , the DP 's efforts to support c le mency were futile. Tho ugh the DP had good reason to suspect that Polak would not vote for c lemency, the Communists had their own fears that he mi ght not vote aga inst it. This ex plains why the Communists on the SNC were as eager as the Democrats to pass the matter on to Prague. A number of factors contributed to the exec ution of Jozef Tiso-a Pres ident who disliked him and welcomed hi s exec ution ; a gove rn ment where the cards were stacked agai nst him from the start , with 19 See Barnovsky , Na ceste, pp. 240, 245 , for Pol ak ' s acti vity during the .. February Crisis" of 1948. )o Ursfny, Z mojho i ivoui, p. 124. �SLOVAKIA 51 the Soc ial Democrats, Nati onal Soc iali sts, and non-parti san mini sters un sy mpatheti c to hi s cause; a Co mmuni st Party and the labor and res istance orga ni zati ons it mo bili zed workin g agg ressive ly aga in st him ; a staunchl y anti -Ti so j udge; and Ti so 's own wartime acti vities, whi ch made a death se nte nce pl ausi bl e. Nothin g th at th e DP did could have spared Ti so from exec utio n in thi s contex t. Neverthe less, th e way the Democrats mane uvered th ro ugh the cri s is had several consequ ences. The DP did eno ugh for T iso to buttress Communi st arguments that the Democrats catered to the Ludaks they were all eged ly harboring, arg uments th at in the ensuing months would mu shroom into the arrest of several leading De mocrats for ant i-state co nspiracy. At the same time, the DP 's fa ilure to sec ure an SNC vote on T iso's beha lf made it eas ier for the government 's Co mmuni st and non-Cath o li c Czec h parti es to argue th at Slo vaki a was opposed to c lemency fo r Tiso, thu s he lpin g abso lve Czechs of any charges that T iso's exec uti on was a Czech operati on done against the w ill of the Slovak people . Fin all y, the DP's impotence in defending T iso led to increased di si llusionment amo ng S lovak ia's Catho lic voters. For the DP, the who le undertaking was a lose-lose situ ati on, an indi cati on of just how d ifficult th at party's road was in spite of, or better said , on acco unt of, its bi g e lec tora l victo ry in May of 1946. To a great ex tent, the events surroundin g the iss ue of c lemency fo r Jozef Tiso were a mi crocos m of th e proble mati c pos itio n of the De mocrati c Party in postwar Czechos lovak ia. � SLOVAKIA 33 The Democratic Party and the Execution of Jozef Tiso James Ramon Felak On April 15 , 1947, Igor Daxne r, Chairman of the National Court in Brati s lava, pronounced the verd ict agai nst Father Jozef Ti so, the head of Slovakia's wartime state that was closely alli ed with Naz i Germany. The Co urt found Ti so guilty of 95 of 11 3 charges aga inst him, in c ludin g treason, betraya l of the Slovak National Uprising , co ll aborati on with the Naz is, and de portation of Slovak Jews to Naz i death ca mps. Hi s sente nce was death by han g in g, to be carried out within 48 hours. At once, Tiso, along w ith hi s two defense attorneys , submitted a requ est for c le me ncy. 1 Thi s pape r w ill in vesti gate the fate of thi s request, the last official chance to spare Ti so from death. Though the final deci sion on clemency rested with Czechoslovakia ' s Pres ide nt Edvard Be nes, the request passed like a hot potato over the next dozen ho urs, from Daxner to Slovakia's Commissioner of th e Interior Iva n Stefanik, to Slovakia ' s c hi ef organ of se lf-governme nt , the Slovak Nation al Council (SNC) , to the Czechoslovak gove rnme nt in Prague , and ultimatel y to Be nes. De mocra tic Party (DP) leaders had lobbi ed for c lemency during the tri al, voted for it at the gove rnme nt 's mee tin g on the eve nin g of April 16, a nd frantically appea led on its behalf to Be nes in the hours before Tiso ' s exec uti on. However, they c uri ously refused to take a stand for clemency at the meeting of the SNC's Pres idium on the afternoon of April 16, where they had a 3-to-2 majority and where a stand on Ti so 's behalf would have g ive n offic ial sanction to the view , w idely shared by many and 1 ' One of the three prosecutors. l.'.udovft Ri gan. also made a request for clemency to the Court; K arel K aplan, Dva retribucnf procesy . Komentovane dokumenty, (Prague. I 992), p. 221 (Document 37). �SLOVAKIA 34 probably most Slovaks, that Tiso should not be executed. The Democrats' refusal to take a stand in the SNC meant that Tiso's opponents could point to the failure of any official Slovak organs to recommend clemency as proof that his execution reflected the will of the Slovak people. The fate of Jozef Tiso was very much connected with the DP's fortunes in Czechoslovak and Slovak politics . Shortly after her liberation from Nazi rule and reattachment to Czechoslovakia, Slovakia had only two significant political parties-the Communist Party of Slovakia (CPS) and the Democratic Party (DP). The latter, in many ways a legacy of the interwar Agrarian party, emerged out of the Lutheran-dominated wing of the resistance to the Tiso regime. When the Catholic and nationalist Slovak People's Party (SPP) was outlawed at war ' s end , many Slovak Catholics became political orphans.2 In the spring of 1946, however, the DP adopted them through the so-called April Agreement, a pact between the party's leaders and important Catholic political activi sts whereby Catholics were promised a large share of influence in the DP and a Democratic commitment to promote the Catholic Church ' s position on issues such as education in exchange for Catholic electoral support. The fruit of the April Agreement was a landslide victory for the DP over the Communists in the May 1946 parliamentary elections, with Democrats winning 63 % of the vote to the Communists' 30%. From that point on , the CPS focused its energies on undoing the electoral results by seeking to paralyze, fracture , or dis solve the DP. Among other things, the Tiso trial figured in Communist calculations of how to cripple their rival. The Communist plan was to force the DP to navigate between the Scylla of angering its Catholic members and voters , who had hopes that the Democrats would rescue Tiso from a death sentence, and the Charybdis of being sucked into a police investigation for 2 Catholics comprised nearly 80% of the Slovak population. The majority of Slovak Catholics voted for the SPP during the interwar period. �SLOVAKIA 35 allegations of pandering to the reactionaries and war criminals it was all egedl y harboring th anks to the April Agreeme nt. Idea ll y, the DP wo uld be di scredited in the eyes of Catholics as an ineffectua l and lukewarm defe nder of Ti so, while concurrently di sc redited in the eyes of everyone else as a haven for reactionaries. With little room for mane uver, and in the face of enormo us press ure, the DP had to face thi s chall enge. What fo ll ows is how the Com muni sts were able to acco mpli sh these end s, partl y due to the ir own tactics, partl y due to the dynami c of the situ ati on, and part ly due to the cho ices made by the Democrats. Ri ght after the anno unceme nt of the verd ict, Ti so's lawyers, Ernest Zabkay and Martin Greco, submitted an official requ est for c lemency, as king for a more "appropriate" sentence for the ir c lient. 3 They particularly stressed lega l tec hni ca lities. Tiso's lawyers argued th at the defense was not all owed to speak with the acc used without the sec urity organs present-a violati on of a fund amental principle of criminal tri al procedure-and that the defense did not have certain archiv al materials at its disposal , while the prosec uti on did. Furthermore, records of testimony were not made avail able within the requisite three days, but lagged by nearly two month s, thereby mak in g it impossible for the defense to c ite testimon y made after January 15 in its concluding statements. In addition to these and a number of other technicalities, Tiso ' s lawyers arg ued th at the trial was po litica ll y biased, both because Daxner himse lf was bi ased, as the SNC itself had recognized in the past, and because, despite a leg islati ve order ca llin g for political pari ty in the Senate, no me mbers of the DP took part in the judg ment. Tiso's attorn eys a lso arg ued that Tiso was being puni shed for eve nts beyond his co ntro l. They claimed th at he did not prepare for Slovakia's independence in 1939, or he lp cause it, and that he showed no initiative and intention ality in hi s cooperation wi th Nazi Germany. Rather, he simpl y tri ed to make the best of a bad situ ation that was thru st upo n him . Finally, Ti so's atto rneys, in the .1 Kaplan, Ova retribucnf procesy. pp. 2 15-2 19 (Document 35) . �SLOVAKIA 36 onl y argument that the DP would make its ow n, argued th at clemency would strengthen Czech-Slovak relations, e liminate the threat of ill will between Slovakia ' s Catholics and Protestants, and strengthen ti es between Slovak emigrants and their motherl and. The National Court quick ly decided agai nst recommending c lemency for Ti so, and passed Tiso ' s request on to Slovak Commissioner of Ju stice Ivan Stefanik , a Democrat. Stefa nik in turn supported Tiso's request, and submitted a proposal to the Presidium of the SNC, which read , " I propose that the death se ntence of Dr. Jozef Ti so be commuted to life impri sonment. " 4 The proposal was to the point, absent the argumentation included in Ti so ' s request, and un like Ti so ' s request, allowed for no sentence less than life impri sonment. On April 16, the SNC ' s Presidium met to consider Stefa nik ' s proposal, along with some other matters connected with Ti so ' s tri al. When the Pres idium convened, it was already under enormous pressure. By law , Tiso ' s exec ution was to be carried out within 48 hours of the announcement of the verdict, so matters had to be considered quickly. Moreover, the gove rnm ent in Prag ue was meet in g later that day to discuss c lemency , and was eagerly awaiting the views of Slovakia 's leadin g organs on the matter. Adding to the pressure was the fact that the Presidium received the 214 page judgment aga inst Tiso only shortl y before its meeti ng.5 Moreover, te legrams, letters, and petitions (for and against c leme ncy) were pourin g in to the President 's office, the government, and the SNC, while Parti san and labor organizations staged anti-Ti so rallies across Slovakia and de legation s from trade union s, hou sing estates, and espec ially resistance organizations arrived in Brati slava to add their presence to the de liberations. 6 Though there were no reported cases of violence, it is not difficult to imagine the presence of these groups, enco uraged if not orchestrated by the Communists, adding a menac in g character to 4 K aplan , Dva relribucnf procesy. p. 220 (Document 36). ' Th e DP claimed the Presidium had onl y ten minutes to look over the length y judgmen t; see Cas. April 23 , 1947 , no. 93, p. I. 6 Cas, Apri l 23, 1947, no. 93 , p. I. �SLOVAKIA 37 the already inte nse pressure on the Presidium , or more prec ise ly, its Democratic me mbers. For example, a consortium of major res istance organi zati o ns iss ued a decl aration on April 16 th at conde mned c lemency as a "s hameful defilement (popl'u vanie) of all the sac rifi ces of o ur nation al stru gg le" th at co uld e mbolde n Ti so's supporte rs into provokin g unrest in S lovakia aimed at undermining the Re public.7 If cle mency was gra nted to Tiso, these organizations promi sed to assess the situation and cons ide r what mean s to emp loy in de fe nse of the Republic and the ga ins of the Slovak National Upri sin g. The DP had a majority on the Presi dium , which conta ined three Democrats (Jozef Lettrich, who was chairman of both the DP and the SNC, Andrej Cvincek, Milan Po la k) a nd two Communi sts (Karol Smidke, Ivan Horvath ). Nevertheless, the Pres idium did not e ndorse Stefanik's proposa l for c le me nc y; rather, it reso lved to submit the proposa l to the governme nt without co mme nt. In hi s me moirs, Jan Ursfny, a top DP leader and its Deputy Chairman, argued that Lettric h went into the meetin g with the intention of avo idin g debate over clemency, a position Ursfny strongly advised against. 8 Lettrich 's behav ior at the meeting does betray the actions of a man inte nt on avoi ding debate. 9 First of all , most of the meetin g 's di scuss ion dea lt with De mocratic di ssati sfaction with Daxner's ha ndling of the tri al. Whe n the Presidium did get around to the Ti so verdict, Le ttri c h made it clear th at he fe lt th at the press ure of time mad e it imposs ible to acq uire sufficie nt knowledge to take a pos ition on c le mency, and that any recommendation would thu s have to be " politica l." The Communi st Horvath the n proposed that the Presidium take no stand , but simpl y pass on Stefa nik 's proposa l to the government without co mment. He argued that a recomme nd ation from the SNC was ne ithe r requi- 1 Pravda. Apri l 18, 1947 . no. 90, p. I: th e Slovak term pop!ii vct nie could be rendered as .. spitting on". • Jan Ursfny. Z m6jho i i votct. (M artin . 2000), pp. 123- 124. " See Sl ovensky narod ny archfv (hereafter referred to as SNA). Fond Urad predsednfctva Slovenskej narodnej rady , Carton 139, Folder 134. Folios 49-58 , S R Presidiu m meetin g of A pril 16. 1947. �SLOVAKIA 38 red nor necessary, for it was the government and Benes whose views would be decisive. According to Horvath, since the Communists were opposed to clemency, they would be unable to support Stefanik ' s proposa l, and hence any vote in the SNC would be on a parti san basis, setting a bad precedent for future Communist-Democratic cooperation. When it came time to vote on Horvath ' s proposal , the Presidium accepted it unanimously. Before examining why the SNC , or more specifically its Democratic members, opted not to recommend c lemency for Tiso, let us track the proposal ' s course to Prague and ultimately to Benes. The Communists and Social Democrats were openly hostile to Tiso, and the non-parti san mini sters, Ludvfk Svoboda (Defense) and Jan Masaryk (Foreign Affairs), could be expected to be so as well. Together, these constituted 13 of the 23 members of the government, enough to tip any vote to Ti so's detriment. On top of that, the Czech National Soc ialists were at best ambivalent. A number of leading National Socialists opposed clemency and wanted their party to vote against it or at least to abstain. 10 However, Minister of Justice Prokop Drtina, one of the party's top leaders, had earlier assured Lettrich that he would support clemency provided the SNC did. 11 In the last of a series of meetings on the issue , held right before the government session began , Drtina managed to convince his colleagues to agree to the following position : to oppose clemency, but only after first proposing that the request for clemency be returned to the Presid ium of the SNC for that organ's recommendation. In thi s way, Drtina could present himself as makin g a good faith effort to honor hi s promise to Lettrich , while entertaining hopes that a vote to return the request to the SNC would fail, thu s getting himself off the hook. 12 The government meeting opened at approximately 5: 15 p.m ., after a delay of over an hour as its members waited for reports from ° Kaplan. Dva retribucnf procesy. p. 25 . 1 " Prokop Drtina. Ceskos lovensko muj osud, II. 2, (Toronto, I 982). pp. 297-298. 302. 12 Drtina, Ceskoslovensko muj osud. II , 2, p. 302. �SLOVAKIA 39 Slovakia. 13 Within ten minutes, a delegation of representatives from the Union of Czechoslovak Partisans and so me similar organizations asked to be admitted. Since the National Socialists had yet to arrive, mak ing their last minute plans in a nearby room , the meetin g was adjourned for 45 minutes while the parti san organizations were given the opportunity to press ure the mini sters to vote against clemency. 14 Once the de legation s had their say and engaged some of the mini sters over the iss ue , and the National Sociali st mini sters had arrived, the meeting was reconvened. Prime Mini ster Kl ement Gottwald began by sharin g two pieces of information he had just rece ived from Slovaki a- the memorandum from the SNC' s Pres idium pass in g on Stefanik's proposal for clemency without comment, and a telegram from Gu stav Husak, Chairman of Slovakia 's Board of Commissioners (Cabinet). Husak noted that Stefanik 's proposal did not reflect the views of the Board of Commissioners nor its Presidium, whose standpoint Stefanik did not seek, and should therefore be regarded as hi s own personal proposal. Husak added that he did not agree with the proposa l. Thus, the meeting opened with reports from Slovakia 's two chief political organs, neither of which endorsed clemency. Gottwald, leader of the Czechoslovak Communist Party , then proposed that the government reso lve aga inst clemency, since the National Court in Brati slava recommended against it, and the Pres idium of the SNC did not recommend for it. In a long and sometimes pass ionate debate, mini sters from both sides weighed in on the que stion, with positions breaking down along party lines. The Communists led the charge against clemency. Vladimfr Clementi s, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and a Slovak, read a CPS 13 For the minutes of the meeting. see K apl an, Dva retribucnf procesy. pp. 225-254. 14 Ursfny . in his memoirs, recou nts be ing asked by one member of the parti san dele- gati on: "M r. Deput y Chairman, tell me, w ith whom do you wan t to go. w ith th e Ludak underground. or with us?" A nother partisan representati ve. however, spoke up for Ursfny as ··one of the greates t partisans. " (see Ursfny, Z m6jho i ivota, p. 125): see footnote 17 for an ex planation of the term " Ludak. " �40 SLOVAKIA decl aration that la id o ut the Co mmuni st pos iti on. The dec larati o n stressed the did acti c function of the tri al, that is, its purpose in di sco urag ing enemies of the Republic. A death sentence co uld do that far better than a life sentence in thi s res pect. C lemency, on the co ntrary, would onl y encou rage enemi es of the state and sympathizers of Ti so and hi s reg ime . Reactionari es, as before, were tryin g to take over Slovaki a "even at the price of the Re public." 15 The dec laration arg ued that c leme ncy would evoke di stru st in the judic ial sys tem. Veterans of the Sl ovak Nati onal Upri sin g would be upset with the de parture from the idea ls of the res istance; peo ple wo uld note the inj ustice of lesser crimin als hav ing been more harshl y puni shed than Ti so; and politics would be seen once more as " panske huncutst vo", that is "gentl emen's mi sc hi ef." 16 The declarati o n noted in parti cul ar that Ti so showed no remorse for hi s crimes, and in fac t gave succor to th e Re public 's ene mi es in hi s co ncludin g statement at hi s tri al. Much of what Cleme nti s read was identica l to a dec larati on made a day earli er by Slovaki a's res istance organi zati o ns, testifyin g to the leadin g ro le the Co mmuni sts pl ayed in those orga ni zati o ns and the success the party had in coordin atin g various soc ial orga ni zati ons on behalf of its objecti ves . Indeed , both dec laration s co nc luded with the sa me threat to assess the s ituation and consider what mea ns to employ in defense of the Republic and its character. Czech Communi sts also spoke out again st clemency, asserting th at Ti so was a traitor and a war crimina l, and that fa ilin g to exec ute him would be a blow to Czec hos lovakia 's unity and inde pendence. Communi st speakers also arg ued th at it was the will of th e Slovak people that Ti so be exec u- 15 The express ion ··ani za ce nu republiky", th at is, •·even at the price of the rep ublic" . was a reference to a statement made by HSL:S leader A ndrej Hlin ka at a rall y in Trencfn in 1932, where he asse rted th e degree to whi ch his party wo uld pu rsue Slovak interests; see James Ramon Felak, •A l the Price of the Republic·_. Hlinka 's Slovak People 's Party. 1929- 1938. (Pittsburg h, 1994 ), p. 96. 16 " Poli tika je panske huncutstvo" was an expression curre nt among Slovaks , rooted in Slovakia ' s feudal pas t. It was the recog nition by peasan ts th at pol itics was the domain where the lords made mi sch ief. �SLOVAKIA 41 ted , as ev ide nced by the pos iti ons of the Nati ona l Co urt, the SNC, and the Board of Co mmi ss ione rs, all organs composed e ntire ly of Slova ks and re prese nting S lovakia. Thi s was why, the Czec h Co mmuni st Vac lav Kopecky noted , the DP would not speak up fo r c leme ncy on the SNC's Pres idium. Th e Soc ia l De mocrati c mini sters we re just as o pposed to c lemency as the Communi sts, and no less assertive about the ir pos iti on. Zdene k Fierlin ger, the leader of the SOP and a Deputy Prime Minister, argued th at a vote fo r c le me ncy wo uld upset Czec hoslovaki a's alli es in the Slav ic world , in part because it would fu e l Slova k independe nce, whi c h itse lf th reate ned Czec hos lovaki a 's border w ith the Sov iet Uni o n. Fie rlinger even re marked th at how o ne voted o n the cleme ncy questi on was a test of one's patri oti sm. With respect to the reli g io us dim e ns ion of the ques ti o n, the Soc ial De mocrati c leade r asserted th at the fac t of Tiso's be ing a priest was not a miti gating c irc um stance, but rathe r one th at made matters worse. He noted th at it was not good for the Catho lic Churc h to e ncumbe r itse lf with Ti so . Whil e Fie rlinger re prese nted the pro-C ommuni st left-win g of the SOP, that party's ri ght-wing was no less vehe me nt about Ti so. Vaclav Maj er, the leader of the ri ght-wing Soc ial De mocrats, referred to the Sl ovak pri est as one of the chi e f war crimin als, guilty of mass murder. The most ex te ns ive attac k on Ti so a nd argume nt against cle me ncy, however, came not fro m the mini ste rs o f the le fti st parties, but from the oste nsibl y ne utra l (a lbeit c loset Communi st) Ludvfk Svoboda, the Mini ster o f Defe nse. As a Czec hoslovak hero of both the First and Second World Wars, Svoboda's word s carri ed a certain cac het. Svoboda spoke at le ngth about why T iso mu st die . He came o ut strong ly aga inst so-ca ll ed ha lf-so luti o ns; at ha nd was a definiti ve hi stori ca l qu esti o n w ith long- te rm impli cati o ns th at sho uld not be judged accordin g to the needs a nd mood of the mo me nt. Ti so was �42 SLOVAKIA not just a war criminal ; he was the sy mbol of " Ludakism," 17 fasci sm, treason , and collaboration . To grant clemency to Tiso, according to Svoboda, would render hi s trial vain and superfluous. If alive, Ti so would remain to poison cooperation and unity between Czechs and Slovaks; clemency would encourage hi s supporters, while disappointing others. Like many speakers and writers of the time, Svoboda noted that Tiso showed no remorse. He ca lled for a firm and resolute action agai nst him as a means of strengthening Czechoslovakia's international position and prestige. To those w ho argued th at Ti so should be spared because he was a priest, Svoboda dec lared that "we are not judging a priest, but a traitor, a destroyer of the Czechoslovak state, and a criminal. That Tiso is a priest only makes matters worse; he profaned the priestly office and Church at a time when thou sands of other priests fought bravely again st Nazi sm and perished in concentration camps and prisons." On the other s ide of the equation were those mini sters who championed c lemency-on ly the Democrats and Czech Populi sts. Here the most prominent speaker was Ursfny . The Democratic Deputy Chairman argued that clemency would improve relations between Czechs and Slovaks, Lutherans and Catholics, and aid in the overall consolidation of the post-war Republic. Such a goodwi ll gesture might also win over some of Czechoslovakia' s enemi es. Ursfny noted that religiou s fee lings ran strong in Slovakia, where the exec ution of a priest was a serious , and potentiall y upsetting matter. He pointed out that many good people were for clemency, includin g so me bishops and hi gh functionari es in the Lutheran church , a church that itself had suffered under Ti so's regi me. The Democratic Minister of Transportation Ivan Pietor also spelled out a number of reasons for clemency. He argued that Ti so was popular among the majority of Slovaks, and that the preva ilin g majority of Slovaks would vote for 17 Lud aki sm, or "l'udactvo" was the term employed to refer to fo ll owers of th e Slovak People 's Party, whose members were know n as '• Ludaks" or " l'udaci ." It best approximates the Engli sh word " Populi sm. " Communi sts applied the term to any Slovak Catholics they did not like. �SLOVAKIA 43 clemency if given the chance, thou gh thi s did not mean they agreed with Ti so ' s politics. He too noted that important Lutheran leaders sent ardent appeals on Tiso's behalf in the interest of the peaceful deve lopment of Slovaki a and Czechoslovakia. The g iven politica l s ituation , accordin g to Pietor, demanded statesmanlike thinkin g, wi sdom , and sensiti vity to the prevailing political condition s and mood. In such a co ntext, clemency would be a gesture to win over hearts in Slovakia and bring the Czech and Slovak nation s together. While the Court may have unanimou sly estab lished Tiso 's guilt and ca ll ed for hi s exec ution , that was a judicial decision , not a political one. What the Republic now faced was a manifestly political deci sion , and that was the task of the government to settl e, in accordance with political considerations. The Czec h Populi sts, as members of a Catholic party with moderate inclinations, also supported clemency. Minister Franti se k Ha.la (Post Office), him se lf a Catholic priest, presented c le mency as the most suitable solution for Czechoslovak and Slovak interests. The Populi st Adolf Prochazka (Health ) remarked that c lemency was the des ire of most Slovaks, and of the Lutheran church leadership . Jan Kopecky (Mini ster without Portfolio) supported clemency as a way to consolidate the Repub li c, and reminded hi s mini sterial colleagues that life impri sonment was not tantamount to acq uittal. In makin g hi s case, Ursfny co ntended that the SNC did not recommend aga inst c lemency ; rather it was not the Pres idium 's function to ex press a position on the proposa l, but only to pass it on to the government. Technically , he was correct because the Second Prague Agreement of April I I , 1946, the statute under which such matters were regulated , stated that the commissioner's proposal be submitted to the go vernment "v ia the Pres idium of the Slovak National Counci l. " 18 However, this strict construction is not the way the SNC had hitherto been dealing with proposa ls. Gottwald snide ly noted that the '" Jan Mechyr. Slo vensko v Ceskoslovensku : Slovensko-ceske vztahy I 9 I 8- 199 I . (Prague. 1991 ). �44 SLOVAKIA Pres idium had sudde nl y dec ided in thi s case to limit itse lf to the ro le of a post office, and al ong with Fie rlinger, he regarded Ursfny 's expl a nati on as sophi stry. They were not bu ying th e De moc rats ' claim that the Pres idium ' s position was not a fa ilure to endorse c le mency. It was the centri st parties, however, that ex pressed the most anger over the SNC 's sile nce regardin g c leme ncy - a sil e nce th at, because the DP had a majority in the Pres idium, was c learl y bl a med on the De mocrats. A number of Nati ona l Soc iali st and Populi st mini ste rs vo iced their indi gnati on at the SNC's atte mpt to pass th e buck. Jaroslav Stra nsky (Edu cati on) said th at he wa nted Ursfny and hi s frie nds to recogni ze the situ ation into whi ch they had gotte n the governme nt , whi c h thanks to the m now had to dec ide on a matter about whi c h it did not have s uffic ie nt kn ow ledge. In thi s s itu ati on, th e gove rnm e nt co uld be bl a med if Ti so did not get cle me ncy, thereby bein g burde ned with what is primaril y a Sl ovak pro bl e m. Drtina, s imil arly, sa id he was perpl exed by the Pres idium ' s unex pected course of acti on, one whi ch now put the go vernme nt in a diffi c ult situati on. He pro posed se ndin g th e pro posal bac k to th e Pres idium fo r its opini o n, in acco rdance with the Second Prague Agree me nt, whi c h stipul ated that the governme nt return proposa ls to the SNC's Pres idium if it had objecti ons to them from the point of view of statew ide inte res ts. Foll o win g suit , Nation a l Soc ia li st Mini ste r o f Fore ig n Trade Hube rt Ripka noted hi s party ' s astoni shme nt at th e SNC's acti on - how it limited its ro le to th at of a mailbox in the way it interpre ted the Seco nd Prag ue Agree me nt. He noted th at Sl ovaki a ' s se lf-proc laimed leadin g orga n did not have the courage to ex press itse lf on a questi on of suc h importance fo r the future and fa te of the Slovak people . Accordin g to Ripka, it was c lear that the SNC Pres idium wa nted to shi ft the res po nsibility for Ti so's fate o nto the governme nt. He in sisted that the Pres idum ex press itse lf on the iss ue, and as qui ckl y as poss ibl e. Hala, spea kin g for th e Czech Populi sts, echoed the sentiments o f the Nation al Soc ia li sts, notin g th at the Presidium ' s action greatl y surpri sed him and that it see med to want to pass responsibility onto the governme nt. �SLOVAKIA 45 While the National Sociali sts and Populi sts expressed agreement with Drtina 's motion to return the proposa l to the SNC, the leftist parties adamantly opposed it. Gottwald, Fierlinger, and others noted that the SNC had already taken a position by failing to endorse clemency. They argued that further delay of Ti so's execution would only drag thin gs out, sustain a state of tension and provoke and evoke supporters of Ti so, as well as open the floodgates for clemency for others sentenced to death. When Drtina 's motion to return the proposal to the Presidium of the SNC came to a vote, it was defeated 13 to I0 . The voting broke down according to party lines: the National Socialists, Populists, and Democrats supported the proposal; the leftist parties and non-parti san ministers opposed it. While the Populists may well have sincerely believed that the best remedy for the crisis would have been for the SNC to voice its opinion on the matter, the National Socialists made and supported the motion simply for cosmetic purposes, hoping that it would fail. 19 The Democrats, of course, were in a quite unenviable position. The motion' s failure meant that they would not be g iven a second chance to make a stand for clemency in the Presidium. At the same time, it is not certain that they would have known what to do with a second chance; the factors that kept them from endorsing clemency the first time around were still operative. As the debate over Stefanik 's proposal resumed , the National Socialists came out against clemency, and sought to present the anticlemency position as the one identified with Slovakia. Drtina, noting th at the government was not fully informed of the detail s of the case, thought the matter should be best settled by Slovakia, as it indeed was - a Slovak Court had establi shed Tiso's guilt and had unanimously rejected clemency, which the SNC had also failed to recommend. Ripka , de mon stratin g the sort of Czech ignorance of Slovakia that ran kles Slovaks, claimed that Ti so, long before 1938 , was as bad or worse than Vojtech Tuka, Ti so 's main political rival during the war 19 Drtina adm its thi s in hi s me moirs: see Ceskoslovensko mu) osud, II , 2, p. 302. �46 SLOVAKIA and the leader of the radically pro-Nazi faction ple 's Party. 20 in the Slovak Peo- Because the consequences of Ludakism had not yet di- sappeared from Slovakia, clemency should be rejected. Ripka not only came out again st it, but also appealed to the DP and Czech Populists to abstain on the vote, so the government could present a united front. He addressed the Democrats with the rebuke that, if they did not vote for clemency in Slovakia, they should not now at the governmental level, where the domestic and international ramifications of such a vote were great. After more di sc uss ion, the government ultimately passed a resolution voicing its opposition to c lemency, on the grounds th at the National Court in Brati slava had recommended against it, and that the Pres idium of the SNC did not endorse it when pass ing Stefanik's proposal on to Prague. The vote was 17 in favor , 6 against. All mini sters rejected c lemency except those from the DP and Czech People 's Party. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Shortly thereafter, Gottwald took the government 's recommendation to Benes, who accepted it and informed Slovakia's Commissioner of Ju stice that hi s request for clemency had been officially denied. 2 1 Upon learn in g of the dec ision , Lettrich made a last-ditch intervention , telephoning Benes ' s chancellery. He conveyed the message that the government's standpoint was in conflict with Article I.b. of the Second Prague Agreement, which instructed the government, if it had objections aga inst a proposal from Slovaki a, to return that proposal to the SNC' s Presidium, not pass it on to Benes with a 20 Tuka was a notoriou s ri ghti st rad ica l who made a political career out of intriguing with foreign enemi es of the Czec hos lovak Republi c almost right from th e Republi c ' s founding. He spent most of th e 1930s in pri son for treason, and was executed for war crimes in the summer of 1946. we ll before the tri al of Tiso. 21 K apl an, D va retribucnf procesy, p. 27: Benes had informed Gottwald the day before th at he planned to ac t in accordance wi th whatever th e governm ent recommended regardin g clemency fo r Tiso, K apl an, D va retribucnf procesy, pp. 222-224 (Document 38). �SLOVAKIA 47 recommendation. 22 Lettrich warned Benes of possible " immense political consequences" that could resu lt from a rejection of clemency, and fo r which the DP could not accept responsibility . Lettrich conc luded by notin g th at the DP had an absolute majority in the SNC and its Pres idium and fully agreed with Stefanik ' s proposal, considering clemency as a paramount state and nation al interest. Benes received the message early the next morning, instructing hi s chancellery to tell Lettrich that he had gone to the countryside, and would discuss the matter with Gottw ald if Lettrich so desired. 23 Ursfny too attempted an appeal on behalf of clemency, and also found out that the rej ection of clemency was an accomplished fact and that Benes was incommunicado. 24 Stefanik him self made a final attempt on Tiso ' s behalf, asking the National Court that Tiso be tran sferred to the jail of the Office of the Public Prosec utor, so he could be questioned regarding some other cases. Thi s the National Court rejected on the ground s that Ti so could be just as eas ily be questioned at its own jail. 25 With all avenues for clemency now ex hausted , Ti so was hanged early on the morning of April 18, officiall y pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m. It was no surpri se that Ti so was found guilty, nor th at he was sentenced to die. Nor was it astoni shing that the majority of government mini sters in Prague rejected the reco mmendation for clemency, and that Benes acted in accordance with their position. But what was puzzling was the behavior of the DP -supporting clemency in Prague , but not in Bratislava; desperately appealin g for clemency on the 22 Mi chal Barn ovsky , Na ceste k monopolu moci, ( Bratislava , 1993) , p. 145 n; K apl an, Dva retribucnf procesy, p. 28. 23 Kaplan , D va retribucnf procesy, p. 28 ; Robert Letz, S/ovensko v rokoch I 945- 1948, (Bratislava, 1994 ), p. 48 . 24 Ursfny, Z m6jho t i vota, p. 127 . 25 K aplan, Dva retribucnf procesy, p. 29; the motive behind this attempt was to delay Ti so ' s exec uti on and thu s increase the chances that he would ultimately receive clemency . �48 SLOVAKIA eve of Tiso 's exec uti on, while letting the issue pass right throu gh the hands of the SNC Presidium that they had dominated the day before. Did the DP want the appeal for c lemency to fail? Such a view ca n be found in the po lice record , where a report me nti ons that Lettrich was opposed to cle me ncy for Tiso. 26 Like many scenarios sketched out by police inform ants, however, this one seems to be w ithout merit. Lettrich had earli er lobbi ed Tiso ' s three prosecutors for c lemency, and had persuaded Minister of Ju sti ce Drtina to promi se hi s support as well. These are hardl y the acti ons of a man desiring Tiso 's execution . Other ex planat io ns must li e behind the timidity of Lettrich and the DP at the notoriou s SNC Pres idium meeting of April 16. Hi storian s who have exa mined the meetin g, a nd the issue of clemency overall, ha ve co me up with a numbe r of ex pl anation s, which will be di sc ussed here in ascend in g order of pl a usibility and influence. 27 Most dubi o us is the view th at the De mocrats trusted that Benes would grant clemency regardless of the recommendations he rece ived. Whil e the re appare ntly was public spec ulation that Be nes mi ght spare Tiso, the DP leadership had littl e reason to put their tru st in such suppos ition s. Benes had already g ive n Lettrich and Ursfny quite c lear indication s of hi s oppositi on to cle mency. 28 Another of the weaker arguments for why the SNC did not take a stand on c le me ncy was the one the DP used to ex pl ai n itse lf at the 26 Barno vsky, Na ceste. p. 130. 27 For exp lanati ons of why the OS acted the way it did at th e SNR Pres idiu m mee- ting of Apri l 16, see Barnovsky , Na ceste, p. 130: Letz, Slovensko. pp. 47-48: Kaplan . Ova relribucnf procesy, pp. 24-26 : Ursfny, Z m6jho i i vota. pp. 123- 124 : for the DP ' s attempt to j ustify its ac ti ons at the time, see Cas. April 23, 1947. no. 93 . p. I. 28 Lettrich , in a meeting with the three state prosecutors of the Tiso trial on March 12. I 94 7, mentioned that he had discussed the matter of clemency for Tiso w ith Benes on two occasions, and th at Benes's positi on was th at he would not take a stand but rather all ow th e governmen t' s decis ion on th e matter to guide him : (see SNA. Demokraticka strana, Carton 2, Bundle 99 , Folios 1-2): moreover. Ursfny claims in hi s memoirs that in fall of 1946. Daxner asked Benes how he shou ld handle the Tiso case, to which Benes replied, " I th in k that he deserves death, but thi s is an affair for an independent court. "; (see Ursfny, Z m6jho i ivota. p. 11 3). �SLOVAKIA 49 government meetin g of April 16 and thereafter, i.e. that accordin g to the 2 nd Prague Agreement , the S C's role in the process was simpl y to pass proposals on to the Government and not to co mment on them, and that i f the government had obj ection s to Stefanik's proposa l, it wo uld soli cit the SNC Presidium 's views on it. Upon refl ec ti on, thi s ex plan ati on holds no more water th an it did at the tim e. A party that believed Slovak organs should speak for Slovakia, and a good bit of whose appeal was based on its advocacy of autonomy fo r Slovakia, is behav ing out of character w hen it surrenders to Prague the prerogati ve to decide on a matter so c lose to th e hearts of so many Slovaks. Another ex pl anation put forth by the DP was that it lacked sufficient time to stud y the doc umentation pertinent to th e Tiso tri al. Whil e on the surface thi s is true , still , the SNC was not being asked to render a lega l or judicial judgment, but a politi ca l one. In the latter case, the party could have made up its mind on a pos ition long before the verdi ct, as the Communists had. M ore convincing are the views th at th e DP was simpl y afra id th at a vote for clemency wo uld prompt the Communi sts to provoke a politica l crisis in Slovakia, halting cooperation w ithin the SNC, mobili zing Parti san and trade union groups against the Democrats, and forcing Prague to step in . Indeed, such threats and pressures were already ev ident on the Slovak political stage for over a yea r, and were com mon everywhere else in East Central Europe w here Communi st parti es were acti ve. In thi s view , the DP simpl y lost its nerve and opted to pass the matter on to Prague ra ther than deal w ith it in Bra ti slava. Thi s explanati on seems va lid enough because Communi st pres sure was al ways an influence. However, i f fear of reperc uss ions was the main reason for keeping the DP quiet, w hy did Democrats vote for clemency at the government sess ions in Prag ue? Wa s it to gi ve public assura nce to th eir co nstitu ents th at th ey opposed clemency , but at a ven ue w here they did not have to worry about their vote carry ing any influence and thereby provoking a clemency- induced �SLOVAKIA 50 cris is back home? This question is moot , give n the influence of the most significant factor of all. A final ex pl anati on is most like ly the crucial o ne - that the DP could not co unt on one of its own representatives on the Presidi um , Milan Po lak , to vote for c le mency. Po lak ' s record, both before and after 1947, place him on the left wing of the DP. A former Parti san, and leader in the Parti sa n vetera ns' movement, Po lak collaborated with the Communists durin g and after the February co up of 1948 . 29 Unable to co unt on hi s vote, Lettrich preferred no vote on c lemency to one in which Polak would abstain or vote no. Thus he chose the leas t pa inful but st ill damaging option. While many of Slovakia ' s Catholics would be upset if the DP-controll ed Presidium failed to take a vote on clemency, they wo uld be even more outraged if a DPcontrolled Pres idium rejected clemency, or could not mu ste r th e three votes needed to pass it. Ursfny 's memo irs prov ide further ev idence for thi s ex planation. Ursfny reported that, when on a vis it to the United States in the fa ll of 1967 , he spoke by telephone with Lettrich , who told him that he wanted the SNC to avoid the iss ue of clemency because Pol ak wo uld not have voted for it. 30 Thus, while the DP owed its success to a large ly Catholic e lectorate, it contained a core of resistance veterans who simpl y could not countenance anything short of Ti so's exec ution. Since the leader of those veterans he ld the deciding vote on the SNC Presidium , the DP 's efforts to support c le mency were futile. Tho ugh the DP had good reason to suspect that Polak would not vote for c lemency, the Communists had their own fears that he mi ght not vote aga inst it. This ex plains why the Communists on the SNC were as eager as the Democrats to pass the matter on to Prague. A number of factors contributed to the exec ution of Jozef Tiso-a Pres ident who disliked him and welcomed hi s exec ution ; a gove rn ment where the cards were stacked agai nst him from the start , with 19 See Barnovsky , Na ceste, pp. 240, 245 , for Pol ak ' s acti vity during the .. February Crisis" of 1948. )o Ursfny, Z mojho i ivoui, p. 124. �SLOVAKIA 51 the Soc ial Democrats, Nati onal Soc iali sts, and non-parti san mini sters un sy mpatheti c to hi s cause; a Co mmuni st Party and the labor and res istance orga ni zati ons it mo bili zed workin g agg ressive ly aga in st him ; a staunchl y anti -Ti so j udge; and Ti so 's own wartime acti vities, whi ch made a death se nte nce pl ausi bl e. Nothin g th at th e DP did could have spared Ti so from exec utio n in thi s contex t. Neverthe less, th e way the Democrats mane uvered th ro ugh the cri s is had several consequ ences. The DP did eno ugh for T iso to buttress Communi st arguments that the Democrats catered to the Ludaks they were all eged ly harboring, arg uments th at in the ensuing months would mu shroom into the arrest of several leading De mocrats for ant i-state co nspiracy. At the same time, the DP 's fa ilure to sec ure an SNC vote on T iso's beha lf made it eas ier for the government 's Co mmuni st and non-Cath o li c Czec h parti es to argue th at Slo vaki a was opposed to c lemency fo r Tiso, thu s he lpin g abso lve Czechs of any charges that T iso's exec uti on was a Czech operati on done against the w ill of the Slovak people . Fin all y, the DP's impotence in defending T iso led to increased di si llusionment amo ng S lovak ia's Catho lic voters. For the DP, the who le undertaking was a lose-lose situ ati on, an indi cati on of just how d ifficult th at party's road was in spite of, or better said , on acco unt of, its bi g e lec tora l victo ry in May of 1946. To a great ex tent, the events surroundin g the iss ue of c lemency fo r Jozef Tiso were a mi crocos m of th e proble mati c pos itio n of the De mocrati c Party in postwar Czechos lovak ia. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2005, Vol. 38 Description An account of the resource Vol. 38 (No. 70-71), 2005. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2005 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 33 The Democratic Party and the Execution of Jozef Tiso James Ramon Felak On April 15 , 1947, Igor Daxne r, Chairman of the National Court in Brati s lava, pronounced the verd ict agai nst Father Jozef Ti so, the head of Slovakia's wartime state that was closely alli ed with Naz i Germany. The Co urt found Ti so guilty of 95 of 11 3 charges aga inst him, in c ludin g treason, betraya l of the Slovak National Uprising , co ll aborati on with the Naz is, and de portation of Slovak Jews to Naz i death ca mps. Hi s sente nce was death by han g in g, to be carried out within 48 hours. At once, Tiso, along w ith hi s two defense attorneys , submitted a requ est for c le me ncy. 1 Thi s pape r w ill in vesti gate the fate of thi s request, the last official chance to spare Ti so from death. Though the final deci sion on clemency rested with Czechoslovakia ' s Pres ide nt Edvard Be nes, the request passed like a hot potato over the next dozen ho urs, from Daxner to Slovakia's Commissioner of th e Interior Iva n Stefanik, to Slovakia ' s c hi ef organ of se lf-governme nt , the Slovak Nation al Council (SNC) , to the Czechoslovak gove rnme nt in Prague , and ultimatel y to Be nes. De mocra tic Party (DP) leaders had lobbi ed for c lemency during the tri al, voted for it at the gove rnme nt 's mee tin g on the eve nin g of April 16, a nd frantically appea led on its behalf to Be nes in the hours before Tiso ' s exec uti on. However, they c uri ously refused to take a stand for clemency at the meeting of the SNC's Pres idium on the afternoon of April 16, where they had a 3-to-2 majority and where a stand on Ti so 's behalf would have g ive n offic ial sanction to the view , w idely shared by many and 1 ' One of the three prosecutors. l.'.udovft Ri gan. also made a request for clemency to the Court; K arel K aplan, Dva retribucnf procesy . Komentovane dokumenty, (Prague. I 992), p. 221 (Document 37). SLOVAKIA 34 probably most Slovaks, that Tiso should not be executed. The Democrats' refusal to take a stand in the SNC meant that Tiso's opponents could point to the failure of any official Slovak organs to recommend clemency as proof that his execution reflected the will of the Slovak people. The fate of Jozef Tiso was very much connected with the DP's fortunes in Czechoslovak and Slovak politics . Shortly after her liberation from Nazi rule and reattachment to Czechoslovakia, Slovakia had only two significant political parties-the Communist Party of Slovakia (CPS) and the Democratic Party (DP). The latter, in many ways a legacy of the interwar Agrarian party, emerged out of the Lutheran-dominated wing of the resistance to the Tiso regime. When the Catholic and nationalist Slovak People's Party (SPP) was outlawed at war ' s end , many Slovak Catholics became political orphans.2 In the spring of 1946, however, the DP adopted them through the so-called April Agreement, a pact between the party's leaders and important Catholic political activi sts whereby Catholics were promised a large share of influence in the DP and a Democratic commitment to promote the Catholic Church ' s position on issues such as education in exchange for Catholic electoral support. The fruit of the April Agreement was a landslide victory for the DP over the Communists in the May 1946 parliamentary elections, with Democrats winning 63 % of the vote to the Communists' 30%. From that point on , the CPS focused its energies on undoing the electoral results by seeking to paralyze, fracture , or dis solve the DP. Among other things, the Tiso trial figured in Communist calculations of how to cripple their rival. The Communist plan was to force the DP to navigate between the Scylla of angering its Catholic members and voters , who had hopes that the Democrats would rescue Tiso from a death sentence, and the Charybdis of being sucked into a police investigation for 2 Catholics comprised nearly 80% of the Slovak population. The majority of Slovak Catholics voted for the SPP during the interwar period. SLOVAKIA 35 allegations of pandering to the reactionaries and war criminals it was all egedl y harboring th anks to the April Agreeme nt. Idea ll y, the DP wo uld be di scredited in the eyes of Catholics as an ineffectua l and lukewarm defe nder of Ti so, while concurrently di sc redited in the eyes of everyone else as a haven for reactionaries. With little room for mane uver, and in the face of enormo us press ure, the DP had to face thi s chall enge. What fo ll ows is how the Com muni sts were able to acco mpli sh these end s, partl y due to the ir own tactics, partl y due to the dynami c of the situ ati on, and part ly due to the cho ices made by the Democrats. Ri ght after the anno unceme nt of the verd ict, Ti so's lawyers, Ernest Zabkay and Martin Greco, submitted an official requ est for c lemency, as king for a more "appropriate" sentence for the ir c lient. 3 They particularly stressed lega l tec hni ca lities. Tiso's lawyers argued th at the defense was not all owed to speak with the acc used without the sec urity organs present-a violati on of a fund amental principle of criminal tri al procedure-and that the defense did not have certain archiv al materials at its disposal , while the prosec uti on did. Furthermore, records of testimony were not made avail able within the requisite three days, but lagged by nearly two month s, thereby mak in g it impossible for the defense to c ite testimon y made after January 15 in its concluding statements. In addition to these and a number of other technicalities, Tiso ' s lawyers arg ued th at the trial was po litica ll y biased, both because Daxner himse lf was bi ased, as the SNC itself had recognized in the past, and because, despite a leg islati ve order ca llin g for political pari ty in the Senate, no me mbers of the DP took part in the judg ment. Tiso's attorn eys a lso arg ued that Tiso was being puni shed for eve nts beyond his co ntro l. They claimed th at he did not prepare for Slovakia's independence in 1939, or he lp cause it, and that he showed no initiative and intention ality in hi s cooperation wi th Nazi Germany. Rather, he simpl y tri ed to make the best of a bad situ ation that was thru st upo n him . Finally, Ti so's atto rneys, in the .1 Kaplan, Ova retribucnf procesy. pp. 2 15-2 19 (Document 35) . SLOVAKIA 36 onl y argument that the DP would make its ow n, argued th at clemency would strengthen Czech-Slovak relations, e liminate the threat of ill will between Slovakia ' s Catholics and Protestants, and strengthen ti es between Slovak emigrants and their motherl and. The National Court quick ly decided agai nst recommending c lemency for Ti so, and passed Tiso ' s request on to Slovak Commissioner of Ju stice Ivan Stefanik , a Democrat. Stefa nik in turn supported Tiso's request, and submitted a proposal to the Presidium of the SNC, which read , " I propose that the death se ntence of Dr. Jozef Ti so be commuted to life impri sonment. " 4 The proposal was to the point, absent the argumentation included in Ti so ' s request, and un like Ti so ' s request, allowed for no sentence less than life impri sonment. On April 16, the SNC ' s Presidium met to consider Stefa nik ' s proposal, along with some other matters connected with Ti so ' s tri al. When the Pres idium convened, it was already under enormous pressure. By law , Tiso ' s exec ution was to be carried out within 48 hours of the announcement of the verdict, so matters had to be considered quickly. Moreover, the gove rnm ent in Prag ue was meet in g later that day to discuss c lemency , and was eagerly awaiting the views of Slovakia 's leadin g organs on the matter. Adding to the pressure was the fact that the Presidium received the 214 page judgment aga inst Tiso only shortl y before its meeti ng.5 Moreover, te legrams, letters, and petitions (for and against c leme ncy) were pourin g in to the President 's office, the government, and the SNC, while Parti san and labor organizations staged anti-Ti so rallies across Slovakia and de legation s from trade union s, hou sing estates, and espec ially resistance organizations arrived in Brati slava to add their presence to the de liberations. 6 Though there were no reported cases of violence, it is not difficult to imagine the presence of these groups, enco uraged if not orchestrated by the Communists, adding a menac in g character to 4 K aplan , Dva relribucnf procesy. p. 220 (Document 36). ' Th e DP claimed the Presidium had onl y ten minutes to look over the length y judgmen t; see Cas. April 23 , 1947 , no. 93, p. I. 6 Cas, Apri l 23, 1947, no. 93 , p. I. SLOVAKIA 37 the already inte nse pressure on the Presidium , or more prec ise ly, its Democratic me mbers. For example, a consortium of major res istance organi zati o ns iss ued a decl aration on April 16 th at conde mned c lemency as a "s hameful defilement (popl'u vanie) of all the sac rifi ces of o ur nation al stru gg le" th at co uld e mbolde n Ti so's supporte rs into provokin g unrest in S lovakia aimed at undermining the Re public.7 If cle mency was gra nted to Tiso, these organizations promi sed to assess the situation and cons ide r what mean s to emp loy in de fe nse of the Republic and the ga ins of the Slovak National Upri sin g. The DP had a majority on the Presi dium , which conta ined three Democrats (Jozef Lettrich, who was chairman of both the DP and the SNC, Andrej Cvincek, Milan Po la k) a nd two Communi sts (Karol Smidke, Ivan Horvath ). Nevertheless, the Pres idium did not e ndorse Stefanik's proposa l for c le me nc y; rather, it reso lved to submit the proposa l to the governme nt without co mme nt. In hi s me moirs, Jan Ursfny, a top DP leader and its Deputy Chairman, argued that Lettric h went into the meetin g with the intention of avo idin g debate over clemency, a position Ursfny strongly advised against. 8 Lettrich 's behav ior at the meeting does betray the actions of a man inte nt on avoi ding debate. 9 First of all , most of the meetin g 's di scuss ion dea lt with De mocratic di ssati sfaction with Daxner's ha ndling of the tri al. Whe n the Presidium did get around to the Ti so verdict, Le ttri c h made it clear th at he fe lt th at the press ure of time mad e it imposs ible to acq uire sufficie nt knowledge to take a pos ition on c le mency, and that any recommendation would thu s have to be " politica l." The Communi st Horvath the n proposed that the Presidium take no stand , but simpl y pass on Stefa nik 's proposa l to the government without co mment. He argued that a recomme nd ation from the SNC was ne ithe r requi- 1 Pravda. Apri l 18, 1947 . no. 90, p. I: th e Slovak term pop!ii vct nie could be rendered as .. spitting on". • Jan Ursfny. Z m6jho i i votct. (M artin . 2000), pp. 123- 124. " See Sl ovensky narod ny archfv (hereafter referred to as SNA). Fond Urad predsednfctva Slovenskej narodnej rady , Carton 139, Folder 134. Folios 49-58 , S R Presidiu m meetin g of A pril 16. 1947. SLOVAKIA 38 red nor necessary, for it was the government and Benes whose views would be decisive. According to Horvath, since the Communists were opposed to clemency, they would be unable to support Stefanik ' s proposa l, and hence any vote in the SNC would be on a parti san basis, setting a bad precedent for future Communist-Democratic cooperation. When it came time to vote on Horvath ' s proposal , the Presidium accepted it unanimously. Before examining why the SNC , or more specifically its Democratic members, opted not to recommend c lemency for Tiso, let us track the proposal ' s course to Prague and ultimately to Benes. The Communists and Social Democrats were openly hostile to Tiso, and the non-parti san mini sters, Ludvfk Svoboda (Defense) and Jan Masaryk (Foreign Affairs), could be expected to be so as well. Together, these constituted 13 of the 23 members of the government, enough to tip any vote to Ti so's detriment. On top of that, the Czech National Soc ialists were at best ambivalent. A number of leading National Socialists opposed clemency and wanted their party to vote against it or at least to abstain. 10 However, Minister of Justice Prokop Drtina, one of the party's top leaders, had earlier assured Lettrich that he would support clemency provided the SNC did. 11 In the last of a series of meetings on the issue , held right before the government session began , Drtina managed to convince his colleagues to agree to the following position : to oppose clemency, but only after first proposing that the request for clemency be returned to the Presid ium of the SNC for that organ's recommendation. In thi s way, Drtina could present himself as makin g a good faith effort to honor hi s promise to Lettrich , while entertaining hopes that a vote to return the request to the SNC would fail, thu s getting himself off the hook. 12 The government meeting opened at approximately 5: 15 p.m ., after a delay of over an hour as its members waited for reports from ° Kaplan. Dva retribucnf procesy. p. 25 . 1 " Prokop Drtina. Ceskos lovensko muj osud, II. 2, (Toronto, I 982). pp. 297-298. 302. 12 Drtina, Ceskoslovensko muj osud. II , 2, p. 302. SLOVAKIA 39 Slovakia. 13 Within ten minutes, a delegation of representatives from the Union of Czechoslovak Partisans and so me similar organizations asked to be admitted. Since the National Socialists had yet to arrive, mak ing their last minute plans in a nearby room , the meetin g was adjourned for 45 minutes while the parti san organizations were given the opportunity to press ure the mini sters to vote against clemency. 14 Once the de legation s had their say and engaged some of the mini sters over the iss ue , and the National Sociali st mini sters had arrived, the meeting was reconvened. Prime Mini ster Kl ement Gottwald began by sharin g two pieces of information he had just rece ived from Slovaki a- the memorandum from the SNC' s Pres idium pass in g on Stefanik's proposal for clemency without comment, and a telegram from Gu stav Husak, Chairman of Slovakia 's Board of Commissioners (Cabinet). Husak noted that Stefanik 's proposal did not reflect the views of the Board of Commissioners nor its Presidium, whose standpoint Stefanik did not seek, and should therefore be regarded as hi s own personal proposal. Husak added that he did not agree with the proposa l. Thus, the meeting opened with reports from Slovakia 's two chief political organs, neither of which endorsed clemency. Gottwald, leader of the Czechoslovak Communist Party , then proposed that the government reso lve aga inst clemency, since the National Court in Brati slava recommended against it, and the Pres idium of the SNC did not recommend for it. In a long and sometimes pass ionate debate, mini sters from both sides weighed in on the que stion, with positions breaking down along party lines. The Communists led the charge against clemency. Vladimfr Clementi s, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and a Slovak, read a CPS 13 For the minutes of the meeting. see K apl an, Dva retribucnf procesy. pp. 225-254. 14 Ursfny . in his memoirs, recou nts be ing asked by one member of the parti san dele- gati on: "M r. Deput y Chairman, tell me, w ith whom do you wan t to go. w ith th e Ludak underground. or with us?" A nother partisan representati ve. however, spoke up for Ursfny as ··one of the greates t partisans. " (see Ursfny, Z m6jho i ivota, p. 125): see footnote 17 for an ex planation of the term " Ludak. " 40 SLOVAKIA decl aration that la id o ut the Co mmuni st pos iti on. The dec larati o n stressed the did acti c function of the tri al, that is, its purpose in di sco urag ing enemies of the Republic. A death sentence co uld do that far better than a life sentence in thi s res pect. C lemency, on the co ntrary, would onl y encou rage enemi es of the state and sympathizers of Ti so and hi s reg ime . Reactionari es, as before, were tryin g to take over Slovaki a "even at the price of the Re public." 15 The dec laration arg ued that c leme ncy would evoke di stru st in the judic ial sys tem. Veterans of the Sl ovak Nati onal Upri sin g would be upset with the de parture from the idea ls of the res istance; peo ple wo uld note the inj ustice of lesser crimin als hav ing been more harshl y puni shed than Ti so; and politics would be seen once more as " panske huncutst vo", that is "gentl emen's mi sc hi ef." 16 The declarati o n noted in parti cul ar that Ti so showed no remorse for hi s crimes, and in fac t gave succor to th e Re public 's ene mi es in hi s co ncludin g statement at hi s tri al. Much of what Cleme nti s read was identica l to a dec larati on made a day earli er by Slovaki a's res istance organi zati o ns, testifyin g to the leadin g ro le the Co mmuni sts pl ayed in those orga ni zati o ns and the success the party had in coordin atin g various soc ial orga ni zati ons on behalf of its objecti ves . Indeed , both dec laration s co nc luded with the sa me threat to assess the s ituation and consider what mea ns to employ in defense of the Republic and its character. Czech Communi sts also spoke out again st clemency, asserting th at Ti so was a traitor and a war crimina l, and that fa ilin g to exec ute him would be a blow to Czec hos lovakia 's unity and inde pendence. Communi st speakers also arg ued th at it was the will of th e Slovak people that Ti so be exec u- 15 The express ion ··ani za ce nu republiky", th at is, •·even at the price of the rep ublic" . was a reference to a statement made by HSL:S leader A ndrej Hlin ka at a rall y in Trencfn in 1932, where he asse rted th e degree to whi ch his party wo uld pu rsue Slovak interests; see James Ramon Felak, •A l the Price of the Republic·_. Hlinka 's Slovak People 's Party. 1929- 1938. (Pittsburg h, 1994 ), p. 96. 16 " Poli tika je panske huncutstvo" was an expression curre nt among Slovaks , rooted in Slovakia ' s feudal pas t. It was the recog nition by peasan ts th at pol itics was the domain where the lords made mi sch ief. SLOVAKIA 41 ted , as ev ide nced by the pos iti ons of the Nati ona l Co urt, the SNC, and the Board of Co mmi ss ione rs, all organs composed e ntire ly of Slova ks and re prese nting S lovakia. Thi s was why, the Czec h Co mmuni st Vac lav Kopecky noted , the DP would not speak up fo r c leme ncy on the SNC's Pres idium. Th e Soc ia l De mocrati c mini sters we re just as o pposed to c lemency as the Communi sts, and no less assertive about the ir pos iti on. Zdene k Fierlin ger, the leader of the SOP and a Deputy Prime Minister, argued th at a vote fo r c le me ncy wo uld upset Czec hoslovaki a's alli es in the Slav ic world , in part because it would fu e l Slova k independe nce, whi c h itse lf th reate ned Czec hos lovaki a 's border w ith the Sov iet Uni o n. Fie rlinger even re marked th at how o ne voted o n the cleme ncy questi on was a test of one's patri oti sm. With respect to the reli g io us dim e ns ion of the ques ti o n, the Soc ial De mocrati c leade r asserted th at the fac t of Tiso's be ing a priest was not a miti gating c irc um stance, but rathe r one th at made matters worse. He noted th at it was not good for the Catho lic Churc h to e ncumbe r itse lf with Ti so . Whil e Fie rlinger re prese nted the pro-C ommuni st left-win g of the SOP, that party's ri ght-wing was no less vehe me nt about Ti so. Vaclav Maj er, the leader of the ri ght-wing Soc ial De mocrats, referred to the Sl ovak pri est as one of the chi e f war crimin als, guilty of mass murder. The most ex te ns ive attac k on Ti so a nd argume nt against cle me ncy, however, came not fro m the mini ste rs o f the le fti st parties, but from the oste nsibl y ne utra l (a lbeit c loset Communi st) Ludvfk Svoboda, the Mini ster o f Defe nse. As a Czec hoslovak hero of both the First and Second World Wars, Svoboda's word s carri ed a certain cac het. Svoboda spoke at le ngth about why T iso mu st die . He came o ut strong ly aga inst so-ca ll ed ha lf-so luti o ns; at ha nd was a definiti ve hi stori ca l qu esti o n w ith long- te rm impli cati o ns th at sho uld not be judged accordin g to the needs a nd mood of the mo me nt. Ti so was 42 SLOVAKIA not just a war criminal ; he was the sy mbol of " Ludakism," 17 fasci sm, treason , and collaboration . To grant clemency to Tiso, according to Svoboda, would render hi s trial vain and superfluous. If alive, Ti so would remain to poison cooperation and unity between Czechs and Slovaks; clemency would encourage hi s supporters, while disappointing others. Like many speakers and writers of the time, Svoboda noted that Tiso showed no remorse. He ca lled for a firm and resolute action agai nst him as a means of strengthening Czechoslovakia's international position and prestige. To those w ho argued th at Ti so should be spared because he was a priest, Svoboda dec lared that "we are not judging a priest, but a traitor, a destroyer of the Czechoslovak state, and a criminal. That Tiso is a priest only makes matters worse; he profaned the priestly office and Church at a time when thou sands of other priests fought bravely again st Nazi sm and perished in concentration camps and prisons." On the other s ide of the equation were those mini sters who championed c lemency-on ly the Democrats and Czech Populi sts. Here the most prominent speaker was Ursfny . The Democratic Deputy Chairman argued that clemency would improve relations between Czechs and Slovaks, Lutherans and Catholics, and aid in the overall consolidation of the post-war Republic. Such a goodwi ll gesture might also win over some of Czechoslovakia' s enemi es. Ursfny noted that religiou s fee lings ran strong in Slovakia, where the exec ution of a priest was a serious , and potentiall y upsetting matter. He pointed out that many good people were for clemency, includin g so me bishops and hi gh functionari es in the Lutheran church , a church that itself had suffered under Ti so's regi me. The Democratic Minister of Transportation Ivan Pietor also spelled out a number of reasons for clemency. He argued that Ti so was popular among the majority of Slovaks, and that the preva ilin g majority of Slovaks would vote for 17 Lud aki sm, or "l'udactvo" was the term employed to refer to fo ll owers of th e Slovak People 's Party, whose members were know n as '• Ludaks" or " l'udaci ." It best approximates the Engli sh word " Populi sm. " Communi sts applied the term to any Slovak Catholics they did not like. SLOVAKIA 43 clemency if given the chance, thou gh thi s did not mean they agreed with Ti so ' s politics. He too noted that important Lutheran leaders sent ardent appeals on Tiso's behalf in the interest of the peaceful deve lopment of Slovaki a and Czechoslovakia. The g iven politica l s ituation , accordin g to Pietor, demanded statesmanlike thinkin g, wi sdom , and sensiti vity to the prevailing political condition s and mood. In such a co ntext, clemency would be a gesture to win over hearts in Slovakia and bring the Czech and Slovak nation s together. While the Court may have unanimou sly estab lished Tiso 's guilt and ca ll ed for hi s exec ution , that was a judicial decision , not a political one. What the Republic now faced was a manifestly political deci sion , and that was the task of the government to settl e, in accordance with political considerations. The Czec h Populi sts, as members of a Catholic party with moderate inclinations, also supported clemency. Minister Franti se k Ha.la (Post Office), him se lf a Catholic priest, presented c le mency as the most suitable solution for Czechoslovak and Slovak interests. The Populi st Adolf Prochazka (Health ) remarked that c lemency was the des ire of most Slovaks, and of the Lutheran church leadership . Jan Kopecky (Mini ster without Portfolio) supported clemency as a way to consolidate the Repub li c, and reminded hi s mini sterial colleagues that life impri sonment was not tantamount to acq uittal. In makin g hi s case, Ursfny co ntended that the SNC did not recommend aga inst c lemency ; rather it was not the Pres idium 's function to ex press a position on the proposa l, but only to pass it on to the government. Technically , he was correct because the Second Prague Agreement of April I I , 1946, the statute under which such matters were regulated , stated that the commissioner's proposal be submitted to the go vernment "v ia the Pres idium of the Slovak National Counci l. " 18 However, this strict construction is not the way the SNC had hitherto been dealing with proposa ls. Gottwald snide ly noted that the '" Jan Mechyr. Slo vensko v Ceskoslovensku : Slovensko-ceske vztahy I 9 I 8- 199 I . (Prague. 1991 ). 44 SLOVAKIA Pres idium had sudde nl y dec ided in thi s case to limit itse lf to the ro le of a post office, and al ong with Fie rlinger, he regarded Ursfny 's expl a nati on as sophi stry. They were not bu ying th e De moc rats ' claim that the Pres idium ' s position was not a fa ilure to endorse c le mency. It was the centri st parties, however, that ex pressed the most anger over the SNC 's sile nce regardin g c leme ncy - a sil e nce th at, because the DP had a majority in the Pres idium, was c learl y bl a med on the De mocrats. A number of Nati ona l Soc iali st and Populi st mini ste rs vo iced their indi gnati on at the SNC's atte mpt to pass th e buck. Jaroslav Stra nsky (Edu cati on) said th at he wa nted Ursfny and hi s frie nds to recogni ze the situ ation into whi ch they had gotte n the governme nt , whi c h thanks to the m now had to dec ide on a matter about whi c h it did not have s uffic ie nt kn ow ledge. In thi s s itu ati on, th e gove rnm e nt co uld be bl a med if Ti so did not get cle me ncy, thereby bein g burde ned with what is primaril y a Sl ovak pro bl e m. Drtina, s imil arly, sa id he was perpl exed by the Pres idium ' s unex pected course of acti on, one whi ch now put the go vernme nt in a diffi c ult situati on. He pro posed se ndin g th e pro posal bac k to th e Pres idium fo r its opini o n, in acco rdance with the Second Prague Agree me nt, whi c h stipul ated that the governme nt return proposa ls to the SNC's Pres idium if it had objecti ons to them from the point of view of statew ide inte res ts. Foll o win g suit , Nation a l Soc ia li st Mini ste r o f Fore ig n Trade Hube rt Ripka noted hi s party ' s astoni shme nt at th e SNC's acti on - how it limited its ro le to th at of a mailbox in the way it interpre ted the Seco nd Prag ue Agree me nt. He noted th at Sl ovaki a ' s se lf-proc laimed leadin g orga n did not have the courage to ex press itse lf on a questi on of suc h importance fo r the future and fa te of the Slovak people . Accordin g to Ripka, it was c lear that the SNC Pres idium wa nted to shi ft the res po nsibility for Ti so's fate o nto the governme nt. He in sisted that the Pres idum ex press itse lf on the iss ue, and as qui ckl y as poss ibl e. Hala, spea kin g for th e Czech Populi sts, echoed the sentiments o f the Nation al Soc ia li sts, notin g th at the Presidium ' s action greatl y surpri sed him and that it see med to want to pass responsibility onto the governme nt. SLOVAKIA 45 While the National Sociali sts and Populi sts expressed agreement with Drtina 's motion to return the proposa l to the SNC, the leftist parties adamantly opposed it. Gottwald, Fierlinger, and others noted that the SNC had already taken a position by failing to endorse clemency. They argued that further delay of Ti so's execution would only drag thin gs out, sustain a state of tension and provoke and evoke supporters of Ti so, as well as open the floodgates for clemency for others sentenced to death. When Drtina 's motion to return the proposal to the Presidium of the SNC came to a vote, it was defeated 13 to I0 . The voting broke down according to party lines: the National Socialists, Populists, and Democrats supported the proposal; the leftist parties and non-parti san ministers opposed it. While the Populists may well have sincerely believed that the best remedy for the crisis would have been for the SNC to voice its opinion on the matter, the National Socialists made and supported the motion simply for cosmetic purposes, hoping that it would fail. 19 The Democrats, of course, were in a quite unenviable position. The motion' s failure meant that they would not be g iven a second chance to make a stand for clemency in the Presidium. At the same time, it is not certain that they would have known what to do with a second chance; the factors that kept them from endorsing clemency the first time around were still operative. As the debate over Stefanik 's proposal resumed , the National Socialists came out against clemency, and sought to present the anticlemency position as the one identified with Slovakia. Drtina, noting th at the government was not fully informed of the detail s of the case, thought the matter should be best settled by Slovakia, as it indeed was - a Slovak Court had establi shed Tiso's guilt and had unanimously rejected clemency, which the SNC had also failed to recommend. Ripka , de mon stratin g the sort of Czech ignorance of Slovakia that ran kles Slovaks, claimed that Ti so, long before 1938 , was as bad or worse than Vojtech Tuka, Ti so 's main political rival during the war 19 Drtina adm its thi s in hi s me moirs: see Ceskoslovensko mu) osud, II , 2, p. 302. 46 SLOVAKIA and the leader of the radically pro-Nazi faction ple 's Party. 20 in the Slovak Peo- Because the consequences of Ludakism had not yet di- sappeared from Slovakia, clemency should be rejected. Ripka not only came out again st it, but also appealed to the DP and Czech Populists to abstain on the vote, so the government could present a united front. He addressed the Democrats with the rebuke that, if they did not vote for clemency in Slovakia, they should not now at the governmental level, where the domestic and international ramifications of such a vote were great. After more di sc uss ion, the government ultimately passed a resolution voicing its opposition to c lemency, on the grounds th at the National Court in Brati slava had recommended against it, and that the Pres idium of the SNC did not endorse it when pass ing Stefanik's proposal on to Prague. The vote was 17 in favor , 6 against. All mini sters rejected c lemency except those from the DP and Czech People 's Party. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Shortly thereafter, Gottwald took the government 's recommendation to Benes, who accepted it and informed Slovakia's Commissioner of Ju stice that hi s request for clemency had been officially denied. 2 1 Upon learn in g of the dec ision , Lettrich made a last-ditch intervention , telephoning Benes ' s chancellery. He conveyed the message that the government's standpoint was in conflict with Article I.b. of the Second Prague Agreement, which instructed the government, if it had objections aga inst a proposal from Slovaki a, to return that proposal to the SNC' s Presidium, not pass it on to Benes with a 20 Tuka was a notoriou s ri ghti st rad ica l who made a political career out of intriguing with foreign enemi es of the Czec hos lovak Republi c almost right from th e Republi c ' s founding. He spent most of th e 1930s in pri son for treason, and was executed for war crimes in the summer of 1946. we ll before the tri al of Tiso. 21 K apl an, D va retribucnf procesy, p. 27: Benes had informed Gottwald the day before th at he planned to ac t in accordance wi th whatever th e governm ent recommended regardin g clemency fo r Tiso, K apl an, D va retribucnf procesy, pp. 222-224 (Document 38). SLOVAKIA 47 recommendation. 22 Lettrich warned Benes of possible " immense political consequences" that could resu lt from a rejection of clemency, and fo r which the DP could not accept responsibility . Lettrich conc luded by notin g th at the DP had an absolute majority in the SNC and its Pres idium and fully agreed with Stefanik ' s proposal, considering clemency as a paramount state and nation al interest. Benes received the message early the next morning, instructing hi s chancellery to tell Lettrich that he had gone to the countryside, and would discuss the matter with Gottw ald if Lettrich so desired. 23 Ursfny too attempted an appeal on behalf of clemency, and also found out that the rej ection of clemency was an accomplished fact and that Benes was incommunicado. 24 Stefanik him self made a final attempt on Tiso ' s behalf, asking the National Court that Tiso be tran sferred to the jail of the Office of the Public Prosec utor, so he could be questioned regarding some other cases. Thi s the National Court rejected on the ground s that Ti so could be just as eas ily be questioned at its own jail. 25 With all avenues for clemency now ex hausted , Ti so was hanged early on the morning of April 18, officiall y pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m. It was no surpri se that Ti so was found guilty, nor th at he was sentenced to die. Nor was it astoni shing that the majority of government mini sters in Prague rejected the reco mmendation for clemency, and that Benes acted in accordance with their position. But what was puzzling was the behavior of the DP -supporting clemency in Prague , but not in Bratislava; desperately appealin g for clemency on the 22 Mi chal Barn ovsky , Na ceste k monopolu moci, ( Bratislava , 1993) , p. 145 n; K apl an, Dva retribucnf procesy, p. 28. 23 Kaplan , D va retribucnf procesy, p. 28 ; Robert Letz, S/ovensko v rokoch I 945- 1948, (Bratislava, 1994 ), p. 48 . 24 Ursfny, Z m6jho t i vota, p. 127 . 25 K aplan, Dva retribucnf procesy, p. 29; the motive behind this attempt was to delay Ti so ' s exec uti on and thu s increase the chances that he would ultimately receive clemency . 48 SLOVAKIA eve of Tiso 's exec uti on, while letting the issue pass right throu gh the hands of the SNC Presidium that they had dominated the day before. Did the DP want the appeal for c lemency to fail? Such a view ca n be found in the po lice record , where a report me nti ons that Lettrich was opposed to cle me ncy for Tiso. 26 Like many scenarios sketched out by police inform ants, however, this one seems to be w ithout merit. Lettrich had earli er lobbi ed Tiso ' s three prosecutors for c lemency, and had persuaded Minister of Ju sti ce Drtina to promi se hi s support as well. These are hardl y the acti ons of a man desiring Tiso 's execution . Other ex planat io ns must li e behind the timidity of Lettrich and the DP at the notoriou s SNC Pres idium meeting of April 16. Hi storian s who have exa mined the meetin g, a nd the issue of clemency overall, ha ve co me up with a numbe r of ex pl anation s, which will be di sc ussed here in ascend in g order of pl a usibility and influence. 27 Most dubi o us is the view th at the De mocrats trusted that Benes would grant clemency regardless of the recommendations he rece ived. Whil e the re appare ntly was public spec ulation that Be nes mi ght spare Tiso, the DP leadership had littl e reason to put their tru st in such suppos ition s. Benes had already g ive n Lettrich and Ursfny quite c lear indication s of hi s oppositi on to cle mency. 28 Another of the weaker arguments for why the SNC did not take a stand on c le me ncy was the one the DP used to ex pl ai n itse lf at the 26 Barno vsky, Na ceste. p. 130. 27 For exp lanati ons of why the OS acted the way it did at th e SNR Pres idiu m mee- ting of Apri l 16, see Barnovsky , Na ceste, p. 130: Letz, Slovensko. pp. 47-48: Kaplan . Ova relribucnf procesy, pp. 24-26 : Ursfny, Z m6jho i i vota. pp. 123- 124 : for the DP ' s attempt to j ustify its ac ti ons at the time, see Cas. April 23, 1947. no. 93 . p. I. 28 Lettrich , in a meeting with the three state prosecutors of the Tiso trial on March 12. I 94 7, mentioned that he had discussed the matter of clemency for Tiso w ith Benes on two occasions, and th at Benes's positi on was th at he would not take a stand but rather all ow th e governmen t' s decis ion on th e matter to guide him : (see SNA. Demokraticka strana, Carton 2, Bundle 99 , Folios 1-2): moreover. Ursfny claims in hi s memoirs that in fall of 1946. Daxner asked Benes how he shou ld handle the Tiso case, to which Benes replied, " I th in k that he deserves death, but thi s is an affair for an independent court. "; (see Ursfny, Z m6jho i ivota. p. 11 3). SLOVAKIA 49 government meetin g of April 16 and thereafter, i.e. that accordin g to the 2 nd Prague Agreement , the S C's role in the process was simpl y to pass proposals on to the Government and not to co mment on them, and that i f the government had obj ection s to Stefanik's proposa l, it wo uld soli cit the SNC Presidium 's views on it. Upon refl ec ti on, thi s ex plan ati on holds no more water th an it did at the tim e. A party that believed Slovak organs should speak for Slovakia, and a good bit of whose appeal was based on its advocacy of autonomy fo r Slovakia, is behav ing out of character w hen it surrenders to Prague the prerogati ve to decide on a matter so c lose to th e hearts of so many Slovaks. Another ex pl anation put forth by the DP was that it lacked sufficient time to stud y the doc umentation pertinent to th e Tiso tri al. Whil e on the surface thi s is true , still , the SNC was not being asked to render a lega l or judicial judgment, but a politi ca l one. In the latter case, the party could have made up its mind on a pos ition long before the verdi ct, as the Communists had. M ore convincing are the views th at th e DP was simpl y afra id th at a vote for clemency wo uld prompt the Communi sts to provoke a politica l crisis in Slovakia, halting cooperation w ithin the SNC, mobili zing Parti san and trade union groups against the Democrats, and forcing Prague to step in . Indeed, such threats and pressures were already ev ident on the Slovak political stage for over a yea r, and were com mon everywhere else in East Central Europe w here Communi st parti es were acti ve. In thi s view , the DP simpl y lost its nerve and opted to pass the matter on to Prague ra ther than deal w ith it in Bra ti slava. Thi s explanati on seems va lid enough because Communi st pres sure was al ways an influence. However, i f fear of reperc uss ions was the main reason for keeping the DP quiet, w hy did Democrats vote for clemency at the government sess ions in Prag ue? Wa s it to gi ve public assura nce to th eir co nstitu ents th at th ey opposed clemency , but at a ven ue w here they did not have to worry about their vote carry ing any influence and thereby provoking a clemency- induced SLOVAKIA 50 cris is back home? This question is moot , give n the influence of the most significant factor of all. A final ex pl anati on is most like ly the crucial o ne - that the DP could not co unt on one of its own representatives on the Presidi um , Milan Po lak , to vote for c le mency. Po lak ' s record, both before and after 1947, place him on the left wing of the DP. A former Parti san, and leader in the Parti sa n vetera ns' movement, Po lak collaborated with the Communists durin g and after the February co up of 1948 . 29 Unable to co unt on hi s vote, Lettrich preferred no vote on c lemency to one in which Polak would abstain or vote no. Thus he chose the leas t pa inful but st ill damaging option. While many of Slovakia ' s Catholics would be upset if the DP-controll ed Presidium failed to take a vote on clemency, they wo uld be even more outraged if a DPcontrolled Pres idium rejected clemency, or could not mu ste r th e three votes needed to pass it. Ursfny 's memo irs prov ide further ev idence for thi s ex planation. Ursfny reported that, when on a vis it to the United States in the fa ll of 1967 , he spoke by telephone with Lettrich , who told him that he wanted the SNC to avoid the iss ue of clemency because Pol ak wo uld not have voted for it. 30 Thus, while the DP owed its success to a large ly Catholic e lectorate, it contained a core of resistance veterans who simpl y could not countenance anything short of Ti so's exec ution. Since the leader of those veterans he ld the deciding vote on the SNC Presidium , the DP 's efforts to support c le mency were futile. Tho ugh the DP had good reason to suspect that Polak would not vote for c lemency, the Communists had their own fears that he mi ght not vote aga inst it. This ex plains why the Communists on the SNC were as eager as the Democrats to pass the matter on to Prague. A number of factors contributed to the exec ution of Jozef Tiso-a Pres ident who disliked him and welcomed hi s exec ution ; a gove rn ment where the cards were stacked agai nst him from the start , with 19 See Barnovsky , Na ceste, pp. 240, 245 , for Pol ak ' s acti vity during the .. February Crisis" of 1948. )o Ursfny, Z mojho i ivoui, p. 124. SLOVAKIA 51 the Soc ial Democrats, Nati onal Soc iali sts, and non-parti san mini sters un sy mpatheti c to hi s cause; a Co mmuni st Party and the labor and res istance orga ni zati ons it mo bili zed workin g agg ressive ly aga in st him ; a staunchl y anti -Ti so j udge; and Ti so 's own wartime acti vities, whi ch made a death se nte nce pl ausi bl e. Nothin g th at th e DP did could have spared Ti so from exec utio n in thi s contex t. Neverthe less, th e way the Democrats mane uvered th ro ugh the cri s is had several consequ ences. The DP did eno ugh for T iso to buttress Communi st arguments that the Democrats catered to the Ludaks they were all eged ly harboring, arg uments th at in the ensuing months would mu shroom into the arrest of several leading De mocrats for ant i-state co nspiracy. At the same time, the DP 's fa ilure to sec ure an SNC vote on T iso's beha lf made it eas ier for the government 's Co mmuni st and non-Cath o li c Czec h parti es to argue th at Slo vaki a was opposed to c lemency fo r Tiso, thu s he lpin g abso lve Czechs of any charges that T iso's exec uti on was a Czech operati on done against the w ill of the Slovak people . Fin all y, the DP's impotence in defending T iso led to increased di si llusionment amo ng S lovak ia's Catho lic voters. For the DP, the who le undertaking was a lose-lose situ ati on, an indi cati on of just how d ifficult th at party's road was in spite of, or better said , on acco unt of, its bi g e lec tora l victo ry in May of 1946. To a great ex tent, the events surroundin g the iss ue of c lemency fo r Jozef Tiso were a mi crocos m of th e proble mati c pos itio n of the De mocrati c Party in postwar Czechos lovak ia.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Democratic Party and the Execution of Jozef Tiso Description An account of the resource James Ramon Felak Slovakia, Vol. 38 (No. 70-71), 2005 pp. 33-51 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Felak, James Ramon, 1957- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2005 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/b418d6362b5374e999cecdce2273fecc.pdf 44016909e30ed47f43f76d674c578c5b PDF Text Text 66 SLOV AKIA-2015 THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL COOPERATION BETWEEN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC AND THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA, 1941-1945 1 Miroslav Michela The foreign policy of Slovakia in the years 1939 - 1945 has been quite a popular research topic of Slovak historians over the last ten to twenty years. 2 Significant achievements in this regard relate primarily to research on Slovak-German relations,3 but there are also several 1 1 would like to express my gratitude to prof. Mark Stolarik and his family for significant help in my research on Slovak emigres, and especially on the biography of Slovak journalist and politician Karol Murgas. My research in the Slovak collections in the Archives and Special Collections of the University of Ottawa Library would not have been possible without the support of the Helen and John lvanco Memorial Research Bursary. 2 Here I would like to list a few publications, which appeared in recent years, mostly as a result of long-term academic interest: Michal Schvarc, "Zahranicna politika Slovenskej republiky 1939-1945 a jej postavenie v ramci nemeckej sfery vplyvu," in Kfucove problemy modernych slovenskych dejin 1848-1992, ed. Valerian Bystricky et. al. (Bratislava: Veda, 2012), 231-52; Edita lvanickova et. al. , Slovenslui republika 1939-1945 v medzinarodnych suvislostiach (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 2012); Pavo! Petruf, Zahranicna politika Slovenskej republiky 1939-1945: nacrt problematiky (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 2011); James Mace Ward, Priest, Politician, Collaborator: Jozef Tiso and the Making of Fascist Slovakia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013). 3 For example: Sicherheitsdienst a Slovens/ca v rokach 1938-1944: od auton6mie po Povstanie. Slovensky stat vo vybranych spravach SD od jesene 1943 do septembra 1944, ed. Michal Schvarc (Bratislava: Slovenske narodne muzeum-Muzeum karpatskych Nemcov, 2006) ; "Tretia risa" a vznik Slovenskeho statu;dokumenty. /., ed. Michal Schvarc, Martin Holak and David Schriftl (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda, SNM- Muzeum kultury Karpatskych Nemcov, 2008); "Tretia risa" a vznik Slovenskeho statu : dokumenty. II. ed. Michal Schvarc and David Schriftl (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda, Historicky ustav SAV, SNM - Muzeum kultury Karpatskych Nemcov, 2010) ; Slovensko-nemecke vzt'ahy 1938-1941 v dokumentoch I.:od Mnichova k vojne proti ZSSR , ed. Eduard Nizi\.ansky et. al. (Presov: Universum, 2009); Slovensko-nemecke vzt'ahy 1941-1945 v dokumentoch II. :od vojny proti ZSSR po zanik Slovenskej republiky v roku 1945, ed. Eduard Niznansky et. al. (Presov: Universum-EU, 20 11); Von Munchen bis Salzburg 1938- 1940. Dokumente und Essay. Buch 1. Buch 2. Slovensko v jeseni 1944, ed. Ladislav Susko (Bratislava: Luc, 2008); Tatjana Tonsmeyer, Das Dritte Reich und die Slowakei, 1939-1945. Politi- �SLOVAKIA 67 studies concerning the relationship between Slovakia and the Great Powers .4 In the context of diplomatic relations with neighboring countries, plenty of studies are oriented on the Slovak-Polish and Slovak-Hungarian relationships at different levels of politics.5 In the last decade studies relating to Slovak-Croatian diplomatic relations have also appeared. 6 Generally speaking, with a few exceptions, the2008); Tatjana Tonsmeyer, Das Dritte Reich und die Slowakei, 1939-1945. Politischer Al/tag zwischen Kooperation und Eigensinn (Paderbom : Ferdinand Schoningh, 2003 ). 4 For example: Politicke vzt'ahy medzi Francuzskom a Ceskoslovenskom a Francuzskom a Slovenskom (1 939-1948): vyber dokumentov, ed. Pavo! Petruf (Martin: Matica slovenska, 2003); Dagmar Ciema-Lantayova, Pohfady na vychod: Postoje k Rusku v slovenskej politike 1934-1944 (Bratislava: Veda, 2002); Slavomir Michalek, "Niekol'ko problemov slovensko-americkych vzt'ahov pocas druhej svetovej vojny," in Edita Ivanickova et. al. Slovenska republiko /939-1945 v medzinarodnych suvislostiach, 139-61 ; Petr Kubik, Slovensko-talianske vzt'ahy 1939-1945 (Bratislava: Ustav pamiiti naroda, 20 IO); Edita Ivanickova, "Zapadne vel'moci a slovensky stat 1939-1945," in Slovensky stat 1939-1945: predstavy a reality, eds. Martina Fiamova, Jan Hlavinka and Michal Schvarc (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SA V, 2014), 8193 . 5 Here is a sample of some interesting works by young scholars: Aliaksandr Piahanau, "Slovak-Hungarian Relations in the Mirror of the German-Soviet Conflictive Alliance (1939-1941 )," Prague Papers on the History of International Relations 16 (2012): 144-63; Isvtan Janek, "The Issue of Hungarian- Slovak Diplomatic Connections in the Hungarian Parliament in 1939- 1940," Prague Papers on the History of International Relations 18 (2014): 128-41 ; Istvan Janek, "Mad'arsko-slovenske diplomaticke vzt'ahy v rokoch 1939-1941 , " in Slovenska republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov, IV. , eds. Michal Smigel' and Peter Micko (Banska Bystrica: Katedra hist6rie Fakulty humanitnych vied Univerzity Mateja Bela, 2005 ), 334-51 ; Mateusz Gniazdowski, "Kontakty PHsudczyk6w ze Slowakami w latach 19391945," Niepodleglosi: 55 (2005): I 07-50; Dusan Seges, "The Slovak Question and its International Context during World War Two," in 1945 - A Break with the Past, ed. Zdenko Cepic (Ljubljana: Institut za novejso zgodovino, 2008), 213-26; Dusan Seges, Dvojkrii v silociarach bieleho or/a. Slovenska otazka v politike pol'skej exi/ovej vlady za 2. svetovej vojny (Bratislava: Veda, 2009); Holy Case, "The Holocaust in Regional Perspective: Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia," in Varieties of Anti-Semitism, eds . Peter Kenez and Bruce Thompson (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2009), 76-92. 6 Jan Rychlik, "Slovensko-chorvatske vztahy v letech 1941-1945 ," Slovanske historicke studie 26 (2000): 265-83 ; Miroslav Michela, "Vznik slovenskeho vyslanectva v Chorvatsku a cinnost' Karola Murgasa, charge d 'affaires v Zahrebe v roku 1941 ," in Slovenska republika 1939 - 1945 ocami mladych historikov fl , ed. Martin Lacko (Bratislava: Merkury, 2003), 97-123 ; Miroslav Michela, "K otazke slovensko-chorvatskej kulturnej spoluprace v rokoch 1941-45," Slavica Slovaca 38 (2003): 112-22; Jan Tkac, "Slovensko-juhoslovanske a slovensko-chorvatske vzt'ahy �68 SLOVAKIA-2015 se works are mainly focused on the issues of diplomacy and the traditional history of politics. They describe the ideas and activities of major political players, thus complementing our knowledge about the process of negotiating and building the "New Europe." 7 The present study aims primarily to explain a few basic factors in the context of building official Slovak-Croatian cultural cooperation in the period from 1941 to 1945 . The foundation of the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska - NDH) on April 10th, 1941 resulted in the expansion of cultural interaction between it and the newly- independent Slovak Republic, as the representatives of both states shared similar experiences of national struggles and now ideological and political interests. The Slovak Republic officially recognized the NDH on v rokoch 1939-1941 ," Historicky zbornik 19 (2009): 154-68; Jan Tkac, "Chorvatsko v politike Slovenskej republiky v rokoch 1941-1945," Historicky casopis 58 (2010): 659-83 ; Alena Bartlova, "Dr. Jozef Cieker, vyslanec Slovenskej republiky," in Dr. Jozef Cieker: seminar pri prileiitosti nedoi itym 90. narodenincim Jozefa Ciekera v Tvrdosine 20. juna 1997, ed. Juraj Chovan-Rehak (Martin : Matica slovenska, 2000), 71-92; Jan Jankovic, Chorvcitska literatura v slovenskej kulture If. (19391948), (Bratislava: Veda, 2002); Jan Jankovic, Stanis/av Meciar - chorvatofil (Bratislava: Ustav svetovej literatury SAV, 2001); Martin Jarinkovic, "Pohl'ad slovenskej dennej tlace na chorvatsku otazku v rokoch 1941-1944," in Od Salzburgu do vypuknutia Povstania. Slovenskci republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov VIII, ed. Peter Sokolovic (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda, 2009), 261-88; Martin Jarinkovic, "Spolkovy zivot v prvej Slovenskej republike na priklade Slovenskochorvatskej spolocnosti v rokoch 1942-1944," in Zivot v Slovenskej republike. Slovenskci republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov 9., ed. Peter Sokolovic (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda 2010), 305-24; Oldfich Pejs, "Nakup koni v Chorvatsku pro slovenskou armadu v roce 1944," Vojenskci hist6ria 8 (2004): 87-95; Oldfich Pejs, "Na okraj dodavky slovenskych zbrani do Chorvatska v roce 1942," Historie a vojenstvi 45 (1996): 56-73 . 7 See the following : Michal Schvarc, "Statna suverenita len ako fasada? Zasahy Nemecka do slovenskeho zakonodarstva v rokoch 1939-1940," in Slovensko v labyrinte modernych eur6pskych dejin : pocta historikov Milanovi Zemkovi, ed . Slavomir Michalek (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 20 14), 641-57; Pavo) Petruf, "Zahranicna politika Slovenskeho statu 1939-1945 : niekol'ko poznamok o jej vzniku, zamerani a kratkodobej existencii," in Riesenie iidovskej otcizky v spojeneckych krajincich nacistickeho Nemecka, ed. Viera Kovacova et. al. (Banska Bystrica: Muzeum Slovenskeho narodneho povstania, 20 12), 17-29; Pavo I Petruf, "Terna "novej Eur6py", "noveho eur6pskeho poriadku" a "zivotneho priestoru" na strankach novin Slovak ( I 939-1940)," in Kapitoly z hist6rie stredoeur6pskeho priestoru v 19. a 20. storoci: pocta k 70-rocnemu jubileu Dusana Kovcica, ed. Edita Ivanickova et. al. (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 201 I), 338-54. �SLOVAKIA 69 May 5th, 194 l along with other Axis members and satellites - Germany, Italy and Hungary. 8 The NDH's political role in the "New Europe" was outlined in the Treaty of Rome, signed on May 18, 194 l, which established long-term Italian patronage. After Croatia gained its sovereignty, this subordination was immediately subject to much domestic criticism. During the following Croatian-Slovak diplomatic discussions, both parties set out a preferred vision of German rather than Italian supervision, seeing in Nazi Germany a common protector and liberator and also admiring the state and the Flihrer. In May of 194 l the government of the Slovak Republic surprisingly appointed the radical Karol Murgas, as its charge d'affaires to Croatia. The request was officially delivered by German authorities, as there was no direct contact between the two parties at that time. 9 Murgas had no diplomatic experience and was known for his awkward and hot-tempered behavior in public, which might have caused some hesitation, but his paramilitary experience in the Hlinka Guard and his demonstrated sympathy for Croatian nationalists made their mark. Murgas himself saw the move as an attempt to remove him from Slovak domestic politics, as he had previously enjoyed the prominent post of head of the Department of Propaganda. 10 In May of 194 l Viliam Kovar, the distinguished Slovak journalist, visited Croatia. During his stay he met influential statesmen and leaders of the Ustasha movement and examined the potential for mu- 8 Croatia - Congratulations of president Jozef Tiso, file 1300/41 , box 61 , collection Kancelaria prezidenta republiky - Slovensky narodny archiv (SNA) - Bratislava. For more about Slovak-Yugoslav relations see: Jan Nemecek, "K slovensko-jugoslavskym vztahum 1939-45," in Evropa mezi Nemeckem a Ruskem. Sbornik praci k sedmdesatinam Jaroslava Valenty, eds. Miroslav Sestak and Emil Voracek (Praha: Historicky ustav Akademie ved Ceske republiky, 2000), 385-98; Martin Jarinkovic, "Slovensko-juhoslovanske hospodarske a obchodne kontakty v rokoch 1939-1941 ," Pamdt' naroda 7 (20 11 ): 4-17. 9 S/ovak, May 11, I 941, 3. Zagreb's official approval of Murgas's mission came on May 15, but information ' s about it had already appeared in Grenzebote on the 4th of May 1941. For this question see also: File 79/41 , Box 1155 and File 77/41 , Box 213 , MZV, SNA. 10 See: Miroslav Michela, "Miesto a uloha Karola Murgasa v radikalnom prude slovenskej politiky v obdobi rokov 1939-1941 ," in S/ovenska republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov, ed. Martin Lacko (Trnava : Katedra hist6rie Filozofickej fakulty Univerzity Cyrila a Metoda, 2002), 77-105 . �70 SLOVAKIA-2015 tual cultural cooperation. 11 In a letter to his colleague Stanislav Meciar, the editor- in-chief of the journal Slovenske pohl'ady, Kovar suggested sending a series of congratulatory letters on Croatia's independence to demonstrate Slovak sympathy and support. 12 Meciar was known to be a Croatophile and ardent admirer of writer and politician Mile Budak, who later became Minister of Education and Religion of the newly-founded NDH. 13 In a letter dated May 23, Meciar asserted the brotherhood of both nations and expressed satisfaction with both countries' successful completion of the struggle for independence. In his words, "Croats were a sincere nation close to us" and "the future of Slovakia will be much safer when developed in tandem with the present beautiful reality of Croatia." 14 Such declarations of sympathy were common in contemporary formal communications and were not deemed awkward . The Slovak press continuously monitored the Croatian struggle for independence and dedicated significant space to discussions with Croat emancipation activists : the Ustasha and Hlinka Guard officials; and to both nations' notable historical figures, such as Ljudevit Gaj , Ban Jelacic and Ante Starcevic on the one hand, and Jan Kollar, Stefan Moyzes and Andrej Hlinka on the other. A lot of attention was also paid to contemporary figures such as Mile Budak, Milo Urban and Alexander Mach, the commander-in-chief of the Hlinka Guard. Andrej Vrbacky, the Slovak translator, deserves credit for this written presentation. On May 26, 1941, Karol Murgas paid an official visit to Ante Pavelic, Croatia's supreme leader - poglavnik. In his formal address, Murgas pointed to the similarities of both nation's histories and suggested close cooperation in future political and cultural activities. 15 After this the Slovak embassy was officially opened. Interestingly, although an embassy agreement was offered to Murgas, he came to Zagreb with the official status of an envoy, which the Croatian side considered insufficient and demanded diplomatic representation at 11 Croatia trip reports. Box 4, Papers of Viliam Kovar, Literarny archiv Slovenskej narodnej kniznici V Martine (LA SNK). 12 Letter of V. Kovar to S. Meciar, August 26, 1941 . File 164 E 20, LA SNK. 13 See for example: Stanislav Meciar, "Chorvatsky klasik Mile Budak," Slovenske pohl'ady 56 ( 1940): 429-44. 14 Letter of S. Meciar to M. Budak, May 21 , 1941. File 164 N 17, LA SNK. 15 File 8/41 , Box 1155, MZV, SNA; Karol Murgas, "Pred tridsiatimi rokmi v Zahrebe," Slovak a svet I (Chicago, 1971 ): 15. �SLOVAKIA 71 the top level. A month later, on June 25, Slovak president Jozef Tiso accepted the nomination of Dragutin Toth as Croatian charge d' affaires to Slovakia. 16 Murgas objected to this nomination, rating Toth as a liberal-orientated leftist. Toth's first audience with President Tiso took place on August l st, and his opening statement was dedicated again to both nations' independence. It is worth mentioning that he gave the speech in his native tongue, yet the president answered him in Slovak. This established a precedent for Tiso's interactions with envoys of Slavic states. 17 The newly-established Slovak embassy in Zagreb attracted broad interest and numerous appeals for bilateral cooperation. Both parties declared their intention to closely coordinate their political, economic, social and cultural activities. NOH officials wanted information on the organization of economic and social life in Slovakia. A common topic of bilateral talks was the means of settling the debts of former parent states (Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia). After initial negotiations with Murgas, Anton Bonifacic, head of the Croatian Department of Culture of the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs, worked out a "Proposal for Establishing Cultural Cooperation between the NOH and the Slovak Republic". Its aim was to build economic, social and cultural ties based on the mutual exchange of publications, translations of literature, the exchange of students, writers and task groups; and organizing art exhibitions, concerts etc. The proposal included a suggestion for the legal recognition and protec18 tion of Croats living in Slovakia and Slovaks in the NOH. The position of the latter was at that time far from satisfactory. Slovak minority rights gained during the former Yugoslavia were largely ignored by the Ustasha regime. 19 The first objective of the Slovak representatives in Croatia was to improve this situation. Within the Slo16 File 4961 /41 , Box 213, MZV, SNA. Rychlik, Slovensko-chorvatske vztahy ... , 270. 18 File 244/41 , Box 1157, MZV, SNA. 19 About the Slovak minority in Croatia, see: Vit Usak, Slovcici v Chorvcitsku - historicky ncicrt (C leveland-Rim : Historicky ustav, 1978); Sprievodca slovenskym zahranicim, ed. I.'.ubica Bartalska (Bratislava: Dom zahranicnych Slovakov, 2001), 8790; Report of J. Cieker, February 12, 1942. File 27/48 JozefCieker papers, Okresny l'udovy sud v Bratislave 1945-1947 (O1..'.S BA), Statny oblastny archiv Bratislava (SABa). Information about the exact number of Slovaks in Croatia at that time differed. The daily Slovak, on October 22, 1941 , page 3, estimated a maximum of 22,000 countrymen ; other sources gave higher numbers . 17 �72 SLOV AKIA-2015 vak community itself, there were further differences related to religious orientation. The Catholic population lacked education and schools, and its national identity was rapidly disappearing. On the other hand, Lutheran villages were keeping their traditions alive, with much of the work done by local pastors.20 However, the Lutheran community had stronger ties to the former Yugoslav regime and was treated with suspicion by Ustasha authorities. In numerous cases the Slovak embassy had to intervene to help individuals (conscripts of the Yugoslav army) who had been captured in the previous war with Germany. The chaos and scarcities following the transition of power also forced a lot of Slovaks to seek help at the embassy. Ever since the foundation of the NDH, leaders of the Slovak expatriate community were planning to set up a minority organization, the so-called Slovak National Group in Croatia, with a common official statute recognized by the Croatian regime. The eventual failure of this initiative was largely due to the fact that they were not coordinated with the Croatian side, which feared a potential precedent that wou ld allow other minorities to raise similar claims. The only minority to achieve the privilege of an officially recognized status was the German one, with a population up to 150,000 and enjoying the benefits of the parent country ' s political dominance. Following the negotiations of June 25, 1941 , Croatia and Slovakia announced a mutual settlement of their claims regarding real estate belonging to their predecessor states (Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia).21 Murgas managed to obtain the property of the former Czech-Slovak society Beseda in Lipovljani for the Slovak side.22 The issue of schools for the Slovak minority was a frequently negotiated topic from early on. In spite of the initial mistrust by the Ustasha authorities, which culminated in the arrests of several Slovak teachers, Slovak primary education was preserved. 23 Mutual contacts also developed in the field of pedagogy and science. A visit by Croatian medics and an Ustasha Youth delegation to °File 36, Box 266, MZV, SNA . 2 21 File 217/41 , Box 1157 and File 217/41 , Box 1155 , MZV, SNA . The society officially dissolved on July 30, 1941. See Slovak Beseda in Bratislava. Box 207, f. Policajne riaditel'stvo v Bratislave (PR Ba), SNA; File 325/41 , Box 214 and File 20518/41 , Box 48, MZV, SNA. 23 File 33880/41 , Box 213 and File 20518/41 , Box 48 , MZV, SNA. Gardista, September 21 , 1941 , 3; Gardista, October 22, 1941 , 3. 22 �SLOVAKIA 73 Slovakia was met by great domestic publicity. 24 A program of student exchange and scholarship financing was launched by numerous institutions: The Science Society for Foreign Slovaks (mainly focused on student exchange, support of Slovak foreign education and distribution of Slovak literature abroad), the Matica slovenska, The Society of St. Adalbert, the Slovak University, and the Hlinka Youth. The Croatian partner organizations included the Saint Jerome Society, the Matica Hrvatska, and later the new Croatian-Slovak Society. The pace at which interest in Croatia spread was almost overwhelming for the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which decided to halt the uncontrolled influx of NDH visitors . The Ministry then published a directive stating that it must approve all Croatian visits. 25 The founding of the already mentioned Croatian-Slovak Society (August 13, 1941) was a milestone in cultural interaction. The Slovak envoy requested the speedy assignment of a cultural attache to Croatia, recommending Jozef Ambrus, who had been studying in Zagreb. This request was turned down, as was his later proposal of founding an office of the Society in Bratislava. 26 A fact worth mentioning is that Murgas proposed Alexander Mach, the Minister of the Interior, to be the chairman of this branch. 27 The Slovak authorities, however, took a rather cautious approach and decided to wait until their Croatian counterparts founded a similar branch of the Society in Zagreb. 28 These facts indicate a kind of cautiousness on the Slovak part, caused primarily by foreign political factors. Contrary to their cordial relations and shared long-term plans, practical cooperation between Slovakia and Croatia was difficult from the beginning. Later on, such cooperation was also damaged by the Ustasha regime's inability to make good on its commitments. Meanwhile, the Croatian and Slovak Society was founded in Zagreb. Franjo Dujmovic, 29 the editor-in-chief of the daily Nova Hrvat24 See for example: Gardista, July 26, 1941, 3; Gardista , July 27, 1941, 3; Gardista, August 26, 1941, 3; File 32595/41, Box 213 , MZV, SNA. 25 Ibid, File 6978/41. 26 Reports of K. Murgas, August 19, 1941 and August 26, 1941. Box 143, MZV, SNA; File 20518/41 , Box 48, MZV, SNA. See also: Jarinkovic, Spolkovy i ivot v frvej Slovenskej republike ... , 305-24. 7 File 544/41, Box 1155 and File 137/41, Box 1160, MZV, SNA. 28 File 32.702/41, Box 118, MZV, SNA. 29 Initially led by the Croatian Minister of the Interior and well-known Ustasha activist Adrija Artukovic. �74 SLOVAKIA-2015 ska (New Croatia) , was appointed its President, with Mile Starcevic and Eugen Ftillop as Vice-Presidents, and Zlatko Milkovic as Secretary. The Society ' s Board included a number of significant individuals whose positions suggested strong links with Croatian state institutions .3° The Society's goal was to develop cultural relations and to promote the Slovak Republic in the NDH. Stanislav Meciar also hoped to expand cultural cooperation, with special focus on the new Croatian literature. When asked about which Slovak novelists he would recommend for translation, he included Jozef Ciger Hronsky, Milo Urban, Tido J. Gaspar, Julius Horvath, and Margita Figuli. He rejected Peter Jilemnicky, whom he labelled a Czech and a Communist. Among Slovak poets he suggested Valentin Beniak, Andrej Zamov, Emil Boleslav Lukac, Jan Smrek, Rudolf Dilong, I:udo Ondrejov, Ladislav Novomesky, Jan R. Ponican and Jan Kostra, with the comment that "the last three were Communists, but have written valuable Slovak poems; here you ought to make your own decision." 31 He also decided to publish a special issue of the Slovenske pohl'ady on the subject of Croatia. 32 As early as 1941 discussions began about the possibility of closer cooperation between Romania, Slovakia, and Croatia, a project designed to raise the profile of all three states. The incentive to establish this bloc came from Romania, mainly as a reaction to Hungarian irredentism. At the same time, the three states intended to revisit their territorial losses to Hungary between 193 8 and 1941. Agreement to create the bloc was soon disclosed and the Hungarian Government protested against "reviving the spirit of the Little Entente," referring to the interwar East-Central European military alliance against Hungary. In spite of the initial hesitation of Slovak politicians, by early 1942 Vojtech Tuka, the Slovak Foreign Minister, showed great interest in such cooperation. He emphasized that the alliance could not be labelled with the "stigma of Pan-Slavism," referring to criticism raised by some representatives of the Slovak government. On the one hand, as soon as the Germans indicated that no such efforts would be tolerated within their sphere of influence, the 30 Tatre i Velebit, December 25 , 1942, 155 . Letter of S. Meciar to Zlatko Milkovic from August 26, I 941. File 164 P 17, LA SNK. 32 See Jankovic, Chorvatska literatura v slovenskej kulture II. (1939-1948), 52-83. 31 �SLOVAKIA 75 Slovak Republic 's activities declined rapidly . On the other hand, the Slovaks discovered that the NDH was not a reliable partner. 33 In the fall of 1941 some changes were made to the charge d' affaires positions in both countries. Jozef Cieker replaced the undisciplined Karol Murgas. Cieker had previously worked in Yugoslavia and was knowledgeable about Croatian affairs. He presented his credentials in Zagreb on December 12, 1941. At the same time, there was also a change in the Croatian diplomatic posting in Bratislava. Josip Berkovic, the new envoy, presented his credentials on December 19. These changes had no impact on the mutual convergence, and the Croatian Embassy in Bratislava appointed a cultural attache, Geno Sencic who energetically participated in the development of Slovak and Croatian cultural relations. In January of 1942, Tido J. Gaspar, Head of the Propaganda Office, charged Jozef Ambrus with preparing the ground for establishing the Slovak and Croatian Society in Slovakia. The general assembly of this cultural institution took place on March 13, 1942, in the Slovak University ' s amphitheater. Slovak Ministers Alexander Mach, Gejza Medricky and Ferdinand Catlos, as well as other major figures of political and cultural life attended, as did a numerous Croatian delegation. This meeting received broad media coverage. This general assembly prescribed uniforms as a part of the dress code. The Society set as its goal to unite all Croatophiles, spread the Croatian culture and develop mutual relationships. Political issues were to be avoided. Alexander Mach was acclaimed as the Society 's President. In his acceptance speech he pointed out the parallels between the Autonomists ' first paramilitary organization, the Rodobrana (Native Defense), the subsequent Hlinka Guards and the Croatian Ustasha movement. He added that cooperation between Slovakia and Croatia "is not based on the pharisaical chimera of the notorious Slavic solidarity," which had led to humiliation, suffering and disappointment for both nations. These contacts, he continued, "are supported by a good tradition, the present struggle for a common goal, which we all have before our eyes in the New Europe." Mach's 33 See Miroslav Tejchman, "Slovensko-rumunsko-chorvatska spoluprace v letech druhe svetove valley a Mad'arsko," Slovansky pfehled 78 (1992) : 161-71 ; Cubomir Liptak, "Mad'arsko v slovenskej politike za druhej svetovej vojny," in Prispevky k dejinam fasizmu v Ceskos/ovensku a v Mad'arsku, ed. Gyorgy Ranki (Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej akademie vied, 1969), 222-30. �76 SLOVAKIA-2015 speech marked the boundaries of the cultural society. He also delegated Stanislav Meciar, Anton Misik, Jozef Ambrus as its VicePresidents, Viliam Kovar, Eduard Urban as its Secretaries, and Belo Franc as the Treasurer. Many important people working in the area of culture and politics became board members .34 The next day, the first issue of the Slovak-and-Croatian literary review entitled Tatre i Velebit appeared.35 Josip Andric became the editor-in-chief. He had visited Slovakia since the 1920s, and maintained good contacts with the representatives of the Hlinka Slovak People 's Party. In the first issue's introductory address, Ferdinand Catlos, Slovak Minister of Defense, noted : "With the help of the Germans, both our nations have become autonomous and integrated as state actors among the nations of young Europe." He praised the shared destiny and goals, desires and hopes of both nations who required no written agreements to confirm their mutual relationships.36 It is evident that both societies had ideologically compatible people in the leadership, with close links to the official regime. It was typical of both states to infuse culture with politics, especially with propaganda. However, as Jan Jankovic pointed out, in spite of major ideological links, there was also much freedom, which he demonstrated by using literature translations that often avoided an ideological undertone. Once the Slovak Croatian Society was founded, the organization of commonly-held events grew in intensity, and the Society substantially participated in promoting cooperation with other cultural institutions. Contacts were developed in the area of sports as well, but did not exceed the norm. At that time, the establishment of the autonomy of Slovakia in October of 1938 was celebrated. The cultural program focused on Slovak popular sonfs and included lectures given by the country's major personalities.3 In Bratislava on April 9, 1942, the Society celebrated the first anniversary of the NDH' s inception by arranging a red-carpet procession in the highly representative build34 For example: Stefan Bella, Juraj Cecetka, Alojz Macek, Jozef Kutnik-Smalov, Valentin Beniak, Aladar Kocis, Karol Klinovsky, Karol Studenc, Alexander Moyzes and honorsry members included Jozef Skultety, Tido J. Gaspar, Rudolf Vavra, Ferdinand Catlos and Gejza Medricky. Slovak-Croatian Society. File 38/68, Box 204, PR-BA, SNA. 35 More precisely about the revue Tatre i Velebit, see: Jankovic, Chorwitska literatura v slovenskej kulture II. (1939-1948), 39-51. 36 Tatre i Velebit, March 14, 1942, 5. 31 Tatre i Velebit, December 25, 1942, 156. �SLOVAKIA 77 ing of the Reduta. On the next day, a Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by Bishop Michal Buzalka in Saint Martin's Cathedral, and on this occasion the Slovak dailies published special issues. 38 At that time a numerous group of Slovak journalists, cultural workers and politicians set off to Croatia to celebrate the first anniversary of the state. Besides Minister Mach and Secretary Kovar, the group included prominent Hlinka guard officers Otomar Kubala, Alexander Cunderlik, Frantisek Galan, and other persons who also discussed mutual cooperation in the area of culture. Within the context of the cooperation of Slovakia, Romania and Croatia, a meeting was held on May 13 in Bucharest, where the participants agreed to compile national bibliographies of major works, to organize regular visits, to promote each other and to organize so-called weeks of reciprocal culture. An Agreement on Cultural Cooperation between the Slovak Republic and the NDH was signed in Zagreb, which dealt with the foundation of a Chair of the Croatian Language, Literature and History and a Department of the Croatian Language and Literature at the Slovak University, with similar Slovak institutes in Zagreb. An important clause focused on maintaining and extending elementary schools for minorities. Both partners committed to support reciprocal visits and a minimum of two student scholarships. 39 The Agreement also included a clause on the recognition of academic titles, scientific education benefits for young people, and book exchanges. They also promised not to permit the publication of things "which could present the other state in a bad light." The Agreement established a Slovak and Croatian Cultural Committee to observe the provisions of the mutual agreements and to deepen relationships. The Agreement was for a period of five years and based on the principle of reciprocity .40 In spite of the fact that similar plans had existed since 1941, and that the final agreement was prepared in 1942, neither this Agreement, nor another cultural Agreement between the Slovak Republic and NDH came into force . This was due to their inability to make and perform agreements, and a certain inflexibility characteristic of both parties, which were the basic problems associated with the development of relations between Slovakia and Croatia. Some of these problems were caused by the fact that the NDH was not con38 /bid, 164-5 . Slovak-Croatian reciprocal scholarships. File 255/43, Box 2 14, MZV, SNA . 40 File 8/ 100/43 , Box 118, MZV, SNA. 39 �78 SLOVAKIA-2015 solidated politically and economically, that both countries were involved in the war, in a complicated foreign-policy situation, and also in the relationship of satellite states with their protector, Germany . The issue of the legal status of the Slovak minority in the NDH was perceived in a very sensitive way, and tackled unsuccessfully throughout the entire existence of the NDH. Frequent excesses of the Ustasha towards Slovak inhabitants in Croatia did not contribute to mutual trust. It is well-known that from the beginning some Slovaks rejected Croatian citizenship because they had supported the previous regime, they had to deal with poor living conditions and showed increased interest in repatriation to Slovakia. Viliam Kovar's visit to Lipovljany on June 14, 1941 created a stir. During his visit, Kovar showed concern about the situation of the local Slovaks and suggested repatriation in exchange for Croats living in Slovakia. This proposal resonated and some Slovaks in Croatia appealed to the embassy for help. 41 However, charge d'affaires Murgas viewed Kovar's initiative very critically. Croatians intended to repatriate the Slovak minority to the Slovak Republic, which Murgas found detrimental to the state.42 In any case, official Slovak circles showed no serious interest in repatriation to Slovakia. What did not make such a big stir was settling the issue of the validity of Jewish travel documents. The Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs had acknowledged their validity (until March 31, 1942), but at the same time the Ministry told Murgas not to intervene in these matters, to which he would agree. 43 The legation had the right to decide each Jewish case, but their objective was to ensure that these Jews would not return to Slovakia because they were "a useless and harmful element, " 44 which corresponded to the official policy of the Slovak Republic. 45 In the NDH 41 File 116/41 , Box 1160, MZV, SNA; Report written by representatives of the Slovak minority in the NDH regarding the visit of Viliam Kovar, June 16, 1941. Box 143, MZV, SNA. See also: Oldfich Pejs, "Slovenska diplomacie a valecni zajatci slovenske narodnosti (1939-1942)," Vojenska hist6ria 15 (2011), 122-41. 42 '1n today's situation we don't have the space and employment opportunities for returnees ... " Report ofK. Murgas, August 19, 1941 , Box 143 and File 20518/41 , Box 48 , MZV, SNA. 43 File 903/41 and 1347/41 , Box 1158, MZV, SNA. 44 File 62/41 , Box 1158, MZV, SNA. 45 For a comparison of the Slovak and Croatian anti-Jewish policies, see: Eduard Niznansky and Jana Mnahoncakova, "Vymedzenie pojmu Zid na Slovensku a v �SLOVAKIA 79 the Jewish issue was "promptly resolved," and Serbs also became an "unwanted element." 46 The greatest boom of cultural relations between Slovakia and Croatia occurred in 1942. Numerous visits and social events were organized in order to strengthen this cooperation. For example, during the summer several Croatian delegations visited the Slovak Republic. From June 28 until July 4, a "Croatian Week" in Slovakia was organized to promote Croatian culture. Slovak Radio participated very actively by broadcasting Croatian music and a series of interviews by a number of major figures in culture and politics.47 At that time an ensemble of amateur actors form Croatia toured Slovakia with their theater program dedicated to Croatian dances.48 Reciprocal visits and presentations became the most typical component of Slovak-Croatian cultural policy, most frequently realized through national theatrical and music productions. As in Slovakia, various events were held in the NDH which concentrated on mutual convergence, such as the presentation of the Articles of Association of the Slovak National Unity (Slovenska narodna jednota) to the relevant Croatian authorities who promised their recognition. The Slovak Reading Club in Ilok organized Slovaks in the NDH. In spite of promises made, the Croatian administration did nothing. 49 The Slovak Day planned for August 30, 1942, in Stara Pazova, where Vladimir Hurban Vladimirov, a famous descendant of the writer Svetozar Hurban Vajansky, served as a Protestant minister, was postponed because of guerilla warfare.50 Jozef Cieker constantly pointed out the complicated situation in the country and the Ustasha's excesses. "The scope of action of ministers is limited to minis- Chorvatsku - pokus o porovnanie," in Z dejin holokaustu ajeho popierania, ed. Eduard Nizi\.ansky (Bratislava: Stimul, 2007), 107-30. 46 See Nevenko Bartulin, The Racial Idea in the Independent State of Croatia: Origins and Theory (Leiden: Brill, 2014). 47 Alexander Mach, Mladen Lorkovic, Stanislav Meciar, Jozef Ambrus, Valentin Beniak, Alexander Moyzes, Viliam Kovar, Mile Starcevic, Zlatko Milkovic, Franjo Dujmovic, Mile Budak, Viliam Peros, Josip Horvat, Geno Senecic and others. 48 Tatre i Velebit, December 25, I 942, p.165. 49 Report of J. Cieker, May 24, I 943. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, O1:S BA, SABa. 50 Slovaks in Yugoslavia. File 6452/41-1 , Box 143, MZV, SNA. �80 SLOV AKIA-2015 terial buildings and a small region around Zagreb." 51 He perceived Slovak-Croatian relations as weak and suggested that it would be unwise to limit mutual relations to Ustasha Croatia and suggested that the two nations should relate to one another as wholes. The Ustasha were not pleased with the activities of the Slovak charge d'affaires in Zagreb, and therefore they suggested that he should be removed. Cieker often met with opposition groups, members of the higher clergy and criticized the situation in the country. These statements show that there were certain differences between Slovakia and Croatia. Conservative representatives in Croatia were the more moderate Catholics of a nationalist orientation, represented in the past by the Croatian Popular Peasant Party (the Hrvatska pucka seljacka stranka). In that sense, they were competitors of the Ustasha. The Slovak Republic supported the regular Croatian army - the militia, with supplies of arms and equipment. However, much more evident were the contacts between the radical representatives of the Hlinka Guard and the Ustasha. They were ideologically close, and strongly involved in the development of mutual relations, for instance between the Hlinka Youth and the Ustasha Youth. Despite these differences, cultural contacts continued to evolve. Each autumn international commercial fairs were held in both Bratislava and Zagreb. Both states sent delegations of major figures of economic and political life to the fairs. In June of 1942, an agreement between Croatia and Slovakia was signed in Bratislava on the regulation of mutual contact under civil law. At the end of October, the Minister of Justice, Gejza Fritz, signed in Zagreb an interstate agreement on extradition and propertylaw assistance in criminal issues. Like the economic agreement entered into in October of 1941, these agreements came into force too late, and therefore had no significant impact on the actual relationship between the Slovak Republic and the NDH. 52 Also, an agreement was concluded on cooperation between the Slovak and Croatian academic youth.53 This cooperation seemed promising from the summer of 1941 and many young people from Croatia visited Slovakia. The Hlinka Youth, jointly with the Ustasha Youth and 51 Report of J. Cieker, August 28, 1942. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, O1:S BA, SABa. 52 Rychlik, Slovensko-chorvatske vztahy ... , 273-74. 53 Medunarodni ugovori 1943, p. 208-10. Box 214, MZV, SNA. �SLOVAKIA 81 Hitlerjugend, organized camps for their members . In this regard, there was a significant involvement by Alojz Macek and lvo Orsanic, the leaders of organizations in the Slovak Republic and the NDH, . As in the preceding year, the autumn of 1942 witnessed certain changes in Slovak- Croatian relations. Activist Viliam Kovar enlisted in the Slovak army and treasurer Belo Fronc replaced him. The NDH Government underwent a major reorganization which resolved the conflict between the Poglavnik and the Minister of Defense, Marshall Slavko Kvaternik. Kvaternik came to recover to Slovakia, when he probably sought some political support. However, the Government's reconstruction did not disturb the NDH's relations with the Slovak Republic. Promoting one another continued, which is evident in the Slovak Culture Week held in Zagreb from November 29, 1942, to December 5, 1942. 54 This event had some response. Besides abundant musical performances, several contributions were made on the present and the past of the relationships between Slovaks and Croatians. At that time, Andric's Slovak Language Grammar was published.55 By the end of that year, yet another change took place in diplomatic postings. Charge d'affaires Berkovic was dismissed and replaced with Blaz Lorkovic, who presented his credentials to President Tiso on December 22. In his speech, he remarked: "The Poglavnik appointed me as the charge d'affaires in Slovakia in his belief that our brother Slovaks wish to have an old and well-proven Ustasha as the charge d'affaires of the NDH."56 In 1943 further talks were held on cooperation between Romania, Slovakia and the NDH . It was evident that Ante Pavelic's Croatia was very weak as a partner, and, therefore, the Slovak representatives focused mainly on negotiations with the Romanians. In the end, however, these attempts also failed to improve cooperation and the idea of a tightly-bound Slovak and Croatian bloc against Hungary was unsuccessful. 57 In January of 1943, a full length propaganda film 54 At that time the following Slovaks visited Croatia: Stanislav Meciar, Andrej Mraz, Karol Ki:irper, Jan Pi:istenyi, Jozef Pauco, Jan Doransky as we ll as representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Education, the Matica slovenska, the Slovak-Croatian Society, the Society of St. Adalbert and the Bratislava Chamber Quintet. 55 Tatre i Velebit, December 25 , 1942, 157-159; File Slovaks in Yugoslavia, Box 143, MZV, SNA. 56 File 35.591 /42, Box 219, MZV, SNA. 57 Tejchman, Slovensko-rumunsko-chorvatska spoluprace ... , 166-67 . �82 SLOV AKIA-2015 From the Tatras to the Sea of Azov was shown in the NDH, which highlighted the Slovak Army's activity on the Eastern Front in order to strengthen the idea of a joint struggle against Bolshevism . In the field of news reporting, a regular exchange of newsreels took place and a number of contributions on Croatian topics were broadcast over Slovak Radio. The fourth anniversary celebrations of independence in Zagreb were not as spectacular as in the preceding year. In addition to compulsory lectures and articles in the Croatian press, the Croatian and Slovak Society organized a tea party on March 13th. The next morning, a Pontifical High Mass was celebrated and attended by representatives of the Croatian Government. 58 On March 25, 1943 the second general assembly of the Slovak and Croatian Society was held . Once again, this event became a manifestation of fondness for each other. Many prominent people of that period's political and cultural life participated, headed by ministers Mach, Medricky and charge d'affaires Blaz Lorkovic, who was elected an honorary member. A declaration of efforts to extend the statutes of the Society was made since there was an interest in establishing branches in other towns of Slovakia (it was planned to establish branches in Presov, Zilina and Banska Bystrica), and to extend activities in the field of culture.59 The general assembly also launched the celebration of Croatian independence, which was accompanied by a number of cultural events including a gala concert of the Slovak Radio on April 9th. Employees of Mach's Ministry of the Interior were invited to turn out in strength. A Croatian issue of the newspaper Gardista (Guardsman) was published to celebrate the third anniversary of the NDH's creation. During his visit to Slovakia in May, 1943, Ivan Veres, a Protestant minister, reported on the difficult situation of Slovaks in the NDH. Again, the unresolved issues emerged, especially those regarding culture. Based on this information Alexander Mach invited the Croatian charge d'affaires to an audience and gave him notice that the situation of Slovaks in the NDH could directly affect the future relations between Slovakia and Croatia. In this respect, Mach even intended to stop honoring Josip Andric, the writer, with a high 58 Tatre i Velebit, June 15, 1943, 61. The Slovak-Croatian Society - Minutes of the Second General Assembly. File 38/68, Box 204, PR Ba, SNA. 59 �SLOVAKIA 83 state award, and issued a command to suspend the establishment of the Slovak and Croatian Society's branches. Jozef Cieker also made a statement on the nature of the mutual relationships by pointing out that people in Bratislava had too many illusions, but the reality was much more complicated. 60 In spite of the fact that the negotiations on signing the Slovak and Croatian Cultural Convention continued, no consensus was reached. Croatia refused to recognize the special status of Slovaks in the NDH because of other minorities, who would then demand similar rights. However, the Croats were willing to guarantee Slovak education through separate legislation. They also demanded that the SNU should not be a political organization to represent Slovaks in the NDH and should not claim the property of former Czechoslovak: associations. However, at that time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic was more interested in concluding the Slovak and Italian cultural convention, after which the Ministry would be willing to continue negotiations about the convention with Croatia.61 The fall of Mussolini in 1943 brought about an "unpleasant awakening" in the NDH. Nevertheless, Ante Pavelic, with Germany's support, managed to hold on to power and maintain the illusion of the existence of an independent Croatian state, and on September 10, 1943, he announced that previous Italian and Croatian agreements were no longer valid, as the Italians had failed to fulfil their obligations and agreed to an armistice with the enemy. 62 At that time, a number of Croatian politicians and their families, who refused to stay in the NDH for various reasons, were in Slovakia. This is very interesting, because the Slovak Republic granted asylum to persons whose blood-stained careers were inscribed in the NDH' s infamous history. For instance, this applied to Eugen "Dido" Kvaternik, the former commander of the Croatian secret police! Jozef Cieker tried unsuccessfully to reject entry visas to exponents of the Ustasha re• 63 g1me. 60 Report of J. Cieker, May 24, 1943. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, 01.'.S BA, SABa. 61 Report of J. Cieker from July 7, 1943. Box 143, MZV, SNA. 62 Jbid, File 313 2/43 . 63 Report of J. Cieker, September 9, 1943. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, 01.'.S BA, SABa. �84 SLOV AKIA-2015 In the reality of that time, Slovak and Croatian cultural cooperation decreased and in 1943 the Tatre i Velebit cultural review folded . The Slovak Embassy in Zagreb pointed to the unbearable problems of the NDH, which were also reflected in its failure to fulfil economic contractual obligations. The embassy also dealt with propertyrelated sanctions and the loss of freedom which Slovaks in the NDH had to struggle with every day. Despite plans for further cooperation, the mutual relationships had reached their zenith. Their abovestandard scope in the period between 1939 and 1944 is shown by the fact that nineteen translated Croatian fiction titles were published in Slovakia, which is more than in the case of most Allied countries. In addition, popular and scientific, political and religious literature was published, although their numbers are difficult to reconstruct. 64 At the beginning of February, 1944, Jozef Cieker was replaced in Zagreb by charge d'affaires Viktor Becko. 65 However, he would not bring any changes to Slovak-Croat relations. From his reports we learn that actual power in Croatia was shared by guerilla and German and Ustasha troops, and about the oppression of the population. As regards Slovak-Croatian relations, Becko noted that higher state authorities had an interest and a positive approach, which, however, faded at lower positions. Therefore, he suggested, that Croatians should be promised economic concessions in return for cultural and social offsets for Slovaks in the NDH. 66 In his report he summarized the mutual contacts which he considered to be less developed than expected and pointed out that a certain platform could be found as a support. In spite of that, he labelled the cultural and political relations as very good. As far as economic cooperation was concerned, he criticized the absence of a trade representative "whom the Croatians have in the Protectorate as well." 67 As regards the issue of the Slovaks in the NDH, he underscored the fact that Slovaks were transported to concentration camps based on the principle of collective guilt. Some Croatians hated the Slovaks because they were not obliged to join the army or the Ustasha, and local personal and prop64 See Jankovic, Chorvatska literatura v slovenskej kulture II. (1939-1948), 166-176. Slovak, February 2, 1944, p. 4; Slovak, February 9, 1944, p. 3. 66 Report of V. Becka, March 20, 1944. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, O1.'.S BA, SABa. 67 Political reports from Zagreb - 1944, Report of V. Becka, April 25, 1944. Box 213, MZV, SNA. 65 �SLOVAKIA 85 erty-related conflicts played an important role as well. He pointed to the nationalist attitudes of the Ustasha, who did not like "foreign elements" in their country. 68 However, the repatriation of Slovaks was technically impossible at that time.69 Contacts between Slovaks and Croats were not limited to the official political position, which I intended to describe in this paper. There was also significant cooperation among anti-fascist forces in the Slovak Republic, the NDH and elsewhere in Europe. Tomislav Poglajen-Kolakovic, a Catholic priest who worked in Slovakia from September of 1943 and joined the anti-fascist forces, was an outstanding person involved in this convergence. 70 In the last stages of the existence of both states, mutual contacts died out completely, and the dissolution of the Slovak and Croatian Society in Slovakia on May 25th, 1945, 71 was just a formality, because most of the Society's representatives had fled abroad, where they continued to develop contacts with the Croats. Relationships between Slovakia and Croatia from 1941 to 1945 were affected by the political climate. Despite comparable efforts by Slovaks and Croats to attain national emancipation in the inter-war period and deep historical roots of mutual cooperation multiplied at that time by the concept of "historical inevitability," it was the ideological adherence of political representatives and their mentors (especially Germany) which played an important role in the mutual convergence. Cultural cooperation took a similar path, but it could not overcome the ideological framework. Due to both practical and political obstacles, such cooperation would not reach the desired form, and it peaked between 1942 and the first half of 1943 . However, as Viliam Kovar wrote about the activities of the Slovak and Croatian Society, which was supposed to reflect these relationships : 68 Political reports from Zagreb - 1944, Report of V. Becka, January 8, 1945 . Box 213, MZV, SNA . 69 Letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to V. Becka, January 26, 1945. Box I 160, MZV, SNA. 70 More precisely see: Jozef Jablonicky, Podoby nasilia (Bratislava: Kalligram, 2000), 9-27. For the official Croatian reaction to the uprising in Slovakia, see: Jan Rychlik, "Obdobie pred Slovenskym narodnym povstanim v spravach chorvatskeho vyslanca v Bratislave," Historicky casopis 56 (2008): 349-84. ; Jan Rychlik, "Slovenske narodne povstanie v spravach chorvatskeho diplomata," Historicky casopis 54 (2006) : 315-52. 71 Slovak-Croatian Society. File 38/68, Box 20 14, PR Ba, SNA . �86 SLOV AKIA-2015 " ... (the Society) failed to do as much as one could possibly expect, but did not miss one chance to inform the Slovak public and make it familiar with the life of Croatia and its representatives." 72 It was clear before the end of World War II, which both countries entered on the side of Germany, that neither state would outlive it. However, this did not mean the end of mutual cultural contacts, which after the War took place in a brand new geopolitical and ideological environment. 72 Report of the Society' s secretary. File 38/68, Box 2014, PR Ba, SNA. � 66 SLOV AKIA-2015 THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL COOPERATION BETWEEN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC AND THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA, 1941-1945 1 Miroslav Michela The foreign policy of Slovakia in the years 1939 - 1945 has been quite a popular research topic of Slovak historians over the last ten to twenty years. 2 Significant achievements in this regard relate primarily to research on Slovak-German relations,3 but there are also several 1 1 would like to express my gratitude to prof. Mark Stolarik and his family for significant help in my research on Slovak emigres, and especially on the biography of Slovak journalist and politician Karol Murgas. My research in the Slovak collections in the Archives and Special Collections of the University of Ottawa Library would not have been possible without the support of the Helen and John lvanco Memorial Research Bursary. 2 Here I would like to list a few publications, which appeared in recent years, mostly as a result of long-term academic interest: Michal Schvarc, "Zahranicna politika Slovenskej republiky 1939-1945 a jej postavenie v ramci nemeckej sfery vplyvu," in Kfucove problemy modernych slovenskych dejin 1848-1992, ed. Valerian Bystricky et. al. (Bratislava: Veda, 2012), 231-52; Edita lvanickova et. al. , Slovenslui republika 1939-1945 v medzinarodnych suvislostiach (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 2012); Pavo! Petruf, Zahranicna politika Slovenskej republiky 1939-1945: nacrt problematiky (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 2011); James Mace Ward, Priest, Politician, Collaborator: Jozef Tiso and the Making of Fascist Slovakia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013). 3 For example: Sicherheitsdienst a Slovens/ca v rokach 1938-1944: od auton6mie po Povstanie. Slovensky stat vo vybranych spravach SD od jesene 1943 do septembra 1944, ed. Michal Schvarc (Bratislava: Slovenske narodne muzeum-Muzeum karpatskych Nemcov, 2006) ; "Tretia risa" a vznik Slovenskeho statu;dokumenty. /., ed. Michal Schvarc, Martin Holak and David Schriftl (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda, SNM- Muzeum kultury Karpatskych Nemcov, 2008); "Tretia risa" a vznik Slovenskeho statu : dokumenty. II. ed. Michal Schvarc and David Schriftl (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda, Historicky ustav SAV, SNM - Muzeum kultury Karpatskych Nemcov, 2010) ; Slovensko-nemecke vzt'ahy 1938-1941 v dokumentoch I.:od Mnichova k vojne proti ZSSR , ed. Eduard Nizi\.ansky et. al. (Presov: Universum, 2009); Slovensko-nemecke vzt'ahy 1941-1945 v dokumentoch II. :od vojny proti ZSSR po zanik Slovenskej republiky v roku 1945, ed. Eduard Niznansky et. al. (Presov: Universum-EU, 20 11); Von Munchen bis Salzburg 1938- 1940. Dokumente und Essay. Buch 1. Buch 2. Slovensko v jeseni 1944, ed. Ladislav Susko (Bratislava: Luc, 2008); Tatjana Tonsmeyer, Das Dritte Reich und die Slowakei, 1939-1945. Politi- �SLOVAKIA 67 studies concerning the relationship between Slovakia and the Great Powers .4 In the context of diplomatic relations with neighboring countries, plenty of studies are oriented on the Slovak-Polish and Slovak-Hungarian relationships at different levels of politics.5 In the last decade studies relating to Slovak-Croatian diplomatic relations have also appeared. 6 Generally speaking, with a few exceptions, the2008); Tatjana Tonsmeyer, Das Dritte Reich und die Slowakei, 1939-1945. Politischer Al/tag zwischen Kooperation und Eigensinn (Paderbom : Ferdinand Schoningh, 2003 ). 4 For example: Politicke vzt'ahy medzi Francuzskom a Ceskoslovenskom a Francuzskom a Slovenskom (1 939-1948): vyber dokumentov, ed. Pavo! Petruf (Martin: Matica slovenska, 2003); Dagmar Ciema-Lantayova, Pohfady na vychod: Postoje k Rusku v slovenskej politike 1934-1944 (Bratislava: Veda, 2002); Slavomir Michalek, "Niekol'ko problemov slovensko-americkych vzt'ahov pocas druhej svetovej vojny," in Edita Ivanickova et. al. Slovenska republiko /939-1945 v medzinarodnych suvislostiach, 139-61 ; Petr Kubik, Slovensko-talianske vzt'ahy 1939-1945 (Bratislava: Ustav pamiiti naroda, 20 IO); Edita Ivanickova, "Zapadne vel'moci a slovensky stat 1939-1945," in Slovensky stat 1939-1945: predstavy a reality, eds. Martina Fiamova, Jan Hlavinka and Michal Schvarc (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SA V, 2014), 8193 . 5 Here is a sample of some interesting works by young scholars: Aliaksandr Piahanau, "Slovak-Hungarian Relations in the Mirror of the German-Soviet Conflictive Alliance (1939-1941 )," Prague Papers on the History of International Relations 16 (2012): 144-63; Isvtan Janek, "The Issue of Hungarian- Slovak Diplomatic Connections in the Hungarian Parliament in 1939- 1940," Prague Papers on the History of International Relations 18 (2014): 128-41 ; Istvan Janek, "Mad'arsko-slovenske diplomaticke vzt'ahy v rokoch 1939-1941 , " in Slovenska republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov, IV. , eds. Michal Smigel' and Peter Micko (Banska Bystrica: Katedra hist6rie Fakulty humanitnych vied Univerzity Mateja Bela, 2005 ), 334-51 ; Mateusz Gniazdowski, "Kontakty PHsudczyk6w ze Slowakami w latach 19391945," Niepodleglosi: 55 (2005): I 07-50; Dusan Seges, "The Slovak Question and its International Context during World War Two," in 1945 - A Break with the Past, ed. Zdenko Cepic (Ljubljana: Institut za novejso zgodovino, 2008), 213-26; Dusan Seges, Dvojkrii v silociarach bieleho or/a. Slovenska otazka v politike pol'skej exi/ovej vlady za 2. svetovej vojny (Bratislava: Veda, 2009); Holy Case, "The Holocaust in Regional Perspective: Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia," in Varieties of Anti-Semitism, eds . Peter Kenez and Bruce Thompson (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2009), 76-92. 6 Jan Rychlik, "Slovensko-chorvatske vztahy v letech 1941-1945 ," Slovanske historicke studie 26 (2000): 265-83 ; Miroslav Michela, "Vznik slovenskeho vyslanectva v Chorvatsku a cinnost' Karola Murgasa, charge d 'affaires v Zahrebe v roku 1941 ," in Slovenska republika 1939 - 1945 ocami mladych historikov fl , ed. Martin Lacko (Bratislava: Merkury, 2003), 97-123 ; Miroslav Michela, "K otazke slovensko-chorvatskej kulturnej spoluprace v rokoch 1941-45," Slavica Slovaca 38 (2003): 112-22; Jan Tkac, "Slovensko-juhoslovanske a slovensko-chorvatske vzt'ahy �68 SLOVAKIA-2015 se works are mainly focused on the issues of diplomacy and the traditional history of politics. They describe the ideas and activities of major political players, thus complementing our knowledge about the process of negotiating and building the "New Europe." 7 The present study aims primarily to explain a few basic factors in the context of building official Slovak-Croatian cultural cooperation in the period from 1941 to 1945 . The foundation of the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska - NDH) on April 10th, 1941 resulted in the expansion of cultural interaction between it and the newly- independent Slovak Republic, as the representatives of both states shared similar experiences of national struggles and now ideological and political interests. The Slovak Republic officially recognized the NDH on v rokoch 1939-1941 ," Historicky zbornik 19 (2009): 154-68; Jan Tkac, "Chorvatsko v politike Slovenskej republiky v rokoch 1941-1945," Historicky casopis 58 (2010): 659-83 ; Alena Bartlova, "Dr. Jozef Cieker, vyslanec Slovenskej republiky," in Dr. Jozef Cieker: seminar pri prileiitosti nedoi itym 90. narodenincim Jozefa Ciekera v Tvrdosine 20. juna 1997, ed. Juraj Chovan-Rehak (Martin : Matica slovenska, 2000), 71-92; Jan Jankovic, Chorvcitska literatura v slovenskej kulture If. (19391948), (Bratislava: Veda, 2002); Jan Jankovic, Stanis/av Meciar - chorvatofil (Bratislava: Ustav svetovej literatury SAV, 2001); Martin Jarinkovic, "Pohl'ad slovenskej dennej tlace na chorvatsku otazku v rokoch 1941-1944," in Od Salzburgu do vypuknutia Povstania. Slovenskci republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov VIII, ed. Peter Sokolovic (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda, 2009), 261-88; Martin Jarinkovic, "Spolkovy zivot v prvej Slovenskej republike na priklade Slovenskochorvatskej spolocnosti v rokoch 1942-1944," in Zivot v Slovenskej republike. Slovenskci republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov 9., ed. Peter Sokolovic (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda 2010), 305-24; Oldfich Pejs, "Nakup koni v Chorvatsku pro slovenskou armadu v roce 1944," Vojenskci hist6ria 8 (2004): 87-95; Oldfich Pejs, "Na okraj dodavky slovenskych zbrani do Chorvatska v roce 1942," Historie a vojenstvi 45 (1996): 56-73 . 7 See the following : Michal Schvarc, "Statna suverenita len ako fasada? Zasahy Nemecka do slovenskeho zakonodarstva v rokoch 1939-1940," in Slovensko v labyrinte modernych eur6pskych dejin : pocta historikov Milanovi Zemkovi, ed . Slavomir Michalek (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 20 14), 641-57; Pavo) Petruf, "Zahranicna politika Slovenskeho statu 1939-1945 : niekol'ko poznamok o jej vzniku, zamerani a kratkodobej existencii," in Riesenie iidovskej otcizky v spojeneckych krajincich nacistickeho Nemecka, ed. Viera Kovacova et. al. (Banska Bystrica: Muzeum Slovenskeho narodneho povstania, 20 12), 17-29; Pavo I Petruf, "Terna "novej Eur6py", "noveho eur6pskeho poriadku" a "zivotneho priestoru" na strankach novin Slovak ( I 939-1940)," in Kapitoly z hist6rie stredoeur6pskeho priestoru v 19. a 20. storoci: pocta k 70-rocnemu jubileu Dusana Kovcica, ed. Edita Ivanickova et. al. (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 201 I), 338-54. �SLOVAKIA 69 May 5th, 194 l along with other Axis members and satellites - Germany, Italy and Hungary. 8 The NDH's political role in the "New Europe" was outlined in the Treaty of Rome, signed on May 18, 194 l, which established long-term Italian patronage. After Croatia gained its sovereignty, this subordination was immediately subject to much domestic criticism. During the following Croatian-Slovak diplomatic discussions, both parties set out a preferred vision of German rather than Italian supervision, seeing in Nazi Germany a common protector and liberator and also admiring the state and the Flihrer. In May of 194 l the government of the Slovak Republic surprisingly appointed the radical Karol Murgas, as its charge d'affaires to Croatia. The request was officially delivered by German authorities, as there was no direct contact between the two parties at that time. 9 Murgas had no diplomatic experience and was known for his awkward and hot-tempered behavior in public, which might have caused some hesitation, but his paramilitary experience in the Hlinka Guard and his demonstrated sympathy for Croatian nationalists made their mark. Murgas himself saw the move as an attempt to remove him from Slovak domestic politics, as he had previously enjoyed the prominent post of head of the Department of Propaganda. 10 In May of 194 l Viliam Kovar, the distinguished Slovak journalist, visited Croatia. During his stay he met influential statesmen and leaders of the Ustasha movement and examined the potential for mu- 8 Croatia - Congratulations of president Jozef Tiso, file 1300/41 , box 61 , collection Kancelaria prezidenta republiky - Slovensky narodny archiv (SNA) - Bratislava. For more about Slovak-Yugoslav relations see: Jan Nemecek, "K slovensko-jugoslavskym vztahum 1939-45," in Evropa mezi Nemeckem a Ruskem. Sbornik praci k sedmdesatinam Jaroslava Valenty, eds. Miroslav Sestak and Emil Voracek (Praha: Historicky ustav Akademie ved Ceske republiky, 2000), 385-98; Martin Jarinkovic, "Slovensko-juhoslovanske hospodarske a obchodne kontakty v rokoch 1939-1941 ," Pamdt' naroda 7 (20 11 ): 4-17. 9 S/ovak, May 11, I 941, 3. Zagreb's official approval of Murgas's mission came on May 15, but information ' s about it had already appeared in Grenzebote on the 4th of May 1941. For this question see also: File 79/41 , Box 1155 and File 77/41 , Box 213 , MZV, SNA. 10 See: Miroslav Michela, "Miesto a uloha Karola Murgasa v radikalnom prude slovenskej politiky v obdobi rokov 1939-1941 ," in S/ovenska republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov, ed. Martin Lacko (Trnava : Katedra hist6rie Filozofickej fakulty Univerzity Cyrila a Metoda, 2002), 77-105 . �70 SLOVAKIA-2015 tual cultural cooperation. 11 In a letter to his colleague Stanislav Meciar, the editor- in-chief of the journal Slovenske pohl'ady, Kovar suggested sending a series of congratulatory letters on Croatia's independence to demonstrate Slovak sympathy and support. 12 Meciar was known to be a Croatophile and ardent admirer of writer and politician Mile Budak, who later became Minister of Education and Religion of the newly-founded NDH. 13 In a letter dated May 23, Meciar asserted the brotherhood of both nations and expressed satisfaction with both countries' successful completion of the struggle for independence. In his words, "Croats were a sincere nation close to us" and "the future of Slovakia will be much safer when developed in tandem with the present beautiful reality of Croatia." 14 Such declarations of sympathy were common in contemporary formal communications and were not deemed awkward . The Slovak press continuously monitored the Croatian struggle for independence and dedicated significant space to discussions with Croat emancipation activists : the Ustasha and Hlinka Guard officials; and to both nations' notable historical figures, such as Ljudevit Gaj , Ban Jelacic and Ante Starcevic on the one hand, and Jan Kollar, Stefan Moyzes and Andrej Hlinka on the other. A lot of attention was also paid to contemporary figures such as Mile Budak, Milo Urban and Alexander Mach, the commander-in-chief of the Hlinka Guard. Andrej Vrbacky, the Slovak translator, deserves credit for this written presentation. On May 26, 1941, Karol Murgas paid an official visit to Ante Pavelic, Croatia's supreme leader - poglavnik. In his formal address, Murgas pointed to the similarities of both nation's histories and suggested close cooperation in future political and cultural activities. 15 After this the Slovak embassy was officially opened. Interestingly, although an embassy agreement was offered to Murgas, he came to Zagreb with the official status of an envoy, which the Croatian side considered insufficient and demanded diplomatic representation at 11 Croatia trip reports. Box 4, Papers of Viliam Kovar, Literarny archiv Slovenskej narodnej kniznici V Martine (LA SNK). 12 Letter of V. Kovar to S. Meciar, August 26, 1941 . File 164 E 20, LA SNK. 13 See for example: Stanislav Meciar, "Chorvatsky klasik Mile Budak," Slovenske pohl'ady 56 ( 1940): 429-44. 14 Letter of S. Meciar to M. Budak, May 21 , 1941. File 164 N 17, LA SNK. 15 File 8/41 , Box 1155, MZV, SNA; Karol Murgas, "Pred tridsiatimi rokmi v Zahrebe," Slovak a svet I (Chicago, 1971 ): 15. �SLOVAKIA 71 the top level. A month later, on June 25, Slovak president Jozef Tiso accepted the nomination of Dragutin Toth as Croatian charge d' affaires to Slovakia. 16 Murgas objected to this nomination, rating Toth as a liberal-orientated leftist. Toth's first audience with President Tiso took place on August l st, and his opening statement was dedicated again to both nations' independence. It is worth mentioning that he gave the speech in his native tongue, yet the president answered him in Slovak. This established a precedent for Tiso's interactions with envoys of Slavic states. 17 The newly-established Slovak embassy in Zagreb attracted broad interest and numerous appeals for bilateral cooperation. Both parties declared their intention to closely coordinate their political, economic, social and cultural activities. NOH officials wanted information on the organization of economic and social life in Slovakia. A common topic of bilateral talks was the means of settling the debts of former parent states (Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia). After initial negotiations with Murgas, Anton Bonifacic, head of the Croatian Department of Culture of the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs, worked out a "Proposal for Establishing Cultural Cooperation between the NOH and the Slovak Republic". Its aim was to build economic, social and cultural ties based on the mutual exchange of publications, translations of literature, the exchange of students, writers and task groups; and organizing art exhibitions, concerts etc. The proposal included a suggestion for the legal recognition and protec18 tion of Croats living in Slovakia and Slovaks in the NOH. The position of the latter was at that time far from satisfactory. Slovak minority rights gained during the former Yugoslavia were largely ignored by the Ustasha regime. 19 The first objective of the Slovak representatives in Croatia was to improve this situation. Within the Slo16 File 4961 /41 , Box 213, MZV, SNA. Rychlik, Slovensko-chorvatske vztahy ... , 270. 18 File 244/41 , Box 1157, MZV, SNA. 19 About the Slovak minority in Croatia, see: Vit Usak, Slovcici v Chorvcitsku - historicky ncicrt (C leveland-Rim : Historicky ustav, 1978); Sprievodca slovenskym zahranicim, ed. I.'.ubica Bartalska (Bratislava: Dom zahranicnych Slovakov, 2001), 8790; Report of J. Cieker, February 12, 1942. File 27/48 JozefCieker papers, Okresny l'udovy sud v Bratislave 1945-1947 (O1..'.S BA), Statny oblastny archiv Bratislava (SABa). Information about the exact number of Slovaks in Croatia at that time differed. The daily Slovak, on October 22, 1941 , page 3, estimated a maximum of 22,000 countrymen ; other sources gave higher numbers . 17 �72 SLOV AKIA-2015 vak community itself, there were further differences related to religious orientation. The Catholic population lacked education and schools, and its national identity was rapidly disappearing. On the other hand, Lutheran villages were keeping their traditions alive, with much of the work done by local pastors.20 However, the Lutheran community had stronger ties to the former Yugoslav regime and was treated with suspicion by Ustasha authorities. In numerous cases the Slovak embassy had to intervene to help individuals (conscripts of the Yugoslav army) who had been captured in the previous war with Germany. The chaos and scarcities following the transition of power also forced a lot of Slovaks to seek help at the embassy. Ever since the foundation of the NDH, leaders of the Slovak expatriate community were planning to set up a minority organization, the so-called Slovak National Group in Croatia, with a common official statute recognized by the Croatian regime. The eventual failure of this initiative was largely due to the fact that they were not coordinated with the Croatian side, which feared a potential precedent that wou ld allow other minorities to raise similar claims. The only minority to achieve the privilege of an officially recognized status was the German one, with a population up to 150,000 and enjoying the benefits of the parent country ' s political dominance. Following the negotiations of June 25, 1941 , Croatia and Slovakia announced a mutual settlement of their claims regarding real estate belonging to their predecessor states (Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia).21 Murgas managed to obtain the property of the former Czech-Slovak society Beseda in Lipovljani for the Slovak side.22 The issue of schools for the Slovak minority was a frequently negotiated topic from early on. In spite of the initial mistrust by the Ustasha authorities, which culminated in the arrests of several Slovak teachers, Slovak primary education was preserved. 23 Mutual contacts also developed in the field of pedagogy and science. A visit by Croatian medics and an Ustasha Youth delegation to °File 36, Box 266, MZV, SNA . 2 21 File 217/41 , Box 1157 and File 217/41 , Box 1155 , MZV, SNA . The society officially dissolved on July 30, 1941. See Slovak Beseda in Bratislava. Box 207, f. Policajne riaditel'stvo v Bratislave (PR Ba), SNA; File 325/41 , Box 214 and File 20518/41 , Box 48, MZV, SNA. 23 File 33880/41 , Box 213 and File 20518/41 , Box 48 , MZV, SNA. Gardista, September 21 , 1941 , 3; Gardista, October 22, 1941 , 3. 22 �SLOVAKIA 73 Slovakia was met by great domestic publicity. 24 A program of student exchange and scholarship financing was launched by numerous institutions: The Science Society for Foreign Slovaks (mainly focused on student exchange, support of Slovak foreign education and distribution of Slovak literature abroad), the Matica slovenska, The Society of St. Adalbert, the Slovak University, and the Hlinka Youth. The Croatian partner organizations included the Saint Jerome Society, the Matica Hrvatska, and later the new Croatian-Slovak Society. The pace at which interest in Croatia spread was almost overwhelming for the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which decided to halt the uncontrolled influx of NDH visitors . The Ministry then published a directive stating that it must approve all Croatian visits. 25 The founding of the already mentioned Croatian-Slovak Society (August 13, 1941) was a milestone in cultural interaction. The Slovak envoy requested the speedy assignment of a cultural attache to Croatia, recommending Jozef Ambrus, who had been studying in Zagreb. This request was turned down, as was his later proposal of founding an office of the Society in Bratislava. 26 A fact worth mentioning is that Murgas proposed Alexander Mach, the Minister of the Interior, to be the chairman of this branch. 27 The Slovak authorities, however, took a rather cautious approach and decided to wait until their Croatian counterparts founded a similar branch of the Society in Zagreb. 28 These facts indicate a kind of cautiousness on the Slovak part, caused primarily by foreign political factors. Contrary to their cordial relations and shared long-term plans, practical cooperation between Slovakia and Croatia was difficult from the beginning. Later on, such cooperation was also damaged by the Ustasha regime's inability to make good on its commitments. Meanwhile, the Croatian and Slovak Society was founded in Zagreb. Franjo Dujmovic, 29 the editor-in-chief of the daily Nova Hrvat24 See for example: Gardista, July 26, 1941, 3; Gardista , July 27, 1941, 3; Gardista, August 26, 1941, 3; File 32595/41, Box 213 , MZV, SNA. 25 Ibid, File 6978/41. 26 Reports of K. Murgas, August 19, 1941 and August 26, 1941. Box 143, MZV, SNA; File 20518/41 , Box 48, MZV, SNA. See also: Jarinkovic, Spolkovy i ivot v frvej Slovenskej republike ... , 305-24. 7 File 544/41, Box 1155 and File 137/41, Box 1160, MZV, SNA. 28 File 32.702/41, Box 118, MZV, SNA. 29 Initially led by the Croatian Minister of the Interior and well-known Ustasha activist Adrija Artukovic. �74 SLOVAKIA-2015 ska (New Croatia) , was appointed its President, with Mile Starcevic and Eugen Ftillop as Vice-Presidents, and Zlatko Milkovic as Secretary. The Society ' s Board included a number of significant individuals whose positions suggested strong links with Croatian state institutions .3° The Society's goal was to develop cultural relations and to promote the Slovak Republic in the NDH. Stanislav Meciar also hoped to expand cultural cooperation, with special focus on the new Croatian literature. When asked about which Slovak novelists he would recommend for translation, he included Jozef Ciger Hronsky, Milo Urban, Tido J. Gaspar, Julius Horvath, and Margita Figuli. He rejected Peter Jilemnicky, whom he labelled a Czech and a Communist. Among Slovak poets he suggested Valentin Beniak, Andrej Zamov, Emil Boleslav Lukac, Jan Smrek, Rudolf Dilong, I:udo Ondrejov, Ladislav Novomesky, Jan R. Ponican and Jan Kostra, with the comment that "the last three were Communists, but have written valuable Slovak poems; here you ought to make your own decision." 31 He also decided to publish a special issue of the Slovenske pohl'ady on the subject of Croatia. 32 As early as 1941 discussions began about the possibility of closer cooperation between Romania, Slovakia, and Croatia, a project designed to raise the profile of all three states. The incentive to establish this bloc came from Romania, mainly as a reaction to Hungarian irredentism. At the same time, the three states intended to revisit their territorial losses to Hungary between 193 8 and 1941. Agreement to create the bloc was soon disclosed and the Hungarian Government protested against "reviving the spirit of the Little Entente," referring to the interwar East-Central European military alliance against Hungary. In spite of the initial hesitation of Slovak politicians, by early 1942 Vojtech Tuka, the Slovak Foreign Minister, showed great interest in such cooperation. He emphasized that the alliance could not be labelled with the "stigma of Pan-Slavism," referring to criticism raised by some representatives of the Slovak government. On the one hand, as soon as the Germans indicated that no such efforts would be tolerated within their sphere of influence, the 30 Tatre i Velebit, December 25 , 1942, 155 . Letter of S. Meciar to Zlatko Milkovic from August 26, I 941. File 164 P 17, LA SNK. 32 See Jankovic, Chorvatska literatura v slovenskej kulture II. (1939-1948), 52-83. 31 �SLOVAKIA 75 Slovak Republic 's activities declined rapidly . On the other hand, the Slovaks discovered that the NDH was not a reliable partner. 33 In the fall of 1941 some changes were made to the charge d' affaires positions in both countries. Jozef Cieker replaced the undisciplined Karol Murgas. Cieker had previously worked in Yugoslavia and was knowledgeable about Croatian affairs. He presented his credentials in Zagreb on December 12, 1941. At the same time, there was also a change in the Croatian diplomatic posting in Bratislava. Josip Berkovic, the new envoy, presented his credentials on December 19. These changes had no impact on the mutual convergence, and the Croatian Embassy in Bratislava appointed a cultural attache, Geno Sencic who energetically participated in the development of Slovak and Croatian cultural relations. In January of 1942, Tido J. Gaspar, Head of the Propaganda Office, charged Jozef Ambrus with preparing the ground for establishing the Slovak and Croatian Society in Slovakia. The general assembly of this cultural institution took place on March 13, 1942, in the Slovak University ' s amphitheater. Slovak Ministers Alexander Mach, Gejza Medricky and Ferdinand Catlos, as well as other major figures of political and cultural life attended, as did a numerous Croatian delegation. This meeting received broad media coverage. This general assembly prescribed uniforms as a part of the dress code. The Society set as its goal to unite all Croatophiles, spread the Croatian culture and develop mutual relationships. Political issues were to be avoided. Alexander Mach was acclaimed as the Society 's President. In his acceptance speech he pointed out the parallels between the Autonomists ' first paramilitary organization, the Rodobrana (Native Defense), the subsequent Hlinka Guards and the Croatian Ustasha movement. He added that cooperation between Slovakia and Croatia "is not based on the pharisaical chimera of the notorious Slavic solidarity," which had led to humiliation, suffering and disappointment for both nations. These contacts, he continued, "are supported by a good tradition, the present struggle for a common goal, which we all have before our eyes in the New Europe." Mach's 33 See Miroslav Tejchman, "Slovensko-rumunsko-chorvatska spoluprace v letech druhe svetove valley a Mad'arsko," Slovansky pfehled 78 (1992) : 161-71 ; Cubomir Liptak, "Mad'arsko v slovenskej politike za druhej svetovej vojny," in Prispevky k dejinam fasizmu v Ceskos/ovensku a v Mad'arsku, ed. Gyorgy Ranki (Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej akademie vied, 1969), 222-30. �76 SLOVAKIA-2015 speech marked the boundaries of the cultural society. He also delegated Stanislav Meciar, Anton Misik, Jozef Ambrus as its VicePresidents, Viliam Kovar, Eduard Urban as its Secretaries, and Belo Franc as the Treasurer. Many important people working in the area of culture and politics became board members .34 The next day, the first issue of the Slovak-and-Croatian literary review entitled Tatre i Velebit appeared.35 Josip Andric became the editor-in-chief. He had visited Slovakia since the 1920s, and maintained good contacts with the representatives of the Hlinka Slovak People 's Party. In the first issue's introductory address, Ferdinand Catlos, Slovak Minister of Defense, noted : "With the help of the Germans, both our nations have become autonomous and integrated as state actors among the nations of young Europe." He praised the shared destiny and goals, desires and hopes of both nations who required no written agreements to confirm their mutual relationships.36 It is evident that both societies had ideologically compatible people in the leadership, with close links to the official regime. It was typical of both states to infuse culture with politics, especially with propaganda. However, as Jan Jankovic pointed out, in spite of major ideological links, there was also much freedom, which he demonstrated by using literature translations that often avoided an ideological undertone. Once the Slovak Croatian Society was founded, the organization of commonly-held events grew in intensity, and the Society substantially participated in promoting cooperation with other cultural institutions. Contacts were developed in the area of sports as well, but did not exceed the norm. At that time, the establishment of the autonomy of Slovakia in October of 1938 was celebrated. The cultural program focused on Slovak popular sonfs and included lectures given by the country's major personalities.3 In Bratislava on April 9, 1942, the Society celebrated the first anniversary of the NDH' s inception by arranging a red-carpet procession in the highly representative build34 For example: Stefan Bella, Juraj Cecetka, Alojz Macek, Jozef Kutnik-Smalov, Valentin Beniak, Aladar Kocis, Karol Klinovsky, Karol Studenc, Alexander Moyzes and honorsry members included Jozef Skultety, Tido J. Gaspar, Rudolf Vavra, Ferdinand Catlos and Gejza Medricky. Slovak-Croatian Society. File 38/68, Box 204, PR-BA, SNA. 35 More precisely about the revue Tatre i Velebit, see: Jankovic, Chorwitska literatura v slovenskej kulture II. (1939-1948), 39-51. 36 Tatre i Velebit, March 14, 1942, 5. 31 Tatre i Velebit, December 25, 1942, 156. �SLOVAKIA 77 ing of the Reduta. On the next day, a Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by Bishop Michal Buzalka in Saint Martin's Cathedral, and on this occasion the Slovak dailies published special issues. 38 At that time a numerous group of Slovak journalists, cultural workers and politicians set off to Croatia to celebrate the first anniversary of the state. Besides Minister Mach and Secretary Kovar, the group included prominent Hlinka guard officers Otomar Kubala, Alexander Cunderlik, Frantisek Galan, and other persons who also discussed mutual cooperation in the area of culture. Within the context of the cooperation of Slovakia, Romania and Croatia, a meeting was held on May 13 in Bucharest, where the participants agreed to compile national bibliographies of major works, to organize regular visits, to promote each other and to organize so-called weeks of reciprocal culture. An Agreement on Cultural Cooperation between the Slovak Republic and the NDH was signed in Zagreb, which dealt with the foundation of a Chair of the Croatian Language, Literature and History and a Department of the Croatian Language and Literature at the Slovak University, with similar Slovak institutes in Zagreb. An important clause focused on maintaining and extending elementary schools for minorities. Both partners committed to support reciprocal visits and a minimum of two student scholarships. 39 The Agreement also included a clause on the recognition of academic titles, scientific education benefits for young people, and book exchanges. They also promised not to permit the publication of things "which could present the other state in a bad light." The Agreement established a Slovak and Croatian Cultural Committee to observe the provisions of the mutual agreements and to deepen relationships. The Agreement was for a period of five years and based on the principle of reciprocity .40 In spite of the fact that similar plans had existed since 1941, and that the final agreement was prepared in 1942, neither this Agreement, nor another cultural Agreement between the Slovak Republic and NDH came into force . This was due to their inability to make and perform agreements, and a certain inflexibility characteristic of both parties, which were the basic problems associated with the development of relations between Slovakia and Croatia. Some of these problems were caused by the fact that the NDH was not con38 /bid, 164-5 . Slovak-Croatian reciprocal scholarships. File 255/43, Box 2 14, MZV, SNA . 40 File 8/ 100/43 , Box 118, MZV, SNA. 39 �78 SLOVAKIA-2015 solidated politically and economically, that both countries were involved in the war, in a complicated foreign-policy situation, and also in the relationship of satellite states with their protector, Germany . The issue of the legal status of the Slovak minority in the NDH was perceived in a very sensitive way, and tackled unsuccessfully throughout the entire existence of the NDH. Frequent excesses of the Ustasha towards Slovak inhabitants in Croatia did not contribute to mutual trust. It is well-known that from the beginning some Slovaks rejected Croatian citizenship because they had supported the previous regime, they had to deal with poor living conditions and showed increased interest in repatriation to Slovakia. Viliam Kovar's visit to Lipovljany on June 14, 1941 created a stir. During his visit, Kovar showed concern about the situation of the local Slovaks and suggested repatriation in exchange for Croats living in Slovakia. This proposal resonated and some Slovaks in Croatia appealed to the embassy for help. 41 However, charge d'affaires Murgas viewed Kovar's initiative very critically. Croatians intended to repatriate the Slovak minority to the Slovak Republic, which Murgas found detrimental to the state.42 In any case, official Slovak circles showed no serious interest in repatriation to Slovakia. What did not make such a big stir was settling the issue of the validity of Jewish travel documents. The Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs had acknowledged their validity (until March 31, 1942), but at the same time the Ministry told Murgas not to intervene in these matters, to which he would agree. 43 The legation had the right to decide each Jewish case, but their objective was to ensure that these Jews would not return to Slovakia because they were "a useless and harmful element, " 44 which corresponded to the official policy of the Slovak Republic. 45 In the NDH 41 File 116/41 , Box 1160, MZV, SNA; Report written by representatives of the Slovak minority in the NDH regarding the visit of Viliam Kovar, June 16, 1941. Box 143, MZV, SNA. See also: Oldfich Pejs, "Slovenska diplomacie a valecni zajatci slovenske narodnosti (1939-1942)," Vojenska hist6ria 15 (2011), 122-41. 42 '1n today's situation we don't have the space and employment opportunities for returnees ... " Report ofK. Murgas, August 19, 1941 , Box 143 and File 20518/41 , Box 48 , MZV, SNA. 43 File 903/41 and 1347/41 , Box 1158, MZV, SNA. 44 File 62/41 , Box 1158, MZV, SNA. 45 For a comparison of the Slovak and Croatian anti-Jewish policies, see: Eduard Niznansky and Jana Mnahoncakova, "Vymedzenie pojmu Zid na Slovensku a v �SLOVAKIA 79 the Jewish issue was "promptly resolved," and Serbs also became an "unwanted element." 46 The greatest boom of cultural relations between Slovakia and Croatia occurred in 1942. Numerous visits and social events were organized in order to strengthen this cooperation. For example, during the summer several Croatian delegations visited the Slovak Republic. From June 28 until July 4, a "Croatian Week" in Slovakia was organized to promote Croatian culture. Slovak Radio participated very actively by broadcasting Croatian music and a series of interviews by a number of major figures in culture and politics.47 At that time an ensemble of amateur actors form Croatia toured Slovakia with their theater program dedicated to Croatian dances.48 Reciprocal visits and presentations became the most typical component of Slovak-Croatian cultural policy, most frequently realized through national theatrical and music productions. As in Slovakia, various events were held in the NDH which concentrated on mutual convergence, such as the presentation of the Articles of Association of the Slovak National Unity (Slovenska narodna jednota) to the relevant Croatian authorities who promised their recognition. The Slovak Reading Club in Ilok organized Slovaks in the NDH. In spite of promises made, the Croatian administration did nothing. 49 The Slovak Day planned for August 30, 1942, in Stara Pazova, where Vladimir Hurban Vladimirov, a famous descendant of the writer Svetozar Hurban Vajansky, served as a Protestant minister, was postponed because of guerilla warfare.50 Jozef Cieker constantly pointed out the complicated situation in the country and the Ustasha's excesses. "The scope of action of ministers is limited to minis- Chorvatsku - pokus o porovnanie," in Z dejin holokaustu ajeho popierania, ed. Eduard Nizi\.ansky (Bratislava: Stimul, 2007), 107-30. 46 See Nevenko Bartulin, The Racial Idea in the Independent State of Croatia: Origins and Theory (Leiden: Brill, 2014). 47 Alexander Mach, Mladen Lorkovic, Stanislav Meciar, Jozef Ambrus, Valentin Beniak, Alexander Moyzes, Viliam Kovar, Mile Starcevic, Zlatko Milkovic, Franjo Dujmovic, Mile Budak, Viliam Peros, Josip Horvat, Geno Senecic and others. 48 Tatre i Velebit, December 25, I 942, p.165. 49 Report of J. Cieker, May 24, I 943. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, O1:S BA, SABa. 50 Slovaks in Yugoslavia. File 6452/41-1 , Box 143, MZV, SNA. �80 SLOV AKIA-2015 terial buildings and a small region around Zagreb." 51 He perceived Slovak-Croatian relations as weak and suggested that it would be unwise to limit mutual relations to Ustasha Croatia and suggested that the two nations should relate to one another as wholes. The Ustasha were not pleased with the activities of the Slovak charge d'affaires in Zagreb, and therefore they suggested that he should be removed. Cieker often met with opposition groups, members of the higher clergy and criticized the situation in the country. These statements show that there were certain differences between Slovakia and Croatia. Conservative representatives in Croatia were the more moderate Catholics of a nationalist orientation, represented in the past by the Croatian Popular Peasant Party (the Hrvatska pucka seljacka stranka). In that sense, they were competitors of the Ustasha. The Slovak Republic supported the regular Croatian army - the militia, with supplies of arms and equipment. However, much more evident were the contacts between the radical representatives of the Hlinka Guard and the Ustasha. They were ideologically close, and strongly involved in the development of mutual relations, for instance between the Hlinka Youth and the Ustasha Youth. Despite these differences, cultural contacts continued to evolve. Each autumn international commercial fairs were held in both Bratislava and Zagreb. Both states sent delegations of major figures of economic and political life to the fairs. In June of 1942, an agreement between Croatia and Slovakia was signed in Bratislava on the regulation of mutual contact under civil law. At the end of October, the Minister of Justice, Gejza Fritz, signed in Zagreb an interstate agreement on extradition and propertylaw assistance in criminal issues. Like the economic agreement entered into in October of 1941, these agreements came into force too late, and therefore had no significant impact on the actual relationship between the Slovak Republic and the NDH. 52 Also, an agreement was concluded on cooperation between the Slovak and Croatian academic youth.53 This cooperation seemed promising from the summer of 1941 and many young people from Croatia visited Slovakia. The Hlinka Youth, jointly with the Ustasha Youth and 51 Report of J. Cieker, August 28, 1942. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, O1:S BA, SABa. 52 Rychlik, Slovensko-chorvatske vztahy ... , 273-74. 53 Medunarodni ugovori 1943, p. 208-10. Box 214, MZV, SNA. �SLOVAKIA 81 Hitlerjugend, organized camps for their members . In this regard, there was a significant involvement by Alojz Macek and lvo Orsanic, the leaders of organizations in the Slovak Republic and the NDH, . As in the preceding year, the autumn of 1942 witnessed certain changes in Slovak- Croatian relations. Activist Viliam Kovar enlisted in the Slovak army and treasurer Belo Fronc replaced him. The NDH Government underwent a major reorganization which resolved the conflict between the Poglavnik and the Minister of Defense, Marshall Slavko Kvaternik. Kvaternik came to recover to Slovakia, when he probably sought some political support. However, the Government's reconstruction did not disturb the NDH's relations with the Slovak Republic. Promoting one another continued, which is evident in the Slovak Culture Week held in Zagreb from November 29, 1942, to December 5, 1942. 54 This event had some response. Besides abundant musical performances, several contributions were made on the present and the past of the relationships between Slovaks and Croatians. At that time, Andric's Slovak Language Grammar was published.55 By the end of that year, yet another change took place in diplomatic postings. Charge d'affaires Berkovic was dismissed and replaced with Blaz Lorkovic, who presented his credentials to President Tiso on December 22. In his speech, he remarked: "The Poglavnik appointed me as the charge d'affaires in Slovakia in his belief that our brother Slovaks wish to have an old and well-proven Ustasha as the charge d'affaires of the NDH."56 In 1943 further talks were held on cooperation between Romania, Slovakia and the NDH . It was evident that Ante Pavelic's Croatia was very weak as a partner, and, therefore, the Slovak representatives focused mainly on negotiations with the Romanians. In the end, however, these attempts also failed to improve cooperation and the idea of a tightly-bound Slovak and Croatian bloc against Hungary was unsuccessful. 57 In January of 1943, a full length propaganda film 54 At that time the following Slovaks visited Croatia: Stanislav Meciar, Andrej Mraz, Karol Ki:irper, Jan Pi:istenyi, Jozef Pauco, Jan Doransky as we ll as representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Education, the Matica slovenska, the Slovak-Croatian Society, the Society of St. Adalbert and the Bratislava Chamber Quintet. 55 Tatre i Velebit, December 25 , 1942, 157-159; File Slovaks in Yugoslavia, Box 143, MZV, SNA. 56 File 35.591 /42, Box 219, MZV, SNA. 57 Tejchman, Slovensko-rumunsko-chorvatska spoluprace ... , 166-67 . �82 SLOV AKIA-2015 From the Tatras to the Sea of Azov was shown in the NDH, which highlighted the Slovak Army's activity on the Eastern Front in order to strengthen the idea of a joint struggle against Bolshevism . In the field of news reporting, a regular exchange of newsreels took place and a number of contributions on Croatian topics were broadcast over Slovak Radio. The fourth anniversary celebrations of independence in Zagreb were not as spectacular as in the preceding year. In addition to compulsory lectures and articles in the Croatian press, the Croatian and Slovak Society organized a tea party on March 13th. The next morning, a Pontifical High Mass was celebrated and attended by representatives of the Croatian Government. 58 On March 25, 1943 the second general assembly of the Slovak and Croatian Society was held . Once again, this event became a manifestation of fondness for each other. Many prominent people of that period's political and cultural life participated, headed by ministers Mach, Medricky and charge d'affaires Blaz Lorkovic, who was elected an honorary member. A declaration of efforts to extend the statutes of the Society was made since there was an interest in establishing branches in other towns of Slovakia (it was planned to establish branches in Presov, Zilina and Banska Bystrica), and to extend activities in the field of culture.59 The general assembly also launched the celebration of Croatian independence, which was accompanied by a number of cultural events including a gala concert of the Slovak Radio on April 9th. Employees of Mach's Ministry of the Interior were invited to turn out in strength. A Croatian issue of the newspaper Gardista (Guardsman) was published to celebrate the third anniversary of the NDH's creation. During his visit to Slovakia in May, 1943, Ivan Veres, a Protestant minister, reported on the difficult situation of Slovaks in the NDH. Again, the unresolved issues emerged, especially those regarding culture. Based on this information Alexander Mach invited the Croatian charge d'affaires to an audience and gave him notice that the situation of Slovaks in the NDH could directly affect the future relations between Slovakia and Croatia. In this respect, Mach even intended to stop honoring Josip Andric, the writer, with a high 58 Tatre i Velebit, June 15, 1943, 61. The Slovak-Croatian Society - Minutes of the Second General Assembly. File 38/68, Box 204, PR Ba, SNA. 59 �SLOVAKIA 83 state award, and issued a command to suspend the establishment of the Slovak and Croatian Society's branches. Jozef Cieker also made a statement on the nature of the mutual relationships by pointing out that people in Bratislava had too many illusions, but the reality was much more complicated. 60 In spite of the fact that the negotiations on signing the Slovak and Croatian Cultural Convention continued, no consensus was reached. Croatia refused to recognize the special status of Slovaks in the NDH because of other minorities, who would then demand similar rights. However, the Croats were willing to guarantee Slovak education through separate legislation. They also demanded that the SNU should not be a political organization to represent Slovaks in the NDH and should not claim the property of former Czechoslovak: associations. However, at that time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic was more interested in concluding the Slovak and Italian cultural convention, after which the Ministry would be willing to continue negotiations about the convention with Croatia.61 The fall of Mussolini in 1943 brought about an "unpleasant awakening" in the NDH. Nevertheless, Ante Pavelic, with Germany's support, managed to hold on to power and maintain the illusion of the existence of an independent Croatian state, and on September 10, 1943, he announced that previous Italian and Croatian agreements were no longer valid, as the Italians had failed to fulfil their obligations and agreed to an armistice with the enemy. 62 At that time, a number of Croatian politicians and their families, who refused to stay in the NDH for various reasons, were in Slovakia. This is very interesting, because the Slovak Republic granted asylum to persons whose blood-stained careers were inscribed in the NDH' s infamous history. For instance, this applied to Eugen "Dido" Kvaternik, the former commander of the Croatian secret police! Jozef Cieker tried unsuccessfully to reject entry visas to exponents of the Ustasha re• 63 g1me. 60 Report of J. Cieker, May 24, 1943. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, 01.'.S BA, SABa. 61 Report of J. Cieker from July 7, 1943. Box 143, MZV, SNA. 62 Jbid, File 313 2/43 . 63 Report of J. Cieker, September 9, 1943. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, 01.'.S BA, SABa. �84 SLOV AKIA-2015 In the reality of that time, Slovak and Croatian cultural cooperation decreased and in 1943 the Tatre i Velebit cultural review folded . The Slovak Embassy in Zagreb pointed to the unbearable problems of the NDH, which were also reflected in its failure to fulfil economic contractual obligations. The embassy also dealt with propertyrelated sanctions and the loss of freedom which Slovaks in the NDH had to struggle with every day. Despite plans for further cooperation, the mutual relationships had reached their zenith. Their abovestandard scope in the period between 1939 and 1944 is shown by the fact that nineteen translated Croatian fiction titles were published in Slovakia, which is more than in the case of most Allied countries. In addition, popular and scientific, political and religious literature was published, although their numbers are difficult to reconstruct. 64 At the beginning of February, 1944, Jozef Cieker was replaced in Zagreb by charge d'affaires Viktor Becko. 65 However, he would not bring any changes to Slovak-Croat relations. From his reports we learn that actual power in Croatia was shared by guerilla and German and Ustasha troops, and about the oppression of the population. As regards Slovak-Croatian relations, Becko noted that higher state authorities had an interest and a positive approach, which, however, faded at lower positions. Therefore, he suggested, that Croatians should be promised economic concessions in return for cultural and social offsets for Slovaks in the NDH. 66 In his report he summarized the mutual contacts which he considered to be less developed than expected and pointed out that a certain platform could be found as a support. In spite of that, he labelled the cultural and political relations as very good. As far as economic cooperation was concerned, he criticized the absence of a trade representative "whom the Croatians have in the Protectorate as well." 67 As regards the issue of the Slovaks in the NDH, he underscored the fact that Slovaks were transported to concentration camps based on the principle of collective guilt. Some Croatians hated the Slovaks because they were not obliged to join the army or the Ustasha, and local personal and prop64 See Jankovic, Chorvatska literatura v slovenskej kulture II. (1939-1948), 166-176. Slovak, February 2, 1944, p. 4; Slovak, February 9, 1944, p. 3. 66 Report of V. Becka, March 20, 1944. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, O1.'.S BA, SABa. 67 Political reports from Zagreb - 1944, Report of V. Becka, April 25, 1944. Box 213, MZV, SNA. 65 �SLOVAKIA 85 erty-related conflicts played an important role as well. He pointed to the nationalist attitudes of the Ustasha, who did not like "foreign elements" in their country. 68 However, the repatriation of Slovaks was technically impossible at that time.69 Contacts between Slovaks and Croats were not limited to the official political position, which I intended to describe in this paper. There was also significant cooperation among anti-fascist forces in the Slovak Republic, the NDH and elsewhere in Europe. Tomislav Poglajen-Kolakovic, a Catholic priest who worked in Slovakia from September of 1943 and joined the anti-fascist forces, was an outstanding person involved in this convergence. 70 In the last stages of the existence of both states, mutual contacts died out completely, and the dissolution of the Slovak and Croatian Society in Slovakia on May 25th, 1945, 71 was just a formality, because most of the Society's representatives had fled abroad, where they continued to develop contacts with the Croats. Relationships between Slovakia and Croatia from 1941 to 1945 were affected by the political climate. Despite comparable efforts by Slovaks and Croats to attain national emancipation in the inter-war period and deep historical roots of mutual cooperation multiplied at that time by the concept of "historical inevitability," it was the ideological adherence of political representatives and their mentors (especially Germany) which played an important role in the mutual convergence. Cultural cooperation took a similar path, but it could not overcome the ideological framework. Due to both practical and political obstacles, such cooperation would not reach the desired form, and it peaked between 1942 and the first half of 1943 . However, as Viliam Kovar wrote about the activities of the Slovak and Croatian Society, which was supposed to reflect these relationships : 68 Political reports from Zagreb - 1944, Report of V. Becka, January 8, 1945 . Box 213, MZV, SNA . 69 Letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to V. Becka, January 26, 1945. Box I 160, MZV, SNA. 70 More precisely see: Jozef Jablonicky, Podoby nasilia (Bratislava: Kalligram, 2000), 9-27. For the official Croatian reaction to the uprising in Slovakia, see: Jan Rychlik, "Obdobie pred Slovenskym narodnym povstanim v spravach chorvatskeho vyslanca v Bratislave," Historicky casopis 56 (2008): 349-84. ; Jan Rychlik, "Slovenske narodne povstanie v spravach chorvatskeho diplomata," Historicky casopis 54 (2006) : 315-52. 71 Slovak-Croatian Society. File 38/68, Box 20 14, PR Ba, SNA . �86 SLOV AKIA-2015 " ... (the Society) failed to do as much as one could possibly expect, but did not miss one chance to inform the Slovak public and make it familiar with the life of Croatia and its representatives." 72 It was clear before the end of World War II, which both countries entered on the side of Germany, that neither state would outlive it. However, this did not mean the end of mutual cultural contacts, which after the War took place in a brand new geopolitical and ideological environment. 72 Report of the Society' s secretary. File 38/68, Box 2014, PR Ba, SNA. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2015, Vol. 42 Description An account of the resource Vol. 42 (No. 78-79), 2015. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 66 SLOV AKIA-2015 THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL COOPERATION BETWEEN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC AND THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA, 1941-1945 1 Miroslav Michela The foreign policy of Slovakia in the years 1939 - 1945 has been quite a popular research topic of Slovak historians over the last ten to twenty years. 2 Significant achievements in this regard relate primarily to research on Slovak-German relations,3 but there are also several 1 1 would like to express my gratitude to prof. Mark Stolarik and his family for significant help in my research on Slovak emigres, and especially on the biography of Slovak journalist and politician Karol Murgas. My research in the Slovak collections in the Archives and Special Collections of the University of Ottawa Library would not have been possible without the support of the Helen and John lvanco Memorial Research Bursary. 2 Here I would like to list a few publications, which appeared in recent years, mostly as a result of long-term academic interest: Michal Schvarc, "Zahranicna politika Slovenskej republiky 1939-1945 a jej postavenie v ramci nemeckej sfery vplyvu," in Kfucove problemy modernych slovenskych dejin 1848-1992, ed. Valerian Bystricky et. al. (Bratislava: Veda, 2012), 231-52; Edita lvanickova et. al. , Slovenslui republika 1939-1945 v medzinarodnych suvislostiach (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 2012); Pavo! Petruf, Zahranicna politika Slovenskej republiky 1939-1945: nacrt problematiky (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 2011); James Mace Ward, Priest, Politician, Collaborator: Jozef Tiso and the Making of Fascist Slovakia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013). 3 For example: Sicherheitsdienst a Slovens/ca v rokach 1938-1944: od auton6mie po Povstanie. Slovensky stat vo vybranych spravach SD od jesene 1943 do septembra 1944, ed. Michal Schvarc (Bratislava: Slovenske narodne muzeum-Muzeum karpatskych Nemcov, 2006) ; "Tretia risa" a vznik Slovenskeho statu;dokumenty. /., ed. Michal Schvarc, Martin Holak and David Schriftl (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda, SNM- Muzeum kultury Karpatskych Nemcov, 2008); "Tretia risa" a vznik Slovenskeho statu : dokumenty. II. ed. Michal Schvarc and David Schriftl (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda, Historicky ustav SAV, SNM - Muzeum kultury Karpatskych Nemcov, 2010) ; Slovensko-nemecke vzt'ahy 1938-1941 v dokumentoch I.:od Mnichova k vojne proti ZSSR , ed. Eduard Nizi\.ansky et. al. (Presov: Universum, 2009); Slovensko-nemecke vzt'ahy 1941-1945 v dokumentoch II. :od vojny proti ZSSR po zanik Slovenskej republiky v roku 1945, ed. Eduard Niznansky et. al. (Presov: Universum-EU, 20 11); Von Munchen bis Salzburg 1938- 1940. Dokumente und Essay. Buch 1. Buch 2. Slovensko v jeseni 1944, ed. Ladislav Susko (Bratislava: Luc, 2008); Tatjana Tonsmeyer, Das Dritte Reich und die Slowakei, 1939-1945. Politi- SLOVAKIA 67 studies concerning the relationship between Slovakia and the Great Powers .4 In the context of diplomatic relations with neighboring countries, plenty of studies are oriented on the Slovak-Polish and Slovak-Hungarian relationships at different levels of politics.5 In the last decade studies relating to Slovak-Croatian diplomatic relations have also appeared. 6 Generally speaking, with a few exceptions, the2008); Tatjana Tonsmeyer, Das Dritte Reich und die Slowakei, 1939-1945. Politischer Al/tag zwischen Kooperation und Eigensinn (Paderbom : Ferdinand Schoningh, 2003 ). 4 For example: Politicke vzt'ahy medzi Francuzskom a Ceskoslovenskom a Francuzskom a Slovenskom (1 939-1948): vyber dokumentov, ed. Pavo! Petruf (Martin: Matica slovenska, 2003); Dagmar Ciema-Lantayova, Pohfady na vychod: Postoje k Rusku v slovenskej politike 1934-1944 (Bratislava: Veda, 2002); Slavomir Michalek, "Niekol'ko problemov slovensko-americkych vzt'ahov pocas druhej svetovej vojny," in Edita Ivanickova et. al. Slovenska republiko /939-1945 v medzinarodnych suvislostiach, 139-61 ; Petr Kubik, Slovensko-talianske vzt'ahy 1939-1945 (Bratislava: Ustav pamiiti naroda, 20 IO); Edita Ivanickova, "Zapadne vel'moci a slovensky stat 1939-1945," in Slovensky stat 1939-1945: predstavy a reality, eds. Martina Fiamova, Jan Hlavinka and Michal Schvarc (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SA V, 2014), 8193 . 5 Here is a sample of some interesting works by young scholars: Aliaksandr Piahanau, "Slovak-Hungarian Relations in the Mirror of the German-Soviet Conflictive Alliance (1939-1941 )," Prague Papers on the History of International Relations 16 (2012): 144-63; Isvtan Janek, "The Issue of Hungarian- Slovak Diplomatic Connections in the Hungarian Parliament in 1939- 1940," Prague Papers on the History of International Relations 18 (2014): 128-41 ; Istvan Janek, "Mad'arsko-slovenske diplomaticke vzt'ahy v rokoch 1939-1941 , " in Slovenska republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov, IV. , eds. Michal Smigel' and Peter Micko (Banska Bystrica: Katedra hist6rie Fakulty humanitnych vied Univerzity Mateja Bela, 2005 ), 334-51 ; Mateusz Gniazdowski, "Kontakty PHsudczyk6w ze Slowakami w latach 19391945," Niepodleglosi: 55 (2005): I 07-50; Dusan Seges, "The Slovak Question and its International Context during World War Two," in 1945 - A Break with the Past, ed. Zdenko Cepic (Ljubljana: Institut za novejso zgodovino, 2008), 213-26; Dusan Seges, Dvojkrii v silociarach bieleho or/a. Slovenska otazka v politike pol'skej exi/ovej vlady za 2. svetovej vojny (Bratislava: Veda, 2009); Holy Case, "The Holocaust in Regional Perspective: Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia," in Varieties of Anti-Semitism, eds . Peter Kenez and Bruce Thompson (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2009), 76-92. 6 Jan Rychlik, "Slovensko-chorvatske vztahy v letech 1941-1945 ," Slovanske historicke studie 26 (2000): 265-83 ; Miroslav Michela, "Vznik slovenskeho vyslanectva v Chorvatsku a cinnost' Karola Murgasa, charge d 'affaires v Zahrebe v roku 1941 ," in Slovenska republika 1939 - 1945 ocami mladych historikov fl , ed. Martin Lacko (Bratislava: Merkury, 2003), 97-123 ; Miroslav Michela, "K otazke slovensko-chorvatskej kulturnej spoluprace v rokoch 1941-45," Slavica Slovaca 38 (2003): 112-22; Jan Tkac, "Slovensko-juhoslovanske a slovensko-chorvatske vzt'ahy 68 SLOVAKIA-2015 se works are mainly focused on the issues of diplomacy and the traditional history of politics. They describe the ideas and activities of major political players, thus complementing our knowledge about the process of negotiating and building the "New Europe." 7 The present study aims primarily to explain a few basic factors in the context of building official Slovak-Croatian cultural cooperation in the period from 1941 to 1945 . The foundation of the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska - NDH) on April 10th, 1941 resulted in the expansion of cultural interaction between it and the newly- independent Slovak Republic, as the representatives of both states shared similar experiences of national struggles and now ideological and political interests. The Slovak Republic officially recognized the NDH on v rokoch 1939-1941 ," Historicky zbornik 19 (2009): 154-68; Jan Tkac, "Chorvatsko v politike Slovenskej republiky v rokoch 1941-1945," Historicky casopis 58 (2010): 659-83 ; Alena Bartlova, "Dr. Jozef Cieker, vyslanec Slovenskej republiky," in Dr. Jozef Cieker: seminar pri prileiitosti nedoi itym 90. narodenincim Jozefa Ciekera v Tvrdosine 20. juna 1997, ed. Juraj Chovan-Rehak (Martin : Matica slovenska, 2000), 71-92; Jan Jankovic, Chorvcitska literatura v slovenskej kulture If. (19391948), (Bratislava: Veda, 2002); Jan Jankovic, Stanis/av Meciar - chorvatofil (Bratislava: Ustav svetovej literatury SAV, 2001); Martin Jarinkovic, "Pohl'ad slovenskej dennej tlace na chorvatsku otazku v rokoch 1941-1944," in Od Salzburgu do vypuknutia Povstania. Slovenskci republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov VIII, ed. Peter Sokolovic (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda, 2009), 261-88; Martin Jarinkovic, "Spolkovy zivot v prvej Slovenskej republike na priklade Slovenskochorvatskej spolocnosti v rokoch 1942-1944," in Zivot v Slovenskej republike. Slovenskci republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov 9., ed. Peter Sokolovic (Bratislava: Ustav pamati naroda 2010), 305-24; Oldfich Pejs, "Nakup koni v Chorvatsku pro slovenskou armadu v roce 1944," Vojenskci hist6ria 8 (2004): 87-95; Oldfich Pejs, "Na okraj dodavky slovenskych zbrani do Chorvatska v roce 1942," Historie a vojenstvi 45 (1996): 56-73 . 7 See the following : Michal Schvarc, "Statna suverenita len ako fasada? Zasahy Nemecka do slovenskeho zakonodarstva v rokoch 1939-1940," in Slovensko v labyrinte modernych eur6pskych dejin : pocta historikov Milanovi Zemkovi, ed . Slavomir Michalek (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 20 14), 641-57; Pavo) Petruf, "Zahranicna politika Slovenskeho statu 1939-1945 : niekol'ko poznamok o jej vzniku, zamerani a kratkodobej existencii," in Riesenie iidovskej otcizky v spojeneckych krajincich nacistickeho Nemecka, ed. Viera Kovacova et. al. (Banska Bystrica: Muzeum Slovenskeho narodneho povstania, 20 12), 17-29; Pavo I Petruf, "Terna "novej Eur6py", "noveho eur6pskeho poriadku" a "zivotneho priestoru" na strankach novin Slovak ( I 939-1940)," in Kapitoly z hist6rie stredoeur6pskeho priestoru v 19. a 20. storoci: pocta k 70-rocnemu jubileu Dusana Kovcica, ed. Edita Ivanickova et. al. (Bratislava: Historicky ustav SAV, 201 I), 338-54. SLOVAKIA 69 May 5th, 194 l along with other Axis members and satellites - Germany, Italy and Hungary. 8 The NDH's political role in the "New Europe" was outlined in the Treaty of Rome, signed on May 18, 194 l, which established long-term Italian patronage. After Croatia gained its sovereignty, this subordination was immediately subject to much domestic criticism. During the following Croatian-Slovak diplomatic discussions, both parties set out a preferred vision of German rather than Italian supervision, seeing in Nazi Germany a common protector and liberator and also admiring the state and the Flihrer. In May of 194 l the government of the Slovak Republic surprisingly appointed the radical Karol Murgas, as its charge d'affaires to Croatia. The request was officially delivered by German authorities, as there was no direct contact between the two parties at that time. 9 Murgas had no diplomatic experience and was known for his awkward and hot-tempered behavior in public, which might have caused some hesitation, but his paramilitary experience in the Hlinka Guard and his demonstrated sympathy for Croatian nationalists made their mark. Murgas himself saw the move as an attempt to remove him from Slovak domestic politics, as he had previously enjoyed the prominent post of head of the Department of Propaganda. 10 In May of 194 l Viliam Kovar, the distinguished Slovak journalist, visited Croatia. During his stay he met influential statesmen and leaders of the Ustasha movement and examined the potential for mu- 8 Croatia - Congratulations of president Jozef Tiso, file 1300/41 , box 61 , collection Kancelaria prezidenta republiky - Slovensky narodny archiv (SNA) - Bratislava. For more about Slovak-Yugoslav relations see: Jan Nemecek, "K slovensko-jugoslavskym vztahum 1939-45," in Evropa mezi Nemeckem a Ruskem. Sbornik praci k sedmdesatinam Jaroslava Valenty, eds. Miroslav Sestak and Emil Voracek (Praha: Historicky ustav Akademie ved Ceske republiky, 2000), 385-98; Martin Jarinkovic, "Slovensko-juhoslovanske hospodarske a obchodne kontakty v rokoch 1939-1941 ," Pamdt' naroda 7 (20 11 ): 4-17. 9 S/ovak, May 11, I 941, 3. Zagreb's official approval of Murgas's mission came on May 15, but information ' s about it had already appeared in Grenzebote on the 4th of May 1941. For this question see also: File 79/41 , Box 1155 and File 77/41 , Box 213 , MZV, SNA. 10 See: Miroslav Michela, "Miesto a uloha Karola Murgasa v radikalnom prude slovenskej politiky v obdobi rokov 1939-1941 ," in S/ovenska republika 1939-1945 ocami mladych historikov, ed. Martin Lacko (Trnava : Katedra hist6rie Filozofickej fakulty Univerzity Cyrila a Metoda, 2002), 77-105 . 70 SLOVAKIA-2015 tual cultural cooperation. 11 In a letter to his colleague Stanislav Meciar, the editor- in-chief of the journal Slovenske pohl'ady, Kovar suggested sending a series of congratulatory letters on Croatia's independence to demonstrate Slovak sympathy and support. 12 Meciar was known to be a Croatophile and ardent admirer of writer and politician Mile Budak, who later became Minister of Education and Religion of the newly-founded NDH. 13 In a letter dated May 23, Meciar asserted the brotherhood of both nations and expressed satisfaction with both countries' successful completion of the struggle for independence. In his words, "Croats were a sincere nation close to us" and "the future of Slovakia will be much safer when developed in tandem with the present beautiful reality of Croatia." 14 Such declarations of sympathy were common in contemporary formal communications and were not deemed awkward . The Slovak press continuously monitored the Croatian struggle for independence and dedicated significant space to discussions with Croat emancipation activists : the Ustasha and Hlinka Guard officials; and to both nations' notable historical figures, such as Ljudevit Gaj , Ban Jelacic and Ante Starcevic on the one hand, and Jan Kollar, Stefan Moyzes and Andrej Hlinka on the other. A lot of attention was also paid to contemporary figures such as Mile Budak, Milo Urban and Alexander Mach, the commander-in-chief of the Hlinka Guard. Andrej Vrbacky, the Slovak translator, deserves credit for this written presentation. On May 26, 1941, Karol Murgas paid an official visit to Ante Pavelic, Croatia's supreme leader - poglavnik. In his formal address, Murgas pointed to the similarities of both nation's histories and suggested close cooperation in future political and cultural activities. 15 After this the Slovak embassy was officially opened. Interestingly, although an embassy agreement was offered to Murgas, he came to Zagreb with the official status of an envoy, which the Croatian side considered insufficient and demanded diplomatic representation at 11 Croatia trip reports. Box 4, Papers of Viliam Kovar, Literarny archiv Slovenskej narodnej kniznici V Martine (LA SNK). 12 Letter of V. Kovar to S. Meciar, August 26, 1941 . File 164 E 20, LA SNK. 13 See for example: Stanislav Meciar, "Chorvatsky klasik Mile Budak," Slovenske pohl'ady 56 ( 1940): 429-44. 14 Letter of S. Meciar to M. Budak, May 21 , 1941. File 164 N 17, LA SNK. 15 File 8/41 , Box 1155, MZV, SNA; Karol Murgas, "Pred tridsiatimi rokmi v Zahrebe," Slovak a svet I (Chicago, 1971 ): 15. SLOVAKIA 71 the top level. A month later, on June 25, Slovak president Jozef Tiso accepted the nomination of Dragutin Toth as Croatian charge d' affaires to Slovakia. 16 Murgas objected to this nomination, rating Toth as a liberal-orientated leftist. Toth's first audience with President Tiso took place on August l st, and his opening statement was dedicated again to both nations' independence. It is worth mentioning that he gave the speech in his native tongue, yet the president answered him in Slovak. This established a precedent for Tiso's interactions with envoys of Slavic states. 17 The newly-established Slovak embassy in Zagreb attracted broad interest and numerous appeals for bilateral cooperation. Both parties declared their intention to closely coordinate their political, economic, social and cultural activities. NOH officials wanted information on the organization of economic and social life in Slovakia. A common topic of bilateral talks was the means of settling the debts of former parent states (Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia). After initial negotiations with Murgas, Anton Bonifacic, head of the Croatian Department of Culture of the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs, worked out a "Proposal for Establishing Cultural Cooperation between the NOH and the Slovak Republic". Its aim was to build economic, social and cultural ties based on the mutual exchange of publications, translations of literature, the exchange of students, writers and task groups; and organizing art exhibitions, concerts etc. The proposal included a suggestion for the legal recognition and protec18 tion of Croats living in Slovakia and Slovaks in the NOH. The position of the latter was at that time far from satisfactory. Slovak minority rights gained during the former Yugoslavia were largely ignored by the Ustasha regime. 19 The first objective of the Slovak representatives in Croatia was to improve this situation. Within the Slo16 File 4961 /41 , Box 213, MZV, SNA. Rychlik, Slovensko-chorvatske vztahy ... , 270. 18 File 244/41 , Box 1157, MZV, SNA. 19 About the Slovak minority in Croatia, see: Vit Usak, Slovcici v Chorvcitsku - historicky ncicrt (C leveland-Rim : Historicky ustav, 1978); Sprievodca slovenskym zahranicim, ed. I.'.ubica Bartalska (Bratislava: Dom zahranicnych Slovakov, 2001), 8790; Report of J. Cieker, February 12, 1942. File 27/48 JozefCieker papers, Okresny l'udovy sud v Bratislave 1945-1947 (O1..'.S BA), Statny oblastny archiv Bratislava (SABa). Information about the exact number of Slovaks in Croatia at that time differed. The daily Slovak, on October 22, 1941 , page 3, estimated a maximum of 22,000 countrymen ; other sources gave higher numbers . 17 72 SLOV AKIA-2015 vak community itself, there were further differences related to religious orientation. The Catholic population lacked education and schools, and its national identity was rapidly disappearing. On the other hand, Lutheran villages were keeping their traditions alive, with much of the work done by local pastors.20 However, the Lutheran community had stronger ties to the former Yugoslav regime and was treated with suspicion by Ustasha authorities. In numerous cases the Slovak embassy had to intervene to help individuals (conscripts of the Yugoslav army) who had been captured in the previous war with Germany. The chaos and scarcities following the transition of power also forced a lot of Slovaks to seek help at the embassy. Ever since the foundation of the NDH, leaders of the Slovak expatriate community were planning to set up a minority organization, the so-called Slovak National Group in Croatia, with a common official statute recognized by the Croatian regime. The eventual failure of this initiative was largely due to the fact that they were not coordinated with the Croatian side, which feared a potential precedent that wou ld allow other minorities to raise similar claims. The only minority to achieve the privilege of an officially recognized status was the German one, with a population up to 150,000 and enjoying the benefits of the parent country ' s political dominance. Following the negotiations of June 25, 1941 , Croatia and Slovakia announced a mutual settlement of their claims regarding real estate belonging to their predecessor states (Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia).21 Murgas managed to obtain the property of the former Czech-Slovak society Beseda in Lipovljani for the Slovak side.22 The issue of schools for the Slovak minority was a frequently negotiated topic from early on. In spite of the initial mistrust by the Ustasha authorities, which culminated in the arrests of several Slovak teachers, Slovak primary education was preserved. 23 Mutual contacts also developed in the field of pedagogy and science. A visit by Croatian medics and an Ustasha Youth delegation to °File 36, Box 266, MZV, SNA . 2 21 File 217/41 , Box 1157 and File 217/41 , Box 1155 , MZV, SNA . The society officially dissolved on July 30, 1941. See Slovak Beseda in Bratislava. Box 207, f. Policajne riaditel'stvo v Bratislave (PR Ba), SNA; File 325/41 , Box 214 and File 20518/41 , Box 48, MZV, SNA. 23 File 33880/41 , Box 213 and File 20518/41 , Box 48 , MZV, SNA. Gardista, September 21 , 1941 , 3; Gardista, October 22, 1941 , 3. 22 SLOVAKIA 73 Slovakia was met by great domestic publicity. 24 A program of student exchange and scholarship financing was launched by numerous institutions: The Science Society for Foreign Slovaks (mainly focused on student exchange, support of Slovak foreign education and distribution of Slovak literature abroad), the Matica slovenska, The Society of St. Adalbert, the Slovak University, and the Hlinka Youth. The Croatian partner organizations included the Saint Jerome Society, the Matica Hrvatska, and later the new Croatian-Slovak Society. The pace at which interest in Croatia spread was almost overwhelming for the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which decided to halt the uncontrolled influx of NDH visitors . The Ministry then published a directive stating that it must approve all Croatian visits. 25 The founding of the already mentioned Croatian-Slovak Society (August 13, 1941) was a milestone in cultural interaction. The Slovak envoy requested the speedy assignment of a cultural attache to Croatia, recommending Jozef Ambrus, who had been studying in Zagreb. This request was turned down, as was his later proposal of founding an office of the Society in Bratislava. 26 A fact worth mentioning is that Murgas proposed Alexander Mach, the Minister of the Interior, to be the chairman of this branch. 27 The Slovak authorities, however, took a rather cautious approach and decided to wait until their Croatian counterparts founded a similar branch of the Society in Zagreb. 28 These facts indicate a kind of cautiousness on the Slovak part, caused primarily by foreign political factors. Contrary to their cordial relations and shared long-term plans, practical cooperation between Slovakia and Croatia was difficult from the beginning. Later on, such cooperation was also damaged by the Ustasha regime's inability to make good on its commitments. Meanwhile, the Croatian and Slovak Society was founded in Zagreb. Franjo Dujmovic, 29 the editor-in-chief of the daily Nova Hrvat24 See for example: Gardista, July 26, 1941, 3; Gardista , July 27, 1941, 3; Gardista, August 26, 1941, 3; File 32595/41, Box 213 , MZV, SNA. 25 Ibid, File 6978/41. 26 Reports of K. Murgas, August 19, 1941 and August 26, 1941. Box 143, MZV, SNA; File 20518/41 , Box 48, MZV, SNA. See also: Jarinkovic, Spolkovy i ivot v frvej Slovenskej republike ... , 305-24. 7 File 544/41, Box 1155 and File 137/41, Box 1160, MZV, SNA. 28 File 32.702/41, Box 118, MZV, SNA. 29 Initially led by the Croatian Minister of the Interior and well-known Ustasha activist Adrija Artukovic. 74 SLOVAKIA-2015 ska (New Croatia) , was appointed its President, with Mile Starcevic and Eugen Ftillop as Vice-Presidents, and Zlatko Milkovic as Secretary. The Society ' s Board included a number of significant individuals whose positions suggested strong links with Croatian state institutions .3° The Society's goal was to develop cultural relations and to promote the Slovak Republic in the NDH. Stanislav Meciar also hoped to expand cultural cooperation, with special focus on the new Croatian literature. When asked about which Slovak novelists he would recommend for translation, he included Jozef Ciger Hronsky, Milo Urban, Tido J. Gaspar, Julius Horvath, and Margita Figuli. He rejected Peter Jilemnicky, whom he labelled a Czech and a Communist. Among Slovak poets he suggested Valentin Beniak, Andrej Zamov, Emil Boleslav Lukac, Jan Smrek, Rudolf Dilong, I:udo Ondrejov, Ladislav Novomesky, Jan R. Ponican and Jan Kostra, with the comment that "the last three were Communists, but have written valuable Slovak poems; here you ought to make your own decision." 31 He also decided to publish a special issue of the Slovenske pohl'ady on the subject of Croatia. 32 As early as 1941 discussions began about the possibility of closer cooperation between Romania, Slovakia, and Croatia, a project designed to raise the profile of all three states. The incentive to establish this bloc came from Romania, mainly as a reaction to Hungarian irredentism. At the same time, the three states intended to revisit their territorial losses to Hungary between 193 8 and 1941. Agreement to create the bloc was soon disclosed and the Hungarian Government protested against "reviving the spirit of the Little Entente," referring to the interwar East-Central European military alliance against Hungary. In spite of the initial hesitation of Slovak politicians, by early 1942 Vojtech Tuka, the Slovak Foreign Minister, showed great interest in such cooperation. He emphasized that the alliance could not be labelled with the "stigma of Pan-Slavism," referring to criticism raised by some representatives of the Slovak government. On the one hand, as soon as the Germans indicated that no such efforts would be tolerated within their sphere of influence, the 30 Tatre i Velebit, December 25 , 1942, 155 . Letter of S. Meciar to Zlatko Milkovic from August 26, I 941. File 164 P 17, LA SNK. 32 See Jankovic, Chorvatska literatura v slovenskej kulture II. (1939-1948), 52-83. 31 SLOVAKIA 75 Slovak Republic 's activities declined rapidly . On the other hand, the Slovaks discovered that the NDH was not a reliable partner. 33 In the fall of 1941 some changes were made to the charge d' affaires positions in both countries. Jozef Cieker replaced the undisciplined Karol Murgas. Cieker had previously worked in Yugoslavia and was knowledgeable about Croatian affairs. He presented his credentials in Zagreb on December 12, 1941. At the same time, there was also a change in the Croatian diplomatic posting in Bratislava. Josip Berkovic, the new envoy, presented his credentials on December 19. These changes had no impact on the mutual convergence, and the Croatian Embassy in Bratislava appointed a cultural attache, Geno Sencic who energetically participated in the development of Slovak and Croatian cultural relations. In January of 1942, Tido J. Gaspar, Head of the Propaganda Office, charged Jozef Ambrus with preparing the ground for establishing the Slovak and Croatian Society in Slovakia. The general assembly of this cultural institution took place on March 13, 1942, in the Slovak University ' s amphitheater. Slovak Ministers Alexander Mach, Gejza Medricky and Ferdinand Catlos, as well as other major figures of political and cultural life attended, as did a numerous Croatian delegation. This meeting received broad media coverage. This general assembly prescribed uniforms as a part of the dress code. The Society set as its goal to unite all Croatophiles, spread the Croatian culture and develop mutual relationships. Political issues were to be avoided. Alexander Mach was acclaimed as the Society 's President. In his acceptance speech he pointed out the parallels between the Autonomists ' first paramilitary organization, the Rodobrana (Native Defense), the subsequent Hlinka Guards and the Croatian Ustasha movement. He added that cooperation between Slovakia and Croatia "is not based on the pharisaical chimera of the notorious Slavic solidarity," which had led to humiliation, suffering and disappointment for both nations. These contacts, he continued, "are supported by a good tradition, the present struggle for a common goal, which we all have before our eyes in the New Europe." Mach's 33 See Miroslav Tejchman, "Slovensko-rumunsko-chorvatska spoluprace v letech druhe svetove valley a Mad'arsko," Slovansky pfehled 78 (1992) : 161-71 ; Cubomir Liptak, "Mad'arsko v slovenskej politike za druhej svetovej vojny," in Prispevky k dejinam fasizmu v Ceskos/ovensku a v Mad'arsku, ed. Gyorgy Ranki (Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej akademie vied, 1969), 222-30. 76 SLOVAKIA-2015 speech marked the boundaries of the cultural society. He also delegated Stanislav Meciar, Anton Misik, Jozef Ambrus as its VicePresidents, Viliam Kovar, Eduard Urban as its Secretaries, and Belo Franc as the Treasurer. Many important people working in the area of culture and politics became board members .34 The next day, the first issue of the Slovak-and-Croatian literary review entitled Tatre i Velebit appeared.35 Josip Andric became the editor-in-chief. He had visited Slovakia since the 1920s, and maintained good contacts with the representatives of the Hlinka Slovak People 's Party. In the first issue's introductory address, Ferdinand Catlos, Slovak Minister of Defense, noted : "With the help of the Germans, both our nations have become autonomous and integrated as state actors among the nations of young Europe." He praised the shared destiny and goals, desires and hopes of both nations who required no written agreements to confirm their mutual relationships.36 It is evident that both societies had ideologically compatible people in the leadership, with close links to the official regime. It was typical of both states to infuse culture with politics, especially with propaganda. However, as Jan Jankovic pointed out, in spite of major ideological links, there was also much freedom, which he demonstrated by using literature translations that often avoided an ideological undertone. Once the Slovak Croatian Society was founded, the organization of commonly-held events grew in intensity, and the Society substantially participated in promoting cooperation with other cultural institutions. Contacts were developed in the area of sports as well, but did not exceed the norm. At that time, the establishment of the autonomy of Slovakia in October of 1938 was celebrated. The cultural program focused on Slovak popular sonfs and included lectures given by the country's major personalities.3 In Bratislava on April 9, 1942, the Society celebrated the first anniversary of the NDH' s inception by arranging a red-carpet procession in the highly representative build34 For example: Stefan Bella, Juraj Cecetka, Alojz Macek, Jozef Kutnik-Smalov, Valentin Beniak, Aladar Kocis, Karol Klinovsky, Karol Studenc, Alexander Moyzes and honorsry members included Jozef Skultety, Tido J. Gaspar, Rudolf Vavra, Ferdinand Catlos and Gejza Medricky. Slovak-Croatian Society. File 38/68, Box 204, PR-BA, SNA. 35 More precisely about the revue Tatre i Velebit, see: Jankovic, Chorwitska literatura v slovenskej kulture II. (1939-1948), 39-51. 36 Tatre i Velebit, March 14, 1942, 5. 31 Tatre i Velebit, December 25, 1942, 156. SLOVAKIA 77 ing of the Reduta. On the next day, a Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by Bishop Michal Buzalka in Saint Martin's Cathedral, and on this occasion the Slovak dailies published special issues. 38 At that time a numerous group of Slovak journalists, cultural workers and politicians set off to Croatia to celebrate the first anniversary of the state. Besides Minister Mach and Secretary Kovar, the group included prominent Hlinka guard officers Otomar Kubala, Alexander Cunderlik, Frantisek Galan, and other persons who also discussed mutual cooperation in the area of culture. Within the context of the cooperation of Slovakia, Romania and Croatia, a meeting was held on May 13 in Bucharest, where the participants agreed to compile national bibliographies of major works, to organize regular visits, to promote each other and to organize so-called weeks of reciprocal culture. An Agreement on Cultural Cooperation between the Slovak Republic and the NDH was signed in Zagreb, which dealt with the foundation of a Chair of the Croatian Language, Literature and History and a Department of the Croatian Language and Literature at the Slovak University, with similar Slovak institutes in Zagreb. An important clause focused on maintaining and extending elementary schools for minorities. Both partners committed to support reciprocal visits and a minimum of two student scholarships. 39 The Agreement also included a clause on the recognition of academic titles, scientific education benefits for young people, and book exchanges. They also promised not to permit the publication of things "which could present the other state in a bad light." The Agreement established a Slovak and Croatian Cultural Committee to observe the provisions of the mutual agreements and to deepen relationships. The Agreement was for a period of five years and based on the principle of reciprocity .40 In spite of the fact that similar plans had existed since 1941, and that the final agreement was prepared in 1942, neither this Agreement, nor another cultural Agreement between the Slovak Republic and NDH came into force . This was due to their inability to make and perform agreements, and a certain inflexibility characteristic of both parties, which were the basic problems associated with the development of relations between Slovakia and Croatia. Some of these problems were caused by the fact that the NDH was not con38 /bid, 164-5 . Slovak-Croatian reciprocal scholarships. File 255/43, Box 2 14, MZV, SNA . 40 File 8/ 100/43 , Box 118, MZV, SNA. 39 78 SLOVAKIA-2015 solidated politically and economically, that both countries were involved in the war, in a complicated foreign-policy situation, and also in the relationship of satellite states with their protector, Germany . The issue of the legal status of the Slovak minority in the NDH was perceived in a very sensitive way, and tackled unsuccessfully throughout the entire existence of the NDH. Frequent excesses of the Ustasha towards Slovak inhabitants in Croatia did not contribute to mutual trust. It is well-known that from the beginning some Slovaks rejected Croatian citizenship because they had supported the previous regime, they had to deal with poor living conditions and showed increased interest in repatriation to Slovakia. Viliam Kovar's visit to Lipovljany on June 14, 1941 created a stir. During his visit, Kovar showed concern about the situation of the local Slovaks and suggested repatriation in exchange for Croats living in Slovakia. This proposal resonated and some Slovaks in Croatia appealed to the embassy for help. 41 However, charge d'affaires Murgas viewed Kovar's initiative very critically. Croatians intended to repatriate the Slovak minority to the Slovak Republic, which Murgas found detrimental to the state.42 In any case, official Slovak circles showed no serious interest in repatriation to Slovakia. What did not make such a big stir was settling the issue of the validity of Jewish travel documents. The Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs had acknowledged their validity (until March 31, 1942), but at the same time the Ministry told Murgas not to intervene in these matters, to which he would agree. 43 The legation had the right to decide each Jewish case, but their objective was to ensure that these Jews would not return to Slovakia because they were "a useless and harmful element, " 44 which corresponded to the official policy of the Slovak Republic. 45 In the NDH 41 File 116/41 , Box 1160, MZV, SNA; Report written by representatives of the Slovak minority in the NDH regarding the visit of Viliam Kovar, June 16, 1941. Box 143, MZV, SNA. See also: Oldfich Pejs, "Slovenska diplomacie a valecni zajatci slovenske narodnosti (1939-1942)," Vojenska hist6ria 15 (2011), 122-41. 42 '1n today's situation we don't have the space and employment opportunities for returnees ... " Report ofK. Murgas, August 19, 1941 , Box 143 and File 20518/41 , Box 48 , MZV, SNA. 43 File 903/41 and 1347/41 , Box 1158, MZV, SNA. 44 File 62/41 , Box 1158, MZV, SNA. 45 For a comparison of the Slovak and Croatian anti-Jewish policies, see: Eduard Niznansky and Jana Mnahoncakova, "Vymedzenie pojmu Zid na Slovensku a v SLOVAKIA 79 the Jewish issue was "promptly resolved," and Serbs also became an "unwanted element." 46 The greatest boom of cultural relations between Slovakia and Croatia occurred in 1942. Numerous visits and social events were organized in order to strengthen this cooperation. For example, during the summer several Croatian delegations visited the Slovak Republic. From June 28 until July 4, a "Croatian Week" in Slovakia was organized to promote Croatian culture. Slovak Radio participated very actively by broadcasting Croatian music and a series of interviews by a number of major figures in culture and politics.47 At that time an ensemble of amateur actors form Croatia toured Slovakia with their theater program dedicated to Croatian dances.48 Reciprocal visits and presentations became the most typical component of Slovak-Croatian cultural policy, most frequently realized through national theatrical and music productions. As in Slovakia, various events were held in the NDH which concentrated on mutual convergence, such as the presentation of the Articles of Association of the Slovak National Unity (Slovenska narodna jednota) to the relevant Croatian authorities who promised their recognition. The Slovak Reading Club in Ilok organized Slovaks in the NDH. In spite of promises made, the Croatian administration did nothing. 49 The Slovak Day planned for August 30, 1942, in Stara Pazova, where Vladimir Hurban Vladimirov, a famous descendant of the writer Svetozar Hurban Vajansky, served as a Protestant minister, was postponed because of guerilla warfare.50 Jozef Cieker constantly pointed out the complicated situation in the country and the Ustasha's excesses. "The scope of action of ministers is limited to minis- Chorvatsku - pokus o porovnanie," in Z dejin holokaustu ajeho popierania, ed. Eduard Nizi\.ansky (Bratislava: Stimul, 2007), 107-30. 46 See Nevenko Bartulin, The Racial Idea in the Independent State of Croatia: Origins and Theory (Leiden: Brill, 2014). 47 Alexander Mach, Mladen Lorkovic, Stanislav Meciar, Jozef Ambrus, Valentin Beniak, Alexander Moyzes, Viliam Kovar, Mile Starcevic, Zlatko Milkovic, Franjo Dujmovic, Mile Budak, Viliam Peros, Josip Horvat, Geno Senecic and others. 48 Tatre i Velebit, December 25, I 942, p.165. 49 Report of J. Cieker, May 24, I 943. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, O1:S BA, SABa. 50 Slovaks in Yugoslavia. File 6452/41-1 , Box 143, MZV, SNA. 80 SLOV AKIA-2015 terial buildings and a small region around Zagreb." 51 He perceived Slovak-Croatian relations as weak and suggested that it would be unwise to limit mutual relations to Ustasha Croatia and suggested that the two nations should relate to one another as wholes. The Ustasha were not pleased with the activities of the Slovak charge d'affaires in Zagreb, and therefore they suggested that he should be removed. Cieker often met with opposition groups, members of the higher clergy and criticized the situation in the country. These statements show that there were certain differences between Slovakia and Croatia. Conservative representatives in Croatia were the more moderate Catholics of a nationalist orientation, represented in the past by the Croatian Popular Peasant Party (the Hrvatska pucka seljacka stranka). In that sense, they were competitors of the Ustasha. The Slovak Republic supported the regular Croatian army - the militia, with supplies of arms and equipment. However, much more evident were the contacts between the radical representatives of the Hlinka Guard and the Ustasha. They were ideologically close, and strongly involved in the development of mutual relations, for instance between the Hlinka Youth and the Ustasha Youth. Despite these differences, cultural contacts continued to evolve. Each autumn international commercial fairs were held in both Bratislava and Zagreb. Both states sent delegations of major figures of economic and political life to the fairs. In June of 1942, an agreement between Croatia and Slovakia was signed in Bratislava on the regulation of mutual contact under civil law. At the end of October, the Minister of Justice, Gejza Fritz, signed in Zagreb an interstate agreement on extradition and propertylaw assistance in criminal issues. Like the economic agreement entered into in October of 1941, these agreements came into force too late, and therefore had no significant impact on the actual relationship between the Slovak Republic and the NDH. 52 Also, an agreement was concluded on cooperation between the Slovak and Croatian academic youth.53 This cooperation seemed promising from the summer of 1941 and many young people from Croatia visited Slovakia. The Hlinka Youth, jointly with the Ustasha Youth and 51 Report of J. Cieker, August 28, 1942. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, O1:S BA, SABa. 52 Rychlik, Slovensko-chorvatske vztahy ... , 273-74. 53 Medunarodni ugovori 1943, p. 208-10. Box 214, MZV, SNA. SLOVAKIA 81 Hitlerjugend, organized camps for their members . In this regard, there was a significant involvement by Alojz Macek and lvo Orsanic, the leaders of organizations in the Slovak Republic and the NDH, . As in the preceding year, the autumn of 1942 witnessed certain changes in Slovak- Croatian relations. Activist Viliam Kovar enlisted in the Slovak army and treasurer Belo Fronc replaced him. The NDH Government underwent a major reorganization which resolved the conflict between the Poglavnik and the Minister of Defense, Marshall Slavko Kvaternik. Kvaternik came to recover to Slovakia, when he probably sought some political support. However, the Government's reconstruction did not disturb the NDH's relations with the Slovak Republic. Promoting one another continued, which is evident in the Slovak Culture Week held in Zagreb from November 29, 1942, to December 5, 1942. 54 This event had some response. Besides abundant musical performances, several contributions were made on the present and the past of the relationships between Slovaks and Croatians. At that time, Andric's Slovak Language Grammar was published.55 By the end of that year, yet another change took place in diplomatic postings. Charge d'affaires Berkovic was dismissed and replaced with Blaz Lorkovic, who presented his credentials to President Tiso on December 22. In his speech, he remarked: "The Poglavnik appointed me as the charge d'affaires in Slovakia in his belief that our brother Slovaks wish to have an old and well-proven Ustasha as the charge d'affaires of the NDH."56 In 1943 further talks were held on cooperation between Romania, Slovakia and the NDH . It was evident that Ante Pavelic's Croatia was very weak as a partner, and, therefore, the Slovak representatives focused mainly on negotiations with the Romanians. In the end, however, these attempts also failed to improve cooperation and the idea of a tightly-bound Slovak and Croatian bloc against Hungary was unsuccessful. 57 In January of 1943, a full length propaganda film 54 At that time the following Slovaks visited Croatia: Stanislav Meciar, Andrej Mraz, Karol Ki:irper, Jan Pi:istenyi, Jozef Pauco, Jan Doransky as we ll as representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Education, the Matica slovenska, the Slovak-Croatian Society, the Society of St. Adalbert and the Bratislava Chamber Quintet. 55 Tatre i Velebit, December 25 , 1942, 157-159; File Slovaks in Yugoslavia, Box 143, MZV, SNA. 56 File 35.591 /42, Box 219, MZV, SNA. 57 Tejchman, Slovensko-rumunsko-chorvatska spoluprace ... , 166-67 . 82 SLOV AKIA-2015 From the Tatras to the Sea of Azov was shown in the NDH, which highlighted the Slovak Army's activity on the Eastern Front in order to strengthen the idea of a joint struggle against Bolshevism . In the field of news reporting, a regular exchange of newsreels took place and a number of contributions on Croatian topics were broadcast over Slovak Radio. The fourth anniversary celebrations of independence in Zagreb were not as spectacular as in the preceding year. In addition to compulsory lectures and articles in the Croatian press, the Croatian and Slovak Society organized a tea party on March 13th. The next morning, a Pontifical High Mass was celebrated and attended by representatives of the Croatian Government. 58 On March 25, 1943 the second general assembly of the Slovak and Croatian Society was held . Once again, this event became a manifestation of fondness for each other. Many prominent people of that period's political and cultural life participated, headed by ministers Mach, Medricky and charge d'affaires Blaz Lorkovic, who was elected an honorary member. A declaration of efforts to extend the statutes of the Society was made since there was an interest in establishing branches in other towns of Slovakia (it was planned to establish branches in Presov, Zilina and Banska Bystrica), and to extend activities in the field of culture.59 The general assembly also launched the celebration of Croatian independence, which was accompanied by a number of cultural events including a gala concert of the Slovak Radio on April 9th. Employees of Mach's Ministry of the Interior were invited to turn out in strength. A Croatian issue of the newspaper Gardista (Guardsman) was published to celebrate the third anniversary of the NDH's creation. During his visit to Slovakia in May, 1943, Ivan Veres, a Protestant minister, reported on the difficult situation of Slovaks in the NDH. Again, the unresolved issues emerged, especially those regarding culture. Based on this information Alexander Mach invited the Croatian charge d'affaires to an audience and gave him notice that the situation of Slovaks in the NDH could directly affect the future relations between Slovakia and Croatia. In this respect, Mach even intended to stop honoring Josip Andric, the writer, with a high 58 Tatre i Velebit, June 15, 1943, 61. The Slovak-Croatian Society - Minutes of the Second General Assembly. File 38/68, Box 204, PR Ba, SNA. 59 SLOVAKIA 83 state award, and issued a command to suspend the establishment of the Slovak and Croatian Society's branches. Jozef Cieker also made a statement on the nature of the mutual relationships by pointing out that people in Bratislava had too many illusions, but the reality was much more complicated. 60 In spite of the fact that the negotiations on signing the Slovak and Croatian Cultural Convention continued, no consensus was reached. Croatia refused to recognize the special status of Slovaks in the NDH because of other minorities, who would then demand similar rights. However, the Croats were willing to guarantee Slovak education through separate legislation. They also demanded that the SNU should not be a political organization to represent Slovaks in the NDH and should not claim the property of former Czechoslovak: associations. However, at that time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic was more interested in concluding the Slovak and Italian cultural convention, after which the Ministry would be willing to continue negotiations about the convention with Croatia.61 The fall of Mussolini in 1943 brought about an "unpleasant awakening" in the NDH. Nevertheless, Ante Pavelic, with Germany's support, managed to hold on to power and maintain the illusion of the existence of an independent Croatian state, and on September 10, 1943, he announced that previous Italian and Croatian agreements were no longer valid, as the Italians had failed to fulfil their obligations and agreed to an armistice with the enemy. 62 At that time, a number of Croatian politicians and their families, who refused to stay in the NDH for various reasons, were in Slovakia. This is very interesting, because the Slovak Republic granted asylum to persons whose blood-stained careers were inscribed in the NDH' s infamous history. For instance, this applied to Eugen "Dido" Kvaternik, the former commander of the Croatian secret police! Jozef Cieker tried unsuccessfully to reject entry visas to exponents of the Ustasha re• 63 g1me. 60 Report of J. Cieker, May 24, 1943. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, 01.'.S BA, SABa. 61 Report of J. Cieker from July 7, 1943. Box 143, MZV, SNA. 62 Jbid, File 313 2/43 . 63 Report of J. Cieker, September 9, 1943. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, 01.'.S BA, SABa. 84 SLOV AKIA-2015 In the reality of that time, Slovak and Croatian cultural cooperation decreased and in 1943 the Tatre i Velebit cultural review folded . The Slovak Embassy in Zagreb pointed to the unbearable problems of the NDH, which were also reflected in its failure to fulfil economic contractual obligations. The embassy also dealt with propertyrelated sanctions and the loss of freedom which Slovaks in the NDH had to struggle with every day. Despite plans for further cooperation, the mutual relationships had reached their zenith. Their abovestandard scope in the period between 1939 and 1944 is shown by the fact that nineteen translated Croatian fiction titles were published in Slovakia, which is more than in the case of most Allied countries. In addition, popular and scientific, political and religious literature was published, although their numbers are difficult to reconstruct. 64 At the beginning of February, 1944, Jozef Cieker was replaced in Zagreb by charge d'affaires Viktor Becko. 65 However, he would not bring any changes to Slovak-Croat relations. From his reports we learn that actual power in Croatia was shared by guerilla and German and Ustasha troops, and about the oppression of the population. As regards Slovak-Croatian relations, Becko noted that higher state authorities had an interest and a positive approach, which, however, faded at lower positions. Therefore, he suggested, that Croatians should be promised economic concessions in return for cultural and social offsets for Slovaks in the NDH. 66 In his report he summarized the mutual contacts which he considered to be less developed than expected and pointed out that a certain platform could be found as a support. In spite of that, he labelled the cultural and political relations as very good. As far as economic cooperation was concerned, he criticized the absence of a trade representative "whom the Croatians have in the Protectorate as well." 67 As regards the issue of the Slovaks in the NDH, he underscored the fact that Slovaks were transported to concentration camps based on the principle of collective guilt. Some Croatians hated the Slovaks because they were not obliged to join the army or the Ustasha, and local personal and prop64 See Jankovic, Chorvatska literatura v slovenskej kulture II. (1939-1948), 166-176. Slovak, February 2, 1944, p. 4; Slovak, February 9, 1944, p. 3. 66 Report of V. Becka, March 20, 1944. File 27/48 Jozef Cieker papers, O1.'.S BA, SABa. 67 Political reports from Zagreb - 1944, Report of V. Becka, April 25, 1944. Box 213, MZV, SNA. 65 SLOVAKIA 85 erty-related conflicts played an important role as well. He pointed to the nationalist attitudes of the Ustasha, who did not like "foreign elements" in their country. 68 However, the repatriation of Slovaks was technically impossible at that time.69 Contacts between Slovaks and Croats were not limited to the official political position, which I intended to describe in this paper. There was also significant cooperation among anti-fascist forces in the Slovak Republic, the NDH and elsewhere in Europe. Tomislav Poglajen-Kolakovic, a Catholic priest who worked in Slovakia from September of 1943 and joined the anti-fascist forces, was an outstanding person involved in this convergence. 70 In the last stages of the existence of both states, mutual contacts died out completely, and the dissolution of the Slovak and Croatian Society in Slovakia on May 25th, 1945, 71 was just a formality, because most of the Society's representatives had fled abroad, where they continued to develop contacts with the Croats. Relationships between Slovakia and Croatia from 1941 to 1945 were affected by the political climate. Despite comparable efforts by Slovaks and Croats to attain national emancipation in the inter-war period and deep historical roots of mutual cooperation multiplied at that time by the concept of "historical inevitability," it was the ideological adherence of political representatives and their mentors (especially Germany) which played an important role in the mutual convergence. Cultural cooperation took a similar path, but it could not overcome the ideological framework. Due to both practical and political obstacles, such cooperation would not reach the desired form, and it peaked between 1942 and the first half of 1943 . However, as Viliam Kovar wrote about the activities of the Slovak and Croatian Society, which was supposed to reflect these relationships : 68 Political reports from Zagreb - 1944, Report of V. Becka, January 8, 1945 . Box 213, MZV, SNA . 69 Letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to V. Becka, January 26, 1945. Box I 160, MZV, SNA. 70 More precisely see: Jozef Jablonicky, Podoby nasilia (Bratislava: Kalligram, 2000), 9-27. For the official Croatian reaction to the uprising in Slovakia, see: Jan Rychlik, "Obdobie pred Slovenskym narodnym povstanim v spravach chorvatskeho vyslanca v Bratislave," Historicky casopis 56 (2008): 349-84. ; Jan Rychlik, "Slovenske narodne povstanie v spravach chorvatskeho diplomata," Historicky casopis 54 (2006) : 315-52. 71 Slovak-Croatian Society. File 38/68, Box 20 14, PR Ba, SNA . 86 SLOV AKIA-2015 " ... (the Society) failed to do as much as one could possibly expect, but did not miss one chance to inform the Slovak public and make it familiar with the life of Croatia and its representatives." 72 It was clear before the end of World War II, which both countries entered on the side of Germany, that neither state would outlive it. However, this did not mean the end of mutual cultural contacts, which after the War took place in a brand new geopolitical and ideological environment. 72 Report of the Society' s secretary. File 38/68, Box 2014, PR Ba, SNA.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Development of Cultural Cooperation between the Slovak Republic and the Independent State of Croatia, 1941-1945 Description An account of the resource Miroslav Michela Slovakia, Vol. 42 (No. 78-79), 2015 pp. 66-86 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Michela, Miroslav, 1978- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/fee02645415ed7d6f3abc8cd471655d1.pdf a5f128b4d915d9e05afc54e1fe2aaa38 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 105 Winning Essays-Slovak League Scholarship Awards Karen Ann S y z d e k : The Developm e nt of Slovak Literature It has been said that the literary activitv of a country is dependent upon the economic stability, educational opportunity, political liberty and intellectual capability of its people. 1 For centuries, the oppressive rule of the Magyars had so deprived the Slovaks of the first three factors that their literature was given no chance to grow. The artistic ability of the people of Slovakia was expressed mainly in their folk songs and dances, folk poetry, sagas and ballads, but did not often reach a more formal levely until about 1650. Finally, with the coming of the Baroque period, the University of Trnava became a source of Slovak Catholic literature. The works which came from this university were written in the native Slovak and in Latin. One of the professors, a Jesuit priest, Martin Szentivanyi ( 16331705) was the author of 65 works including an encyclopedia, Curiosiora et Selectoria Variarum Scientiarum Miscellanea (1686-1702 ) and Dissertationes (1689 ) 2 Political issues became very much a part of Slovak literature with the work of Jan Baltazar Magin ( 1682-1735) who wrote a defense of Slovaks and of their rights. Another literary defender of his country was Alexander Macsay (d. 1721) who battled for the Slovak language in Panes Primitiarium (1718 ) . Also a milestone in Slovakia's literary history was the appearance of the first Slovak novel Rene Mlddenca Prihody a Skusenosti (1783 ) written by Jozef Ignac Bajza (1755-1836) .3 With the beginning of the age of Enlightenment, there was an upsurge of national consciousness in Slovakia. As the people became aware of their linguistic and racial individuality they sought to eliminate the variance between the language of books and the vernacular. One of the main proponents of this movement was Anton Bernolak ( 1762- �106 SLOVAKIA 1813) who codified the Slovak language in his linguistic works Dissertatio Philologico-Critic a de Litteris Slavorum and Orthographia (1787), Grammatica Slavica (1790), Etymologia Vocum Slavicarum (1791) and in a dictionary published posthumously (1825). Bernolak also began several societies which encouraged work in the field of Slovak literature. 4 Bernolak's advocation of Slovak as a literary language was opposed by the Protestant writers, including Jan Kollar (1793-1852) and Pavel Jozef safarik 0795-1861) . Although these two men used Czech in all of their writings, they contributed much to the literary activity in Slovakia. Jan Kollar was the forerunner of all of Slovakia's poets. His enthusiasm in Sldva's Daughter inspired the Slavs in their fight for nationalism and for their language. He was also a supporter of pan-Slavism because he mistakenly believed that since the Slovaks were so few in number, they could best achieve their independence through an understanding with the other Slavic people. Kollar's pride in his native country is apparent in many of his poems and he often expressed the belief that the past had belonged to the Romans, the present to the Teutons and the future to the Slavs. He hoped to see the Slavic nations living in peaceful but self-ruling cooperation.5 The work of Pavel Jozef safarik is of a more permanent value than that of Kollar, however. safarik was a poet and scientist who dealt with the theme of Slav Antiquities, the history of Slav literature and the origins of the Slavs.6 He encouraged the Slovaks to develope a literary style of their own in order to increase their national pride and to create a national literature. For exactly these reasons, I.:udovit sttir (1815-1856) founded the modern Slovak literary language. The use of Slovak in literature, stur believed, would unite the people in a struggle against the Magyars, and also bring education to the common people, who spoke only Slovak. sttir was not involved only with the beginning of the standard Slovak literary language but also worked to organize all aspects of Slovak national life in accordance with enlightened humanism. 7 In 1845 stur began to publish the first Slovak language �SLOVAKIA 107 periodical, Slovenskje Ndrodnje Novini. The publication of $tur's work Ndrecia Slovenskuo a Potreba Pisanja V Tomto Ndreci 0846) together with Nduka Reci Slovenskej (1846) caused the final acceptance of Slovak as the literary language by all Slovak intellectuals. In 1849 $tur succeeded in having Slovak recognized as the language to be used in secondary schools.8 Writing at the same time as $tur was Jan Holly (1785-1849) whose Slovak hexameters about Svatopluk, Cyril and Methodius, and Slavdom made him a beloved and famous poet. He was also the greatest follower of Bernolak's literary school. A more versatile writer who lived in this period was Miloslav Hurban (1817-1888). He wrote for the magazine Nitra. He also wrote botn lyric poetry and prose and his most famous work is a historical story from the fourteenth century entitled Olejkdr and a story of his own time called Slovak Pupils. 9 A. Sladkovic (1820-1872), was another talented Slovak poet who wrote lyric-epics and displayed the influence of the Russian author Puskin and of the English Byron. He wrote a poem entitled Marina which is pan-Slavistic and a religious allegory. An epic poem founded on local tradition is Detvan which speaks of the soul of the Slovak nation. His work is sentimental and romantic, but contains enough realism to counterbalance these traits. 10 Janka Kral' (1822-1876) and Jan Botto (1829-1881 ) wrote ballads and romances and in their works display the character of the Slovak peasants. Many nature descriptions also can be found in their writings. Kral' wrote in the style of the romantics; his poems are melancholy. The source of Botto's most popular wor:kl was the Slovak ballad about Janosik. His verse is harmonious and descriptive, but plaintive. A poet very similar to Kral' and Botto is Samo Chalupka (1812-1883 ) , but his epic poems from ancient Slav history have a style which is much more terse and less romantic.0 1 The careers of all of these writers were aided by a halt in the Magyar persecutions. The freedom given to the Slovak authors enabled them to be more productive. At this time (1860) the first Slovak novels appeared. �108 SLOVAKIA Janko Kalincak (1822-1871) for example, wrote both historical stories and also realistic stories from contemporary Slovak life. His story Restoration is typical of his style and is about Magyar elections. The influence of Byron and of Polish literature can be found in his work. 12 In 1863 the Emperor allowed the Slovaks to form a scientific and literary organization, the Matica Slovenska, which was headed by Bishop Moyses. This organization published collections of proverbs and folk-songs, and also novels, scientific books, and poems. It was a vital center for Slovak intellectual activity. But soon new persecutions began and the literary progress of the Slovaks was impeded by the Magyars. Magyar was declared as the only state language and Slovak leaders who protested were imprisoned. All Slovak Journals and Societies, including the Matica, were suppressed . The only publications which survived the end of the nineteenth century and which maintained the national spirit were the N<irodnie Noviny and Slovenske Pohl'ady. The Slovenslce Pohl'ady soon attracted a new generation of writers. In 1881 one of the editors was Svetozar Hurban Vajansky (1847-1916 ). In the magazine he published the works of the Russian realists, Tolstoy, Chekhov and Turgenev. The writings of these authors had a profound effect upon the Slovaks. Previous to this time the age of national romanticism had prevaded in Slovak literature_ Now the younger writers were coming under the influence of the Russian realists and soon put an end to the era of pseudo-romantic mannerisms. A new interest in the subjective experience of the artist arose ; his own individuality was most important and he expressed boldly his view of life. Besides starting the realist movement as editor of the Slovenslce Pohl'ady, Vajansky also wrote prose and poetry which belonged to the new age of realism. His work shows the influence of the Russians, yet he maintains some measure of conservativism and like stur his writings show his great pride in his Slovak nationality. The best of his books is Tatry a More. His prose works dealt with the political and social life of the Slovak intelligentsia. 13 Two other realists who helped, this type of literature gain in victory in Slovakia were Pavel Orszagh-Hviezdoslav �SLOVAKIA 109 (1849-1922) and Martin Kukucin (1860-1927). Hviezdoslav can be considered the greatest Slovak poet up to the early twentieth century. His works were influenced by Sladkovic and Kollar. His poems display his rich imagination, his sensitivity and his patriotism. He wrote lyrics and also epics, the greatest of which is H djnikova zena. This epic gives valuable descriptions of nature and also of the Slovak culture, traditions and religion. He often wrote with a Biblical theme . Although his form was that of a skilled and sophisticated poet, the soul which he displayed in his works remained that of a simple Slovak peasant. This is what makes his work so valuable: he reveals the spirit of the Slovak people to the world.14 Kukucin also wrote of the lives of the peasants but with an even greater realism and less sentimentality. His novel Dom v Strdni is good and is typical of his work. In general, he is more progressive than Vajansky. 15 About 1900, several more publications began which were supported entirely by younger writers. In these the students expressed quite radical beliefs and again a new type of literature was begun. The progressive realism of Kukucin was abandoned by the new generation of writers and critical realism became the new literary style. As the name implies, the new style of writing observed the political, social and moral world "objectively" , reported the faults that were seen, and demanded improvement. This literary school included writers like B . Slancikova 0867-1951) , L. Nadasi-Jege 0866-1940), T. G. Tajovsky 0874-1940 ) , J. Jesensky (1874-1945) and others. The leading poet of the Slovak Modernist is Ivan Krasko (1886-1958 ) . He was a lyrist and impressionist who wrote symbolically. He mourned the slavery of the Slovaks, and the effects which it had upon them. Although he wrote of the sadness and despair which he saw, the most lasting influence which he had upon his nation was to give it hope. Krasko influenced several generations of poets. He not only expressed the national life of Slovakia, but also all aspects of the life of modern man.16 The advent of World War I brought a temporary halt to the production of Slovak literature. Immediately after the war there was also a silence; the older writers were involved in organizing the political activities of the new �110 SLOVAKIA Czecho-Slovak Republic, and the younger writers had not developed their talents to any great extent. But finally in 1922 the publications Slovenske Pohl'ady and Prudy began again. The young writers grouped around these magazines and soom were publishing highly polished works in them which greatly contributed to Slovak literature. Hviezdoslav, the greatest Slovak poet died in 1921. But very soon after his death Slovak literature was teeming literary names, both old and new. In addition to the established writers who were reaching their artistic maturity (M. Razus, I. Grebac-Orlov, J. Jesensky, J. GregorTajovsky, T. Milkin, V. Roy etc.) the most significant event was the appearance of young authors who were soon to change the character and tempo of the Slovak literary life. They include such well known names as J . Smrek, v . Beniak, A. zarnov, E . B. Lukac, T. J . Gaspar, J. Niznansky, L. Novomesky, S . Krcmery, J . c. Hronsky, M. Urban, J. Ponican, J . Branecky, G. Va.mos, etc. These young writers were cosmopolitan in outlook, no longer satisfied with the events in their native village or even in Bratislava or Prague, but keenly following the artistic development in Paris, London, Rome, Berlin and Moscow . They formed artistic school and literary groups eagerly trying to catch up with the rest of the intellectual world. But in spite of this absorbing attention they paid to the world outside the Slovak writers were acutely aware of the wrongs and injustices to which their nation was exposed in the Czech-dominated Czecho-Slovakia. Many of them warningly lifted their voices of protest against this unequal partnership (e.g. A. zarnov, M . Razus, I. GrebacOrlov, J. C. Hronsky ) and demanded a more just and equitable deal for their nation. Stresses and strains, both internal and external, led in 1938-39 to gradual disappearance of Czecho-Slovakia and out of its ruins grew an independent Slovakia. Slovak writers almost without exception warmly greeted this dawn of a new epoch. The duration of the Slovak state ( 19391945 ) was, indeed, a golden age of Slovak literature. 17 The Slovak Writers Association numbered abou 400 members and their literary output in 1939-45 amounted to some 1,000 books of verse, novels and drama. Far more important �SLOVAKIA 111 than this quantity was the quality of their work which reached unsurpassed heights. This brief essay permits only a few names to be mentioned from an extensive catalogue of literary personalities. The most successful writers of novel and short stories were: J . C. Hronsky, M. Urban, M. Figuli, s. Rysura, D. Chrobak, L. Ondrejov, P . H . Jurina, s. Graf. Valentin Beniak, A. zarnov, K . Strmen, J. Kostra, R. Dilong, J . Haranta, J. Silan, J. Smrek, V. Reisel excelled as poets. The best known playwrights were I. Stodola and J . BarcIvan. The revolutionary changes which took place in Slovak politics after World War II were paralleled by equally drastic changes in the literature. The Communist occupation of Slovakia stopped the publication of the works of all those authors who were Catholic and who would not compromise their ideals and beliefs and take up the cause of the proletariat. The trend of Slovak literature changed but the best of the Slovak writers, Urban, Hronsky, Gaspar, Smrek, Lukac, and Beniak were not involved in the new trend. Many of these authors sought exile in other countries where they would be permitted to write and publish without government oppression or restriction. Some of the Slovak authors who are now living and writing in countries other than their native land are Karol Strmen (1921- ) who translated the New Testament into Slovak ( 1954), Milos K. Mlynarovic ( 1887-) who it the oldest living Slovak poet, Marian ziar, ~udo Besenovsky, Gorazd Zvonicky, Jan Okal' and Marusa Juskova.18 Msgr. Milos K. Mlynarovic, who is now living in the United States is a mature and productive writer who has authored books of poetry, n~vels, and religious writings. The main themes of his work are God, Church and the Slovak nation. In this sense Mlynarovic is a traditional poet since these have been the predominant themes of Slovak writers since the mid-1800's. His first book of verse was entitled Sldvia (1919) . After its publication, several prose works were written by him. The second book of poetry, showing the influence of Krasko, was Veliky Boh Malych ( 1934). In 1948 a volume entitled Boha Hl'adam �SLOVAKIA 112 was published in Slovakia and with optimism in man, provided a great Slovak literature which dwelt upon ing of war. Two other volumes of then are Testament Krdl'a Sfdc, prayer, and Dejiny Srdca. 19 its theme of hope and contrast to the native the horror and sufferverse published since meditative poems of All of these authors and countless other Slovak writers not mentioned have contributed greatly to the culture of the world and to the artistic development of their country. In the light of objective examination they have certainly represented their native land well. It has been said that "The Slovak literature of the present .. . wants to express its basic raison d'etre and its great mission among the people-the propagation of love of life, love of man, active desire for freedom, respect for the work of the people and faith in their future." 20 It can only be hoped that someday Slovakia will be given its complete freedom so that the achievement of these noble goals may be carried out, and the authors now in exile may return to their native land to achieve further progress in Slovakia's literary world. ( First Prize Award) FOOTNOTES 1) Vavro Srobar, "Cultural Progress in Slovakia," Slovakia Then And Now (Prague, 1931), 107. 2) "Slovak Literature," New Catholic Encyclopedia, XIII (New York, 1966) , 293. 3) "Slovak Literature," 293. 4) William E. Harkins, Czech and Slovak Literature (New York, 1950), 30. 5) Vladimir Nosek, The Spirit of Bohemia: A Survey of Czechoslovak History, Music, and Literature (London, 1926), 142. 6) Vladimir Nosek, p. 144. 7) William E. Harkins, p. 32. 8) "Slovak Literature," p. 292. 9) Vladimir Nosek, p. 304. 10) Vladimir Nosek, p. 305. 11) Vladimir Nosek, p. 305. 12) Vladimir Nosek, p. 306. �SLOVAKIA 113 13) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 14) Vladimir Nosek, p. 309. 15) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 16) Dr. Mojmir Otruba and Dr. Zdenek Pe~at, ed., Th e Linden Tre es - An Anthology of Czech and Slov ak L i terature 1890-1960 (Prague, 1962) , p . 316. 17) Dr. E. .Zatko, " Slovenska duchovna tvorba" in Slov enska r epublika 1939-1945, Obrana Press, Scranton, Pa., 1949, pp. 202-210. F . Vnuk, " Sedemnast' neurodn ych rokov slovenskej li teratury" , in L i t erarny Almanach 1966, Middletown, Pa., 1965, pp. 19-28. 18) "Slovak Literature," p. 195. 19) F . Vnuk, "A Poet in Exile," Slovakia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-148. 20) Dr. Mojmir Otruba, p. 21. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ha rkins, William E. Czech and Slovak L i terature. New York, 1950. Nosek, Vladimir. The Spirit of Bohemia: A Survey of Czechoslovak H istory, Music, and L i terature. London, 1926. Otruba, Mojmir, and Zdenek Pefat, ed. The Linden Tree- A n Anthology of Czech and Slovak L i terature 1890-1960. Prague, 1962. " Slovak Literature," New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1966. Seton-Watson, R. W. arranger.Slov akia Then And Now. Prague, 1931. Vnuk, F . "A Poet in Exile, " Slov akia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-152. J\1atica Slovenska ( Second Prize Award) In the year 1963, Matica Slovenska, the cultural institution of the Slovaks, celebrated its hundredth anniversary. At this time, the citizens of the entire CzechoSlovak Republic recalled the history of the Slovak national and social fight for their very existence and for a cultural revolution. "Matica Slovenska" is the name of a central and highest Slovak Institute of culture, literature, art and science. "Matica Slovenska" means "Slovak Mother," the word "Matica" being an endearing as well as dignified form for mother. It was founded in the city of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. The Matica elected as its firs t President a distinguished Slovak leader, Bishop Stefan � SLOVAKIA 105 Winning Essays-Slovak League Scholarship Awards Karen Ann S y z d e k : The Developm e nt of Slovak Literature It has been said that the literary activitv of a country is dependent upon the economic stability, educational opportunity, political liberty and intellectual capability of its people. 1 For centuries, the oppressive rule of the Magyars had so deprived the Slovaks of the first three factors that their literature was given no chance to grow. The artistic ability of the people of Slovakia was expressed mainly in their folk songs and dances, folk poetry, sagas and ballads, but did not often reach a more formal levely until about 1650. Finally, with the coming of the Baroque period, the University of Trnava became a source of Slovak Catholic literature. The works which came from this university were written in the native Slovak and in Latin. One of the professors, a Jesuit priest, Martin Szentivanyi ( 16331705) was the author of 65 works including an encyclopedia, Curiosiora et Selectoria Variarum Scientiarum Miscellanea (1686-1702 ) and Dissertationes (1689 ) 2 Political issues became very much a part of Slovak literature with the work of Jan Baltazar Magin ( 1682-1735) who wrote a defense of Slovaks and of their rights. Another literary defender of his country was Alexander Macsay (d. 1721) who battled for the Slovak language in Panes Primitiarium (1718 ) . Also a milestone in Slovakia's literary history was the appearance of the first Slovak novel Rene Mlddenca Prihody a Skusenosti (1783 ) written by Jozef Ignac Bajza (1755-1836) .3 With the beginning of the age of Enlightenment, there was an upsurge of national consciousness in Slovakia. As the people became aware of their linguistic and racial individuality they sought to eliminate the variance between the language of books and the vernacular. One of the main proponents of this movement was Anton Bernolak ( 1762- �106 SLOVAKIA 1813) who codified the Slovak language in his linguistic works Dissertatio Philologico-Critic a de Litteris Slavorum and Orthographia (1787), Grammatica Slavica (1790), Etymologia Vocum Slavicarum (1791) and in a dictionary published posthumously (1825). Bernolak also began several societies which encouraged work in the field of Slovak literature. 4 Bernolak's advocation of Slovak as a literary language was opposed by the Protestant writers, including Jan Kollar (1793-1852) and Pavel Jozef safarik 0795-1861) . Although these two men used Czech in all of their writings, they contributed much to the literary activity in Slovakia. Jan Kollar was the forerunner of all of Slovakia's poets. His enthusiasm in Sldva's Daughter inspired the Slavs in their fight for nationalism and for their language. He was also a supporter of pan-Slavism because he mistakenly believed that since the Slovaks were so few in number, they could best achieve their independence through an understanding with the other Slavic people. Kollar's pride in his native country is apparent in many of his poems and he often expressed the belief that the past had belonged to the Romans, the present to the Teutons and the future to the Slavs. He hoped to see the Slavic nations living in peaceful but self-ruling cooperation.5 The work of Pavel Jozef safarik is of a more permanent value than that of Kollar, however. safarik was a poet and scientist who dealt with the theme of Slav Antiquities, the history of Slav literature and the origins of the Slavs.6 He encouraged the Slovaks to develope a literary style of their own in order to increase their national pride and to create a national literature. For exactly these reasons, I.:udovit sttir (1815-1856) founded the modern Slovak literary language. The use of Slovak in literature, stur believed, would unite the people in a struggle against the Magyars, and also bring education to the common people, who spoke only Slovak. sttir was not involved only with the beginning of the standard Slovak literary language but also worked to organize all aspects of Slovak national life in accordance with enlightened humanism. 7 In 1845 stur began to publish the first Slovak language �SLOVAKIA 107 periodical, Slovenskje Ndrodnje Novini. The publication of $tur's work Ndrecia Slovenskuo a Potreba Pisanja V Tomto Ndreci 0846) together with Nduka Reci Slovenskej (1846) caused the final acceptance of Slovak as the literary language by all Slovak intellectuals. In 1849 $tur succeeded in having Slovak recognized as the language to be used in secondary schools.8 Writing at the same time as $tur was Jan Holly (1785-1849) whose Slovak hexameters about Svatopluk, Cyril and Methodius, and Slavdom made him a beloved and famous poet. He was also the greatest follower of Bernolak's literary school. A more versatile writer who lived in this period was Miloslav Hurban (1817-1888). He wrote for the magazine Nitra. He also wrote botn lyric poetry and prose and his most famous work is a historical story from the fourteenth century entitled Olejkdr and a story of his own time called Slovak Pupils. 9 A. Sladkovic (1820-1872), was another talented Slovak poet who wrote lyric-epics and displayed the influence of the Russian author Puskin and of the English Byron. He wrote a poem entitled Marina which is pan-Slavistic and a religious allegory. An epic poem founded on local tradition is Detvan which speaks of the soul of the Slovak nation. His work is sentimental and romantic, but contains enough realism to counterbalance these traits. 10 Janka Kral' (1822-1876) and Jan Botto (1829-1881 ) wrote ballads and romances and in their works display the character of the Slovak peasants. Many nature descriptions also can be found in their writings. Kral' wrote in the style of the romantics; his poems are melancholy. The source of Botto's most popular wor:kl was the Slovak ballad about Janosik. His verse is harmonious and descriptive, but plaintive. A poet very similar to Kral' and Botto is Samo Chalupka (1812-1883 ) , but his epic poems from ancient Slav history have a style which is much more terse and less romantic.0 1 The careers of all of these writers were aided by a halt in the Magyar persecutions. The freedom given to the Slovak authors enabled them to be more productive. At this time (1860) the first Slovak novels appeared. �108 SLOVAKIA Janko Kalincak (1822-1871) for example, wrote both historical stories and also realistic stories from contemporary Slovak life. His story Restoration is typical of his style and is about Magyar elections. The influence of Byron and of Polish literature can be found in his work. 12 In 1863 the Emperor allowed the Slovaks to form a scientific and literary organization, the Matica Slovenska, which was headed by Bishop Moyses. This organization published collections of proverbs and folk-songs, and also novels, scientific books, and poems. It was a vital center for Slovak intellectual activity. But soon new persecutions began and the literary progress of the Slovaks was impeded by the Magyars. Magyar was declared as the only state language and Slovak leaders who protested were imprisoned. All Slovak Journals and Societies, including the Matica, were suppressed . The only publications which survived the end of the nineteenth century and which maintained the national spirit were the N<irodnie Noviny and Slovenske Pohl'ady. The Slovenslce Pohl'ady soon attracted a new generation of writers. In 1881 one of the editors was Svetozar Hurban Vajansky (1847-1916 ). In the magazine he published the works of the Russian realists, Tolstoy, Chekhov and Turgenev. The writings of these authors had a profound effect upon the Slovaks. Previous to this time the age of national romanticism had prevaded in Slovak literature_ Now the younger writers were coming under the influence of the Russian realists and soon put an end to the era of pseudo-romantic mannerisms. A new interest in the subjective experience of the artist arose ; his own individuality was most important and he expressed boldly his view of life. Besides starting the realist movement as editor of the Slovenslce Pohl'ady, Vajansky also wrote prose and poetry which belonged to the new age of realism. His work shows the influence of the Russians, yet he maintains some measure of conservativism and like stur his writings show his great pride in his Slovak nationality. The best of his books is Tatry a More. His prose works dealt with the political and social life of the Slovak intelligentsia. 13 Two other realists who helped, this type of literature gain in victory in Slovakia were Pavel Orszagh-Hviezdoslav �SLOVAKIA 109 (1849-1922) and Martin Kukucin (1860-1927). Hviezdoslav can be considered the greatest Slovak poet up to the early twentieth century. His works were influenced by Sladkovic and Kollar. His poems display his rich imagination, his sensitivity and his patriotism. He wrote lyrics and also epics, the greatest of which is H djnikova zena. This epic gives valuable descriptions of nature and also of the Slovak culture, traditions and religion. He often wrote with a Biblical theme . Although his form was that of a skilled and sophisticated poet, the soul which he displayed in his works remained that of a simple Slovak peasant. This is what makes his work so valuable: he reveals the spirit of the Slovak people to the world.14 Kukucin also wrote of the lives of the peasants but with an even greater realism and less sentimentality. His novel Dom v Strdni is good and is typical of his work. In general, he is more progressive than Vajansky. 15 About 1900, several more publications began which were supported entirely by younger writers. In these the students expressed quite radical beliefs and again a new type of literature was begun. The progressive realism of Kukucin was abandoned by the new generation of writers and critical realism became the new literary style. As the name implies, the new style of writing observed the political, social and moral world "objectively" , reported the faults that were seen, and demanded improvement. This literary school included writers like B . Slancikova 0867-1951) , L. Nadasi-Jege 0866-1940), T. G. Tajovsky 0874-1940 ) , J. Jesensky (1874-1945) and others. The leading poet of the Slovak Modernist is Ivan Krasko (1886-1958 ) . He was a lyrist and impressionist who wrote symbolically. He mourned the slavery of the Slovaks, and the effects which it had upon them. Although he wrote of the sadness and despair which he saw, the most lasting influence which he had upon his nation was to give it hope. Krasko influenced several generations of poets. He not only expressed the national life of Slovakia, but also all aspects of the life of modern man.16 The advent of World War I brought a temporary halt to the production of Slovak literature. Immediately after the war there was also a silence; the older writers were involved in organizing the political activities of the new �110 SLOVAKIA Czecho-Slovak Republic, and the younger writers had not developed their talents to any great extent. But finally in 1922 the publications Slovenske Pohl'ady and Prudy began again. The young writers grouped around these magazines and soom were publishing highly polished works in them which greatly contributed to Slovak literature. Hviezdoslav, the greatest Slovak poet died in 1921. But very soon after his death Slovak literature was teeming literary names, both old and new. In addition to the established writers who were reaching their artistic maturity (M. Razus, I. Grebac-Orlov, J. Jesensky, J. GregorTajovsky, T. Milkin, V. Roy etc.) the most significant event was the appearance of young authors who were soon to change the character and tempo of the Slovak literary life. They include such well known names as J . Smrek, v . Beniak, A. zarnov, E . B. Lukac, T. J . Gaspar, J. Niznansky, L. Novomesky, S . Krcmery, J . c. Hronsky, M. Urban, J. Ponican, J . Branecky, G. Va.mos, etc. These young writers were cosmopolitan in outlook, no longer satisfied with the events in their native village or even in Bratislava or Prague, but keenly following the artistic development in Paris, London, Rome, Berlin and Moscow . They formed artistic school and literary groups eagerly trying to catch up with the rest of the intellectual world. But in spite of this absorbing attention they paid to the world outside the Slovak writers were acutely aware of the wrongs and injustices to which their nation was exposed in the Czech-dominated Czecho-Slovakia. Many of them warningly lifted their voices of protest against this unequal partnership (e.g. A. zarnov, M . Razus, I. GrebacOrlov, J. C. Hronsky ) and demanded a more just and equitable deal for their nation. Stresses and strains, both internal and external, led in 1938-39 to gradual disappearance of Czecho-Slovakia and out of its ruins grew an independent Slovakia. Slovak writers almost without exception warmly greeted this dawn of a new epoch. The duration of the Slovak state ( 19391945 ) was, indeed, a golden age of Slovak literature. 17 The Slovak Writers Association numbered abou 400 members and their literary output in 1939-45 amounted to some 1,000 books of verse, novels and drama. Far more important �SLOVAKIA 111 than this quantity was the quality of their work which reached unsurpassed heights. This brief essay permits only a few names to be mentioned from an extensive catalogue of literary personalities. The most successful writers of novel and short stories were: J . C. Hronsky, M. Urban, M. Figuli, s. Rysura, D. Chrobak, L. Ondrejov, P . H . Jurina, s. Graf. Valentin Beniak, A. zarnov, K . Strmen, J. Kostra, R. Dilong, J . Haranta, J. Silan, J. Smrek, V. Reisel excelled as poets. The best known playwrights were I. Stodola and J . BarcIvan. The revolutionary changes which took place in Slovak politics after World War II were paralleled by equally drastic changes in the literature. The Communist occupation of Slovakia stopped the publication of the works of all those authors who were Catholic and who would not compromise their ideals and beliefs and take up the cause of the proletariat. The trend of Slovak literature changed but the best of the Slovak writers, Urban, Hronsky, Gaspar, Smrek, Lukac, and Beniak were not involved in the new trend. Many of these authors sought exile in other countries where they would be permitted to write and publish without government oppression or restriction. Some of the Slovak authors who are now living and writing in countries other than their native land are Karol Strmen (1921- ) who translated the New Testament into Slovak ( 1954), Milos K. Mlynarovic ( 1887-) who it the oldest living Slovak poet, Marian ziar, ~udo Besenovsky, Gorazd Zvonicky, Jan Okal' and Marusa Juskova.18 Msgr. Milos K. Mlynarovic, who is now living in the United States is a mature and productive writer who has authored books of poetry, n~vels, and religious writings. The main themes of his work are God, Church and the Slovak nation. In this sense Mlynarovic is a traditional poet since these have been the predominant themes of Slovak writers since the mid-1800's. His first book of verse was entitled Sldvia (1919) . After its publication, several prose works were written by him. The second book of poetry, showing the influence of Krasko, was Veliky Boh Malych ( 1934). In 1948 a volume entitled Boha Hl'adam �SLOVAKIA 112 was published in Slovakia and with optimism in man, provided a great Slovak literature which dwelt upon ing of war. Two other volumes of then are Testament Krdl'a Sfdc, prayer, and Dejiny Srdca. 19 its theme of hope and contrast to the native the horror and sufferverse published since meditative poems of All of these authors and countless other Slovak writers not mentioned have contributed greatly to the culture of the world and to the artistic development of their country. In the light of objective examination they have certainly represented their native land well. It has been said that "The Slovak literature of the present .. . wants to express its basic raison d'etre and its great mission among the people-the propagation of love of life, love of man, active desire for freedom, respect for the work of the people and faith in their future." 20 It can only be hoped that someday Slovakia will be given its complete freedom so that the achievement of these noble goals may be carried out, and the authors now in exile may return to their native land to achieve further progress in Slovakia's literary world. ( First Prize Award) FOOTNOTES 1) Vavro Srobar, "Cultural Progress in Slovakia," Slovakia Then And Now (Prague, 1931), 107. 2) "Slovak Literature," New Catholic Encyclopedia, XIII (New York, 1966) , 293. 3) "Slovak Literature," 293. 4) William E. Harkins, Czech and Slovak Literature (New York, 1950), 30. 5) Vladimir Nosek, The Spirit of Bohemia: A Survey of Czechoslovak History, Music, and Literature (London, 1926), 142. 6) Vladimir Nosek, p. 144. 7) William E. Harkins, p. 32. 8) "Slovak Literature," p. 292. 9) Vladimir Nosek, p. 304. 10) Vladimir Nosek, p. 305. 11) Vladimir Nosek, p. 305. 12) Vladimir Nosek, p. 306. �SLOVAKIA 113 13) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 14) Vladimir Nosek, p. 309. 15) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 16) Dr. Mojmir Otruba and Dr. Zdenek Pe~at, ed., Th e Linden Tre es - An Anthology of Czech and Slov ak L i terature 1890-1960 (Prague, 1962) , p . 316. 17) Dr. E. .Zatko, " Slovenska duchovna tvorba" in Slov enska r epublika 1939-1945, Obrana Press, Scranton, Pa., 1949, pp. 202-210. F . Vnuk, " Sedemnast' neurodn ych rokov slovenskej li teratury" , in L i t erarny Almanach 1966, Middletown, Pa., 1965, pp. 19-28. 18) "Slovak Literature," p. 195. 19) F . Vnuk, "A Poet in Exile," Slovakia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-148. 20) Dr. Mojmir Otruba, p. 21. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ha rkins, William E. Czech and Slovak L i terature. New York, 1950. Nosek, Vladimir. The Spirit of Bohemia: A Survey of Czechoslovak H istory, Music, and L i terature. London, 1926. Otruba, Mojmir, and Zdenek Pefat, ed. The Linden Tree- A n Anthology of Czech and Slovak L i terature 1890-1960. Prague, 1962. " Slovak Literature," New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1966. Seton-Watson, R. W. arranger.Slov akia Then And Now. Prague, 1931. Vnuk, F . "A Poet in Exile, " Slov akia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-152. J\1atica Slovenska ( Second Prize Award) In the year 1963, Matica Slovenska, the cultural institution of the Slovaks, celebrated its hundredth anniversary. At this time, the citizens of the entire CzechoSlovak Republic recalled the history of the Slovak national and social fight for their very existence and for a cultural revolution. "Matica Slovenska" is the name of a central and highest Slovak Institute of culture, literature, art and science. "Matica Slovenska" means "Slovak Mother," the word "Matica" being an endearing as well as dignified form for mother. It was founded in the city of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. The Matica elected as its firs t President a distinguished Slovak leader, Bishop Stefan � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1970, Vol. 20 Description An account of the resource Vol. 20 (No. 43), 1970. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 105 Winning Essays-Slovak League Scholarship Awards Karen Ann S y z d e k : The Developm e nt of Slovak Literature It has been said that the literary activitv of a country is dependent upon the economic stability, educational opportunity, political liberty and intellectual capability of its people. 1 For centuries, the oppressive rule of the Magyars had so deprived the Slovaks of the first three factors that their literature was given no chance to grow. The artistic ability of the people of Slovakia was expressed mainly in their folk songs and dances, folk poetry, sagas and ballads, but did not often reach a more formal levely until about 1650. Finally, with the coming of the Baroque period, the University of Trnava became a source of Slovak Catholic literature. The works which came from this university were written in the native Slovak and in Latin. One of the professors, a Jesuit priest, Martin Szentivanyi ( 16331705) was the author of 65 works including an encyclopedia, Curiosiora et Selectoria Variarum Scientiarum Miscellanea (1686-1702 ) and Dissertationes (1689 ) 2 Political issues became very much a part of Slovak literature with the work of Jan Baltazar Magin ( 1682-1735) who wrote a defense of Slovaks and of their rights. Another literary defender of his country was Alexander Macsay (d. 1721) who battled for the Slovak language in Panes Primitiarium (1718 ) . Also a milestone in Slovakia's literary history was the appearance of the first Slovak novel Rene Mlddenca Prihody a Skusenosti (1783 ) written by Jozef Ignac Bajza (1755-1836) .3 With the beginning of the age of Enlightenment, there was an upsurge of national consciousness in Slovakia. As the people became aware of their linguistic and racial individuality they sought to eliminate the variance between the language of books and the vernacular. One of the main proponents of this movement was Anton Bernolak ( 1762- 106 SLOVAKIA 1813) who codified the Slovak language in his linguistic works Dissertatio Philologico-Critic a de Litteris Slavorum and Orthographia (1787), Grammatica Slavica (1790), Etymologia Vocum Slavicarum (1791) and in a dictionary published posthumously (1825). Bernolak also began several societies which encouraged work in the field of Slovak literature. 4 Bernolak's advocation of Slovak as a literary language was opposed by the Protestant writers, including Jan Kollar (1793-1852) and Pavel Jozef safarik 0795-1861) . Although these two men used Czech in all of their writings, they contributed much to the literary activity in Slovakia. Jan Kollar was the forerunner of all of Slovakia's poets. His enthusiasm in Sldva's Daughter inspired the Slavs in their fight for nationalism and for their language. He was also a supporter of pan-Slavism because he mistakenly believed that since the Slovaks were so few in number, they could best achieve their independence through an understanding with the other Slavic people. Kollar's pride in his native country is apparent in many of his poems and he often expressed the belief that the past had belonged to the Romans, the present to the Teutons and the future to the Slavs. He hoped to see the Slavic nations living in peaceful but self-ruling cooperation.5 The work of Pavel Jozef safarik is of a more permanent value than that of Kollar, however. safarik was a poet and scientist who dealt with the theme of Slav Antiquities, the history of Slav literature and the origins of the Slavs.6 He encouraged the Slovaks to develope a literary style of their own in order to increase their national pride and to create a national literature. For exactly these reasons, I.:udovit sttir (1815-1856) founded the modern Slovak literary language. The use of Slovak in literature, stur believed, would unite the people in a struggle against the Magyars, and also bring education to the common people, who spoke only Slovak. sttir was not involved only with the beginning of the standard Slovak literary language but also worked to organize all aspects of Slovak national life in accordance with enlightened humanism. 7 In 1845 stur began to publish the first Slovak language SLOVAKIA 107 periodical, Slovenskje Ndrodnje Novini. The publication of $tur's work Ndrecia Slovenskuo a Potreba Pisanja V Tomto Ndreci 0846) together with Nduka Reci Slovenskej (1846) caused the final acceptance of Slovak as the literary language by all Slovak intellectuals. In 1849 $tur succeeded in having Slovak recognized as the language to be used in secondary schools.8 Writing at the same time as $tur was Jan Holly (1785-1849) whose Slovak hexameters about Svatopluk, Cyril and Methodius, and Slavdom made him a beloved and famous poet. He was also the greatest follower of Bernolak's literary school. A more versatile writer who lived in this period was Miloslav Hurban (1817-1888). He wrote for the magazine Nitra. He also wrote botn lyric poetry and prose and his most famous work is a historical story from the fourteenth century entitled Olejkdr and a story of his own time called Slovak Pupils. 9 A. Sladkovic (1820-1872), was another talented Slovak poet who wrote lyric-epics and displayed the influence of the Russian author Puskin and of the English Byron. He wrote a poem entitled Marina which is pan-Slavistic and a religious allegory. An epic poem founded on local tradition is Detvan which speaks of the soul of the Slovak nation. His work is sentimental and romantic, but contains enough realism to counterbalance these traits. 10 Janka Kral' (1822-1876) and Jan Botto (1829-1881 ) wrote ballads and romances and in their works display the character of the Slovak peasants. Many nature descriptions also can be found in their writings. Kral' wrote in the style of the romantics; his poems are melancholy. The source of Botto's most popular wor:kl was the Slovak ballad about Janosik. His verse is harmonious and descriptive, but plaintive. A poet very similar to Kral' and Botto is Samo Chalupka (1812-1883 ) , but his epic poems from ancient Slav history have a style which is much more terse and less romantic.0 1 The careers of all of these writers were aided by a halt in the Magyar persecutions. The freedom given to the Slovak authors enabled them to be more productive. At this time (1860) the first Slovak novels appeared. 108 SLOVAKIA Janko Kalincak (1822-1871) for example, wrote both historical stories and also realistic stories from contemporary Slovak life. His story Restoration is typical of his style and is about Magyar elections. The influence of Byron and of Polish literature can be found in his work. 12 In 1863 the Emperor allowed the Slovaks to form a scientific and literary organization, the Matica Slovenska, which was headed by Bishop Moyses. This organization published collections of proverbs and folk-songs, and also novels, scientific books, and poems. It was a vital center for Slovak intellectual activity. But soon new persecutions began and the literary progress of the Slovaks was impeded by the Magyars. Magyar was declared as the only state language and Slovak leaders who protested were imprisoned. All Slovak Journals and Societies, including the Matica, were suppressed . The only publications which survived the end of the nineteenth century and which maintained the national spirit were the N<irodnie Noviny and Slovenske Pohl'ady. The Slovenslce Pohl'ady soon attracted a new generation of writers. In 1881 one of the editors was Svetozar Hurban Vajansky (1847-1916 ). In the magazine he published the works of the Russian realists, Tolstoy, Chekhov and Turgenev. The writings of these authors had a profound effect upon the Slovaks. Previous to this time the age of national romanticism had prevaded in Slovak literature_ Now the younger writers were coming under the influence of the Russian realists and soon put an end to the era of pseudo-romantic mannerisms. A new interest in the subjective experience of the artist arose ; his own individuality was most important and he expressed boldly his view of life. Besides starting the realist movement as editor of the Slovenslce Pohl'ady, Vajansky also wrote prose and poetry which belonged to the new age of realism. His work shows the influence of the Russians, yet he maintains some measure of conservativism and like stur his writings show his great pride in his Slovak nationality. The best of his books is Tatry a More. His prose works dealt with the political and social life of the Slovak intelligentsia. 13 Two other realists who helped, this type of literature gain in victory in Slovakia were Pavel Orszagh-Hviezdoslav SLOVAKIA 109 (1849-1922) and Martin Kukucin (1860-1927). Hviezdoslav can be considered the greatest Slovak poet up to the early twentieth century. His works were influenced by Sladkovic and Kollar. His poems display his rich imagination, his sensitivity and his patriotism. He wrote lyrics and also epics, the greatest of which is H djnikova zena. This epic gives valuable descriptions of nature and also of the Slovak culture, traditions and religion. He often wrote with a Biblical theme . Although his form was that of a skilled and sophisticated poet, the soul which he displayed in his works remained that of a simple Slovak peasant. This is what makes his work so valuable: he reveals the spirit of the Slovak people to the world.14 Kukucin also wrote of the lives of the peasants but with an even greater realism and less sentimentality. His novel Dom v Strdni is good and is typical of his work. In general, he is more progressive than Vajansky. 15 About 1900, several more publications began which were supported entirely by younger writers. In these the students expressed quite radical beliefs and again a new type of literature was begun. The progressive realism of Kukucin was abandoned by the new generation of writers and critical realism became the new literary style. As the name implies, the new style of writing observed the political, social and moral world "objectively" , reported the faults that were seen, and demanded improvement. This literary school included writers like B . Slancikova 0867-1951) , L. Nadasi-Jege 0866-1940), T. G. Tajovsky 0874-1940 ) , J. Jesensky (1874-1945) and others. The leading poet of the Slovak Modernist is Ivan Krasko (1886-1958 ) . He was a lyrist and impressionist who wrote symbolically. He mourned the slavery of the Slovaks, and the effects which it had upon them. Although he wrote of the sadness and despair which he saw, the most lasting influence which he had upon his nation was to give it hope. Krasko influenced several generations of poets. He not only expressed the national life of Slovakia, but also all aspects of the life of modern man.16 The advent of World War I brought a temporary halt to the production of Slovak literature. Immediately after the war there was also a silence; the older writers were involved in organizing the political activities of the new 110 SLOVAKIA Czecho-Slovak Republic, and the younger writers had not developed their talents to any great extent. But finally in 1922 the publications Slovenske Pohl'ady and Prudy began again. The young writers grouped around these magazines and soom were publishing highly polished works in them which greatly contributed to Slovak literature. Hviezdoslav, the greatest Slovak poet died in 1921. But very soon after his death Slovak literature was teeming literary names, both old and new. In addition to the established writers who were reaching their artistic maturity (M. Razus, I. Grebac-Orlov, J. Jesensky, J. GregorTajovsky, T. Milkin, V. Roy etc.) the most significant event was the appearance of young authors who were soon to change the character and tempo of the Slovak literary life. They include such well known names as J . Smrek, v . Beniak, A. zarnov, E . B. Lukac, T. J . Gaspar, J. Niznansky, L. Novomesky, S . Krcmery, J . c. Hronsky, M. Urban, J. Ponican, J . Branecky, G. Va.mos, etc. These young writers were cosmopolitan in outlook, no longer satisfied with the events in their native village or even in Bratislava or Prague, but keenly following the artistic development in Paris, London, Rome, Berlin and Moscow . They formed artistic school and literary groups eagerly trying to catch up with the rest of the intellectual world. But in spite of this absorbing attention they paid to the world outside the Slovak writers were acutely aware of the wrongs and injustices to which their nation was exposed in the Czech-dominated Czecho-Slovakia. Many of them warningly lifted their voices of protest against this unequal partnership (e.g. A. zarnov, M . Razus, I. GrebacOrlov, J. C. Hronsky ) and demanded a more just and equitable deal for their nation. Stresses and strains, both internal and external, led in 1938-39 to gradual disappearance of Czecho-Slovakia and out of its ruins grew an independent Slovakia. Slovak writers almost without exception warmly greeted this dawn of a new epoch. The duration of the Slovak state ( 19391945 ) was, indeed, a golden age of Slovak literature. 17 The Slovak Writers Association numbered abou 400 members and their literary output in 1939-45 amounted to some 1,000 books of verse, novels and drama. Far more important SLOVAKIA 111 than this quantity was the quality of their work which reached unsurpassed heights. This brief essay permits only a few names to be mentioned from an extensive catalogue of literary personalities. The most successful writers of novel and short stories were: J . C. Hronsky, M. Urban, M. Figuli, s. Rysura, D. Chrobak, L. Ondrejov, P . H . Jurina, s. Graf. Valentin Beniak, A. zarnov, K . Strmen, J. Kostra, R. Dilong, J . Haranta, J. Silan, J. Smrek, V. Reisel excelled as poets. The best known playwrights were I. Stodola and J . BarcIvan. The revolutionary changes which took place in Slovak politics after World War II were paralleled by equally drastic changes in the literature. The Communist occupation of Slovakia stopped the publication of the works of all those authors who were Catholic and who would not compromise their ideals and beliefs and take up the cause of the proletariat. The trend of Slovak literature changed but the best of the Slovak writers, Urban, Hronsky, Gaspar, Smrek, Lukac, and Beniak were not involved in the new trend. Many of these authors sought exile in other countries where they would be permitted to write and publish without government oppression or restriction. Some of the Slovak authors who are now living and writing in countries other than their native land are Karol Strmen (1921- ) who translated the New Testament into Slovak ( 1954), Milos K. Mlynarovic ( 1887-) who it the oldest living Slovak poet, Marian ziar, ~udo Besenovsky, Gorazd Zvonicky, Jan Okal' and Marusa Juskova.18 Msgr. Milos K. Mlynarovic, who is now living in the United States is a mature and productive writer who has authored books of poetry, n~vels, and religious writings. The main themes of his work are God, Church and the Slovak nation. In this sense Mlynarovic is a traditional poet since these have been the predominant themes of Slovak writers since the mid-1800's. His first book of verse was entitled Sldvia (1919) . After its publication, several prose works were written by him. The second book of poetry, showing the influence of Krasko, was Veliky Boh Malych ( 1934). In 1948 a volume entitled Boha Hl'adam SLOVAKIA 112 was published in Slovakia and with optimism in man, provided a great Slovak literature which dwelt upon ing of war. Two other volumes of then are Testament Krdl'a Sfdc, prayer, and Dejiny Srdca. 19 its theme of hope and contrast to the native the horror and sufferverse published since meditative poems of All of these authors and countless other Slovak writers not mentioned have contributed greatly to the culture of the world and to the artistic development of their country. In the light of objective examination they have certainly represented their native land well. It has been said that "The Slovak literature of the present .. . wants to express its basic raison d'etre and its great mission among the people-the propagation of love of life, love of man, active desire for freedom, respect for the work of the people and faith in their future." 20 It can only be hoped that someday Slovakia will be given its complete freedom so that the achievement of these noble goals may be carried out, and the authors now in exile may return to their native land to achieve further progress in Slovakia's literary world. ( First Prize Award) FOOTNOTES 1) Vavro Srobar, "Cultural Progress in Slovakia," Slovakia Then And Now (Prague, 1931), 107. 2) "Slovak Literature," New Catholic Encyclopedia, XIII (New York, 1966) , 293. 3) "Slovak Literature," 293. 4) William E. Harkins, Czech and Slovak Literature (New York, 1950), 30. 5) Vladimir Nosek, The Spirit of Bohemia: A Survey of Czechoslovak History, Music, and Literature (London, 1926), 142. 6) Vladimir Nosek, p. 144. 7) William E. Harkins, p. 32. 8) "Slovak Literature," p. 292. 9) Vladimir Nosek, p. 304. 10) Vladimir Nosek, p. 305. 11) Vladimir Nosek, p. 305. 12) Vladimir Nosek, p. 306. SLOVAKIA 113 13) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 14) Vladimir Nosek, p. 309. 15) Vladimir Nosek, p. 310. 16) Dr. Mojmir Otruba and Dr. Zdenek Pe~at, ed., Th e Linden Tre es - An Anthology of Czech and Slov ak L i terature 1890-1960 (Prague, 1962) , p . 316. 17) Dr. E. .Zatko, " Slovenska duchovna tvorba" in Slov enska r epublika 1939-1945, Obrana Press, Scranton, Pa., 1949, pp. 202-210. F . Vnuk, " Sedemnast' neurodn ych rokov slovenskej li teratury" , in L i t erarny Almanach 1966, Middletown, Pa., 1965, pp. 19-28. 18) "Slovak Literature," p. 195. 19) F . Vnuk, "A Poet in Exile," Slovakia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-148. 20) Dr. Mojmir Otruba, p. 21. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ha rkins, William E. Czech and Slovak L i terature. New York, 1950. Nosek, Vladimir. The Spirit of Bohemia: A Survey of Czechoslovak H istory, Music, and L i terature. London, 1926. Otruba, Mojmir, and Zdenek Pefat, ed. The Linden Tree- A n Anthology of Czech and Slovak L i terature 1890-1960. Prague, 1962. " Slovak Literature," New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1966. Seton-Watson, R. W. arranger.Slov akia Then And Now. Prague, 1931. Vnuk, F . "A Poet in Exile, " Slov akia, XVII, no. 40 (1967), 144-152. J\1atica Slovenska ( Second Prize Award) In the year 1963, Matica Slovenska, the cultural institution of the Slovaks, celebrated its hundredth anniversary. At this time, the citizens of the entire CzechoSlovak Republic recalled the history of the Slovak national and social fight for their very existence and for a cultural revolution. "Matica Slovenska" is the name of a central and highest Slovak Institute of culture, literature, art and science. "Matica Slovenska" means "Slovak Mother," the word "Matica" being an endearing as well as dignified form for mother. It was founded in the city of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. The Matica elected as its firs t President a distinguished Slovak leader, Bishop Stefan  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Development of Slovak Literature Description An account of the resource Karen Ann Syzdek Slovakia, Vol. 20 (No. 43), 1970 pp. 105-113 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Syzdek, Karen Ann Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/f841e2bddb560de426f2a8cd936a6f02.pdf e149e9d1fae319afac2fbbe288f8448e PDF Text Text 38 SLOVA.KIA THE DIPLOl\lATIC SERVICE OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC DR. JOSEPH MIKUŠ Considering lhe circumstances under whlch the Slovak Sta.te originaled in post-Munich Europe, as well as lhe circumstances under whic:h lt existed and then came to a dramatic, though traglc end in 19•15, Slovak cliplomacy certainly had a most clifficult task to perforrn. Even though the Slovak diplomatic corps was iiware of the fact that the natlonal principle, whlch had given llfe to the Slovak Republlc, was a rnodern and progressive concept, nevertheless, at every step it had to contend wlth lhe prejudlces wblch preva.iled in certaln States of Europe, namely: tbe role playecl by ~rmany when the Slovak State originated and the relations - both foreigu and polltical - of Slovakia ,vith the German Reic:h as formulated in tbe so-called "Sc:hutzvertrag" (Treaty of Prolection). The first task of Slovak cliplomacy was to gain for the Slovak Hepublic as wide an internationa.l .recognilion a.s posslble. We wanted not only our nelghbors in Central Europe, but also the States in the most distant corners of the world, to take notice o( our color on the map or Europe. That was tbe acUvity whlch Slovak e mbassies in the neutra! States (Switzerland, the Vatlcan and Spain) were c·alled on to develop. This actlvlty was characterized by visits, memoraJ1da and notes. Only the war prevented the Slovak diplomatlc corps from completely consolidating the positlon of the Slovak State. ilut even then we must note that twenty-seven States diel recogl)ize tbe Slovak Republlc and had diplomatic or consular contacts with it. Among tbem, besldes tbe European States, were also Aslatic and South American States. Slovakia was, therefore, recognized not only by the States of the German-ItaliaJ1-Japanese coalltion, but also by several neutra.! States and some of the States of the Allled Bloc, among wbich, in the western hemispbere, were Costa Hica and J<,cuador. Not many people grasped the meaning of dlplomacy for the Slovak State. lt was often sald tbat we were a small State, thať events would run their course regardless whether our forelgn servlce wa.s' \\"eak or strong. Even Forelgn Mlnisler Tuka a nd his de,puty Polyák held to tbis v1ew. And it was for that reason that the budget ot the Foreign Ministry was alwa.ys so small. Embassles and consulates were established only In the States and clties which were considered more slgnlficant for us. The Slovak Republlc had embassies in Budapest, Warsaw, Moscow, Berlin, Bucharest, Sophla; In tbe Vatlcan and the Qulrlnal; Berne, Madrid, Helsinki, Belgrade and later, Zagreb. There were General Consulates in Vienna, MUan, Stockholm, London, and Prague. Furthermore, there were several honorary consulates in foreign lands, as well as repatriatlon commlsslons in Paris and Brus!<els. At limes the competency of a slngle embassy extended over the territory or several States. The embassy in Berlin, for example, was deslgna.ted also for Denmark and the lla.ltlc States. The embassy in Madrid had to take care of practlcally the whole or Soutb America and also serve as a connecting llnk wltb the Slovaks in North America. �BLOVAKlA 39 k was regrettable tbat for the narrow-mindedness of tbe ló'oreign Minister himself the Slovak forelgn service could not develop to the extent reo.ulred by Slovak national interests. lf we would bave established in embassy in Ecuador, for example, tbe embassy probably would have ci>ntinued to exh1t just as the P.mbassies of the Baltic States did in London and Washington. Slovak diplomacy, ot' course. belped in the economic field also. Even thougb the frozen economy of the States of war-torn Europe did not make thls task any easier, nevertheless tbe Slovak Republic attained quite an intensified circulation of economic relations in other States, whether considered on the basis of excha.nge paymenLs, or compensation of products, or by overrating in clearing, etc. Slovak diplomacy did its work well along these lines, even tbougb freQuently it had to compete wlt.h di,plomac ies of States wltb a long tradition and great experiences. Slovak products, trademarked "1\lade in Slovakia," were banled by trains over Europe and by shlps acToss the Mediterranean Sea. The i1tablllzation of Slovak exchange was due largely to Slovak foreign trade; it attavied the greMest degree of stability of practically all exchanges of the Centra! European Slates. But we did not lag behind even in the field of cultuľe. A cultural attaché functioned in every embassy. These men saw to it that Slovakia became known in the States to which they were sent. They made contacts with the press, radlo, universitles, etc. Slovak lectures were arranged at tbe universities of Leipzig, Rome, Na.ples. and Vien-na. Some legatlon offices issued information bulletin-s about Slovakla. Such bulletin-s were publisbed regularly by the em• bassies in Berne, Madrid and the General Consulate . In Stockholm. Slovak books also found their way into foreign lands through the e mbassies. Thus, tbe only objective books about Slovakia in the Parls libraries are those published by the Association for Slovak!I in Foreign Lands from the time of the Slovak State. Slovak dlplomatic personnel also publlsbed severaJ books in foreign \anguages about Slovakia and its people. Thus, the foreigner wbo '!tudies the Slovak question today ;_-, no longer dependent on the tendencious books of Czech and Magyar authors. From the cultural standpoint. significant was the reality that many Slovak artists could be schooled in foreign lands. AJso many more students than ever before were able to study at forelgn universities, eitber as excbange students or at thelr own ex,pense. Many students lived and studied not only in Vienna, Berlin, and J..,eipzig, but aJso in Switzerland, Italy and Spai!l. Toward tbe end of the war, the Slovak diplomatic corps suc<·essfully performed some signlficant acts of a bumanitarian characler. For example, Ing. Mračna, Chief of the pol!tical section of the Ministry of Foreign Affalrs. defended many American and French soldiers who escaped to Slovakia from German prison camps. And ~o it was that we were successful unto the very end of the war in keeping in Slovakia, in the luxurious confines of the Royal Hotel In Piešťany, the ltalian and Rumanian dlplomats who deserted Mu~solinl and Antonescu. lt must be emphasized that lhe Slovak diplomatic corps represented. the most independent group of the admlnlstratlon of tb e �tO SLOVA.KLA Slovak State. Since the Germans recognized Slovakia as an ·independent State, the diplomatlc corps conducted itself abroad in a manner befitting the foreign service of an independent State. Slovak representatlves abroad were not controJled by aliens and acted toward German representatives in much the same manner as they did toward the representatives of other States. Because Slovak foreign servlce often was not in line with the regulations of the "Schutzver· trag" it was suspected in the eyese of German dlplomacy. For example, the embassy of the Slovak Republic at the Quirinal in Rome had contacts with the British ambassador there In the winter of 1939 and the sprlng of 1940, when England already was at war with Germany. We were lnterested In gettlng Brazllian wool for Slovakia. To bring the wool In by ship from overseas we needed permission from the English authoritles, a so--called "navycert." and we requested one at the Englieh embassy. Quite understandably, the „equest evoked certain fears regarding the final dispositlon of sneh an impoiitant war material. "Will the prepared wool be used in Slovakia, or is it destined for Germany?" we were asked. ,S o that our request might be considered, we had to produce proof with an explanatlon of our political and economic relations with Germany. Two memoranda resulted in which, along with Ambassador Zvrškovec, we showed that though we had a definite poIi tical relationship with Germany, yet the Slovak State was not at al! at war with the Allies and, from the standpoint of commercial po\icy, was completely independent, actlng politically as a neutra! State. It was self-evident, that we did this with Dr. Zvrškovec wlth the knowledge of the Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ferdinand Ďurčanský. Later, when coples oť both these documents got into the hands of the German ambassador in Rome, Von Mackensen, through a member of the Slovak Embassy, and then into the hands of von Ribbentrop, Slovak diplomacy was subject to lts first purge. Presldent Tiso and several members of his Government were called to Salzburg, where on July 29, 1940, tbey had to answer to Hitler for these "undisciplined" acts or U1e Slovak diplomatic corps. "Den Zigeuner, den will ich nicht mehr sehen ! " (this Gypsy I do not want to see any more), Hltler screamed angrlly polntlng to Ďurčan-ský as Tlso was about to preeent bis Ministers. That ls how Ďurčanský was purged and, later, Zvrškovec. And that spelled the end for the free foreign pollcy of the Slovak State. During Tuka's minlstry, and with bis complicity, the ministrles in Bratislava were occupjed by German "beraterl'' (advlsors). But the Slovak embassies in foreign Jands acted quite independently in most cases even after that; not only towards Germany, but even towards Tuka himself. Whlle Tuka proclalmed voclferously that the Slovak Republic "lives and dles with the German Reloh," the Slovak dlplomatlc corps was fully aware or the fact that the Slovak nation wanted to Jive along with Germany or wlthout it, and wlth or wlthout Tnka. Our lnterest was to have Slovakla remain as Jong as posslble outside the domaln of the main military events, out or actual war. Tuka's declaration ot war against Russla in 1941 was regarded as a serlous po\itical mistake by the Slovak foreign service. Tuka failed as a palitician and as a lawyer. Slovak diplomaťy. except for a �SLOVAKIA few exceptlons, was noted for its independence of opinion and action and for its objective reports. lt certainly deserved a better F'oreign Minister; his lack of judgment and foresight was fatal not only for himself, but, alas, even for rthe Slovak State. Along with this uncritlcal tendency, which overestimated Germany and the slgnificance of the "protection" guaranteed the Slovak State by it, the tendency to whlch only one or two members of the Slovak foreign servlce subscribed, >the unity of the Slovak diplomatic corps was also threatened by another tendency: the Czechoslovak tendency. To this category belonged Dr. Szathmáry, Ing. Országh, Ing. Géza Krno and Dr. Raklíányi. For these men the Slovak State was just an episode. Durlng the war they tried to make contact wlth Beneš to offer him their services. Today we know that Ing. Országh, who came to Madrid in May, 1943,. as the chief of the Slovak trade delegation to negotiate a trade agreement, brought some significant material, which he later sent to London. This "Czechoslovak" tendency was responsible for the chicanery wbich the officials of tbe Slovak foreign ministry later had to suffer during tbe so-called "screening" in Bratislava. In its substantial majority, however, tbe Slovak diplomatic corps remained loyal to the concept of tbe independent Slovak State even when lt was jailed for renderlng its service to that State. It is comforting that the most significant factors of the Slovak foreign service are today in foreign lands. and among them: Karol Sidor, Dr. Ferdinand Ďurčanský, Francis Tlso, Dr. Josepb Cieker, Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum, Dr. Galvánek, Dr. Bečko, Dr. Kaššovič, Dr. Pisko, Dr. števek, Dr. A. Grébert, Dr. Blyska, Dr. Ďatelinka, etc. All these men witb the rest of the Slovak emigration are fully aware of wbat the concept of an independent Slovak State means to their natlon today under Communlst rule. Thls concept of the Slovak State could bave been overshadowed by a temporary eclipse of the universal in,ternational constellation only because of the disproportlonate role which the frightened democracies reserved for Russia in Centra! and Eastern Europe at the conferences of Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam. And the Slovak State perished only because the principles of tbe Atlantic Charter and tbe rigbt of nations to selfdetermlnation were completely ignored. But the idea is definitely roorted in tbe blood and marrow of the Slovak nation wblch insists on havlng its own democratlc and independent Staite. Slovak diplomats, therefore, in free foreign lands wlll not let up in their labors until independent Slovakia once again takes its rigbtful place on the map of Europe - preferably a federated Europe. • • • "In the West some indivlduals assert that we are in the hands of the Soviets, yet the Governments look at tblngs differently. We are the Allies of the U.S.S.R. and we shall always remain faithful to the Soviets. We are friends of the West and we shall remain frlends. In flrm alllance witb the U.S.S.R. we are proceedlng and shall proceed our own way." (Dr. Edward Beneš, Prague Broadcast, October 9, 1945). WHO SAID IT? - � 38 SLOVA.KIA THE DIPLOl\lATIC SERVICE OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC DR. JOSEPH MIKUŠ Considering lhe circumstances under whlch the Slovak Sta.te originaled in post-Munich Europe, as well as lhe circumstances under whic:h lt existed and then came to a dramatic, though traglc end in 19•15, Slovak cliplomacy certainly had a most clifficult task to perforrn. Even though the Slovak diplomatic corps was iiware of the fact that the natlonal principle, whlch had given llfe to the Slovak Republlc, was a rnodern and progressive concept, nevertheless, at every step it had to contend wlth lhe prejudlces wblch preva.iled in certaln States of Europe, namely: tbe role playecl by ~rmany when the Slovak State originated and the relations - both foreigu and polltical - of Slovakia ,vith the German Reic:h as formulated in tbe so-called "Sc:hutzvertrag" (Treaty of Prolection). The first task of Slovak cliplomacy was to gain for the Slovak Hepublic as wide an internationa.l .recognilion a.s posslble. We wanted not only our nelghbors in Central Europe, but also the States in the most distant corners of the world, to take notice o( our color on the map or Europe. That was tbe acUvity whlch Slovak e mbassies in the neutra! States (Switzerland, the Vatlcan and Spain) were c·alled on to develop. This actlvlty was characterized by visits, memoraJ1da and notes. Only the war prevented the Slovak diplomatlc corps from completely consolidating the positlon of the Slovak State. ilut even then we must note that twenty-seven States diel recogl)ize tbe Slovak Republlc and had diplomatic or consular contacts with it. Among tbem, besldes tbe European States, were also Aslatic and South American States. Slovakia was, therefore, recognized not only by the States of the German-ItaliaJ1-Japanese coalltion, but also by several neutra.! States and some of the States of the Allled Bloc, among wbich, in the western hemispbere, were Costa Hica and J<,cuador. Not many people grasped the meaning of dlplomacy for the Slovak State. lt was often sald tbat we were a small State, thať events would run their course regardless whether our forelgn servlce wa.s' \\"eak or strong. Even Forelgn Mlnisler Tuka a nd his de,puty Polyák held to tbis v1ew. And it was for that reason that the budget ot the Foreign Ministry was alwa.ys so small. Embassles and consulates were established only In the States and clties which were considered more slgnlficant for us. The Slovak Republlc had embassies in Budapest, Warsaw, Moscow, Berlin, Bucharest, Sophla; In tbe Vatlcan and the Qulrlnal; Berne, Madrid, Helsinki, Belgrade and later, Zagreb. There were General Consulates in Vienna, MUan, Stockholm, London, and Prague. Furthermore, there were several honorary consulates in foreign lands, as well as repatriatlon commlsslons in Paris and Brus!<els. At limes the competency of a slngle embassy extended over the territory or several States. The embassy in Berlin, for example, was deslgna.ted also for Denmark and the lla.ltlc States. The embassy in Madrid had to take care of practlcally the whole or Soutb America and also serve as a connecting llnk wltb the Slovaks in North America. �BLOVAKlA 39 k was regrettable tbat for the narrow-mindedness of tbe ló'oreign Minister himself the Slovak forelgn service could not develop to the extent reo.ulred by Slovak national interests. lf we would bave established in embassy in Ecuador, for example, tbe embassy probably would have ci>ntinued to exh1t just as the P.mbassies of the Baltic States did in London and Washington. Slovak diplomacy, ot' course. belped in the economic field also. Even thougb the frozen economy of the States of war-torn Europe did not make thls task any easier, nevertheless tbe Slovak Republic attained quite an intensified circulation of economic relations in other States, whether considered on the basis of excha.nge paymenLs, or compensation of products, or by overrating in clearing, etc. Slovak diplomacy did its work well along these lines, even tbougb freQuently it had to compete wlt.h di,plomac ies of States wltb a long tradition and great experiences. Slovak products, trademarked "1\lade in Slovakia," were banled by trains over Europe and by shlps acToss the Mediterranean Sea. The i1tablllzation of Slovak exchange was due largely to Slovak foreign trade; it attavied the greMest degree of stability of practically all exchanges of the Centra! European Slates. But we did not lag behind even in the field of cultuľe. A cultural attaché functioned in every embassy. These men saw to it that Slovakia became known in the States to which they were sent. They made contacts with the press, radlo, universitles, etc. Slovak lectures were arranged at tbe universities of Leipzig, Rome, Na.ples. and Vien-na. Some legatlon offices issued information bulletin-s about Slovakla. Such bulletin-s were publisbed regularly by the em• bassies in Berne, Madrid and the General Consulate . In Stockholm. Slovak books also found their way into foreign lands through the e mbassies. Thus, tbe only objective books about Slovakia in the Parls libraries are those published by the Association for Slovak!I in Foreign Lands from the time of the Slovak State. Slovak dlplomatic personnel also publlsbed severaJ books in foreign \anguages about Slovakia and its people. Thus, the foreigner wbo '!tudies the Slovak question today ;_-, no longer dependent on the tendencious books of Czech and Magyar authors. From the cultural standpoint. significant was the reality that many Slovak artists could be schooled in foreign lands. AJso many more students than ever before were able to study at forelgn universities, eitber as excbange students or at thelr own ex,pense. Many students lived and studied not only in Vienna, Berlin, and J..,eipzig, but aJso in Switzerland, Italy and Spai!l. Toward tbe end of the war, the Slovak diplomatic corps suc<·essfully performed some signlficant acts of a bumanitarian characler. For example, Ing. Mračna, Chief of the pol!tical section of the Ministry of Foreign Affalrs. defended many American and French soldiers who escaped to Slovakia from German prison camps. And ~o it was that we were successful unto the very end of the war in keeping in Slovakia, in the luxurious confines of the Royal Hotel In Piešťany, the ltalian and Rumanian dlplomats who deserted Mu~solinl and Antonescu. lt must be emphasized that lhe Slovak diplomatic corps represented. the most independent group of the admlnlstratlon of tb e �tO SLOVA.KLA Slovak State. Since the Germans recognized Slovakia as an ·independent State, the diplomatlc corps conducted itself abroad in a manner befitting the foreign service of an independent State. Slovak representatlves abroad were not controJled by aliens and acted toward German representatives in much the same manner as they did toward the representatives of other States. Because Slovak foreign servlce often was not in line with the regulations of the "Schutzver· trag" it was suspected in the eyese of German dlplomacy. For example, the embassy of the Slovak Republic at the Quirinal in Rome had contacts with the British ambassador there In the winter of 1939 and the sprlng of 1940, when England already was at war with Germany. We were lnterested In gettlng Brazllian wool for Slovakia. To bring the wool In by ship from overseas we needed permission from the English authoritles, a so--called "navycert." and we requested one at the Englieh embassy. Quite understandably, the „equest evoked certain fears regarding the final dispositlon of sneh an impoiitant war material. "Will the prepared wool be used in Slovakia, or is it destined for Germany?" we were asked. ,S o that our request might be considered, we had to produce proof with an explanatlon of our political and economic relations with Germany. Two memoranda resulted in which, along with Ambassador Zvrškovec, we showed that though we had a definite poIi tical relationship with Germany, yet the Slovak State was not at al! at war with the Allies and, from the standpoint of commercial po\icy, was completely independent, actlng politically as a neutra! State. It was self-evident, that we did this with Dr. Zvrškovec wlth the knowledge of the Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ferdinand Ďurčanský. Later, when coples oť both these documents got into the hands of the German ambassador in Rome, Von Mackensen, through a member of the Slovak Embassy, and then into the hands of von Ribbentrop, Slovak diplomacy was subject to lts first purge. Presldent Tiso and several members of his Government were called to Salzburg, where on July 29, 1940, tbey had to answer to Hitler for these "undisciplined" acts or U1e Slovak diplomatic corps. "Den Zigeuner, den will ich nicht mehr sehen ! " (this Gypsy I do not want to see any more), Hltler screamed angrlly polntlng to Ďurčan-ský as Tlso was about to preeent bis Ministers. That ls how Ďurčanský was purged and, later, Zvrškovec. And that spelled the end for the free foreign pollcy of the Slovak State. During Tuka's minlstry, and with bis complicity, the ministrles in Bratislava were occupjed by German "beraterl'' (advlsors). But the Slovak embassies in foreign Jands acted quite independently in most cases even after that; not only towards Germany, but even towards Tuka himself. Whlle Tuka proclalmed voclferously that the Slovak Republic "lives and dles with the German Reloh," the Slovak dlplomatlc corps was fully aware or the fact that the Slovak nation wanted to Jive along with Germany or wlthout it, and wlth or wlthout Tnka. Our lnterest was to have Slovakla remain as Jong as posslble outside the domaln of the main military events, out or actual war. Tuka's declaration ot war against Russla in 1941 was regarded as a serlous po\itical mistake by the Slovak foreign service. Tuka failed as a palitician and as a lawyer. Slovak diplomaťy. except for a �SLOVAKIA few exceptlons, was noted for its independence of opinion and action and for its objective reports. lt certainly deserved a better F'oreign Minister; his lack of judgment and foresight was fatal not only for himself, but, alas, even for rthe Slovak State. Along with this uncritlcal tendency, which overestimated Germany and the slgnificance of the "protection" guaranteed the Slovak State by it, the tendency to whlch only one or two members of the Slovak foreign servlce subscribed, >the unity of the Slovak diplomatic corps was also threatened by another tendency: the Czechoslovak tendency. To this category belonged Dr. Szathmáry, Ing. Országh, Ing. Géza Krno and Dr. Raklíányi. For these men the Slovak State was just an episode. Durlng the war they tried to make contact wlth Beneš to offer him their services. Today we know that Ing. Országh, who came to Madrid in May, 1943,. as the chief of the Slovak trade delegation to negotiate a trade agreement, brought some significant material, which he later sent to London. This "Czechoslovak" tendency was responsible for the chicanery wbich the officials of tbe Slovak foreign ministry later had to suffer during tbe so-called "screening" in Bratislava. In its substantial majority, however, tbe Slovak diplomatic corps remained loyal to the concept of tbe independent Slovak State even when lt was jailed for renderlng its service to that State. It is comforting that the most significant factors of the Slovak foreign service are today in foreign lands. and among them: Karol Sidor, Dr. Ferdinand Ďurčanský, Francis Tlso, Dr. Josepb Cieker, Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum, Dr. Galvánek, Dr. Bečko, Dr. Kaššovič, Dr. Pisko, Dr. števek, Dr. A. Grébert, Dr. Blyska, Dr. Ďatelinka, etc. All these men witb the rest of the Slovak emigration are fully aware of wbat the concept of an independent Slovak State means to their natlon today under Communlst rule. Thls concept of the Slovak State could bave been overshadowed by a temporary eclipse of the universal in,ternational constellation only because of the disproportlonate role which the frightened democracies reserved for Russia in Centra! and Eastern Europe at the conferences of Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam. And the Slovak State perished only because the principles of tbe Atlantic Charter and tbe rigbt of nations to selfdetermlnation were completely ignored. But the idea is definitely roorted in tbe blood and marrow of the Slovak nation wblch insists on havlng its own democratlc and independent Staite. Slovak diplomats, therefore, in free foreign lands wlll not let up in their labors until independent Slovakia once again takes its rigbtful place on the map of Europe - preferably a federated Europe. • • • "In the West some indivlduals assert that we are in the hands of the Soviets, yet the Governments look at tblngs differently. We are the Allies of the U.S.S.R. and we shall always remain faithful to the Soviets. We are friends of the West and we shall remain frlends. In flrm alllance witb the U.S.S.R. we are proceedlng and shall proceed our own way." (Dr. Edward Beneš, Prague Broadcast, October 9, 1945). WHO SAID IT? - � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1952, Vol. 2 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1952 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 3), March 1952.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 4), August 1952.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 5), December 1952.</li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 38 SLOVA.KIA THE DIPLOl\lATIC SERVICE OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC DR. JOSEPH MIKUŠ Considering lhe circumstances under whlch the Slovak Sta.te originaled in post-Munich Europe, as well as lhe circumstances under whic:h lt existed and then came to a dramatic, though traglc end in 19•15, Slovak cliplomacy certainly had a most clifficult task to perforrn. Even though the Slovak diplomatic corps was iiware of the fact that the natlonal principle, whlch had given llfe to the Slovak Republlc, was a rnodern and progressive concept, nevertheless, at every step it had to contend wlth lhe prejudlces wblch preva.iled in certaln States of Europe, namely: tbe role playecl by ~rmany when the Slovak State originated and the relations - both foreigu and polltical - of Slovakia ,vith the German Reic:h as formulated in tbe so-called "Sc:hutzvertrag" (Treaty of Prolection). The first task of Slovak cliplomacy was to gain for the Slovak Hepublic as wide an internationa.l .recognilion a.s posslble. We wanted not only our nelghbors in Central Europe, but also the States in the most distant corners of the world, to take notice o( our color on the map or Europe. That was tbe acUvity whlch Slovak e mbassies in the neutra! States (Switzerland, the Vatlcan and Spain) were c·alled on to develop. This actlvlty was characterized by visits, memoraJ1da and notes. Only the war prevented the Slovak diplomatlc corps from completely consolidating the positlon of the Slovak State. ilut even then we must note that twenty-seven States diel recogl)ize tbe Slovak Republlc and had diplomatic or consular contacts with it. Among tbem, besldes tbe European States, were also Aslatic and South American States. Slovakia was, therefore, recognized not only by the States of the German-ItaliaJ1-Japanese coalltion, but also by several neutra.! States and some of the States of the Allled Bloc, among wbich, in the western hemispbere, were Costa Hica and J<,cuador. Not many people grasped the meaning of dlplomacy for the Slovak State. lt was often sald tbat we were a small State, thať events would run their course regardless whether our forelgn servlce wa.s' \\"eak or strong. Even Forelgn Mlnisler Tuka a nd his de,puty Polyák held to tbis v1ew. And it was for that reason that the budget ot the Foreign Ministry was alwa.ys so small. Embassles and consulates were established only In the States and clties which were considered more slgnlficant for us. The Slovak Republlc had embassies in Budapest, Warsaw, Moscow, Berlin, Bucharest, Sophla; In tbe Vatlcan and the Qulrlnal; Berne, Madrid, Helsinki, Belgrade and later, Zagreb. There were General Consulates in Vienna, MUan, Stockholm, London, and Prague. Furthermore, there were several honorary consulates in foreign lands, as well as repatriatlon commlsslons in Paris and Brus!<els. At limes the competency of a slngle embassy extended over the territory or several States. The embassy in Berlin, for example, was deslgna.ted also for Denmark and the lla.ltlc States. The embassy in Madrid had to take care of practlcally the whole or Soutb America and also serve as a connecting llnk wltb the Slovaks in North America. BLOVAKlA 39 k was regrettable tbat for the narrow-mindedness of tbe ló'oreign Minister himself the Slovak forelgn service could not develop to the extent reo.ulred by Slovak national interests. lf we would bave established in embassy in Ecuador, for example, tbe embassy probably would have ci>ntinued to exh1t just as the P.mbassies of the Baltic States did in London and Washington. Slovak diplomacy, ot' course. belped in the economic field also. Even thougb the frozen economy of the States of war-torn Europe did not make thls task any easier, nevertheless tbe Slovak Republic attained quite an intensified circulation of economic relations in other States, whether considered on the basis of excha.nge paymenLs, or compensation of products, or by overrating in clearing, etc. Slovak diplomacy did its work well along these lines, even tbougb freQuently it had to compete wlt.h di,plomac ies of States wltb a long tradition and great experiences. Slovak products, trademarked "1\lade in Slovakia," were banled by trains over Europe and by shlps acToss the Mediterranean Sea. The i1tablllzation of Slovak exchange was due largely to Slovak foreign trade; it attavied the greMest degree of stability of practically all exchanges of the Centra! European Slates. But we did not lag behind even in the field of cultuľe. A cultural attaché functioned in every embassy. These men saw to it that Slovakia became known in the States to which they were sent. They made contacts with the press, radlo, universitles, etc. Slovak lectures were arranged at tbe universities of Leipzig, Rome, Na.ples. and Vien-na. Some legatlon offices issued information bulletin-s about Slovakla. Such bulletin-s were publisbed regularly by the em• bassies in Berne, Madrid and the General Consulate . In Stockholm. Slovak books also found their way into foreign lands through the e mbassies. Thus, tbe only objective books about Slovakia in the Parls libraries are those published by the Association for Slovak!I in Foreign Lands from the time of the Slovak State. Slovak dlplomatic personnel also publlsbed severaJ books in foreign \anguages about Slovakia and its people. Thus, the foreigner wbo '!tudies the Slovak question today ;_-, no longer dependent on the tendencious books of Czech and Magyar authors. From the cultural standpoint. significant was the reality that many Slovak artists could be schooled in foreign lands. AJso many more students than ever before were able to study at forelgn universities, eitber as excbange students or at thelr own ex,pense. Many students lived and studied not only in Vienna, Berlin, and J..,eipzig, but aJso in Switzerland, Italy and Spai!l. Toward tbe end of the war, the Slovak diplomatic corps suc<·essfully performed some signlficant acts of a bumanitarian characler. For example, Ing. Mračna, Chief of the pol!tical section of the Ministry of Foreign Affalrs. defended many American and French soldiers who escaped to Slovakia from German prison camps. And ~o it was that we were successful unto the very end of the war in keeping in Slovakia, in the luxurious confines of the Royal Hotel In Piešťany, the ltalian and Rumanian dlplomats who deserted Mu~solinl and Antonescu. lt must be emphasized that lhe Slovak diplomatic corps represented. the most independent group of the admlnlstratlon of tb e tO SLOVA.KLA Slovak State. Since the Germans recognized Slovakia as an ·independent State, the diplomatlc corps conducted itself abroad in a manner befitting the foreign service of an independent State. Slovak representatlves abroad were not controJled by aliens and acted toward German representatives in much the same manner as they did toward the representatives of other States. Because Slovak foreign servlce often was not in line with the regulations of the "Schutzver· trag" it was suspected in the eyese of German dlplomacy. For example, the embassy of the Slovak Republic at the Quirinal in Rome had contacts with the British ambassador there In the winter of 1939 and the sprlng of 1940, when England already was at war with Germany. We were lnterested In gettlng Brazllian wool for Slovakia. To bring the wool In by ship from overseas we needed permission from the English authoritles, a so--called "navycert." and we requested one at the Englieh embassy. Quite understandably, the „equest evoked certain fears regarding the final dispositlon of sneh an impoiitant war material. "Will the prepared wool be used in Slovakia, or is it destined for Germany?" we were asked. ,S o that our request might be considered, we had to produce proof with an explanatlon of our political and economic relations with Germany. Two memoranda resulted in which, along with Ambassador Zvrškovec, we showed that though we had a definite poIi tical relationship with Germany, yet the Slovak State was not at al! at war with the Allies and, from the standpoint of commercial po\icy, was completely independent, actlng politically as a neutra! State. It was self-evident, that we did this with Dr. Zvrškovec wlth the knowledge of the Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ferdinand Ďurčanský. Later, when coples oť both these documents got into the hands of the German ambassador in Rome, Von Mackensen, through a member of the Slovak Embassy, and then into the hands of von Ribbentrop, Slovak diplomacy was subject to lts first purge. Presldent Tiso and several members of his Government were called to Salzburg, where on July 29, 1940, tbey had to answer to Hitler for these "undisciplined" acts or U1e Slovak diplomatic corps. "Den Zigeuner, den will ich nicht mehr sehen ! " (this Gypsy I do not want to see any more), Hltler screamed angrlly polntlng to Ďurčan-ský as Tlso was about to preeent bis Ministers. That ls how Ďurčanský was purged and, later, Zvrškovec. And that spelled the end for the free foreign pollcy of the Slovak State. During Tuka's minlstry, and with bis complicity, the ministrles in Bratislava were occupjed by German "beraterl'' (advlsors). But the Slovak embassies in foreign Jands acted quite independently in most cases even after that; not only towards Germany, but even towards Tuka himself. Whlle Tuka proclalmed voclferously that the Slovak Republic "lives and dles with the German Reloh," the Slovak dlplomatlc corps was fully aware or the fact that the Slovak nation wanted to Jive along with Germany or wlthout it, and wlth or wlthout Tnka. Our lnterest was to have Slovakla remain as Jong as posslble outside the domaln of the main military events, out or actual war. Tuka's declaration ot war against Russla in 1941 was regarded as a serlous po\itical mistake by the Slovak foreign service. Tuka failed as a palitician and as a lawyer. Slovak diplomaťy. except for a SLOVAKIA few exceptlons, was noted for its independence of opinion and action and for its objective reports. lt certainly deserved a better F'oreign Minister; his lack of judgment and foresight was fatal not only for himself, but, alas, even for rthe Slovak State. Along with this uncritlcal tendency, which overestimated Germany and the slgnificance of the "protection" guaranteed the Slovak State by it, the tendency to whlch only one or two members of the Slovak foreign servlce subscribed, >the unity of the Slovak diplomatic corps was also threatened by another tendency: the Czechoslovak tendency. To this category belonged Dr. Szathmáry, Ing. Országh, Ing. Géza Krno and Dr. Raklíányi. For these men the Slovak State was just an episode. Durlng the war they tried to make contact wlth Beneš to offer him their services. Today we know that Ing. Országh, who came to Madrid in May, 1943,. as the chief of the Slovak trade delegation to negotiate a trade agreement, brought some significant material, which he later sent to London. This "Czechoslovak" tendency was responsible for the chicanery wbich the officials of tbe Slovak foreign ministry later had to suffer during tbe so-called "screening" in Bratislava. In its substantial majority, however, tbe Slovak diplomatic corps remained loyal to the concept of tbe independent Slovak State even when lt was jailed for renderlng its service to that State. It is comforting that the most significant factors of the Slovak foreign service are today in foreign lands. and among them: Karol Sidor, Dr. Ferdinand Ďurčanský, Francis Tlso, Dr. Josepb Cieker, Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum, Dr. Galvánek, Dr. Bečko, Dr. Kaššovič, Dr. Pisko, Dr. števek, Dr. A. Grébert, Dr. Blyska, Dr. Ďatelinka, etc. All these men witb the rest of the Slovak emigration are fully aware of wbat the concept of an independent Slovak State means to their natlon today under Communlst rule. Thls concept of the Slovak State could bave been overshadowed by a temporary eclipse of the universal in,ternational constellation only because of the disproportlonate role which the frightened democracies reserved for Russia in Centra! and Eastern Europe at the conferences of Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam. And the Slovak State perished only because the principles of tbe Atlantic Charter and tbe rigbt of nations to selfdetermlnation were completely ignored. But the idea is definitely roorted in tbe blood and marrow of the Slovak nation wblch insists on havlng its own democratlc and independent Staite. Slovak diplomats, therefore, in free foreign lands wlll not let up in their labors until independent Slovakia once again takes its rigbtful place on the map of Europe - preferably a federated Europe. • • • "In the West some indivlduals assert that we are in the hands of the Soviets, yet the Governments look at tblngs differently. We are the Allies of the U.S.S.R. and we shall always remain faithful to the Soviets. We are friends of the West and we shall remain frlends. In flrm alllance witb the U.S.S.R. we are proceedlng and shall proceed our own way." (Dr. Edward Beneš, Prague Broadcast, October 9, 1945). WHO SAID IT? -  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Diplomatic Service of the Slovak Republic Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Mikuš Slovakia, Vol. 2, No. 2 (4), August 1952 pp. 38-41 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mikuš, Joseph A., 1909-2005 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 1952 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/f5ca1a388ad860f4ed82d3e78c2ad7ad.pdf 3e38bffc1a0883cc09a06aaaed3af7e5 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 109 Winning Essays - Slovak League Scholarship Awards The Emergence of the Slovak State Daniel F. T a n z o n e I. Following the collapse of the Hapsburg monarchy the small nations of Central Europe organized their own national states. The Slovaks joined hands with their Czech brothers and organized a common state: the Czecho-Slovak Republic. On the part of the Slovaks it was a belated re-appearance on the map of Europe after their ancestors hll-ci made a short debut in the Moravian Empire of the Ninth century. The union with the Czechs was considered as the most opportune alternative, the others being complete independence which was beyond their will, or autonomy within Hungary. It is interesting to note that large Slovak emigrant organizations in the United States came to the same conclusions, although there was no co-ordination of action between the Slovaks in Slovakia and those in the United States. "During· the war of 1914-18 every action for the unification of the Czechs and Slovaks into a common state was considered by the Austro-Hungarian authorities as treason, and consequently there were only a few sporadic pronouncements on this theme." 1 "But the idea was being entertained by the Czech and Slovak leaders at home, while abroad an active group led by Thomas G. Masaryk and Milan R. Stefanik and Benes worked with the Allies for the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia." 2 Their hard work, carried out with superhuman endurance and untiring stubborness against many odds, was crowned with splendid success. On October 30, 1918 in Turciansky Svaty Martin the Slovak representatives claiming "the absolute right to selfdetermination" declared for unity with the Czechs (at a �110 SLOVAKIA meeting which bore all the marks of haste and excitement). The declaration called not only for political but also for linguistic and cultural unity and marked the beginning of a new epoch in Slovak history. From living under the Magyars, the Slovaks started a new life with the Czechs.3 To go back for_a minute to look at the situation in America the historic month of May, 1918, saw events both at home and abroad moving inexorably toward the formation of a new Czecho-Slovak Republic. May saw Masaryk in Pittsburgh meeting with American Czech and Slovak leaders, explaining just how Czecho-Slovakia would be administered and precisely what the status of Slovakia would be within the new state. He assured Slovaks that Slovakia would be autonomous, would have its own schools, its own language, its own local administration, its own courts, its own legislative assembly and to further appease Slovak sensibilities he drafted a document which has since been hotly debated. It is known in history as the Pittsburgh Pact. Because Masaryk had written the draft in pencil Albert Mamatey, the President of the Slovak League of America had calligraphed and later took it to Washington where Masaryk (his government now officially recognized by the Wilson Administration), already temporary president of Czecho-Slovakia, signed the calligraphed copy on November 14 just before his departure for Europe. 4 The agreement was necessary to assure the American Slovaks of the position of Slovakia in the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The American Czechs and Slovaks under the leadership of the Rev. Joseph Murgas, pastor of Sacred Heart Slovak Roman Catholic Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, launched a drive to raise funds for the cause of Czech and Slovak liberation. The drive netted the sum of well over $800,000.00 and it was sent to Masaryk, Benes, the former's daughter Alice, the National Council's offices in Paris, Russia, and the United States. 5 The agreement proclaimed that Slovaks and Czechs would form one state but that Slovakia would be completely autonomous, and that Czechs would not meddle in the domestic affairs of Slovakia. The Pittsburgh Pact is as follows: �SLOVAKIA 111 THE PITISBURGH PACT May 30, 1918 The representatives of the Slovak and Czech organizations in the United States-The Slovak League of America, the Czech National Alliance, and the Union of Czech Catholics-have !deliberated, in the presence of the Chairman of rthe Czecho-Slovak National Council, Professor Masaryk, on the C2iecho-Slovak question and on our previous program manifestations, and have resolved as follows: We favor a political program whose purpose it shall be to unite the Czechs and the Slovaks into an autonomous state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have her own administration, heT own assembly and her own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in the schools in public offices, and in public life in general. The Czecho Slovak State shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic. The cooperation of the Czechs and the Slovaks in the United States shall be intensified and regulated by mutual consent, accord• ing to need and changing situations. Detailed provisions relating to the organization of the CzechoSlov,ak state shall be left to the liberated Czechs and Slovaks anci their legal representatives. 0 Signators Slovak Representatives: A. Mamatey, I. Bielek, J. Jancek, M. Gazdik, M. Getting, J . Pankuch, G. H. Mika, M. Bosak, I. Gessay, Rev. John Kubasek, A. Schustek, Rev. L. J . Karlovsky, Rev. Paul J . Siska, J. A. Feriencik, I. Daxner. Czech Representatives: T. G. Masaryk, K. Pergler, H. Dostal, Dr. L. Fischer, Rev. Oldrich Zla.mal, B. Simek, V. Benes, J. Zmrhal, Rev. I. Restl, J. Straka, J. Martinek, Dr. G. V. Pecival6 II. The transition was loaded with difficulties optimistically minimized or overlooked (in the initial enthusiasm) but which started to transpire as the honeymoon was wearing thin. The Slovaks ( and the Czechs, too) found very soon that they were much further apart than two branches of one nation ought to be or are supposed to be. Apart from an undeniable linguistic similarity there was little else these two nations had in common. In 1918 the Czechs were more progressive in their views, more aggressive in their action and more western in their political outlook than the Slovaks. At the same time the Slovaks �112 SLOVAKIA were practically without "intelligentsia", emerging from a battle for survival which they had very nearly lost and their general attitude was more conservative than revolutionary; in a word, they were badly equipped for the stormy days ahead. They depended greatly on Czech help. From 1919 under the pretext of helping Slovakia the Czechs were sending into Slovakia hundreds upon hundreds of teachers, officials and technicians; some of these did creditable work and rendered valuable services, others less so. Many of the new Czech arrivals commited a great number of unnecessary blunders which discredited their often well-meant help. Their ignorance of Slovak psy-• chology made their approach to their Slovak brothers awkward and sometimes even insulting. 7 When Masaryk entered upon the work of liberating the Czechs he did so with a singular talent and thoroughness. No other man could have possibly done better. The Czechs came to revere him as the personification of Czech genius expressed in an essentially rationalist philosophy. His outlook became fundamentally Czech. He came to be an admirer of John Hus. Educated in German schools, he was thus well equipped to cope with the German mentality. He became less a Slovak and more a stranger to the Slovak outlook and Slovak mentality. The Slovak has a deep respect for tradition: he is conservative, and does not change his opinions overnight with each new bit of information or of knowledge he may acquire. The Czech has less respect for tradition, indeed, challenges it, and is essentially opportunistic rather than conservative. 8 The first post-war weeks witnessed a sudden revival of anti-Catholic and Hussite traditions in Bohemia. The Czechs saw in the Catholic Church a Hapsburg ally and wanted the Slovaks to see in her an instrument of Magyarization. They tried to transplant their excesses into Slovakia but with no success. For most Slovaks the Catholic Church was an object of awe and respect and any attack on it, secret or open, horrified them, even made them nostalgic for those days when the Church was sacrosanct. The British minister in Prague summed up the principal errors of the Czech administration in Slovakia in his report of November 6, 1919 as follows: �SLOVAKIA 113 1. Hostility to the Roman Catholic Church is evidenced by Czech soldiers and offidals and includes the desecration and mutilation of crucifixes and holy images, interruption of marriages, and similar offenses against the principles of culture and decency. 2. The Country has been flooded with Czech officials and Slovaks dismissed, or, if employed, they receive from one half to two-thirds less pay than the Czechs. 3. Corruption exists in public offices. 4. Attempts are being made to substitute the Czech for the Slovak language.9 The British representative not only pointed out these errors but strove for their rectification. With the approval of his government he advocated with both Masaryk and Benes more moderate courses and a more reasonable approach to the Slovak problem. One of the most important laws passed by the Czechoslovak Republic (hyphen was dropped) which antagonized the Slovaks was the Language Act (No. 122 of the year 1920). It provided that the state official language of CzechoSlovakia was the "Czechoslovak" language in which (with the exception of the provisions made for the use of the languages of the minorities, namely German and Hungarian) the proceedings of all courts, organs, institutions and enterprises of the state were to conducted. 10 The last paragraph of the Pittsburgh Agreement notes that the "detailed regulations, concerning the ·establishment of the Czecho-Slovak state, are left to the liberated Czechs and Slovaks and their legal representatives." Only one recognized authority existed in the years 1918-20: the Provisional Constituent Assembly of Czecho-Slovakia. 11 Meanwhile, on December 12, 1918, Vavro ~robar was sent to Slovakia with "full powers" from the central government and placed at the head of a semi-autonomous administration named by Prague. Soon Czech generals. Czecho-Slovak legionnaires, and tens of thousands of Czech officials would follow him. Thus, ~robar, who had already turned against his former benefactor, Monsignor Andrew Hlinka, P.A., and had renounced his Catholic Faith, could and did in time impose a "Czech peace" upon a people who had illusions of cultural autonomy after centuries of oppression from Budapest.12 As Slovakia represented 23 percent of the Republic's population, it would have seemed logical-as the com- �114 SLOVAKIA petitive system was not generally used-to reserve for Slovaks 23 per cent of the positions in the central administration. Now the statistics for the Slovak civil servants during the twentieth and last year of the Czecho-Slovak Republic show the following: Slovaks Civil Servants The Parliament of Prague ....... . Service to the Chief of State ..... . Presidency of the Council .. . .... . Ministries: Foreign Affairs . ... ........ . .. . Interior ..... ..... ............ . Justice ... ..... . .. . ....... . . .. . Unification ..... .. .. . ... . ..... . National Defense ............. . Generals ......... .... ........ . Industry: Civil Servants ......... . Agriculture ................. ... . . Post Offices . .... ............... . Communications .... ........... . Public Works ......... . ........ . Commerce ....... .. . . . ... . .... . . Social Welfare ..... . .. . ......... . Public Health .... . .. ... . . ... ... . Finance ....... . .. .............. . 1 out of 224 96 3 153 9 33 2 12 6 6 1 4 11 7 9 4 1 4 6 12 1,246 386 143 51 1,300 139 417 391 305 1,006 82 322 397 182 630 13 Of the 318,981,000 Crowns representing the sum total of the salaries paid annually to the civil servants of the Republic, the Slovaks received only 3,614,000, that is 1,1 per cent. If the 23 per cent proportion had been respected , the Slovak civil servants would have received 73,000,000 Crowns annually .14 Considering the fact that there were few Slovak intellectuals in 1918, after twenty years, the picture remained the same as regards the position of the Slovaks in the Republic. According to the Czechs, the Slovak constitutional demands have gone so far and been pressed so ruthlessly that it is not facetious to say that in CzechoSlovakia everyone now has autonomy except the Czechs. The Czechs dismissed the Slovak behavior outwardly as the pranks of a headstrong child who has been given a new toy.15 �SLOVAKIA 115 All these problems led to the development of the autonomist movement led by Monsignor Andrew Hlinka. After the 1925 election his party, known as the Slovak People's Party, emerges as the strongest party in Slovakia (among twenty odd parties contesting the election) scoring 34 % of the total votes (489,111 out of 1,425,595) .16 In such an atmosphere the situation was ripening for a show-down. The young generation was predominantly autonomist and radical. Educated by Czech teachers it knew how to fight the Czechs with their own weapons. The nationalism of the Twenties with all its immature self-expression was coming of age. Its claims were now more demanding and better substantiated. There was no other way of satisfying them except by granting them. The difficult period when Slovakia had practically no nationally conscious intelligentsia, no administrative experience and no definite political aims, was now over. Even reasonable Czechs were aware of the fact that the Slovaks did not need tutelage in everything and were willing to grant gradually some sort of autonomy. In fact there was more opposition to the part of centralist Slovaks than on the part of the Czechs themselves. III. The Slovak problem re-emerged in all its magnitude in 1938. Up to that year it was relatively unknown outside Czecho-Slovakia, very few foreigners being aware even of its existence. The Czech-German dispute had made it a second-rate affair and being an internal one it had captured little attention abroad. But in September 1938 its presence and importance were stressed by both Hitler and Mussolini. Hitler in his speech of September 26 at the Sportpalast said that the Czechs and the Slovaks were separate nations and "the Slovaks did not want to have anything to do with the Czechs." 17 Mussolini in his open letter to Runciman pointed out that "there is not only a Sudeten-German problem, there is also a Hungarian, a Polish and a Slovak problem." 18 The tragi-comic element of their focusing attention on this problem lies in the fact that they were actually repeating, practically word for word, what had been said or written at least 20 years �116 SLOVAKIA before by Msgr. Hlinka in September, 1919 demanding an autonomous status for Slovakia in Paris. 19 By the Munich Agreement of the European Big Four Slovakia was condemned to transfer to Hungary the southern zone settled by Magyars. Faced with the threat of mutilation, the country reacted healthily in knitting the national unity more closely together. The numerous parties of the former system resulting from Prague's policy of "divide et impera" were spontaneously abandoned by their leaders and replaced by a gathering together of all Slovaks of good will. The amputation decided in Vienna was painful but not fatal for the country.20 On October 6, 1938, under international pressure, Prague had to make up its mind to take care of the Slovak problem. On September 22, 1938, in the course of the crisis brought on by the German question Mr. Benes, after many postponements and three modifications, finally had the text of a plan of solution put into the hands of Monsignor Joseph Tiso, Vice-President of the Populist party in Bratislava.21 General John Syrovy, who headed the Prague Government in Prague after Munich, nominated the First autonomous government of Slovakia. Monsignor Joseph Tiso was appointed Prime Minister. Tiso's government was empowered with full control over all matters affecting Slovak territory with the exception of foreign affairs, national finance, and national defense, which remained matters of common juristiction with Prague. Tiso's cabinet consisted of four ministers-Matth ew Cernak, Education; Ferdinand Durcansky, Justice; Paul Teplansky, Agriculture; John Lichner, trade and Public Works, Railroads and Post. Durcansky was a member of the Hlinka's People's Party, Cernak was an independent autonomist, while Teplansky and Lichner were members of the Czecho-Slovak Agrarian Party.22 Monsignor Tiso announced that Slovakia would be a part of a Federated Czecho-Slovak Republic. The hyphen was again incorporated in the title to emphasize the component parts that make up the state. After the victory of Munich, Germany was no less determined than before to liquidate Czecho-Slovakia. Hun- �SLOVAKIA 117 gary made demands upon territory in Slovakia which contained a heavy Hungarian population. Before March 13, 1939, Berlin was faced with the following alternative in regard to the Slovak question: either Slovakia would declare its independence and become Germany's ally, or else it would refuse--an act which would be one reason for the Reich's leaving Hungary's hands free to reconquer the former territory of the crown of St. Stephen. Hitler never ceased plotting in Budapest. As early as February, 1939, Dr. Edmund Wesenmayer, who was later to become Minister Plenipotentiary of the Third Reich in Budapest, informed Slovak politicians that Hungary was considering March 15 to attack Slovak territory. He did not forget to add that only the Declaration of Independence could ward off Hungarian intervention.23 In March, inspite of strong autonomist tendencies, . the Czech preponderance in Slovakia was still considerable. The effects of twenty years just could not be undone in several months. Mostly because of lack of qualified personnel, the officers' corps in the army units stationed in Slovakia, police and gendarmerie and higher officials in the administrative service were still largely Czech. Industry ran mostly on Czech capital and Slovak economy was closely linked to the economy of the Czech lands . These facts were realized by Tiso and it caused him to be very cautious in his actions against the Czech lands. Independence at this angle spelled great economic danger and administrative chaos in Slovakia. Monsignor Tiso went to see Hitler and discuss the Slovak situation. Hitler definitely had no interest in anything east of the Carpathian mountains. It was indifferent to him what happened there. Hitler stated that if Slovakia wanted independence he would support this endeavor and even guarantee it. Hitler wanted Tiso to declare Slovakia's independence on the Berlin Radio, but he refused this because he did not have the right to decide Slovakia's fate. It was up to the Parliament in Bratislava to decide Slovakia's fate. Tiso called President Ha.cha, the president of Czecho-Slovakia to call the Slovak deputies together for the meeting of the parliament. After an exposition by Tiso behind closed doors the �118 SLOVAKIA fifty-seven deputies from the Slovak Parliament voted unanimously for independence. Three quarters of an hour later the same parliament voted the following law: Article 1. The Slovak land kleclared itself an independent State. The Diet of the Slovak land is transformed into a parliament of the Slovak State. Article 2. Until the adoption of the Constitution of the Slovak State, the executive power is entrusted to the government named by the Presidency of the Parliament. Article 3. All the laws, decrees and dispositions valid up to the present continue in force with the changes resulting from the fact of the existence of the i~dependent Slovak State. Article 4. By means of decrees, the government is instructed to take all measures necessary for the maintenance of order and the protection of the interests of the Slovak State. Article 5. This law goes into effect this very day and it devolves upon the government to enforce it. Bratislava, Slovakia, March 14, 1939 The new government comprised the Prime Minister, Msgr. Dr. Joseph Tiso; Vice-Premier, Dr. Vojtech Tuka; Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ferdinand t>urcansky; Interior, Karol Sidor; National Defense, Lieutenant-Colonel Ferdinand Catlos; Public Education, Joseph Sivak; Economy, Dr. Gejza Medricky; Finance, Dr. Mikulas Pruzinsky; Communications and Public Works, Julius Stano; Justice, Dr. Gejza Fritz.25 Slovakia became Germany's ally rather than her victim as in the Czech lands, but German policy wanted to prove how happy even a small Slavic nation could be in Hitler's new order. Slovakia was recognized, and many Czech historians neglect to admit, by many countries both 'de facto' and 'de jure'. She was recognized by Poland, Hungary, and Germany in March of 1939, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain in April, and on May by Great Britain by a 'de facto' recognition. Before the outbreak of the war she was recognized by Vatican, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Sweden, Japan, Liberia, Equador, Costa Rica, both 'de facto' and 'de jure'. In addition she received recognition 'de facto' from France and Belgium. On September 17, 1939 the Soviet Union recognized Slovakia both 'de facto' and 'de jure'. After the declaration of independence on March 14, �SLOVAKIA 119 1939, Slovakia, for the time in over one thousand years she took her place among the nations of the earth. She no longer had stringis attached to Budapest or Prague. The Slovak government first wanted to solve the problem of a heavy Czech labor force in intellectual areas of thought. "On October 1, 1938 the number of teachers in Slovakia was 345 Slovaks and 523 Czechs. This figure completely reversed by 1940 when there were 680 Slovak teachers as opposed to 73 Czech teachers." 27 Slovakia did have many problems in her economy which were heavily exploited by German interference. The very fact that in 1939 a separate Slovak state could somehow exist where it would have been an impossibility twenty years earlier shown that the Slovaks had not only been able students but had also had able teachers in the Czechs. But there were still those who would show arrogance and lack of undestanding for Slovak pride and spoil the atmosphere. Although some authors like Schmitt feel that the "independent Slovakia and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia became, for all practical purpose, parts of the Reich." 28 Yet some authors seem to negate the fact that there was a declaration of independence by the Slovak Parliament which represented the Slovak people and only the Slovak people. Another fact which is paramount in a nation's right to life is the fact of recognition by other nations. It must be emphasized that Slovakia was recognized by nations in both camps, Allied and German. IV. The way in which Slovakia disappeared from the face of Europe and became again a part of the Czecho-Slovak Republic offers experts of international law and political science an interesting subject for study and investigation. Considering the fact that Slovakia was recognized by 27 states, of which two thirds were on the side of the Allies, the Slovak Republic became a member of the international community and subject to the codes of international law. We must consider the fact that Slovakia like Hungary, Finland, Bulgaria and Rumania were defeated states but they were never incorporated into any other states. Accordin~ to the Atlantic Charter Slovakia should have been �120 SLOVAKIA treated as an existing state under military occupation and remain such until the Peace treaties were signed. Indeed the Allies favored the Czech exiles and decided not to apply the right of self-determination and the principles of the Atlantic Charter to the Slovak people. This seems very strange because of the fact that when a state is recognized it cannot be desolved with the impression that it never had existed. "On May 8, 1945 the Slovak Government signed a document of 'protection' or 'surrender' to the Allied High Command."29 Considering the fact that Slovakia never declared war against the Western Allies-Great Britain, France, or the United States. The attempts to save Slovakia as an independent state failed and her right to self-government disappeared. Never consulting the Slovak people, she was again a part of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. All signs of autonomy as evidenced before the war disappeared within the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Slovakia again became a mere appendage of the term "Czechoslovak." Slovaks could no longer speak for Slovaks but had to look to the Czechs in Prague. V. In conclusion the road to Slovakia's independence led through stormy days of the post-Munich period and the time of her independence on the European scene was not very propitious. But we must remember that there are some things in life in which we have no say in. It is highly unlikely that Slovakia would have survived if she had appeared after World War I due to the fact that she lacked a substantial intellectual class. The fact remains that fifty years before she possessed a larger intelligentsia than in 1918. The one thousand year sentence of subjugation under Magyarization had almost destroyed the Slovaks and their civilization. The Slovaks owe much to the Czechs, for without them they would not have been able twenty years later to possess an intelligentsia which had multiplied in size and improved in . depth and competence and stand on their own feet in March of 1939. The Czecho-Slovak Republic might have worked if it was bilateral and not unilateral as it was. The Czechs neglected to realize the �SLOVAKIA 121 fact that children do mature and no longer need to be tied to their mother's apron strings. It was tragic that the United States' indolence resulted in Slovakia again being incorporated into the Czecho-Slovak Republic against the will of majority of her people. It was astrous that the United States favored the Czech Benes over the Slovak Tiso in deciding the fate of the Slovak people. The Slovakia that did emerge on March 14, 1939 was not the archetype that I would have envisioned, for there were many things wrong, among them heavy dependence on Germany. It is both simple and sweet to assert that Adolph Hitler imposed independence on Slovakia but these allegations are not factual. The circumstances surrounding Slovakia's birth are far more complex. The Slovaks, unable to escape Central European events, reconciled themselves to the geographical and political conditions of 1939, as they thought best. Independence was not rejected, it was hailed, true some more eagerly than others. Slovakia was a failure in one respect in that it could not avert the persecution of its Jewish population, of whom about a fourth survived the six years of Slovakia's existence. The Catholic bishops however, under the leadership of Archbishop Karol Kmet'ko, of Nitra, were as outspoken in their criticism of anti-Jewish legislation and courageous in their defense of human dignity as was s:inybody in Hitler's Europe. We can all appreciate the fact that no nation on earth desires tyranny over freedom, and even some who have a different view regarding the Slovak Republic and her war-time regime. No man on earth has the right to condemn the Slovaks to be an appendage to any other nation nor to be a colony of any other nation no matter how ethnically or linguistically they are related. The Slovak does not want any Czech to use his debasive form of rhetoric in international spheres of interest on behalf of his culture, language and history but rather feels quite proficient enough to do this for himself. The Slovak nation has a God-given right to live a free and independent life according to its tr,aditions. �122 SLOVAKIA One very important thing the world has to learn is the fact that the dreams and aspirations of little nations must be respected and supported even if they cramp the style of a brother nation who in the world's eyes seemingly wants only the best for its little brother. Another thing is the fact that the Slovaks do not wish to be known as Czechs or "Czechoslovaks". They are not a mere appendage but a distinct entity. If politics is the art of the impossible, then we cannot condemn the Slovaks for having achieved that impossible dream in the years of 1939-1945. Althought I am an American born of Slovak blood only on my mother's side I have come to know and love the aspirations of the Slovak people. As an American I can appreciate freedom and justice and see the same for my brothers in Slovakia. The story and traditions of the Slovak people are among the most glorious in all of history. No other nation has suffered so much nor been more misunderstood and yet still possesses a fire of determination for its freedom and self-determination. Slovakia did emerge but unfortunately was stiffled, but she will again someday rise up to stand among the free and independent peoples of the earth as master of her own household. Ibsen's words from his work "An Enemy of the People, V" seem to be appropriate: "The Strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone ... " 1) F. Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months ( Oct. 1938- March 1939) ," Slovak Studies IV, Historica II, 1964, 14. 2) J . Lettrich, "The Declaration of Turciansky Sv. Martin," A Histor y of Modern Slovakia, p. 288. 3) F . Vnuk, op. cit., p. 15. 4) G. L. Oddo, "To be Free of Budapest," Slov akia anji Its People, (New York, 1960) , p. 174. 5) Ibid., p. 175. 6) IbH, p. 175-76 7) F . Vnuk, op. cit., p. 16. 8) P . P . Yurchak, "Masaryk," The Slovaks,(Whiting, Ind.,1946), pp. 206. 9) Vnuk, op. cit., p. 16. 10) I. Derer, The Unity of the Czechs and Slovaks, (Prague, 1938) p. 32. 11) G. L. Ojddo, "Czecho-Slovakia," Slovakia and Its People, (New York, 1960) , p. 205. �SLOVAKIA 123 12) Ibid. , p. 205. 13 ) J . A. Mikus, "Czecho-Slovakia (1918-1939) " , Slovakia: A Political history, Marquette Slavic Studies ed., (Milwaukee, 1963) , pp. 38-39. 14 ) Ibid., p. 39. 15 ) G. F. Kennan, "Report on Conditions in Slovakia," From Prague After Muni ch, Princeton University Press ed. (Princeton, N. J . 1968) , p . 19. 16) F . Vnuk, op. cit., p. 17. 17 ) F . Vnuk, op. ci t ., p. 23. 18) Ibid., p . 23 . 19) F Vnuk, loc. cit. 20 ) J. A. Mikus, op. cit., p. 66. 21 ) Ibid, p. 67. 22 ) G. L. Oddo, op. cit ., p. 237. 23 ) J. A. Mikus, op. ci t ., p. 76. 24 ) J. A. Mikus, op . cit., pp. 86-87. 25 ) Ibid., p. 88. 26 ) I bid. , pp. 135-36. 27 ) J . A. Mikus, op. ci t ., pp. 108-09. 28 ) B. E. Schmitt, " The Road to Munich," Czechoslov akia, R. J . Kerner ed., (Los Angeles, 1949), p. 438. 29 ) J . M. Kirschbaum, "Twenty years of Czech an/d Communist Rule in Slovakia," Slov akia, XV, (1965) , p. 80. BIBLIOGRAPHY Derer , Ivan, The Unity of the Czechs and Slovaks, Prague, The Orbis Publishing Company, 1938. Heymann, Frederick, G., Poland and Czechoslovakia, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall Inc., 1966. Kennan, George, F ., From Prague After Munich, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1968. Kirschbaum, Joseph, M ., "Twenty Years of Ozech and Communist Rule in Slovakia," Slovaki a, XV, ( 1965) , pp. 78-90. Lettrich, Joseph, A. , A History of Modern Slovakia, New York, N . Y ., Praeger Publishing, 1955. Mikus, Joseph, A. , Slovakia a Political History: 1918-1950, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, The Marquette University Press, 1963. Oddo, Gilbert, L., Slovakia and Its People, New York, Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Schmitt, Berna/dette, E ., Czechoslovakia, Los Angeles, Ca.Hfornia. University of California Press, 1949. Vnuk, Francis, Slov ak Studies IV, Rome, Italy, Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius Press, 1964, pp. 7-164. Yurchak, Peter, P., The Slovaks, Whiting, Indiana, The Rev. John J. Lach Press, 1946. ( FIRST PRIZE AWARD) � SLOVAKIA 109 Winning Essays - Slovak League Scholarship Awards The Emergence of the Slovak State Daniel F. T a n z o n e I. Following the collapse of the Hapsburg monarchy the small nations of Central Europe organized their own national states. The Slovaks joined hands with their Czech brothers and organized a common state: the Czecho-Slovak Republic. On the part of the Slovaks it was a belated re-appearance on the map of Europe after their ancestors hll-ci made a short debut in the Moravian Empire of the Ninth century. The union with the Czechs was considered as the most opportune alternative, the others being complete independence which was beyond their will, or autonomy within Hungary. It is interesting to note that large Slovak emigrant organizations in the United States came to the same conclusions, although there was no co-ordination of action between the Slovaks in Slovakia and those in the United States. "During· the war of 1914-18 every action for the unification of the Czechs and Slovaks into a common state was considered by the Austro-Hungarian authorities as treason, and consequently there were only a few sporadic pronouncements on this theme." 1 "But the idea was being entertained by the Czech and Slovak leaders at home, while abroad an active group led by Thomas G. Masaryk and Milan R. Stefanik and Benes worked with the Allies for the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia." 2 Their hard work, carried out with superhuman endurance and untiring stubborness against many odds, was crowned with splendid success. On October 30, 1918 in Turciansky Svaty Martin the Slovak representatives claiming "the absolute right to selfdetermination" declared for unity with the Czechs (at a �110 SLOVAKIA meeting which bore all the marks of haste and excitement). The declaration called not only for political but also for linguistic and cultural unity and marked the beginning of a new epoch in Slovak history. From living under the Magyars, the Slovaks started a new life with the Czechs.3 To go back for_a minute to look at the situation in America the historic month of May, 1918, saw events both at home and abroad moving inexorably toward the formation of a new Czecho-Slovak Republic. May saw Masaryk in Pittsburgh meeting with American Czech and Slovak leaders, explaining just how Czecho-Slovakia would be administered and precisely what the status of Slovakia would be within the new state. He assured Slovaks that Slovakia would be autonomous, would have its own schools, its own language, its own local administration, its own courts, its own legislative assembly and to further appease Slovak sensibilities he drafted a document which has since been hotly debated. It is known in history as the Pittsburgh Pact. Because Masaryk had written the draft in pencil Albert Mamatey, the President of the Slovak League of America had calligraphed and later took it to Washington where Masaryk (his government now officially recognized by the Wilson Administration), already temporary president of Czecho-Slovakia, signed the calligraphed copy on November 14 just before his departure for Europe. 4 The agreement was necessary to assure the American Slovaks of the position of Slovakia in the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The American Czechs and Slovaks under the leadership of the Rev. Joseph Murgas, pastor of Sacred Heart Slovak Roman Catholic Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, launched a drive to raise funds for the cause of Czech and Slovak liberation. The drive netted the sum of well over $800,000.00 and it was sent to Masaryk, Benes, the former's daughter Alice, the National Council's offices in Paris, Russia, and the United States. 5 The agreement proclaimed that Slovaks and Czechs would form one state but that Slovakia would be completely autonomous, and that Czechs would not meddle in the domestic affairs of Slovakia. The Pittsburgh Pact is as follows: �SLOVAKIA 111 THE PITISBURGH PACT May 30, 1918 The representatives of the Slovak and Czech organizations in the United States-The Slovak League of America, the Czech National Alliance, and the Union of Czech Catholics-have !deliberated, in the presence of the Chairman of rthe Czecho-Slovak National Council, Professor Masaryk, on the C2iecho-Slovak question and on our previous program manifestations, and have resolved as follows: We favor a political program whose purpose it shall be to unite the Czechs and the Slovaks into an autonomous state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have her own administration, heT own assembly and her own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in the schools in public offices, and in public life in general. The Czecho Slovak State shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic. The cooperation of the Czechs and the Slovaks in the United States shall be intensified and regulated by mutual consent, accord• ing to need and changing situations. Detailed provisions relating to the organization of the CzechoSlov,ak state shall be left to the liberated Czechs and Slovaks anci their legal representatives. 0 Signators Slovak Representatives: A. Mamatey, I. Bielek, J. Jancek, M. Gazdik, M. Getting, J . Pankuch, G. H. Mika, M. Bosak, I. Gessay, Rev. John Kubasek, A. Schustek, Rev. L. J . Karlovsky, Rev. Paul J . Siska, J. A. Feriencik, I. Daxner. Czech Representatives: T. G. Masaryk, K. Pergler, H. Dostal, Dr. L. Fischer, Rev. Oldrich Zla.mal, B. Simek, V. Benes, J. Zmrhal, Rev. I. Restl, J. Straka, J. Martinek, Dr. G. V. Pecival6 II. The transition was loaded with difficulties optimistically minimized or overlooked (in the initial enthusiasm) but which started to transpire as the honeymoon was wearing thin. The Slovaks ( and the Czechs, too) found very soon that they were much further apart than two branches of one nation ought to be or are supposed to be. Apart from an undeniable linguistic similarity there was little else these two nations had in common. In 1918 the Czechs were more progressive in their views, more aggressive in their action and more western in their political outlook than the Slovaks. At the same time the Slovaks �112 SLOVAKIA were practically without "intelligentsia", emerging from a battle for survival which they had very nearly lost and their general attitude was more conservative than revolutionary; in a word, they were badly equipped for the stormy days ahead. They depended greatly on Czech help. From 1919 under the pretext of helping Slovakia the Czechs were sending into Slovakia hundreds upon hundreds of teachers, officials and technicians; some of these did creditable work and rendered valuable services, others less so. Many of the new Czech arrivals commited a great number of unnecessary blunders which discredited their often well-meant help. Their ignorance of Slovak psy-• chology made their approach to their Slovak brothers awkward and sometimes even insulting. 7 When Masaryk entered upon the work of liberating the Czechs he did so with a singular talent and thoroughness. No other man could have possibly done better. The Czechs came to revere him as the personification of Czech genius expressed in an essentially rationalist philosophy. His outlook became fundamentally Czech. He came to be an admirer of John Hus. Educated in German schools, he was thus well equipped to cope with the German mentality. He became less a Slovak and more a stranger to the Slovak outlook and Slovak mentality. The Slovak has a deep respect for tradition: he is conservative, and does not change his opinions overnight with each new bit of information or of knowledge he may acquire. The Czech has less respect for tradition, indeed, challenges it, and is essentially opportunistic rather than conservative. 8 The first post-war weeks witnessed a sudden revival of anti-Catholic and Hussite traditions in Bohemia. The Czechs saw in the Catholic Church a Hapsburg ally and wanted the Slovaks to see in her an instrument of Magyarization. They tried to transplant their excesses into Slovakia but with no success. For most Slovaks the Catholic Church was an object of awe and respect and any attack on it, secret or open, horrified them, even made them nostalgic for those days when the Church was sacrosanct. The British minister in Prague summed up the principal errors of the Czech administration in Slovakia in his report of November 6, 1919 as follows: �SLOVAKIA 113 1. Hostility to the Roman Catholic Church is evidenced by Czech soldiers and offidals and includes the desecration and mutilation of crucifixes and holy images, interruption of marriages, and similar offenses against the principles of culture and decency. 2. The Country has been flooded with Czech officials and Slovaks dismissed, or, if employed, they receive from one half to two-thirds less pay than the Czechs. 3. Corruption exists in public offices. 4. Attempts are being made to substitute the Czech for the Slovak language.9 The British representative not only pointed out these errors but strove for their rectification. With the approval of his government he advocated with both Masaryk and Benes more moderate courses and a more reasonable approach to the Slovak problem. One of the most important laws passed by the Czechoslovak Republic (hyphen was dropped) which antagonized the Slovaks was the Language Act (No. 122 of the year 1920). It provided that the state official language of CzechoSlovakia was the "Czechoslovak" language in which (with the exception of the provisions made for the use of the languages of the minorities, namely German and Hungarian) the proceedings of all courts, organs, institutions and enterprises of the state were to conducted. 10 The last paragraph of the Pittsburgh Agreement notes that the "detailed regulations, concerning the ·establishment of the Czecho-Slovak state, are left to the liberated Czechs and Slovaks and their legal representatives." Only one recognized authority existed in the years 1918-20: the Provisional Constituent Assembly of Czecho-Slovakia. 11 Meanwhile, on December 12, 1918, Vavro ~robar was sent to Slovakia with "full powers" from the central government and placed at the head of a semi-autonomous administration named by Prague. Soon Czech generals. Czecho-Slovak legionnaires, and tens of thousands of Czech officials would follow him. Thus, ~robar, who had already turned against his former benefactor, Monsignor Andrew Hlinka, P.A., and had renounced his Catholic Faith, could and did in time impose a "Czech peace" upon a people who had illusions of cultural autonomy after centuries of oppression from Budapest.12 As Slovakia represented 23 percent of the Republic's population, it would have seemed logical-as the com- �114 SLOVAKIA petitive system was not generally used-to reserve for Slovaks 23 per cent of the positions in the central administration. Now the statistics for the Slovak civil servants during the twentieth and last year of the Czecho-Slovak Republic show the following: Slovaks Civil Servants The Parliament of Prague ....... . Service to the Chief of State ..... . Presidency of the Council .. . .... . Ministries: Foreign Affairs . ... ........ . .. . Interior ..... ..... ............ . Justice ... ..... . .. . ....... . . .. . Unification ..... .. .. . ... . ..... . National Defense ............. . Generals ......... .... ........ . Industry: Civil Servants ......... . Agriculture ................. ... . . Post Offices . .... ............... . Communications .... ........... . Public Works ......... . ........ . Commerce ....... .. . . . ... . .... . . Social Welfare ..... . .. . ......... . Public Health .... . .. ... . . ... ... . Finance ....... . .. .............. . 1 out of 224 96 3 153 9 33 2 12 6 6 1 4 11 7 9 4 1 4 6 12 1,246 386 143 51 1,300 139 417 391 305 1,006 82 322 397 182 630 13 Of the 318,981,000 Crowns representing the sum total of the salaries paid annually to the civil servants of the Republic, the Slovaks received only 3,614,000, that is 1,1 per cent. If the 23 per cent proportion had been respected , the Slovak civil servants would have received 73,000,000 Crowns annually .14 Considering the fact that there were few Slovak intellectuals in 1918, after twenty years, the picture remained the same as regards the position of the Slovaks in the Republic. According to the Czechs, the Slovak constitutional demands have gone so far and been pressed so ruthlessly that it is not facetious to say that in CzechoSlovakia everyone now has autonomy except the Czechs. The Czechs dismissed the Slovak behavior outwardly as the pranks of a headstrong child who has been given a new toy.15 �SLOVAKIA 115 All these problems led to the development of the autonomist movement led by Monsignor Andrew Hlinka. After the 1925 election his party, known as the Slovak People's Party, emerges as the strongest party in Slovakia (among twenty odd parties contesting the election) scoring 34 % of the total votes (489,111 out of 1,425,595) .16 In such an atmosphere the situation was ripening for a show-down. The young generation was predominantly autonomist and radical. Educated by Czech teachers it knew how to fight the Czechs with their own weapons. The nationalism of the Twenties with all its immature self-expression was coming of age. Its claims were now more demanding and better substantiated. There was no other way of satisfying them except by granting them. The difficult period when Slovakia had practically no nationally conscious intelligentsia, no administrative experience and no definite political aims, was now over. Even reasonable Czechs were aware of the fact that the Slovaks did not need tutelage in everything and were willing to grant gradually some sort of autonomy. In fact there was more opposition to the part of centralist Slovaks than on the part of the Czechs themselves. III. The Slovak problem re-emerged in all its magnitude in 1938. Up to that year it was relatively unknown outside Czecho-Slovakia, very few foreigners being aware even of its existence. The Czech-German dispute had made it a second-rate affair and being an internal one it had captured little attention abroad. But in September 1938 its presence and importance were stressed by both Hitler and Mussolini. Hitler in his speech of September 26 at the Sportpalast said that the Czechs and the Slovaks were separate nations and "the Slovaks did not want to have anything to do with the Czechs." 17 Mussolini in his open letter to Runciman pointed out that "there is not only a Sudeten-German problem, there is also a Hungarian, a Polish and a Slovak problem." 18 The tragi-comic element of their focusing attention on this problem lies in the fact that they were actually repeating, practically word for word, what had been said or written at least 20 years �116 SLOVAKIA before by Msgr. Hlinka in September, 1919 demanding an autonomous status for Slovakia in Paris. 19 By the Munich Agreement of the European Big Four Slovakia was condemned to transfer to Hungary the southern zone settled by Magyars. Faced with the threat of mutilation, the country reacted healthily in knitting the national unity more closely together. The numerous parties of the former system resulting from Prague's policy of "divide et impera" were spontaneously abandoned by their leaders and replaced by a gathering together of all Slovaks of good will. The amputation decided in Vienna was painful but not fatal for the country.20 On October 6, 1938, under international pressure, Prague had to make up its mind to take care of the Slovak problem. On September 22, 1938, in the course of the crisis brought on by the German question Mr. Benes, after many postponements and three modifications, finally had the text of a plan of solution put into the hands of Monsignor Joseph Tiso, Vice-President of the Populist party in Bratislava.21 General John Syrovy, who headed the Prague Government in Prague after Munich, nominated the First autonomous government of Slovakia. Monsignor Joseph Tiso was appointed Prime Minister. Tiso's government was empowered with full control over all matters affecting Slovak territory with the exception of foreign affairs, national finance, and national defense, which remained matters of common juristiction with Prague. Tiso's cabinet consisted of four ministers-Matth ew Cernak, Education; Ferdinand Durcansky, Justice; Paul Teplansky, Agriculture; John Lichner, trade and Public Works, Railroads and Post. Durcansky was a member of the Hlinka's People's Party, Cernak was an independent autonomist, while Teplansky and Lichner were members of the Czecho-Slovak Agrarian Party.22 Monsignor Tiso announced that Slovakia would be a part of a Federated Czecho-Slovak Republic. The hyphen was again incorporated in the title to emphasize the component parts that make up the state. After the victory of Munich, Germany was no less determined than before to liquidate Czecho-Slovakia. Hun- �SLOVAKIA 117 gary made demands upon territory in Slovakia which contained a heavy Hungarian population. Before March 13, 1939, Berlin was faced with the following alternative in regard to the Slovak question: either Slovakia would declare its independence and become Germany's ally, or else it would refuse--an act which would be one reason for the Reich's leaving Hungary's hands free to reconquer the former territory of the crown of St. Stephen. Hitler never ceased plotting in Budapest. As early as February, 1939, Dr. Edmund Wesenmayer, who was later to become Minister Plenipotentiary of the Third Reich in Budapest, informed Slovak politicians that Hungary was considering March 15 to attack Slovak territory. He did not forget to add that only the Declaration of Independence could ward off Hungarian intervention.23 In March, inspite of strong autonomist tendencies, . the Czech preponderance in Slovakia was still considerable. The effects of twenty years just could not be undone in several months. Mostly because of lack of qualified personnel, the officers' corps in the army units stationed in Slovakia, police and gendarmerie and higher officials in the administrative service were still largely Czech. Industry ran mostly on Czech capital and Slovak economy was closely linked to the economy of the Czech lands . These facts were realized by Tiso and it caused him to be very cautious in his actions against the Czech lands. Independence at this angle spelled great economic danger and administrative chaos in Slovakia. Monsignor Tiso went to see Hitler and discuss the Slovak situation. Hitler definitely had no interest in anything east of the Carpathian mountains. It was indifferent to him what happened there. Hitler stated that if Slovakia wanted independence he would support this endeavor and even guarantee it. Hitler wanted Tiso to declare Slovakia's independence on the Berlin Radio, but he refused this because he did not have the right to decide Slovakia's fate. It was up to the Parliament in Bratislava to decide Slovakia's fate. Tiso called President Ha.cha, the president of Czecho-Slovakia to call the Slovak deputies together for the meeting of the parliament. After an exposition by Tiso behind closed doors the �118 SLOVAKIA fifty-seven deputies from the Slovak Parliament voted unanimously for independence. Three quarters of an hour later the same parliament voted the following law: Article 1. The Slovak land kleclared itself an independent State. The Diet of the Slovak land is transformed into a parliament of the Slovak State. Article 2. Until the adoption of the Constitution of the Slovak State, the executive power is entrusted to the government named by the Presidency of the Parliament. Article 3. All the laws, decrees and dispositions valid up to the present continue in force with the changes resulting from the fact of the existence of the i~dependent Slovak State. Article 4. By means of decrees, the government is instructed to take all measures necessary for the maintenance of order and the protection of the interests of the Slovak State. Article 5. This law goes into effect this very day and it devolves upon the government to enforce it. Bratislava, Slovakia, March 14, 1939 The new government comprised the Prime Minister, Msgr. Dr. Joseph Tiso; Vice-Premier, Dr. Vojtech Tuka; Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ferdinand t>urcansky; Interior, Karol Sidor; National Defense, Lieutenant-Colonel Ferdinand Catlos; Public Education, Joseph Sivak; Economy, Dr. Gejza Medricky; Finance, Dr. Mikulas Pruzinsky; Communications and Public Works, Julius Stano; Justice, Dr. Gejza Fritz.25 Slovakia became Germany's ally rather than her victim as in the Czech lands, but German policy wanted to prove how happy even a small Slavic nation could be in Hitler's new order. Slovakia was recognized, and many Czech historians neglect to admit, by many countries both 'de facto' and 'de jure'. She was recognized by Poland, Hungary, and Germany in March of 1939, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain in April, and on May by Great Britain by a 'de facto' recognition. Before the outbreak of the war she was recognized by Vatican, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Sweden, Japan, Liberia, Equador, Costa Rica, both 'de facto' and 'de jure'. In addition she received recognition 'de facto' from France and Belgium. On September 17, 1939 the Soviet Union recognized Slovakia both 'de facto' and 'de jure'. After the declaration of independence on March 14, �SLOVAKIA 119 1939, Slovakia, for the time in over one thousand years she took her place among the nations of the earth. She no longer had stringis attached to Budapest or Prague. The Slovak government first wanted to solve the problem of a heavy Czech labor force in intellectual areas of thought. "On October 1, 1938 the number of teachers in Slovakia was 345 Slovaks and 523 Czechs. This figure completely reversed by 1940 when there were 680 Slovak teachers as opposed to 73 Czech teachers." 27 Slovakia did have many problems in her economy which were heavily exploited by German interference. The very fact that in 1939 a separate Slovak state could somehow exist where it would have been an impossibility twenty years earlier shown that the Slovaks had not only been able students but had also had able teachers in the Czechs. But there were still those who would show arrogance and lack of undestanding for Slovak pride and spoil the atmosphere. Although some authors like Schmitt feel that the "independent Slovakia and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia became, for all practical purpose, parts of the Reich." 28 Yet some authors seem to negate the fact that there was a declaration of independence by the Slovak Parliament which represented the Slovak people and only the Slovak people. Another fact which is paramount in a nation's right to life is the fact of recognition by other nations. It must be emphasized that Slovakia was recognized by nations in both camps, Allied and German. IV. The way in which Slovakia disappeared from the face of Europe and became again a part of the Czecho-Slovak Republic offers experts of international law and political science an interesting subject for study and investigation. Considering the fact that Slovakia was recognized by 27 states, of which two thirds were on the side of the Allies, the Slovak Republic became a member of the international community and subject to the codes of international law. We must consider the fact that Slovakia like Hungary, Finland, Bulgaria and Rumania were defeated states but they were never incorporated into any other states. Accordin~ to the Atlantic Charter Slovakia should have been �120 SLOVAKIA treated as an existing state under military occupation and remain such until the Peace treaties were signed. Indeed the Allies favored the Czech exiles and decided not to apply the right of self-determination and the principles of the Atlantic Charter to the Slovak people. This seems very strange because of the fact that when a state is recognized it cannot be desolved with the impression that it never had existed. "On May 8, 1945 the Slovak Government signed a document of 'protection' or 'surrender' to the Allied High Command."29 Considering the fact that Slovakia never declared war against the Western Allies-Great Britain, France, or the United States. The attempts to save Slovakia as an independent state failed and her right to self-government disappeared. Never consulting the Slovak people, she was again a part of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. All signs of autonomy as evidenced before the war disappeared within the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Slovakia again became a mere appendage of the term "Czechoslovak." Slovaks could no longer speak for Slovaks but had to look to the Czechs in Prague. V. In conclusion the road to Slovakia's independence led through stormy days of the post-Munich period and the time of her independence on the European scene was not very propitious. But we must remember that there are some things in life in which we have no say in. It is highly unlikely that Slovakia would have survived if she had appeared after World War I due to the fact that she lacked a substantial intellectual class. The fact remains that fifty years before she possessed a larger intelligentsia than in 1918. The one thousand year sentence of subjugation under Magyarization had almost destroyed the Slovaks and their civilization. The Slovaks owe much to the Czechs, for without them they would not have been able twenty years later to possess an intelligentsia which had multiplied in size and improved in . depth and competence and stand on their own feet in March of 1939. The Czecho-Slovak Republic might have worked if it was bilateral and not unilateral as it was. The Czechs neglected to realize the �SLOVAKIA 121 fact that children do mature and no longer need to be tied to their mother's apron strings. It was tragic that the United States' indolence resulted in Slovakia again being incorporated into the Czecho-Slovak Republic against the will of majority of her people. It was astrous that the United States favored the Czech Benes over the Slovak Tiso in deciding the fate of the Slovak people. The Slovakia that did emerge on March 14, 1939 was not the archetype that I would have envisioned, for there were many things wrong, among them heavy dependence on Germany. It is both simple and sweet to assert that Adolph Hitler imposed independence on Slovakia but these allegations are not factual. The circumstances surrounding Slovakia's birth are far more complex. The Slovaks, unable to escape Central European events, reconciled themselves to the geographical and political conditions of 1939, as they thought best. Independence was not rejected, it was hailed, true some more eagerly than others. Slovakia was a failure in one respect in that it could not avert the persecution of its Jewish population, of whom about a fourth survived the six years of Slovakia's existence. The Catholic bishops however, under the leadership of Archbishop Karol Kmet'ko, of Nitra, were as outspoken in their criticism of anti-Jewish legislation and courageous in their defense of human dignity as was s:inybody in Hitler's Europe. We can all appreciate the fact that no nation on earth desires tyranny over freedom, and even some who have a different view regarding the Slovak Republic and her war-time regime. No man on earth has the right to condemn the Slovaks to be an appendage to any other nation nor to be a colony of any other nation no matter how ethnically or linguistically they are related. The Slovak does not want any Czech to use his debasive form of rhetoric in international spheres of interest on behalf of his culture, language and history but rather feels quite proficient enough to do this for himself. The Slovak nation has a God-given right to live a free and independent life according to its tr,aditions. �122 SLOVAKIA One very important thing the world has to learn is the fact that the dreams and aspirations of little nations must be respected and supported even if they cramp the style of a brother nation who in the world's eyes seemingly wants only the best for its little brother. Another thing is the fact that the Slovaks do not wish to be known as Czechs or "Czechoslovaks". They are not a mere appendage but a distinct entity. If politics is the art of the impossible, then we cannot condemn the Slovaks for having achieved that impossible dream in the years of 1939-1945. Althought I am an American born of Slovak blood only on my mother's side I have come to know and love the aspirations of the Slovak people. As an American I can appreciate freedom and justice and see the same for my brothers in Slovakia. The story and traditions of the Slovak people are among the most glorious in all of history. No other nation has suffered so much nor been more misunderstood and yet still possesses a fire of determination for its freedom and self-determination. Slovakia did emerge but unfortunately was stiffled, but she will again someday rise up to stand among the free and independent peoples of the earth as master of her own household. Ibsen's words from his work "An Enemy of the People, V" seem to be appropriate: "The Strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone ... " 1) F. Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months ( Oct. 1938- March 1939) ," Slovak Studies IV, Historica II, 1964, 14. 2) J . Lettrich, "The Declaration of Turciansky Sv. Martin," A Histor y of Modern Slovakia, p. 288. 3) F . Vnuk, op. cit., p. 15. 4) G. L. Oddo, "To be Free of Budapest," Slov akia anji Its People, (New York, 1960) , p. 174. 5) Ibid., p. 175. 6) IbH, p. 175-76 7) F . Vnuk, op. cit., p. 16. 8) P . P . Yurchak, "Masaryk," The Slovaks,(Whiting, Ind.,1946), pp. 206. 9) Vnuk, op. cit., p. 16. 10) I. Derer, The Unity of the Czechs and Slovaks, (Prague, 1938) p. 32. 11) G. L. Ojddo, "Czecho-Slovakia," Slovakia and Its People, (New York, 1960) , p. 205. �SLOVAKIA 123 12) Ibid. , p. 205. 13 ) J . A. Mikus, "Czecho-Slovakia (1918-1939) " , Slovakia: A Political history, Marquette Slavic Studies ed., (Milwaukee, 1963) , pp. 38-39. 14 ) Ibid., p. 39. 15 ) G. F. Kennan, "Report on Conditions in Slovakia," From Prague After Muni ch, Princeton University Press ed. (Princeton, N. J . 1968) , p . 19. 16) F . Vnuk, op. cit., p. 17. 17 ) F . Vnuk, op. ci t ., p. 23. 18) Ibid., p . 23 . 19) F Vnuk, loc. cit. 20 ) J. A. Mikus, op. cit., p. 66. 21 ) Ibid, p. 67. 22 ) G. L. Oddo, op. cit ., p. 237. 23 ) J. A. Mikus, op. ci t ., p. 76. 24 ) J. A. Mikus, op . cit., pp. 86-87. 25 ) Ibid., p. 88. 26 ) I bid. , pp. 135-36. 27 ) J . A. Mikus, op. ci t ., pp. 108-09. 28 ) B. E. Schmitt, " The Road to Munich," Czechoslov akia, R. J . Kerner ed., (Los Angeles, 1949), p. 438. 29 ) J . M. Kirschbaum, "Twenty years of Czech an/d Communist Rule in Slovakia," Slov akia, XV, (1965) , p. 80. BIBLIOGRAPHY Derer , Ivan, The Unity of the Czechs and Slovaks, Prague, The Orbis Publishing Company, 1938. Heymann, Frederick, G., Poland and Czechoslovakia, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall Inc., 1966. Kennan, George, F ., From Prague After Munich, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1968. Kirschbaum, Joseph, M ., "Twenty Years of Ozech and Communist Rule in Slovakia," Slovaki a, XV, ( 1965) , pp. 78-90. Lettrich, Joseph, A. , A History of Modern Slovakia, New York, N . Y ., Praeger Publishing, 1955. Mikus, Joseph, A. , Slovakia a Political History: 1918-1950, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, The Marquette University Press, 1963. Oddo, Gilbert, L., Slovakia and Its People, New York, Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Schmitt, Berna/dette, E ., Czechoslovakia, Los Angeles, Ca.Hfornia. University of California Press, 1949. Vnuk, Francis, Slov ak Studies IV, Rome, Italy, Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius Press, 1964, pp. 7-164. Yurchak, Peter, P., The Slovaks, Whiting, Indiana, The Rev. John J. Lach Press, 1946. ( FIRST PRIZE AWARD) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1971, Vol. 21 Description An account of the resource Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 109 Winning Essays - Slovak League Scholarship Awards The Emergence of the Slovak State Daniel F. T a n z o n e I. Following the collapse of the Hapsburg monarchy the small nations of Central Europe organized their own national states. The Slovaks joined hands with their Czech brothers and organized a common state: the Czecho-Slovak Republic. On the part of the Slovaks it was a belated re-appearance on the map of Europe after their ancestors hll-ci made a short debut in the Moravian Empire of the Ninth century. The union with the Czechs was considered as the most opportune alternative, the others being complete independence which was beyond their will, or autonomy within Hungary. It is interesting to note that large Slovak emigrant organizations in the United States came to the same conclusions, although there was no co-ordination of action between the Slovaks in Slovakia and those in the United States. "During· the war of 1914-18 every action for the unification of the Czechs and Slovaks into a common state was considered by the Austro-Hungarian authorities as treason, and consequently there were only a few sporadic pronouncements on this theme." 1 "But the idea was being entertained by the Czech and Slovak leaders at home, while abroad an active group led by Thomas G. Masaryk and Milan R. Stefanik and Benes worked with the Allies for the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia." 2 Their hard work, carried out with superhuman endurance and untiring stubborness against many odds, was crowned with splendid success. On October 30, 1918 in Turciansky Svaty Martin the Slovak representatives claiming "the absolute right to selfdetermination" declared for unity with the Czechs (at a 110 SLOVAKIA meeting which bore all the marks of haste and excitement). The declaration called not only for political but also for linguistic and cultural unity and marked the beginning of a new epoch in Slovak history. From living under the Magyars, the Slovaks started a new life with the Czechs.3 To go back for_a minute to look at the situation in America the historic month of May, 1918, saw events both at home and abroad moving inexorably toward the formation of a new Czecho-Slovak Republic. May saw Masaryk in Pittsburgh meeting with American Czech and Slovak leaders, explaining just how Czecho-Slovakia would be administered and precisely what the status of Slovakia would be within the new state. He assured Slovaks that Slovakia would be autonomous, would have its own schools, its own language, its own local administration, its own courts, its own legislative assembly and to further appease Slovak sensibilities he drafted a document which has since been hotly debated. It is known in history as the Pittsburgh Pact. Because Masaryk had written the draft in pencil Albert Mamatey, the President of the Slovak League of America had calligraphed and later took it to Washington where Masaryk (his government now officially recognized by the Wilson Administration), already temporary president of Czecho-Slovakia, signed the calligraphed copy on November 14 just before his departure for Europe. 4 The agreement was necessary to assure the American Slovaks of the position of Slovakia in the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The American Czechs and Slovaks under the leadership of the Rev. Joseph Murgas, pastor of Sacred Heart Slovak Roman Catholic Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, launched a drive to raise funds for the cause of Czech and Slovak liberation. The drive netted the sum of well over $800,000.00 and it was sent to Masaryk, Benes, the former's daughter Alice, the National Council's offices in Paris, Russia, and the United States. 5 The agreement proclaimed that Slovaks and Czechs would form one state but that Slovakia would be completely autonomous, and that Czechs would not meddle in the domestic affairs of Slovakia. The Pittsburgh Pact is as follows: SLOVAKIA 111 THE PITISBURGH PACT May 30, 1918 The representatives of the Slovak and Czech organizations in the United States-The Slovak League of America, the Czech National Alliance, and the Union of Czech Catholics-have !deliberated, in the presence of the Chairman of rthe Czecho-Slovak National Council, Professor Masaryk, on the C2iecho-Slovak question and on our previous program manifestations, and have resolved as follows: We favor a political program whose purpose it shall be to unite the Czechs and the Slovaks into an autonomous state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have her own administration, heT own assembly and her own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in the schools in public offices, and in public life in general. The Czecho Slovak State shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic. The cooperation of the Czechs and the Slovaks in the United States shall be intensified and regulated by mutual consent, accord• ing to need and changing situations. Detailed provisions relating to the organization of the CzechoSlov,ak state shall be left to the liberated Czechs and Slovaks anci their legal representatives. 0 Signators Slovak Representatives: A. Mamatey, I. Bielek, J. Jancek, M. Gazdik, M. Getting, J . Pankuch, G. H. Mika, M. Bosak, I. Gessay, Rev. John Kubasek, A. Schustek, Rev. L. J . Karlovsky, Rev. Paul J . Siska, J. A. Feriencik, I. Daxner. Czech Representatives: T. G. Masaryk, K. Pergler, H. Dostal, Dr. L. Fischer, Rev. Oldrich Zla.mal, B. Simek, V. Benes, J. Zmrhal, Rev. I. Restl, J. Straka, J. Martinek, Dr. G. V. Pecival6 II. The transition was loaded with difficulties optimistically minimized or overlooked (in the initial enthusiasm) but which started to transpire as the honeymoon was wearing thin. The Slovaks ( and the Czechs, too) found very soon that they were much further apart than two branches of one nation ought to be or are supposed to be. Apart from an undeniable linguistic similarity there was little else these two nations had in common. In 1918 the Czechs were more progressive in their views, more aggressive in their action and more western in their political outlook than the Slovaks. At the same time the Slovaks 112 SLOVAKIA were practically without "intelligentsia", emerging from a battle for survival which they had very nearly lost and their general attitude was more conservative than revolutionary; in a word, they were badly equipped for the stormy days ahead. They depended greatly on Czech help. From 1919 under the pretext of helping Slovakia the Czechs were sending into Slovakia hundreds upon hundreds of teachers, officials and technicians; some of these did creditable work and rendered valuable services, others less so. Many of the new Czech arrivals commited a great number of unnecessary blunders which discredited their often well-meant help. Their ignorance of Slovak psy-• chology made their approach to their Slovak brothers awkward and sometimes even insulting. 7 When Masaryk entered upon the work of liberating the Czechs he did so with a singular talent and thoroughness. No other man could have possibly done better. The Czechs came to revere him as the personification of Czech genius expressed in an essentially rationalist philosophy. His outlook became fundamentally Czech. He came to be an admirer of John Hus. Educated in German schools, he was thus well equipped to cope with the German mentality. He became less a Slovak and more a stranger to the Slovak outlook and Slovak mentality. The Slovak has a deep respect for tradition: he is conservative, and does not change his opinions overnight with each new bit of information or of knowledge he may acquire. The Czech has less respect for tradition, indeed, challenges it, and is essentially opportunistic rather than conservative. 8 The first post-war weeks witnessed a sudden revival of anti-Catholic and Hussite traditions in Bohemia. The Czechs saw in the Catholic Church a Hapsburg ally and wanted the Slovaks to see in her an instrument of Magyarization. They tried to transplant their excesses into Slovakia but with no success. For most Slovaks the Catholic Church was an object of awe and respect and any attack on it, secret or open, horrified them, even made them nostalgic for those days when the Church was sacrosanct. The British minister in Prague summed up the principal errors of the Czech administration in Slovakia in his report of November 6, 1919 as follows: SLOVAKIA 113 1. Hostility to the Roman Catholic Church is evidenced by Czech soldiers and offidals and includes the desecration and mutilation of crucifixes and holy images, interruption of marriages, and similar offenses against the principles of culture and decency. 2. The Country has been flooded with Czech officials and Slovaks dismissed, or, if employed, they receive from one half to two-thirds less pay than the Czechs. 3. Corruption exists in public offices. 4. Attempts are being made to substitute the Czech for the Slovak language.9 The British representative not only pointed out these errors but strove for their rectification. With the approval of his government he advocated with both Masaryk and Benes more moderate courses and a more reasonable approach to the Slovak problem. One of the most important laws passed by the Czechoslovak Republic (hyphen was dropped) which antagonized the Slovaks was the Language Act (No. 122 of the year 1920). It provided that the state official language of CzechoSlovakia was the "Czechoslovak" language in which (with the exception of the provisions made for the use of the languages of the minorities, namely German and Hungarian) the proceedings of all courts, organs, institutions and enterprises of the state were to conducted. 10 The last paragraph of the Pittsburgh Agreement notes that the "detailed regulations, concerning the ·establishment of the Czecho-Slovak state, are left to the liberated Czechs and Slovaks and their legal representatives." Only one recognized authority existed in the years 1918-20: the Provisional Constituent Assembly of Czecho-Slovakia. 11 Meanwhile, on December 12, 1918, Vavro ~robar was sent to Slovakia with "full powers" from the central government and placed at the head of a semi-autonomous administration named by Prague. Soon Czech generals. Czecho-Slovak legionnaires, and tens of thousands of Czech officials would follow him. Thus, ~robar, who had already turned against his former benefactor, Monsignor Andrew Hlinka, P.A., and had renounced his Catholic Faith, could and did in time impose a "Czech peace" upon a people who had illusions of cultural autonomy after centuries of oppression from Budapest.12 As Slovakia represented 23 percent of the Republic's population, it would have seemed logical-as the com- 114 SLOVAKIA petitive system was not generally used-to reserve for Slovaks 23 per cent of the positions in the central administration. Now the statistics for the Slovak civil servants during the twentieth and last year of the Czecho-Slovak Republic show the following: Slovaks Civil Servants The Parliament of Prague ....... . Service to the Chief of State ..... . Presidency of the Council .. . .... . Ministries: Foreign Affairs . ... ........ . .. . Interior ..... ..... ............ . Justice ... ..... . .. . ....... . . .. . Unification ..... .. .. . ... . ..... . National Defense ............. . Generals ......... .... ........ . Industry: Civil Servants ......... . Agriculture ................. ... . . Post Offices . .... ............... . Communications .... ........... . Public Works ......... . ........ . Commerce ....... .. . . . ... . .... . . Social Welfare ..... . .. . ......... . Public Health .... . .. ... . . ... ... . Finance ....... . .. .............. . 1 out of 224 96 3 153 9 33 2 12 6 6 1 4 11 7 9 4 1 4 6 12 1,246 386 143 51 1,300 139 417 391 305 1,006 82 322 397 182 630 13 Of the 318,981,000 Crowns representing the sum total of the salaries paid annually to the civil servants of the Republic, the Slovaks received only 3,614,000, that is 1,1 per cent. If the 23 per cent proportion had been respected , the Slovak civil servants would have received 73,000,000 Crowns annually .14 Considering the fact that there were few Slovak intellectuals in 1918, after twenty years, the picture remained the same as regards the position of the Slovaks in the Republic. According to the Czechs, the Slovak constitutional demands have gone so far and been pressed so ruthlessly that it is not facetious to say that in CzechoSlovakia everyone now has autonomy except the Czechs. The Czechs dismissed the Slovak behavior outwardly as the pranks of a headstrong child who has been given a new toy.15 SLOVAKIA 115 All these problems led to the development of the autonomist movement led by Monsignor Andrew Hlinka. After the 1925 election his party, known as the Slovak People's Party, emerges as the strongest party in Slovakia (among twenty odd parties contesting the election) scoring 34 % of the total votes (489,111 out of 1,425,595) .16 In such an atmosphere the situation was ripening for a show-down. The young generation was predominantly autonomist and radical. Educated by Czech teachers it knew how to fight the Czechs with their own weapons. The nationalism of the Twenties with all its immature self-expression was coming of age. Its claims were now more demanding and better substantiated. There was no other way of satisfying them except by granting them. The difficult period when Slovakia had practically no nationally conscious intelligentsia, no administrative experience and no definite political aims, was now over. Even reasonable Czechs were aware of the fact that the Slovaks did not need tutelage in everything and were willing to grant gradually some sort of autonomy. In fact there was more opposition to the part of centralist Slovaks than on the part of the Czechs themselves. III. The Slovak problem re-emerged in all its magnitude in 1938. Up to that year it was relatively unknown outside Czecho-Slovakia, very few foreigners being aware even of its existence. The Czech-German dispute had made it a second-rate affair and being an internal one it had captured little attention abroad. But in September 1938 its presence and importance were stressed by both Hitler and Mussolini. Hitler in his speech of September 26 at the Sportpalast said that the Czechs and the Slovaks were separate nations and "the Slovaks did not want to have anything to do with the Czechs." 17 Mussolini in his open letter to Runciman pointed out that "there is not only a Sudeten-German problem, there is also a Hungarian, a Polish and a Slovak problem." 18 The tragi-comic element of their focusing attention on this problem lies in the fact that they were actually repeating, practically word for word, what had been said or written at least 20 years 116 SLOVAKIA before by Msgr. Hlinka in September, 1919 demanding an autonomous status for Slovakia in Paris. 19 By the Munich Agreement of the European Big Four Slovakia was condemned to transfer to Hungary the southern zone settled by Magyars. Faced with the threat of mutilation, the country reacted healthily in knitting the national unity more closely together. The numerous parties of the former system resulting from Prague's policy of "divide et impera" were spontaneously abandoned by their leaders and replaced by a gathering together of all Slovaks of good will. The amputation decided in Vienna was painful but not fatal for the country.20 On October 6, 1938, under international pressure, Prague had to make up its mind to take care of the Slovak problem. On September 22, 1938, in the course of the crisis brought on by the German question Mr. Benes, after many postponements and three modifications, finally had the text of a plan of solution put into the hands of Monsignor Joseph Tiso, Vice-President of the Populist party in Bratislava.21 General John Syrovy, who headed the Prague Government in Prague after Munich, nominated the First autonomous government of Slovakia. Monsignor Joseph Tiso was appointed Prime Minister. Tiso's government was empowered with full control over all matters affecting Slovak territory with the exception of foreign affairs, national finance, and national defense, which remained matters of common juristiction with Prague. Tiso's cabinet consisted of four ministers-Matth ew Cernak, Education; Ferdinand Durcansky, Justice; Paul Teplansky, Agriculture; John Lichner, trade and Public Works, Railroads and Post. Durcansky was a member of the Hlinka's People's Party, Cernak was an independent autonomist, while Teplansky and Lichner were members of the Czecho-Slovak Agrarian Party.22 Monsignor Tiso announced that Slovakia would be a part of a Federated Czecho-Slovak Republic. The hyphen was again incorporated in the title to emphasize the component parts that make up the state. After the victory of Munich, Germany was no less determined than before to liquidate Czecho-Slovakia. Hun- SLOVAKIA 117 gary made demands upon territory in Slovakia which contained a heavy Hungarian population. Before March 13, 1939, Berlin was faced with the following alternative in regard to the Slovak question: either Slovakia would declare its independence and become Germany's ally, or else it would refuse--an act which would be one reason for the Reich's leaving Hungary's hands free to reconquer the former territory of the crown of St. Stephen. Hitler never ceased plotting in Budapest. As early as February, 1939, Dr. Edmund Wesenmayer, who was later to become Minister Plenipotentiary of the Third Reich in Budapest, informed Slovak politicians that Hungary was considering March 15 to attack Slovak territory. He did not forget to add that only the Declaration of Independence could ward off Hungarian intervention.23 In March, inspite of strong autonomist tendencies, . the Czech preponderance in Slovakia was still considerable. The effects of twenty years just could not be undone in several months. Mostly because of lack of qualified personnel, the officers' corps in the army units stationed in Slovakia, police and gendarmerie and higher officials in the administrative service were still largely Czech. Industry ran mostly on Czech capital and Slovak economy was closely linked to the economy of the Czech lands . These facts were realized by Tiso and it caused him to be very cautious in his actions against the Czech lands. Independence at this angle spelled great economic danger and administrative chaos in Slovakia. Monsignor Tiso went to see Hitler and discuss the Slovak situation. Hitler definitely had no interest in anything east of the Carpathian mountains. It was indifferent to him what happened there. Hitler stated that if Slovakia wanted independence he would support this endeavor and even guarantee it. Hitler wanted Tiso to declare Slovakia's independence on the Berlin Radio, but he refused this because he did not have the right to decide Slovakia's fate. It was up to the Parliament in Bratislava to decide Slovakia's fate. Tiso called President Ha.cha, the president of Czecho-Slovakia to call the Slovak deputies together for the meeting of the parliament. After an exposition by Tiso behind closed doors the 118 SLOVAKIA fifty-seven deputies from the Slovak Parliament voted unanimously for independence. Three quarters of an hour later the same parliament voted the following law: Article 1. The Slovak land kleclared itself an independent State. The Diet of the Slovak land is transformed into a parliament of the Slovak State. Article 2. Until the adoption of the Constitution of the Slovak State, the executive power is entrusted to the government named by the Presidency of the Parliament. Article 3. All the laws, decrees and dispositions valid up to the present continue in force with the changes resulting from the fact of the existence of the i~dependent Slovak State. Article 4. By means of decrees, the government is instructed to take all measures necessary for the maintenance of order and the protection of the interests of the Slovak State. Article 5. This law goes into effect this very day and it devolves upon the government to enforce it. Bratislava, Slovakia, March 14, 1939 The new government comprised the Prime Minister, Msgr. Dr. Joseph Tiso; Vice-Premier, Dr. Vojtech Tuka; Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ferdinand t>urcansky; Interior, Karol Sidor; National Defense, Lieutenant-Colonel Ferdinand Catlos; Public Education, Joseph Sivak; Economy, Dr. Gejza Medricky; Finance, Dr. Mikulas Pruzinsky; Communications and Public Works, Julius Stano; Justice, Dr. Gejza Fritz.25 Slovakia became Germany's ally rather than her victim as in the Czech lands, but German policy wanted to prove how happy even a small Slavic nation could be in Hitler's new order. Slovakia was recognized, and many Czech historians neglect to admit, by many countries both 'de facto' and 'de jure'. She was recognized by Poland, Hungary, and Germany in March of 1939, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain in April, and on May by Great Britain by a 'de facto' recognition. Before the outbreak of the war she was recognized by Vatican, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Sweden, Japan, Liberia, Equador, Costa Rica, both 'de facto' and 'de jure'. In addition she received recognition 'de facto' from France and Belgium. On September 17, 1939 the Soviet Union recognized Slovakia both 'de facto' and 'de jure'. After the declaration of independence on March 14, SLOVAKIA 119 1939, Slovakia, for the time in over one thousand years she took her place among the nations of the earth. She no longer had stringis attached to Budapest or Prague. The Slovak government first wanted to solve the problem of a heavy Czech labor force in intellectual areas of thought. "On October 1, 1938 the number of teachers in Slovakia was 345 Slovaks and 523 Czechs. This figure completely reversed by 1940 when there were 680 Slovak teachers as opposed to 73 Czech teachers." 27 Slovakia did have many problems in her economy which were heavily exploited by German interference. The very fact that in 1939 a separate Slovak state could somehow exist where it would have been an impossibility twenty years earlier shown that the Slovaks had not only been able students but had also had able teachers in the Czechs. But there were still those who would show arrogance and lack of undestanding for Slovak pride and spoil the atmosphere. Although some authors like Schmitt feel that the "independent Slovakia and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia became, for all practical purpose, parts of the Reich." 28 Yet some authors seem to negate the fact that there was a declaration of independence by the Slovak Parliament which represented the Slovak people and only the Slovak people. Another fact which is paramount in a nation's right to life is the fact of recognition by other nations. It must be emphasized that Slovakia was recognized by nations in both camps, Allied and German. IV. The way in which Slovakia disappeared from the face of Europe and became again a part of the Czecho-Slovak Republic offers experts of international law and political science an interesting subject for study and investigation. Considering the fact that Slovakia was recognized by 27 states, of which two thirds were on the side of the Allies, the Slovak Republic became a member of the international community and subject to the codes of international law. We must consider the fact that Slovakia like Hungary, Finland, Bulgaria and Rumania were defeated states but they were never incorporated into any other states. Accordin~ to the Atlantic Charter Slovakia should have been 120 SLOVAKIA treated as an existing state under military occupation and remain such until the Peace treaties were signed. Indeed the Allies favored the Czech exiles and decided not to apply the right of self-determination and the principles of the Atlantic Charter to the Slovak people. This seems very strange because of the fact that when a state is recognized it cannot be desolved with the impression that it never had existed. "On May 8, 1945 the Slovak Government signed a document of 'protection' or 'surrender' to the Allied High Command."29 Considering the fact that Slovakia never declared war against the Western Allies-Great Britain, France, or the United States. The attempts to save Slovakia as an independent state failed and her right to self-government disappeared. Never consulting the Slovak people, she was again a part of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. All signs of autonomy as evidenced before the war disappeared within the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Slovakia again became a mere appendage of the term "Czechoslovak." Slovaks could no longer speak for Slovaks but had to look to the Czechs in Prague. V. In conclusion the road to Slovakia's independence led through stormy days of the post-Munich period and the time of her independence on the European scene was not very propitious. But we must remember that there are some things in life in which we have no say in. It is highly unlikely that Slovakia would have survived if she had appeared after World War I due to the fact that she lacked a substantial intellectual class. The fact remains that fifty years before she possessed a larger intelligentsia than in 1918. The one thousand year sentence of subjugation under Magyarization had almost destroyed the Slovaks and their civilization. The Slovaks owe much to the Czechs, for without them they would not have been able twenty years later to possess an intelligentsia which had multiplied in size and improved in . depth and competence and stand on their own feet in March of 1939. The Czecho-Slovak Republic might have worked if it was bilateral and not unilateral as it was. The Czechs neglected to realize the SLOVAKIA 121 fact that children do mature and no longer need to be tied to their mother's apron strings. It was tragic that the United States' indolence resulted in Slovakia again being incorporated into the Czecho-Slovak Republic against the will of majority of her people. It was astrous that the United States favored the Czech Benes over the Slovak Tiso in deciding the fate of the Slovak people. The Slovakia that did emerge on March 14, 1939 was not the archetype that I would have envisioned, for there were many things wrong, among them heavy dependence on Germany. It is both simple and sweet to assert that Adolph Hitler imposed independence on Slovakia but these allegations are not factual. The circumstances surrounding Slovakia's birth are far more complex. The Slovaks, unable to escape Central European events, reconciled themselves to the geographical and political conditions of 1939, as they thought best. Independence was not rejected, it was hailed, true some more eagerly than others. Slovakia was a failure in one respect in that it could not avert the persecution of its Jewish population, of whom about a fourth survived the six years of Slovakia's existence. The Catholic bishops however, under the leadership of Archbishop Karol Kmet'ko, of Nitra, were as outspoken in their criticism of anti-Jewish legislation and courageous in their defense of human dignity as was s:inybody in Hitler's Europe. We can all appreciate the fact that no nation on earth desires tyranny over freedom, and even some who have a different view regarding the Slovak Republic and her war-time regime. No man on earth has the right to condemn the Slovaks to be an appendage to any other nation nor to be a colony of any other nation no matter how ethnically or linguistically they are related. The Slovak does not want any Czech to use his debasive form of rhetoric in international spheres of interest on behalf of his culture, language and history but rather feels quite proficient enough to do this for himself. The Slovak nation has a God-given right to live a free and independent life according to its tr,aditions. 122 SLOVAKIA One very important thing the world has to learn is the fact that the dreams and aspirations of little nations must be respected and supported even if they cramp the style of a brother nation who in the world's eyes seemingly wants only the best for its little brother. Another thing is the fact that the Slovaks do not wish to be known as Czechs or "Czechoslovaks". They are not a mere appendage but a distinct entity. If politics is the art of the impossible, then we cannot condemn the Slovaks for having achieved that impossible dream in the years of 1939-1945. Althought I am an American born of Slovak blood only on my mother's side I have come to know and love the aspirations of the Slovak people. As an American I can appreciate freedom and justice and see the same for my brothers in Slovakia. The story and traditions of the Slovak people are among the most glorious in all of history. No other nation has suffered so much nor been more misunderstood and yet still possesses a fire of determination for its freedom and self-determination. Slovakia did emerge but unfortunately was stiffled, but she will again someday rise up to stand among the free and independent peoples of the earth as master of her own household. Ibsen's words from his work "An Enemy of the People, V" seem to be appropriate: "The Strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone ... " 1) F. Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months ( Oct. 1938- March 1939) ," Slovak Studies IV, Historica II, 1964, 14. 2) J . Lettrich, "The Declaration of Turciansky Sv. Martin," A Histor y of Modern Slovakia, p. 288. 3) F . Vnuk, op. cit., p. 15. 4) G. L. Oddo, "To be Free of Budapest," Slov akia anji Its People, (New York, 1960) , p. 174. 5) Ibid., p. 175. 6) IbH, p. 175-76 7) F . Vnuk, op. cit., p. 16. 8) P . P . Yurchak, "Masaryk," The Slovaks,(Whiting, Ind.,1946), pp. 206. 9) Vnuk, op. cit., p. 16. 10) I. Derer, The Unity of the Czechs and Slovaks, (Prague, 1938) p. 32. 11) G. L. Ojddo, "Czecho-Slovakia," Slovakia and Its People, (New York, 1960) , p. 205. SLOVAKIA 123 12) Ibid. , p. 205. 13 ) J . A. Mikus, "Czecho-Slovakia (1918-1939) " , Slovakia: A Political history, Marquette Slavic Studies ed., (Milwaukee, 1963) , pp. 38-39. 14 ) Ibid., p. 39. 15 ) G. F. Kennan, "Report on Conditions in Slovakia," From Prague After Muni ch, Princeton University Press ed. (Princeton, N. J . 1968) , p . 19. 16) F . Vnuk, op. cit., p. 17. 17 ) F . Vnuk, op. ci t ., p. 23. 18) Ibid., p . 23 . 19) F Vnuk, loc. cit. 20 ) J. A. Mikus, op. cit., p. 66. 21 ) Ibid, p. 67. 22 ) G. L. Oddo, op. cit ., p. 237. 23 ) J. A. Mikus, op. ci t ., p. 76. 24 ) J. A. Mikus, op . cit., pp. 86-87. 25 ) Ibid., p. 88. 26 ) I bid. , pp. 135-36. 27 ) J . A. Mikus, op. ci t ., pp. 108-09. 28 ) B. E. Schmitt, " The Road to Munich," Czechoslov akia, R. J . Kerner ed., (Los Angeles, 1949), p. 438. 29 ) J . M. Kirschbaum, "Twenty years of Czech an/d Communist Rule in Slovakia," Slov akia, XV, (1965) , p. 80. BIBLIOGRAPHY Derer , Ivan, The Unity of the Czechs and Slovaks, Prague, The Orbis Publishing Company, 1938. Heymann, Frederick, G., Poland and Czechoslovakia, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall Inc., 1966. Kennan, George, F ., From Prague After Munich, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1968. Kirschbaum, Joseph, M ., "Twenty Years of Ozech and Communist Rule in Slovakia," Slovaki a, XV, ( 1965) , pp. 78-90. Lettrich, Joseph, A. , A History of Modern Slovakia, New York, N . Y ., Praeger Publishing, 1955. Mikus, Joseph, A. , Slovakia a Political History: 1918-1950, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, The Marquette University Press, 1963. Oddo, Gilbert, L., Slovakia and Its People, New York, Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Schmitt, Berna/dette, E ., Czechoslovakia, Los Angeles, Ca.Hfornia. University of California Press, 1949. Vnuk, Francis, Slov ak Studies IV, Rome, Italy, Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius Press, 1964, pp. 7-164. Yurchak, Peter, P., The Slovaks, Whiting, Indiana, The Rev. John J. Lach Press, 1946. ( FIRST PRIZE AWARD)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Emergence of the Slovak State Description An account of the resource Daniel F. Tanzone Slovakia, Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971 pp. 109-123 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tanzone, Daniel F. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d710ffe05e14f68953f35f514b888de5.pdf c1266c123713fc11d8142f8caa13afd8 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Stefan P O la k O 29 Vi C : The Ethnical Philosophy of L'udovtt Stur* A. INTRODUCTION 1. Philosophy and Life The present day people generally are ignoring the Philosophy and consider it as an antiquarian and discarded discipline without any relation to the concrete life. And they forget that even the most unphilosophical concrete, individual life is expression of philosophy. It would be sufficient to observe an individual and his actions in order to write down "his" philosophy, i.e. the principles which are guiding him in his personal life. There is a mutual dependence between philosophy and life to such an extent that the fulness of the accidental aspects of the life is permeated by the general principles of philosophical character, while these principles in their abstract form can become a ferment for concrete life and contribute, by their turn, to the changes and even upheavals of the life. This fundamental relation between life and philosophy has been observed by Plato and Aristoteles teaching that the beginning of philosophy is "admiring" ( thaumazein). And in reality, there are many concrete "materials" in the concrete world for the analysis of an observing mind. As a philosopher who received a Hegelian formation in its authentic source during his studies in Germany, Cudovit stlir did not remain insensible in front of the concrete situation of the Slovak nation in Hungary at the beginning of the 19th century. It was a splendid "material" to be analyzed and studied under the light of the then modern philosophical doctrine. And these studies had been done by stur with the result of general principles, valid even today, on the life of nations in general. From the other side, the very same conditions of the Slovaks in �30 SLOVAKIA Hungary were for the patriot ~tur an object of very serious preoccupations. In this way, if from one side he was abstracting general principles out of this situation, from the other side he was putting down general principles for the recuperation of the Slovaks and their awakening from the centennial sleepiness. 1 2. The Ethnical Situation in Hungary in 1800 and After After the destruction of the Slovak kingdom in 910 A.D. by the Magyars with the help of the Franks (Germans) and its occupation by the victors, the higher culture of the Slovaks did not permit their assimilation by the Magyars 2 and so, in order to maintain the stability of the problematic common monarchy for two different nations (the Slovaks are Slavs and the Magyars are Mongolians), the new kings had recourse to a solution unique in the history of Europe: the adoption of the Latin as official language of the kingdom. 3 This anachronical situation lasted until 1793, when the Magyar language was for the first time codified and first attempts had been made to impose the Magyar language as the official one in the entire territory of Hungary. The consequences of the use of the Latin in Hungary during nine centuries were disastrous both for the Slovaks and Magyars: neither the Slovaks nor the Magyars had been able to develop their own literary works and so their language remained limited to the vernacular function (folk songs, folk legends etc.). After the Reform only appear here and there the first Slovak and Magyar works printed in dialects. Another, not less disastrous consequence of the reign of the Latin in our country was "darkness, brutality; lack of undertaking and higher civic liberty" 4 ; such was the common destiny of the Slovaks and the Magyars because of the lack of instruction. The schools and the real life of the two nations were separated by an abysmal gap: "All the knowledge and culture in the middle age were sticking in the schools and were limited to them ... It was a natural consequence of the separation of the schools from the life due to the foreign language" (i.e. the Latin).5 This led to the "contemptous looking of the schools on the life, the condemnation of the common life as of �SLOVAKIA 31 something vulgar; the contempt of national life and erradication of the even undangerous national customs; the rise of the cultivated casts and general neglect of the people who ... were needing instruction nor were allowed to enter into the temple of the instruction." 6 As soon as the Magyars codified their language, the Slovaks did the same: The Slovak Grammar of Bernolak appeared before the year 1800. What the Slovaks as a nation could not do was to hamper the magyarisation of the high and low Slovak nobility which at that time due to the raisons d'Etat stood behind the governmental power. This renegation of the Slovak nobility was a death blow to the Slovak national interests and since then the word "renegate" got a smell of moral insanity among the Slovaks. In this way to the Slovaks "were left the middle classes only: townsmen, low clergy, teachers." 7 The Slovaks were left only "what could not be taken away from them . . . due to the impossibility of the matters." 8 3. Civic Priesthood of Stur stur was 25 years old, when he came back to Slovakia from Germany: the mind full of ideas and the heart full of love for his Slovak nation. His decision as far as his personal life was concerned, was all made already: he had to sacrifice his life to his people and decided not to get married in order to be completely free from familiar ties. In very short nine years (from 1840 to 1849) he developed a febrile activity as teacher and scholar, as publisher and journalist, as politician and representative to Parliament, as revolucionary and soldier. He succeeded in forming an entire generation of Slovak activists whose merit was the preservation of the Slovak national life in a hostile and brutal country. The students were drawn by his ideas and confirmed by the chastity of his exemplar personal life. stur was doing what he was preaching: to prefer the common and public interests to his own personal advantages. He was not appointed by anybody to this national job: he had choosen it freely as a selfappointed high priest subject to his conscience and God only according to one of his devices: "We entered into the service of the Spirit; therefore we have to pass on a life full of thorns." �32 SLOVAKIA We got registered his farewell speech to his students before they left for holidays in 1842: like Moses on the mount Nebo with his hands elevated towards the heaven imploring God's blessings for the fighting soldiers Stur was dismissing his friends in the function of national missionaries like a high priest: "Who is living out of the spirit, is living in the humanity, is living suitably to humanity . . . and who is not living out to the spirit, is living for himself only, there is no humanity in him not is he in the humanity, because he is natural being only and not spiritual being like is the humanity ... Why the field of our Slovakia lies fallow as a desert; why our nation fell so down? Because it is not conscious of itself ... it is unconscious in the sphere of language, customs and ways of life as a distinct personality, it does not know itself as one wholeness, is not aware of itself and does not understand itself in the spirit of its own personality as belonging exclusively to itself." 9 In 13udovit Stur's works, articles, speeches there is a graduation during the mentioned nine years: the climax of all this febrile activity is the armed uprising of 1848-49 against the Magyars with the declaration of the independence of Slovakia (September 19, 1848). After this unsuccessful uprising the police curtain fell over a life consecrated to his nation: house prison, sorrow and death. In brevi explevit tempora multa ... B. ST-OR'S IDEAS CONCERNING THE LIFE OF NATION 1. The Nation Even if Stur, during his studies in Germany, imbibed with avidity the congenital doctrines of Hegel, he assimilated them in his personal way and was forging practical applications according to the situation of the Slovak nation in Hungary. Whereas "the spirit is the essence of all" 10 and his main task is selfknowledge and whereas, if we freely are interpreting Stur's idea of multiplicity of nations, the manifoldness of the nations is the manifestation of the richness of the Spirit, the main task of every nation it to reach the selfconsciousness. �SLOVAKIA 33 Without this selfconsciousness and selfknowledge the existence of a nation is a very precarious one, if not impossible according to sttir. Like a man (human being) who did not reach the personality is a child as slave who does know nothing about it, as "the nations which did not reach the personality, which did not feel themselves, are like children under the command of a patriarch and slaves under landlord." 11 Every nation "is a one whole, one individuality, one personality" and the highest obligation of very personality is to "become conscious, feel and know itself." 12 This national individuality consists in the spiritual union of all the members13 which can be felt "only on the basis of our nearest natural consanguinity." 14 What does this personality consist in? In the first place, the specificness of every nation is manifested by its language. "The language is the utterance of the spirit and in its turn is destined to influence the spirit." 15 "The language got its own life and the same course as the nations themselves." 16 "When the language lost its original expressivity, force, determination and acuteness, so the force and acuteness of the nation itself had volatilized; got old the language, so got old the nation itself." 17 One with the other are in the strongest union, one with the other are living and dying. 18 Besides the language, there are many other ties assuring the unity of the nation. Some of them are completely natural (as the territory) and or are natural-spiritual (among these on the first place is the language, afterwards customs, ways of life) and or completely spiritual (religion, political and civic order etc.) . The yearning after personality in an ethnical group is the most noble desire, because it is a desire of selffeeling and selfknowledge19 and in the last consequences it is a desire of being useful to the humanity. A nation which did not come to personality is unable t o register anything of its own in the world among the �34 SLOVAKIA other nations, nor is able to represent anything in the history. Notwithstanding that Stur is emphasizing the importance of the feeling of personality for a nation, he asseverates that "the personality is not the highest degree and that when a man or nations want to live and actuate indeed humanly, they must rise to a higher degree, wherefore the personality must be ennobled and morally hightened." 20 The spiritual personality of the nation, if it has to be a real and not imaginary one, must dispose of itself. This selfdisposition cannot be carried out, when a nation is united to another like an accident: the result of such an union can only be a weakness for both the partners. It is no life, but only a vegetation. 21 "When a nation wants to live and has to live, it cannot and must not rely on another nation and from it wait for the awakening and maintenance of its life ... Such a nation does not deserve to live." 22 Such a nation is like a log, "wherein there is no life."23 The life of the nation consists in spiritual movement and activity. Every true nation desires to rise to a higher life and wants its life to be registered in the life of mankind. It only is possible, when the nation is creating values of universal human validity which are contributing to the progress of humanity. In order that this be possible, these works of everlasting human validity have to bear the seal of the national authorship. 24 All this is possible only, when the nation had reached the degree of selfconsciousness as a nation, "because the selfconscious nation is united by the spirit in the strongest way . . . and is respecting its existence and its honest staying among others." 25 The true union of the members of the nation is in the spirit only i.e. when present in the conscience of all. Such a nation is strong, even if a small one. This "community-minded spirit" 26 is the essential force of every nation. Stur had to fight the family-minded spirit of the common Slovak people of that time with the purpose to �SLOVAKIA 35 awaken them for a higher life of the national community. He and his disciples had done an admirable work on this field. 27 And as usual, stur was analyzing the relation between the family and community life within the framework of the nation. He did not want to condemn the family life; he only wanted to exclude the exaggerate cult of family life: "The community life must not absorb the family life as well as the family life cannot exclude the community life." 28 Of course, the first society to which the man belongs is family: to it he is united with body and sentiments. Thus, while the fundament of family is a natural one and its union is of natural origin, in the national community the union is of spiritual character. And as body is of lower nature than the spirit, so the family is lower than the national community. In consequence thereof the community is higher than the family. Even if this ratiocination is of undoubtedly Hegelian precedence, there is series of fundamental theoremas concerning the life of nations which are issuing from this admitted superiority of spirit. First of all, no nation can lastingly remain on the niveau of the family life, because nation as nation got completely different the essential ties than the family; and also because the spirit can develop through the national community only which takes care of education and spiritual formation. 29 That the public life of community is higher than that of family it is growing evident also from the fact that those who were sacrificing themselves for the community met with gratitude of the nation and everlasting glory: they merited this general esteem, because they were concerned about the higher goods of the nation. "Beautiful is the love of Joseph for his brothers, captivating is the sacrifice of Antigona taking care of her father and accompanying him in his blindness on Kyteron; beautiful is the fidelity of Lucretia; beautiful is the love of Solon for his son, the care of Cornelia for her heroic sons, beautiful the care of Aeneas, beautiful the love of Andromeda, but incommensurably higher and more glorious are the deeds of Leonidas, Themistocles, Miltiades, �36 SLOVAKIA Mucius, Scipio, Zrinyi, Franklin, Menin, Pozarsky, Kosciuszko and many others." 30 If anybody would live for his family only, the nation would cease to exist. Of course, there are many degrees of access of a community to the fulness of national life. At the beginning, all the nation being born are rude and brutal, because "they did not reach a spiritual culture.'' 31 These "being born" nations are united by family ties only and they are living patriarchal order. There is a community life, but reduced to corporal necessities. Later on, the community is creating spiritual values and thus is rising to the degree of nation. A community which did not create its spiritual culture disappears from the theatre of History: "The nations which did not rise to the community life, if met by a higher nation were succumbing to it.'' 32 The spiritual life of the nations "consists in all that the spirit is creating; that in it got its roots and origin" 33 i. e. religion, arts, sciences, doctrines, institutes, juridical order etc. Through the creation of such values a nation is able to register its existence in the community o! nations and obtain its identity card: "A nation which did not create anything noble for others, which did not register its li!e in the human community life, got no consideration before others." 34 The more flourishing is the community life and spiritual creativity of a national community, the stronger will be its position among the nations, because it is of one spirit and of one will. According to ~tur, such nations only appertain to History which consists in "continuous evolution." 35 This last expression has to be understood in the terminology of Hegelian philosophy of History.36 "The improvement and heightening of the human life has been progressing through the nations which appertain to History," 37 but never through the vegetation of tribes and barbarian nations. �SLOVAKIA 37 If we are searching for a definition of nation in stur, we will be perhaps disappointed: "By nation has always been understood the community of men using from birth one language." 38 This apparently poor definition has to be understood, however, from the viewpoint of the high function of language in the life of nations. 2. The Nation And The Language The very essence of the ethnical philosophy of stur has to be searched for in his doctrine of language as far as it is in relation with the life of nations in general. We have already mentioned the role of language, when speaking of the personality of nation: the language is one of the fundamental reasons of its specificness, i.e. it identifies the nation. This doctrine does not contradict the fact, that the English is a language common to England and the US, the Portuguese common to Portugal and Brazil, the Spanish common to Spain and many Latin American states. On the first place, all these new "nations" are nations in formation. In this process of formation they feel the necessity of a special language and this trend towards a specific language is being observed as in the United States (the trend to spell and pronounce differently the English ) as in Brazil ( the Brazilians speak of Brazilian as their mother tongue) as in the Latin American states (some o! them are looking for native Indian languages in order to emphasize their "national" identity). Secondly, there exist a subconscious uncertainty and insecurity as far as the national identity is concerned, in all these zones, when comparing their identities with those of other nations recognized as such. "When the nation comes to selfconsciousness, then it will comprehend that it got one life, one aim and so by natural and necessary course of the things this selfconsciousness must express itself in what it is uniting the nation together: one literary language, one literature belong essentially to the unity of nation." 39 �38 SLOVAKIA Thus the language is the instrument of the national unity: no nation (in the acception of a spiritual community and not the state; the state could have more languages) can have two literary languages. From the other side, the language alone is unable to maintain the national unity: 40 "The nations got higher goods which they are yearning after ... These higher goods belong to spiritual aspects. When the nation reaches this higher niveau of spiritual activity, then begins to consider its linguistic unity as secondary, even if always dear and beloved, because inherited from the forefathers, but undecisive in all fundamental questions." 41 In other words, when a nation reaches the stadium of high spiritual activity creating everlasting cultural values, the question of language ceases to be a primary one and is being collocated on the secondary niveau, because in this way the conscious spirit is assuring the unity of nation. But before the language be able to become vehicle of high, spiritual activity, it is necessary to cultivate it i.e. provide it with terms able to express not only things, objects of daily use (the stadium of native vernacular languages), but also high ideas. "The language got the same course, the same evolution like man and nations. The child and the common man are speaking a very common language related to the objects of daily use known to all and in the same way common people who are either not at all or little civilized, but a cultivated man is speaking of higher subjects and his language is more abundant, more complicated and more polished; all the same is to be said of the language of a cultivated nation." 42 This general principle is being confirmed every day in our times too: India is being overhauling the Hindostani in order to give it an efficiency as a modern cultivated language; the missionaries are struggling with the imperfections of the hundred and hundred native languages in order to convert them in vehicles capable to express high ideas putting down in this way the very foundations for a road to civilization of the different tribes. But from all the functions a literary language may �SLOVAKIA 3g get, the most important is its role in the instruction of the peoples. ~tur was assigning a primordialy importance to the language on this field. "Every nation can be cultivated through its own language only and is being cultivated, when its language is being cultivated" 43 : there is an interdependent action and mutual benefit as a result. In fact, the civilization of a nation is practically impossible, if its language is being postponed. The Guaranis of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, the Aymeras of Bolivia and Quechuas of Peru and Bolivia as nations were left on the same cultural niveau as they were living in the times of colonial occupation. According to ~tur "the mother tongue is the mean of civilization of that nation that is speaking it." 44 "If the instruction has to be a true, useful and adequate instruction it must be carried out in the national language i. e. in the mother tongue of the nation. Otherwise, the instruction got no value, is a mechanical work, without any benefit." 45 "The instruction must exercise an influence not only on the mind but also on the heart; it must not be understood only, but also felt" 46 and we feel best the power of words and expressions in our mother tongue. "In this language all is clear and bright; in it the objects denoted by words are immediately present before our eyes, while in the foreign language all appears to us like behind a curtain of fog .. . For these reasons everybody will understand, why the nations being instructed in their schools in the mother tongue are progressing in instruction, knowledge and are occupying a honorable place among other nations, while the nations being instructed in their schools in foreign language are staying behind." 47 There is another important reason, why the instruction has to be carried out in the mother tongue: "Through the mother tongue introduced into the schools the eyes of the nation are being opened; only then it is aware that it exists in the world too and through the mother tongue introduced into the public life, the nation is getting voice in the world." 48 �40 SLOVAKIA All these benefits had been denied to the nations in the middle age, when the Latin was used commonly in all the 15chools. The consequences thereof have been the obscuratism and barbarity, no undertaking and no public liberty. "In the middle age the world and schools were opposed to such a degree that whatever was appertaining to the schools did not concern the life and vice versa and this was a natural consequence of the separation of the schools from the life through a foreign language." 49 At that time the universities were like castles, where secret treasures were being hidden and whoever wanted to get to these treasures, he had to break through the dead Latin world. By a similar bad luck are being stricken many small nations even in the modern times. In this occasion Stur described the situation of the Irish nation, where the original Irish language is being ousted from the schools and the English is being imposed on its place; a similar destiny got the Flemish nation in Belgiwn and the Slovaks in Hungary. "We have to call it a disaster, when a nation is being instructed in foreign language, it is not possible to talk about the progress in knowledge and culture of such a nation. And without culture a nation is like mud being trampled under feet." 50 By the repression of its language, the nation is being menaced in its very being. "A nation to whom had been imposed a foreign language even in its elementary schools got a sensible blow on its very life and spirit . . . and is condemned to blindness and obscurity ... In such a nation there will flourish no culture, instead of it there will dwell obscurity; there will flourish no freedom, instead of it there will spread the spirit of servilism, there will flourish no wealth, instead of it unfold poverty and misery." 51 "When a nation had fallen so deeply, it is the declaration of the last historical sentence over it and the accomplishment of its servility." 52 In this connection, Stur is mentioning again the situation of the Irish nation, where the imposition of the English in the public life were conducing to the paralization of the authentic national life. The introduction of the English into the public life in Wales and Scotland got �SLOVAKIA 41 practically the same effect: the original national identity got a deadly blow and there is practically no probability that these two Celtic nationalities could revive their original national life. Not dissimilar grew the situation of the Basks in Spain and France: deprived of the possibility to make use of their many thousands years old language in their public life, they are decaying as a distinct nationality and are merging with the Spanish and French. 3. The Rights of The Nations According to Stur 53 While individual rights have been object of different declarations and international instruments (Bill of Rights etc.), the rights of the nations neither have been enumerated nor sanctioned by international domuments. All this is perfectly understandable, because the world policy has always been carried out by the big powers interested only in their power positions and very little or nothing at all in the rights of the small nations. This situation prevails even today. What can be said of the situation prevailing hundred or more years ago? The big powers are able to assure their real and or pretended rights as today as they were doing in the past. They were and are enjoying them in full measure what cannot be said of the small nations, whose rights are being trampled under feet and denied. Only who is suffering injustice on his own flesh is able to understand the benefits of the right and justice and to yearn after them. Only nations which have been subjugated and denied their fundamental rights were able to forge the ideas about these rights amidst their sufferings. If you examine the modern history of the Basks, Irish, Jews, Slovaks and other perfectly constituted nations whose the only defect was to be small ones, you will gather abundant evidences of their desire to see protected and realized their rights they are feeling to be entitled to. More than hundred years ago, stur was expressing some of these fundamental rights of the nations. All these ideas are very important contribution to the creation of new international law which undoubtedly will take place in the next decades and conduce to the reorganization of mankind on the base of respect for all the nations, not �42 SLOVAKIA only the big ones, but also the small ones which are the majority and feel the thirst of justice. After all we have said about the function of the mother tongue in the life of nation, it is not difficult to understand that titur was preaching the right to language as the most proper mark of every nationality: "Who is touching (the language) is touching the most proper possession." 54 If a nation is denied the right to its own language by its expulsion out of the public life and schools, it is getting a death blow to its very existence. The Bask language has been suppressed in France and Spain and nowadays the number of Basks is diminishing in such an allarming way that if they are not allowed to use their own language in their country, this respectable nation will disappear from the map of Europe. The actual society got associations for the protection of animals ( dogs, cats and endangered species) and plants, but the United Nations Organization did not provide for the protection of the dying national communities and nations endangered in their life. Very soon the Bask language, the oldest European spoken language, will be a dead one, if the Basks do not get an international support for their legitimate struggle for independence. The Irish got a blow, when the English was introduced in Ireland instead of the Gaelic and many decades will pass over until the Gaelic will be again a spoken language in Ireland in spite of the Irish Republic and the desire of the authorities to reinstall it. Of course, of all the rights the most fundamental is the right to life. Meanwhile in the old times, the conquerors were depriving the conquered nations of their material goods, in these times the conquest is aiming at the subjugation of the spirit i.e. the conquerors are threating to take away the nationality itself; the last finality nowadays is the incorporation of the physical substance of conquered into the body of the conquering nation. Therefore titti.r requested that "nobody should interfere with our own district from national point of view." 55 From the fact of existence rises the right to personality which is the extension of the right to life. When speaking of nation, we had quoted the ideas of $tti.r relating to personality and its importance for the normal development �SLOVAKIA 43 of the national community. stur was asking for "the recognition of the personality" 56 of the Slovaks with all the consequences issuing therefrom. In his meditations stur arrived to the expression of the "right to personality." When speaking of the tendency to suppress the life of a nation, he qualifies it as an injustice, because such a nation "is denied the right to be per se amid mankind i.e. to be a different personality." 57 It only is natural that every nation is striving for the recognition of its own personality among the other nations, because even if the personality may be not the highest value according to stur, it is a fundament for all its activity. stur was proclaiming also the right to territory: "As a family needs its settlement as needs the nation its territory, where to live; its frontiers as far as its sovereignty extends itself, where to develop freely and to carry out its will." 58 "The nation with its territory which is the field of its activity, is one owner of earth among other owners." 59 "Whoever is taking hold of this ownership i. e. who is limiting the frontiers of its activity is offending the entire nation and provokes it to war." 60 Only weak and vile nations are permitting their frontiers to be narrowed. This idea of the right to its own earth was a guide to the Jewish nation in diaspora since the time of their deportation to Babylon and after. The realization of this right in the form of "Eretz Ischrael" is completely understandable to anybody who thinks of the nations in philosophical terms. This same idea was proclaimed by the Irish insurgents of 1916: "We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland . . . The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right ... " For this same right are fighting the rebellious Basks in Spain and France in these very days: the right to Euzkotarr. For this right have been slaughtered one million of Ibos in Nigeria because they wanted to live in their own country, Biafra. �44 SLOVAK.IA In connection with. the language and its function in the life of the nation, stur uttered the right to education and culture. The main object of all the activity of stur was the Slovak common people: after the desertion of the high and low (practically too) nobility, to the Slovaks were left the middle classes and common people only. Therefore he was directing all his endeavors to these masses with the purpose to provoke their national consciousness: "Our common people is the substantial part of our nation." 61 This people were "abandoned and neglected" and therefore "we stepped down and started to have intercourse with them in their own language ... so that they may feel their dignity ... and work on their own rising." 62 We should not forget that in Hungary until 1848 was prevailing the system of serfdom and there was practically no possibility of instruction for the common people. stur was aware that only through education of the masses the Slovak nation can be preserved from disparition. The consequences of the lack of instruction were disastrous indeed: penury, lack of the spirit of enterprise, total absence of welfare, lack of the sense for community. "An educated and instructed nation is in better spiritual and material situation than a nation without instruction . . . The more one is instructed, the higher dignity, respect, higher rights and better condition is he getting." 63 Without the education, there is no community life within the nation64 and its spiritual life which the very essence of a nation is very deficient. 65 An instructed nation is a free nation and a nation composed of ignorant people is a slavish nation. The freedom of a nation is intimately linked to its education and high degree of culture: "an instructed and cultured nation cannot be held in the chains of slavery." 66 So it is understandable that stur considered the right to education and instruction as high as the same right to life. Not unlike was at that time the situation of the Irish nation. stur got into his hands at that time (AD 1847) a number of a Tipperary newspaper wherein the unknown author is requested that "the source of the Irish misfortune must be destroyed, removed and only then there will be �SLOVAKIA 45 a hope that the people rise. The cause thereof is the humiliation and oppression of our Irish people which are being born in order to serve only. The oppression of our nationality since the times of the English expansion is the main cause of all the evil." 67 Being similar the conditions in Ireland and Slovakia, similar were also the reactions of the leaders of the peoples. In Ireland Thomas Davis, "the educator of nationality", was preaching: "Educate that you may be free." "Selfhelp and reliance were his cardinal principles for national regeneration." 68 stur was also insinuating the right of the nation to selfdetermination at a time, when this principle was not a common and general idea. He said: "No nation got the right . . . to not allow another nation to follow its own way, the way which is to it the most convenient." 69 And in accordance with this principle he led his nation to an open rebellion against the Magyars and proclaimed the independence of Slovakia in 1848. 3. EPILOGUE The short period of the intellectual activity of stur is full of ideas which have to say many things to this generation and to the future ones. His doctrine of the personality of the nations contains nucleus for the revision of the entire actual international law. If the nations exist as communities independently of the states and are subjects of the rights, thus the actual international law is an interstatal law only, the United Nations Organization is an Organization of the States etc. We are living in a world of confusion originated in the equivocal use of the term "nation" by the Latin and Anglosaxon nations. While, from one side, it is necessary only that an ex-colony, insignificant as may be (Barbados, Trinidad-Tobago etc.), get granted its independence and be recognized as such and immediately is getting the right to be "a nation," member o! UNO, on the other side, the authentic nations i. e. spiritual communities with well formed personality and efficient cultural life like Basks in Spain, a pleiade of authentic nations in India, Slovaks in Central Europe are denied even the designation of nations and all the rights inherent to their condition of authentic nations. There is a danger �46 SLOVAKIA that the diplomacy is moving on a terrain either of ignorantia elenchi or moral perversity. The Stu.r's visions of international brotherhood and a humanity living for the fruits of the Spirit on the basis of a material welfare are distant from the reality yet. FOOTNOTES •) By "ethnical" we understand "related to the life of nations," because the word "nation" got two different acceptions. I.:udovit Stur (1815-1856), the Slovak scholar, Philosopher and revolutionary who declared the independence of Slovakia in 1848. 1) The practical aspects of this activity see by J. Pauco, "The instruction of the People by the followers of Stur" (I.:udovychova u sturovcov, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1943). 2) To the contrary, the Magyar language has been enriched by the Slovak words related to state administration, agriculture, construction etc. 3) Analogically in the modern times, India had to adopt the English as official language due to the existence of many ethnics in that country. There are many other cases in the contemporary world. 4) I:. Stur, Dielo I, 314. In Bratislava appeared five volumes of his works in 1954. All the quotations of Stur are taken from this edition. 5) lb., l , 314. 6) lb. 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) lb., l, 168. lb., l, 170. lb., II, 15, 17. lb., V, 41. lb., V, 12. lb. lb. lb. lb., 15. lb. lb., 15, 16. lb., 16. lb., 13. lb., 13. lb. lb., 100. lb., 101. lb., 105, 106. lb., 40. lb., I, 230. 24) 25) 26) 27) J. Pauco, o. c. 28) lb., l, 127. 29) lb., I, 115. �SLOVAKIA 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42) 43) 44) 45) 46) 47) 48) 49) 50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) 56) 57) 58) 59) 60) 61) 62) 63) 64) 65) 66) 67) 68) 69) 47 Ib., l, 116. lb., l, 114. Ib., I, 125. lb., II, 177. lb., l, 123. lb., II, 182. According to this doctrine, in the History always one nation is the leader of mankind. lb., II, 188. lb., I, 216. Ib., V, 134. lb., l, 212. lb. l, 212, 213. Cfr. lb. l, 215: "Even if the language is not the highest value of a nation, still it is the most important and decisive property as far as its personality and distinction is concerned, and from the fathers holy heritage which if somebody is touching, is touching the most proper possession, even if not the highest one." lb., V, 17. lb., l, 153. lb. Ib., l, 312. lb., I, 313. lb., l, 313, 314. lb., l, 314. lb. lb., l, 317. lb., l, 318, 319. lb., l, 319. S. Polakovic, L'evolution des idees fondamentales de la politique slovaque, Bratislava 1944; S. Polakovic, The Evolution of the Slovak National Philosophy, delivered at the conference in Toronto 1971. Stur, o.c., l, 215. lb., I, 221. lb., l, 216. Manuscript in the Archives of Matica Slovenska, Martin, Slovakia, No. 356a. Stur, o.c., l, 210. lb. lb., l, 211. lb., l, 49. lb., l, 125. lb., I, 154. lb., l, 158. lb., l, 124. lb., l, 334. lb., l, 315-6. We could not identify this Tipperary newspaper. The English quotation is not verbal, because we had to translate it from the Slovak. Dr. Moody in his address to Trinity College, Dublin, on April 20, 1966. Slovo na case, II, 81. � SLOVAKIA Stefan P O la k O 29 Vi C : The Ethnical Philosophy of L'udovtt Stur* A. INTRODUCTION 1. Philosophy and Life The present day people generally are ignoring the Philosophy and consider it as an antiquarian and discarded discipline without any relation to the concrete life. And they forget that even the most unphilosophical concrete, individual life is expression of philosophy. It would be sufficient to observe an individual and his actions in order to write down "his" philosophy, i.e. the principles which are guiding him in his personal life. There is a mutual dependence between philosophy and life to such an extent that the fulness of the accidental aspects of the life is permeated by the general principles of philosophical character, while these principles in their abstract form can become a ferment for concrete life and contribute, by their turn, to the changes and even upheavals of the life. This fundamental relation between life and philosophy has been observed by Plato and Aristoteles teaching that the beginning of philosophy is "admiring" ( thaumazein). And in reality, there are many concrete "materials" in the concrete world for the analysis of an observing mind. As a philosopher who received a Hegelian formation in its authentic source during his studies in Germany, Cudovit stlir did not remain insensible in front of the concrete situation of the Slovak nation in Hungary at the beginning of the 19th century. It was a splendid "material" to be analyzed and studied under the light of the then modern philosophical doctrine. And these studies had been done by stur with the result of general principles, valid even today, on the life of nations in general. From the other side, the very same conditions of the Slovaks in �30 SLOVAKIA Hungary were for the patriot ~tur an object of very serious preoccupations. In this way, if from one side he was abstracting general principles out of this situation, from the other side he was putting down general principles for the recuperation of the Slovaks and their awakening from the centennial sleepiness. 1 2. The Ethnical Situation in Hungary in 1800 and After After the destruction of the Slovak kingdom in 910 A.D. by the Magyars with the help of the Franks (Germans) and its occupation by the victors, the higher culture of the Slovaks did not permit their assimilation by the Magyars 2 and so, in order to maintain the stability of the problematic common monarchy for two different nations (the Slovaks are Slavs and the Magyars are Mongolians), the new kings had recourse to a solution unique in the history of Europe: the adoption of the Latin as official language of the kingdom. 3 This anachronical situation lasted until 1793, when the Magyar language was for the first time codified and first attempts had been made to impose the Magyar language as the official one in the entire territory of Hungary. The consequences of the use of the Latin in Hungary during nine centuries were disastrous both for the Slovaks and Magyars: neither the Slovaks nor the Magyars had been able to develop their own literary works and so their language remained limited to the vernacular function (folk songs, folk legends etc.). After the Reform only appear here and there the first Slovak and Magyar works printed in dialects. Another, not less disastrous consequence of the reign of the Latin in our country was "darkness, brutality; lack of undertaking and higher civic liberty" 4 ; such was the common destiny of the Slovaks and the Magyars because of the lack of instruction. The schools and the real life of the two nations were separated by an abysmal gap: "All the knowledge and culture in the middle age were sticking in the schools and were limited to them ... It was a natural consequence of the separation of the schools from the life due to the foreign language" (i.e. the Latin).5 This led to the "contemptous looking of the schools on the life, the condemnation of the common life as of �SLOVAKIA 31 something vulgar; the contempt of national life and erradication of the even undangerous national customs; the rise of the cultivated casts and general neglect of the people who ... were needing instruction nor were allowed to enter into the temple of the instruction." 6 As soon as the Magyars codified their language, the Slovaks did the same: The Slovak Grammar of Bernolak appeared before the year 1800. What the Slovaks as a nation could not do was to hamper the magyarisation of the high and low Slovak nobility which at that time due to the raisons d'Etat stood behind the governmental power. This renegation of the Slovak nobility was a death blow to the Slovak national interests and since then the word "renegate" got a smell of moral insanity among the Slovaks. In this way to the Slovaks "were left the middle classes only: townsmen, low clergy, teachers." 7 The Slovaks were left only "what could not be taken away from them . . . due to the impossibility of the matters." 8 3. Civic Priesthood of Stur stur was 25 years old, when he came back to Slovakia from Germany: the mind full of ideas and the heart full of love for his Slovak nation. His decision as far as his personal life was concerned, was all made already: he had to sacrifice his life to his people and decided not to get married in order to be completely free from familiar ties. In very short nine years (from 1840 to 1849) he developed a febrile activity as teacher and scholar, as publisher and journalist, as politician and representative to Parliament, as revolucionary and soldier. He succeeded in forming an entire generation of Slovak activists whose merit was the preservation of the Slovak national life in a hostile and brutal country. The students were drawn by his ideas and confirmed by the chastity of his exemplar personal life. stur was doing what he was preaching: to prefer the common and public interests to his own personal advantages. He was not appointed by anybody to this national job: he had choosen it freely as a selfappointed high priest subject to his conscience and God only according to one of his devices: "We entered into the service of the Spirit; therefore we have to pass on a life full of thorns." �32 SLOVAKIA We got registered his farewell speech to his students before they left for holidays in 1842: like Moses on the mount Nebo with his hands elevated towards the heaven imploring God's blessings for the fighting soldiers Stur was dismissing his friends in the function of national missionaries like a high priest: "Who is living out of the spirit, is living in the humanity, is living suitably to humanity . . . and who is not living out to the spirit, is living for himself only, there is no humanity in him not is he in the humanity, because he is natural being only and not spiritual being like is the humanity ... Why the field of our Slovakia lies fallow as a desert; why our nation fell so down? Because it is not conscious of itself ... it is unconscious in the sphere of language, customs and ways of life as a distinct personality, it does not know itself as one wholeness, is not aware of itself and does not understand itself in the spirit of its own personality as belonging exclusively to itself." 9 In 13udovit Stur's works, articles, speeches there is a graduation during the mentioned nine years: the climax of all this febrile activity is the armed uprising of 1848-49 against the Magyars with the declaration of the independence of Slovakia (September 19, 1848). After this unsuccessful uprising the police curtain fell over a life consecrated to his nation: house prison, sorrow and death. In brevi explevit tempora multa ... B. ST-OR'S IDEAS CONCERNING THE LIFE OF NATION 1. The Nation Even if Stur, during his studies in Germany, imbibed with avidity the congenital doctrines of Hegel, he assimilated them in his personal way and was forging practical applications according to the situation of the Slovak nation in Hungary. Whereas "the spirit is the essence of all" 10 and his main task is selfknowledge and whereas, if we freely are interpreting Stur's idea of multiplicity of nations, the manifoldness of the nations is the manifestation of the richness of the Spirit, the main task of every nation it to reach the selfconsciousness. �SLOVAKIA 33 Without this selfconsciousness and selfknowledge the existence of a nation is a very precarious one, if not impossible according to sttir. Like a man (human being) who did not reach the personality is a child as slave who does know nothing about it, as "the nations which did not reach the personality, which did not feel themselves, are like children under the command of a patriarch and slaves under landlord." 11 Every nation "is a one whole, one individuality, one personality" and the highest obligation of very personality is to "become conscious, feel and know itself." 12 This national individuality consists in the spiritual union of all the members13 which can be felt "only on the basis of our nearest natural consanguinity." 14 What does this personality consist in? In the first place, the specificness of every nation is manifested by its language. "The language is the utterance of the spirit and in its turn is destined to influence the spirit." 15 "The language got its own life and the same course as the nations themselves." 16 "When the language lost its original expressivity, force, determination and acuteness, so the force and acuteness of the nation itself had volatilized; got old the language, so got old the nation itself." 17 One with the other are in the strongest union, one with the other are living and dying. 18 Besides the language, there are many other ties assuring the unity of the nation. Some of them are completely natural (as the territory) and or are natural-spiritual (among these on the first place is the language, afterwards customs, ways of life) and or completely spiritual (religion, political and civic order etc.) . The yearning after personality in an ethnical group is the most noble desire, because it is a desire of selffeeling and selfknowledge19 and in the last consequences it is a desire of being useful to the humanity. A nation which did not come to personality is unable t o register anything of its own in the world among the �34 SLOVAKIA other nations, nor is able to represent anything in the history. Notwithstanding that Stur is emphasizing the importance of the feeling of personality for a nation, he asseverates that "the personality is not the highest degree and that when a man or nations want to live and actuate indeed humanly, they must rise to a higher degree, wherefore the personality must be ennobled and morally hightened." 20 The spiritual personality of the nation, if it has to be a real and not imaginary one, must dispose of itself. This selfdisposition cannot be carried out, when a nation is united to another like an accident: the result of such an union can only be a weakness for both the partners. It is no life, but only a vegetation. 21 "When a nation wants to live and has to live, it cannot and must not rely on another nation and from it wait for the awakening and maintenance of its life ... Such a nation does not deserve to live." 22 Such a nation is like a log, "wherein there is no life."23 The life of the nation consists in spiritual movement and activity. Every true nation desires to rise to a higher life and wants its life to be registered in the life of mankind. It only is possible, when the nation is creating values of universal human validity which are contributing to the progress of humanity. In order that this be possible, these works of everlasting human validity have to bear the seal of the national authorship. 24 All this is possible only, when the nation had reached the degree of selfconsciousness as a nation, "because the selfconscious nation is united by the spirit in the strongest way . . . and is respecting its existence and its honest staying among others." 25 The true union of the members of the nation is in the spirit only i.e. when present in the conscience of all. Such a nation is strong, even if a small one. This "community-minded spirit" 26 is the essential force of every nation. Stur had to fight the family-minded spirit of the common Slovak people of that time with the purpose to �SLOVAKIA 35 awaken them for a higher life of the national community. He and his disciples had done an admirable work on this field. 27 And as usual, stur was analyzing the relation between the family and community life within the framework of the nation. He did not want to condemn the family life; he only wanted to exclude the exaggerate cult of family life: "The community life must not absorb the family life as well as the family life cannot exclude the community life." 28 Of course, the first society to which the man belongs is family: to it he is united with body and sentiments. Thus, while the fundament of family is a natural one and its union is of natural origin, in the national community the union is of spiritual character. And as body is of lower nature than the spirit, so the family is lower than the national community. In consequence thereof the community is higher than the family. Even if this ratiocination is of undoubtedly Hegelian precedence, there is series of fundamental theoremas concerning the life of nations which are issuing from this admitted superiority of spirit. First of all, no nation can lastingly remain on the niveau of the family life, because nation as nation got completely different the essential ties than the family; and also because the spirit can develop through the national community only which takes care of education and spiritual formation. 29 That the public life of community is higher than that of family it is growing evident also from the fact that those who were sacrificing themselves for the community met with gratitude of the nation and everlasting glory: they merited this general esteem, because they were concerned about the higher goods of the nation. "Beautiful is the love of Joseph for his brothers, captivating is the sacrifice of Antigona taking care of her father and accompanying him in his blindness on Kyteron; beautiful is the fidelity of Lucretia; beautiful is the love of Solon for his son, the care of Cornelia for her heroic sons, beautiful the care of Aeneas, beautiful the love of Andromeda, but incommensurably higher and more glorious are the deeds of Leonidas, Themistocles, Miltiades, �36 SLOVAKIA Mucius, Scipio, Zrinyi, Franklin, Menin, Pozarsky, Kosciuszko and many others." 30 If anybody would live for his family only, the nation would cease to exist. Of course, there are many degrees of access of a community to the fulness of national life. At the beginning, all the nation being born are rude and brutal, because "they did not reach a spiritual culture.'' 31 These "being born" nations are united by family ties only and they are living patriarchal order. There is a community life, but reduced to corporal necessities. Later on, the community is creating spiritual values and thus is rising to the degree of nation. A community which did not create its spiritual culture disappears from the theatre of History: "The nations which did not rise to the community life, if met by a higher nation were succumbing to it.'' 32 The spiritual life of the nations "consists in all that the spirit is creating; that in it got its roots and origin" 33 i. e. religion, arts, sciences, doctrines, institutes, juridical order etc. Through the creation of such values a nation is able to register its existence in the community o! nations and obtain its identity card: "A nation which did not create anything noble for others, which did not register its li!e in the human community life, got no consideration before others." 34 The more flourishing is the community life and spiritual creativity of a national community, the stronger will be its position among the nations, because it is of one spirit and of one will. According to ~tur, such nations only appertain to History which consists in "continuous evolution." 35 This last expression has to be understood in the terminology of Hegelian philosophy of History.36 "The improvement and heightening of the human life has been progressing through the nations which appertain to History," 37 but never through the vegetation of tribes and barbarian nations. �SLOVAKIA 37 If we are searching for a definition of nation in stur, we will be perhaps disappointed: "By nation has always been understood the community of men using from birth one language." 38 This apparently poor definition has to be understood, however, from the viewpoint of the high function of language in the life of nations. 2. The Nation And The Language The very essence of the ethnical philosophy of stur has to be searched for in his doctrine of language as far as it is in relation with the life of nations in general. We have already mentioned the role of language, when speaking of the personality of nation: the language is one of the fundamental reasons of its specificness, i.e. it identifies the nation. This doctrine does not contradict the fact, that the English is a language common to England and the US, the Portuguese common to Portugal and Brazil, the Spanish common to Spain and many Latin American states. On the first place, all these new "nations" are nations in formation. In this process of formation they feel the necessity of a special language and this trend towards a specific language is being observed as in the United States (the trend to spell and pronounce differently the English ) as in Brazil ( the Brazilians speak of Brazilian as their mother tongue) as in the Latin American states (some o! them are looking for native Indian languages in order to emphasize their "national" identity). Secondly, there exist a subconscious uncertainty and insecurity as far as the national identity is concerned, in all these zones, when comparing their identities with those of other nations recognized as such. "When the nation comes to selfconsciousness, then it will comprehend that it got one life, one aim and so by natural and necessary course of the things this selfconsciousness must express itself in what it is uniting the nation together: one literary language, one literature belong essentially to the unity of nation." 39 �38 SLOVAKIA Thus the language is the instrument of the national unity: no nation (in the acception of a spiritual community and not the state; the state could have more languages) can have two literary languages. From the other side, the language alone is unable to maintain the national unity: 40 "The nations got higher goods which they are yearning after ... These higher goods belong to spiritual aspects. When the nation reaches this higher niveau of spiritual activity, then begins to consider its linguistic unity as secondary, even if always dear and beloved, because inherited from the forefathers, but undecisive in all fundamental questions." 41 In other words, when a nation reaches the stadium of high spiritual activity creating everlasting cultural values, the question of language ceases to be a primary one and is being collocated on the secondary niveau, because in this way the conscious spirit is assuring the unity of nation. But before the language be able to become vehicle of high, spiritual activity, it is necessary to cultivate it i.e. provide it with terms able to express not only things, objects of daily use (the stadium of native vernacular languages), but also high ideas. "The language got the same course, the same evolution like man and nations. The child and the common man are speaking a very common language related to the objects of daily use known to all and in the same way common people who are either not at all or little civilized, but a cultivated man is speaking of higher subjects and his language is more abundant, more complicated and more polished; all the same is to be said of the language of a cultivated nation." 42 This general principle is being confirmed every day in our times too: India is being overhauling the Hindostani in order to give it an efficiency as a modern cultivated language; the missionaries are struggling with the imperfections of the hundred and hundred native languages in order to convert them in vehicles capable to express high ideas putting down in this way the very foundations for a road to civilization of the different tribes. But from all the functions a literary language may �SLOVAKIA 3g get, the most important is its role in the instruction of the peoples. ~tur was assigning a primordialy importance to the language on this field. "Every nation can be cultivated through its own language only and is being cultivated, when its language is being cultivated" 43 : there is an interdependent action and mutual benefit as a result. In fact, the civilization of a nation is practically impossible, if its language is being postponed. The Guaranis of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, the Aymeras of Bolivia and Quechuas of Peru and Bolivia as nations were left on the same cultural niveau as they were living in the times of colonial occupation. According to ~tur "the mother tongue is the mean of civilization of that nation that is speaking it." 44 "If the instruction has to be a true, useful and adequate instruction it must be carried out in the national language i. e. in the mother tongue of the nation. Otherwise, the instruction got no value, is a mechanical work, without any benefit." 45 "The instruction must exercise an influence not only on the mind but also on the heart; it must not be understood only, but also felt" 46 and we feel best the power of words and expressions in our mother tongue. "In this language all is clear and bright; in it the objects denoted by words are immediately present before our eyes, while in the foreign language all appears to us like behind a curtain of fog .. . For these reasons everybody will understand, why the nations being instructed in their schools in the mother tongue are progressing in instruction, knowledge and are occupying a honorable place among other nations, while the nations being instructed in their schools in foreign language are staying behind." 47 There is another important reason, why the instruction has to be carried out in the mother tongue: "Through the mother tongue introduced into the schools the eyes of the nation are being opened; only then it is aware that it exists in the world too and through the mother tongue introduced into the public life, the nation is getting voice in the world." 48 �40 SLOVAKIA All these benefits had been denied to the nations in the middle age, when the Latin was used commonly in all the 15chools. The consequences thereof have been the obscuratism and barbarity, no undertaking and no public liberty. "In the middle age the world and schools were opposed to such a degree that whatever was appertaining to the schools did not concern the life and vice versa and this was a natural consequence of the separation of the schools from the life through a foreign language." 49 At that time the universities were like castles, where secret treasures were being hidden and whoever wanted to get to these treasures, he had to break through the dead Latin world. By a similar bad luck are being stricken many small nations even in the modern times. In this occasion Stur described the situation of the Irish nation, where the original Irish language is being ousted from the schools and the English is being imposed on its place; a similar destiny got the Flemish nation in Belgiwn and the Slovaks in Hungary. "We have to call it a disaster, when a nation is being instructed in foreign language, it is not possible to talk about the progress in knowledge and culture of such a nation. And without culture a nation is like mud being trampled under feet." 50 By the repression of its language, the nation is being menaced in its very being. "A nation to whom had been imposed a foreign language even in its elementary schools got a sensible blow on its very life and spirit . . . and is condemned to blindness and obscurity ... In such a nation there will flourish no culture, instead of it there will dwell obscurity; there will flourish no freedom, instead of it there will spread the spirit of servilism, there will flourish no wealth, instead of it unfold poverty and misery." 51 "When a nation had fallen so deeply, it is the declaration of the last historical sentence over it and the accomplishment of its servility." 52 In this connection, Stur is mentioning again the situation of the Irish nation, where the imposition of the English in the public life were conducing to the paralization of the authentic national life. The introduction of the English into the public life in Wales and Scotland got �SLOVAKIA 41 practically the same effect: the original national identity got a deadly blow and there is practically no probability that these two Celtic nationalities could revive their original national life. Not dissimilar grew the situation of the Basks in Spain and France: deprived of the possibility to make use of their many thousands years old language in their public life, they are decaying as a distinct nationality and are merging with the Spanish and French. 3. The Rights of The Nations According to Stur 53 While individual rights have been object of different declarations and international instruments (Bill of Rights etc.), the rights of the nations neither have been enumerated nor sanctioned by international domuments. All this is perfectly understandable, because the world policy has always been carried out by the big powers interested only in their power positions and very little or nothing at all in the rights of the small nations. This situation prevails even today. What can be said of the situation prevailing hundred or more years ago? The big powers are able to assure their real and or pretended rights as today as they were doing in the past. They were and are enjoying them in full measure what cannot be said of the small nations, whose rights are being trampled under feet and denied. Only who is suffering injustice on his own flesh is able to understand the benefits of the right and justice and to yearn after them. Only nations which have been subjugated and denied their fundamental rights were able to forge the ideas about these rights amidst their sufferings. If you examine the modern history of the Basks, Irish, Jews, Slovaks and other perfectly constituted nations whose the only defect was to be small ones, you will gather abundant evidences of their desire to see protected and realized their rights they are feeling to be entitled to. More than hundred years ago, stur was expressing some of these fundamental rights of the nations. All these ideas are very important contribution to the creation of new international law which undoubtedly will take place in the next decades and conduce to the reorganization of mankind on the base of respect for all the nations, not �42 SLOVAKIA only the big ones, but also the small ones which are the majority and feel the thirst of justice. After all we have said about the function of the mother tongue in the life of nation, it is not difficult to understand that titur was preaching the right to language as the most proper mark of every nationality: "Who is touching (the language) is touching the most proper possession." 54 If a nation is denied the right to its own language by its expulsion out of the public life and schools, it is getting a death blow to its very existence. The Bask language has been suppressed in France and Spain and nowadays the number of Basks is diminishing in such an allarming way that if they are not allowed to use their own language in their country, this respectable nation will disappear from the map of Europe. The actual society got associations for the protection of animals ( dogs, cats and endangered species) and plants, but the United Nations Organization did not provide for the protection of the dying national communities and nations endangered in their life. Very soon the Bask language, the oldest European spoken language, will be a dead one, if the Basks do not get an international support for their legitimate struggle for independence. The Irish got a blow, when the English was introduced in Ireland instead of the Gaelic and many decades will pass over until the Gaelic will be again a spoken language in Ireland in spite of the Irish Republic and the desire of the authorities to reinstall it. Of course, of all the rights the most fundamental is the right to life. Meanwhile in the old times, the conquerors were depriving the conquered nations of their material goods, in these times the conquest is aiming at the subjugation of the spirit i.e. the conquerors are threating to take away the nationality itself; the last finality nowadays is the incorporation of the physical substance of conquered into the body of the conquering nation. Therefore titti.r requested that "nobody should interfere with our own district from national point of view." 55 From the fact of existence rises the right to personality which is the extension of the right to life. When speaking of nation, we had quoted the ideas of $tti.r relating to personality and its importance for the normal development �SLOVAKIA 43 of the national community. stur was asking for "the recognition of the personality" 56 of the Slovaks with all the consequences issuing therefrom. In his meditations stur arrived to the expression of the "right to personality." When speaking of the tendency to suppress the life of a nation, he qualifies it as an injustice, because such a nation "is denied the right to be per se amid mankind i.e. to be a different personality." 57 It only is natural that every nation is striving for the recognition of its own personality among the other nations, because even if the personality may be not the highest value according to stur, it is a fundament for all its activity. stur was proclaiming also the right to territory: "As a family needs its settlement as needs the nation its territory, where to live; its frontiers as far as its sovereignty extends itself, where to develop freely and to carry out its will." 58 "The nation with its territory which is the field of its activity, is one owner of earth among other owners." 59 "Whoever is taking hold of this ownership i. e. who is limiting the frontiers of its activity is offending the entire nation and provokes it to war." 60 Only weak and vile nations are permitting their frontiers to be narrowed. This idea of the right to its own earth was a guide to the Jewish nation in diaspora since the time of their deportation to Babylon and after. The realization of this right in the form of "Eretz Ischrael" is completely understandable to anybody who thinks of the nations in philosophical terms. This same idea was proclaimed by the Irish insurgents of 1916: "We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland . . . The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right ... " For this same right are fighting the rebellious Basks in Spain and France in these very days: the right to Euzkotarr. For this right have been slaughtered one million of Ibos in Nigeria because they wanted to live in their own country, Biafra. �44 SLOVAK.IA In connection with. the language and its function in the life of the nation, stur uttered the right to education and culture. The main object of all the activity of stur was the Slovak common people: after the desertion of the high and low (practically too) nobility, to the Slovaks were left the middle classes and common people only. Therefore he was directing all his endeavors to these masses with the purpose to provoke their national consciousness: "Our common people is the substantial part of our nation." 61 This people were "abandoned and neglected" and therefore "we stepped down and started to have intercourse with them in their own language ... so that they may feel their dignity ... and work on their own rising." 62 We should not forget that in Hungary until 1848 was prevailing the system of serfdom and there was practically no possibility of instruction for the common people. stur was aware that only through education of the masses the Slovak nation can be preserved from disparition. The consequences of the lack of instruction were disastrous indeed: penury, lack of the spirit of enterprise, total absence of welfare, lack of the sense for community. "An educated and instructed nation is in better spiritual and material situation than a nation without instruction . . . The more one is instructed, the higher dignity, respect, higher rights and better condition is he getting." 63 Without the education, there is no community life within the nation64 and its spiritual life which the very essence of a nation is very deficient. 65 An instructed nation is a free nation and a nation composed of ignorant people is a slavish nation. The freedom of a nation is intimately linked to its education and high degree of culture: "an instructed and cultured nation cannot be held in the chains of slavery." 66 So it is understandable that stur considered the right to education and instruction as high as the same right to life. Not unlike was at that time the situation of the Irish nation. stur got into his hands at that time (AD 1847) a number of a Tipperary newspaper wherein the unknown author is requested that "the source of the Irish misfortune must be destroyed, removed and only then there will be �SLOVAKIA 45 a hope that the people rise. The cause thereof is the humiliation and oppression of our Irish people which are being born in order to serve only. The oppression of our nationality since the times of the English expansion is the main cause of all the evil." 67 Being similar the conditions in Ireland and Slovakia, similar were also the reactions of the leaders of the peoples. In Ireland Thomas Davis, "the educator of nationality", was preaching: "Educate that you may be free." "Selfhelp and reliance were his cardinal principles for national regeneration." 68 stur was also insinuating the right of the nation to selfdetermination at a time, when this principle was not a common and general idea. He said: "No nation got the right . . . to not allow another nation to follow its own way, the way which is to it the most convenient." 69 And in accordance with this principle he led his nation to an open rebellion against the Magyars and proclaimed the independence of Slovakia in 1848. 3. EPILOGUE The short period of the intellectual activity of stur is full of ideas which have to say many things to this generation and to the future ones. His doctrine of the personality of the nations contains nucleus for the revision of the entire actual international law. If the nations exist as communities independently of the states and are subjects of the rights, thus the actual international law is an interstatal law only, the United Nations Organization is an Organization of the States etc. We are living in a world of confusion originated in the equivocal use of the term "nation" by the Latin and Anglosaxon nations. While, from one side, it is necessary only that an ex-colony, insignificant as may be (Barbados, Trinidad-Tobago etc.), get granted its independence and be recognized as such and immediately is getting the right to be "a nation," member o! UNO, on the other side, the authentic nations i. e. spiritual communities with well formed personality and efficient cultural life like Basks in Spain, a pleiade of authentic nations in India, Slovaks in Central Europe are denied even the designation of nations and all the rights inherent to their condition of authentic nations. There is a danger �46 SLOVAKIA that the diplomacy is moving on a terrain either of ignorantia elenchi or moral perversity. The Stu.r's visions of international brotherhood and a humanity living for the fruits of the Spirit on the basis of a material welfare are distant from the reality yet. FOOTNOTES •) By "ethnical" we understand "related to the life of nations," because the word "nation" got two different acceptions. I.:udovit Stur (1815-1856), the Slovak scholar, Philosopher and revolutionary who declared the independence of Slovakia in 1848. 1) The practical aspects of this activity see by J. Pauco, "The instruction of the People by the followers of Stur" (I.:udovychova u sturovcov, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1943). 2) To the contrary, the Magyar language has been enriched by the Slovak words related to state administration, agriculture, construction etc. 3) Analogically in the modern times, India had to adopt the English as official language due to the existence of many ethnics in that country. There are many other cases in the contemporary world. 4) I:. Stur, Dielo I, 314. In Bratislava appeared five volumes of his works in 1954. All the quotations of Stur are taken from this edition. 5) lb., l , 314. 6) lb. 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) lb., l, 168. lb., l, 170. lb., II, 15, 17. lb., V, 41. lb., V, 12. lb. lb. lb. lb., 15. lb. lb., 15, 16. lb., 16. lb., 13. lb., 13. lb. lb., 100. lb., 101. lb., 105, 106. lb., 40. lb., I, 230. 24) 25) 26) 27) J. Pauco, o. c. 28) lb., l, 127. 29) lb., I, 115. �SLOVAKIA 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42) 43) 44) 45) 46) 47) 48) 49) 50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) 56) 57) 58) 59) 60) 61) 62) 63) 64) 65) 66) 67) 68) 69) 47 Ib., l, 116. lb., l, 114. Ib., I, 125. lb., II, 177. lb., l, 123. lb., II, 182. According to this doctrine, in the History always one nation is the leader of mankind. lb., II, 188. lb., I, 216. Ib., V, 134. lb., l, 212. lb. l, 212, 213. Cfr. lb. l, 215: "Even if the language is not the highest value of a nation, still it is the most important and decisive property as far as its personality and distinction is concerned, and from the fathers holy heritage which if somebody is touching, is touching the most proper possession, even if not the highest one." lb., V, 17. lb., l, 153. lb. Ib., l, 312. lb., I, 313. lb., l, 313, 314. lb., l, 314. lb. lb., l, 317. lb., l, 318, 319. lb., l, 319. S. Polakovic, L'evolution des idees fondamentales de la politique slovaque, Bratislava 1944; S. Polakovic, The Evolution of the Slovak National Philosophy, delivered at the conference in Toronto 1971. Stur, o.c., l, 215. lb., I, 221. lb., l, 216. Manuscript in the Archives of Matica Slovenska, Martin, Slovakia, No. 356a. Stur, o.c., l, 210. lb. lb., l, 211. lb., l, 49. lb., l, 125. lb., I, 154. lb., l, 158. lb., l, 124. lb., l, 334. lb., l, 315-6. We could not identify this Tipperary newspaper. The English quotation is not verbal, because we had to translate it from the Slovak. Dr. Moody in his address to Trinity College, Dublin, on April 20, 1966. Slovo na case, II, 81. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1973, Vol. 23 Description An account of the resource Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA Stefan P O la k O 29 Vi C : The Ethnical Philosophy of L'udovtt Stur* A. INTRODUCTION 1. Philosophy and Life The present day people generally are ignoring the Philosophy and consider it as an antiquarian and discarded discipline without any relation to the concrete life. And they forget that even the most unphilosophical concrete, individual life is expression of philosophy. It would be sufficient to observe an individual and his actions in order to write down "his" philosophy, i.e. the principles which are guiding him in his personal life. There is a mutual dependence between philosophy and life to such an extent that the fulness of the accidental aspects of the life is permeated by the general principles of philosophical character, while these principles in their abstract form can become a ferment for concrete life and contribute, by their turn, to the changes and even upheavals of the life. This fundamental relation between life and philosophy has been observed by Plato and Aristoteles teaching that the beginning of philosophy is "admiring" ( thaumazein). And in reality, there are many concrete "materials" in the concrete world for the analysis of an observing mind. As a philosopher who received a Hegelian formation in its authentic source during his studies in Germany, Cudovit stlir did not remain insensible in front of the concrete situation of the Slovak nation in Hungary at the beginning of the 19th century. It was a splendid "material" to be analyzed and studied under the light of the then modern philosophical doctrine. And these studies had been done by stur with the result of general principles, valid even today, on the life of nations in general. From the other side, the very same conditions of the Slovaks in 30 SLOVAKIA Hungary were for the patriot ~tur an object of very serious preoccupations. In this way, if from one side he was abstracting general principles out of this situation, from the other side he was putting down general principles for the recuperation of the Slovaks and their awakening from the centennial sleepiness. 1 2. The Ethnical Situation in Hungary in 1800 and After After the destruction of the Slovak kingdom in 910 A.D. by the Magyars with the help of the Franks (Germans) and its occupation by the victors, the higher culture of the Slovaks did not permit their assimilation by the Magyars 2 and so, in order to maintain the stability of the problematic common monarchy for two different nations (the Slovaks are Slavs and the Magyars are Mongolians), the new kings had recourse to a solution unique in the history of Europe: the adoption of the Latin as official language of the kingdom. 3 This anachronical situation lasted until 1793, when the Magyar language was for the first time codified and first attempts had been made to impose the Magyar language as the official one in the entire territory of Hungary. The consequences of the use of the Latin in Hungary during nine centuries were disastrous both for the Slovaks and Magyars: neither the Slovaks nor the Magyars had been able to develop their own literary works and so their language remained limited to the vernacular function (folk songs, folk legends etc.). After the Reform only appear here and there the first Slovak and Magyar works printed in dialects. Another, not less disastrous consequence of the reign of the Latin in our country was "darkness, brutality; lack of undertaking and higher civic liberty" 4 ; such was the common destiny of the Slovaks and the Magyars because of the lack of instruction. The schools and the real life of the two nations were separated by an abysmal gap: "All the knowledge and culture in the middle age were sticking in the schools and were limited to them ... It was a natural consequence of the separation of the schools from the life due to the foreign language" (i.e. the Latin).5 This led to the "contemptous looking of the schools on the life, the condemnation of the common life as of SLOVAKIA 31 something vulgar; the contempt of national life and erradication of the even undangerous national customs; the rise of the cultivated casts and general neglect of the people who ... were needing instruction nor were allowed to enter into the temple of the instruction." 6 As soon as the Magyars codified their language, the Slovaks did the same: The Slovak Grammar of Bernolak appeared before the year 1800. What the Slovaks as a nation could not do was to hamper the magyarisation of the high and low Slovak nobility which at that time due to the raisons d'Etat stood behind the governmental power. This renegation of the Slovak nobility was a death blow to the Slovak national interests and since then the word "renegate" got a smell of moral insanity among the Slovaks. In this way to the Slovaks "were left the middle classes only: townsmen, low clergy, teachers." 7 The Slovaks were left only "what could not be taken away from them . . . due to the impossibility of the matters." 8 3. Civic Priesthood of Stur stur was 25 years old, when he came back to Slovakia from Germany: the mind full of ideas and the heart full of love for his Slovak nation. His decision as far as his personal life was concerned, was all made already: he had to sacrifice his life to his people and decided not to get married in order to be completely free from familiar ties. In very short nine years (from 1840 to 1849) he developed a febrile activity as teacher and scholar, as publisher and journalist, as politician and representative to Parliament, as revolucionary and soldier. He succeeded in forming an entire generation of Slovak activists whose merit was the preservation of the Slovak national life in a hostile and brutal country. The students were drawn by his ideas and confirmed by the chastity of his exemplar personal life. stur was doing what he was preaching: to prefer the common and public interests to his own personal advantages. He was not appointed by anybody to this national job: he had choosen it freely as a selfappointed high priest subject to his conscience and God only according to one of his devices: "We entered into the service of the Spirit; therefore we have to pass on a life full of thorns." 32 SLOVAKIA We got registered his farewell speech to his students before they left for holidays in 1842: like Moses on the mount Nebo with his hands elevated towards the heaven imploring God's blessings for the fighting soldiers Stur was dismissing his friends in the function of national missionaries like a high priest: "Who is living out of the spirit, is living in the humanity, is living suitably to humanity . . . and who is not living out to the spirit, is living for himself only, there is no humanity in him not is he in the humanity, because he is natural being only and not spiritual being like is the humanity ... Why the field of our Slovakia lies fallow as a desert; why our nation fell so down? Because it is not conscious of itself ... it is unconscious in the sphere of language, customs and ways of life as a distinct personality, it does not know itself as one wholeness, is not aware of itself and does not understand itself in the spirit of its own personality as belonging exclusively to itself." 9 In 13udovit Stur's works, articles, speeches there is a graduation during the mentioned nine years: the climax of all this febrile activity is the armed uprising of 1848-49 against the Magyars with the declaration of the independence of Slovakia (September 19, 1848). After this unsuccessful uprising the police curtain fell over a life consecrated to his nation: house prison, sorrow and death. In brevi explevit tempora multa ... B. ST-OR'S IDEAS CONCERNING THE LIFE OF NATION 1. The Nation Even if Stur, during his studies in Germany, imbibed with avidity the congenital doctrines of Hegel, he assimilated them in his personal way and was forging practical applications according to the situation of the Slovak nation in Hungary. Whereas "the spirit is the essence of all" 10 and his main task is selfknowledge and whereas, if we freely are interpreting Stur's idea of multiplicity of nations, the manifoldness of the nations is the manifestation of the richness of the Spirit, the main task of every nation it to reach the selfconsciousness. SLOVAKIA 33 Without this selfconsciousness and selfknowledge the existence of a nation is a very precarious one, if not impossible according to sttir. Like a man (human being) who did not reach the personality is a child as slave who does know nothing about it, as "the nations which did not reach the personality, which did not feel themselves, are like children under the command of a patriarch and slaves under landlord." 11 Every nation "is a one whole, one individuality, one personality" and the highest obligation of very personality is to "become conscious, feel and know itself." 12 This national individuality consists in the spiritual union of all the members13 which can be felt "only on the basis of our nearest natural consanguinity." 14 What does this personality consist in? In the first place, the specificness of every nation is manifested by its language. "The language is the utterance of the spirit and in its turn is destined to influence the spirit." 15 "The language got its own life and the same course as the nations themselves." 16 "When the language lost its original expressivity, force, determination and acuteness, so the force and acuteness of the nation itself had volatilized; got old the language, so got old the nation itself." 17 One with the other are in the strongest union, one with the other are living and dying. 18 Besides the language, there are many other ties assuring the unity of the nation. Some of them are completely natural (as the territory) and or are natural-spiritual (among these on the first place is the language, afterwards customs, ways of life) and or completely spiritual (religion, political and civic order etc.) . The yearning after personality in an ethnical group is the most noble desire, because it is a desire of selffeeling and selfknowledge19 and in the last consequences it is a desire of being useful to the humanity. A nation which did not come to personality is unable t o register anything of its own in the world among the 34 SLOVAKIA other nations, nor is able to represent anything in the history. Notwithstanding that Stur is emphasizing the importance of the feeling of personality for a nation, he asseverates that "the personality is not the highest degree and that when a man or nations want to live and actuate indeed humanly, they must rise to a higher degree, wherefore the personality must be ennobled and morally hightened." 20 The spiritual personality of the nation, if it has to be a real and not imaginary one, must dispose of itself. This selfdisposition cannot be carried out, when a nation is united to another like an accident: the result of such an union can only be a weakness for both the partners. It is no life, but only a vegetation. 21 "When a nation wants to live and has to live, it cannot and must not rely on another nation and from it wait for the awakening and maintenance of its life ... Such a nation does not deserve to live." 22 Such a nation is like a log, "wherein there is no life."23 The life of the nation consists in spiritual movement and activity. Every true nation desires to rise to a higher life and wants its life to be registered in the life of mankind. It only is possible, when the nation is creating values of universal human validity which are contributing to the progress of humanity. In order that this be possible, these works of everlasting human validity have to bear the seal of the national authorship. 24 All this is possible only, when the nation had reached the degree of selfconsciousness as a nation, "because the selfconscious nation is united by the spirit in the strongest way . . . and is respecting its existence and its honest staying among others." 25 The true union of the members of the nation is in the spirit only i.e. when present in the conscience of all. Such a nation is strong, even if a small one. This "community-minded spirit" 26 is the essential force of every nation. Stur had to fight the family-minded spirit of the common Slovak people of that time with the purpose to SLOVAKIA 35 awaken them for a higher life of the national community. He and his disciples had done an admirable work on this field. 27 And as usual, stur was analyzing the relation between the family and community life within the framework of the nation. He did not want to condemn the family life; he only wanted to exclude the exaggerate cult of family life: "The community life must not absorb the family life as well as the family life cannot exclude the community life." 28 Of course, the first society to which the man belongs is family: to it he is united with body and sentiments. Thus, while the fundament of family is a natural one and its union is of natural origin, in the national community the union is of spiritual character. And as body is of lower nature than the spirit, so the family is lower than the national community. In consequence thereof the community is higher than the family. Even if this ratiocination is of undoubtedly Hegelian precedence, there is series of fundamental theoremas concerning the life of nations which are issuing from this admitted superiority of spirit. First of all, no nation can lastingly remain on the niveau of the family life, because nation as nation got completely different the essential ties than the family; and also because the spirit can develop through the national community only which takes care of education and spiritual formation. 29 That the public life of community is higher than that of family it is growing evident also from the fact that those who were sacrificing themselves for the community met with gratitude of the nation and everlasting glory: they merited this general esteem, because they were concerned about the higher goods of the nation. "Beautiful is the love of Joseph for his brothers, captivating is the sacrifice of Antigona taking care of her father and accompanying him in his blindness on Kyteron; beautiful is the fidelity of Lucretia; beautiful is the love of Solon for his son, the care of Cornelia for her heroic sons, beautiful the care of Aeneas, beautiful the love of Andromeda, but incommensurably higher and more glorious are the deeds of Leonidas, Themistocles, Miltiades, 36 SLOVAKIA Mucius, Scipio, Zrinyi, Franklin, Menin, Pozarsky, Kosciuszko and many others." 30 If anybody would live for his family only, the nation would cease to exist. Of course, there are many degrees of access of a community to the fulness of national life. At the beginning, all the nation being born are rude and brutal, because "they did not reach a spiritual culture.'' 31 These "being born" nations are united by family ties only and they are living patriarchal order. There is a community life, but reduced to corporal necessities. Later on, the community is creating spiritual values and thus is rising to the degree of nation. A community which did not create its spiritual culture disappears from the theatre of History: "The nations which did not rise to the community life, if met by a higher nation were succumbing to it.'' 32 The spiritual life of the nations "consists in all that the spirit is creating; that in it got its roots and origin" 33 i. e. religion, arts, sciences, doctrines, institutes, juridical order etc. Through the creation of such values a nation is able to register its existence in the community o! nations and obtain its identity card: "A nation which did not create anything noble for others, which did not register its li!e in the human community life, got no consideration before others." 34 The more flourishing is the community life and spiritual creativity of a national community, the stronger will be its position among the nations, because it is of one spirit and of one will. According to ~tur, such nations only appertain to History which consists in "continuous evolution." 35 This last expression has to be understood in the terminology of Hegelian philosophy of History.36 "The improvement and heightening of the human life has been progressing through the nations which appertain to History," 37 but never through the vegetation of tribes and barbarian nations. SLOVAKIA 37 If we are searching for a definition of nation in stur, we will be perhaps disappointed: "By nation has always been understood the community of men using from birth one language." 38 This apparently poor definition has to be understood, however, from the viewpoint of the high function of language in the life of nations. 2. The Nation And The Language The very essence of the ethnical philosophy of stur has to be searched for in his doctrine of language as far as it is in relation with the life of nations in general. We have already mentioned the role of language, when speaking of the personality of nation: the language is one of the fundamental reasons of its specificness, i.e. it identifies the nation. This doctrine does not contradict the fact, that the English is a language common to England and the US, the Portuguese common to Portugal and Brazil, the Spanish common to Spain and many Latin American states. On the first place, all these new "nations" are nations in formation. In this process of formation they feel the necessity of a special language and this trend towards a specific language is being observed as in the United States (the trend to spell and pronounce differently the English ) as in Brazil ( the Brazilians speak of Brazilian as their mother tongue) as in the Latin American states (some o! them are looking for native Indian languages in order to emphasize their "national" identity). Secondly, there exist a subconscious uncertainty and insecurity as far as the national identity is concerned, in all these zones, when comparing their identities with those of other nations recognized as such. "When the nation comes to selfconsciousness, then it will comprehend that it got one life, one aim and so by natural and necessary course of the things this selfconsciousness must express itself in what it is uniting the nation together: one literary language, one literature belong essentially to the unity of nation." 39 38 SLOVAKIA Thus the language is the instrument of the national unity: no nation (in the acception of a spiritual community and not the state; the state could have more languages) can have two literary languages. From the other side, the language alone is unable to maintain the national unity: 40 "The nations got higher goods which they are yearning after ... These higher goods belong to spiritual aspects. When the nation reaches this higher niveau of spiritual activity, then begins to consider its linguistic unity as secondary, even if always dear and beloved, because inherited from the forefathers, but undecisive in all fundamental questions." 41 In other words, when a nation reaches the stadium of high spiritual activity creating everlasting cultural values, the question of language ceases to be a primary one and is being collocated on the secondary niveau, because in this way the conscious spirit is assuring the unity of nation. But before the language be able to become vehicle of high, spiritual activity, it is necessary to cultivate it i.e. provide it with terms able to express not only things, objects of daily use (the stadium of native vernacular languages), but also high ideas. "The language got the same course, the same evolution like man and nations. The child and the common man are speaking a very common language related to the objects of daily use known to all and in the same way common people who are either not at all or little civilized, but a cultivated man is speaking of higher subjects and his language is more abundant, more complicated and more polished; all the same is to be said of the language of a cultivated nation." 42 This general principle is being confirmed every day in our times too: India is being overhauling the Hindostani in order to give it an efficiency as a modern cultivated language; the missionaries are struggling with the imperfections of the hundred and hundred native languages in order to convert them in vehicles capable to express high ideas putting down in this way the very foundations for a road to civilization of the different tribes. But from all the functions a literary language may SLOVAKIA 3g get, the most important is its role in the instruction of the peoples. ~tur was assigning a primordialy importance to the language on this field. "Every nation can be cultivated through its own language only and is being cultivated, when its language is being cultivated" 43 : there is an interdependent action and mutual benefit as a result. In fact, the civilization of a nation is practically impossible, if its language is being postponed. The Guaranis of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, the Aymeras of Bolivia and Quechuas of Peru and Bolivia as nations were left on the same cultural niveau as they were living in the times of colonial occupation. According to ~tur "the mother tongue is the mean of civilization of that nation that is speaking it." 44 "If the instruction has to be a true, useful and adequate instruction it must be carried out in the national language i. e. in the mother tongue of the nation. Otherwise, the instruction got no value, is a mechanical work, without any benefit." 45 "The instruction must exercise an influence not only on the mind but also on the heart; it must not be understood only, but also felt" 46 and we feel best the power of words and expressions in our mother tongue. "In this language all is clear and bright; in it the objects denoted by words are immediately present before our eyes, while in the foreign language all appears to us like behind a curtain of fog .. . For these reasons everybody will understand, why the nations being instructed in their schools in the mother tongue are progressing in instruction, knowledge and are occupying a honorable place among other nations, while the nations being instructed in their schools in foreign language are staying behind." 47 There is another important reason, why the instruction has to be carried out in the mother tongue: "Through the mother tongue introduced into the schools the eyes of the nation are being opened; only then it is aware that it exists in the world too and through the mother tongue introduced into the public life, the nation is getting voice in the world." 48 40 SLOVAKIA All these benefits had been denied to the nations in the middle age, when the Latin was used commonly in all the 15chools. The consequences thereof have been the obscuratism and barbarity, no undertaking and no public liberty. "In the middle age the world and schools were opposed to such a degree that whatever was appertaining to the schools did not concern the life and vice versa and this was a natural consequence of the separation of the schools from the life through a foreign language." 49 At that time the universities were like castles, where secret treasures were being hidden and whoever wanted to get to these treasures, he had to break through the dead Latin world. By a similar bad luck are being stricken many small nations even in the modern times. In this occasion Stur described the situation of the Irish nation, where the original Irish language is being ousted from the schools and the English is being imposed on its place; a similar destiny got the Flemish nation in Belgiwn and the Slovaks in Hungary. "We have to call it a disaster, when a nation is being instructed in foreign language, it is not possible to talk about the progress in knowledge and culture of such a nation. And without culture a nation is like mud being trampled under feet." 50 By the repression of its language, the nation is being menaced in its very being. "A nation to whom had been imposed a foreign language even in its elementary schools got a sensible blow on its very life and spirit . . . and is condemned to blindness and obscurity ... In such a nation there will flourish no culture, instead of it there will dwell obscurity; there will flourish no freedom, instead of it there will spread the spirit of servilism, there will flourish no wealth, instead of it unfold poverty and misery." 51 "When a nation had fallen so deeply, it is the declaration of the last historical sentence over it and the accomplishment of its servility." 52 In this connection, Stur is mentioning again the situation of the Irish nation, where the imposition of the English in the public life were conducing to the paralization of the authentic national life. The introduction of the English into the public life in Wales and Scotland got SLOVAKIA 41 practically the same effect: the original national identity got a deadly blow and there is practically no probability that these two Celtic nationalities could revive their original national life. Not dissimilar grew the situation of the Basks in Spain and France: deprived of the possibility to make use of their many thousands years old language in their public life, they are decaying as a distinct nationality and are merging with the Spanish and French. 3. The Rights of The Nations According to Stur 53 While individual rights have been object of different declarations and international instruments (Bill of Rights etc.), the rights of the nations neither have been enumerated nor sanctioned by international domuments. All this is perfectly understandable, because the world policy has always been carried out by the big powers interested only in their power positions and very little or nothing at all in the rights of the small nations. This situation prevails even today. What can be said of the situation prevailing hundred or more years ago? The big powers are able to assure their real and or pretended rights as today as they were doing in the past. They were and are enjoying them in full measure what cannot be said of the small nations, whose rights are being trampled under feet and denied. Only who is suffering injustice on his own flesh is able to understand the benefits of the right and justice and to yearn after them. Only nations which have been subjugated and denied their fundamental rights were able to forge the ideas about these rights amidst their sufferings. If you examine the modern history of the Basks, Irish, Jews, Slovaks and other perfectly constituted nations whose the only defect was to be small ones, you will gather abundant evidences of their desire to see protected and realized their rights they are feeling to be entitled to. More than hundred years ago, stur was expressing some of these fundamental rights of the nations. All these ideas are very important contribution to the creation of new international law which undoubtedly will take place in the next decades and conduce to the reorganization of mankind on the base of respect for all the nations, not 42 SLOVAKIA only the big ones, but also the small ones which are the majority and feel the thirst of justice. After all we have said about the function of the mother tongue in the life of nation, it is not difficult to understand that titur was preaching the right to language as the most proper mark of every nationality: "Who is touching (the language) is touching the most proper possession." 54 If a nation is denied the right to its own language by its expulsion out of the public life and schools, it is getting a death blow to its very existence. The Bask language has been suppressed in France and Spain and nowadays the number of Basks is diminishing in such an allarming way that if they are not allowed to use their own language in their country, this respectable nation will disappear from the map of Europe. The actual society got associations for the protection of animals ( dogs, cats and endangered species) and plants, but the United Nations Organization did not provide for the protection of the dying national communities and nations endangered in their life. Very soon the Bask language, the oldest European spoken language, will be a dead one, if the Basks do not get an international support for their legitimate struggle for independence. The Irish got a blow, when the English was introduced in Ireland instead of the Gaelic and many decades will pass over until the Gaelic will be again a spoken language in Ireland in spite of the Irish Republic and the desire of the authorities to reinstall it. Of course, of all the rights the most fundamental is the right to life. Meanwhile in the old times, the conquerors were depriving the conquered nations of their material goods, in these times the conquest is aiming at the subjugation of the spirit i.e. the conquerors are threating to take away the nationality itself; the last finality nowadays is the incorporation of the physical substance of conquered into the body of the conquering nation. Therefore titti.r requested that "nobody should interfere with our own district from national point of view." 55 From the fact of existence rises the right to personality which is the extension of the right to life. When speaking of nation, we had quoted the ideas of $tti.r relating to personality and its importance for the normal development SLOVAKIA 43 of the national community. stur was asking for "the recognition of the personality" 56 of the Slovaks with all the consequences issuing therefrom. In his meditations stur arrived to the expression of the "right to personality." When speaking of the tendency to suppress the life of a nation, he qualifies it as an injustice, because such a nation "is denied the right to be per se amid mankind i.e. to be a different personality." 57 It only is natural that every nation is striving for the recognition of its own personality among the other nations, because even if the personality may be not the highest value according to stur, it is a fundament for all its activity. stur was proclaiming also the right to territory: "As a family needs its settlement as needs the nation its territory, where to live; its frontiers as far as its sovereignty extends itself, where to develop freely and to carry out its will." 58 "The nation with its territory which is the field of its activity, is one owner of earth among other owners." 59 "Whoever is taking hold of this ownership i. e. who is limiting the frontiers of its activity is offending the entire nation and provokes it to war." 60 Only weak and vile nations are permitting their frontiers to be narrowed. This idea of the right to its own earth was a guide to the Jewish nation in diaspora since the time of their deportation to Babylon and after. The realization of this right in the form of "Eretz Ischrael" is completely understandable to anybody who thinks of the nations in philosophical terms. This same idea was proclaimed by the Irish insurgents of 1916: "We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland . . . The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right ... " For this same right are fighting the rebellious Basks in Spain and France in these very days: the right to Euzkotarr. For this right have been slaughtered one million of Ibos in Nigeria because they wanted to live in their own country, Biafra. 44 SLOVAK.IA In connection with. the language and its function in the life of the nation, stur uttered the right to education and culture. The main object of all the activity of stur was the Slovak common people: after the desertion of the high and low (practically too) nobility, to the Slovaks were left the middle classes and common people only. Therefore he was directing all his endeavors to these masses with the purpose to provoke their national consciousness: "Our common people is the substantial part of our nation." 61 This people were "abandoned and neglected" and therefore "we stepped down and started to have intercourse with them in their own language ... so that they may feel their dignity ... and work on their own rising." 62 We should not forget that in Hungary until 1848 was prevailing the system of serfdom and there was practically no possibility of instruction for the common people. stur was aware that only through education of the masses the Slovak nation can be preserved from disparition. The consequences of the lack of instruction were disastrous indeed: penury, lack of the spirit of enterprise, total absence of welfare, lack of the sense for community. "An educated and instructed nation is in better spiritual and material situation than a nation without instruction . . . The more one is instructed, the higher dignity, respect, higher rights and better condition is he getting." 63 Without the education, there is no community life within the nation64 and its spiritual life which the very essence of a nation is very deficient. 65 An instructed nation is a free nation and a nation composed of ignorant people is a slavish nation. The freedom of a nation is intimately linked to its education and high degree of culture: "an instructed and cultured nation cannot be held in the chains of slavery." 66 So it is understandable that stur considered the right to education and instruction as high as the same right to life. Not unlike was at that time the situation of the Irish nation. stur got into his hands at that time (AD 1847) a number of a Tipperary newspaper wherein the unknown author is requested that "the source of the Irish misfortune must be destroyed, removed and only then there will be SLOVAKIA 45 a hope that the people rise. The cause thereof is the humiliation and oppression of our Irish people which are being born in order to serve only. The oppression of our nationality since the times of the English expansion is the main cause of all the evil." 67 Being similar the conditions in Ireland and Slovakia, similar were also the reactions of the leaders of the peoples. In Ireland Thomas Davis, "the educator of nationality", was preaching: "Educate that you may be free." "Selfhelp and reliance were his cardinal principles for national regeneration." 68 stur was also insinuating the right of the nation to selfdetermination at a time, when this principle was not a common and general idea. He said: "No nation got the right . . . to not allow another nation to follow its own way, the way which is to it the most convenient." 69 And in accordance with this principle he led his nation to an open rebellion against the Magyars and proclaimed the independence of Slovakia in 1848. 3. EPILOGUE The short period of the intellectual activity of stur is full of ideas which have to say many things to this generation and to the future ones. His doctrine of the personality of the nations contains nucleus for the revision of the entire actual international law. If the nations exist as communities independently of the states and are subjects of the rights, thus the actual international law is an interstatal law only, the United Nations Organization is an Organization of the States etc. We are living in a world of confusion originated in the equivocal use of the term "nation" by the Latin and Anglosaxon nations. While, from one side, it is necessary only that an ex-colony, insignificant as may be (Barbados, Trinidad-Tobago etc.), get granted its independence and be recognized as such and immediately is getting the right to be "a nation," member o! UNO, on the other side, the authentic nations i. e. spiritual communities with well formed personality and efficient cultural life like Basks in Spain, a pleiade of authentic nations in India, Slovaks in Central Europe are denied even the designation of nations and all the rights inherent to their condition of authentic nations. There is a danger 46 SLOVAKIA that the diplomacy is moving on a terrain either of ignorantia elenchi or moral perversity. The Stu.r's visions of international brotherhood and a humanity living for the fruits of the Spirit on the basis of a material welfare are distant from the reality yet. FOOTNOTES •) By "ethnical" we understand "related to the life of nations," because the word "nation" got two different acceptions. I.:udovit Stur (1815-1856), the Slovak scholar, Philosopher and revolutionary who declared the independence of Slovakia in 1848. 1) The practical aspects of this activity see by J. Pauco, "The instruction of the People by the followers of Stur" (I.:udovychova u sturovcov, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1943). 2) To the contrary, the Magyar language has been enriched by the Slovak words related to state administration, agriculture, construction etc. 3) Analogically in the modern times, India had to adopt the English as official language due to the existence of many ethnics in that country. There are many other cases in the contemporary world. 4) I:. Stur, Dielo I, 314. In Bratislava appeared five volumes of his works in 1954. All the quotations of Stur are taken from this edition. 5) lb., l , 314. 6) lb. 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) lb., l, 168. lb., l, 170. lb., II, 15, 17. lb., V, 41. lb., V, 12. lb. lb. lb. lb., 15. lb. lb., 15, 16. lb., 16. lb., 13. lb., 13. lb. lb., 100. lb., 101. lb., 105, 106. lb., 40. lb., I, 230. 24) 25) 26) 27) J. Pauco, o. c. 28) lb., l, 127. 29) lb., I, 115. SLOVAKIA 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42) 43) 44) 45) 46) 47) 48) 49) 50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) 56) 57) 58) 59) 60) 61) 62) 63) 64) 65) 66) 67) 68) 69) 47 Ib., l, 116. lb., l, 114. Ib., I, 125. lb., II, 177. lb., l, 123. lb., II, 182. According to this doctrine, in the History always one nation is the leader of mankind. lb., II, 188. lb., I, 216. Ib., V, 134. lb., l, 212. lb. l, 212, 213. Cfr. lb. l, 215: "Even if the language is not the highest value of a nation, still it is the most important and decisive property as far as its personality and distinction is concerned, and from the fathers holy heritage which if somebody is touching, is touching the most proper possession, even if not the highest one." lb., V, 17. lb., l, 153. lb. Ib., l, 312. lb., I, 313. lb., l, 313, 314. lb., l, 314. lb. lb., l, 317. lb., l, 318, 319. lb., l, 319. S. Polakovic, L'evolution des idees fondamentales de la politique slovaque, Bratislava 1944; S. Polakovic, The Evolution of the Slovak National Philosophy, delivered at the conference in Toronto 1971. Stur, o.c., l, 215. lb., I, 221. lb., l, 216. Manuscript in the Archives of Matica Slovenska, Martin, Slovakia, No. 356a. Stur, o.c., l, 210. lb. lb., l, 211. lb., l, 49. lb., l, 125. lb., I, 154. lb., l, 158. lb., l, 124. lb., l, 334. lb., l, 315-6. We could not identify this Tipperary newspaper. The English quotation is not verbal, because we had to translate it from the Slovak. Dr. Moody in his address to Trinity College, Dublin, on April 20, 1966. Slovo na case, II, 81.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Ethnical Philosophy of Ľudovít Štúr Description An account of the resource Štefan Polakovič Slovakia, Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973 pp. 29-47 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Polakovič, Štefan, 1912-1999 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6cb2f9b2986ac84da51e30d62bea6a32.pdf fc5cf8e5db9e8902cfcca6529f847537 PDF Text Text 54 SLOVAKIA THE FAILURE OF COMMUNIST SCHOOLS By Eberhart Mahnert Red Justice ("Rude Pravo"), official Communist Party mouthpiece for Czecho-Slovakia, recently reported that thirty percent of the students enrolled in Czech and Slovak colleges and universities had to drop out. Only last Septem!ber, however, the same paper had lauded the socialist school system as the most efficacious an1d progressive, giving ,the indiviidual citizen the widest possible benefits by systematic development of his abilities. One month later the same news sheet had to admit the downright failure of the educational set-up it had so lavishly praised. Who is at fault? The teachers, of course, especially those not yet imbued with the "new spirit." A series of political purges is soon to be launched, despite the conspicuous shortage of teachers in Czecho-Slovakia, a situation likewise due to the "cleansing" that followed the Communist power grab. At that time an educational framework which had proved workable for a century and a half was jettisoned in favor of a Soviet-styled imitation. Until 1948 the Czecho-Slova:k school system was based on principles developed during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and her son Joseph II and found acceptance in the territories of the Danubian Monarchy. The first Czecho-Slovak Republic was careful not to alter this well esta:blished structure, which was the very foundation of the high educational level of the Czech nation. The case was different with the Slovaiks whom the Czechs did not allow to maintain their own schools of higher learning. With the communist putsch the " reactionary" school system was swept aside ; so-called reform measures were inJ:roduced. The entire structure was radically transformed to •duplicate its Soviet original, regardless of whether or not it suited the educational needs of the Czech and Slovak peoples. The new measures a:bolished the former system of five years of primary school, eight years of high school and four to five years of college. They introduced a new system with an eight-gra:de primary school plus an additional three years of secondary school .that were ap- �SLOVAKIA 55 proved as an adequate basis for college entrance. Courses in certain subjects were reduced to half their former number, making it possible for a pupil to get a degree in engineering at the age of 19 or 20, where he was previously not ready for graduation until 22 or 23. Subjects that formerly had been given priority were placed un!der the new set-up by intensive courses in political propaganda that stressed Party ideology. During the years 1952 to 1953 a number of schools of technology were founded - today there are seventeen such colleges - many of them with but little more than the -crudest types of la:boratories, technical libraries and the like. Seldom does one find a textbook available; for the most part the students work from so-called scripts which they themselves have compiled. In selecting aspirants for -college preparatory schools and universities, the authorities show preference for children from proletarian homes, a tactic ,that envisages the complete annihilation of the Czech middle class with its high standar!ds of education. Some years ago it became evident that students educated under these new conditions, whose time was also taken up by paramilitary training, Communist Youth Association commitments and Party organization duties, Jagged behind in their studies. Furthermore, several weeks of the year are taken up in so-called "polytechnical training" at unpaid jobs in industry. Small wonder, then, thrut students who lack ability due to their "proletarian" origins, fail to stand the pace. They make up the bulk of the thirty percent forced to throw in the sponge. In 1959 the Czech Communist regime, following the lead of the Soviet school reform of 1959, also introduced new educational measures, the first stage of which will take effect in 1961 at the beginning of the scholastic year. To raise the educational standards of the general public, primary school will be extended from eight to nine years. "Polytechnical training," thus far encouraged only by the Czech Communist Party, will become obligatory, with intensification of paramilitary training. This shake-up of the school system to conform to Communist aims will certainly not· raise the over-all educational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with �56 SLOVAKIA such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than average educrutional pot.e n-U-al to a generation of robots . • • • A POLICY OF GENOCIDE Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans there remained approximately 170,000 to 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho~Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in ,the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the S,:ate of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not unti'l last year did they become the subject of considera,ble discussion within Czecho~lovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection with the ini:roduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that ,the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten Germans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this s tatement was by no means given unanimous approval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czec'ho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Koh'ler, took the opportunity to discuss the Sudeten German issue in detail in the official organ of the CPC tivot Strany (Par:y Life, No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the � 54 SLOVAKIA THE FAILURE OF COMMUNIST SCHOOLS By Eberhart Mahnert Red Justice ("Rude Pravo"), official Communist Party mouthpiece for Czecho-Slovakia, recently reported that thirty percent of the students enrolled in Czech and Slovak colleges and universities had to drop out. Only last Septem!ber, however, the same paper had lauded the socialist school system as the most efficacious an1d progressive, giving ,the indiviidual citizen the widest possible benefits by systematic development of his abilities. One month later the same news sheet had to admit the downright failure of the educational set-up it had so lavishly praised. Who is at fault? The teachers, of course, especially those not yet imbued with the "new spirit." A series of political purges is soon to be launched, despite the conspicuous shortage of teachers in Czecho-Slovakia, a situation likewise due to the "cleansing" that followed the Communist power grab. At that time an educational framework which had proved workable for a century and a half was jettisoned in favor of a Soviet-styled imitation. Until 1948 the Czecho-Slova:k school system was based on principles developed during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and her son Joseph II and found acceptance in the territories of the Danubian Monarchy. The first Czecho-Slovak Republic was careful not to alter this well esta:blished structure, which was the very foundation of the high educational level of the Czech nation. The case was different with the Slovaiks whom the Czechs did not allow to maintain their own schools of higher learning. With the communist putsch the " reactionary" school system was swept aside ; so-called reform measures were inJ:roduced. The entire structure was radically transformed to •duplicate its Soviet original, regardless of whether or not it suited the educational needs of the Czech and Slovak peoples. The new measures a:bolished the former system of five years of primary school, eight years of high school and four to five years of college. They introduced a new system with an eight-gra:de primary school plus an additional three years of secondary school .that were ap- �SLOVAKIA 55 proved as an adequate basis for college entrance. Courses in certain subjects were reduced to half their former number, making it possible for a pupil to get a degree in engineering at the age of 19 or 20, where he was previously not ready for graduation until 22 or 23. Subjects that formerly had been given priority were placed un!der the new set-up by intensive courses in political propaganda that stressed Party ideology. During the years 1952 to 1953 a number of schools of technology were founded - today there are seventeen such colleges - many of them with but little more than the -crudest types of la:boratories, technical libraries and the like. Seldom does one find a textbook available; for the most part the students work from so-called scripts which they themselves have compiled. In selecting aspirants for -college preparatory schools and universities, the authorities show preference for children from proletarian homes, a tactic ,that envisages the complete annihilation of the Czech middle class with its high standar!ds of education. Some years ago it became evident that students educated under these new conditions, whose time was also taken up by paramilitary training, Communist Youth Association commitments and Party organization duties, Jagged behind in their studies. Furthermore, several weeks of the year are taken up in so-called "polytechnical training" at unpaid jobs in industry. Small wonder, then, thrut students who lack ability due to their "proletarian" origins, fail to stand the pace. They make up the bulk of the thirty percent forced to throw in the sponge. In 1959 the Czech Communist regime, following the lead of the Soviet school reform of 1959, also introduced new educational measures, the first stage of which will take effect in 1961 at the beginning of the scholastic year. To raise the educational standards of the general public, primary school will be extended from eight to nine years. "Polytechnical training," thus far encouraged only by the Czech Communist Party, will become obligatory, with intensification of paramilitary training. This shake-up of the school system to conform to Communist aims will certainly not· raise the over-all educational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with �56 SLOVAKIA such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than average educrutional pot.e n-U-al to a generation of robots . • • • A POLICY OF GENOCIDE Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans there remained approximately 170,000 to 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho~Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in ,the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the S,:ate of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not unti'l last year did they become the subject of considera,ble discussion within Czecho~lovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection with the ini:roduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that ,the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten Germans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this s tatement was by no means given unanimous approval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czec'ho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Koh'ler, took the opportunity to discuss the Sudeten German issue in detail in the official organ of the CPC tivot Strany (Par:y Life, No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 54 SLOVAKIA THE FAILURE OF COMMUNIST SCHOOLS By Eberhart Mahnert Red Justice ("Rude Pravo"), official Communist Party mouthpiece for Czecho-Slovakia, recently reported that thirty percent of the students enrolled in Czech and Slovak colleges and universities had to drop out. Only last Septem!ber, however, the same paper had lauded the socialist school system as the most efficacious an1d progressive, giving ,the indiviidual citizen the widest possible benefits by systematic development of his abilities. One month later the same news sheet had to admit the downright failure of the educational set-up it had so lavishly praised. Who is at fault? The teachers, of course, especially those not yet imbued with the "new spirit." A series of political purges is soon to be launched, despite the conspicuous shortage of teachers in Czecho-Slovakia, a situation likewise due to the "cleansing" that followed the Communist power grab. At that time an educational framework which had proved workable for a century and a half was jettisoned in favor of a Soviet-styled imitation. Until 1948 the Czecho-Slova:k school system was based on principles developed during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and her son Joseph II and found acceptance in the territories of the Danubian Monarchy. The first Czecho-Slovak Republic was careful not to alter this well esta:blished structure, which was the very foundation of the high educational level of the Czech nation. The case was different with the Slovaiks whom the Czechs did not allow to maintain their own schools of higher learning. With the communist putsch the " reactionary" school system was swept aside ; so-called reform measures were inJ:roduced. The entire structure was radically transformed to •duplicate its Soviet original, regardless of whether or not it suited the educational needs of the Czech and Slovak peoples. The new measures a:bolished the former system of five years of primary school, eight years of high school and four to five years of college. They introduced a new system with an eight-gra:de primary school plus an additional three years of secondary school .that were ap- SLOVAKIA 55 proved as an adequate basis for college entrance. Courses in certain subjects were reduced to half their former number, making it possible for a pupil to get a degree in engineering at the age of 19 or 20, where he was previously not ready for graduation until 22 or 23. Subjects that formerly had been given priority were placed un!der the new set-up by intensive courses in political propaganda that stressed Party ideology. During the years 1952 to 1953 a number of schools of technology were founded - today there are seventeen such colleges - many of them with but little more than the -crudest types of la:boratories, technical libraries and the like. Seldom does one find a textbook available; for the most part the students work from so-called scripts which they themselves have compiled. In selecting aspirants for -college preparatory schools and universities, the authorities show preference for children from proletarian homes, a tactic ,that envisages the complete annihilation of the Czech middle class with its high standar!ds of education. Some years ago it became evident that students educated under these new conditions, whose time was also taken up by paramilitary training, Communist Youth Association commitments and Party organization duties, Jagged behind in their studies. Furthermore, several weeks of the year are taken up in so-called "polytechnical training" at unpaid jobs in industry. Small wonder, then, thrut students who lack ability due to their "proletarian" origins, fail to stand the pace. They make up the bulk of the thirty percent forced to throw in the sponge. In 1959 the Czech Communist regime, following the lead of the Soviet school reform of 1959, also introduced new educational measures, the first stage of which will take effect in 1961 at the beginning of the scholastic year. To raise the educational standards of the general public, primary school will be extended from eight to nine years. "Polytechnical training," thus far encouraged only by the Czech Communist Party, will become obligatory, with intensification of paramilitary training. This shake-up of the school system to conform to Communist aims will certainly not· raise the over-all educational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with 56 SLOVAKIA such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than average educrutional pot.e n-U-al to a generation of robots . • • • A POLICY OF GENOCIDE Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans there remained approximately 170,000 to 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho~Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in ,the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the S,:ate of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not unti'l last year did they become the subject of considera,ble discussion within Czecho~lovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection with the ini:roduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that ,the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten Germans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this s tatement was by no means given unanimous approval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czec'ho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Koh'ler, took the opportunity to discuss the Sudeten German issue in detail in the official organ of the CPC tivot Strany (Par:y Life, No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Failure of Communist Schools Description An account of the resource Eberhart Mahnert Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961 pp. 54-56 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mahnert, Eberhard Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/153ca7b8e0894787ec040bf3e8d190e4.pdf ecc8df4f3de4b9451f36843379cd1f91 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 3 THE FAILURES OF COMMUNIST POUTICS IN SLOVAKIA Dr. Joseph Pauco In recent months many evident proofs of the failures of the Communist Party .in Slovaikia have been supplied by the communists themselves. Their policies flailed not only in tlhe political dom aii:n, but also in the eoonomfoa!l and especiailly the agricultural fields. What is the situation in SlovaJkia today aicco:rding to the admissions of the communists themselves? Centralization 1 On the one hand, it is 'k nown that the communists in Slovak!ia did SUipport the recognition of the national indiviiduality of the :S lovak naJtion, yet, on the other hand, it is true thaJt in Slovakia power is no longer in the hands of communists who respect tlhis principle and oppose the imperialIBtic influences of Ozech communism. F'0trmally, the 1name o:f the CommUIIl1ist Party of Slovakia has been retained, but not a single commuru.srt: factor will say thaJt it is ,representati.ve of Slovak communist forces, or any kind of autonomoUJS organization of Slovak communists. The first secretary of the Communist Parity of Slovald1a, the Czech communJ.st ~arel Badlek, proc,laimed on April 22, 19'55, at the XI Congre ss of the Communist Party of Slo-vakia: "The Communist Party of Slovakia is a region.a:! organization of the one Communist Party of Czecho-lSlovaJkia; it is its fighting diivision." The :flirst sec·r etary of the Communist Party of CzechoSlovakiia, the Czeclh .Amt onin Novotny, addressing that Con~ gress said thrut "the Communist Party of Slwaikia is an indivi:silble 1part and unit of the Communist Party of CzechoSloW!Jki,a." Tit is clear, then, beyond all shadow of doubt, that two of the pre-eminent leaJders of the present communist regime in PTague and Bratislava no longer consider it n.ecessary for the Slwak commundsts to appear independently. This is apparent not oinly in the o,r ganization by the fact th•a t the 1 1 �4 SLOVAKIA Slovak Communist Party is suboirdinated to the Ozech Communist Party as its "division," but also in the .poili'tical field as well, where the Czechs rule surpreme. ln the so-oalled "Czeoho-Slovruk" Communist Barty, there were only Ozechs. As an aip.pendage of the Czech Oommunist Party, the Slovak Communist Party is .powerless to ,i nitiate or realize anything; everything is done through the Czecho--Slovak (really CZECH) Communist Party. Bacilek attested to this fact openly, when he said: "Important and fundamental •p olitical questions concerning Slovakia were presented for resolution to the Central Committee od' the Communist Party of Czecho-iSlovakia, and we go,v erned ourselves iby those decisions." For Slovakiia iit pr~baJbly is fortunate tJhat Prrugue is today responsilble for all politics. On the other band, however, it is quite significant for the Soviets, who loudly demand the a,ssurance of aU national freedoms. In the Slo·vak case it is one orf the cleaTest 1proofs thaJt SOV'iet slo.gans about independence a~e only a s:ham and delus,ion. Under the communist reg,ime the Slovaks lost aitl remnants of autonomous government. IDven though the Communist Party ·of Slovakia exists fonmally, its first secretary is not a Slovruk, but a Czech - ~arel Bacilek - and that means, for all practi'crul purposes, that SlnvaJkia is again a Ozech colony. 'Dhis situation conceals within itself many known thinigs. While the Ozech comrmmists could rely on Husa'k, Novomesiky, Okaly, and Clementis, they readily e~loited their services. But just as soon as these Slovak communists, who possessed a certruin am'ount of national pride, began to make more and more demands, they were marked for liquidiaJtion. And Ozech communists did liquidate them . "Bourgeois nationalists," said Bacilek, "led by Husak, in agreement with the Slovak reaction, oppo-s ed the validation of a uniform poHcy and a urniform agricultural program for the entire Czecho-iSlovalk Reipublic. And since this un~formity wa;s a prerequisite of the politic•al, and mainly the agriculturnJl, equality of the rig1hts of the Slovak nation, tihen, fa:ct:ually, they s1a:botaged this equa:lity orf rights." Hlusak's ,g roup was no more considerate toward the anti-communist Slova:k camp than was Bacilek. The oillly �SLOVAKIA 5 dif;ference between them was that Husak was a Slovak and Bacilek a Ozec'h. Because Husak, a Slovak communist, had dared to oppose the concept that his party was s.imrply "a fighting division oif the Communist Party of Ozecho-,Slovakia," that is, subservient to tlhe CZECH CommU'Ilist Party - hiis name was added to the last of traitor:rs, even though he did render inivaluaJble se:rwices to the commU'Ilist cause. Slovak Nationalism The greatest enemy of communism in Slovakia is nationa'1isrm - the real cause of the failures of communist policy. Becau:se the foli:owers of the Hlinka 'Slo'V'ak People's Party were identrified with Slovak nationaliism, they were most violently attooked by the communists. William Siroky recalled at the XI Congress of the Slovak CommU'Il.ist Prurty in Bratislava that the Communi,s t Party "revealed the plague of tJhe anti~peop[e's populist separatist traitocrs and the other nationa;lisbic groups." Thus far Slovak nationalism could not be wiped out. Afrter ten years Siroky had to admit that "national :wejudices are very much allive especially among the Slovak intellectuals and officials; they are penetrating into other classes, aTe influencing even cultural lifo, and that a constant, stu!bborn ideofogiica1l war must be waged against them." Bacilek also complained that Slovak nationalism is not a sim,ple problem, saying: "While consolidating the brotherhood of the Ozechs and the Slovaks, let us not even for a moment storp waging a decisive battle against tJhe populists, the ideolo,gical man.ifestation of one part of the banikmpt Slovaik bourgeoisie." Karel Brucilek is stumped by the Slovak bourgeoisie and, therefore, oalils upon scientific workers to fight the Slovak IJ.orpulists: "From the workers of the sociaJ sciences we demand that they systematically and olbjectively uncover and help to oiveroome the manifestations of bourgeois ideologies in the minds of the people, especiaUy the manifestations of bourgeois natiorrali:s m and its most de~ structive variety - populist s~paratism." !Slovak natiO'Ilalism, however, is not a matter of some smail[ group. Novotny understood that very well when he �6 said: ". . .Almost everywhere up to now we rmeet with dangerous mainifestations of bourgeois nationaliSlm, es,peciaUy with one of its forms, with populist separatism, carrying wi·t h it reactionary darkness, which was designedly kept up in Slovakiia by the htgh Church hieraTchy." Judging ,a ccordingly, then, we can say that Slova:k nation:aliSlm is the "Enemy No.. l" of the communist regime. So for Novotny it is very clear that "the commun~ ists, the natfona1 committee, and the basi,c partisan organizations must constantly exiplain the harmfulness of nationalistic views and e:,QJJose them . . . " ·s1ovaJk naticma1ism is still quite strong. 'J.1he communists did not khl[ it and, according to their own admission, the propaganda they used against Slo,vaik nationrulism did not he1p much. This is made quite clear from Sirdky's speech, in which he says: "our agitation and ,propaganda are not suifficiently penetrating and convincing; we are losing sight of the increasjng claims of our people. This holds for the press, lectures, and also for many sections of cultura,1 practice. . . In Slovrukia es:pe:cially, we must be aware of tJhe fact that any weakening of the ideological wor,k will oniy strengthen national prejudices." This is quite a sj_gnifican,t adrmission from a man who untitl recently held the first position in the Communist Party of Slo.vakfa. To, keep his. head a:bo,ve water as long as possible, Sirdky, even though he is not a S'1ovaik by ori~ gin and sentiment, knows tha;t he must be grateful to those by whose grace he is •s till tolerated as a member of the politburo. So he encourages comm!Ullist propaganda "to devote itself more sy,stematically and profoundly and more concretely to the greaJt and actual ideoilogica[ problems of the present per,iod - to concern itself witlh t:he questions whkh preoccupy the minds O!f our people. We must see to it that the feeling of collectiveness and mutua'lity of the Czechs and Slovaks, of Cze<:ho..Slovak patriotiSlm - just like the feeling of lo,yalty and love towaTd the Soviet Union - become the fundamental. lines orf the socialistic and pat.Piotic consciousness of our citizens." Obviously, then, there is no so-·caNed "mutuality of Slovaks and Czechs," there is no "Czecho-tSlovak patriot- �SLOVAKIA 7 ism." These concepts existed only in the minds of poHtical dreamers in t!he past and, as we see, even communist prisons and concentration camps could not create them. After ten years of terror and violence, comrade Siroky, who rendered great services iin Slovakia for Ozech communists, is leaving the leadership of the Slovak Communist Party beca use the desired union of the Slovaks with the Ozechs did not materialize. Many people dreamed a:bout a brotherhood of the Czechs and Slova'ks. But this was nothing but an unsuccessful dream . The situation has not changed even today. Even Bacile<k would be happy if he couild change it. So, he turns his attention to the communist writers, saying: "Litemture and the arts o,we very much to the systematic conso[idation of the brotherhood o!f the Czechs and Slova;ks. After ten years our literature has not produced a romantic novel which would depict the fact that without the aid qf the Czech working class there would be no penetrating successes in the soci'alisti<: industria>liza,tion of Slovakia. We do not have a book which would show the historical roots of the brotherhood of the Czechs and Slovaks." If there is no such volume, then there are no, writers who stand in the service of communism and the so-called "Czecho-,Slo,v ak" union; there are no writern w'ho would be wililing to serve communist propaganda and the policy of a "Great Czec,hia." And this fact is as significam.t a reality as is the strength of Slovak nationalism itself. Both comple~ ment and control each other mutually. Writers are the coo.science of a nation. In present-day Slovaki'a, if this conscience does .not subordinate itself to communist dictates, then this is a matter of great significam.ce a,nd of an extraordinary hisitorical manifestati'on. In natinnal questions, we know, a genuinely honest w_riter would not dare to misrepresent the thoughts of his own peo.ple. The schools of Slova'kia are also• resisting commun• ism very va1iantly; they .p refer to stand on the side of the nation thian on the side of a foreign clique which wants to demoralize the character of Slovak history. Bacilek obviously was fuily aware of the school situation, because in attacking SlO'Vak teachers he said: �8 SLOVAKIA "If we arnailyre the work of the ,s chools from the standpoint of contemporary needs, we must come to the conclusion tihat thus far they are not performing their basic task satisfoctorily and are little concerned a;bout the quality af education and, at the saime time, abourt 'the creation of c•o mmunistic conviction and momls in all the youth. . . We must seek the reason therefore albove aiH else in the low level of the teaching and training work of our teruohers." That's the kind of talk we hear long after the Communiist Party of Slovakia repl'aced qualified teachers with its most loyal followera whether they qualified .as teaahers or not. That such people had no idea what the teaching or training level was is l.mderstand01ble; on this point we can agree with Ba;cilek, because the commurust regime did not care whether the persons employed as t eachers ,w ere qualified to tea:ch, hut was onJ.y concerned whether bhey were party memlbern. However, the admission of the fact that these Red teaichers were not sufficiently relialb1e for the communists, that they are not creating communist convictions, rund are not strengthening communist vices in the youth - all this is one af the most reiveal,i ng proofo of the failures of communist policy in Slovakia. The communists hurried to .produce intellectuals loyal to tlhem by a wholesale process. Even though some intellectuals ap-· parently did join them, they did not lose their healthy .Sl·OVaJk core and are now causing the leadership of the Communist Party no end of trouble. That is the wo11k and the influence of Sloviak nationalism. And SlovaJk natiornalism is more irufluential than all communist terror and vioO.errce. The iruflueillCe af Slovak nationali<Slm rea:ches ,i nto the Communist Party itselrf. Ba-· cilek admitted tihat from the time of the X Assembly of the Slovak Coimmunist Party "the numiber of dead, dropped and ex,pelled members and candidates £rom the party wrus 12,940. The party rid itse'Lf of UillW:Orthy, hostiJ.e elements, of violators of state and party mscirpline, or peoiple who fai,l ed in their oibligations as members of the party.'' Bacilek, however, did not dare publ,~Sh the number �SLOVAKIA 9 of expelled members and, of course, not even the detail.s sUTrounding the deaith of some of the memb,e rs. They could ha,ve lbeen eliminated or liq.uida,ted secretly, wor.ked to death in .tlhe Uranium mines, or beaten to death in jails In every instance, however, Bacilek reports that a great many members were expelled. We understand fiuNy well that they were enemies of the communist go:vernment and party. Communists evidently do no,t know exactly where their main enemies are am.d, hence, look for them everywhere. Nationalism .has its sharply designated posts am.d is perfonniin!g its duty. ,Slovak nationalism is no exception. The Resistance Movement Sl-ovak nationaJlism is alive and ,a gg,ressi,ve. This was recently demonstrated, when on June 13, 1955, the communist military trilbunaJl con!Victed 12 memlbers of a Slovak resistam.ce movement, dealing out high penalties, including a sentenice of death for a leading memlber of t;h.e movement, Bernard Nemcek. Reports from Prague about the communist verdict tell us more than all the explanations of the situation in Slovaikfa. And that because, surprisingly enough, the br,oadcast of June 16, 1955, designated the movement by its ,r,ight name: a resistance movement and a movement to create an independent Slovak State. The supreme desire of every rnation is to h'ave its own state. The Slovaks a,re n:o exception. If Slovak nationalists on native soH can bring the supreme sacri.lfice for this idea, this is irre.futalble proof that the Slovruk naroion is not am.d iw:illl not be satisfied with foreign domiination. In Slovrukia and in tlhe ranks of SlovaJk mo,vements, the fight against commun~sm is comprehended as determination .to free itself once and for all time from the yoke of every a1ien hegemony. That is why the fight of 1Sllovaik nationalists tends in two directions: against communi-sm and for state independence. Does a Slovak resistance movement actuafily exist? In the light of the a;bove, a str,ong resista,nce movement dbviiously does exist in Slovakia. At times, the com- �10 SLOVAKIA munists may at:teinipt to minimize its efd'eetiiveness, but we know that it must ,b e quite a movement, if the Reds themselves see fit to discuss it during their congresses. Basing OUT conviction on statements made and adions taken by the communists themselves, there can be no doubt that commun'ists really fear Slovak bomigeois :nationialism. In my possession I have a letter from a well-informed Slovak in Western Gerunany who just recently escaped from Slovakia. For nine long years he ob.served how the Red regime worked in Slovai~ia. He took note of the opinions and manifestations 'Of the population and was active in western, central and eastern Slovakia. Thris person maide contacts with officials and wwkere, farmers and priests, teachers and politiJCal prisoners. When I asked him what the Slovaks thought a;bout state independence for Slova!kia, he replied: "I dare write that about 95 percent of the Slovaks is for an independent state, a SlovaJk State wruiclh iwil[ be Chri stian and democratic. The Slovaks are holding to the determination to have their own state and there is no power whrich wil!l force them to be satisfied with less, with any other state form ." Over 90 percent of the Slovruks who escaped from the homeland during the past ten years have joined o;rganizations tJhat strun:d for an independent Slo-~a;k Repuiblic. And this is clear testimony of the. political conviction of the aJbso1ute maj'orirty of the Slovak naition, because it is obvious that the thoughts of the exiles on fundamental questions is identical with the thinking of the Slov•a k nation, witJh which just up to not long ago it was shaTing its bitter fate. It is not important to seek the answer to the questions of how many resi,s'tance movements tJhere are in Slovakia and how stroTIJg they might be. Certainly it would not ibe p:mdent to discuss this question pulblicly. What does count is the fact that they are causing the Red re-· gime many emlbarassments and difficulties. June 13, 1955, definitely tells us that resistance movements do exist in Slovakfa. The rverdict of J·u ne 13, 1955, was not the first 1 �SLOVAKIA 11 one - and most likely not the last one, either - to be rendered against Slovak patriots. Many conspiracies have 1b een uncoivered in SlovaJkia 1b y Prague since 1945, both by the communii.st-dominateld Benes-Gottwald coalition government and also by the Red regime whioh took over comrplete power in Ozedh-0-Slovak'ia in February 1948. It is certain that under other circumstances the strength of .t he resistance mo,v ements wouild be greater. What do we mean by saying under other circumstances? The concept orf "peacefu11 coexistence" with the communists is creating a very confused situation; this nonsense ,is, in fact, breaking the backbone of the nations behind the I11on Curtain. Fundamentally, coexistence betmys weakness, and the West is terribly mistaken, if it thms it can over:come tlhe danger of communism by following such a policy. In practical poHtics coexistence means a viofation of the fronts m tlhe cold war, which already have in many instances shown signs of great weakness. Res·.iJstance movements of an anti-communist chiarac• ter should be gebting more moral aid from sources designated for this pul1)0se. Unfortunately, as far as Slovakia is corrcemed in this ,p sychological struggle, wrong methods have frequently been used; whether intentional~y, o,r because of la:C!k of iruformation, does not change the matter. Thi,s was and is undoubtedly due to the influence of the very people, who together with tihe communists for three years (194'5-·1948) were trying to break doWtn. al1l anticommunist re:s•.i!stance of the Sfovak nation. The West defirately does not bolster or build the morale of the Slov,a k resistance movements by aiding and comforting, employing and letting itself be influenced by people who col., •J aborated with communists and Moscow and, hen:ce, are in a large measure responsilble for the terrible situation that prev:ails in Slovakia today; Slovak Judases, as the Slwaks at home and in exile refer to them, should not 'be trusted by tlhe West. Dr. Joseplh Lettrich and his followers - who suddenly ·b ecame "demo:cratic exiles firom Czech0-Slovakia" after February 2-5, 1948, and are now members of the S<>-<!alled �12 SLOVAKIA ~'Council of Free Ozecho-<Slovrukia" - should not be used or employed in any capacity :b y such organizations as the F!REE E}(JROPE COMIM!I'l'T'iIDE (iRadio F.ree Euroipe), United States Information Agency (Voice of America), and other offictla1 and semi--0fficial aigendes of the United States Government, because they are totally discredited and cursed by the Slovaks at home. 1Should anyone wish to, be corredly informed about how Slo,viakia thinks and feels a:bout its fate, what anticommuniist wor.keris are doing there, let him delve into the verdict of June 13, 1955, against the tJweilve Slovak heroes, and let him find time .t o study the attacks of communist propag,amda against ISlovruk nationalists, whose sole aim ,i s to oause the downfall oif commumsm and to estrub-· lish a Slovak independent state. The Reds Fear the West .C ommenting on the verdict rendered by the "people's" court againist the tweilve Slovak anti-,c ommunists, the Prague radio OIIl June 16, 1955, reminded its listeners that fhis particular resistance orgrumzation receiyed its orders from Slovak exiles in the West. The military prooorator called the following Slovak patriots archtraitors : Du:rcansky, Cerna!k, Paiulco, Mikus, ·Mikula, and Hassik. 'Dhis i,s not t!he forst time, and not the last, that Slovak patriots in exile have 'been accused by Red Prague. In recent times attacks of this kind are made almost daily. On May 2, 1955, for example, the Prague Radio, referring to Slovak patriots in exile, said that "they already have behind them ten furrl years of service in the interests of foreigners, ten full years oif collaJboration with the most rea:ctionary elemernts against the people . . . and the aim of all exile origa.ni2Jations 1s war." Thiat is how the Prague commtlillists comprehend "pea'Ce:ful coexistence." While the West is leaning danger~ ously ibac!k waTd and even sacrificing tJhe interests of some satellite nations behind the Iron Curtain fOT tJhe saxe of peiace, the Retl sateJ..lite governments, in the meantime, reg,ard freedom of expression, movement and political activiity in the states which have given asyilum to Central- �SLOVAKIA 13 European escapees as "colllalboration with the most reac. tionary elements." The .Prague communists, for example, are terribly worried that Slovaks in exile can speak freely every day over the tranS1mitting facilities of Spain and Ita:J.y. That these broadcasts are completely identical with the natural and democratic demands of rull patriotic Slovaks in exile, who speak for state independence for their own nation, is only n:aturrul and,( therefore, quit'e u:nderstand!able. Communist propaganda, of course, is doing everything it can do to silence 1:Jhem, disarm them, and discredit them with the worn-·oU:t eipithets of "fascists, separatists, nazis, reactionaries," etc. It is signific·a nt, too, that Benes Czechs and Slovak Judases use the same epithets and tactics as the Reds. Where they cannot successfully refute a statement, they resort to denunciation, viHfication, and invective. The Pr31gue bvoadicast, red:erred to above, vicioosly attacked the Christian character of the prog,r am of the Slovak exiles. "Well, as far as the activity of the Slovak exiles abroad is concerned," said the Prague commentator, "they have in comparison with the rest of the groups one specialty. More than any other group they are concealing their actual aims /by a,ppealing to ChriJstianity, Christian morals, Ohristian charity, etc. Dr. Francis Hrusorvsky even went as far as to designate tJhe Central-Eu:ropean Union, that is, tlhe rearming of German miilitarists, as an expression of Christian charity. Not even the former editor-inchief of the newspaper S:L0VAK, Dr. Pauco, who edited the SLOVAK during the time of the greatest nazi massacre in Slova!kia, will l now never fail to appeal to ChrisHan ethics. And the Sloviak fascists from Madrid, on the other hand, shall always recall that they are not aslhamed of Tiso's Legacy." On June 9, 1955, filie Bratislava broadcast quoted the angry article of the PiRAVDA against the Slov;aJk People's Party, distorting its historical role. On that occasion the PRAY.DA - ac0ording to the radio commentator - wrote aJbout "the dirty role of the populi,s t emigrants, who are allying themselves not only with the aggressive groups in �14 SLOVAKIA the United States, but aJso with the avengers in western Germ.any." The radio broadcast f.rom Prague on June 11 and that from Bratislava on June 12, 1955, sollillded off against "the provoc,ative Madrid and Rome tran1simitters," and against the "Paucos, Cerna.ks, and :Dur:canskys," who are constantly warning escapees not to return home. The Brague 'broadcast of May 9, 1955, was :f.ull of insults and epithets aJbout the "madness of the rulers of the imperi,a listic world and their humble ser,vrunts, the traitors of our nations," that is, the exiles. It is symboli'c of communist audacity that the Reds are using such propaganda at a time wlhen in Moscow they began a new o£fensive so that they might again meet and confer with "imperialistic rulers," and so whet tlheir ruppetite for "capitalistic" trade. Of course, the communists say one thing at home, something else at the conference ta!ble, and still something difrferent to exri1les. Whosoever ,p erforce walilts to be deaf will believe only one or the other side of their story and will not compare the communist propaganda of an shades and tendencies. We have always been of tlhe conviction that to come to an agreement with communism is the greatest trM1.Sg,ressicm against the pri,n ciples of humanity, the basest violation of the rights to freedom, and a grave insttlt to Christian sentiment. Communism is most often irritated by the constant repetition and practical realization olf Christian-democratic principles. That is why they cry out loudly against a poHticail prog,ram to which the v;ast majority of Slovaks in the West look for thei<r sup,po<rt. ChrJstianity and the !help of the West, whrreh Slovaks enjoy, throw the communists off balance. They say all Slovak exiil es "have one boss,." as reported by the Prague broadcast of May 2, 195'5, aJUd "all are paid from one treasury, the trea:sury of American militarilsm. The socalJ.ed Slovak N aitiona1 Coundl .Aibroad, the Sloviak League of America, and the Canadian SloviaJk League - as the separati'st organi~ations of iSlova.k :fascists - serve American military interests." To show their hatred the communist madmen ini1 �SLOVAKIA 15 tialed the names of tihe organizaitJions they attadked witJh small letters wlhen tlhey pwbH,sihed the commentary in the periodical L'UD ('People). This is qurite si,gnifica,nit. As if thereby they could alter the facts. They a.Jltered and will alter nothing; and their anger only attests to a serious nervours condition. Iif eve-ryithing were in order in SlOIV'akia and the communists were in complete command of the situation, they would not have to concern themselves with the Slov;ak situation so excitedly on the inlternati:onal field. However, when one once succumbs to fear and has lost his conscience and has two gall bladders instead of one heart, there hardly is any helrp for him. The commnnist dic-tators in S1ovakia have a very small sowl. The poon~ tom of American caipitalism and tihe activity of free Slovak or:ganization:s and individuals will not let t'hem sleep. Perhaps this is best refle<>Jro in the words of Karel Bacilek, who said at the XI Oommunist Congress at Bratislava: ". . . Imperialist aggressors, led by the ruling circles of the USA and with tihe aid of treacherous esca-. pees, are attemipting to srcore and deceive the working people, divert it from the path of social construction. Hostile propaganda can at times penetr"ate and bear in:filuence in various ways even oin memlbers olf the ;party." In other words, what is being done in the, West in the interest of the liberation of 1:lhe Slovak natit>n does have a great influence on the Slo.vaks at home. But obviously this influence also affects the communists. They are afraid of every step that is taken in the defense of the ,rigihts of the Slovak nation. The COilllmunists in Prague and in Slovalkia fear nothing more than the concept of Slovak statehood. Tha;t is why, for example, William Siroky practicaUy writhed in cramps when he revealed at the Congress. in Bratislava that Americans "iha<ve exhumed the compromised and bankrupt slogan of the so-.called S1'()1V'ak Sta:te." The fact , however, is that the concept of the Slovak State is not bankrupt and is not dead. It is a thing very much aJiNe, otheriwiise Sirdky amd other communists would -hardly concern themselves with it. The Slo,vaks are encouraged by it, while the communists are haruntetl by it. �16 SLOV.AKIA The princilples of freedom are so strong that no one can compromise them. Only dictators, and among them foremost are the communists, have attempted to compromise the governmental form. But they shaH never convince the Slovaks that an aJli.en and tyrannical government is better for them than a government of their own choice. Against the Kersten Committee The Kersten Committee evaluated the Slova:k question justly and correctly and published its findings how Slovakia was taken over by tJhe Reds so that America and the rest of the free world might learn the truth a:bout the struggles and demands of the Sl10V1a!k nation. For that the communist propaganda of Prague and Bratislava fired a barrage of smear and vilification at the Committee. The BratislaN radio sharply attaoked Charles Kersten and the Slovak witnesses on February 7, 1955. The former congressman from MHwaukee, Wis., •w as called the "counsellor of the escapees," while the Slovak witnesses who testifiied oof1ore tJhe Committee were designated as "traitors of the Slovak nation." The 'b roadcast ,a ttacked Dr. Joseph Mikula, ,b ecause he was supposed to have stated that '~he and his companions now did not have the legal possilbility to poison the soul of the 1Sl1ovax nation." Dr. Pauco, the commentator barked, "rel,aJtekl fables before the Committee about an alleged suppression of the freedom of the press in Czecho-Slovakia." Dr. Mikus was reviled because he defended the principles of private ownership. Matthew Cemalk, Slovak pa~ triot and leader of the S'lov,a k exiles in Germany, did not escape the wrath of the Reds either. 'I1he communist propagandist stated that •a ll the Slova.lk witnesses before the Committee wanted to start a war. In this instance, he said, 'in full nakedness wa:s demonstrated the wretchedness of the methods, which are used by the American reaction to slander the countries of tJhe peace camp. At the same time, however, it aJlso shows the depth of filth and muck -into which the traitors of the Slovak nation shall end up in." On May 2, 1955, the Prague radio again attacked Charles Kersten, declaring that "on the basis of h'is law �SLOVAKIA 17 about financing suib versi,v e ructivities in the countries promoting peace, he is distributing dollars generously among federalists, separatists, unionists, and all kinds oif other organizations" fo,r rendering "servile service to aggressive plans to start a new war." On Miay 5, 1955, t!he PRAVDA of Bratislav,a ,p ublished a lengthy article in regard to the actiivi-ties of the Ke:rsten Committee and tihe testimony of Slov,ak witnesses. Among otiher things in that article, we read: "On December 31, 1954, there was published in the United States a so..,caJl:led official document of the American Congress, which !insults the nations of OUT country in a very c:m de and inept manner. In this gossiipy 'document', which was prepared by the special Keristen Committee, Ozecho.JSlorvak history is written up in a genuinely fascist spirit, the glorious Slovak national uiprising is descri'b ed as 'an impro,vised rebellion of subversive elements', and the liherati:on. of our country by the heroic Soviet, army is depicted with the bitter sorrow over the defeat of Hitler's occupat ion troops and thei:r native assistants ... The Kersten Committee preparnd this 'document' on the basis of the so--c alled 12 Slovak testimonies, which it collected from Slovak fascist outcasts. . . "About Kersten it i'S generally known that he has intimate, friendly contacts with fascists and cOIHalborators, who fled the country after Wo:rld War II to escape punishment and found asylum in the United States. Therefore, it surprised no one when the Kersten Committee on its hunt for gossipy 'testimonies' sought out only genuiine fascists in London, P,aris, Madrid, Rome, Munich and other Cen~ tral-European ciities. With witnesses like Cemak, Pauco, Mikus, Mikula, Nahalka, and theiir hke, it naturally could not be proud of in ,pU!bfic. So it met, with them in absolute secrecy, behind closed doors. "The g:reatest degree of deipra,vity a:nd lacik of character was successfolly attained by Charles Kersten and his twelve fascist 'witnesses', who in their hellpless hatred against the Slavruk people incite, slander and cry for another war against o.ur country. "Among the paid perjurers of the American Govern- �18 SLOVAKIA ment of th~ tyipe of Harvey Matusow, Paul Crouch, Elizaibeth Bentley, and_Charle~ Ke:risten, on the one hand, and Oernak, :Dur.canslky, Pauico, Kirschbaum, Mikus and company, on the other, there is no difference. American and Slov,aJk fascis'ts alike 'betmy their own people. Of course, there may be this difference: the former do tfuis for dollar.s while the fascist renegades of Cerna.k's type do it for anything _of value. "The so...called document of the American Government, prepared on the basis of the gossip of 12 Slovak fascists clearly proves how deep the traitorous escrupees have sunk in their hatred against our people. And simultaneously this lying document is further ,p roof that American r,u ling cir-· cles willingly sl,a nder countries whlicih have rid themselves of crupitalistic e,oploite:m, the creatures that betrayed their nati·o n to Hitler." . We find the very same insults and abusive names also jn the official note of the Prague Coo:nmuni,s t government of April 19, which is addressed to the Governmenlt of the United States. The separate report of the Kersten Committee is designated as.. "bra:zen" and "is equal to t:he wildest product of Goeibbels' fascist proipagandisti'c mach'i nery . It is nothing else but the pasting tog~her of lies and gossip, which are supposed to deepen hatred against Czecho-,Slovrukfa, to encourage war hysteria, to incite and campaign against coounl\.Ulism and to ,p repare a preventive war against peace-J.oving countries." The Prague government is also angry because the Kersten report is opposed to coexi,s tence with communism and warns the Whole world of the threats of communist dictators. The Prrugue note attacked Dr. Joseph Mikus and Matthew Cern.aJk, two act~ve Slov-a:k exiles, pointing out especi,a lly that they sewed in the dtplomatic cOI1ps of the Sl~va:k Republic. As far as the reproaches of the Prague government and its propaganda against American and Slovak factors is concerned, it must be stated unequivocally tlhat not in -a single testimony wrus there any talk aibout the need of unleashing a war. In the testimonies we do find, however, mention in seveTal places of the need of good and effective 1 �SLOVAKIA 19 work in the puiblishing and broadcasting fields against communism, of the need of preparations for the spiritual renovation of the world whioh is slowly being crushed by the satanic forces of ciom.munism. All Slovak witnesses strongly condemne!d the crimes and the evil perpetrated against the SlovaJk nation by communism; and tfu.ey told how communism enslaves the Slovaks spiriturulJy and exploits them economicailly and suppresses every manifestation of the Slova;k people for freedom and state independence. Tlhe wor'k of the Kersten Committee has become a thorn in the eyes of communist aggressive politics and pro._, pagainda. The Czech communi,s ts h'a d hoped that the West wouM continue to beHeve blindly their old lies a.nd falbles against the Sloviak nation; tihey did everything possilble to discredit Slovaks in exile in the eyes of tfu.e West and so make life as m[seraJble as possible for them. Flaiiing in this, it was only natUII'al for the Reds of Prague and Bratislaiva to unleash the wildest war in the press and over the radio ag,ainst Slovaks in exile and against every one who sympathized with them. But it does not matter whom they single out for abuse and vilification; important it is, however, that com~ munists are afraid of the solidly organized anti-commun:.. ist Slovak camp and their friends. And they are frightfully afraid of the thought that the whole principle of the right of self-determination must once be accorded the Slovak nation, without the reaJlization of which the conterruporary struggle to bring order and political balance in Central Europe has no su'b stantiation. While communism must reso;rt to a;buse and invective in its fits of anger, the Slova~s in exile are presenting facts, they are building on them and witlh them are defending the righteousness of their demands. Of course, it is not true that the Kersten Committeee used to meet secretly with ,Slovaik witnesses. All the hearings were ,public. They were attended by reporters and the puiblic. The press reported on the hearings, so did the radio and the television. Expert stenographers recorded everything that was said by every Slorvak witness and this was then pub1 �.20 SLOVAKIA lished iby t:he American Governmen t. The reports record .the minds of those people, w:ho foom the beginning of their pulblic activity adaimanfily opposed communism . The SlovaJks in exile do- not deny that they are antL ,c ommuni,s,t. It is a historical fac:t that the Slovak nation as :a w,hole condemned t:he tea•ching.s of Marx and Engels materialistic phHos0rphy soon after it was made pulb1ic and .has fouight it consistentl y and persistently throughout the years. The S1ova'ks in exile, then, do not even request secret sessions. Oommunist s, however, commit the foulest crimes where there are no witnesses. But they •c annot deny them, ,b ecause even the dead testify against murderers. And communism will one day ,be on the be,n ch of the acc used. It seems ,t he cards have faHen from the hands of the communist rulers in ,Slova;kia, !because they sysit:ematica lJy return to, the activity of the native "reaction" and the Slovaiks in exile. This is nothing else but an attempt to ma,sk all the crimes and grave injusti ces which they have committed and are stil,l commiltinig against the SlovaJk nation. Communis ts cannot conceal or deny the evil they have done. The entire nation is testifying against them. To .waint to deny something and to- concea•l one's own crimes ,b y hurling poi sonous insu1,ts at others is, indeed, a much more difficult and hopeless. task than pouring water inrto the ocean. We are profoundly touched by the heavy losses of life, cultural, moral and economic values, which the .Slovak nation has suffered from the Red Moloch. The murder of Matthew Cernak in Munich, Ju1y 5, 1955, by a bomb s ent through the mail is still fresh in our minds. However, we see that tJhe communist s are writhing like wounded sna!kes, hissing with anger and hate. And that is a good sign. It is the beginning of the end. Thus far no communist ruler has remained long in po,w er; and those forced on the Slovaks will be no exception. They are. he:Jipless and have no defense for the failures of their policies and, hence, must find scaipegoats : so they thunder againsit the native "populist reaction" at home, the "traitorous exile," and "imperialis tic American capitalism." 1 1 � SLOVAKIA 3 THE FAILURES OF COMMUNIST POUTICS IN SLOVAKIA Dr. Joseph Pauco In recent months many evident proofs of the failures of the Communist Party .in Slovaikia have been supplied by the communists themselves. Their policies flailed not only in tlhe political dom aii:n, but also in the eoonomfoa!l and especiailly the agricultural fields. What is the situation in SlovaJkia today aicco:rding to the admissions of the communists themselves? Centralization 1 On the one hand, it is 'k nown that the communists in Slovak!ia did SUipport the recognition of the national indiviiduality of the :S lovak naJtion, yet, on the other hand, it is true thaJt in Slovakia power is no longer in the hands of communists who respect tlhis principle and oppose the imperialIBtic influences of Ozech communism. F'0trmally, the 1name o:f the CommUIIl1ist Party of Slovakia has been retained, but not a single commuru.srt: factor will say thaJt it is ,representati.ve of Slovak communist forces, or any kind of autonomoUJS organization of Slovak communists. The first secretary of the Communist Parity of Slovald1a, the Czech communJ.st ~arel Badlek, proc,laimed on April 22, 19'55, at the XI Congre ss of the Communist Party of Slo-vakia: "The Communist Party of Slovakia is a region.a:! organization of the one Communist Party of Czecho-lSlovaJkia; it is its fighting diivision." The :flirst sec·r etary of the Communist Party of CzechoSlovakiia, the Czeclh .Amt onin Novotny, addressing that Con~ gress said thrut "the Communist Party of Slwaikia is an indivi:silble 1part and unit of the Communist Party of CzechoSloW!Jki,a." Tit is clear, then, beyond all shadow of doubt, that two of the pre-eminent leaJders of the present communist regime in PTague and Bratislava no longer consider it n.ecessary for the Slwak commundsts to appear independently. This is apparent not oinly in the o,r ganization by the fact th•a t the 1 1 �4 SLOVAKIA Slovak Communist Party is suboirdinated to the Ozech Communist Party as its "division," but also in the .poili'tical field as well, where the Czechs rule surpreme. ln the so-oalled "Czeoho-Slovruk" Communist Barty, there were only Ozechs. As an aip.pendage of the Czech Oommunist Party, the Slovak Communist Party is .powerless to ,i nitiate or realize anything; everything is done through the Czecho--Slovak (really CZECH) Communist Party. Bacilek attested to this fact openly, when he said: "Important and fundamental •p olitical questions concerning Slovakia were presented for resolution to the Central Committee od' the Communist Party of Czecho-iSlovakia, and we go,v erned ourselves iby those decisions." For Slovakiia iit pr~baJbly is fortunate tJhat Prrugue is today responsilble for all politics. On the other band, however, it is quite significant for the Soviets, who loudly demand the a,ssurance of aU national freedoms. In the Slo·vak case it is one orf the cleaTest 1proofs thaJt SOV'iet slo.gans about independence a~e only a s:ham and delus,ion. Under the communist reg,ime the Slovaks lost aitl remnants of autonomous government. IDven though the Communist Party ·of Slovakia exists fonmally, its first secretary is not a Slovruk, but a Czech - ~arel Bacilek - and that means, for all practi'crul purposes, that SlnvaJkia is again a Ozech colony. 'Dhis situation conceals within itself many known thinigs. While the Ozech comrmmists could rely on Husa'k, Novomesiky, Okaly, and Clementis, they readily e~loited their services. But just as soon as these Slovak communists, who possessed a certruin am'ount of national pride, began to make more and more demands, they were marked for liquidiaJtion. And Ozech communists did liquidate them . "Bourgeois nationalists," said Bacilek, "led by Husak, in agreement with the Slovak reaction, oppo-s ed the validation of a uniform poHcy and a urniform agricultural program for the entire Czecho-iSlovalk Reipublic. And since this un~formity wa;s a prerequisite of the politic•al, and mainly the agriculturnJl, equality of the rig1hts of the Slovak nation, tihen, fa:ct:ually, they s1a:botaged this equa:lity orf rights." Hlusak's ,g roup was no more considerate toward the anti-communist Slova:k camp than was Bacilek. The oillly �SLOVAKIA 5 dif;ference between them was that Husak was a Slovak and Bacilek a Ozec'h. Because Husak, a Slovak communist, had dared to oppose the concept that his party was s.imrply "a fighting division oif the Communist Party of Ozecho-,Slovakia," that is, subservient to tlhe CZECH CommU'Ilist Party - hiis name was added to the last of traitor:rs, even though he did render inivaluaJble se:rwices to the commU'Ilist cause. Slovak Nationalism The greatest enemy of communism in Slovakia is nationa'1isrm - the real cause of the failures of communist policy. Becau:se the foli:owers of the Hlinka 'Slo'V'ak People's Party were identrified with Slovak nationaliism, they were most violently attooked by the communists. William Siroky recalled at the XI Congress of the Slovak CommU'Il.ist Prurty in Bratislava that the Communi,s t Party "revealed the plague of tJhe anti~peop[e's populist separatist traitocrs and the other nationa;lisbic groups." Thus far Slovak nationalism could not be wiped out. Afrter ten years Siroky had to admit that "national :wejudices are very much allive especially among the Slovak intellectuals and officials; they are penetrating into other classes, aTe influencing even cultural lifo, and that a constant, stu!bborn ideofogiica1l war must be waged against them." Bacilek also complained that Slovak nationalism is not a sim,ple problem, saying: "While consolidating the brotherhood of the Ozechs and the Slovaks, let us not even for a moment storp waging a decisive battle against tJhe populists, the ideolo,gical man.ifestation of one part of the banikmpt Slovaik bourgeoisie." Karel Brucilek is stumped by the Slovak bourgeoisie and, therefore, oalils upon scientific workers to fight the Slovak IJ.orpulists: "From the workers of the sociaJ sciences we demand that they systematically and olbjectively uncover and help to oiveroome the manifestations of bourgeois ideologies in the minds of the people, especiaUy the manifestations of bourgeois natiorrali:s m and its most de~ structive variety - populist s~paratism." !Slovak natiO'Ilalism, however, is not a matter of some smail[ group. Novotny understood that very well when he �6 said: ". . .Almost everywhere up to now we rmeet with dangerous mainifestations of bourgeois nationaliSlm, es,peciaUy with one of its forms, with populist separatism, carrying wi·t h it reactionary darkness, which was designedly kept up in Slovakiia by the htgh Church hieraTchy." Judging ,a ccordingly, then, we can say that Slova:k nation:aliSlm is the "Enemy No.. l" of the communist regime. So for Novotny it is very clear that "the commun~ ists, the natfona1 committee, and the basi,c partisan organizations must constantly exiplain the harmfulness of nationalistic views and e:,QJJose them . . . " ·s1ovaJk naticma1ism is still quite strong. 'J.1he communists did not khl[ it and, according to their own admission, the propaganda they used against Slo,vaik nationrulism did not he1p much. This is made quite clear from Sirdky's speech, in which he says: "our agitation and ,propaganda are not suifficiently penetrating and convincing; we are losing sight of the increasjng claims of our people. This holds for the press, lectures, and also for many sections of cultura,1 practice. . . In Slovrukia es:pe:cially, we must be aware of tJhe fact that any weakening of the ideological wor,k will oniy strengthen national prejudices." This is quite a sj_gnifican,t adrmission from a man who untitl recently held the first position in the Communist Party of Slo.vakfa. To, keep his. head a:bo,ve water as long as possible, Sirdky, even though he is not a S'1ovaik by ori~ gin and sentiment, knows tha;t he must be grateful to those by whose grace he is •s till tolerated as a member of the politburo. So he encourages comm!Ullist propaganda "to devote itself more sy,stematically and profoundly and more concretely to the greaJt and actual ideoilogica[ problems of the present per,iod - to concern itself witlh t:he questions whkh preoccupy the minds O!f our people. We must see to it that the feeling of collectiveness and mutua'lity of the Czechs and Slovaks, of Cze<:ho..Slovak patriotiSlm - just like the feeling of lo,yalty and love towaTd the Soviet Union - become the fundamental. lines orf the socialistic and pat.Piotic consciousness of our citizens." Obviously, then, there is no so-·caNed "mutuality of Slovaks and Czechs," there is no "Czecho-tSlovak patriot- �SLOVAKIA 7 ism." These concepts existed only in the minds of poHtical dreamers in t!he past and, as we see, even communist prisons and concentration camps could not create them. After ten years of terror and violence, comrade Siroky, who rendered great services iin Slovakia for Ozech communists, is leaving the leadership of the Slovak Communist Party beca use the desired union of the Slovaks with the Ozechs did not materialize. Many people dreamed a:bout a brotherhood of the Czechs and Slova'ks. But this was nothing but an unsuccessful dream . The situation has not changed even today. Even Bacile<k would be happy if he couild change it. So, he turns his attention to the communist writers, saying: "Litemture and the arts o,we very much to the systematic conso[idation of the brotherhood o!f the Czechs and Slova;ks. After ten years our literature has not produced a romantic novel which would depict the fact that without the aid qf the Czech working class there would be no penetrating successes in the soci'alisti<: industria>liza,tion of Slovakia. We do not have a book which would show the historical roots of the brotherhood of the Czechs and Slovaks." If there is no such volume, then there are no, writers who stand in the service of communism and the so-called "Czecho-,Slo,v ak" union; there are no writern w'ho would be wililing to serve communist propaganda and the policy of a "Great Czec,hia." And this fact is as significam.t a reality as is the strength of Slovak nationalism itself. Both comple~ ment and control each other mutually. Writers are the coo.science of a nation. In present-day Slovaki'a, if this conscience does .not subordinate itself to communist dictates, then this is a matter of great significam.ce a,nd of an extraordinary hisitorical manifestati'on. In natinnal questions, we know, a genuinely honest w_riter would not dare to misrepresent the thoughts of his own peo.ple. The schools of Slova'kia are also• resisting commun• ism very va1iantly; they .p refer to stand on the side of the nation thian on the side of a foreign clique which wants to demoralize the character of Slovak history. Bacilek obviously was fuily aware of the school situation, because in attacking SlO'Vak teachers he said: �8 SLOVAKIA "If we arnailyre the work of the ,s chools from the standpoint of contemporary needs, we must come to the conclusion tihat thus far they are not performing their basic task satisfoctorily and are little concerned a;bout the quality af education and, at the saime time, abourt 'the creation of c•o mmunistic conviction and momls in all the youth. . . We must seek the reason therefore albove aiH else in the low level of the teaching and training work of our teruohers." That's the kind of talk we hear long after the Communiist Party of Slovakia repl'aced qualified teachers with its most loyal followera whether they qualified .as teaahers or not. That such people had no idea what the teaching or training level was is l.mderstand01ble; on this point we can agree with Ba;cilek, because the commurust regime did not care whether the persons employed as t eachers ,w ere qualified to tea:ch, hut was onJ.y concerned whether bhey were party memlbern. However, the admission of the fact that these Red teaichers were not sufficiently relialb1e for the communists, that they are not creating communist convictions, rund are not strengthening communist vices in the youth - all this is one af the most reiveal,i ng proofo of the failures of communist policy in Slovakia. The communists hurried to .produce intellectuals loyal to tlhem by a wholesale process. Even though some intellectuals ap-· parently did join them, they did not lose their healthy .Sl·OVaJk core and are now causing the leadership of the Communist Party no end of trouble. That is the wo11k and the influence of Sloviak nationalism. And SlovaJk natiornalism is more irufluential than all communist terror and vioO.errce. The iruflueillCe af Slovak nationali<Slm rea:ches ,i nto the Communist Party itselrf. Ba-· cilek admitted tihat from the time of the X Assembly of the Slovak Coimmunist Party "the numiber of dead, dropped and ex,pelled members and candidates £rom the party wrus 12,940. The party rid itse'Lf of UillW:Orthy, hostiJ.e elements, of violators of state and party mscirpline, or peoiple who fai,l ed in their oibligations as members of the party.'' Bacilek, however, did not dare publ,~Sh the number �SLOVAKIA 9 of expelled members and, of course, not even the detail.s sUTrounding the deaith of some of the memb,e rs. They could ha,ve lbeen eliminated or liq.uida,ted secretly, wor.ked to death in .tlhe Uranium mines, or beaten to death in jails In every instance, however, Bacilek reports that a great many members were expelled. We understand fiuNy well that they were enemies of the communist go:vernment and party. Communists evidently do no,t know exactly where their main enemies are am.d, hence, look for them everywhere. Nationalism .has its sharply designated posts am.d is perfonniin!g its duty. ,Slovak nationalism is no exception. The Resistance Movement Sl-ovak nationaJlism is alive and ,a gg,ressi,ve. This was recently demonstrated, when on June 13, 1955, the communist military trilbunaJl con!Victed 12 memlbers of a Slovak resistam.ce movement, dealing out high penalties, including a sentenice of death for a leading memlber of t;h.e movement, Bernard Nemcek. Reports from Prague about the communist verdict tell us more than all the explanations of the situation in Slovaikfa. And that because, surprisingly enough, the br,oadcast of June 16, 1955, designated the movement by its ,r,ight name: a resistance movement and a movement to create an independent Slovak State. The supreme desire of every rnation is to h'ave its own state. The Slovaks a,re n:o exception. If Slovak nationalists on native soH can bring the supreme sacri.lfice for this idea, this is irre.futalble proof that the Slovruk naroion is not am.d iw:illl not be satisfied with foreign domiination. In Slovrukia and in tlhe ranks of SlovaJk mo,vements, the fight against commun~sm is comprehended as determination .to free itself once and for all time from the yoke of every a1ien hegemony. That is why the fight of 1Sllovaik nationalists tends in two directions: against communi-sm and for state independence. Does a Slovak resistance movement actuafily exist? In the light of the a;bove, a str,ong resista,nce movement dbviiously does exist in Slovakia. At times, the com- �10 SLOVAKIA munists may at:teinipt to minimize its efd'eetiiveness, but we know that it must ,b e quite a movement, if the Reds themselves see fit to discuss it during their congresses. Basing OUT conviction on statements made and adions taken by the communists themselves, there can be no doubt that commun'ists really fear Slovak bomigeois :nationialism. In my possession I have a letter from a well-informed Slovak in Western Gerunany who just recently escaped from Slovakia. For nine long years he ob.served how the Red regime worked in Slovai~ia. He took note of the opinions and manifestations 'Of the population and was active in western, central and eastern Slovakia. Thris person maide contacts with officials and wwkere, farmers and priests, teachers and politiJCal prisoners. When I asked him what the Slovaks thought a;bout state independence for Slova!kia, he replied: "I dare write that about 95 percent of the Slovaks is for an independent state, a SlovaJk State wruiclh iwil[ be Chri stian and democratic. The Slovaks are holding to the determination to have their own state and there is no power whrich wil!l force them to be satisfied with less, with any other state form ." Over 90 percent of the Slovruks who escaped from the homeland during the past ten years have joined o;rganizations tJhat strun:d for an independent Slo-~a;k Repuiblic. And this is clear testimony of the. political conviction of the aJbso1ute maj'orirty of the Slovak naition, because it is obvious that the thoughts of the exiles on fundamental questions is identical with the thinking of the Slov•a k nation, witJh which just up to not long ago it was shaTing its bitter fate. It is not important to seek the answer to the questions of how many resi,s'tance movements tJhere are in Slovakia and how stroTIJg they might be. Certainly it would not ibe p:mdent to discuss this question pulblicly. What does count is the fact that they are causing the Red re-· gime many emlbarassments and difficulties. June 13, 1955, definitely tells us that resistance movements do exist in Slovakfa. The rverdict of J·u ne 13, 1955, was not the first 1 �SLOVAKIA 11 one - and most likely not the last one, either - to be rendered against Slovak patriots. Many conspiracies have 1b een uncoivered in SlovaJkia 1b y Prague since 1945, both by the communii.st-dominateld Benes-Gottwald coalition government and also by the Red regime whioh took over comrplete power in Ozedh-0-Slovak'ia in February 1948. It is certain that under other circumstances the strength of .t he resistance mo,v ements wouild be greater. What do we mean by saying under other circumstances? The concept orf "peacefu11 coexistence" with the communists is creating a very confused situation; this nonsense ,is, in fact, breaking the backbone of the nations behind the I11on Curtain. Fundamentally, coexistence betmys weakness, and the West is terribly mistaken, if it thms it can over:come tlhe danger of communism by following such a policy. In practical poHtics coexistence means a viofation of the fronts m tlhe cold war, which already have in many instances shown signs of great weakness. Res·.iJstance movements of an anti-communist chiarac• ter should be gebting more moral aid from sources designated for this pul1)0se. Unfortunately, as far as Slovakia is corrcemed in this ,p sychological struggle, wrong methods have frequently been used; whether intentional~y, o,r because of la:C!k of iruformation, does not change the matter. Thi,s was and is undoubtedly due to the influence of the very people, who together with tihe communists for three years (194'5-·1948) were trying to break doWtn. al1l anticommunist re:s•.i!stance of the Sfovak nation. The West defirately does not bolster or build the morale of the Slov,a k resistance movements by aiding and comforting, employing and letting itself be influenced by people who col., •J aborated with communists and Moscow and, hen:ce, are in a large measure responsilble for the terrible situation that prev:ails in Slovakia today; Slovak Judases, as the Slwaks at home and in exile refer to them, should not 'be trusted by tlhe West. Dr. Joseplh Lettrich and his followers - who suddenly ·b ecame "demo:cratic exiles firom Czech0-Slovakia" after February 2-5, 1948, and are now members of the S<>-<!alled �12 SLOVAKIA ~'Council of Free Ozecho-<Slovrukia" - should not be used or employed in any capacity :b y such organizations as the F!REE E}(JROPE COMIM!I'l'T'iIDE (iRadio F.ree Euroipe), United States Information Agency (Voice of America), and other offictla1 and semi--0fficial aigendes of the United States Government, because they are totally discredited and cursed by the Slovaks at home. 1Should anyone wish to, be corredly informed about how Slo,viakia thinks and feels a:bout its fate, what anticommuniist wor.keris are doing there, let him delve into the verdict of June 13, 1955, against the tJweilve Slovak heroes, and let him find time .t o study the attacks of communist propag,amda against ISlovruk nationalists, whose sole aim ,i s to oause the downfall oif commumsm and to estrub-· lish a Slovak independent state. The Reds Fear the West .C ommenting on the verdict rendered by the "people's" court againist the tweilve Slovak anti-,c ommunists, the Prague radio OIIl June 16, 1955, reminded its listeners that fhis particular resistance orgrumzation receiyed its orders from Slovak exiles in the West. The military prooorator called the following Slovak patriots archtraitors : Du:rcansky, Cerna!k, Paiulco, Mikus, ·Mikula, and Hassik. 'Dhis i,s not t!he forst time, and not the last, that Slovak patriots in exile have 'been accused by Red Prague. In recent times attacks of this kind are made almost daily. On May 2, 1955, for example, the Prague Radio, referring to Slovak patriots in exile, said that "they already have behind them ten furrl years of service in the interests of foreigners, ten full years oif collaJboration with the most rea:ctionary elemernts against the people . . . and the aim of all exile origa.ni2Jations 1s war." Thiat is how the Prague commtlillists comprehend "pea'Ce:ful coexistence." While the West is leaning danger~ ously ibac!k waTd and even sacrificing tJhe interests of some satellite nations behind the Iron Curtain fOT tJhe saxe of peiace, the Retl sateJ..lite governments, in the meantime, reg,ard freedom of expression, movement and political activiity in the states which have given asyilum to Central- �SLOVAKIA 13 European escapees as "colllalboration with the most reac. tionary elements." The .Prague communists, for example, are terribly worried that Slovaks in exile can speak freely every day over the tranS1mitting facilities of Spain and Ita:J.y. That these broadcasts are completely identical with the natural and democratic demands of rull patriotic Slovaks in exile, who speak for state independence for their own nation, is only n:aturrul and,( therefore, quit'e u:nderstand!able. Communist propaganda, of course, is doing everything it can do to silence 1:Jhem, disarm them, and discredit them with the worn-·oU:t eipithets of "fascists, separatists, nazis, reactionaries," etc. It is signific·a nt, too, that Benes Czechs and Slovak Judases use the same epithets and tactics as the Reds. Where they cannot successfully refute a statement, they resort to denunciation, viHfication, and invective. The Pr31gue bvoadicast, red:erred to above, vicioosly attacked the Christian character of the prog,r am of the Slovak exiles. "Well, as far as the activity of the Slovak exiles abroad is concerned," said the Prague commentator, "they have in comparison with the rest of the groups one specialty. More than any other group they are concealing their actual aims /by a,ppealing to ChriJstianity, Christian morals, Ohristian charity, etc. Dr. Francis Hrusorvsky even went as far as to designate tJhe Central-Eu:ropean Union, that is, tlhe rearming of German miilitarists, as an expression of Christian charity. Not even the former editor-inchief of the newspaper S:L0VAK, Dr. Pauco, who edited the SLOVAK during the time of the greatest nazi massacre in Slova!kia, will l now never fail to appeal to ChrisHan ethics. And the Sloviak fascists from Madrid, on the other hand, shall always recall that they are not aslhamed of Tiso's Legacy." On June 9, 1955, filie Bratislava broadcast quoted the angry article of the PiRAVDA against the Slov;aJk People's Party, distorting its historical role. On that occasion the PRAY.DA - ac0ording to the radio commentator - wrote aJbout "the dirty role of the populi,s t emigrants, who are allying themselves not only with the aggressive groups in �14 SLOVAKIA the United States, but aJso with the avengers in western Germ.any." The radio broadcast f.rom Prague on June 11 and that from Bratislava on June 12, 1955, sollillded off against "the provoc,ative Madrid and Rome tran1simitters," and against the "Paucos, Cerna.ks, and :Dur:canskys," who are constantly warning escapees not to return home. The Brague 'broadcast of May 9, 1955, was :f.ull of insults and epithets aJbout the "madness of the rulers of the imperi,a listic world and their humble ser,vrunts, the traitors of our nations," that is, the exiles. It is symboli'c of communist audacity that the Reds are using such propaganda at a time wlhen in Moscow they began a new o£fensive so that they might again meet and confer with "imperialistic rulers," and so whet tlheir ruppetite for "capitalistic" trade. Of course, the communists say one thing at home, something else at the conference ta!ble, and still something difrferent to exri1les. Whosoever ,p erforce walilts to be deaf will believe only one or the other side of their story and will not compare the communist propaganda of an shades and tendencies. We have always been of tlhe conviction that to come to an agreement with communism is the greatest trM1.Sg,ressicm against the pri,n ciples of humanity, the basest violation of the rights to freedom, and a grave insttlt to Christian sentiment. Communism is most often irritated by the constant repetition and practical realization olf Christian-democratic principles. That is why they cry out loudly against a poHticail prog,ram to which the v;ast majority of Slovaks in the West look for thei<r sup,po<rt. ChrJstianity and the !help of the West, whrreh Slovaks enjoy, throw the communists off balance. They say all Slovak exiil es "have one boss,." as reported by the Prague broadcast of May 2, 195'5, aJUd "all are paid from one treasury, the trea:sury of American militarilsm. The socalJ.ed Slovak N aitiona1 Coundl .Aibroad, the Sloviak League of America, and the Canadian SloviaJk League - as the separati'st organi~ations of iSlova.k :fascists - serve American military interests." To show their hatred the communist madmen ini1 �SLOVAKIA 15 tialed the names of tihe organizaitJions they attadked witJh small letters wlhen tlhey pwbH,sihed the commentary in the periodical L'UD ('People). This is qurite si,gnifica,nit. As if thereby they could alter the facts. They a.Jltered and will alter nothing; and their anger only attests to a serious nervours condition. Iif eve-ryithing were in order in SlOIV'akia and the communists were in complete command of the situation, they would not have to concern themselves with the Slov;ak situation so excitedly on the inlternati:onal field. However, when one once succumbs to fear and has lost his conscience and has two gall bladders instead of one heart, there hardly is any helrp for him. The commnnist dic-tators in S1ovakia have a very small sowl. The poon~ tom of American caipitalism and tihe activity of free Slovak or:ganization:s and individuals will not let t'hem sleep. Perhaps this is best refle<>Jro in the words of Karel Bacilek, who said at the XI Oommunist Congress at Bratislava: ". . . Imperialist aggressors, led by the ruling circles of the USA and with tihe aid of treacherous esca-. pees, are attemipting to srcore and deceive the working people, divert it from the path of social construction. Hostile propaganda can at times penetr"ate and bear in:filuence in various ways even oin memlbers olf the ;party." In other words, what is being done in the, West in the interest of the liberation of 1:lhe Slovak natit>n does have a great influence on the Slo.vaks at home. But obviously this influence also affects the communists. They are afraid of every step that is taken in the defense of the ,rigihts of the Slovak nation. The COilllmunists in Prague and in Slovalkia fear nothing more than the concept of Slovak statehood. Tha;t is why, for example, William Siroky practicaUy writhed in cramps when he revealed at the Congress. in Bratislava that Americans "iha<ve exhumed the compromised and bankrupt slogan of the so-.called S1'()1V'ak Sta:te." The fact , however, is that the concept of the Slovak State is not bankrupt and is not dead. It is a thing very much aJiNe, otheriwiise Sirdky amd other communists would -hardly concern themselves with it. The Slo,vaks are encouraged by it, while the communists are haruntetl by it. �16 SLOV.AKIA The princilples of freedom are so strong that no one can compromise them. Only dictators, and among them foremost are the communists, have attempted to compromise the governmental form. But they shaH never convince the Slovaks that an aJli.en and tyrannical government is better for them than a government of their own choice. Against the Kersten Committee The Kersten Committee evaluated the Slova:k question justly and correctly and published its findings how Slovakia was taken over by tJhe Reds so that America and the rest of the free world might learn the truth a:bout the struggles and demands of the Sl10V1a!k nation. For that the communist propaganda of Prague and Bratislava fired a barrage of smear and vilification at the Committee. The BratislaN radio sharply attaoked Charles Kersten and the Slovak witnesses on February 7, 1955. The former congressman from MHwaukee, Wis., •w as called the "counsellor of the escapees," while the Slovak witnesses who testifiied oof1ore tJhe Committee were designated as "traitors of the Slovak nation." The 'b roadcast ,a ttacked Dr. Joseph Mikula, ,b ecause he was supposed to have stated that '~he and his companions now did not have the legal possilbility to poison the soul of the 1Sl1ovax nation." Dr. Pauco, the commentator barked, "rel,aJtekl fables before the Committee about an alleged suppression of the freedom of the press in Czecho-Slovakia." Dr. Mikus was reviled because he defended the principles of private ownership. Matthew Cemalk, Slovak pa~ triot and leader of the S'lov,a k exiles in Germany, did not escape the wrath of the Reds either. 'I1he communist propagandist stated that •a ll the Slova.lk witnesses before the Committee wanted to start a war. In this instance, he said, 'in full nakedness wa:s demonstrated the wretchedness of the methods, which are used by the American reaction to slander the countries of tJhe peace camp. At the same time, however, it aJlso shows the depth of filth and muck -into which the traitors of the Slovak nation shall end up in." On May 2, 1955, the Prague radio again attacked Charles Kersten, declaring that "on the basis of h'is law �SLOVAKIA 17 about financing suib versi,v e ructivities in the countries promoting peace, he is distributing dollars generously among federalists, separatists, unionists, and all kinds oif other organizations" fo,r rendering "servile service to aggressive plans to start a new war." On Miay 5, 1955, t!he PRAVDA of Bratislav,a ,p ublished a lengthy article in regard to the actiivi-ties of the Ke:rsten Committee and tihe testimony of Slov,ak witnesses. Among otiher things in that article, we read: "On December 31, 1954, there was published in the United States a so..,caJl:led official document of the American Congress, which !insults the nations of OUT country in a very c:m de and inept manner. In this gossiipy 'document', which was prepared by the special Keristen Committee, Ozecho.JSlorvak history is written up in a genuinely fascist spirit, the glorious Slovak national uiprising is descri'b ed as 'an impro,vised rebellion of subversive elements', and the liherati:on. of our country by the heroic Soviet, army is depicted with the bitter sorrow over the defeat of Hitler's occupat ion troops and thei:r native assistants ... The Kersten Committee preparnd this 'document' on the basis of the so--c alled 12 Slovak testimonies, which it collected from Slovak fascist outcasts. . . "About Kersten it i'S generally known that he has intimate, friendly contacts with fascists and cOIHalborators, who fled the country after Wo:rld War II to escape punishment and found asylum in the United States. Therefore, it surprised no one when the Kersten Committee on its hunt for gossipy 'testimonies' sought out only genuiine fascists in London, P,aris, Madrid, Rome, Munich and other Cen~ tral-European ciities. With witnesses like Cemak, Pauco, Mikus, Mikula, Nahalka, and theiir hke, it naturally could not be proud of in ,pU!bfic. So it met, with them in absolute secrecy, behind closed doors. "The g:reatest degree of deipra,vity a:nd lacik of character was successfolly attained by Charles Kersten and his twelve fascist 'witnesses', who in their hellpless hatred against the Slavruk people incite, slander and cry for another war against o.ur country. "Among the paid perjurers of the American Govern- �18 SLOVAKIA ment of th~ tyipe of Harvey Matusow, Paul Crouch, Elizaibeth Bentley, and_Charle~ Ke:risten, on the one hand, and Oernak, :Dur.canslky, Pauico, Kirschbaum, Mikus and company, on the other, there is no difference. American and Slov,aJk fascis'ts alike 'betmy their own people. Of course, there may be this difference: the former do tfuis for dollar.s while the fascist renegades of Cerna.k's type do it for anything _of value. "The so...called document of the American Government, prepared on the basis of the gossip of 12 Slovak fascists clearly proves how deep the traitorous escrupees have sunk in their hatred against our people. And simultaneously this lying document is further ,p roof that American r,u ling cir-· cles willingly sl,a nder countries whlicih have rid themselves of crupitalistic e,oploite:m, the creatures that betrayed their nati·o n to Hitler." . We find the very same insults and abusive names also jn the official note of the Prague Coo:nmuni,s t government of April 19, which is addressed to the Governmenlt of the United States. The separate report of the Kersten Committee is designated as.. "bra:zen" and "is equal to t:he wildest product of Goeibbels' fascist proipagandisti'c mach'i nery . It is nothing else but the pasting tog~her of lies and gossip, which are supposed to deepen hatred against Czecho-,Slovrukfa, to encourage war hysteria, to incite and campaign against coounl\.Ulism and to ,p repare a preventive war against peace-J.oving countries." The Prague government is also angry because the Kersten report is opposed to coexi,s tence with communism and warns the Whole world of the threats of communist dictators. The Prrugue note attacked Dr. Joseph Mikus and Matthew Cern.aJk, two act~ve Slov-a:k exiles, pointing out especi,a lly that they sewed in the dtplomatic cOI1ps of the Sl~va:k Republic. As far as the reproaches of the Prague government and its propaganda against American and Slovak factors is concerned, it must be stated unequivocally tlhat not in -a single testimony wrus there any talk aibout the need of unleashing a war. In the testimonies we do find, however, mention in seveTal places of the need of good and effective 1 �SLOVAKIA 19 work in the puiblishing and broadcasting fields against communism, of the need of preparations for the spiritual renovation of the world whioh is slowly being crushed by the satanic forces of ciom.munism. All Slovak witnesses strongly condemne!d the crimes and the evil perpetrated against the SlovaJk nation by communism; and tfu.ey told how communism enslaves the Slovaks spiriturulJy and exploits them economicailly and suppresses every manifestation of the Slova;k people for freedom and state independence. Tlhe wor'k of the Kersten Committee has become a thorn in the eyes of communist aggressive politics and pro._, pagainda. The Czech communi,s ts h'a d hoped that the West wouM continue to beHeve blindly their old lies a.nd falbles against the Sloviak nation; tihey did everything possilble to discredit Slovaks in exile in the eyes of tfu.e West and so make life as m[seraJble as possible for them. Flaiiing in this, it was only natUII'al for the Reds of Prague and Bratislaiva to unleash the wildest war in the press and over the radio ag,ainst Slovaks in exile and against every one who sympathized with them. But it does not matter whom they single out for abuse and vilification; important it is, however, that com~ munists are afraid of the solidly organized anti-commun:.. ist Slovak camp and their friends. And they are frightfully afraid of the thought that the whole principle of the right of self-determination must once be accorded the Slovak nation, without the reaJlization of which the conterruporary struggle to bring order and political balance in Central Europe has no su'b stantiation. While communism must reso;rt to a;buse and invective in its fits of anger, the Slova~s in exile are presenting facts, they are building on them and witlh them are defending the righteousness of their demands. Of course, it is not true that the Kersten Committeee used to meet secretly with ,Slovaik witnesses. All the hearings were ,public. They were attended by reporters and the puiblic. The press reported on the hearings, so did the radio and the television. Expert stenographers recorded everything that was said by every Slorvak witness and this was then pub1 �.20 SLOVAKIA lished iby t:he American Governmen t. The reports record .the minds of those people, w:ho foom the beginning of their pulblic activity adaimanfily opposed communism . The SlovaJks in exile do- not deny that they are antL ,c ommuni,s,t. It is a historical fac:t that the Slovak nation as :a w,hole condemned t:he tea•ching.s of Marx and Engels materialistic phHos0rphy soon after it was made pulb1ic and .has fouight it consistentl y and persistently throughout the years. The S1ova'ks in exile, then, do not even request secret sessions. Oommunist s, however, commit the foulest crimes where there are no witnesses. But they •c annot deny them, ,b ecause even the dead testify against murderers. And communism will one day ,be on the be,n ch of the acc used. It seems ,t he cards have faHen from the hands of the communist rulers in ,Slova;kia, !because they sysit:ematica lJy return to, the activity of the native "reaction" and the Slovaiks in exile. This is nothing else but an attempt to ma,sk all the crimes and grave injusti ces which they have committed and are stil,l commiltinig against the SlovaJk nation. Communis ts cannot conceal or deny the evil they have done. The entire nation is testifying against them. To .waint to deny something and to- concea•l one's own crimes ,b y hurling poi sonous insu1,ts at others is, indeed, a much more difficult and hopeless. task than pouring water inrto the ocean. We are profoundly touched by the heavy losses of life, cultural, moral and economic values, which the .Slovak nation has suffered from the Red Moloch. The murder of Matthew Cernak in Munich, Ju1y 5, 1955, by a bomb s ent through the mail is still fresh in our minds. However, we see that tJhe communist s are writhing like wounded sna!kes, hissing with anger and hate. And that is a good sign. It is the beginning of the end. Thus far no communist ruler has remained long in po,w er; and those forced on the Slovaks will be no exception. They are. he:Jipless and have no defense for the failures of their policies and, hence, must find scaipegoats : so they thunder againsit the native "populist reaction" at home, the "traitorous exile," and "imperialis tic American capitalism." 1 1 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1955, Vol. 5 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 14), March 1955.</li> <li>Issue 2-3 (No. 15-16), June-September 1955.</li> <li>Issue 4 (No. 17), December 1955.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1955 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 3 THE FAILURES OF COMMUNIST POUTICS IN SLOVAKIA Dr. Joseph Pauco In recent months many evident proofs of the failures of the Communist Party .in Slovaikia have been supplied by the communists themselves. Their policies flailed not only in tlhe political dom aii:n, but also in the eoonomfoa!l and especiailly the agricultural fields. What is the situation in SlovaJkia today aicco:rding to the admissions of the communists themselves? Centralization 1 On the one hand, it is 'k nown that the communists in Slovak!ia did SUipport the recognition of the national indiviiduality of the :S lovak naJtion, yet, on the other hand, it is true thaJt in Slovakia power is no longer in the hands of communists who respect tlhis principle and oppose the imperialIBtic influences of Ozech communism. F'0trmally, the 1name o:f the CommUIIl1ist Party of Slovakia has been retained, but not a single commuru.srt: factor will say thaJt it is ,representati.ve of Slovak communist forces, or any kind of autonomoUJS organization of Slovak communists. The first secretary of the Communist Parity of Slovald1a, the Czech communJ.st ~arel Badlek, proc,laimed on April 22, 19'55, at the XI Congre ss of the Communist Party of Slo-vakia: "The Communist Party of Slovakia is a region.a:! organization of the one Communist Party of Czecho-lSlovaJkia; it is its fighting diivision." The :flirst sec·r etary of the Communist Party of CzechoSlovakiia, the Czeclh .Amt onin Novotny, addressing that Con~ gress said thrut "the Communist Party of Slwaikia is an indivi:silble 1part and unit of the Communist Party of CzechoSloW!Jki,a." Tit is clear, then, beyond all shadow of doubt, that two of the pre-eminent leaJders of the present communist regime in PTague and Bratislava no longer consider it n.ecessary for the Slwak commundsts to appear independently. This is apparent not oinly in the o,r ganization by the fact th•a t the 1 1 4 SLOVAKIA Slovak Communist Party is suboirdinated to the Ozech Communist Party as its "division," but also in the .poili'tical field as well, where the Czechs rule surpreme. ln the so-oalled "Czeoho-Slovruk" Communist Barty, there were only Ozechs. As an aip.pendage of the Czech Oommunist Party, the Slovak Communist Party is .powerless to ,i nitiate or realize anything; everything is done through the Czecho--Slovak (really CZECH) Communist Party. Bacilek attested to this fact openly, when he said: "Important and fundamental •p olitical questions concerning Slovakia were presented for resolution to the Central Committee od' the Communist Party of Czecho-iSlovakia, and we go,v erned ourselves iby those decisions." For Slovakiia iit pr~baJbly is fortunate tJhat Prrugue is today responsilble for all politics. On the other band, however, it is quite significant for the Soviets, who loudly demand the a,ssurance of aU national freedoms. In the Slo·vak case it is one orf the cleaTest 1proofs thaJt SOV'iet slo.gans about independence a~e only a s:ham and delus,ion. Under the communist reg,ime the Slovaks lost aitl remnants of autonomous government. IDven though the Communist Party ·of Slovakia exists fonmally, its first secretary is not a Slovruk, but a Czech - ~arel Bacilek - and that means, for all practi'crul purposes, that SlnvaJkia is again a Ozech colony. 'Dhis situation conceals within itself many known thinigs. While the Ozech comrmmists could rely on Husa'k, Novomesiky, Okaly, and Clementis, they readily e~loited their services. But just as soon as these Slovak communists, who possessed a certruin am'ount of national pride, began to make more and more demands, they were marked for liquidiaJtion. And Ozech communists did liquidate them . "Bourgeois nationalists," said Bacilek, "led by Husak, in agreement with the Slovak reaction, oppo-s ed the validation of a uniform poHcy and a urniform agricultural program for the entire Czecho-iSlovalk Reipublic. And since this un~formity wa;s a prerequisite of the politic•al, and mainly the agriculturnJl, equality of the rig1hts of the Slovak nation, tihen, fa:ct:ually, they s1a:botaged this equa:lity orf rights." Hlusak's ,g roup was no more considerate toward the anti-communist Slova:k camp than was Bacilek. The oillly SLOVAKIA 5 dif;ference between them was that Husak was a Slovak and Bacilek a Ozec'h. Because Husak, a Slovak communist, had dared to oppose the concept that his party was s.imrply "a fighting division oif the Communist Party of Ozecho-,Slovakia," that is, subservient to tlhe CZECH CommU'Ilist Party - hiis name was added to the last of traitor:rs, even though he did render inivaluaJble se:rwices to the commU'Ilist cause. Slovak Nationalism The greatest enemy of communism in Slovakia is nationa'1isrm - the real cause of the failures of communist policy. Becau:se the foli:owers of the Hlinka 'Slo'V'ak People's Party were identrified with Slovak nationaliism, they were most violently attooked by the communists. William Siroky recalled at the XI Congress of the Slovak CommU'Il.ist Prurty in Bratislava that the Communi,s t Party "revealed the plague of tJhe anti~peop[e's populist separatist traitocrs and the other nationa;lisbic groups." Thus far Slovak nationalism could not be wiped out. Afrter ten years Siroky had to admit that "national :wejudices are very much allive especially among the Slovak intellectuals and officials; they are penetrating into other classes, aTe influencing even cultural lifo, and that a constant, stu!bborn ideofogiica1l war must be waged against them." Bacilek also complained that Slovak nationalism is not a sim,ple problem, saying: "While consolidating the brotherhood of the Ozechs and the Slovaks, let us not even for a moment storp waging a decisive battle against tJhe populists, the ideolo,gical man.ifestation of one part of the banikmpt Slovaik bourgeoisie." Karel Brucilek is stumped by the Slovak bourgeoisie and, therefore, oalils upon scientific workers to fight the Slovak IJ.orpulists: "From the workers of the sociaJ sciences we demand that they systematically and olbjectively uncover and help to oiveroome the manifestations of bourgeois ideologies in the minds of the people, especiaUy the manifestations of bourgeois natiorrali:s m and its most de~ structive variety - populist s~paratism." !Slovak natiO'Ilalism, however, is not a matter of some smail[ group. Novotny understood that very well when he 6 said: ". . .Almost everywhere up to now we rmeet with dangerous mainifestations of bourgeois nationaliSlm, es,peciaUy with one of its forms, with populist separatism, carrying wi·t h it reactionary darkness, which was designedly kept up in Slovakiia by the htgh Church hieraTchy." Judging ,a ccordingly, then, we can say that Slova:k nation:aliSlm is the "Enemy No.. l" of the communist regime. So for Novotny it is very clear that "the commun~ ists, the natfona1 committee, and the basi,c partisan organizations must constantly exiplain the harmfulness of nationalistic views and e:,QJJose them . . . " ·s1ovaJk naticma1ism is still quite strong. 'J.1he communists did not khl[ it and, according to their own admission, the propaganda they used against Slo,vaik nationrulism did not he1p much. This is made quite clear from Sirdky's speech, in which he says: "our agitation and ,propaganda are not suifficiently penetrating and convincing; we are losing sight of the increasjng claims of our people. This holds for the press, lectures, and also for many sections of cultura,1 practice. . . In Slovrukia es:pe:cially, we must be aware of tJhe fact that any weakening of the ideological wor,k will oniy strengthen national prejudices." This is quite a sj_gnifican,t adrmission from a man who untitl recently held the first position in the Communist Party of Slo.vakfa. To, keep his. head a:bo,ve water as long as possible, Sirdky, even though he is not a S'1ovaik by ori~ gin and sentiment, knows tha;t he must be grateful to those by whose grace he is •s till tolerated as a member of the politburo. So he encourages comm!Ullist propaganda "to devote itself more sy,stematically and profoundly and more concretely to the greaJt and actual ideoilogica[ problems of the present per,iod - to concern itself witlh t:he questions whkh preoccupy the minds O!f our people. We must see to it that the feeling of collectiveness and mutua'lity of the Czechs and Slovaks, of Cze<:ho..Slovak patriotiSlm - just like the feeling of lo,yalty and love towaTd the Soviet Union - become the fundamental. lines orf the socialistic and pat.Piotic consciousness of our citizens." Obviously, then, there is no so-·caNed "mutuality of Slovaks and Czechs," there is no "Czecho-tSlovak patriot- SLOVAKIA 7 ism." These concepts existed only in the minds of poHtical dreamers in t!he past and, as we see, even communist prisons and concentration camps could not create them. After ten years of terror and violence, comrade Siroky, who rendered great services iin Slovakia for Ozech communists, is leaving the leadership of the Slovak Communist Party beca use the desired union of the Slovaks with the Ozechs did not materialize. Many people dreamed a:bout a brotherhood of the Czechs and Slova'ks. But this was nothing but an unsuccessful dream . The situation has not changed even today. Even Bacile<k would be happy if he couild change it. So, he turns his attention to the communist writers, saying: "Litemture and the arts o,we very much to the systematic conso[idation of the brotherhood o!f the Czechs and Slova;ks. After ten years our literature has not produced a romantic novel which would depict the fact that without the aid qf the Czech working class there would be no penetrating successes in the soci'alisti<: industria>liza,tion of Slovakia. We do not have a book which would show the historical roots of the brotherhood of the Czechs and Slovaks." If there is no such volume, then there are no, writers who stand in the service of communism and the so-called "Czecho-,Slo,v ak" union; there are no writern w'ho would be wililing to serve communist propaganda and the policy of a "Great Czec,hia." And this fact is as significam.t a reality as is the strength of Slovak nationalism itself. Both comple~ ment and control each other mutually. Writers are the coo.science of a nation. In present-day Slovaki'a, if this conscience does .not subordinate itself to communist dictates, then this is a matter of great significam.ce a,nd of an extraordinary hisitorical manifestati'on. In natinnal questions, we know, a genuinely honest w_riter would not dare to misrepresent the thoughts of his own peo.ple. The schools of Slova'kia are also• resisting commun• ism very va1iantly; they .p refer to stand on the side of the nation thian on the side of a foreign clique which wants to demoralize the character of Slovak history. Bacilek obviously was fuily aware of the school situation, because in attacking SlO'Vak teachers he said: 8 SLOVAKIA "If we arnailyre the work of the ,s chools from the standpoint of contemporary needs, we must come to the conclusion tihat thus far they are not performing their basic task satisfoctorily and are little concerned a;bout the quality af education and, at the saime time, abourt 'the creation of c•o mmunistic conviction and momls in all the youth. . . We must seek the reason therefore albove aiH else in the low level of the teaching and training work of our teruohers." That's the kind of talk we hear long after the Communiist Party of Slovakia repl'aced qualified teachers with its most loyal followera whether they qualified .as teaahers or not. That such people had no idea what the teaching or training level was is l.mderstand01ble; on this point we can agree with Ba;cilek, because the commurust regime did not care whether the persons employed as t eachers ,w ere qualified to tea:ch, hut was onJ.y concerned whether bhey were party memlbern. However, the admission of the fact that these Red teaichers were not sufficiently relialb1e for the communists, that they are not creating communist convictions, rund are not strengthening communist vices in the youth - all this is one af the most reiveal,i ng proofo of the failures of communist policy in Slovakia. The communists hurried to .produce intellectuals loyal to tlhem by a wholesale process. Even though some intellectuals ap-· parently did join them, they did not lose their healthy .Sl·OVaJk core and are now causing the leadership of the Communist Party no end of trouble. That is the wo11k and the influence of Sloviak nationalism. And SlovaJk natiornalism is more irufluential than all communist terror and vioO.errce. The iruflueillCe af Slovak nationali<Slm rea:ches ,i nto the Communist Party itselrf. Ba-· cilek admitted tihat from the time of the X Assembly of the Slovak Coimmunist Party "the numiber of dead, dropped and ex,pelled members and candidates £rom the party wrus 12,940. The party rid itse'Lf of UillW:Orthy, hostiJ.e elements, of violators of state and party mscirpline, or peoiple who fai,l ed in their oibligations as members of the party.'' Bacilek, however, did not dare publ,~Sh the number SLOVAKIA 9 of expelled members and, of course, not even the detail.s sUTrounding the deaith of some of the memb,e rs. They could ha,ve lbeen eliminated or liq.uida,ted secretly, wor.ked to death in .tlhe Uranium mines, or beaten to death in jails In every instance, however, Bacilek reports that a great many members were expelled. We understand fiuNy well that they were enemies of the communist go:vernment and party. Communists evidently do no,t know exactly where their main enemies are am.d, hence, look for them everywhere. Nationalism .has its sharply designated posts am.d is perfonniin!g its duty. ,Slovak nationalism is no exception. The Resistance Movement Sl-ovak nationaJlism is alive and ,a gg,ressi,ve. This was recently demonstrated, when on June 13, 1955, the communist military trilbunaJl con!Victed 12 memlbers of a Slovak resistam.ce movement, dealing out high penalties, including a sentenice of death for a leading memlber of t;h.e movement, Bernard Nemcek. Reports from Prague about the communist verdict tell us more than all the explanations of the situation in Slovaikfa. And that because, surprisingly enough, the br,oadcast of June 16, 1955, designated the movement by its ,r,ight name: a resistance movement and a movement to create an independent Slovak State. The supreme desire of every rnation is to h'ave its own state. The Slovaks a,re n:o exception. If Slovak nationalists on native soH can bring the supreme sacri.lfice for this idea, this is irre.futalble proof that the Slovruk naroion is not am.d iw:illl not be satisfied with foreign domiination. In Slovrukia and in tlhe ranks of SlovaJk mo,vements, the fight against commun~sm is comprehended as determination .to free itself once and for all time from the yoke of every a1ien hegemony. That is why the fight of 1Sllovaik nationalists tends in two directions: against communi-sm and for state independence. Does a Slovak resistance movement actuafily exist? In the light of the a;bove, a str,ong resista,nce movement dbviiously does exist in Slovakia. At times, the com- 10 SLOVAKIA munists may at:teinipt to minimize its efd'eetiiveness, but we know that it must ,b e quite a movement, if the Reds themselves see fit to discuss it during their congresses. Basing OUT conviction on statements made and adions taken by the communists themselves, there can be no doubt that commun'ists really fear Slovak bomigeois :nationialism. In my possession I have a letter from a well-informed Slovak in Western Gerunany who just recently escaped from Slovakia. For nine long years he ob.served how the Red regime worked in Slovai~ia. He took note of the opinions and manifestations 'Of the population and was active in western, central and eastern Slovakia. Thris person maide contacts with officials and wwkere, farmers and priests, teachers and politiJCal prisoners. When I asked him what the Slovaks thought a;bout state independence for Slova!kia, he replied: "I dare write that about 95 percent of the Slovaks is for an independent state, a SlovaJk State wruiclh iwil[ be Chri stian and democratic. The Slovaks are holding to the determination to have their own state and there is no power whrich wil!l force them to be satisfied with less, with any other state form ." Over 90 percent of the Slovruks who escaped from the homeland during the past ten years have joined o;rganizations tJhat strun:d for an independent Slo-~a;k Repuiblic. And this is clear testimony of the. political conviction of the aJbso1ute maj'orirty of the Slovak naition, because it is obvious that the thoughts of the exiles on fundamental questions is identical with the thinking of the Slov•a k nation, witJh which just up to not long ago it was shaTing its bitter fate. It is not important to seek the answer to the questions of how many resi,s'tance movements tJhere are in Slovakia and how stroTIJg they might be. Certainly it would not ibe p:mdent to discuss this question pulblicly. What does count is the fact that they are causing the Red re-· gime many emlbarassments and difficulties. June 13, 1955, definitely tells us that resistance movements do exist in Slovakfa. The rverdict of J·u ne 13, 1955, was not the first 1 SLOVAKIA 11 one - and most likely not the last one, either - to be rendered against Slovak patriots. Many conspiracies have 1b een uncoivered in SlovaJkia 1b y Prague since 1945, both by the communii.st-dominateld Benes-Gottwald coalition government and also by the Red regime whioh took over comrplete power in Ozedh-0-Slovak'ia in February 1948. It is certain that under other circumstances the strength of .t he resistance mo,v ements wouild be greater. What do we mean by saying under other circumstances? The concept orf "peacefu11 coexistence" with the communists is creating a very confused situation; this nonsense ,is, in fact, breaking the backbone of the nations behind the I11on Curtain. Fundamentally, coexistence betmys weakness, and the West is terribly mistaken, if it thms it can over:come tlhe danger of communism by following such a policy. In practical poHtics coexistence means a viofation of the fronts m tlhe cold war, which already have in many instances shown signs of great weakness. Res·.iJstance movements of an anti-communist chiarac• ter should be gebting more moral aid from sources designated for this pul1)0se. Unfortunately, as far as Slovakia is corrcemed in this ,p sychological struggle, wrong methods have frequently been used; whether intentional~y, o,r because of la:C!k of iruformation, does not change the matter. Thi,s was and is undoubtedly due to the influence of the very people, who together with tihe communists for three years (194'5-·1948) were trying to break doWtn. al1l anticommunist re:s•.i!stance of the Sfovak nation. The West defirately does not bolster or build the morale of the Slov,a k resistance movements by aiding and comforting, employing and letting itself be influenced by people who col., •J aborated with communists and Moscow and, hen:ce, are in a large measure responsilble for the terrible situation that prev:ails in Slovakia today; Slovak Judases, as the Slwaks at home and in exile refer to them, should not 'be trusted by tlhe West. Dr. Joseplh Lettrich and his followers - who suddenly ·b ecame "demo:cratic exiles firom Czech0-Slovakia" after February 2-5, 1948, and are now members of the S<>-<!alled 12 SLOVAKIA ~'Council of Free Ozecho-<Slovrukia" - should not be used or employed in any capacity :b y such organizations as the F!REE E}(JROPE COMIM!I'l'T'iIDE (iRadio F.ree Euroipe), United States Information Agency (Voice of America), and other offictla1 and semi--0fficial aigendes of the United States Government, because they are totally discredited and cursed by the Slovaks at home. 1Should anyone wish to, be corredly informed about how Slo,viakia thinks and feels a:bout its fate, what anticommuniist wor.keris are doing there, let him delve into the verdict of June 13, 1955, against the tJweilve Slovak heroes, and let him find time .t o study the attacks of communist propag,amda against ISlovruk nationalists, whose sole aim ,i s to oause the downfall oif commumsm and to estrub-· lish a Slovak independent state. The Reds Fear the West .C ommenting on the verdict rendered by the "people's" court againist the tweilve Slovak anti-,c ommunists, the Prague radio OIIl June 16, 1955, reminded its listeners that fhis particular resistance orgrumzation receiyed its orders from Slovak exiles in the West. The military prooorator called the following Slovak patriots archtraitors : Du:rcansky, Cerna!k, Paiulco, Mikus, ·Mikula, and Hassik. 'Dhis i,s not t!he forst time, and not the last, that Slovak patriots in exile have 'been accused by Red Prague. In recent times attacks of this kind are made almost daily. On May 2, 1955, for example, the Prague Radio, referring to Slovak patriots in exile, said that "they already have behind them ten furrl years of service in the interests of foreigners, ten full years oif collaJboration with the most rea:ctionary elemernts against the people . . . and the aim of all exile origa.ni2Jations 1s war." Thiat is how the Prague commtlillists comprehend "pea'Ce:ful coexistence." While the West is leaning danger~ ously ibac!k waTd and even sacrificing tJhe interests of some satellite nations behind the Iron Curtain fOT tJhe saxe of peiace, the Retl sateJ..lite governments, in the meantime, reg,ard freedom of expression, movement and political activiity in the states which have given asyilum to Central- SLOVAKIA 13 European escapees as "colllalboration with the most reac. tionary elements." The .Prague communists, for example, are terribly worried that Slovaks in exile can speak freely every day over the tranS1mitting facilities of Spain and Ita:J.y. That these broadcasts are completely identical with the natural and democratic demands of rull patriotic Slovaks in exile, who speak for state independence for their own nation, is only n:aturrul and,( therefore, quit'e u:nderstand!able. Communist propaganda, of course, is doing everything it can do to silence 1:Jhem, disarm them, and discredit them with the worn-·oU:t eipithets of "fascists, separatists, nazis, reactionaries," etc. It is signific·a nt, too, that Benes Czechs and Slovak Judases use the same epithets and tactics as the Reds. Where they cannot successfully refute a statement, they resort to denunciation, viHfication, and invective. The Pr31gue bvoadicast, red:erred to above, vicioosly attacked the Christian character of the prog,r am of the Slovak exiles. "Well, as far as the activity of the Slovak exiles abroad is concerned," said the Prague commentator, "they have in comparison with the rest of the groups one specialty. More than any other group they are concealing their actual aims /by a,ppealing to ChriJstianity, Christian morals, Ohristian charity, etc. Dr. Francis Hrusorvsky even went as far as to designate tJhe Central-Eu:ropean Union, that is, tlhe rearming of German miilitarists, as an expression of Christian charity. Not even the former editor-inchief of the newspaper S:L0VAK, Dr. Pauco, who edited the SLOVAK during the time of the greatest nazi massacre in Slova!kia, will l now never fail to appeal to ChrisHan ethics. And the Sloviak fascists from Madrid, on the other hand, shall always recall that they are not aslhamed of Tiso's Legacy." On June 9, 1955, filie Bratislava broadcast quoted the angry article of the PiRAVDA against the Slov;aJk People's Party, distorting its historical role. On that occasion the PRAY.DA - ac0ording to the radio commentator - wrote aJbout "the dirty role of the populi,s t emigrants, who are allying themselves not only with the aggressive groups in 14 SLOVAKIA the United States, but aJso with the avengers in western Germ.any." The radio broadcast f.rom Prague on June 11 and that from Bratislava on June 12, 1955, sollillded off against "the provoc,ative Madrid and Rome tran1simitters," and against the "Paucos, Cerna.ks, and :Dur:canskys," who are constantly warning escapees not to return home. The Brague 'broadcast of May 9, 1955, was :f.ull of insults and epithets aJbout the "madness of the rulers of the imperi,a listic world and their humble ser,vrunts, the traitors of our nations," that is, the exiles. It is symboli'c of communist audacity that the Reds are using such propaganda at a time wlhen in Moscow they began a new o£fensive so that they might again meet and confer with "imperialistic rulers," and so whet tlheir ruppetite for "capitalistic" trade. Of course, the communists say one thing at home, something else at the conference ta!ble, and still something difrferent to exri1les. Whosoever ,p erforce walilts to be deaf will believe only one or the other side of their story and will not compare the communist propaganda of an shades and tendencies. We have always been of tlhe conviction that to come to an agreement with communism is the greatest trM1.Sg,ressicm against the pri,n ciples of humanity, the basest violation of the rights to freedom, and a grave insttlt to Christian sentiment. Communism is most often irritated by the constant repetition and practical realization olf Christian-democratic principles. That is why they cry out loudly against a poHticail prog,ram to which the v;ast majority of Slovaks in the West look for thei<r sup,po<rt. ChrJstianity and the !help of the West, whrreh Slovaks enjoy, throw the communists off balance. They say all Slovak exiil es "have one boss,." as reported by the Prague broadcast of May 2, 195'5, aJUd "all are paid from one treasury, the trea:sury of American militarilsm. The socalJ.ed Slovak N aitiona1 Coundl .Aibroad, the Sloviak League of America, and the Canadian SloviaJk League - as the separati'st organi~ations of iSlova.k :fascists - serve American military interests." To show their hatred the communist madmen ini1 SLOVAKIA 15 tialed the names of tihe organizaitJions they attadked witJh small letters wlhen tlhey pwbH,sihed the commentary in the periodical L'UD ('People). This is qurite si,gnifica,nit. As if thereby they could alter the facts. They a.Jltered and will alter nothing; and their anger only attests to a serious nervours condition. Iif eve-ryithing were in order in SlOIV'akia and the communists were in complete command of the situation, they would not have to concern themselves with the Slov;ak situation so excitedly on the inlternati:onal field. However, when one once succumbs to fear and has lost his conscience and has two gall bladders instead of one heart, there hardly is any helrp for him. The commnnist dic-tators in S1ovakia have a very small sowl. The poon~ tom of American caipitalism and tihe activity of free Slovak or:ganization:s and individuals will not let t'hem sleep. Perhaps this is best refle<>Jro in the words of Karel Bacilek, who said at the XI Oommunist Congress at Bratislava: ". . . Imperialist aggressors, led by the ruling circles of the USA and with tihe aid of treacherous esca-. pees, are attemipting to srcore and deceive the working people, divert it from the path of social construction. Hostile propaganda can at times penetr"ate and bear in:filuence in various ways even oin memlbers olf the ;party." In other words, what is being done in the, West in the interest of the liberation of 1:lhe Slovak natit>n does have a great influence on the Slo.vaks at home. But obviously this influence also affects the communists. They are afraid of every step that is taken in the defense of the ,rigihts of the Slovak nation. The COilllmunists in Prague and in Slovalkia fear nothing more than the concept of Slovak statehood. Tha;t is why, for example, William Siroky practicaUy writhed in cramps when he revealed at the Congress. in Bratislava that Americans "iha<ve exhumed the compromised and bankrupt slogan of the so-.called S1'()1V'ak Sta:te." The fact , however, is that the concept of the Slovak State is not bankrupt and is not dead. It is a thing very much aJiNe, otheriwiise Sirdky amd other communists would -hardly concern themselves with it. The Slo,vaks are encouraged by it, while the communists are haruntetl by it. 16 SLOV.AKIA The princilples of freedom are so strong that no one can compromise them. Only dictators, and among them foremost are the communists, have attempted to compromise the governmental form. But they shaH never convince the Slovaks that an aJli.en and tyrannical government is better for them than a government of their own choice. Against the Kersten Committee The Kersten Committee evaluated the Slova:k question justly and correctly and published its findings how Slovakia was taken over by tJhe Reds so that America and the rest of the free world might learn the truth a:bout the struggles and demands of the Sl10V1a!k nation. For that the communist propaganda of Prague and Bratislava fired a barrage of smear and vilification at the Committee. The BratislaN radio sharply attaoked Charles Kersten and the Slovak witnesses on February 7, 1955. The former congressman from MHwaukee, Wis., •w as called the "counsellor of the escapees," while the Slovak witnesses who testifiied oof1ore tJhe Committee were designated as "traitors of the Slovak nation." The 'b roadcast ,a ttacked Dr. Joseph Mikula, ,b ecause he was supposed to have stated that '~he and his companions now did not have the legal possilbility to poison the soul of the 1Sl1ovax nation." Dr. Pauco, the commentator barked, "rel,aJtekl fables before the Committee about an alleged suppression of the freedom of the press in Czecho-Slovakia." Dr. Mikus was reviled because he defended the principles of private ownership. Matthew Cemalk, Slovak pa~ triot and leader of the S'lov,a k exiles in Germany, did not escape the wrath of the Reds either. 'I1he communist propagandist stated that •a ll the Slova.lk witnesses before the Committee wanted to start a war. In this instance, he said, 'in full nakedness wa:s demonstrated the wretchedness of the methods, which are used by the American reaction to slander the countries of tJhe peace camp. At the same time, however, it aJlso shows the depth of filth and muck -into which the traitors of the Slovak nation shall end up in." On May 2, 1955, the Prague radio again attacked Charles Kersten, declaring that "on the basis of h'is law SLOVAKIA 17 about financing suib versi,v e ructivities in the countries promoting peace, he is distributing dollars generously among federalists, separatists, unionists, and all kinds oif other organizations" fo,r rendering "servile service to aggressive plans to start a new war." On Miay 5, 1955, t!he PRAVDA of Bratislav,a ,p ublished a lengthy article in regard to the actiivi-ties of the Ke:rsten Committee and tihe testimony of Slov,ak witnesses. Among otiher things in that article, we read: "On December 31, 1954, there was published in the United States a so..,caJl:led official document of the American Congress, which !insults the nations of OUT country in a very c:m de and inept manner. In this gossiipy 'document', which was prepared by the special Keristen Committee, Ozecho.JSlorvak history is written up in a genuinely fascist spirit, the glorious Slovak national uiprising is descri'b ed as 'an impro,vised rebellion of subversive elements', and the liherati:on. of our country by the heroic Soviet, army is depicted with the bitter sorrow over the defeat of Hitler's occupat ion troops and thei:r native assistants ... The Kersten Committee preparnd this 'document' on the basis of the so--c alled 12 Slovak testimonies, which it collected from Slovak fascist outcasts. . . "About Kersten it i'S generally known that he has intimate, friendly contacts with fascists and cOIHalborators, who fled the country after Wo:rld War II to escape punishment and found asylum in the United States. Therefore, it surprised no one when the Kersten Committee on its hunt for gossipy 'testimonies' sought out only genuiine fascists in London, P,aris, Madrid, Rome, Munich and other Cen~ tral-European ciities. With witnesses like Cemak, Pauco, Mikus, Mikula, Nahalka, and theiir hke, it naturally could not be proud of in ,pU!bfic. So it met, with them in absolute secrecy, behind closed doors. "The g:reatest degree of deipra,vity a:nd lacik of character was successfolly attained by Charles Kersten and his twelve fascist 'witnesses', who in their hellpless hatred against the Slavruk people incite, slander and cry for another war against o.ur country. "Among the paid perjurers of the American Govern- 18 SLOVAKIA ment of th~ tyipe of Harvey Matusow, Paul Crouch, Elizaibeth Bentley, and_Charle~ Ke:risten, on the one hand, and Oernak, :Dur.canslky, Pauico, Kirschbaum, Mikus and company, on the other, there is no difference. American and Slov,aJk fascis'ts alike 'betmy their own people. Of course, there may be this difference: the former do tfuis for dollar.s while the fascist renegades of Cerna.k's type do it for anything _of value. "The so...called document of the American Government, prepared on the basis of the gossip of 12 Slovak fascists clearly proves how deep the traitorous escrupees have sunk in their hatred against our people. And simultaneously this lying document is further ,p roof that American r,u ling cir-· cles willingly sl,a nder countries whlicih have rid themselves of crupitalistic e,oploite:m, the creatures that betrayed their nati·o n to Hitler." . We find the very same insults and abusive names also jn the official note of the Prague Coo:nmuni,s t government of April 19, which is addressed to the Governmenlt of the United States. The separate report of the Kersten Committee is designated as.. "bra:zen" and "is equal to t:he wildest product of Goeibbels' fascist proipagandisti'c mach'i nery . It is nothing else but the pasting tog~her of lies and gossip, which are supposed to deepen hatred against Czecho-,Slovrukfa, to encourage war hysteria, to incite and campaign against coounl\.Ulism and to ,p repare a preventive war against peace-J.oving countries." The Prague government is also angry because the Kersten report is opposed to coexi,s tence with communism and warns the Whole world of the threats of communist dictators. The Prrugue note attacked Dr. Joseph Mikus and Matthew Cern.aJk, two act~ve Slov-a:k exiles, pointing out especi,a lly that they sewed in the dtplomatic cOI1ps of the Sl~va:k Republic. As far as the reproaches of the Prague government and its propaganda against American and Slovak factors is concerned, it must be stated unequivocally tlhat not in -a single testimony wrus there any talk aibout the need of unleashing a war. In the testimonies we do find, however, mention in seveTal places of the need of good and effective 1 SLOVAKIA 19 work in the puiblishing and broadcasting fields against communism, of the need of preparations for the spiritual renovation of the world whioh is slowly being crushed by the satanic forces of ciom.munism. All Slovak witnesses strongly condemne!d the crimes and the evil perpetrated against the SlovaJk nation by communism; and tfu.ey told how communism enslaves the Slovaks spiriturulJy and exploits them economicailly and suppresses every manifestation of the Slova;k people for freedom and state independence. Tlhe wor'k of the Kersten Committee has become a thorn in the eyes of communist aggressive politics and pro._, pagainda. The Czech communi,s ts h'a d hoped that the West wouM continue to beHeve blindly their old lies a.nd falbles against the Sloviak nation; tihey did everything possilble to discredit Slovaks in exile in the eyes of tfu.e West and so make life as m[seraJble as possible for them. Flaiiing in this, it was only natUII'al for the Reds of Prague and Bratislaiva to unleash the wildest war in the press and over the radio ag,ainst Slovaks in exile and against every one who sympathized with them. But it does not matter whom they single out for abuse and vilification; important it is, however, that com~ munists are afraid of the solidly organized anti-commun:.. ist Slovak camp and their friends. And they are frightfully afraid of the thought that the whole principle of the right of self-determination must once be accorded the Slovak nation, without the reaJlization of which the conterruporary struggle to bring order and political balance in Central Europe has no su'b stantiation. While communism must reso;rt to a;buse and invective in its fits of anger, the Slova~s in exile are presenting facts, they are building on them and witlh them are defending the righteousness of their demands. Of course, it is not true that the Kersten Committeee used to meet secretly with ,Slovaik witnesses. All the hearings were ,public. They were attended by reporters and the puiblic. The press reported on the hearings, so did the radio and the television. Expert stenographers recorded everything that was said by every Slorvak witness and this was then pub1 .20 SLOVAKIA lished iby t:he American Governmen t. The reports record .the minds of those people, w:ho foom the beginning of their pulblic activity adaimanfily opposed communism . The SlovaJks in exile do- not deny that they are antL ,c ommuni,s,t. It is a historical fac:t that the Slovak nation as :a w,hole condemned t:he tea•ching.s of Marx and Engels materialistic phHos0rphy soon after it was made pulb1ic and .has fouight it consistentl y and persistently throughout the years. The S1ova'ks in exile, then, do not even request secret sessions. Oommunist s, however, commit the foulest crimes where there are no witnesses. But they •c annot deny them, ,b ecause even the dead testify against murderers. And communism will one day ,be on the be,n ch of the acc used. It seems ,t he cards have faHen from the hands of the communist rulers in ,Slova;kia, !because they sysit:ematica lJy return to, the activity of the native "reaction" and the Slovaiks in exile. This is nothing else but an attempt to ma,sk all the crimes and grave injusti ces which they have committed and are stil,l commiltinig against the SlovaJk nation. Communis ts cannot conceal or deny the evil they have done. The entire nation is testifying against them. To .waint to deny something and to- concea•l one's own crimes ,b y hurling poi sonous insu1,ts at others is, indeed, a much more difficult and hopeless. task than pouring water inrto the ocean. We are profoundly touched by the heavy losses of life, cultural, moral and economic values, which the .Slovak nation has suffered from the Red Moloch. The murder of Matthew Cernak in Munich, Ju1y 5, 1955, by a bomb s ent through the mail is still fresh in our minds. However, we see that tJhe communist s are writhing like wounded sna!kes, hissing with anger and hate. And that is a good sign. It is the beginning of the end. Thus far no communist ruler has remained long in po,w er; and those forced on the Slovaks will be no exception. They are. he:Jipless and have no defense for the failures of their policies and, hence, must find scaipegoats : so they thunder againsit the native "populist reaction" at home, the "traitorous exile," and "imperialis tic American capitalism." 1 1  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Failures of Communist Politics in Slovakia Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Paučo Slovakia, Vol. 5, No. 4 (17), December 1955 pp. 3-20 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Paučo, Jozef, 1914-1975 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1955 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/29af679117eb1a8f94f9279572e14640.pdf f2fa8623d117cb324497ad5972796b06 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 17 THE FEDERATION OF THE DANUBE Lieut. Colonel F. O. Miksche {Colonel Mlksche, fairly well known as a polltico-strate g!c writer, was appolnted Czech Mllltary Attache In Paris after the war. He was recaJled to Czecho-Slova kla by tbe Communists, but soon a!terward.8 escaped and acted as advlser on Centra! European affairs to the Chiet of tbe French General Staf!. H e ls now .seconded trom the French Army to tbe Portuguese Hlgher Statf College. TblS dlssertatlon was publlshed In the "WORLD REVIEW," London, Nov. 1961.) • • • • Europe ls today Jlvlng under the constant menace of a new war, the outbreak ot whlch would appear to be only a question ot tíme. The catastropbe. can ba-ppen tomorrow, or In a year or two, or perhaps later. Tbere can be no doubt tbat In the past many great mistakes bave been made. Passlons have galned the upper hand over cool retlectlons. Only too often propaganda was tbe basls ot offlclal pollcy, wlth attractive slogans coverlng the actlons ot statesmen. In our Ume there ls no sufflclent differentatlon between Utopia and reality, party and State policy, journallsm and diplomacy. In May, 1951, the composltlon and pollcy of the National Commlttes, brougbt into exlstence by tbe USA, was the subject of a debate In tbe Brltlsh Parllament. ~1ajor Legge Bourke, M.P., sald: " I think there i• a very great danger, and we ought to face · i\, that thi• type of warfare - the cold war - will fall lnto the handa of those who were dlscredited in days gone by and who are di1credited now in the countries concerned. This must not be Just a refugee organization. There could be nothing more fata l to the Chri1tian and Western cause than for it to be thought in the countrles behind the Iron Curtain that all this propaganda ia being done to restore the old and discredited regimes. We must produce 1omethlng better than that." Wbereupon Mr. Kennetb Younger, Minister of State, gave the tollowing answer: " I think the Hon. Member la right when he sald we had to be on our· g'uard ·against allowing this thing to develop into an uncoordinated series of efforts by groups of discr edited refugees." - Hansard, Vol. 487, No. 106.) lt does not seem as yet as tbough the lt'ree European Movement had any deflnite target, hence the prevalllng confuslon. Talk about freedom and democracy does not constltute a real polltlcal program. These words !end themselves to lnterpretaUon s which vary wlth tbe wlshes or needs ot the speaker. But what are the political aims of the West? A rett.irn to the Versailles status quo or a United Europe ? In tbe last analysls, public oplnlon 1s only an artlficfar · produ<!t of propaganda. Tbe- enslaved peoples behlnd the Iron · CUrta!n Tfsten anxiously to wbat the West has to say to them, and lhelr publté' oplnlon ls naturally built upon what tbey hear most a.bout. Tberefore, wben W estern ·propaganda talks or the Vetsallles Order, tbls appeaťs to- be what lhe West wa:nts, wlth the Jnglcal effect thá.t Eutope woulď agaln revert to the Quarrelsome atmosphere which rharärt:er1zed ťhe �18 SLOVAKIA period between the two wars, and which was the main cause of the second one. In the first enthusiasm over being liberated from Bolshe• vism, anything would be accepted, but thlngs look diMerent when the first flush is over; and it is then that the difflculties of the past would appear once more. • • • In its traditional form (that is to say before 1918) Europe eon· slsted of three clearly-defined, geo-political parts: East, Centr11l, and West Europe. It was the Centre's important task to maintain tbe bal• ance between East and West. Tbis Centre h~s always acted as a bul· wark against inva.<,ions threatening from the East - Stav, Mongol or Turkish people. Even German antagonism against tbe West could not a lter tbe bistoric role role of Centra! Europe, altbough t h is fact does not seem to have been borne sufficiehtly in mind by t hose in whose power lt was to make political de cisions after the First and Second World Wars. The unity of the Danubian nations was dissolved in 1918. In 1945 Germany was compelled by her "unconditional s uri-ender" to withdraw from the European Concert, with the ľesult that the balance of power on the Continent was fiually destroyed. Thus Centra! Europe has ceased to exist as a factor of power-policy. Europe now consists of two geo-political parts only - East and West; and as the East has absorbed the gľeater portion of Centra! Europe, thus weakening the West, Europe's destiny now depends greatly on American help. Was the realization of tbis position which led to the Atlantic Pact an effort to restore with Amerlcas' assistance the equilibrium which s he could not achieve by herself? The consolidatlon of Centra! Europe, by which I mean the cre· ation of a strong centre in the heart of the Continent, remains one of the basic conditlons of European sta•b ility. It is a mistake to tmderestimate the real natlonal character of RU\Ssian pollcy, i.e., Panslav• ism. Thls !act could hardly be altered even by the complete destruction of Communism. Russia's daily increase in population is approximately 8,000, so that in 49 years, i.e., in the year 2,000, she will have some 500 million inhabitants, whereas, in comparison, the population of Western Europe is stationary. It is difficult to see how, uncler tbls enormous pressure from the East. Europe (England included) can continue to exist without the hard core of a consolldated centre. It would also be unwise to count too much on "pan-Europe." Tbe proceedings in Straisbourg have shown only too clearly how far we are from realizing the idea; to build upon it would be nothing less than to base Europe's political organization on somethlng which does not exist, and is not likely to clo so for a very long tíme. The Federaliza• tion of Europe cannot be achieved at one stroke, but only gradually, step by ste.p . It is necessary, first of all, to group together jnto Reglonal Federations those entltles which are economlcally and culturally COllllPlementary to each other, and already have s ome tradition ot common background. Such a grouping of several natlons, possesslng lclentlcal economic lnterests, geographical and cultural characterlstics, 1s a workable propositlon in the D anube Basin, whlch could thus become the core of crystalization in a progressive development of Centra] Europe. �SLOVAKIA 19 In the past, no great statesman ever que.stioned the need for unity of the Danu,be Basin as a primary condition of European stability. "The Austrian monarchy 1s a combination of ill-assorted States. Such a power is necessarily weak, but she is an adequate bulwark against the barbarians, and a necessary one. In the future the Habs· burg Empire will stand with its back towards Europe and its front to the East, thus protecting Western civilizat!on from the aggression of Russia." - (Talleyrand on October 17, 1805, to Napoleon, before the battle of Austerlltz). 'What sbould be put in tbat space in Europe wbicb is occupied by the Austrian State from Tyrol to tbe Bukovina? New formations in that area would be of a permanently revolutionary cbaracter." - (Bismark in 1868). "If Austria did not exist, s be would have t o be invented." (Palacky Frantisek, Czecb bistorian, in 1862, generally considered in llobemia as lhe "Father of the Czech natlon," but unfortunately less known in the West than T. G. Masa.ryk). " In America, as elsewhere, it was bard to convince people that it would be necessary to break up Austrla-Hungary. Austria was generally looked up as a counterpoise to Germany, as a necessary organization of small peoples and odds and ends of peoples, and as a safeguard against balkanization. I feared tbat we migbt acbieve notbing if tbe war ended quickly. lf it were protracted, we might bave more Ume for propaganda." - (Prof. T. G. Masa.ryk: "Tbe Making of a State," Alien and Unwin, London, 1929). Tbe centrifugal force of extreme nationalism destroyed in 1918 wbat was about to develop, not by brutal revolution by by peaceful evolutlon, into a great Centra! European Commonwealth. It destroyed tben wbat we would now so much like to build up aga.In, under mucb less favo'!'ruble circumstances. Tbe practical mlsery caused to •a ll peoples by this nationalism was mucb greater than t:he tbeoretlcal bappiness lt was supposed to give tbem. An enormous decadence bas overcome during tbe last thirty years, tbis once so civilized part of Europe. Tbe declsion to spllt up tbe unity of the Danublan nat!ons was neitber bumane nor progresslve. Tbe United Sta.les seems prepared to support the federalization of Centra! Europe, but at tbe same Ume we bave tbe impression that such important factors as tradition, common cultural standards, etc., are not gettlng tbe attent!on tbey deserve. Jf tbe various National Committees were formed in tbe hope that they would be able to proäuce something sensible, we sball bave to wa!t a long time. To recogn!ze them as governments would be tantamount to the recognition of tbe disorder brougbt into exlstence by tbe Versailles Treaty. A new Cen1.ral Europe cannot be created by a few fanatical nationalhsts, hut only by men wbo represent not only tbe lnt.erests of thelr own small tribes, hut wbo also regarcl the problem as a wbole from a supernational angle, and are no longer under the disturhing influence of their political pa.'\t. While I am clealing with the subject of Centra! Europe, I should like to add tbat it woulcl be a mlstake to set up a federatlon of that area on too big a scale. Large entitles, stretcbing from the Baltic t<' t he Black and Adria.tie Seas, coulcl harclly have the inner cobesion �20 SLOVAKIA which would be so necessary in a future Europe. lt would • be difficult to bring all the different nations inhabitlng this region under one common denom!nator into a federation with no real historic or economic background. There are reasons to believe that this idea !s proposed by. the Poles. Poland will have many difficult!es in the future with Germany on account of the Oder frontier. with the Balts over Vllna and with the U-krainians over East Galicia. These ambitions of some Polish exiles are not justif,ied historlcally, ethnographically or morally. As far ai, we in the Danube Basin are concerned, they only interest us to the extent that we do not wish to be drawn into the quarrels which would be una11oidable if the Danubian countries were to gp into a federatlon _,vjth · the · Pole!I.. As a matter of fact, tbe Danube Basin has very llttle in common wHh Poland either economically or culturally. That country lies north of the Carpathlans, and even during the Halbsburg monarcby the Polísh provinces led an almos.t isolated existence. · · There are other important reasons. A Centra! European Federation embracing Poland could hardly count on Austria also being a member. It is time that the West understood that Austrla, as fashioned in 1918, cannot remain independent for economic reasons. H, therefore, Austria were to rema!n on ber own, an Anschluss with Germany would sooner or later be inevitable. And lf the Germans get to Vlenna again, the wbole polltical order of the Danube Basin will be thrown to the winds and Germany's pressure on the whole South• east of Europe, especially the Balkan peninsula and Rumanla, wlll be inevitable. Such a development could eventually be a seriously disturblng factor in the cooperation between Germany and tbe West, especlally in Franco-German relations, a danger which can only be averted if Austrfa is made an !ntegral part of a Dannbe federation. THÉ PROBLEM OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA It is possible that Czecbs, Anstrians, Hungarians and Slovaks might come· to an underStanding amongst themselves on a reasonable basls, especially as for centuries they were · leá.ding· a common existence, but on·ty on conditlon that the Weat no -longer éling1 to the idea of the Czechoalovakian State. Czee.boslovakia does not fit !nto the- frame,~wk . of the Danublan Basin, no matter how much one may try. Even to create it, terrlto1,ies from al! the neighborlng nations had to be incorporated, with the result that In 193tl that ,country comprised: 7.1 millions Czechs, 3.0 mlllions Slovaks. 3.5 millions Germans, 0.8 millions Hnngarians, 0.4 mlllions Ukrainians, 0.2 millions Po,l(l&; total 15 millions. ·,And as ''from 1925 or thereaibouts, the Slovaks lived In latent ~ntagonism ·tówards the Czechs, it is hardly an exaggeratiton to say that 50 pe1•;~nt o'f Czechoslovakia's inhabitants were in opposltion to t.be State. 'Th'en, · again, there is the qulte unnatural geographical sbape of tha:t ·cotmtry. wbich stretches a-bout 700 miles rlght across the Danub!-a-n Basin and !s at places only 70 miles wide. In the meantime, in 1946, the 3.5 mllllons Sudeten Germans. who lived in Bohemia slnce the thirteenth century and at the Versailles conference had valnly pleaded tor selt-determination, were rejected in a most lnhuman fashion. It ls difficult to see how ~orne n!ne mil• lion refugees. who are at present in Western Germany. will be aseimil· �SLPVAKIA 21 ated within the next few decades, whilst their former countries, tµe Sudetenlan d and East Prussia demain practically deserted. C.zechoslovakia was the artiflclal product of a peace conference a child of propaganda - whilst Austria and Hungary were her victims. Through the partition of the Danube Monarchy in 1918, Czechoslovakla lnherited 65 per cent of the industries which formerly belonged to an Empire of 54 m!llions and which had been mosUy founded with Vlennese capltal. It was principally to this favorable economic position that thls new State owed its reputation. On the other hand, does not this fact prove tbat the Ozech provinces of the former Danublan E mpire were by no means so much exploited by Vienna as was maintained at the Versa!lles Conference? To talk about the reatoratlon of Czechoslovakia nowadaya ia plairi nonsense. The Slovaks who at all times were opposed to Prague, will never forget that their rightly or wrongly revered leader, Msgr. Tiso, was condemned by a Czechoslovakian Court and that Benes, in spite of the intervention of the Vatica,,, confirmed his death sentence. By so doing, Benes really signed the death warrant of the Czechosľovak Republic. This action created an unbridgeable gulf between Slov.Íks· and Czechs. The few Slovak emigranta wandering about the Weit, advocating the idea of a Czechoslovak State, no not represent the free will of the Slovak people, who are today at least to the extent of 80 per cent fanatically anti-Czech. And without the Slovaks there can be· no Czechoslovakia. •.. , The · fact that propaganda made Masaryk play the role of a l)r0· phet does not alter ailyt:hing. We should not forget· that Czechos lova• kla durlng ber whole existence was hut an internatnonal calamity, and that any policy based on false hlstorical foundations can only bring_ new misfortunes. Why, therefore, cllng to ideas wbich in the past have been proved erroneous. which were one or the maln causes of World War II, and the practical exlstence of wbich only lasted. for lwenty years, a mere moment in the life of nations? It remalns to be seen whether the \Vest inten<ls to support the arnbitlons of a few emigrants, who for years have lost contact with their own natlons and do not ·reptesent a·n ytbing but tbem.selves. However that may be, -""~e sbould no t forget that in Centra! Europe there are only eight million Czechs, a distinct minority compared with seven million Austrians. elght million Hungarians and three million Slov::iks. · lt is rather surprising that free European ·propaganda is· still eulo. gizing Masaryk. This· must strike a ll Austrians, Hungarians, and SIÔ~vaks as béing very strange. Of course, for many Czech politicians íť is easier to create 'political capital out of the Masaryk legend than to take up an entirely new line. Would it, however, not be adviaab le discreetly to do away with thls myth and not dtipe.n d, for propa11anda purposes, on names which before history bear the ht-avy responsibility of disrupting the unity of the Danube peoples'! • • • The s olution of the Danube problem ánd, In a broader sense. tbat of Centra! Eurore. lie!I ln a correct blending of the various peoples within a Fecleration. Only thu!I C'an the Slav peoples of Centra! Europe be prevented from again falUng viC'tim~ to Pans lavist ideology, ancl the Austrians and H ungarlans to that of Pan-Germa.n-i sm. Such a policy alone can restore the interna! equlllbrlum in the Danube Basin an cl �22 SLOVAKIA convert it once more into a constructive factor in European polltics. From a practical point of view the1-e appears to be only one possibillty of establishing a Centra) European Federation, and that would be to group together the countries Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Slovakla into a sort of Danubian Switzerland. For this purpose, Czechoslovakia would first bave to be split up into ber historical, i.e.. natural parts. Bohemia and Moravia on one side, Slovakia on the other. We can only repeat that neither Austria nor Hungary wlll res'ign itself indefinitely to the existence of C1.echoslovakia, to wbich even the Slovaks are opposed. The position would be dififerent in the case of Bohemia - Moravia being separated from Slovakia. Sucb a Federation would consist of four autonomous coun tries: Austria, Bobemia-Moravla, Hungary and ,sJovakia. Tbe presence of the Czechs and Slovaks is a guarantee tbat tbe Federatlon could not turn proGerman; that of the Austrians and Hungarians that she cannot become pro-iR-ussian. Of course, even the constitution of such a polltical organlzatlon would prove to bave its difficul-ties. The Allied powers would have to invest Austria with a more important status than what she has held so far. In spite of the occupat!on, Austria is still the only remaining free Danubian country, and the development or Vienna could have a great influence on the future shaping of the whole Danube Basin. For instance, there are even today half as many Czechs living in Vienna as in Prague, and they are the trne bearers of the tradition which, until not very long ago, has linked Bohemia wlth Austria. Austria is today one of the most important advanced posts or tbe West in Centra! Europe. She wlll only be able to carry on the fight agaínst Bolshevism if the world is willíng to offer her a more just deal tban that to which she has been condemned by the Versam es Treaty. Instead of putting too much faith in a few desperate emigrants, would it not be better for the Western Powers to make Vienna the basis of their future Danube policy? The Czech and Slovak problems ought to be dealt with separately. The oft-repeated argument, that Czechoslovkia's partition into her natural components would cause an even greater dislocation in the Danube Basin fails to convince, if one realizes that such a partition is the essential prerequisite of the creation of a large political entity. The restoration of the unity of the Danube Basin does not hlnder the eventual Federation of the whoie of Europe; on the contrary, it can make it only easier. From whichever angle one regards the problem, the establishment of a Danube Federation appears to be the first constructive step to be taken in the future political reorganization of Centra! Europe. Perhaps it may appear stran~e that all tbis should have been wrltten by a Czech. However, a political action can only be judgoo by its results, and these generally only appear durlng the lifetime of the next gen1:!ľation. I! regarded in thls llght, lt !s clear that Masaryk's "liberatlon" Jed to the " balkanizat!on" of Centra.) Europe, and that wha.t the Versailles Treaty has created wa<i lncomparably worse than what had existed before. One can say with a clear conscience: only bad Czechs can be Czechoslovakians. � SLOVAKIA 17 THE FEDERATION OF THE DANUBE Lieut. Colonel F. O. Miksche {Colonel Mlksche, fairly well known as a polltico-strate g!c writer, was appolnted Czech Mllltary Attache In Paris after the war. He was recaJled to Czecho-Slova kla by tbe Communists, but soon a!terward.8 escaped and acted as advlser on Centra! European affairs to the Chiet of tbe French General Staf!. H e ls now .seconded trom the French Army to tbe Portuguese Hlgher Statf College. TblS dlssertatlon was publlshed In the "WORLD REVIEW," London, Nov. 1961.) • • • • Europe ls today Jlvlng under the constant menace of a new war, the outbreak ot whlch would appear to be only a question ot tíme. The catastropbe. can ba-ppen tomorrow, or In a year or two, or perhaps later. Tbere can be no doubt tbat In the past many great mistakes bave been made. Passlons have galned the upper hand over cool retlectlons. Only too often propaganda was tbe basls ot offlclal pollcy, wlth attractive slogans coverlng the actlons ot statesmen. In our Ume there ls no sufflclent differentatlon between Utopia and reality, party and State policy, journallsm and diplomacy. In May, 1951, the composltlon and pollcy of the National Commlttes, brougbt into exlstence by tbe USA, was the subject of a debate In tbe Brltlsh Parllament. ~1ajor Legge Bourke, M.P., sald: " I think there i• a very great danger, and we ought to face · i\, that thi• type of warfare - the cold war - will fall lnto the handa of those who were dlscredited in days gone by and who are di1credited now in the countries concerned. This must not be Just a refugee organization. There could be nothing more fata l to the Chri1tian and Western cause than for it to be thought in the countrles behind the Iron Curtain that all this propaganda ia being done to restore the old and discredited regimes. We must produce 1omethlng better than that." Wbereupon Mr. Kennetb Younger, Minister of State, gave the tollowing answer: " I think the Hon. Member la right when he sald we had to be on our· g'uard ·against allowing this thing to develop into an uncoordinated series of efforts by groups of discr edited refugees." - Hansard, Vol. 487, No. 106.) lt does not seem as yet as tbough the lt'ree European Movement had any deflnite target, hence the prevalllng confuslon. Talk about freedom and democracy does not constltute a real polltlcal program. These words !end themselves to lnterpretaUon s which vary wlth tbe wlshes or needs ot the speaker. But what are the political aims of the West? A rett.irn to the Versailles status quo or a United Europe ? In tbe last analysls, public oplnlon 1s only an artlficfar · produ<!t of propaganda. Tbe- enslaved peoples behlnd the Iron · CUrta!n Tfsten anxiously to wbat the West has to say to them, and lhelr publté' oplnlon ls naturally built upon what tbey hear most a.bout. Tberefore, wben W estern ·propaganda talks or the Vetsallles Order, tbls appeaťs to- be what lhe West wa:nts, wlth the Jnglcal effect thá.t Eutope woulď agaln revert to the Quarrelsome atmosphere which rharärt:er1zed ťhe �18 SLOVAKIA period between the two wars, and which was the main cause of the second one. In the first enthusiasm over being liberated from Bolshe• vism, anything would be accepted, but thlngs look diMerent when the first flush is over; and it is then that the difflculties of the past would appear once more. • • • In its traditional form (that is to say before 1918) Europe eon· slsted of three clearly-defined, geo-political parts: East, Centr11l, and West Europe. It was the Centre's important task to maintain tbe bal• ance between East and West. Tbis Centre h~s always acted as a bul· wark against inva.<,ions threatening from the East - Stav, Mongol or Turkish people. Even German antagonism against tbe West could not a lter tbe bistoric role role of Centra! Europe, altbough t h is fact does not seem to have been borne sufficiehtly in mind by t hose in whose power lt was to make political de cisions after the First and Second World Wars. The unity of the Danubian nations was dissolved in 1918. In 1945 Germany was compelled by her "unconditional s uri-ender" to withdraw from the European Concert, with the ľesult that the balance of power on the Continent was fiually destroyed. Thus Centra! Europe has ceased to exist as a factor of power-policy. Europe now consists of two geo-political parts only - East and West; and as the East has absorbed the gľeater portion of Centra! Europe, thus weakening the West, Europe's destiny now depends greatly on American help. Was the realization of tbis position which led to the Atlantic Pact an effort to restore with Amerlcas' assistance the equilibrium which s he could not achieve by herself? The consolidatlon of Centra! Europe, by which I mean the cre· ation of a strong centre in the heart of the Continent, remains one of the basic conditlons of European sta•b ility. It is a mistake to tmderestimate the real natlonal character of RU\Ssian pollcy, i.e., Panslav• ism. Thls !act could hardly be altered even by the complete destruction of Communism. Russia's daily increase in population is approximately 8,000, so that in 49 years, i.e., in the year 2,000, she will have some 500 million inhabitants, whereas, in comparison, the population of Western Europe is stationary. It is difficult to see how, uncler tbls enormous pressure from the East. Europe (England included) can continue to exist without the hard core of a consolldated centre. It would also be unwise to count too much on "pan-Europe." Tbe proceedings in Straisbourg have shown only too clearly how far we are from realizing the idea; to build upon it would be nothing less than to base Europe's political organization on somethlng which does not exist, and is not likely to clo so for a very long tíme. The Federaliza• tion of Europe cannot be achieved at one stroke, but only gradually, step by ste.p . It is necessary, first of all, to group together jnto Reglonal Federations those entltles which are economlcally and culturally COllllPlementary to each other, and already have s ome tradition ot common background. Such a grouping of several natlons, possesslng lclentlcal economic lnterests, geographical and cultural characterlstics, 1s a workable propositlon in the D anube Basin, whlch could thus become the core of crystalization in a progressive development of Centra] Europe. �SLOVAKIA 19 In the past, no great statesman ever que.stioned the need for unity of the Danu,be Basin as a primary condition of European stability. "The Austrian monarchy 1s a combination of ill-assorted States. Such a power is necessarily weak, but she is an adequate bulwark against the barbarians, and a necessary one. In the future the Habs· burg Empire will stand with its back towards Europe and its front to the East, thus protecting Western civilizat!on from the aggression of Russia." - (Talleyrand on October 17, 1805, to Napoleon, before the battle of Austerlltz). 'What sbould be put in tbat space in Europe wbicb is occupied by the Austrian State from Tyrol to tbe Bukovina? New formations in that area would be of a permanently revolutionary cbaracter." - (Bismark in 1868). "If Austria did not exist, s be would have t o be invented." (Palacky Frantisek, Czecb bistorian, in 1862, generally considered in llobemia as lhe "Father of the Czech natlon," but unfortunately less known in the West than T. G. Masa.ryk). " In America, as elsewhere, it was bard to convince people that it would be necessary to break up Austrla-Hungary. Austria was generally looked up as a counterpoise to Germany, as a necessary organization of small peoples and odds and ends of peoples, and as a safeguard against balkanization. I feared tbat we migbt acbieve notbing if tbe war ended quickly. lf it were protracted, we might bave more Ume for propaganda." - (Prof. T. G. Masa.ryk: "Tbe Making of a State," Alien and Unwin, London, 1929). Tbe centrifugal force of extreme nationalism destroyed in 1918 wbat was about to develop, not by brutal revolution by by peaceful evolutlon, into a great Centra! European Commonwealth. It destroyed tben wbat we would now so much like to build up aga.In, under mucb less favo'!'ruble circumstances. Tbe practical mlsery caused to •a ll peoples by this nationalism was mucb greater than t:he tbeoretlcal bappiness lt was supposed to give tbem. An enormous decadence bas overcome during tbe last thirty years, tbis once so civilized part of Europe. Tbe declsion to spllt up tbe unity of the Danublan nat!ons was neitber bumane nor progresslve. Tbe United Sta.les seems prepared to support the federalization of Centra! Europe, but at tbe same Ume we bave tbe impression that such important factors as tradition, common cultural standards, etc., are not gettlng tbe attent!on tbey deserve. Jf tbe various National Committees were formed in tbe hope that they would be able to proäuce something sensible, we sball bave to wa!t a long time. To recogn!ze them as governments would be tantamount to the recognition of tbe disorder brougbt into exlstence by tbe Versailles Treaty. A new Cen1.ral Europe cannot be created by a few fanatical nationalhsts, hut only by men wbo represent not only tbe lnt.erests of thelr own small tribes, hut wbo also regarcl the problem as a wbole from a supernational angle, and are no longer under the disturhing influence of their political pa.'\t. While I am clealing with the subject of Centra! Europe, I should like to add tbat it woulcl be a mlstake to set up a federatlon of that area on too big a scale. Large entitles, stretcbing from the Baltic t<' t he Black and Adria.tie Seas, coulcl harclly have the inner cobesion �20 SLOVAKIA which would be so necessary in a future Europe. lt would • be difficult to bring all the different nations inhabitlng this region under one common denom!nator into a federation with no real historic or economic background. There are reasons to believe that this idea !s proposed by. the Poles. Poland will have many difficult!es in the future with Germany on account of the Oder frontier. with the Balts over Vllna and with the U-krainians over East Galicia. These ambitions of some Polish exiles are not justif,ied historlcally, ethnographically or morally. As far ai, we in the Danube Basin are concerned, they only interest us to the extent that we do not wish to be drawn into the quarrels which would be una11oidable if the Danubian countries were to gp into a federatlon _,vjth · the · Pole!I.. As a matter of fact, tbe Danube Basin has very llttle in common wHh Poland either economically or culturally. That country lies north of the Carpathlans, and even during the Halbsburg monarcby the Polísh provinces led an almos.t isolated existence. · · There are other important reasons. A Centra! European Federation embracing Poland could hardly count on Austria also being a member. It is time that the West understood that Austrla, as fashioned in 1918, cannot remain independent for economic reasons. H, therefore, Austria were to rema!n on ber own, an Anschluss with Germany would sooner or later be inevitable. And lf the Germans get to Vlenna again, the wbole polltical order of the Danube Basin will be thrown to the winds and Germany's pressure on the whole South• east of Europe, especially the Balkan peninsula and Rumanla, wlll be inevitable. Such a development could eventually be a seriously disturblng factor in the cooperation between Germany and tbe West, especlally in Franco-German relations, a danger which can only be averted if Austrfa is made an !ntegral part of a Dannbe federation. THÉ PROBLEM OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA It is possible that Czecbs, Anstrians, Hungarians and Slovaks might come· to an underStanding amongst themselves on a reasonable basls, especially as for centuries they were · leá.ding· a common existence, but on·ty on conditlon that the Weat no -longer éling1 to the idea of the Czechoalovakian State. Czee.boslovakia does not fit !nto the- frame,~wk . of the Danublan Basin, no matter how much one may try. Even to create it, terrlto1,ies from al! the neighborlng nations had to be incorporated, with the result that In 193tl that ,country comprised: 7.1 millions Czechs, 3.0 mlllions Slovaks. 3.5 millions Germans, 0.8 millions Hnngarians, 0.4 mlllions Ukrainians, 0.2 millions Po,l(l&; total 15 millions. ·,And as ''from 1925 or thereaibouts, the Slovaks lived In latent ~ntagonism ·tówards the Czechs, it is hardly an exaggeratiton to say that 50 pe1•;~nt o'f Czechoslovakia's inhabitants were in opposltion to t.be State. 'Th'en, · again, there is the qulte unnatural geographical sbape of tha:t ·cotmtry. wbich stretches a-bout 700 miles rlght across the Danub!-a-n Basin and !s at places only 70 miles wide. In the meantime, in 1946, the 3.5 mllllons Sudeten Germans. who lived in Bohemia slnce the thirteenth century and at the Versailles conference had valnly pleaded tor selt-determination, were rejected in a most lnhuman fashion. It ls difficult to see how ~orne n!ne mil• lion refugees. who are at present in Western Germany. will be aseimil· �SLPVAKIA 21 ated within the next few decades, whilst their former countries, tµe Sudetenlan d and East Prussia demain practically deserted. C.zechoslovakia was the artiflclal product of a peace conference a child of propaganda - whilst Austria and Hungary were her victims. Through the partition of the Danube Monarchy in 1918, Czechoslovakla lnherited 65 per cent of the industries which formerly belonged to an Empire of 54 m!llions and which had been mosUy founded with Vlennese capltal. It was principally to this favorable economic position that thls new State owed its reputation. On the other hand, does not this fact prove tbat the Ozech provinces of the former Danublan E mpire were by no means so much exploited by Vienna as was maintained at the Versa!lles Conference? To talk about the reatoratlon of Czechoslovakia nowadaya ia plairi nonsense. The Slovaks who at all times were opposed to Prague, will never forget that their rightly or wrongly revered leader, Msgr. Tiso, was condemned by a Czechoslovakian Court and that Benes, in spite of the intervention of the Vatica,,, confirmed his death sentence. By so doing, Benes really signed the death warrant of the Czechosľovak Republic. This action created an unbridgeable gulf between Slov.Íks· and Czechs. The few Slovak emigranta wandering about the Weit, advocating the idea of a Czechoslovak State, no not represent the free will of the Slovak people, who are today at least to the extent of 80 per cent fanatically anti-Czech. And without the Slovaks there can be· no Czechoslovakia. •.. , The · fact that propaganda made Masaryk play the role of a l)r0· phet does not alter ailyt:hing. We should not forget· that Czechos lova• kla durlng ber whole existence was hut an internatnonal calamity, and that any policy based on false hlstorical foundations can only bring_ new misfortunes. Why, therefore, cllng to ideas wbich in the past have been proved erroneous. which were one or the maln causes of World War II, and the practical exlstence of wbich only lasted. for lwenty years, a mere moment in the life of nations? It remalns to be seen whether the \Vest inten<ls to support the arnbitlons of a few emigrants, who for years have lost contact with their own natlons and do not ·reptesent a·n ytbing but tbem.selves. However that may be, -""~e sbould no t forget that in Centra! Europe there are only eight million Czechs, a distinct minority compared with seven million Austrians. elght million Hungarians and three million Slov::iks. · lt is rather surprising that free European ·propaganda is· still eulo. gizing Masaryk. This· must strike a ll Austrians, Hungarians, and SIÔ~vaks as béing very strange. Of course, for many Czech politicians íť is easier to create 'political capital out of the Masaryk legend than to take up an entirely new line. Would it, however, not be adviaab le discreetly to do away with thls myth and not dtipe.n d, for propa11anda purposes, on names which before history bear the ht-avy responsibility of disrupting the unity of the Danube peoples'! • • • The s olution of the Danube problem ánd, In a broader sense. tbat of Centra! Eurore. lie!I ln a correct blending of the various peoples within a Fecleration. Only thu!I C'an the Slav peoples of Centra! Europe be prevented from again falUng viC'tim~ to Pans lavist ideology, ancl the Austrians and H ungarlans to that of Pan-Germa.n-i sm. Such a policy alone can restore the interna! equlllbrlum in the Danube Basin an cl �22 SLOVAKIA convert it once more into a constructive factor in European polltics. From a practical point of view the1-e appears to be only one possibillty of establishing a Centra) European Federation, and that would be to group together the countries Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Slovakla into a sort of Danubian Switzerland. For this purpose, Czechoslovakia would first bave to be split up into ber historical, i.e.. natural parts. Bohemia and Moravia on one side, Slovakia on the other. We can only repeat that neither Austria nor Hungary wlll res'ign itself indefinitely to the existence of C1.echoslovakia, to wbich even the Slovaks are opposed. The position would be dififerent in the case of Bohemia - Moravia being separated from Slovakia. Sucb a Federation would consist of four autonomous coun tries: Austria, Bobemia-Moravla, Hungary and ,sJovakia. Tbe presence of the Czechs and Slovaks is a guarantee tbat tbe Federatlon could not turn proGerman; that of the Austrians and Hungarians that she cannot become pro-iR-ussian. Of course, even the constitution of such a polltical organlzatlon would prove to bave its difficul-ties. The Allied powers would have to invest Austria with a more important status than what she has held so far. In spite of the occupat!on, Austria is still the only remaining free Danubian country, and the development or Vienna could have a great influence on the future shaping of the whole Danube Basin. For instance, there are even today half as many Czechs living in Vienna as in Prague, and they are the trne bearers of the tradition which, until not very long ago, has linked Bohemia wlth Austria. Austria is today one of the most important advanced posts or tbe West in Centra! Europe. She wlll only be able to carry on the fight agaínst Bolshevism if the world is willíng to offer her a more just deal tban that to which she has been condemned by the Versam es Treaty. Instead of putting too much faith in a few desperate emigrants, would it not be better for the Western Powers to make Vienna the basis of their future Danube policy? The Czech and Slovak problems ought to be dealt with separately. The oft-repeated argument, that Czechoslovkia's partition into her natural components would cause an even greater dislocation in the Danube Basin fails to convince, if one realizes that such a partition is the essential prerequisite of the creation of a large political entity. The restoration of the unity of the Danube Basin does not hlnder the eventual Federation of the whoie of Europe; on the contrary, it can make it only easier. From whichever angle one regards the problem, the establishment of a Danube Federation appears to be the first constructive step to be taken in the future political reorganization of Centra! Europe. Perhaps it may appear stran~e that all tbis should have been wrltten by a Czech. However, a political action can only be judgoo by its results, and these generally only appear durlng the lifetime of the next gen1:!ľation. I! regarded in thls llght, lt !s clear that Masaryk's "liberatlon" Jed to the " balkanizat!on" of Centra.) Europe, and that wha.t the Versailles Treaty has created wa<i lncomparably worse than what had existed before. One can say with a clear conscience: only bad Czechs can be Czechoslovakians. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1952, Vol. 2 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1952 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 3), March 1952.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 4), August 1952.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 5), December 1952.</li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 17 THE FEDERATION OF THE DANUBE Lieut. Colonel F. O. Miksche {Colonel Mlksche, fairly well known as a polltico-strate g!c writer, was appolnted Czech Mllltary Attache In Paris after the war. He was recaJled to Czecho-Slova kla by tbe Communists, but soon a!terward.8 escaped and acted as advlser on Centra! European affairs to the Chiet of tbe French General Staf!. H e ls now .seconded trom the French Army to tbe Portuguese Hlgher Statf College. TblS dlssertatlon was publlshed In the "WORLD REVIEW," London, Nov. 1961.) • • • • Europe ls today Jlvlng under the constant menace of a new war, the outbreak ot whlch would appear to be only a question ot tíme. The catastropbe. can ba-ppen tomorrow, or In a year or two, or perhaps later. Tbere can be no doubt tbat In the past many great mistakes bave been made. Passlons have galned the upper hand over cool retlectlons. Only too often propaganda was tbe basls ot offlclal pollcy, wlth attractive slogans coverlng the actlons ot statesmen. In our Ume there ls no sufflclent differentatlon between Utopia and reality, party and State policy, journallsm and diplomacy. In May, 1951, the composltlon and pollcy of the National Commlttes, brougbt into exlstence by tbe USA, was the subject of a debate In tbe Brltlsh Parllament. ~1ajor Legge Bourke, M.P., sald: " I think there i• a very great danger, and we ought to face · i\, that thi• type of warfare - the cold war - will fall lnto the handa of those who were dlscredited in days gone by and who are di1credited now in the countries concerned. This must not be Just a refugee organization. There could be nothing more fata l to the Chri1tian and Western cause than for it to be thought in the countrles behind the Iron Curtain that all this propaganda ia being done to restore the old and discredited regimes. We must produce 1omethlng better than that." Wbereupon Mr. Kennetb Younger, Minister of State, gave the tollowing answer: " I think the Hon. Member la right when he sald we had to be on our· g'uard ·against allowing this thing to develop into an uncoordinated series of efforts by groups of discr edited refugees." - Hansard, Vol. 487, No. 106.) lt does not seem as yet as tbough the lt'ree European Movement had any deflnite target, hence the prevalllng confuslon. Talk about freedom and democracy does not constltute a real polltlcal program. These words !end themselves to lnterpretaUon s which vary wlth tbe wlshes or needs ot the speaker. But what are the political aims of the West? A rett.irn to the Versailles status quo or a United Europe ? In tbe last analysls, public oplnlon 1s only an artlficfar · produ<!t of propaganda. Tbe- enslaved peoples behlnd the Iron · CUrta!n Tfsten anxiously to wbat the West has to say to them, and lhelr publté' oplnlon ls naturally built upon what tbey hear most a.bout. Tberefore, wben W estern ·propaganda talks or the Vetsallles Order, tbls appeaťs to- be what lhe West wa:nts, wlth the Jnglcal effect thá.t Eutope woulď agaln revert to the Quarrelsome atmosphere which rharärt:er1zed ťhe 18 SLOVAKIA period between the two wars, and which was the main cause of the second one. In the first enthusiasm over being liberated from Bolshe• vism, anything would be accepted, but thlngs look diMerent when the first flush is over; and it is then that the difflculties of the past would appear once more. • • • In its traditional form (that is to say before 1918) Europe eon· slsted of three clearly-defined, geo-political parts: East, Centr11l, and West Europe. It was the Centre's important task to maintain tbe bal• ance between East and West. Tbis Centre h~s always acted as a bul· wark against inva.<,ions threatening from the East - Stav, Mongol or Turkish people. Even German antagonism against tbe West could not a lter tbe bistoric role role of Centra! Europe, altbough t h is fact does not seem to have been borne sufficiehtly in mind by t hose in whose power lt was to make political de cisions after the First and Second World Wars. The unity of the Danubian nations was dissolved in 1918. In 1945 Germany was compelled by her "unconditional s uri-ender" to withdraw from the European Concert, with the ľesult that the balance of power on the Continent was fiually destroyed. Thus Centra! Europe has ceased to exist as a factor of power-policy. Europe now consists of two geo-political parts only - East and West; and as the East has absorbed the gľeater portion of Centra! Europe, thus weakening the West, Europe's destiny now depends greatly on American help. Was the realization of tbis position which led to the Atlantic Pact an effort to restore with Amerlcas' assistance the equilibrium which s he could not achieve by herself? The consolidatlon of Centra! Europe, by which I mean the cre· ation of a strong centre in the heart of the Continent, remains one of the basic conditlons of European sta•b ility. It is a mistake to tmderestimate the real natlonal character of RU\Ssian pollcy, i.e., Panslav• ism. Thls !act could hardly be altered even by the complete destruction of Communism. Russia's daily increase in population is approximately 8,000, so that in 49 years, i.e., in the year 2,000, she will have some 500 million inhabitants, whereas, in comparison, the population of Western Europe is stationary. It is difficult to see how, uncler tbls enormous pressure from the East. Europe (England included) can continue to exist without the hard core of a consolldated centre. It would also be unwise to count too much on "pan-Europe." Tbe proceedings in Straisbourg have shown only too clearly how far we are from realizing the idea; to build upon it would be nothing less than to base Europe's political organization on somethlng which does not exist, and is not likely to clo so for a very long tíme. The Federaliza• tion of Europe cannot be achieved at one stroke, but only gradually, step by ste.p . It is necessary, first of all, to group together jnto Reglonal Federations those entltles which are economlcally and culturally COllllPlementary to each other, and already have s ome tradition ot common background. Such a grouping of several natlons, possesslng lclentlcal economic lnterests, geographical and cultural characterlstics, 1s a workable propositlon in the D anube Basin, whlch could thus become the core of crystalization in a progressive development of Centra] Europe. SLOVAKIA 19 In the past, no great statesman ever que.stioned the need for unity of the Danu,be Basin as a primary condition of European stability. "The Austrian monarchy 1s a combination of ill-assorted States. Such a power is necessarily weak, but she is an adequate bulwark against the barbarians, and a necessary one. In the future the Habs· burg Empire will stand with its back towards Europe and its front to the East, thus protecting Western civilizat!on from the aggression of Russia." - (Talleyrand on October 17, 1805, to Napoleon, before the battle of Austerlltz). 'What sbould be put in tbat space in Europe wbicb is occupied by the Austrian State from Tyrol to tbe Bukovina? New formations in that area would be of a permanently revolutionary cbaracter." - (Bismark in 1868). "If Austria did not exist, s be would have t o be invented." (Palacky Frantisek, Czecb bistorian, in 1862, generally considered in llobemia as lhe "Father of the Czech natlon," but unfortunately less known in the West than T. G. Masa.ryk). " In America, as elsewhere, it was bard to convince people that it would be necessary to break up Austrla-Hungary. Austria was generally looked up as a counterpoise to Germany, as a necessary organization of small peoples and odds and ends of peoples, and as a safeguard against balkanization. I feared tbat we migbt acbieve notbing if tbe war ended quickly. lf it were protracted, we might bave more Ume for propaganda." - (Prof. T. G. Masa.ryk: "Tbe Making of a State," Alien and Unwin, London, 1929). Tbe centrifugal force of extreme nationalism destroyed in 1918 wbat was about to develop, not by brutal revolution by by peaceful evolutlon, into a great Centra! European Commonwealth. It destroyed tben wbat we would now so much like to build up aga.In, under mucb less favo'!'ruble circumstances. Tbe practical mlsery caused to •a ll peoples by this nationalism was mucb greater than t:he tbeoretlcal bappiness lt was supposed to give tbem. An enormous decadence bas overcome during tbe last thirty years, tbis once so civilized part of Europe. Tbe declsion to spllt up tbe unity of the Danublan nat!ons was neitber bumane nor progresslve. Tbe United Sta.les seems prepared to support the federalization of Centra! Europe, but at tbe same Ume we bave tbe impression that such important factors as tradition, common cultural standards, etc., are not gettlng tbe attent!on tbey deserve. Jf tbe various National Committees were formed in tbe hope that they would be able to proäuce something sensible, we sball bave to wa!t a long time. To recogn!ze them as governments would be tantamount to the recognition of tbe disorder brougbt into exlstence by tbe Versailles Treaty. A new Cen1.ral Europe cannot be created by a few fanatical nationalhsts, hut only by men wbo represent not only tbe lnt.erests of thelr own small tribes, hut wbo also regarcl the problem as a wbole from a supernational angle, and are no longer under the disturhing influence of their political pa.'\t. While I am clealing with the subject of Centra! Europe, I should like to add tbat it woulcl be a mlstake to set up a federatlon of that area on too big a scale. Large entitles, stretcbing from the Baltic t<' t he Black and Adria.tie Seas, coulcl harclly have the inner cobesion 20 SLOVAKIA which would be so necessary in a future Europe. lt would • be difficult to bring all the different nations inhabitlng this region under one common denom!nator into a federation with no real historic or economic background. There are reasons to believe that this idea !s proposed by. the Poles. Poland will have many difficult!es in the future with Germany on account of the Oder frontier. with the Balts over Vllna and with the U-krainians over East Galicia. These ambitions of some Polish exiles are not justif,ied historlcally, ethnographically or morally. As far ai, we in the Danube Basin are concerned, they only interest us to the extent that we do not wish to be drawn into the quarrels which would be una11oidable if the Danubian countries were to gp into a federatlon _,vjth · the · Pole!I.. As a matter of fact, tbe Danube Basin has very llttle in common wHh Poland either economically or culturally. That country lies north of the Carpathlans, and even during the Halbsburg monarcby the Polísh provinces led an almos.t isolated existence. · · There are other important reasons. A Centra! European Federation embracing Poland could hardly count on Austria also being a member. It is time that the West understood that Austrla, as fashioned in 1918, cannot remain independent for economic reasons. H, therefore, Austria were to rema!n on ber own, an Anschluss with Germany would sooner or later be inevitable. And lf the Germans get to Vlenna again, the wbole polltical order of the Danube Basin will be thrown to the winds and Germany's pressure on the whole South• east of Europe, especially the Balkan peninsula and Rumanla, wlll be inevitable. Such a development could eventually be a seriously disturblng factor in the cooperation between Germany and tbe West, especlally in Franco-German relations, a danger which can only be averted if Austrfa is made an !ntegral part of a Dannbe federation. THÉ PROBLEM OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA It is possible that Czecbs, Anstrians, Hungarians and Slovaks might come· to an underStanding amongst themselves on a reasonable basls, especially as for centuries they were · leá.ding· a common existence, but on·ty on conditlon that the Weat no -longer éling1 to the idea of the Czechoalovakian State. Czee.boslovakia does not fit !nto the- frame,~wk . of the Danublan Basin, no matter how much one may try. Even to create it, terrlto1,ies from al! the neighborlng nations had to be incorporated, with the result that In 193tl that ,country comprised: 7.1 millions Czechs, 3.0 mlllions Slovaks. 3.5 millions Germans, 0.8 millions Hnngarians, 0.4 mlllions Ukrainians, 0.2 millions Po,l(l&; total 15 millions. ·,And as ''from 1925 or thereaibouts, the Slovaks lived In latent ~ntagonism ·tówards the Czechs, it is hardly an exaggeratiton to say that 50 pe1•;~nt o'f Czechoslovakia's inhabitants were in opposltion to t.be State. 'Th'en, · again, there is the qulte unnatural geographical sbape of tha:t ·cotmtry. wbich stretches a-bout 700 miles rlght across the Danub!-a-n Basin and !s at places only 70 miles wide. In the meantime, in 1946, the 3.5 mllllons Sudeten Germans. who lived in Bohemia slnce the thirteenth century and at the Versailles conference had valnly pleaded tor selt-determination, were rejected in a most lnhuman fashion. It ls difficult to see how ~orne n!ne mil• lion refugees. who are at present in Western Germany. will be aseimil· SLPVAKIA 21 ated within the next few decades, whilst their former countries, tµe Sudetenlan d and East Prussia demain practically deserted. C.zechoslovakia was the artiflclal product of a peace conference a child of propaganda - whilst Austria and Hungary were her victims. Through the partition of the Danube Monarchy in 1918, Czechoslovakla lnherited 65 per cent of the industries which formerly belonged to an Empire of 54 m!llions and which had been mosUy founded with Vlennese capltal. It was principally to this favorable economic position that thls new State owed its reputation. On the other hand, does not this fact prove tbat the Ozech provinces of the former Danublan E mpire were by no means so much exploited by Vienna as was maintained at the Versa!lles Conference? To talk about the reatoratlon of Czechoslovakia nowadaya ia plairi nonsense. The Slovaks who at all times were opposed to Prague, will never forget that their rightly or wrongly revered leader, Msgr. Tiso, was condemned by a Czechoslovakian Court and that Benes, in spite of the intervention of the Vatica,,, confirmed his death sentence. By so doing, Benes really signed the death warrant of the Czechosľovak Republic. This action created an unbridgeable gulf between Slov.Íks· and Czechs. The few Slovak emigranta wandering about the Weit, advocating the idea of a Czechoslovak State, no not represent the free will of the Slovak people, who are today at least to the extent of 80 per cent fanatically anti-Czech. And without the Slovaks there can be· no Czechoslovakia. •.. , The · fact that propaganda made Masaryk play the role of a l)r0· phet does not alter ailyt:hing. We should not forget· that Czechos lova• kla durlng ber whole existence was hut an internatnonal calamity, and that any policy based on false hlstorical foundations can only bring_ new misfortunes. Why, therefore, cllng to ideas wbich in the past have been proved erroneous. which were one or the maln causes of World War II, and the practical exlstence of wbich only lasted. for lwenty years, a mere moment in the life of nations? It remalns to be seen whether the \Vest inten<ls to support the arnbitlons of a few emigrants, who for years have lost contact with their own natlons and do not ·reptesent a·n ytbing but tbem.selves. However that may be, -""~e sbould no t forget that in Centra! Europe there are only eight million Czechs, a distinct minority compared with seven million Austrians. elght million Hungarians and three million Slov::iks. · lt is rather surprising that free European ·propaganda is· still eulo. gizing Masaryk. This· must strike a ll Austrians, Hungarians, and SIÔ~vaks as béing very strange. Of course, for many Czech politicians íť is easier to create 'political capital out of the Masaryk legend than to take up an entirely new line. Would it, however, not be adviaab le discreetly to do away with thls myth and not dtipe.n d, for propa11anda purposes, on names which before history bear the ht-avy responsibility of disrupting the unity of the Danube peoples'! • • • The s olution of the Danube problem ánd, In a broader sense. tbat of Centra! Eurore. lie!I ln a correct blending of the various peoples within a Fecleration. Only thu!I C'an the Slav peoples of Centra! Europe be prevented from again falUng viC'tim~ to Pans lavist ideology, ancl the Austrians and H ungarlans to that of Pan-Germa.n-i sm. Such a policy alone can restore the interna! equlllbrlum in the Danube Basin an cl 22 SLOVAKIA convert it once more into a constructive factor in European polltics. From a practical point of view the1-e appears to be only one possibillty of establishing a Centra) European Federation, and that would be to group together the countries Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Slovakla into a sort of Danubian Switzerland. For this purpose, Czechoslovakia would first bave to be split up into ber historical, i.e.. natural parts. Bohemia and Moravia on one side, Slovakia on the other. We can only repeat that neither Austria nor Hungary wlll res'ign itself indefinitely to the existence of C1.echoslovakia, to wbich even the Slovaks are opposed. The position would be dififerent in the case of Bohemia - Moravia being separated from Slovakia. Sucb a Federation would consist of four autonomous coun tries: Austria, Bobemia-Moravla, Hungary and ,sJovakia. Tbe presence of the Czechs and Slovaks is a guarantee tbat tbe Federatlon could not turn proGerman; that of the Austrians and Hungarians that she cannot become pro-iR-ussian. Of course, even the constitution of such a polltical organlzatlon would prove to bave its difficul-ties. The Allied powers would have to invest Austria with a more important status than what she has held so far. In spite of the occupat!on, Austria is still the only remaining free Danubian country, and the development or Vienna could have a great influence on the future shaping of the whole Danube Basin. For instance, there are even today half as many Czechs living in Vienna as in Prague, and they are the trne bearers of the tradition which, until not very long ago, has linked Bohemia wlth Austria. Austria is today one of the most important advanced posts or tbe West in Centra! Europe. She wlll only be able to carry on the fight agaínst Bolshevism if the world is willíng to offer her a more just deal tban that to which she has been condemned by the Versam es Treaty. Instead of putting too much faith in a few desperate emigrants, would it not be better for the Western Powers to make Vienna the basis of their future Danube policy? The Czech and Slovak problems ought to be dealt with separately. The oft-repeated argument, that Czechoslovkia's partition into her natural components would cause an even greater dislocation in the Danube Basin fails to convince, if one realizes that such a partition is the essential prerequisite of the creation of a large political entity. The restoration of the unity of the Danube Basin does not hlnder the eventual Federation of the whoie of Europe; on the contrary, it can make it only easier. From whichever angle one regards the problem, the establishment of a Danube Federation appears to be the first constructive step to be taken in the future political reorganization of Centra! Europe. Perhaps it may appear stran~e that all tbis should have been wrltten by a Czech. However, a political action can only be judgoo by its results, and these generally only appear durlng the lifetime of the next gen1:!ľation. I! regarded in thls llght, lt !s clear that Masaryk's "liberatlon" Jed to the " balkanizat!on" of Centra.) Europe, and that wha.t the Versailles Treaty has created wa<i lncomparably worse than what had existed before. One can say with a clear conscience: only bad Czechs can be Czechoslovakians.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Federation of the Danube Description An account of the resource Lieut. Colonel F. O. Miksche Slovakia, Vol. 2, No. 1 (3), March 1952 pp. 17-22 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Miksche, Ferdinand Otto, 1905-1992 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1952 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d4a40864f4ca207f9aaad30ab4a5e70e.pdf 936c2554efd6e85aac794bbc51ee0da8 PDF Text Text 26 SLOVAKIA vruks soon became cOiIWinoed that Slova;kia was self-suffie,ient economically and that they were mature enough politically to live a free and independent life. After the false legends, the puripose of which it was to stupefy the Slovak naition and stifle in it the yearning for independence, there came a period of suffering, misery and enslavement. But the burden of this sad fate only strengthened in the Slovak nation the consciousness of its ri ght to fz:eedom and fo11tified its desire for the restoration of the state independence of Slovrukia. The Slovaik nation, ooe of the oldest Christian nruti ons o,f central Europe, will never rest satisfied until it is free of all tyranny and all foreign domrinatioo.. 1 1 • • • THE FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF SLOVAKIA'S DECLARATI ON OF INDEPENDE NCE N3 citiizens of the democraitic Republic of the United States of America, we firimly hold to the beLief that all nations without exception. have the inherent, God-given right the right to establish to freedom and independence to- freely elect a right the and state their own ,p olitical government of their orwn choice. On March 14, 1939, after centuries of alien domination, the 1peo.ple of Slovrukia exercised their inherenit right when their druly elected representative s in the autonomous Slovak Asseimlbly proclaimed the independence of their country and estaJblished the Republic of Slovakia. Of course, the:re are people in Amen-ca even today who present this historical fact in a false light and endeavor to debase and vilify everything connected with it. Nevertheless, the utterly .s imple historical truth is that the Slovak Asse:m!bly unanimously declared the land of the Slovaks an independent repulblic - the Republic of Slovakia. The Slova'k Repll!blic, the dream of Slovak generations, became a reality and was recogmzed by twenty-seven countries, ilncluili.ng the governments of Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. After Slovakia was declared inde- �SLOVAKIA 27 pendent, the enemies of Slovak freedom and independence began to howl, naturally. Speculating on their circumstances under which the .SlovaJks gained their indeipenden:ce, the followers of Dr. Edward Benes - the so-called Bein.es Czechs (Socialists) and "CzechosiovaJks" {!SlovaJk renegades in the pay of the Benes Czechs) - smeared and vilified true Slo~ v,aJk pat11iots who dared to speak up for what was rightfully theirs. But no matter what the circumstances under which the SlovaJks gained their independence, we as Americans must contend that the Repwblic af Slovakia never should have been destroyed against the will of the Slo.vaJk nation. By what law of God or man was the Slovak Repulblic destroyed? Certainly its destrlllCtion cannot 'be justified by or reconciled with our poHtical beliefs. Its destruction was cont11ary to 8Jll Christian and democratic principles in short., it was irnm<Yrail and criminal. And let us not f<Yrget that SlovaJkia was destro,yed: by the victorious United Nations u;nder the guise of liiberation! The present ter!1iible plight of the Slovak nation, like that oif the other nations of central Europe which had been "lilberated" in 1945, is due to the blundering, undemocratic policy pursued and the secret agreements negotiated in the name of expediency hy men of democrati'C governments. In a way, therefore, we are all resp<;msiible for the Red enslavement of the nations behind the Iron Curtain and the inhumanities suififered by them. Definitely, we should do something aJbout it. Let us at least be honest with ourselves and the world amd admit th8Jt it was morally wrong and contrary to every democratic and Chri'Sti8Jn principle to surrender the SlovaJk nation and the other nations of central and eastern Europe to the men of the Kremlin. Today much is being said and written rubout crises, crucial days ahead, human rights and man's inhumanity to man. The struggle a-gain.st tyranny, however, is nothing new to the Slovaks. The history of the Slovak nation is a history replete wi:th thrald:om and ex;ploitation. For over ten centuries the Slovak nation - one of the oldest Christian nations of central Europe - has been a pawn in the . hands of alien rulers. Its econ01IDy, freedom, security and territo- �28 SLOVAKIA rial integrity haive a:lways been determined by foreigners. The SlOIV'a'k s have suf.fered longer under alien domination than any other nation Olf Europe. No other nation has been so thoroughly misunders tood, misr~presented, degraded, maligned and vilified - at times even by the veJ"y people who were supposed to represent it and protect its interests, by men who prOlfessed to be and were g~o,r ified as the very epitome of the democratic way of life. Many of us thought, as did many SlovaJks at home, that the trials anxl trilbulations of the Slovak nation were at an end with the estaJblishment of the Cze:cho...Sl01Va'k Repulblic in 1918, which the Slovaks and the Ozeichs were to govern as equal partners. But we were mistaken, badly mistaiken. It soon became evident that the Prague government, headed by T. G. Masarylk, did not regard the SlovaJk,s as equal partners, but only as a colony to be e:x:ploited for the benefit of the Czech nation. The Slovaks soon realized that they had rid themselves of the Magyar despot only to be ruled over by i.miperialistk Czechs, who sought to destroy them eventually as a nation. The Slovaiks, however, outlived the tyranny of the past and today are more dete.I"mined than ever to outlive the presoot scourge of Ozecho.-Oommunist terror and violence and to continue on their way to complete ·p olitical freedom and independence. Despite the many 'bitter memories of injustices suffered from ruling groU!ps of neiighlboring nations, some of whreh blatantly claimed to the exemplary democracies, the SlovaJks are fully consdous of the fact that a free Poland, a free Ukraine, a free Bohemia, and even a free Russia are also necessary to form a better, free and more just order in EJurrope. The SlovaJks know that the stru,ggle for freedom and independeil!ce cannot and must not be waiged in isolation; the goal of Uberation from communist tyranny and all foreign domination must be the unified aiim of all ensl:wed nations and Of all fri~ds of all the oppressed peoples. The Slovaik nation has proven itself one of the greatest small natiOillS of Europe. The Slov.alks are healthy of mind and body, intelligent, industrious, intensely religious, �SLOVAKIA 29 tolerant, and devoted to the pe,ace£ul development of their national life and culture. As a nation they committed no aggression against their neighbors, nor did they violate the rights of others. It is a matter of record that they are always staunchly loyal to the countries of their adoption, contributing handsomely, in proportion to their numbers, to their material and spiritual growth. This is attested to by our own America, the true friend of the perse<mited and the oppressed. To Slovaks everyiwhere, at home and in exile, America is looked upon as the living symbol of freedom, tolerance, and justice. More than that, the Slovaks look to America as their salvation; they expect to be truly Hbemted by the land of Washington and Lincoln. Let us pray God that we do not disruppoint them . The descendants of the Slovak na:tion in America should be hruppy amd proud to stress the fact that the SlovaJk nation has fought the plague of materialistic Comm'UIIlism consistently and resolutely for over a hundTed years. It is a matter of record that Louis Srur, Slovak writer and champion of Slova'k freedom, repudiated the godless philosophy of Marx in 1849 and warned his people against it; the political party of Monsignor Andrew Hlilllka, the Slovaik Poipulist Party, repudiated Communism at its very first session in 1905; in 1919 General Milan R. Stefanik, Sl01VaJk war hero and one of the founders of the Czecho-1Slov.aJk Repulblic, cautioned T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes to maike no compromises with Bolshevism; and Dr. Joseph Tiso, first president of the SlOIVaJk Republic, begged his peoiple to persevere in its fight against the dread plague of Communism even as he was being led to the gallows iby order of the Communist-dominated National Front g01Vernment of Dr. Edward Benes on Arpril 18, 1947. Indeed, it is a matter of record that the Slovalk people fought Communism, the implacable foe of democracy, in and out of season. And they are deter.mined to fight it until it is w1ped off the face of the earth. And what after Communism? Are the SlorvaJks willing to be exploited by another form of Czeicho-iSlovaJkia? Certainly not! The Slovaks want only what rightfuUy belongs �30 SLOVAKIA to them. No more, no less. They want the United States of America and the rest of the free world to reco:grtIBe and respect their inherent ri1g ht to freedom and inde:pendence. The Slov8Jks seek onl~ the opportunity to play a useful role in the struiggle for freedom. And it is the responsiibility. of the free democrat:iic world to afford them this opportiunity. The S1'ovruks want the demO'cratJic world to recogni.!ze at long last a s,imple truth which the Czechs and Slovaks have knoiwn for many cenbITies past, that is, that the Czechs are not and do not want to be SlovaJks, and that the Sl0iva:ks are n!Ot and do not want to be Ozechs. This fact has been clearly demonstrated by both the Czechs and the Slova;ks during the past forty years, that is, ever since the start of World War I. The Slovaks do not want anything tha>l is not rightfully theirs; they do not c<1Vet the spiritual and material wealth of the O.zech nation; they do not make any claims to Ozooh history, national traditions and customs; they have rubsolutely no desire for Ozech lMlds; and they do not ask the Czechs to represent them in any field of endeavor, whether spiritual, cultural or political. And, of course, the Slovak nation did not and does not make any claim to the criminal acts committed by the post-iwar Communist-0ominated Czech National Front government of Dr. Edward Benes and Clement Gottwald. The Slo,v,aks had nothing to do with the criminal exipulsion of Ge.rnnans from Ozeicho-1SLovakia, o,r the brutal persecution and swppression Of all anti-Communist opposition in that hrupless country. Flor the betrayal of the Czech and Slovruk nations to the Communists and Red Moscow, the Slo'V'aks shall give full credit to. Dr. ffidward Benes and his socialist foHawera, who a1w:ays 1promoted .pro-1Soviet policy. The Slovruks respeot the r,i ght of the Czech nation to c~lete freedom and politi·c al independence, ·b ut they also eX!peot leaders of the Czech nation to realiize that the Slova:k nation, too, possesses that right. The Slovaks do not intend to surrender their right to freedom and indeipendence; they are not willing to comirn:it national suicide. A-nd it would be immoral for us even to surggest that they do �SLOVAKIA 31 so. Why then should any governmen ts, especially governments of democratic countries, insist that the SlovaJks and the territory they have inhabited for at lea.st the past 1500 years must continue to be exploited by another nation? Let us .e ver be mindful of the farct that we are the apostles of the true democratic way of life. As such, we must always be willing and ready to share the blessings of our democ11acy with the less fortunaJte and oppressed peoples of the earth. 1it is our sacred duty to spread the gospel and share the blessings of ,t he deanocraJtic way of life which gives so much to so many for so little. True, at times it is a diftfiimtlrt and unigrateful task, but it is one which we must do for the sake of our country, for the cause of freedom to wh:itch we are dedicated as a nation, the cause which is common even to the nation the American Slovaks are descended from. America,ns of Slova!k descent must tell the story of the long, enduring struggle of the Slovak nation for freedom and ind~nden ce to all democratic peoples of the earth and their governmen ts. Unfortunat el,y, many poople in governn:ient, particularl y in our own American Governmen t, hruve allowed themse1ves to be influenced and corufused by the slanderous, villainous and vicious anti-1Slovak campaign. waged by the enemies of SlovaJk freedom and independen ce. It is the duty of every true American, especially Americans of SlOIViak descent, to expose and embarrass all streh pseudodemocratic elements and disamn them completel,y, because the enemies of Slovak freedom amd independen ce are in fact the enemies of the democraJtic way of life itself. Naturally, the Slovia. ks cannot stand idly ·b y while sucll people pe11petmte the destrwction of the nation they rure descended from. We must tell this story to om duly elected representat ives in Washingto n and insist tihat they, in turn, as our representrutiives, see to it thait our Governmen t adopts a more realistic and just policy toward the Sl01Va!k nation and its representat ives. It is, after all, in the intersts of America and all other democratic coU'Iltries that the Slo;vaiks, too, be free and independen t, that even they be allowed to 1 �32 SLOVAKIA determine by their own free choice the state or form of political organfaation under which they wish to li,v e. History has taught us this one great lesson: no nation can have a monopoly on freedom. Freedom is the grandest of all of God',s gifts to manhnd; freedom is the universal heritage of all the aiges. The more we ,p romote and share it, the more aJbundant are its fruits. Of comse, peace without freedom is unthink:ruble. If we li1re tru1y interested in a permanent and just -peace, let us not deny freedom to any nation. When evalll.l'ating the historical fact of the declaration orf independence of the Slovak nation, let us bear in mind thait the only question of real sig.nificance is whether the Slova!k nation had the right to declare its country an independent repUJblic. Believing as Americans do, we know they did and committed neither crime nor treason in exercising it. Let people say what they will about MM'ch 14, 1939 Slovak Independence Day - or the circumstances that led to it, Slova·k s at home and abroad stiH claim that it was the most beautiful and joyous day in the history of the Slovak nation. Today all SlOIVaks are storming the heruvens with prayers that :Sloiva!kia's independence might soon be restored. And Americans believe that it will be. - P. A. Hrobak . • • • WHO SAID IT? "Our alliance with Russia was accepted UNANIMOUSLY BY ALL OF US, not only by our Communists and Socialists, BUT BY ALL THE PARTIES - and there are four of them in the government by Catholics and Protestants alike . . . . Any American or foreign cor. respondent will tell you that WE HAVE NO CENSORSHIP on foreign news from the leading world agencies, including the Associated Press and United Press. • . . WE are the ONLY Slav country which has diplomatic and friendly relations with the Vatican. I have an ambassador at the Holy See and there is a Nuncio In Prague." (Jan Masaryk, Address at the 15th Annual New York Herald Trf.bune Forum on Current Problems, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, N . Y., October 30, 1946, 4th session) . • • • "Just as Munk·h was undone and does not exist, Just so there is no Slovakia and it does not exist internationally as a state! There is no Slovak problem, the Slovak problem is our Internal pro·blem and It is reeognize<I as such even by our allies." - (Dr. Benes, 5-22-43). � 26 SLOVAKIA vruks soon became cOiIWinoed that Slova;kia was self-suffie,ient economically and that they were mature enough politically to live a free and independent life. After the false legends, the puripose of which it was to stupefy the Slovak naition and stifle in it the yearning for independence, there came a period of suffering, misery and enslavement. But the burden of this sad fate only strengthened in the Slovak nation the consciousness of its ri ght to fz:eedom and fo11tified its desire for the restoration of the state independence of Slovrukia. The Slovaik nation, ooe of the oldest Christian nruti ons o,f central Europe, will never rest satisfied until it is free of all tyranny and all foreign domrinatioo.. 1 1 • • • THE FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF SLOVAKIA'S DECLARATI ON OF INDEPENDE NCE N3 citiizens of the democraitic Republic of the United States of America, we firimly hold to the beLief that all nations without exception. have the inherent, God-given right the right to establish to freedom and independence to- freely elect a right the and state their own ,p olitical government of their orwn choice. On March 14, 1939, after centuries of alien domination, the 1peo.ple of Slovrukia exercised their inherenit right when their druly elected representative s in the autonomous Slovak Asseimlbly proclaimed the independence of their country and estaJblished the Republic of Slovakia. Of course, the:re are people in Amen-ca even today who present this historical fact in a false light and endeavor to debase and vilify everything connected with it. Nevertheless, the utterly .s imple historical truth is that the Slovak Asse:m!bly unanimously declared the land of the Slovaks an independent repulblic - the Republic of Slovakia. The Slova'k Repll!blic, the dream of Slovak generations, became a reality and was recogmzed by twenty-seven countries, ilncluili.ng the governments of Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. After Slovakia was declared inde- �SLOVAKIA 27 pendent, the enemies of Slovak freedom and independence began to howl, naturally. Speculating on their circumstances under which the .SlovaJks gained their indeipenden:ce, the followers of Dr. Edward Benes - the so-called Bein.es Czechs (Socialists) and "CzechosiovaJks" {!SlovaJk renegades in the pay of the Benes Czechs) - smeared and vilified true Slo~ v,aJk pat11iots who dared to speak up for what was rightfully theirs. But no matter what the circumstances under which the SlovaJks gained their independence, we as Americans must contend that the Repwblic af Slovakia never should have been destroyed against the will of the Slo.vaJk nation. By what law of God or man was the Slovak Repulblic destroyed? Certainly its destrlllCtion cannot 'be justified by or reconciled with our poHtical beliefs. Its destruction was cont11ary to 8Jll Christian and democratic principles in short., it was irnm<Yrail and criminal. And let us not f<Yrget that SlovaJkia was destro,yed: by the victorious United Nations u;nder the guise of liiberation! The present ter!1iible plight of the Slovak nation, like that oif the other nations of central Europe which had been "lilberated" in 1945, is due to the blundering, undemocratic policy pursued and the secret agreements negotiated in the name of expediency hy men of democrati'C governments. In a way, therefore, we are all resp<;msiible for the Red enslavement of the nations behind the Iron Curtain and the inhumanities suififered by them. Definitely, we should do something aJbout it. Let us at least be honest with ourselves and the world amd admit th8Jt it was morally wrong and contrary to every democratic and Chri'Sti8Jn principle to surrender the SlovaJk nation and the other nations of central and eastern Europe to the men of the Kremlin. Today much is being said and written rubout crises, crucial days ahead, human rights and man's inhumanity to man. The struggle a-gain.st tyranny, however, is nothing new to the Slovaks. The history of the Slovak nation is a history replete wi:th thrald:om and ex;ploitation. For over ten centuries the Slovak nation - one of the oldest Christian nations of central Europe - has been a pawn in the . hands of alien rulers. Its econ01IDy, freedom, security and territo- �28 SLOVAKIA rial integrity haive a:lways been determined by foreigners. The SlOIV'a'k s have suf.fered longer under alien domination than any other nation Olf Europe. No other nation has been so thoroughly misunders tood, misr~presented, degraded, maligned and vilified - at times even by the veJ"y people who were supposed to represent it and protect its interests, by men who prOlfessed to be and were g~o,r ified as the very epitome of the democratic way of life. Many of us thought, as did many SlovaJks at home, that the trials anxl trilbulations of the Slovak nation were at an end with the estaJblishment of the Cze:cho...Sl01Va'k Repulblic in 1918, which the Slovaks and the Ozeichs were to govern as equal partners. But we were mistaken, badly mistaiken. It soon became evident that the Prague government, headed by T. G. Masarylk, did not regard the SlovaJk,s as equal partners, but only as a colony to be e:x:ploited for the benefit of the Czech nation. The Slovaks soon realized that they had rid themselves of the Magyar despot only to be ruled over by i.miperialistk Czechs, who sought to destroy them eventually as a nation. The Slovaiks, however, outlived the tyranny of the past and today are more dete.I"mined than ever to outlive the presoot scourge of Ozecho.-Oommunist terror and violence and to continue on their way to complete ·p olitical freedom and independence. Despite the many 'bitter memories of injustices suffered from ruling groU!ps of neiighlboring nations, some of whreh blatantly claimed to the exemplary democracies, the SlovaJks are fully consdous of the fact that a free Poland, a free Ukraine, a free Bohemia, and even a free Russia are also necessary to form a better, free and more just order in EJurrope. The SlovaJks know that the stru,ggle for freedom and independeil!ce cannot and must not be waiged in isolation; the goal of Uberation from communist tyranny and all foreign domination must be the unified aiim of all ensl:wed nations and Of all fri~ds of all the oppressed peoples. The Slovaik nation has proven itself one of the greatest small natiOillS of Europe. The Slov.alks are healthy of mind and body, intelligent, industrious, intensely religious, �SLOVAKIA 29 tolerant, and devoted to the pe,ace£ul development of their national life and culture. As a nation they committed no aggression against their neighbors, nor did they violate the rights of others. It is a matter of record that they are always staunchly loyal to the countries of their adoption, contributing handsomely, in proportion to their numbers, to their material and spiritual growth. This is attested to by our own America, the true friend of the perse<mited and the oppressed. To Slovaks everyiwhere, at home and in exile, America is looked upon as the living symbol of freedom, tolerance, and justice. More than that, the Slovaks look to America as their salvation; they expect to be truly Hbemted by the land of Washington and Lincoln. Let us pray God that we do not disruppoint them . The descendants of the Slovak na:tion in America should be hruppy amd proud to stress the fact that the SlovaJk nation has fought the plague of materialistic Comm'UIIlism consistently and resolutely for over a hundTed years. It is a matter of record that Louis Srur, Slovak writer and champion of Slova'k freedom, repudiated the godless philosophy of Marx in 1849 and warned his people against it; the political party of Monsignor Andrew Hlilllka, the Slovaik Poipulist Party, repudiated Communism at its very first session in 1905; in 1919 General Milan R. Stefanik, Sl01VaJk war hero and one of the founders of the Czecho-1Slov.aJk Repulblic, cautioned T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes to maike no compromises with Bolshevism; and Dr. Joseph Tiso, first president of the SlOIVaJk Republic, begged his peoiple to persevere in its fight against the dread plague of Communism even as he was being led to the gallows iby order of the Communist-dominated National Front g01Vernment of Dr. Edward Benes on Arpril 18, 1947. Indeed, it is a matter of record that the Slovalk people fought Communism, the implacable foe of democracy, in and out of season. And they are deter.mined to fight it until it is w1ped off the face of the earth. And what after Communism? Are the SlorvaJks willing to be exploited by another form of Czeicho-iSlovaJkia? Certainly not! The Slovaks want only what rightfuUy belongs �30 SLOVAKIA to them. No more, no less. They want the United States of America and the rest of the free world to reco:grtIBe and respect their inherent ri1g ht to freedom and inde:pendence. The Slov8Jks seek onl~ the opportunity to play a useful role in the struiggle for freedom. And it is the responsiibility. of the free democrat:iic world to afford them this opportiunity. The S1'ovruks want the demO'cratJic world to recogni.!ze at long last a s,imple truth which the Czechs and Slovaks have knoiwn for many cenbITies past, that is, that the Czechs are not and do not want to be SlovaJks, and that the Sl0iva:ks are n!Ot and do not want to be Ozechs. This fact has been clearly demonstrated by both the Czechs and the Slova;ks during the past forty years, that is, ever since the start of World War I. The Slovaks do not want anything tha>l is not rightfully theirs; they do not c<1Vet the spiritual and material wealth of the O.zech nation; they do not make any claims to Ozooh history, national traditions and customs; they have rubsolutely no desire for Ozech lMlds; and they do not ask the Czechs to represent them in any field of endeavor, whether spiritual, cultural or political. And, of course, the Slovak nation did not and does not make any claim to the criminal acts committed by the post-iwar Communist-0ominated Czech National Front government of Dr. Edward Benes and Clement Gottwald. The Slo,v,aks had nothing to do with the criminal exipulsion of Ge.rnnans from Ozeicho-1SLovakia, o,r the brutal persecution and swppression Of all anti-Communist opposition in that hrupless country. Flor the betrayal of the Czech and Slovruk nations to the Communists and Red Moscow, the Slo'V'aks shall give full credit to. Dr. ffidward Benes and his socialist foHawera, who a1w:ays 1promoted .pro-1Soviet policy. The Slovruks respeot the r,i ght of the Czech nation to c~lete freedom and politi·c al independence, ·b ut they also eX!peot leaders of the Czech nation to realiize that the Slova:k nation, too, possesses that right. The Slovaks do not intend to surrender their right to freedom and indeipendence; they are not willing to comirn:it national suicide. A-nd it would be immoral for us even to surggest that they do �SLOVAKIA 31 so. Why then should any governmen ts, especially governments of democratic countries, insist that the SlovaJks and the territory they have inhabited for at lea.st the past 1500 years must continue to be exploited by another nation? Let us .e ver be mindful of the farct that we are the apostles of the true democratic way of life. As such, we must always be willing and ready to share the blessings of our democ11acy with the less fortunaJte and oppressed peoples of the earth. 1it is our sacred duty to spread the gospel and share the blessings of ,t he deanocraJtic way of life which gives so much to so many for so little. True, at times it is a diftfiimtlrt and unigrateful task, but it is one which we must do for the sake of our country, for the cause of freedom to wh:itch we are dedicated as a nation, the cause which is common even to the nation the American Slovaks are descended from. America,ns of Slova!k descent must tell the story of the long, enduring struggle of the Slovak nation for freedom and ind~nden ce to all democratic peoples of the earth and their governmen ts. Unfortunat el,y, many poople in governn:ient, particularl y in our own American Governmen t, hruve allowed themse1ves to be influenced and corufused by the slanderous, villainous and vicious anti-1Slovak campaign. waged by the enemies of SlovaJk freedom and independen ce. It is the duty of every true American, especially Americans of SlOIViak descent, to expose and embarrass all streh pseudodemocratic elements and disamn them completel,y, because the enemies of Slovak freedom amd independen ce are in fact the enemies of the democraJtic way of life itself. Naturally, the Slovia. ks cannot stand idly ·b y while sucll people pe11petmte the destrwction of the nation they rure descended from. We must tell this story to om duly elected representat ives in Washingto n and insist tihat they, in turn, as our representrutiives, see to it thait our Governmen t adopts a more realistic and just policy toward the Sl01Va!k nation and its representat ives. It is, after all, in the intersts of America and all other democratic coU'Iltries that the Slo;vaiks, too, be free and independen t, that even they be allowed to 1 �32 SLOVAKIA determine by their own free choice the state or form of political organfaation under which they wish to li,v e. History has taught us this one great lesson: no nation can have a monopoly on freedom. Freedom is the grandest of all of God',s gifts to manhnd; freedom is the universal heritage of all the aiges. The more we ,p romote and share it, the more aJbundant are its fruits. Of comse, peace without freedom is unthink:ruble. If we li1re tru1y interested in a permanent and just -peace, let us not deny freedom to any nation. When evalll.l'ating the historical fact of the declaration orf independence of the Slovak nation, let us bear in mind thait the only question of real sig.nificance is whether the Slova!k nation had the right to declare its country an independent repUJblic. Believing as Americans do, we know they did and committed neither crime nor treason in exercising it. Let people say what they will about MM'ch 14, 1939 Slovak Independence Day - or the circumstances that led to it, Slova·k s at home and abroad stiH claim that it was the most beautiful and joyous day in the history of the Slovak nation. Today all SlOIVaks are storming the heruvens with prayers that :Sloiva!kia's independence might soon be restored. And Americans believe that it will be. - P. A. Hrobak . • • • WHO SAID IT? "Our alliance with Russia was accepted UNANIMOUSLY BY ALL OF US, not only by our Communists and Socialists, BUT BY ALL THE PARTIES - and there are four of them in the government by Catholics and Protestants alike . . . . Any American or foreign cor. respondent will tell you that WE HAVE NO CENSORSHIP on foreign news from the leading world agencies, including the Associated Press and United Press. • . . WE are the ONLY Slav country which has diplomatic and friendly relations with the Vatican. I have an ambassador at the Holy See and there is a Nuncio In Prague." (Jan Masaryk, Address at the 15th Annual New York Herald Trf.bune Forum on Current Problems, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, N . Y., October 30, 1946, 4th session) . • • • "Just as Munk·h was undone and does not exist, Just so there is no Slovakia and it does not exist internationally as a state! There is no Slovak problem, the Slovak problem is our Internal pro·blem and It is reeognize<I as such even by our allies." - (Dr. Benes, 5-22-43). � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1954, Vol. 4 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 10), March 1954.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 11), June 1954.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 12-13), Sept.-Dec. 1954.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1954 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 26 SLOVAKIA vruks soon became cOiIWinoed that Slova;kia was self-suffie,ient economically and that they were mature enough politically to live a free and independent life. After the false legends, the puripose of which it was to stupefy the Slovak naition and stifle in it the yearning for independence, there came a period of suffering, misery and enslavement. But the burden of this sad fate only strengthened in the Slovak nation the consciousness of its ri ght to fz:eedom and fo11tified its desire for the restoration of the state independence of Slovrukia. The Slovaik nation, ooe of the oldest Christian nruti ons o,f central Europe, will never rest satisfied until it is free of all tyranny and all foreign domrinatioo.. 1 1 • • • THE FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF SLOVAKIA'S DECLARATI ON OF INDEPENDE NCE N3 citiizens of the democraitic Republic of the United States of America, we firimly hold to the beLief that all nations without exception. have the inherent, God-given right the right to establish to freedom and independence to- freely elect a right the and state their own ,p olitical government of their orwn choice. On March 14, 1939, after centuries of alien domination, the 1peo.ple of Slovrukia exercised their inherenit right when their druly elected representative s in the autonomous Slovak Asseimlbly proclaimed the independence of their country and estaJblished the Republic of Slovakia. Of course, the:re are people in Amen-ca even today who present this historical fact in a false light and endeavor to debase and vilify everything connected with it. Nevertheless, the utterly .s imple historical truth is that the Slovak Asse:m!bly unanimously declared the land of the Slovaks an independent repulblic - the Republic of Slovakia. The Slova'k Repll!blic, the dream of Slovak generations, became a reality and was recogmzed by twenty-seven countries, ilncluili.ng the governments of Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. After Slovakia was declared inde- SLOVAKIA 27 pendent, the enemies of Slovak freedom and independence began to howl, naturally. Speculating on their circumstances under which the .SlovaJks gained their indeipenden:ce, the followers of Dr. Edward Benes - the so-called Bein.es Czechs (Socialists) and "CzechosiovaJks" {!SlovaJk renegades in the pay of the Benes Czechs) - smeared and vilified true Slo~ v,aJk pat11iots who dared to speak up for what was rightfully theirs. But no matter what the circumstances under which the SlovaJks gained their independence, we as Americans must contend that the Repwblic af Slovakia never should have been destroyed against the will of the Slo.vaJk nation. By what law of God or man was the Slovak Repulblic destroyed? Certainly its destrlllCtion cannot 'be justified by or reconciled with our poHtical beliefs. Its destruction was cont11ary to 8Jll Christian and democratic principles in short., it was irnm<Yrail and criminal. And let us not f<Yrget that SlovaJkia was destro,yed: by the victorious United Nations u;nder the guise of liiberation! The present ter!1iible plight of the Slovak nation, like that oif the other nations of central Europe which had been "lilberated" in 1945, is due to the blundering, undemocratic policy pursued and the secret agreements negotiated in the name of expediency hy men of democrati'C governments. In a way, therefore, we are all resp<;msiible for the Red enslavement of the nations behind the Iron Curtain and the inhumanities suififered by them. Definitely, we should do something aJbout it. Let us at least be honest with ourselves and the world amd admit th8Jt it was morally wrong and contrary to every democratic and Chri'Sti8Jn principle to surrender the SlovaJk nation and the other nations of central and eastern Europe to the men of the Kremlin. Today much is being said and written rubout crises, crucial days ahead, human rights and man's inhumanity to man. The struggle a-gain.st tyranny, however, is nothing new to the Slovaks. The history of the Slovak nation is a history replete wi:th thrald:om and ex;ploitation. For over ten centuries the Slovak nation - one of the oldest Christian nations of central Europe - has been a pawn in the . hands of alien rulers. Its econ01IDy, freedom, security and territo- 28 SLOVAKIA rial integrity haive a:lways been determined by foreigners. The SlOIV'a'k s have suf.fered longer under alien domination than any other nation Olf Europe. No other nation has been so thoroughly misunders tood, misr~presented, degraded, maligned and vilified - at times even by the veJ"y people who were supposed to represent it and protect its interests, by men who prOlfessed to be and were g~o,r ified as the very epitome of the democratic way of life. Many of us thought, as did many SlovaJks at home, that the trials anxl trilbulations of the Slovak nation were at an end with the estaJblishment of the Cze:cho...Sl01Va'k Repulblic in 1918, which the Slovaks and the Ozeichs were to govern as equal partners. But we were mistaken, badly mistaiken. It soon became evident that the Prague government, headed by T. G. Masarylk, did not regard the SlovaJk,s as equal partners, but only as a colony to be e:x:ploited for the benefit of the Czech nation. The Slovaks soon realized that they had rid themselves of the Magyar despot only to be ruled over by i.miperialistk Czechs, who sought to destroy them eventually as a nation. The Slovaiks, however, outlived the tyranny of the past and today are more dete.I"mined than ever to outlive the presoot scourge of Ozecho.-Oommunist terror and violence and to continue on their way to complete ·p olitical freedom and independence. Despite the many 'bitter memories of injustices suffered from ruling groU!ps of neiighlboring nations, some of whreh blatantly claimed to the exemplary democracies, the SlovaJks are fully consdous of the fact that a free Poland, a free Ukraine, a free Bohemia, and even a free Russia are also necessary to form a better, free and more just order in EJurrope. The SlovaJks know that the stru,ggle for freedom and independeil!ce cannot and must not be waiged in isolation; the goal of Uberation from communist tyranny and all foreign domination must be the unified aiim of all ensl:wed nations and Of all fri~ds of all the oppressed peoples. The Slovaik nation has proven itself one of the greatest small natiOillS of Europe. The Slov.alks are healthy of mind and body, intelligent, industrious, intensely religious, SLOVAKIA 29 tolerant, and devoted to the pe,ace£ul development of their national life and culture. As a nation they committed no aggression against their neighbors, nor did they violate the rights of others. It is a matter of record that they are always staunchly loyal to the countries of their adoption, contributing handsomely, in proportion to their numbers, to their material and spiritual growth. This is attested to by our own America, the true friend of the perse<mited and the oppressed. To Slovaks everyiwhere, at home and in exile, America is looked upon as the living symbol of freedom, tolerance, and justice. More than that, the Slovaks look to America as their salvation; they expect to be truly Hbemted by the land of Washington and Lincoln. Let us pray God that we do not disruppoint them . The descendants of the Slovak na:tion in America should be hruppy amd proud to stress the fact that the SlovaJk nation has fought the plague of materialistic Comm'UIIlism consistently and resolutely for over a hundTed years. It is a matter of record that Louis Srur, Slovak writer and champion of Slova'k freedom, repudiated the godless philosophy of Marx in 1849 and warned his people against it; the political party of Monsignor Andrew Hlilllka, the Slovaik Poipulist Party, repudiated Communism at its very first session in 1905; in 1919 General Milan R. Stefanik, Sl01VaJk war hero and one of the founders of the Czecho-1Slov.aJk Repulblic, cautioned T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes to maike no compromises with Bolshevism; and Dr. Joseph Tiso, first president of the SlOIVaJk Republic, begged his peoiple to persevere in its fight against the dread plague of Communism even as he was being led to the gallows iby order of the Communist-dominated National Front g01Vernment of Dr. Edward Benes on Arpril 18, 1947. Indeed, it is a matter of record that the Slovalk people fought Communism, the implacable foe of democracy, in and out of season. And they are deter.mined to fight it until it is w1ped off the face of the earth. And what after Communism? Are the SlorvaJks willing to be exploited by another form of Czeicho-iSlovaJkia? Certainly not! The Slovaks want only what rightfuUy belongs 30 SLOVAKIA to them. No more, no less. They want the United States of America and the rest of the free world to reco:grtIBe and respect their inherent ri1g ht to freedom and inde:pendence. The Slov8Jks seek onl~ the opportunity to play a useful role in the struiggle for freedom. And it is the responsiibility. of the free democrat:iic world to afford them this opportiunity. The S1'ovruks want the demO'cratJic world to recogni.!ze at long last a s,imple truth which the Czechs and Slovaks have knoiwn for many cenbITies past, that is, that the Czechs are not and do not want to be SlovaJks, and that the Sl0iva:ks are n!Ot and do not want to be Ozechs. This fact has been clearly demonstrated by both the Czechs and the Slova;ks during the past forty years, that is, ever since the start of World War I. The Slovaks do not want anything tha>l is not rightfully theirs; they do not c<1Vet the spiritual and material wealth of the O.zech nation; they do not make any claims to Ozooh history, national traditions and customs; they have rubsolutely no desire for Ozech lMlds; and they do not ask the Czechs to represent them in any field of endeavor, whether spiritual, cultural or political. And, of course, the Slovak nation did not and does not make any claim to the criminal acts committed by the post-iwar Communist-0ominated Czech National Front government of Dr. Edward Benes and Clement Gottwald. The Slo,v,aks had nothing to do with the criminal exipulsion of Ge.rnnans from Ozeicho-1SLovakia, o,r the brutal persecution and swppression Of all anti-Communist opposition in that hrupless country. Flor the betrayal of the Czech and Slovruk nations to the Communists and Red Moscow, the Slo'V'aks shall give full credit to. Dr. ffidward Benes and his socialist foHawera, who a1w:ays 1promoted .pro-1Soviet policy. The Slovruks respeot the r,i ght of the Czech nation to c~lete freedom and politi·c al independence, ·b ut they also eX!peot leaders of the Czech nation to realiize that the Slova:k nation, too, possesses that right. The Slovaks do not intend to surrender their right to freedom and indeipendence; they are not willing to comirn:it national suicide. A-nd it would be immoral for us even to surggest that they do SLOVAKIA 31 so. Why then should any governmen ts, especially governments of democratic countries, insist that the SlovaJks and the territory they have inhabited for at lea.st the past 1500 years must continue to be exploited by another nation? Let us .e ver be mindful of the farct that we are the apostles of the true democratic way of life. As such, we must always be willing and ready to share the blessings of our democ11acy with the less fortunaJte and oppressed peoples of the earth. 1it is our sacred duty to spread the gospel and share the blessings of ,t he deanocraJtic way of life which gives so much to so many for so little. True, at times it is a diftfiimtlrt and unigrateful task, but it is one which we must do for the sake of our country, for the cause of freedom to wh:itch we are dedicated as a nation, the cause which is common even to the nation the American Slovaks are descended from. America,ns of Slova!k descent must tell the story of the long, enduring struggle of the Slovak nation for freedom and ind~nden ce to all democratic peoples of the earth and their governmen ts. Unfortunat el,y, many poople in governn:ient, particularl y in our own American Governmen t, hruve allowed themse1ves to be influenced and corufused by the slanderous, villainous and vicious anti-1Slovak campaign. waged by the enemies of SlovaJk freedom and independen ce. It is the duty of every true American, especially Americans of SlOIViak descent, to expose and embarrass all streh pseudodemocratic elements and disamn them completel,y, because the enemies of Slovak freedom amd independen ce are in fact the enemies of the democraJtic way of life itself. Naturally, the Slovia. ks cannot stand idly ·b y while sucll people pe11petmte the destrwction of the nation they rure descended from. We must tell this story to om duly elected representat ives in Washingto n and insist tihat they, in turn, as our representrutiives, see to it thait our Governmen t adopts a more realistic and just policy toward the Sl01Va!k nation and its representat ives. It is, after all, in the intersts of America and all other democratic coU'Iltries that the Slo;vaiks, too, be free and independen t, that even they be allowed to 1 32 SLOVAKIA determine by their own free choice the state or form of political organfaation under which they wish to li,v e. History has taught us this one great lesson: no nation can have a monopoly on freedom. Freedom is the grandest of all of God',s gifts to manhnd; freedom is the universal heritage of all the aiges. The more we ,p romote and share it, the more aJbundant are its fruits. Of comse, peace without freedom is unthink:ruble. If we li1re tru1y interested in a permanent and just -peace, let us not deny freedom to any nation. When evalll.l'ating the historical fact of the declaration orf independence of the Slovak nation, let us bear in mind thait the only question of real sig.nificance is whether the Slova!k nation had the right to declare its country an independent repUJblic. Believing as Americans do, we know they did and committed neither crime nor treason in exercising it. Let people say what they will about MM'ch 14, 1939 Slovak Independence Day - or the circumstances that led to it, Slova·k s at home and abroad stiH claim that it was the most beautiful and joyous day in the history of the Slovak nation. Today all SlOIVaks are storming the heruvens with prayers that :Sloiva!kia's independence might soon be restored. And Americans believe that it will be. - P. A. Hrobak . • • • WHO SAID IT? "Our alliance with Russia was accepted UNANIMOUSLY BY ALL OF US, not only by our Communists and Socialists, BUT BY ALL THE PARTIES - and there are four of them in the government by Catholics and Protestants alike . . . . Any American or foreign cor. respondent will tell you that WE HAVE NO CENSORSHIP on foreign news from the leading world agencies, including the Associated Press and United Press. • . . WE are the ONLY Slav country which has diplomatic and friendly relations with the Vatican. I have an ambassador at the Holy See and there is a Nuncio In Prague." (Jan Masaryk, Address at the 15th Annual New York Herald Trf.bune Forum on Current Problems, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, N . Y., October 30, 1946, 4th session) . • • • "Just as Munk·h was undone and does not exist, Just so there is no Slovakia and it does not exist internationally as a state! There is no Slovak problem, the Slovak problem is our Internal pro·blem and It is reeognize<I as such even by our allies." - (Dr. Benes, 5-22-43).  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Fifteenth Anniversary of Slovakia's Declaration of Independence Description An account of the resource Slovakia, Vol. 4, No. 1 (10), March 1954 pp. 26-32 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1954 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/1a59f5ef3d2e8febb2330f47e4e94be7.pdf e8f42dd6667bf6fe8b19186d469d7024 PDF Text Text S LOVAKIA: 69 THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY IN CENTRAL EOROPE D R. J OSEPH KI RSCH BAUM By the menits o! some pollllcal iustitutlons of the United States, of which U1e best known !s the National Commlttee for a Free Europe, there began, over a year ago a large and costly campa!gn in the interest of democracy In centra! and eastern Europe, which up to that línie had beeu domlnated by Moscow and the communi&t regimes instailed by it. The action certainly is most welcome, because .it means not only the streng,thening of the political forces ,vai!ch are flghting in th.e individual coun,trles behind the Iron Curtaín, in the shadow ot the gallows and con centration camps, a herolc flght for the freedom and democratic future of the!r own natlons, but also it is supJiosed to brlng the concepts of the democratic way of life into tl)e souls of nations which thus far have always lived under regimes as sulted the great power that ruled over the eastern pa,·t of Europe - never, bowever, under a real democratic regime. "Dad admlnistratlon and ignorant al)d irresponsible ruling c lass," aľc-ordlng to Hngh Seton-Watson, "finally destroyed aJI hope of real Democracy in Eastern Europe between t he wars ..." (Eastern l:urope Between the Wars. pg. 154, 265-266). Let u.s allow. however, that the oplnion of Seton-Watson is a bil loo severe, even then the sad fact remalns that the natlons of cent ra! and eastern Europe were not given the opportunity to live under a rule of democratic regimes long enough so that at Jeast in one generatlon democratic principles could take root and give rise to democratic- traditions. Attempts to install democratic reglmes after the first World War ended in a very s bort time In dictatorships e!ther of ~roups or of indlviduals (Polanc\ in 1926, YugosJavla in 1929, and later, but before World War II. ·Rumanla. Bulgaria and Au.stria). In Czechoslovakia, which formally preserved a democratlc facade, but in fact was in a very large measure a democracy "only for tbe Cze<'hs," as Robert Ingrim state<l in bis book "After Hitler Stalin ?" - or as Dr. Milan Hodža admitted more delicately In bis book "Federallon In Centra! Europe": "it also had a substantial share of errors." De mocracy, therefore, has only a few traditions in ea.s,tern Europe, but the ground is, nevertbeless, favorable for it, inasmuch as the social structure and spirituaJ tradltlons of the centra! Europeil.n nations rest on principles that are favorable to democracy. Tbe success of the efforts of the West, and especially the success of t.he action wbich ls belng unfolded by the National Committee for' a Frée :E::urope which appar-ently aims to gain the centra) European na,tions for democracy and the fight for it, depends, nevertheless, on the fulfillment of rertain basic ps ycbological s upposltions, wbicb are: l. Every nation of centra) and east Europe must be addressed in its own tongue and In the spirit or lts tradlllons and its mentality; 2. The campaign for democrary must not be misused for tbe renovation of such politiral formatlons wbiťb the majority of its inhabitants do not <lesire. �60 SLOV.AKIA 3. The centra) ·European natlons should not be addressed by persons, who, rightly or not. are regarded in the eyes of the lnd1vidu1'1 centra) European natlons as responsible for their traglc sltuatlon beeause ot thelr colla.boration with communi.sm. 4. These natlons must see a ehanrt> or real demotracy and real freedom in their countries. The fulfillment or these condltlons for the success oi th~ ca.mpa.ign for democracy in centra! Europe is demandAd not only tn capture the good will of the centra! Europea.n natlons. hut ·,lt!C cor reasons whicb are deeply rooted 1n the views and con·:lctlons of tbe ind!Vidua.1 natlons of central and eastern Europe: In thelr polltlcal a.spira.t!ons and also In no small mea.s ure in thelr hlstorical remtnlscences and resentments. ?.fany of the central European nations throughout whole generations often fought bloody battles to preserve thelr national ldentitles and tbelr languages and. 1berefore, the questlon of "wbo speaks to them In wha.t la.nguage" la a.II the more sensltlve wlth them than po)jtical circles of the West, often only superfl-cially and tendenciously a.C(luainted with the problems or eastern Europe, can real1ze. Regardless of the fa.cl whether a.ny one agrees with this or not, lt remalns an lndlsputable fact that natlonallsm today ls evldently more than ever before the most powerful pol!tical force In eastern Europe and is more lnslstently striVing tor priority before historlcal conslderatlons which have been reduced to absurdity by new events. Furthermore, there ls also the fact t hat for every central European natlon the cllmax ot lts polltical a.splrations is poHtlcal lndependence and equality, also that these natlons are convln<1ed tbat ft is only on the basls of democracy that they can claim equality and lndependence. To gain tbe centra) European nations for the fight agafnst the enemy - who on tbe Jeast expressfon of reslstance answers with gallows, bnllell!, jails and deportations - politlcal reallsm therefore demands that the feellngs and thoughts of the centra! European natlons be respeeted and that they be convlnced about tbe fulflllment of thelr natlonal asolrations In a manner which they can un<reratand. To speak or the lndivldual natlons of centra! Europé In a language whlch necessarily remlnrls them of an unhappy past, to speak to them about democra.cy by means of people, who in a large measure caused the present tragic sltuation In the indlvidual centra! European countries and are at the same representatives of reglmes and state formatlon.c: wbtch evoke only resentments, cannot be regarded as an a.ct elther polltlcally wlse or leadlng to su~ess. Sucb a campaign could evoke In the centra! European natlons the Idea that lt lt< concerned only with the restoratlon of reglmes and formatlons which exlsted In centra! Europe be!ore the communlst aggresslon and whlcb, in a large measure, were neither democratlc nor deslrable. The cboiťe of representatlvea of the varlous nattons la unfortnnate. In the case of the Czech and Slovak representatlves especla.lly, lt has been most unfortunate. Tbey are not the cholce of the peoples <1oncerned, hence cannot truly represent them. Thelr past ls tafnted wlth Jack of political honor, lmperial1stic deslgns al)d collaboratlon w1tb commtmism. To present sneh people as "representatlves" ot the!r �SLOVAKIA 11 rt>s~ i vé ná.tions means a s.ad lack ' of knowledge or just plain .deception. It certainly 1s not wise or tactful tl> place before the mlcrol)'hone indivlduals who, after t be " liberatiôn" or -1945, collaborated as fellowtravelers with the Soviet occupation forces in the countrles b.ehlnd t he .iron Curtain and helped to break the mora! resis tance of theľr peoples. To dľe ánd. expose oneselr to the danger of gallows and concentration camps certainly cannot be expected under such circumstanees trom .centra! European nations, even though we speak to them about di--mocracy for which they c rave. The great idea of democratic freedoms; respec t {or the human pers on and individual lights sounds lronica.l when it lssues from the mouths of people who together witb t he communis ts voted tbP. laws to establish concentration camps, suppressed f~eedoro of tbe press, retreated cowardly to communlst aggression for fear of losing their own careers or property, and also had a part in other c rimes of post-war reglmes in the states of eastern Europe. The campaign for democ racy in central ancl eastern Europe can be s uécess rut only if 1t s hall not use and feature people who com11romised with collaboration with communism. hut shall eogage representativés without chauvinistic and imperialistic tendencies who are figbting for s uch a democ ratlc order in centra! Europe, In whicb every ,,ation would enjoy equality and frE'ellOm and also wouid have safe,:uarded its own se ,·nrity from outs ide at tacks . • • • WHO SAID IT? " And wha t could the Czech s expect from the ir imperiaJists, from tbe followe rs of tbe late Beneš? Should t hey risk their lives for another Government cons tituted abroa d •- an exiled Government whlch. in 1945, in collaboratlon wlth the Bolsheviks, murdered thousands of Czec hs on tbe pretext that they we re Nazi collaborators? Should the s ame people. installed once more by a forelgn power, massacre more t housands of Czechs as Bolsbevik collaborators? Should the Czech■ rise up and die for Mr. Ripka, who, during the war, told them from London that Ruaaian Bolshevism ia a continuance of Christianity? ... Amerlcans se11ing de mocracy in this way are doing ve ry bad bus iness." - {The Czech "PRAVDA.'" - London. June 1951) . • "We Slovak s and Czecbs also want to add our bit of joy to this great holiday of the USSR. . . . In honor oť the USSR our flags wave on our homes and In bis hea rt every Joyal cltizen or the Czecho,:iovak Republi c loves to remember our closest e astern neighbor. our frielld and loyal ally to whom we a re bound with deepť.st gratltude.. . . And, flnally, we are aware of the fact that it was the soldier of the USS R who de facto liberated us on our territory. The chairman of the Constltutional National Assembly, Mr. David, in bis speech on the ocťasion of the great hollday of the USSR quoted the words or Joseph Holeček. tbe Czecb writer. that "a Czech will actually be free onty when the RuHian soldier walk■ through the street■ of Prague." {Cbarles Hu§ek. Editor of CAS, the otriclal organ or L e ttrlch's Democratlc Party, November 7, 1947.) � S LOVAKIA: 69 THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY IN CENTRAL EOROPE D R. J OSEPH KI RSCH BAUM By the menits o! some pollllcal iustitutlons of the United States, of which U1e best known !s the National Commlttee for a Free Europe, there began, over a year ago a large and costly campa!gn in the interest of democracy In centra! and eastern Europe, which up to that línie had beeu domlnated by Moscow and the communi&t regimes instailed by it. The action certainly is most welcome, because .it means not only the streng,thening of the political forces ,vai!ch are flghting in th.e individual coun,trles behind the Iron Curtaín, in the shadow ot the gallows and con centration camps, a herolc flght for the freedom and democratic future of the!r own natlons, but also it is supJiosed to brlng the concepts of the democratic way of life into tl)e souls of nations which thus far have always lived under regimes as sulted the great power that ruled over the eastern pa,·t of Europe - never, bowever, under a real democratic regime. "Dad admlnistratlon and ignorant al)d irresponsible ruling c lass," aľc-ordlng to Hngh Seton-Watson, "finally destroyed aJI hope of real Democracy in Eastern Europe between t he wars ..." (Eastern l:urope Between the Wars. pg. 154, 265-266). Let u.s allow. however, that the oplnion of Seton-Watson is a bil loo severe, even then the sad fact remalns that the natlons of cent ra! and eastern Europe were not given the opportunity to live under a rule of democratic regimes long enough so that at Jeast in one generatlon democratic principles could take root and give rise to democratic- traditions. Attempts to install democratic reglmes after the first World War ended in a very s bort time In dictatorships e!ther of ~roups or of indlviduals (Polanc\ in 1926, YugosJavla in 1929, and later, but before World War II. ·Rumanla. Bulgaria and Au.stria). In Czechoslovakia, which formally preserved a democratlc facade, but in fact was in a very large measure a democracy "only for tbe Cze<'hs," as Robert Ingrim state<l in bis book "After Hitler Stalin ?" - or as Dr. Milan Hodža admitted more delicately In bis book "Federallon In Centra! Europe": "it also had a substantial share of errors." De mocracy, therefore, has only a few traditions in ea.s,tern Europe, but the ground is, nevertbeless, favorable for it, inasmuch as the social structure and spirituaJ tradltlons of the centra! Europeil.n nations rest on principles that are favorable to democracy. Tbe success of the efforts of the West, and especially the success of t.he action wbich ls belng unfolded by the National Committee for' a Frée :E::urope which appar-ently aims to gain the centra) European na,tions for democracy and the fight for it, depends, nevertheless, on the fulfillment of rertain basic ps ycbological s upposltions, wbicb are: l. Every nation of centra) and east Europe must be addressed in its own tongue and In the spirit or lts tradlllons and its mentality; 2. The campaign for democrary must not be misused for tbe renovation of such politiral formatlons wbiťb the majority of its inhabitants do not <lesire. �60 SLOV.AKIA 3. The centra) ·European natlons should not be addressed by persons, who, rightly or not. are regarded in the eyes of the lnd1vidu1'1 centra) European natlons as responsible for their traglc sltuatlon beeause ot thelr colla.boration with communi.sm. 4. These natlons must see a ehanrt> or real demotracy and real freedom in their countries. The fulfillment or these condltlons for the success oi th~ ca.mpa.ign for democracy in centra! Europe is demandAd not only tn capture the good will of the centra! Europea.n natlons. hut ·,lt!C cor reasons whicb are deeply rooted 1n the views and con·:lctlons of tbe ind!Vidua.1 natlons of central and eastern Europe: In thelr polltlcal a.spira.t!ons and also In no small mea.s ure in thelr hlstorical remtnlscences and resentments. ?.fany of the central European nations throughout whole generations often fought bloody battles to preserve thelr national ldentitles and tbelr languages and. 1berefore, the questlon of "wbo speaks to them In wha.t la.nguage" la a.II the more sensltlve wlth them than po)jtical circles of the West, often only superfl-cially and tendenciously a.C(luainted with the problems or eastern Europe, can real1ze. Regardless of the fa.cl whether a.ny one agrees with this or not, lt remalns an lndlsputable fact that natlonallsm today ls evldently more than ever before the most powerful pol!tical force In eastern Europe and is more lnslstently striVing tor priority before historlcal conslderatlons which have been reduced to absurdity by new events. Furthermore, there ls also the fact t hat for every central European natlon the cllmax ot lts polltical a.splrations is poHtlcal lndependence and equality, also that these natlons are convln<1ed tbat ft is only on the basls of democracy that they can claim equality and lndependence. To gain tbe centra) European nations for the fight agafnst the enemy - who on tbe Jeast expressfon of reslstance answers with gallows, bnllell!, jails and deportations - politlcal reallsm therefore demands that the feellngs and thoughts of the centra! European natlons be respeeted and that they be convlnced about tbe fulflllment of thelr natlonal asolrations In a manner which they can un<reratand. To speak or the lndivldual natlons of centra! Europé In a language whlch necessarily remlnrls them of an unhappy past, to speak to them about democra.cy by means of people, who in a large measure caused the present tragic sltuation In the indlvidual centra! European countries and are at the same representatives of reglmes and state formatlon.c: wbtch evoke only resentments, cannot be regarded as an a.ct elther polltlcally wlse or leadlng to su~ess. Sucb a campaign could evoke In the centra! European natlons the Idea that lt lt< concerned only with the restoratlon of reglmes and formatlons which exlsted In centra! Europe be!ore the communlst aggresslon and whlcb, in a large measure, were neither democratlc nor deslrable. The cboiťe of representatlvea of the varlous nattons la unfortnnate. In the case of the Czech and Slovak representatlves especla.lly, lt has been most unfortunate. Tbey are not the cholce of the peoples <1oncerned, hence cannot truly represent them. Thelr past ls tafnted wlth Jack of political honor, lmperial1stic deslgns al)d collaboratlon w1tb commtmism. To present sneh people as "representatlves" ot the!r �SLOVAKIA 11 rt>s~ i vé ná.tions means a s.ad lack ' of knowledge or just plain .deception. It certainly 1s not wise or tactful tl> place before the mlcrol)'hone indivlduals who, after t be " liberatiôn" or -1945, collaborated as fellowtravelers with the Soviet occupation forces in the countrles b.ehlnd t he .iron Curtain and helped to break the mora! resis tance of theľr peoples. To dľe ánd. expose oneselr to the danger of gallows and concentration camps certainly cannot be expected under such circumstanees trom .centra! European nations, even though we speak to them about di--mocracy for which they c rave. The great idea of democratic freedoms; respec t {or the human pers on and individual lights sounds lronica.l when it lssues from the mouths of people who together witb t he communis ts voted tbP. laws to establish concentration camps, suppressed f~eedoro of tbe press, retreated cowardly to communlst aggression for fear of losing their own careers or property, and also had a part in other c rimes of post-war reglmes in the states of eastern Europe. The campaign for democ racy in central ancl eastern Europe can be s uécess rut only if 1t s hall not use and feature people who com11romised with collaboration with communism. hut shall eogage representativés without chauvinistic and imperialistic tendencies who are figbting for s uch a democ ratlc order in centra! Europe, In whicb every ,,ation would enjoy equality and frE'ellOm and also wouid have safe,:uarded its own se ,·nrity from outs ide at tacks . • • • WHO SAID IT? " And wha t could the Czech s expect from the ir imperiaJists, from tbe followe rs of tbe late Beneš? Should t hey risk their lives for another Government cons tituted abroa d •- an exiled Government whlch. in 1945, in collaboratlon wlth the Bolsheviks, murdered thousands of Czec hs on tbe pretext that they we re Nazi collaborators? Should the s ame people. installed once more by a forelgn power, massacre more t housands of Czechs as Bolsbevik collaborators? Should the Czech■ rise up and die for Mr. Ripka, who, during the war, told them from London that Ruaaian Bolshevism ia a continuance of Christianity? ... Amerlcans se11ing de mocracy in this way are doing ve ry bad bus iness." - {The Czech "PRAVDA.'" - London. June 1951) . • "We Slovak s and Czecbs also want to add our bit of joy to this great holiday of the USSR. . . . In honor oť the USSR our flags wave on our homes and In bis hea rt every Joyal cltizen or the Czecho,:iovak Republi c loves to remember our closest e astern neighbor. our frielld and loyal ally to whom we a re bound with deepť.st gratltude.. . . And, flnally, we are aware of the fact that it was the soldier of the USS R who de facto liberated us on our territory. The chairman of the Constltutional National Assembly, Mr. David, in bis speech on the ocťasion of the great hollday of the USSR quoted the words or Joseph Holeček. tbe Czecb writer. that "a Czech will actually be free onty when the RuHian soldier walk■ through the street■ of Prague." {Cbarles Hu§ek. Editor of CAS, the otriclal organ or L e ttrlch's Democratlc Party, November 7, 1947.) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1952, Vol. 2 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1952 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 3), March 1952.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 4), August 1952.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 5), December 1952.</li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document S LOVAKIA: 69 THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY IN CENTRAL EOROPE D R. J OSEPH KI RSCH BAUM By the menits o! some pollllcal iustitutlons of the United States, of which U1e best known !s the National Commlttee for a Free Europe, there began, over a year ago a large and costly campa!gn in the interest of democracy In centra! and eastern Europe, which up to that línie had beeu domlnated by Moscow and the communi&t regimes instailed by it. The action certainly is most welcome, because .it means not only the streng,thening of the political forces ,vai!ch are flghting in th.e individual coun,trles behind the Iron Curtaín, in the shadow ot the gallows and con centration camps, a herolc flght for the freedom and democratic future of the!r own natlons, but also it is supJiosed to brlng the concepts of the democratic way of life into tl)e souls of nations which thus far have always lived under regimes as sulted the great power that ruled over the eastern pa,·t of Europe - never, bowever, under a real democratic regime. "Dad admlnistratlon and ignorant al)d irresponsible ruling c lass," aľc-ordlng to Hngh Seton-Watson, "finally destroyed aJI hope of real Democracy in Eastern Europe between t he wars ..." (Eastern l:urope Between the Wars. pg. 154, 265-266). Let u.s allow. however, that the oplnion of Seton-Watson is a bil loo severe, even then the sad fact remalns that the natlons of cent ra! and eastern Europe were not given the opportunity to live under a rule of democratic regimes long enough so that at Jeast in one generatlon democratic principles could take root and give rise to democratic- traditions. Attempts to install democratic reglmes after the first World War ended in a very s bort time In dictatorships e!ther of ~roups or of indlviduals (Polanc\ in 1926, YugosJavla in 1929, and later, but before World War II. ·Rumanla. Bulgaria and Au.stria). In Czechoslovakia, which formally preserved a democratlc facade, but in fact was in a very large measure a democracy "only for tbe Cze<'hs," as Robert Ingrim state<l in bis book "After Hitler Stalin ?" - or as Dr. Milan Hodža admitted more delicately In bis book "Federallon In Centra! Europe": "it also had a substantial share of errors." De mocracy, therefore, has only a few traditions in ea.s,tern Europe, but the ground is, nevertbeless, favorable for it, inasmuch as the social structure and spirituaJ tradltlons of the centra! Europeil.n nations rest on principles that are favorable to democracy. Tbe success of the efforts of the West, and especially the success of t.he action wbich ls belng unfolded by the National Committee for' a Frée :E::urope which appar-ently aims to gain the centra) European na,tions for democracy and the fight for it, depends, nevertheless, on the fulfillment of rertain basic ps ycbological s upposltions, wbicb are: l. Every nation of centra) and east Europe must be addressed in its own tongue and In the spirit or lts tradlllons and its mentality; 2. The campaign for democrary must not be misused for tbe renovation of such politiral formatlons wbiťb the majority of its inhabitants do not <lesire. 60 SLOV.AKIA 3. The centra) ·European natlons should not be addressed by persons, who, rightly or not. are regarded in the eyes of the lnd1vidu1'1 centra) European natlons as responsible for their traglc sltuatlon beeause ot thelr colla.boration with communi.sm. 4. These natlons must see a ehanrt> or real demotracy and real freedom in their countries. The fulfillment or these condltlons for the success oi th~ ca.mpa.ign for democracy in centra! Europe is demandAd not only tn capture the good will of the centra! Europea.n natlons. hut ·,lt!C cor reasons whicb are deeply rooted 1n the views and con·:lctlons of tbe ind!Vidua.1 natlons of central and eastern Europe: In thelr polltlcal a.spira.t!ons and also In no small mea.s ure in thelr hlstorical remtnlscences and resentments. ?.fany of the central European nations throughout whole generations often fought bloody battles to preserve thelr national ldentitles and tbelr languages and. 1berefore, the questlon of "wbo speaks to them In wha.t la.nguage" la a.II the more sensltlve wlth them than po)jtical circles of the West, often only superfl-cially and tendenciously a.C(luainted with the problems or eastern Europe, can real1ze. Regardless of the fa.cl whether a.ny one agrees with this or not, lt remalns an lndlsputable fact that natlonallsm today ls evldently more than ever before the most powerful pol!tical force In eastern Europe and is more lnslstently striVing tor priority before historlcal conslderatlons which have been reduced to absurdity by new events. Furthermore, there ls also the fact t hat for every central European natlon the cllmax ot lts polltical a.splrations is poHtlcal lndependence and equality, also that these natlons are convln<1ed tbat ft is only on the basls of democracy that they can claim equality and lndependence. To gain tbe centra) European nations for the fight agafnst the enemy - who on tbe Jeast expressfon of reslstance answers with gallows, bnllell!, jails and deportations - politlcal reallsm therefore demands that the feellngs and thoughts of the centra! European natlons be respeeted and that they be convlnced about tbe fulflllment of thelr natlonal asolrations In a manner which they can un<reratand. To speak or the lndivldual natlons of centra! Europé In a language whlch necessarily remlnrls them of an unhappy past, to speak to them about democra.cy by means of people, who in a large measure caused the present tragic sltuation In the indlvidual centra! European countries and are at the same representatives of reglmes and state formatlon.c: wbtch evoke only resentments, cannot be regarded as an a.ct elther polltlcally wlse or leadlng to su~ess. Sucb a campaign could evoke In the centra! European natlons the Idea that lt lt< concerned only with the restoratlon of reglmes and formatlons which exlsted In centra! Europe be!ore the communlst aggresslon and whlcb, in a large measure, were neither democratlc nor deslrable. The cboiťe of representatlvea of the varlous nattons la unfortnnate. In the case of the Czech and Slovak representatlves especla.lly, lt has been most unfortunate. Tbey are not the cholce of the peoples <1oncerned, hence cannot truly represent them. Thelr past ls tafnted wlth Jack of political honor, lmperial1stic deslgns al)d collaboratlon w1tb commtmism. To present sneh people as "representatlves" ot the!r SLOVAKIA 11 rt>s~ i vé ná.tions means a s.ad lack ' of knowledge or just plain .deception. It certainly 1s not wise or tactful tl> place before the mlcrol)'hone indivlduals who, after t be " liberatiôn" or -1945, collaborated as fellowtravelers with the Soviet occupation forces in the countrles b.ehlnd t he .iron Curtain and helped to break the mora! resis tance of theľr peoples. To dľe ánd. expose oneselr to the danger of gallows and concentration camps certainly cannot be expected under such circumstanees trom .centra! European nations, even though we speak to them about di--mocracy for which they c rave. The great idea of democratic freedoms; respec t {or the human pers on and individual lights sounds lronica.l when it lssues from the mouths of people who together witb t he communis ts voted tbP. laws to establish concentration camps, suppressed f~eedoro of tbe press, retreated cowardly to communlst aggression for fear of losing their own careers or property, and also had a part in other c rimes of post-war reglmes in the states of eastern Europe. The campaign for democ racy in central ancl eastern Europe can be s uécess rut only if 1t s hall not use and feature people who com11romised with collaboration with communism. hut shall eogage representativés without chauvinistic and imperialistic tendencies who are figbting for s uch a democ ratlc order in centra! Europe, In whicb every ,,ation would enjoy equality and frE'ellOm and also wouid have safe,:uarded its own se ,·nrity from outs ide at tacks . • • • WHO SAID IT? " And wha t could the Czech s expect from the ir imperiaJists, from tbe followe rs of tbe late Beneš? Should t hey risk their lives for another Government cons tituted abroa d •- an exiled Government whlch. in 1945, in collaboratlon wlth the Bolsheviks, murdered thousands of Czec hs on tbe pretext that they we re Nazi collaborators? Should the s ame people. installed once more by a forelgn power, massacre more t housands of Czechs as Bolsbevik collaborators? Should the Czech■ rise up and die for Mr. Ripka, who, during the war, told them from London that Ruaaian Bolshevism ia a continuance of Christianity? ... Amerlcans se11ing de mocracy in this way are doing ve ry bad bus iness." - {The Czech "PRAVDA.'" - London. June 1951) . • "We Slovak s and Czecbs also want to add our bit of joy to this great holiday of the USSR. . . . In honor oť the USSR our flags wave on our homes and In bis hea rt every Joyal cltizen or the Czecho,:iovak Republi c loves to remember our closest e astern neighbor. our frielld and loyal ally to whom we a re bound with deepť.st gratltude.. . . And, flnally, we are aware of the fact that it was the soldier of the USS R who de facto liberated us on our territory. The chairman of the Constltutional National Assembly, Mr. David, in bis speech on the ocťasion of the great hollday of the USSR quoted the words or Joseph Holeček. tbe Czecb writer. that "a Czech will actually be free onty when the RuHian soldier walk■ through the street■ of Prague." {Cbarles Hu§ek. Editor of CAS, the otriclal organ or L e ttrlch's Democratlc Party, November 7, 1947.)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Fight for Democracy in Central Europe Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 2, No. 2 (4), August 1952 pp. 59-61 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 1952 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/bf790366e4f46ef61e114e865e4a60e8.pdf 6d8b53718545dade60db6cc05e04f709 PDF Text Text MARCH, 1952. SLOVAKIA 1 THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC Dr. Joseph Cieker From the very beginning of its history the Slovak nation endeavored to attain a full natlonal and political life. From the standpoint of history, the substance of the development of the Slovaks has not changed. Not all natlons developed in the same manner. Many nations lived in such an environment and under such conditions that their norma! life was not hindered by serious obstacles and they <;ould, therefore, develop to state and national perfectlon more rapidJy t han the nations which, on the road of their development, met with many obstacles - some of which were insurmountable. More than one nation spent its blood in wars and disappeared from the history of Europe. We Slovaks, too, frequently found ourselves exhausted by wars, and at times it appeared to us we might not be strong enough to overcome the obstacles thrust in our path by foreigners and also renegades from our own ranks. Despite the extreme material and biological losses, the Slovak nation, nevertheless, successfully won a place of equality among the nations of Europe and the world and proved its maturity in its own independent Slovak State. In the development of the Slovak nation, there existed a constant continuity even though many falled to see it and some even denied it. Loyal Slovak sons, who were entrusted wlth the responsible task of leadership In Slovak national and political life, believed In this contlnuity of the Slovak spirit wbich glistened so brightly ln real expression on the throne of the first Slovak rulers and then on the chair of the first President of the Slovak Republlc. The elderly Archbishop of Nitra, Dr. Char.les Kmeťko, gave testimony of tbis continuity of the hlstorical evolution of tbe Slovak natíon when, looking at Presldent Dr. .Joseph Tiso in the Bratislava National Court, he said: "This man was, after Svätopluk, our second bead." Austrian emperors and Hungarian klngs were not "our heads" or rulers because of the free will of the Slovak nation. But nelther was T. G. Masaryk, nor Dr. Edward Beneš; nor is Clement Gottwald the "head" of the Slovak nation. From the standpoint of this historical continuity, "our head" can be, and shall be able to be, only the man who shall be placed on the empty chalr of the president of tbe Slovak Republic by the will of the people and in the intent of the national and Ohristian traditions of the Slovak people. How extremely difficult was the road travelled by the Slovak nation - from the times of Svätopluk all the way to Dr. Joseph Tlso - was clearly demonstrated when counter forces tried to destroy the work of the Slovak spirit, es,pecially when they removed in crimlnal fashion the representatlves and Jiving expresslons of the Slovak will from the leadership of Slovak national and politlcal life. The more concrete the form of realizing Slovak aims, the more cruelly all alien and anti-Slovak forces intervened. That is why the work of the Slovak State, wben it proved itself to be on a European and world level, evoked so much concentrated crlmlnality and revenge from the enemies of Slovak independence, the likes of wblch not a single clvilized and cultured nation had ever seen. �2 SLOVAKIA The anti-Slovak forces were symbolized by one of the most des-picalble phenomena of the Czech nation and of contemporary European history, Dr. Edward Beneš. Knowlng that they could not be a ble to destroy the blessed achievements of S lovak vlctory - the Slovak Republíc - they dld not hesitate to ask the help of the criminal forces of the anti-European and anti-Cbristian conspiracy whicb was organized and led by the Kremlln. At the moment of the bistorlcal duel, there remained on the side of the Slovak Republic only the falthful Slovak race and its sons, who were determined and prepared to die as martyrs for the rights of the Slovak nation. Against the Slovak 1Republic was the world public, which had been charmed by the falsehoods and frauds of Dr. Ed· ward Beneš. Thirsting for Slovak blood, designated wlth Cain's mark on their forehads, armed wlth all the means of Soviet justice and prot0i)ted by the military, political and police might of the Soviet Union, the wards of Dr. Edward Beneš-of Czech and Slovak originset out wlth a vengeance against the Joya.l sons of the Slovak nation who were armed only with prayerbooks and the Jegal code of the Christian world-outlook. At the same Ume few people In Europe and in the world comprehended the extent of the treason, the victim of which was the Christian Slovak natlon and the Jegal expression of its will - the Slovak State. Very few people in Europe and in the world realized the im· mensity of the treason of Dr. Edward Beneš, his Czech polítical companions and the individuals of Slovak origin who had united with them in crlme. This anti-Slovak consplracy, which was the beginning of the anti-European and anti-Christlan consplracy of internationa.l Communism, was determlned to destroy the Slovak Republlc, the expression of right and justice. But the means valld up to that tíme did not suffice for the conspirators, so they acted according to the new laws, which were created by the philosophy of violence and Communist crime. To destroy the Slovak State, this conspiratorial, anti-Slovak assoclatlon needed the entire apparatus of terror whlch was used and legallzed by the Soviet system. The Slovak nation succumbed to thls vlolence and temporarily was deprlved of its own State. "After Svätopluk our second head" the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Joseph Tiso - was indicted, tried, convlcted and executed according to the manner of the Communlst system. Fully aware of thls historical crime and with the consent of hls own Government and full co-responsiblllty of his own executive organs on the territory of the Slovak State, which according to thelr own admission "ruled themselves," Dr. Edward Beneš intervened In the bloodiest manner in thls hlstorlcal development of tbe Slovak natlon, tbereby deflnltely intending to sever the lndestructlble contlnulty of the Slovak spirit. On tbis hlstorical background, there comes before tbe eyes of the contemporary Slovak generation and tbe eyes of contemporary Europe and the world the human and politlcal protile of tbe President of the Slovak Republlc, Joseph Tiso. From tbe Slovak view·point, as well as that of universal history, the greatness of his martyr's death has attained such a degree, that it has placed the figme of Joseph Tlso among the bravest, the noblest and morally perfect expresslons of human effort !or good, for justice, and for right and freedom. His phy- �SLOVAKIA a sical appearance is today crowned with a legendary halo, wbicb to date no member of tbe Slovak natlon bas attained. Every Slovak son and daugbter was acquainted wltb Tiso, because Tiso as priest, as politician, as man, and even as president, was in daily contact wlth Slovak life. And thougb tbe martyr's deatb ba.s enbanced the political and human profile of Joseph Tiso over any otber, as well as the degree of pel'fectlon of the Slov3k spirit atta1ned from a moral, religious, national, polltlcal and world vlewpoint, bis immortal and live presence bas become tbe most su:bstantlal part of the tbinking of the Slovak man today and shall be a constant stimulator of bis· spirit. Tbe more tragic and dark the background from wbicb appears tbe clean and bright pbenomenon of tbe personality of Josepb Tlso, tbe more impassable tbe aibyss between tbe Slovak nation and tbe conspirators against its freedom. Tbe martyr's deatb of Joseph T iso and its glorification cannot be and shall not b e separated from this background, in which - in a union sealed with a treaty or treason, blood and crime - moves a bout and shall eternally appear tbe repulsive face of Dr. Edward Beneš, marked wlth the spittle of revenge, on wbich no artist and no propaganda procedure s hall be able to elicit a smile of a clean conscience. On this bistorlcal b ackground, worthy of Dante's interno, in an equal mora! ugliness sball eternally find tbemselves the individuals, wbo consldered it an honor to besmirch their consciences ,ľitb tbe biood of Slovak sons and whose only vietory is tbe temporary destruction of Slovak independence. These men, being branded wltb tbe mark of Communlsm, bave followed thelr master, Edward Beneš, on the stage of Slovak tragedy, The present Slovak tragedy has attained sucb dlmenslons that not only the intellectual groups of a Slovak generatlon, but even tbe wbole Slovak natlon collectively have been affected by lt. Never b efore in the history of tbe Slovak people did it happen tbat every Slovak man, woman and child were the llvlng partlcipants of the mora! and material destruction caused by tbe conspirators against Slovak statebood. Even if we can comprebend the revenge of Edward Beneš and bis Czecb companlons on the Slovak Nation as an interventlon of negatíve forces in the Divine plans, we cannot understancl, and so much the less excuse, the actlve partlc!patlon in it of tbe lndlvlduals of Slovak origin, wbo renderecl servlce to aliens and consplred agalnst the life of the nation t hey are clescended from. The terrible contrast between the reality of the Slovak State and tbe "acquisitlons of tbe glorious national insurrectlon." which was insplrecl by foreign interests, led by Slovak renegades and climaxed by total communlstlc terror is, and forever shall be, the final sketcher of the political and human profile of ťhe personlflei- of Slovak State lndependence, J oseph Tiso, and the mora! and political degeneracy of those who are In a run measure responsible for the present servlle position of the Slovak nation. From the viewpoint of historical perspective. not only the Slovak 11atlon, but even the whole world sees today the immensity of the sacrifice of a son, loyal to God and nation, was able to make and, on tbe other hand, tbe immenslty of the treason and the consequences emanating from the gullt of those who, silencing wlthin themselv~ the outcry of conscience, rejected from their declsions and acts the law of God and th e Jaw of the natlon. �4 SLOVAKIA To make the human and political profile of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic more expressive, no Slovak needs any syntbetic beautifying mediums, because bis pbysical and spiritua,l features were tbe work of tbe Hands of God and tbe bealtby, religious environment of tbe Slovak nation. On thls face glowed tbe fire of tbe servant of God and nation to tbe very last moment of bis eartbly life. Josepb Tiso was not a complicated, but a clear, clean and transparent pbenomenon; just as uncomplicated, clear, clean and transparent as has been tbe natural cbaracter of tbe Slovak person for generations. Slovak bistory will not bave to searcb for reasons for tbe !ega! connection of the Slovak acts, which form a segment of tbe life of tbe Slovak State, because these acts were explained by the crystal-clear deeds of President Tiso himself. On August 16, 1938, when J oseph Tiso was partlng with the deceased Andrew Hlinka on the Ružomberok Square in the name or the whole Slovak nation, his words sound<ld like the eternal voice of the Slovak spirit, which when silenced on the li,ps of one, are heard by the living nation on the lips of another. This uninterrupted thread of Slovak evo\utlon was handed over to Joseph Tiso by Andrew Hlinka. ' Never was Andrew Hlinka so great in life, as his death has shown bim to be," said Tlso over the casket of the spiritual soverelgn of the Slovak peopl e. "Andrew Hlinka was great during bis lifetime, because he dedicated his liťe to a great idea-and he appeared great a t death, because hls death, attestlng faitbful service to his great idea to the very end, places bim in the gallery of the spiritual heroes of the Slovak nation. The idea of an independent Slovak natlon was the source of bis boundless love for the Slovak natíon, which led and took on higb tbe life of Andrew Hlinka. As a result of bis being elevated to the priestbood of the New Testament, his love for hls people received a special blessing and intensity: by becoming a servant of Christ, he became tbe servant of a grandiose idea - whlch in relation to patriotism meant that he became the servant of an idea, offerlng himself and all bis possessions on the altar of tbat same idea. "Hlinka, priest and patriot, lived in the deep conviction that he was not serving a trivial idea, a superflcial thing, but a cause tbat had deep roots in a 1000-year-old pa.st and in the Christian order of the life of bis nation in the present. In this bigher consecration, bis patriotism did not mean only persona! fancy and momentary satisfaction, but it meant dedicating and sacriflclng bis wbole being - constantly and unreservedly, un'Ceaslngly and tirelessly - because even in bis patriotism he felt that he was a prlest of God who was making a sacriflce - a full-time and lifetime sacrifice in the sense of bis full-time and lifetime priestly character. That is why bis work for bis Slovak people was a figbt - not a struggle for power and glory, but a sacred fight always in the defense of tbe most sacred values, so dear to all members of our nation: our national rigbts, po\itica\ rights, cultural and economic rights. As it bebooves a person dedi· cated to tbe service of an idea, bis fight was an ideological fight. The great Idea of a Divine Order was connected with the idea of a distinct Slovak nation to feed the two-win~ed flame which filled bis mind and bis heart and governed bis whole life. Ideally inflamed, Hlinka waged this sacred fight under difficult circumstances; he �SLOVAKIA 6 fought against overwhelming odds. Yet never did he retreat trom anyone or anything, because he did not doubt tbe naturalness of the right of bis own people to its own life; and he believed in the future of bis nation, because it held fast to the space allotted it by God in the family of otber nations. He bore within himself the conviction of a chosen leader of his people with whom he lived in the most intimate union, along with whom he fought in the land of the Pharaohs, and whom he was to lead into the promised land." It was thus that Tiso described the political and human profile of Andrew Hlinka. And in this profile of the spiritual sovereign of the Slovak nation, Andrew Hlinka, in substance were also found all the traits of the human and political features of Joseph Tiso. The physical person was not the same, but what was substantial, splritual and eternal remained - as proof of the continuity of Slovak life. All the cbaracteristics which adorned the priestly and polltlcal personality or Andrew Hlinka, also adorned bis successor in the management of the destinies of the Slovak people, Dr..Joseph Tiso. Service to God and nation. however, exacted from Joseph Tiso the maximum that a person possibly could give. What Joseph Tiso said at the final parting with Andrew Hlinka was not only so many beautiful words, but a great and heroic act, which attalned its perfect expresslon in the existenee of the Slovak Republic during his presldency - one that was confirmed before the Slovak natlon and before the whole cultured and civilized world with bis martyr's death. We can thank Divine Providencť' and the living continuity of the Slovak spirit that during the most decisive phase of Slovak and world bistory, the Slovak nation decided of it~ own free will to place in the chair of Svätopluk a man of the people who ťarried In hls heart and soul the spark of consecration which was given the Slovak natlon as a dowry at the dawn of its history. That is why the political and human work of Joseph Tiso attainecl such a mora! ancl historical value, the value of which will be recognized even if only one member of the Slovak nation remains on earth. Joseph Tiso did not get on the throne of Slovak rulers by the coincidence of subordinate circumstances, because even the realization of state independence was not the result of an accident. Just as state independence was the ripe fruit on the tree of life of Slovak gnerations, just so its visible head was the mature offspring of Slovak ideological, mora) and spiritual development. Even lf Joseph Tiso personally as a man would not have wanted to be the president of the Slovak Republic, he simply had to be, because at the tlme of the proclamation of Slovak independence he was the acknowledged ruler of the collective will of the Slovak people. Just as 'ľiso dld not seek the oHlce of president as man and priest, just so he hearkened to the voice of the Slovak genle and accepted the presidency from the qualified representatlves of the nation as a supreme obllgatlon - a duty which he performed faithfully and well to the very last moment of his life.. Jf Joseph Tiso devoted hlmself to tbe national service or the Slovak cause, then he diel so in full responsibílity of hls historlc missión. That is why he did not hesitate even for a moment In the face of seduction and vlolence. The presldent of the Slovak Republlc could not recant or even betray anything. That is why Josepb Tlso, after �6 SLOVAKIA acceptlng the office of Pľesident with so much self-immolation, stirred the whole Slovak nation iuto a building effoľt; that is why he defended before a non-Slovak court the work of tbe Slovak RepubJic with such dignity; and that is why, being fully aware that he pertormed his duties as well as he could, Tlso could bless bis [aithful people even from the shadow of the gallows. The human accomplisbments of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic were destined not only by bis priestly character, but also by tbe whole character of a son of the Slovak nation, who never strayed from Slovak and Cbristian trad!tions. No matter how hard the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court tried, it could not prove that Joseph Tiso wa.s gu!lty of acts tbat ran counter to natural and Slovak laws, or were contrary to mora! law. Tbat is why tbe Slova:k nat!on regarded the conviction and execution of .Josepb Tiso as a dellberate, prnmeditated and executed crime. And lt s ball regard it so for all time. The political work of tbe President of the Slovak Republic, serving the welfare o f tbe entire Slovak nation, created such conditions for tbe Slovak natlon so that it could wltbin the framework of !ts state boundaries prove its capabllity to live and so that in its international relationsbip it could gain recognition. Joseph Tiso, placed on the throne of an independent Slovak ruler, did not play the politics of Moscow, Berlin, Dudapest, Paris, London, or Washington, but worked the policy of Bratisla va, the cap!tal city 9f tbe independent State of Slovakia. He worked that pol!cy under ihe given pol!tlcal, geographical and internat!onal circumstances; and he had to work it in sucb a way so that the interests of the Slovak natlon and its State were safeguarded as well as possilble in tbis play of opposing forces. Josepb Tiso could not consplre against the work of Slovak hlstory and. therefore, no otber conception except the pnrely Slovak and state conception could be acceptable for him as well as tbe entlre Slovak nation. He did not regard the existence of the Slovak State as a debatable question. Just as the Slovak nation existed, so the Slovak State also had to exist. " This standpoint - which was not only bis, but tbe whole Slovak nation's as well - was incompatible with the view beld by Dr. Edward Beneš and dictated by him to his lackeys - the renegades of Slovak descent on the territory of t he Slovak State - first from London, then from Moscow and finally from Prague. · Joseph Tiso was so deeply convinced about the propriety of bis llecisions as President tha.t he did not hesitate to state before the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court which was trying bim: "If in the fLÍture it were g!ven to me to concern myself wlth politics, under such circumstances as obtained in 1919-1945, I would follow the same polic!es that I did at that Ume." Looklng over the picture of the human and political profile of tbe f!rst President of tbe Slovak Republic, wbo already today appears in tbe halo of a martyr in the eyes of Europe and the world, we cannot help but be convinced that Joseph Tlso preceded t he development of European and un!versal realities of today, so tbat he could indicate the return of those eternal, mora! and polltlcal values. wbich in today'$ change or the world order have, as lt were, temporarily g!ven place and reign to the forces of the human peripbery �SLOVAKIA 7 which is guided by the Iaw of the jungle. His profile appears on the background of this shocking tragedy, wbich 1s not only natlonal, but European as welJ. The Chrlstlan and natlonal values, whlch Joseph Tlso personified In a form thus far unattalned by any Slovak, were and are being torn out of the body of the Slovak natlon, and In their place was and is being forced the criminal phllosophy and morality or Godless Communism. On the European and world stage the equllibrium o! mora! and polltical order was vlolated, and the declared and proven criminallty of Communism was accepted as the equivalent com• ponent of the hnman struggle for a better tomorow. Using sneh unChristian and unhistorical yardstlcks, the human and politlcal pro• file of the President of the Slovak Republic was regarded as sometbing that does not fall into tbe accepted norms of chaos, wbich was tbe result of tbe aggressiveness and perfidiousness of the CommunLstlc system and of the cowardice and appeasement of a world, whlch, of course, did say that it is llving in Christian and democrat!c forms, but was in fact, willlng to lend itself to a suicidal experiment in an alliance witb Communlsm. That !s why the voice of Joseph Tiso was silenced - the voice which defended truth and Christian morality, tbe freedom ot tbe Slovak people and its State; tbe volce that cried out agalnst Communlsm and for European and Christian cultnre. During tbe reign ot pol!tlcaJ and moral chaos, which was instaJJed totally in Slovakia and partially In tbe rest of Europe, the voice of the just confessor of universal moral principles was a volce crying In tbe wilderness. Al that Ume the crimlnal morality of tbe non-Slovak and non-Cbrlstian court In Bratis lava was accepted as tbe norma! form of justice. It took a long tlme for the West to become sat!ated wlth thls unnatural concublnage with the Soviet system and finally declde to defend wbat Communlsm did not as yet have t!me to conquer. Edward Beneš, his people and the renegades of Slovak origin joined witb them, taking advantage of the moral and politlcal chaos of the world and using the norms of communlstlc lies and deceptlon, wanted to present the pol!t!cal and human profile of Joseph Tiso in s uch a way as to evoke averslon. They succeeded in thls, but only temporarily. As long as the world accepted Stalln as the representatlve ot the most perfect democracy, whlle Dimltrov was a model of nobility, as long as Tito was an angel of justlce, wh!le Rákos! was recognlzed as a norm ot tolerance, as long as Anna Pauker, Palmlro Togl!atti, M:aurlce Tborez and Wllliam Pleck were the hope of European brotherhood, and whlle Edward Beneš, Clement Gottwald and thelr companlone qualified as bu!lders of the brldge between the West and the East - the Presldent ot the Slovak Republ!c, Dr. Joseph Tlso, was a phenomenon who slmply dld not belong in Europe. And Joseph Tlso and the Slovak nation did not want a martyr for the falth ot Christ, for a Christian and just Europe and for the Slovak Republic to belong to the gallery of these representatlves ot dera!led Europe. The unreal conception about the posslbility or normal cohabltation of two irreconcilable world outlooks - the Communlst and the Chrlstian - was bullt on deceptlon and violence, on the basis of a philosophy or falsehood and crime, on cowardlce and apostasy. On the basls ot this unnatural concept!on, it was allowed, with the concurrence of the cultured and civilized world, to lead the head of the �8 SLOVAKIA Slovak State to the gallows despite the fact that he was a priest of the Catholic Church who never violated Her doctrines or Her ia,ws; and despite the fact that Tiso was a man of spotless life and a patriot of the highest level; and despite the fact that Tiso was the freely and democratically elected head of a recognized and orderly European State. Over Joseph Tiso, under whose government no one was executed, the verdict of death was dictated by Edward Beneš, a foreigner by blood and spirit in the eyes of the Slovaks, who perpetrated so much damage on Slovak life and property that as long as a Slovak s hall be a Slovak, the mere mentlon of Beneš's name will always inspire mora! repugnance and eternal condemnation. J oseph Tiso - who conducted himself in accordance to the existing cons<titutional and controlllng institutions, as well as the highest authority of God, that Divine Law and Catholic doctrine which he professed and upheld from childhood a11 the way up to the gallows was tried and convicted by Edward Beneš who - even though he had at hand a "freely" elected parliament ready to do his vengeful bidding - Jistened to and was guided by no one except Stalin and himself. Beneš listened only to himself and hls own voice, which was slngularly full of hatred for everything Slovak, and obeyed an unChristian and undemocratic instinct, which in the last years of his life, was centered entirely against the freedom and state independence of the Slovak nation. Individuals devoid of all morals wanted to teach the gospel to a noble, Catholic priest; w ealthy and corrupt men lec tured him a bout Christian soclology; Godless and faithless people with catechisms in their bloody hands tried bim; the destroyers and plu nderers of the national wealth of the Slovak people tried to show him how he should have defended Slovakia; the perpetrators o.f communist terror dared to speak about principles of Democracy and Christianity; cowards, who never had the courage to raise their voices in defense of Slovak interests, were presented to bim as roodels of heroism; the allies of Communism told bim about the "acquisition of the glo· rious insurrections;" traitors of tbe Slovak race tried to teacb hlm patriotism; the grave diggers of Slovak independence tried to convince hlm of the advantages of subordination of the Slovak nation within the framework of cobabitation with the Czechs. On such negative princ lples, drawn from Communist doctrines, they created the profile of Joseph Tlso. In the conflict with this pollUcal and moral underworld, wbich occupled the !and of the Slovaks and also prepared to enthrone its own government and its own principles in the rest of Europe, Joseph Tiso stood tbere before the Communist tribunal as a milestone on the threshold of two ages. The gallows erected in the courtyard of the Bratislava prison, on wbich the great S lovak, Christian, European beart of the first President of the Slovak Republic ceased beating - that is the symbol of the conflict for wblch Communism and its allies were preparing. It is the symbol of the determination shown by a man of European and world outlook, wbo foresaw not only the extent of his own sacrifice, but also its mora! lmportance at a Ume, when Europe and the world - returnlng to the trnditional Chrlstlan norms - would �SLOVAK.IA 9 weigb justly the mora! and political values not only of lndivlduals, but also of nations. Looking at the human and political profile of the President ot the Slovak Republic from this historical vantage point, it can be said that the Slovak nation, whích succumbed in the brutal conflict tor its own statehood in the Europe of yesterday and today - in which Beneš, and the Communist and pro-Communist alliance helping bim, had all the say about Slovakia - shall wln its just !Ight for the renewal of Slovak statehood in the Europe of tomorrow, where people of determin ation, goodness, noblesse, Christlan morali ty - Jike J oseph Tiso will appear on the stage o! European history. • • • WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TISO "The execution of Msgr. Joseph Tiso was a judicial murder and it is also a political murder. One can c riticize the polltics of the late Msgr. Joseph Tiso, disagree with it and fight against it wltb all of one's strength, but, according to my deep conviction, a man should not be murdered for his political activity which was in accord with the conviction of his nation and for which he had a motive in the development of political events durlng the flrst and second CzechoSlovak Republlcs and in the course followed by lts presidents and governments. It is a down-right travesty of justice that a Slovak, elected President of the Slovak Republic by a majority of the Slovak nation, be executed by the government of a self-appolnted presldent of the present 'Czechoslovak Republic,' who, accordlng to the laws of the First Republic, himself should first be tried and condemned." - Kare! Lochner, former Czecho-Slovak Consul, London, England, April 1947. • • • "American Slovak Catholic women were horrified at the igno· minious death of Monsignor Joseph Tiso. Greatly resent the ignoring of our plea and petition sent by cablegram to President Edward Be• neš and others from our Annual Board Meeting held F®ruary 27, 1947, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in behalf of our entire membership of 75,000 women and children. The wrath of the entire membership centers itself upon the leaders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. We hail )lonsignor Tiso as a martyr, dying for the cause of bis people." - Susan Matuscak, Secretary First Catholic Slovak Ladles Union, Cleveland, Ohio. • • • • • • "Tbe Czech governmeRt of presldent Edward Beneš sacrificed an opportunity of easing the tension between the Czechs and the Slovaks when it executed the Rev. Joseph Tiso." - Osservatore Romano, Yatican City, Haly. " The execution of Dr. Josepb Tiso, who loved bis people and served tbem conscientiously throughout bis life, wil\ undoubted\y inspire thousands of his brethren to contlnue the fight for the !nherent and God-given rights of tbe Slovak nation." - John Sabol, Secretary l•'irst Cathollc Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio. � MARCH, 1952. SLOVAKIA 1 THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC Dr. Joseph Cieker From the very beginning of its history the Slovak nation endeavored to attain a full natlonal and political life. From the standpoint of history, the substance of the development of the Slovaks has not changed. Not all natlons developed in the same manner. Many nations lived in such an environment and under such conditions that their norma! life was not hindered by serious obstacles and they <;ould, therefore, develop to state and national perfectlon more rapidJy t han the nations which, on the road of their development, met with many obstacles - some of which were insurmountable. More than one nation spent its blood in wars and disappeared from the history of Europe. We Slovaks, too, frequently found ourselves exhausted by wars, and at times it appeared to us we might not be strong enough to overcome the obstacles thrust in our path by foreigners and also renegades from our own ranks. Despite the extreme material and biological losses, the Slovak nation, nevertheless, successfully won a place of equality among the nations of Europe and the world and proved its maturity in its own independent Slovak State. In the development of the Slovak nation, there existed a constant continuity even though many falled to see it and some even denied it. Loyal Slovak sons, who were entrusted wlth the responsible task of leadership In Slovak national and political life, believed In this contlnuity of the Slovak spirit wbich glistened so brightly ln real expression on the throne of the first Slovak rulers and then on the chair of the first President of the Slovak Republlc. The elderly Archbishop of Nitra, Dr. Char.les Kmeťko, gave testimony of tbis continuity of the hlstorical evolution of tbe Slovak natíon when, looking at Presldent Dr. .Joseph Tiso in the Bratislava National Court, he said: "This man was, after Svätopluk, our second bead." Austrian emperors and Hungarian klngs were not "our heads" or rulers because of the free will of the Slovak nation. But nelther was T. G. Masaryk, nor Dr. Edward Beneš; nor is Clement Gottwald the "head" of the Slovak nation. From the standpoint of this historical continuity, "our head" can be, and shall be able to be, only the man who shall be placed on the empty chalr of the president of tbe Slovak Republic by the will of the people and in the intent of the national and Ohristian traditions of the Slovak people. How extremely difficult was the road travelled by the Slovak nation - from the times of Svätopluk all the way to Dr. Joseph Tlso - was clearly demonstrated when counter forces tried to destroy the work of the Slovak spirit, es,pecially when they removed in crimlnal fashion the representatlves and Jiving expresslons of the Slovak will from the leadership of Slovak national and politlcal life. The more concrete the form of realizing Slovak aims, the more cruelly all alien and anti-Slovak forces intervened. That is why the work of the Slovak State, wben it proved itself to be on a European and world level, evoked so much concentrated crlmlnality and revenge from the enemies of Slovak independence, the likes of wblch not a single clvilized and cultured nation had ever seen. �2 SLOVAKIA The anti-Slovak forces were symbolized by one of the most des-picalble phenomena of the Czech nation and of contemporary European history, Dr. Edward Beneš. Knowlng that they could not be a ble to destroy the blessed achievements of S lovak vlctory - the Slovak Republíc - they dld not hesitate to ask the help of the criminal forces of the anti-European and anti-Cbristian conspiracy whicb was organized and led by the Kremlln. At the moment of the bistorlcal duel, there remained on the side of the Slovak Republic only the falthful Slovak race and its sons, who were determined and prepared to die as martyrs for the rights of the Slovak nation. Against the Slovak 1Republic was the world public, which had been charmed by the falsehoods and frauds of Dr. Ed· ward Beneš. Thirsting for Slovak blood, designated wlth Cain's mark on their forehads, armed wlth all the means of Soviet justice and prot0i)ted by the military, political and police might of the Soviet Union, the wards of Dr. Edward Beneš-of Czech and Slovak originset out wlth a vengeance against the Joya.l sons of the Slovak nation who were armed only with prayerbooks and the Jegal code of the Christian world-outlook. At the same Ume few people In Europe and in the world comprehended the extent of the treason, the victim of which was the Christian Slovak natlon and the Jegal expression of its will - the Slovak State. Very few people in Europe and in the world realized the im· mensity of the treason of Dr. Edward Beneš, his Czech polítical companions and the individuals of Slovak origin who had united with them in crlme. This anti-Slovak consplracy, which was the beginning of the anti-European and anti-Christlan consplracy of internationa.l Communism, was determlned to destroy the Slovak Republlc, the expression of right and justice. But the means valld up to that tíme did not suffice for the conspirators, so they acted according to the new laws, which were created by the philosophy of violence and Communist crime. To destroy the Slovak State, this conspiratorial, anti-Slovak assoclatlon needed the entire apparatus of terror whlch was used and legallzed by the Soviet system. The Slovak nation succumbed to thls vlolence and temporarily was deprlved of its own State. "After Svätopluk our second head" the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Joseph Tiso - was indicted, tried, convlcted and executed according to the manner of the Communlst system. Fully aware of thls historical crime and with the consent of hls own Government and full co-responsiblllty of his own executive organs on the territory of the Slovak State, which according to thelr own admission "ruled themselves," Dr. Edward Beneš intervened In the bloodiest manner in thls hlstorlcal development of tbe Slovak natlon, tbereby deflnltely intending to sever the lndestructlble contlnulty of the Slovak spirit. On tbis hlstorical background, there comes before tbe eyes of the contemporary Slovak generation and tbe eyes of contemporary Europe and the world the human and politlcal protile of tbe President of the Slovak Republlc, Joseph Tiso. From tbe Slovak view·point, as well as that of universal history, the greatness of his martyr's death has attained such a degree, that it has placed the figme of Joseph Tlso among the bravest, the noblest and morally perfect expresslons of human effort !or good, for justice, and for right and freedom. His phy- �SLOVAKIA a sical appearance is today crowned with a legendary halo, wbicb to date no member of tbe Slovak natlon bas attained. Every Slovak son and daugbter was acquainted wltb Tiso, because Tiso as priest, as politician, as man, and even as president, was in daily contact wlth Slovak life. And thougb tbe martyr's deatb ba.s enbanced the political and human profile of Joseph Tiso over any otber, as well as the degree of pel'fectlon of the Slov3k spirit atta1ned from a moral, religious, national, polltlcal and world vlewpoint, bis immortal and live presence bas become tbe most su:bstantlal part of the tbinking of the Slovak man today and shall be a constant stimulator of bis· spirit. Tbe more tragic and dark the background from wbicb appears tbe clean and bright pbenomenon of tbe personality of Josepb Tlso, tbe more impassable tbe aibyss between tbe Slovak nation and tbe conspirators against its freedom. Tbe martyr's deatb of Joseph T iso and its glorification cannot be and shall not b e separated from this background, in which - in a union sealed with a treaty or treason, blood and crime - moves a bout and shall eternally appear tbe repulsive face of Dr. Edward Beneš, marked wlth the spittle of revenge, on wbich no artist and no propaganda procedure s hall be able to elicit a smile of a clean conscience. On this bistorlcal b ackground, worthy of Dante's interno, in an equal mora! ugliness sball eternally find tbemselves the individuals, wbo consldered it an honor to besmirch their consciences ,ľitb tbe biood of Slovak sons and whose only vietory is tbe temporary destruction of Slovak independence. These men, being branded wltb tbe mark of Communlsm, bave followed thelr master, Edward Beneš, on the stage of Slovak tragedy, The present Slovak tragedy has attained sucb dlmenslons that not only the intellectual groups of a Slovak generatlon, but even tbe wbole Slovak natlon collectively have been affected by lt. Never b efore in the history of tbe Slovak people did it happen tbat every Slovak man, woman and child were the llvlng partlcipants of the mora! and material destruction caused by tbe conspirators against Slovak statebood. Even if we can comprebend the revenge of Edward Beneš and bis Czecb companlons on the Slovak Nation as an interventlon of negatíve forces in the Divine plans, we cannot understancl, and so much the less excuse, the actlve partlc!patlon in it of tbe lndlvlduals of Slovak origin, wbo renderecl servlce to aliens and consplred agalnst the life of the nation t hey are clescended from. The terrible contrast between the reality of the Slovak State and tbe "acquisitlons of tbe glorious national insurrectlon." which was insplrecl by foreign interests, led by Slovak renegades and climaxed by total communlstlc terror is, and forever shall be, the final sketcher of the political and human profile of ťhe personlflei- of Slovak State lndependence, J oseph Tiso, and the mora! and political degeneracy of those who are In a run measure responsible for the present servlle position of the Slovak nation. From the viewpoint of historical perspective. not only the Slovak 11atlon, but even the whole world sees today the immensity of the sacrifice of a son, loyal to God and nation, was able to make and, on tbe other hand, tbe immenslty of the treason and the consequences emanating from the gullt of those who, silencing wlthin themselv~ the outcry of conscience, rejected from their declsions and acts the law of God and th e Jaw of the natlon. �4 SLOVAKIA To make the human and political profile of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic more expressive, no Slovak needs any syntbetic beautifying mediums, because bis pbysical and spiritua,l features were tbe work of tbe Hands of God and tbe bealtby, religious environment of tbe Slovak nation. On thls face glowed tbe fire of tbe servant of God and nation to tbe very last moment of bis eartbly life. Josepb Tiso was not a complicated, but a clear, clean and transparent pbenomenon; just as uncomplicated, clear, clean and transparent as has been tbe natural cbaracter of tbe Slovak person for generations. Slovak bistory will not bave to searcb for reasons for tbe !ega! connection of the Slovak acts, which form a segment of tbe life of tbe Slovak State, because these acts were explained by the crystal-clear deeds of President Tiso himself. On August 16, 1938, when J oseph Tiso was partlng with the deceased Andrew Hlinka on the Ružomberok Square in the name or the whole Slovak nation, his words sound<ld like the eternal voice of the Slovak spirit, which when silenced on the li,ps of one, are heard by the living nation on the lips of another. This uninterrupted thread of Slovak evo\utlon was handed over to Joseph Tiso by Andrew Hlinka. ' Never was Andrew Hlinka so great in life, as his death has shown bim to be," said Tlso over the casket of the spiritual soverelgn of the Slovak peopl e. "Andrew Hlinka was great during bis lifetime, because he dedicated his liťe to a great idea-and he appeared great a t death, because hls death, attestlng faitbful service to his great idea to the very end, places bim in the gallery of the spiritual heroes of the Slovak nation. The idea of an independent Slovak natlon was the source of bis boundless love for the Slovak natíon, which led and took on higb tbe life of Andrew Hlinka. As a result of bis being elevated to the priestbood of the New Testament, his love for hls people received a special blessing and intensity: by becoming a servant of Christ, he became tbe servant of a grandiose idea - whlch in relation to patriotism meant that he became the servant of an idea, offerlng himself and all bis possessions on the altar of tbat same idea. "Hlinka, priest and patriot, lived in the deep conviction that he was not serving a trivial idea, a superflcial thing, but a cause tbat had deep roots in a 1000-year-old pa.st and in the Christian order of the life of bis nation in the present. In this bigher consecration, bis patriotism did not mean only persona! fancy and momentary satisfaction, but it meant dedicating and sacriflclng bis wbole being - constantly and unreservedly, un'Ceaslngly and tirelessly - because even in bis patriotism he felt that he was a prlest of God who was making a sacriflce - a full-time and lifetime sacrifice in the sense of bis full-time and lifetime priestly character. That is why bis work for bis Slovak people was a figbt - not a struggle for power and glory, but a sacred fight always in the defense of tbe most sacred values, so dear to all members of our nation: our national rigbts, po\itica\ rights, cultural and economic rights. As it bebooves a person dedi· cated to tbe service of an idea, bis fight was an ideological fight. The great Idea of a Divine Order was connected with the idea of a distinct Slovak nation to feed the two-win~ed flame which filled bis mind and bis heart and governed bis whole life. Ideally inflamed, Hlinka waged this sacred fight under difficult circumstances; he �SLOVAKIA 6 fought against overwhelming odds. Yet never did he retreat trom anyone or anything, because he did not doubt tbe naturalness of the right of bis own people to its own life; and he believed in the future of bis nation, because it held fast to the space allotted it by God in the family of otber nations. He bore within himself the conviction of a chosen leader of his people with whom he lived in the most intimate union, along with whom he fought in the land of the Pharaohs, and whom he was to lead into the promised land." It was thus that Tiso described the political and human profile of Andrew Hlinka. And in this profile of the spiritual sovereign of the Slovak nation, Andrew Hlinka, in substance were also found all the traits of the human and political features of Joseph Tiso. The physical person was not the same, but what was substantial, splritual and eternal remained - as proof of the continuity of Slovak life. All the cbaracteristics which adorned the priestly and polltlcal personality or Andrew Hlinka, also adorned bis successor in the management of the destinies of the Slovak people, Dr..Joseph Tiso. Service to God and nation. however, exacted from Joseph Tiso the maximum that a person possibly could give. What Joseph Tiso said at the final parting with Andrew Hlinka was not only so many beautiful words, but a great and heroic act, which attalned its perfect expresslon in the existenee of the Slovak Republic during his presldency - one that was confirmed before the Slovak natlon and before the whole cultured and civilized world with bis martyr's death. We can thank Divine Providencť' and the living continuity of the Slovak spirit that during the most decisive phase of Slovak and world bistory, the Slovak nation decided of it~ own free will to place in the chair of Svätopluk a man of the people who ťarried In hls heart and soul the spark of consecration which was given the Slovak natlon as a dowry at the dawn of its history. That is why the political and human work of Joseph Tiso attainecl such a mora! ancl historical value, the value of which will be recognized even if only one member of the Slovak nation remains on earth. Joseph Tiso did not get on the throne of Slovak rulers by the coincidence of subordinate circumstances, because even the realization of state independence was not the result of an accident. Just as state independence was the ripe fruit on the tree of life of Slovak gnerations, just so its visible head was the mature offspring of Slovak ideological, mora) and spiritual development. Even lf Joseph Tiso personally as a man would not have wanted to be the president of the Slovak Republic, he simply had to be, because at the tlme of the proclamation of Slovak independence he was the acknowledged ruler of the collective will of the Slovak people. Just as 'ľiso dld not seek the oHlce of president as man and priest, just so he hearkened to the voice of the Slovak genle and accepted the presidency from the qualified representatlves of the nation as a supreme obllgatlon - a duty which he performed faithfully and well to the very last moment of his life.. Jf Joseph Tiso devoted hlmself to tbe national service or the Slovak cause, then he diel so in full responsibílity of hls historlc missión. That is why he did not hesitate even for a moment In the face of seduction and vlolence. The presldent of the Slovak Republlc could not recant or even betray anything. That is why Josepb Tlso, after �6 SLOVAKIA acceptlng the office of Pľesident with so much self-immolation, stirred the whole Slovak nation iuto a building effoľt; that is why he defended before a non-Slovak court the work of tbe Slovak RepubJic with such dignity; and that is why, being fully aware that he pertormed his duties as well as he could, Tlso could bless bis [aithful people even from the shadow of the gallows. The human accomplisbments of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic were destined not only by bis priestly character, but also by tbe whole character of a son of the Slovak nation, who never strayed from Slovak and Cbristian trad!tions. No matter how hard the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court tried, it could not prove that Joseph Tiso wa.s gu!lty of acts tbat ran counter to natural and Slovak laws, or were contrary to mora! law. Tbat is why tbe Slova:k nat!on regarded the conviction and execution of .Josepb Tiso as a dellberate, prnmeditated and executed crime. And lt s ball regard it so for all time. The political work of tbe President of the Slovak Republic, serving the welfare o f tbe entire Slovak nation, created such conditions for tbe Slovak natlon so that it could wltbin the framework of !ts state boundaries prove its capabllity to live and so that in its international relationsbip it could gain recognition. Joseph Tiso, placed on the throne of an independent Slovak ruler, did not play the politics of Moscow, Berlin, Dudapest, Paris, London, or Washington, but worked the policy of Bratisla va, the cap!tal city 9f tbe independent State of Slovakia. He worked that pol!cy under ihe given pol!tlcal, geographical and internat!onal circumstances; and he had to work it in sucb a way so that the interests of the Slovak natlon and its State were safeguarded as well as possilble in tbis play of opposing forces. Josepb Tiso could not consplre against the work of Slovak hlstory and. therefore, no otber conception except the pnrely Slovak and state conception could be acceptable for him as well as tbe entlre Slovak nation. He did not regard the existence of the Slovak State as a debatable question. Just as the Slovak nation existed, so the Slovak State also had to exist. " This standpoint - which was not only bis, but tbe whole Slovak nation's as well - was incompatible with the view beld by Dr. Edward Beneš and dictated by him to his lackeys - the renegades of Slovak descent on the territory of t he Slovak State - first from London, then from Moscow and finally from Prague. · Joseph Tiso was so deeply convinced about the propriety of bis llecisions as President tha.t he did not hesitate to state before the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court which was trying bim: "If in the fLÍture it were g!ven to me to concern myself wlth politics, under such circumstances as obtained in 1919-1945, I would follow the same polic!es that I did at that Ume." Looklng over the picture of the human and political profile of tbe f!rst President of tbe Slovak Republic, wbo already today appears in tbe halo of a martyr in the eyes of Europe and the world, we cannot help but be convinced that Joseph Tlso preceded t he development of European and un!versal realities of today, so tbat he could indicate the return of those eternal, mora! and polltlcal values. wbich in today'$ change or the world order have, as lt were, temporarily g!ven place and reign to the forces of the human peripbery �SLOVAKIA 7 which is guided by the Iaw of the jungle. His profile appears on the background of this shocking tragedy, wbich 1s not only natlonal, but European as welJ. The Chrlstlan and natlonal values, whlch Joseph Tlso personified In a form thus far unattalned by any Slovak, were and are being torn out of the body of the Slovak natlon, and In their place was and is being forced the criminal phllosophy and morality or Godless Communism. On the European and world stage the equllibrium o! mora! and polltical order was vlolated, and the declared and proven criminallty of Communism was accepted as the equivalent com• ponent of the hnman struggle for a better tomorow. Using sneh unChristian and unhistorical yardstlcks, the human and politlcal pro• file of the President of the Slovak Republic was regarded as sometbing that does not fall into tbe accepted norms of chaos, wbich was tbe result of tbe aggressiveness and perfidiousness of the CommunLstlc system and of the cowardice and appeasement of a world, whlch, of course, did say that it is llving in Christian and democrat!c forms, but was in fact, willlng to lend itself to a suicidal experiment in an alliance witb Communlsm. That !s why the voice of Joseph Tiso was silenced - the voice which defended truth and Christian morality, tbe freedom ot tbe Slovak people and its State; tbe volce that cried out agalnst Communlsm and for European and Christian cultnre. During tbe reign ot pol!tlcaJ and moral chaos, which was instaJJed totally in Slovakia and partially In tbe rest of Europe, the voice of the just confessor of universal moral principles was a volce crying In tbe wilderness. Al that Ume the crimlnal morality of tbe non-Slovak and non-Cbrlstian court In Bratis lava was accepted as tbe norma! form of justice. It took a long tlme for the West to become sat!ated wlth thls unnatural concublnage with the Soviet system and finally declde to defend wbat Communlsm did not as yet have t!me to conquer. Edward Beneš, his people and the renegades of Slovak origin joined witb them, taking advantage of the moral and politlcal chaos of the world and using the norms of communlstlc lies and deceptlon, wanted to present the pol!t!cal and human profile of Joseph Tiso in s uch a way as to evoke averslon. They succeeded in thls, but only temporarily. As long as the world accepted Stalln as the representatlve ot the most perfect democracy, whlle Dimltrov was a model of nobility, as long as Tito was an angel of justlce, wh!le Rákos! was recognlzed as a norm ot tolerance, as long as Anna Pauker, Palmlro Togl!atti, M:aurlce Tborez and Wllliam Pleck were the hope of European brotherhood, and whlle Edward Beneš, Clement Gottwald and thelr companlone qualified as bu!lders of the brldge between the West and the East - the Presldent ot the Slovak Republ!c, Dr. Joseph Tlso, was a phenomenon who slmply dld not belong in Europe. And Joseph Tlso and the Slovak nation did not want a martyr for the falth ot Christ, for a Christian and just Europe and for the Slovak Republic to belong to the gallery of these representatlves ot dera!led Europe. The unreal conception about the posslbility or normal cohabltation of two irreconcilable world outlooks - the Communlst and the Chrlstian - was bullt on deceptlon and violence, on the basis of a philosophy or falsehood and crime, on cowardlce and apostasy. On the basls ot this unnatural concept!on, it was allowed, with the concurrence of the cultured and civilized world, to lead the head of the �8 SLOVAKIA Slovak State to the gallows despite the fact that he was a priest of the Catholic Church who never violated Her doctrines or Her ia,ws; and despite the fact that Tiso was a man of spotless life and a patriot of the highest level; and despite the fact that Tiso was the freely and democratically elected head of a recognized and orderly European State. Over Joseph Tiso, under whose government no one was executed, the verdict of death was dictated by Edward Beneš, a foreigner by blood and spirit in the eyes of the Slovaks, who perpetrated so much damage on Slovak life and property that as long as a Slovak s hall be a Slovak, the mere mentlon of Beneš's name will always inspire mora! repugnance and eternal condemnation. J oseph Tiso - who conducted himself in accordance to the existing cons<titutional and controlllng institutions, as well as the highest authority of God, that Divine Law and Catholic doctrine which he professed and upheld from childhood a11 the way up to the gallows was tried and convicted by Edward Beneš who - even though he had at hand a "freely" elected parliament ready to do his vengeful bidding - Jistened to and was guided by no one except Stalin and himself. Beneš listened only to himself and hls own voice, which was slngularly full of hatred for everything Slovak, and obeyed an unChristian and undemocratic instinct, which in the last years of his life, was centered entirely against the freedom and state independence of the Slovak nation. Individuals devoid of all morals wanted to teach the gospel to a noble, Catholic priest; w ealthy and corrupt men lec tured him a bout Christian soclology; Godless and faithless people with catechisms in their bloody hands tried bim; the destroyers and plu nderers of the national wealth of the Slovak people tried to show him how he should have defended Slovakia; the perpetrators o.f communist terror dared to speak about principles of Democracy and Christianity; cowards, who never had the courage to raise their voices in defense of Slovak interests, were presented to bim as roodels of heroism; the allies of Communism told bim about the "acquisition of the glo· rious insurrections;" traitors of tbe Slovak race tried to teacb hlm patriotism; the grave diggers of Slovak independence tried to convince hlm of the advantages of subordination of the Slovak nation within the framework of cobabitation with the Czechs. On such negative princ lples, drawn from Communist doctrines, they created the profile of Joseph Tlso. In the conflict with this pollUcal and moral underworld, wbich occupled the !and of the Slovaks and also prepared to enthrone its own government and its own principles in the rest of Europe, Joseph Tiso stood tbere before the Communist tribunal as a milestone on the threshold of two ages. The gallows erected in the courtyard of the Bratislava prison, on wbich the great S lovak, Christian, European beart of the first President of the Slovak Republic ceased beating - that is the symbol of the conflict for wblch Communism and its allies were preparing. It is the symbol of the determination shown by a man of European and world outlook, wbo foresaw not only the extent of his own sacrifice, but also its mora! lmportance at a Ume, when Europe and the world - returnlng to the trnditional Chrlstlan norms - would �SLOVAK.IA 9 weigb justly the mora! and political values not only of lndivlduals, but also of nations. Looking at the human and political profile of the President ot the Slovak Republic from this historical vantage point, it can be said that the Slovak nation, whích succumbed in the brutal conflict tor its own statehood in the Europe of yesterday and today - in which Beneš, and the Communist and pro-Communist alliance helping bim, had all the say about Slovakia - shall wln its just !Ight for the renewal of Slovak statehood in the Europe of tomorrow, where people of determin ation, goodness, noblesse, Christlan morali ty - Jike J oseph Tiso will appear on the stage o! European history. • • • WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TISO "The execution of Msgr. Joseph Tiso was a judicial murder and it is also a political murder. One can c riticize the polltics of the late Msgr. Joseph Tiso, disagree with it and fight against it wltb all of one's strength, but, according to my deep conviction, a man should not be murdered for his political activity which was in accord with the conviction of his nation and for which he had a motive in the development of political events durlng the flrst and second CzechoSlovak Republlcs and in the course followed by lts presidents and governments. It is a down-right travesty of justice that a Slovak, elected President of the Slovak Republic by a majority of the Slovak nation, be executed by the government of a self-appolnted presldent of the present 'Czechoslovak Republic,' who, accordlng to the laws of the First Republic, himself should first be tried and condemned." - Kare! Lochner, former Czecho-Slovak Consul, London, England, April 1947. • • • "American Slovak Catholic women were horrified at the igno· minious death of Monsignor Joseph Tiso. Greatly resent the ignoring of our plea and petition sent by cablegram to President Edward Be• neš and others from our Annual Board Meeting held F®ruary 27, 1947, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in behalf of our entire membership of 75,000 women and children. The wrath of the entire membership centers itself upon the leaders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. We hail )lonsignor Tiso as a martyr, dying for the cause of bis people." - Susan Matuscak, Secretary First Catholic Slovak Ladles Union, Cleveland, Ohio. • • • • • • "Tbe Czech governmeRt of presldent Edward Beneš sacrificed an opportunity of easing the tension between the Czechs and the Slovaks when it executed the Rev. Joseph Tiso." - Osservatore Romano, Yatican City, Haly. " The execution of Dr. Josepb Tiso, who loved bis people and served tbem conscientiously throughout bis life, wil\ undoubted\y inspire thousands of his brethren to contlnue the fight for the !nherent and God-given rights of tbe Slovak nation." - John Sabol, Secretary l•'irst Cathollc Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1952, Vol. 2 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1952 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 3), March 1952.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 4), August 1952.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 5), December 1952.</li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document MARCH, 1952. SLOVAKIA 1 THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC Dr. Joseph Cieker From the very beginning of its history the Slovak nation endeavored to attain a full natlonal and political life. From the standpoint of history, the substance of the development of the Slovaks has not changed. Not all natlons developed in the same manner. Many nations lived in such an environment and under such conditions that their norma! life was not hindered by serious obstacles and they <;ould, therefore, develop to state and national perfectlon more rapidJy t han the nations which, on the road of their development, met with many obstacles - some of which were insurmountable. More than one nation spent its blood in wars and disappeared from the history of Europe. We Slovaks, too, frequently found ourselves exhausted by wars, and at times it appeared to us we might not be strong enough to overcome the obstacles thrust in our path by foreigners and also renegades from our own ranks. Despite the extreme material and biological losses, the Slovak nation, nevertheless, successfully won a place of equality among the nations of Europe and the world and proved its maturity in its own independent Slovak State. In the development of the Slovak nation, there existed a constant continuity even though many falled to see it and some even denied it. Loyal Slovak sons, who were entrusted wlth the responsible task of leadership In Slovak national and political life, believed In this contlnuity of the Slovak spirit wbich glistened so brightly ln real expression on the throne of the first Slovak rulers and then on the chair of the first President of the Slovak Republlc. The elderly Archbishop of Nitra, Dr. Char.les Kmeťko, gave testimony of tbis continuity of the hlstorical evolution of tbe Slovak natíon when, looking at Presldent Dr. .Joseph Tiso in the Bratislava National Court, he said: "This man was, after Svätopluk, our second bead." Austrian emperors and Hungarian klngs were not "our heads" or rulers because of the free will of the Slovak nation. But nelther was T. G. Masaryk, nor Dr. Edward Beneš; nor is Clement Gottwald the "head" of the Slovak nation. From the standpoint of this historical continuity, "our head" can be, and shall be able to be, only the man who shall be placed on the empty chalr of the president of tbe Slovak Republic by the will of the people and in the intent of the national and Ohristian traditions of the Slovak people. How extremely difficult was the road travelled by the Slovak nation - from the times of Svätopluk all the way to Dr. Joseph Tlso - was clearly demonstrated when counter forces tried to destroy the work of the Slovak spirit, es,pecially when they removed in crimlnal fashion the representatlves and Jiving expresslons of the Slovak will from the leadership of Slovak national and politlcal life. The more concrete the form of realizing Slovak aims, the more cruelly all alien and anti-Slovak forces intervened. That is why the work of the Slovak State, wben it proved itself to be on a European and world level, evoked so much concentrated crlmlnality and revenge from the enemies of Slovak independence, the likes of wblch not a single clvilized and cultured nation had ever seen. 2 SLOVAKIA The anti-Slovak forces were symbolized by one of the most des-picalble phenomena of the Czech nation and of contemporary European history, Dr. Edward Beneš. Knowlng that they could not be a ble to destroy the blessed achievements of S lovak vlctory - the Slovak Republíc - they dld not hesitate to ask the help of the criminal forces of the anti-European and anti-Cbristian conspiracy whicb was organized and led by the Kremlln. At the moment of the bistorlcal duel, there remained on the side of the Slovak Republic only the falthful Slovak race and its sons, who were determined and prepared to die as martyrs for the rights of the Slovak nation. Against the Slovak 1Republic was the world public, which had been charmed by the falsehoods and frauds of Dr. Ed· ward Beneš. Thirsting for Slovak blood, designated wlth Cain's mark on their forehads, armed wlth all the means of Soviet justice and prot0i)ted by the military, political and police might of the Soviet Union, the wards of Dr. Edward Beneš-of Czech and Slovak originset out wlth a vengeance against the Joya.l sons of the Slovak nation who were armed only with prayerbooks and the Jegal code of the Christian world-outlook. At the same Ume few people In Europe and in the world comprehended the extent of the treason, the victim of which was the Christian Slovak natlon and the Jegal expression of its will - the Slovak State. Very few people in Europe and in the world realized the im· mensity of the treason of Dr. Edward Beneš, his Czech polítical companions and the individuals of Slovak origin who had united with them in crlme. This anti-Slovak consplracy, which was the beginning of the anti-European and anti-Christlan consplracy of internationa.l Communism, was determlned to destroy the Slovak Republlc, the expression of right and justice. But the means valld up to that tíme did not suffice for the conspirators, so they acted according to the new laws, which were created by the philosophy of violence and Communist crime. To destroy the Slovak State, this conspiratorial, anti-Slovak assoclatlon needed the entire apparatus of terror whlch was used and legallzed by the Soviet system. The Slovak nation succumbed to thls vlolence and temporarily was deprlved of its own State. "After Svätopluk our second head" the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Joseph Tiso - was indicted, tried, convlcted and executed according to the manner of the Communlst system. Fully aware of thls historical crime and with the consent of hls own Government and full co-responsiblllty of his own executive organs on the territory of the Slovak State, which according to thelr own admission "ruled themselves," Dr. Edward Beneš intervened In the bloodiest manner in thls hlstorlcal development of tbe Slovak natlon, tbereby deflnltely intending to sever the lndestructlble contlnulty of the Slovak spirit. On tbis hlstorical background, there comes before tbe eyes of the contemporary Slovak generation and tbe eyes of contemporary Europe and the world the human and politlcal protile of tbe President of the Slovak Republlc, Joseph Tiso. From tbe Slovak view·point, as well as that of universal history, the greatness of his martyr's death has attained such a degree, that it has placed the figme of Joseph Tlso among the bravest, the noblest and morally perfect expresslons of human effort !or good, for justice, and for right and freedom. His phy- SLOVAKIA a sical appearance is today crowned with a legendary halo, wbicb to date no member of tbe Slovak natlon bas attained. Every Slovak son and daugbter was acquainted wltb Tiso, because Tiso as priest, as politician, as man, and even as president, was in daily contact wlth Slovak life. And thougb tbe martyr's deatb ba.s enbanced the political and human profile of Joseph Tiso over any otber, as well as the degree of pel'fectlon of the Slov3k spirit atta1ned from a moral, religious, national, polltlcal and world vlewpoint, bis immortal and live presence bas become tbe most su:bstantlal part of the tbinking of the Slovak man today and shall be a constant stimulator of bis· spirit. Tbe more tragic and dark the background from wbicb appears tbe clean and bright pbenomenon of tbe personality of Josepb Tlso, tbe more impassable tbe aibyss between tbe Slovak nation and tbe conspirators against its freedom. Tbe martyr's deatb of Joseph T iso and its glorification cannot be and shall not b e separated from this background, in which - in a union sealed with a treaty or treason, blood and crime - moves a bout and shall eternally appear tbe repulsive face of Dr. Edward Beneš, marked wlth the spittle of revenge, on wbich no artist and no propaganda procedure s hall be able to elicit a smile of a clean conscience. On this bistorlcal b ackground, worthy of Dante's interno, in an equal mora! ugliness sball eternally find tbemselves the individuals, wbo consldered it an honor to besmirch their consciences ,ľitb tbe biood of Slovak sons and whose only vietory is tbe temporary destruction of Slovak independence. These men, being branded wltb tbe mark of Communlsm, bave followed thelr master, Edward Beneš, on the stage of Slovak tragedy, The present Slovak tragedy has attained sucb dlmenslons that not only the intellectual groups of a Slovak generatlon, but even tbe wbole Slovak natlon collectively have been affected by lt. Never b efore in the history of tbe Slovak people did it happen tbat every Slovak man, woman and child were the llvlng partlcipants of the mora! and material destruction caused by tbe conspirators against Slovak statebood. Even if we can comprebend the revenge of Edward Beneš and bis Czecb companlons on the Slovak Nation as an interventlon of negatíve forces in the Divine plans, we cannot understancl, and so much the less excuse, the actlve partlc!patlon in it of tbe lndlvlduals of Slovak origin, wbo renderecl servlce to aliens and consplred agalnst the life of the nation t hey are clescended from. The terrible contrast between the reality of the Slovak State and tbe "acquisitlons of tbe glorious national insurrectlon." which was insplrecl by foreign interests, led by Slovak renegades and climaxed by total communlstlc terror is, and forever shall be, the final sketcher of the political and human profile of ťhe personlflei- of Slovak State lndependence, J oseph Tiso, and the mora! and political degeneracy of those who are In a run measure responsible for the present servlle position of the Slovak nation. From the viewpoint of historical perspective. not only the Slovak 11atlon, but even the whole world sees today the immensity of the sacrifice of a son, loyal to God and nation, was able to make and, on tbe other hand, tbe immenslty of the treason and the consequences emanating from the gullt of those who, silencing wlthin themselv~ the outcry of conscience, rejected from their declsions and acts the law of God and th e Jaw of the natlon. 4 SLOVAKIA To make the human and political profile of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic more expressive, no Slovak needs any syntbetic beautifying mediums, because bis pbysical and spiritua,l features were tbe work of tbe Hands of God and tbe bealtby, religious environment of tbe Slovak nation. On thls face glowed tbe fire of tbe servant of God and nation to tbe very last moment of bis eartbly life. Josepb Tiso was not a complicated, but a clear, clean and transparent pbenomenon; just as uncomplicated, clear, clean and transparent as has been tbe natural cbaracter of tbe Slovak person for generations. Slovak bistory will not bave to searcb for reasons for tbe !ega! connection of the Slovak acts, which form a segment of tbe life of tbe Slovak State, because these acts were explained by the crystal-clear deeds of President Tiso himself. On August 16, 1938, when J oseph Tiso was partlng with the deceased Andrew Hlinka on the Ružomberok Square in the name or the whole Slovak nation, his words sound<ld like the eternal voice of the Slovak spirit, which when silenced on the li,ps of one, are heard by the living nation on the lips of another. This uninterrupted thread of Slovak evo\utlon was handed over to Joseph Tiso by Andrew Hlinka. ' Never was Andrew Hlinka so great in life, as his death has shown bim to be," said Tlso over the casket of the spiritual soverelgn of the Slovak peopl e. "Andrew Hlinka was great during bis lifetime, because he dedicated his liťe to a great idea-and he appeared great a t death, because hls death, attestlng faitbful service to his great idea to the very end, places bim in the gallery of the spiritual heroes of the Slovak nation. The idea of an independent Slovak natlon was the source of bis boundless love for the Slovak natíon, which led and took on higb tbe life of Andrew Hlinka. As a result of bis being elevated to the priestbood of the New Testament, his love for hls people received a special blessing and intensity: by becoming a servant of Christ, he became tbe servant of a grandiose idea - whlch in relation to patriotism meant that he became the servant of an idea, offerlng himself and all bis possessions on the altar of tbat same idea. "Hlinka, priest and patriot, lived in the deep conviction that he was not serving a trivial idea, a superflcial thing, but a cause tbat had deep roots in a 1000-year-old pa.st and in the Christian order of the life of bis nation in the present. In this bigher consecration, bis patriotism did not mean only persona! fancy and momentary satisfaction, but it meant dedicating and sacriflclng bis wbole being - constantly and unreservedly, un'Ceaslngly and tirelessly - because even in bis patriotism he felt that he was a prlest of God who was making a sacriflce - a full-time and lifetime sacrifice in the sense of bis full-time and lifetime priestly character. That is why bis work for bis Slovak people was a figbt - not a struggle for power and glory, but a sacred fight always in the defense of tbe most sacred values, so dear to all members of our nation: our national rigbts, po\itica\ rights, cultural and economic rights. As it bebooves a person dedi· cated to tbe service of an idea, bis fight was an ideological fight. The great Idea of a Divine Order was connected with the idea of a distinct Slovak nation to feed the two-win~ed flame which filled bis mind and bis heart and governed bis whole life. Ideally inflamed, Hlinka waged this sacred fight under difficult circumstances; he SLOVAKIA 6 fought against overwhelming odds. Yet never did he retreat trom anyone or anything, because he did not doubt tbe naturalness of the right of bis own people to its own life; and he believed in the future of bis nation, because it held fast to the space allotted it by God in the family of otber nations. He bore within himself the conviction of a chosen leader of his people with whom he lived in the most intimate union, along with whom he fought in the land of the Pharaohs, and whom he was to lead into the promised land." It was thus that Tiso described the political and human profile of Andrew Hlinka. And in this profile of the spiritual sovereign of the Slovak nation, Andrew Hlinka, in substance were also found all the traits of the human and political features of Joseph Tiso. The physical person was not the same, but what was substantial, splritual and eternal remained - as proof of the continuity of Slovak life. All the cbaracteristics which adorned the priestly and polltlcal personality or Andrew Hlinka, also adorned bis successor in the management of the destinies of the Slovak people, Dr..Joseph Tiso. Service to God and nation. however, exacted from Joseph Tiso the maximum that a person possibly could give. What Joseph Tiso said at the final parting with Andrew Hlinka was not only so many beautiful words, but a great and heroic act, which attalned its perfect expresslon in the existenee of the Slovak Republic during his presldency - one that was confirmed before the Slovak natlon and before the whole cultured and civilized world with bis martyr's death. We can thank Divine Providencť' and the living continuity of the Slovak spirit that during the most decisive phase of Slovak and world bistory, the Slovak nation decided of it~ own free will to place in the chair of Svätopluk a man of the people who ťarried In hls heart and soul the spark of consecration which was given the Slovak natlon as a dowry at the dawn of its history. That is why the political and human work of Joseph Tiso attainecl such a mora! ancl historical value, the value of which will be recognized even if only one member of the Slovak nation remains on earth. Joseph Tiso did not get on the throne of Slovak rulers by the coincidence of subordinate circumstances, because even the realization of state independence was not the result of an accident. Just as state independence was the ripe fruit on the tree of life of Slovak gnerations, just so its visible head was the mature offspring of Slovak ideological, mora) and spiritual development. Even lf Joseph Tiso personally as a man would not have wanted to be the president of the Slovak Republic, he simply had to be, because at the tlme of the proclamation of Slovak independence he was the acknowledged ruler of the collective will of the Slovak people. Just as 'ľiso dld not seek the oHlce of president as man and priest, just so he hearkened to the voice of the Slovak genle and accepted the presidency from the qualified representatlves of the nation as a supreme obllgatlon - a duty which he performed faithfully and well to the very last moment of his life.. Jf Joseph Tiso devoted hlmself to tbe national service or the Slovak cause, then he diel so in full responsibílity of hls historlc missión. That is why he did not hesitate even for a moment In the face of seduction and vlolence. The presldent of the Slovak Republlc could not recant or even betray anything. That is why Josepb Tlso, after 6 SLOVAKIA acceptlng the office of Pľesident with so much self-immolation, stirred the whole Slovak nation iuto a building effoľt; that is why he defended before a non-Slovak court the work of tbe Slovak RepubJic with such dignity; and that is why, being fully aware that he pertormed his duties as well as he could, Tlso could bless bis [aithful people even from the shadow of the gallows. The human accomplisbments of tbe president of tbe Slovak Republic were destined not only by bis priestly character, but also by tbe whole character of a son of the Slovak nation, who never strayed from Slovak and Cbristian trad!tions. No matter how hard the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court tried, it could not prove that Joseph Tiso wa.s gu!lty of acts tbat ran counter to natural and Slovak laws, or were contrary to mora! law. Tbat is why tbe Slova:k nat!on regarded the conviction and execution of .Josepb Tiso as a dellberate, prnmeditated and executed crime. And lt s ball regard it so for all time. The political work of tbe President of the Slovak Republic, serving the welfare o f tbe entire Slovak nation, created such conditions for tbe Slovak natlon so that it could wltbin the framework of !ts state boundaries prove its capabllity to live and so that in its international relationsbip it could gain recognition. Joseph Tiso, placed on the throne of an independent Slovak ruler, did not play the politics of Moscow, Berlin, Dudapest, Paris, London, or Washington, but worked the policy of Bratisla va, the cap!tal city 9f tbe independent State of Slovakia. He worked that pol!cy under ihe given pol!tlcal, geographical and internat!onal circumstances; and he had to work it in sucb a way so that the interests of the Slovak natlon and its State were safeguarded as well as possilble in tbis play of opposing forces. Josepb Tiso could not consplre against the work of Slovak hlstory and. therefore, no otber conception except the pnrely Slovak and state conception could be acceptable for him as well as tbe entlre Slovak nation. He did not regard the existence of the Slovak State as a debatable question. Just as the Slovak nation existed, so the Slovak State also had to exist. " This standpoint - which was not only bis, but tbe whole Slovak nation's as well - was incompatible with the view beld by Dr. Edward Beneš and dictated by him to his lackeys - the renegades of Slovak descent on the territory of t he Slovak State - first from London, then from Moscow and finally from Prague. · Joseph Tiso was so deeply convinced about the propriety of bis llecisions as President tha.t he did not hesitate to state before the nonSlovak and non-Cbristian court which was trying bim: "If in the fLÍture it were g!ven to me to concern myself wlth politics, under such circumstances as obtained in 1919-1945, I would follow the same polic!es that I did at that Ume." Looklng over the picture of the human and political profile of tbe f!rst President of tbe Slovak Republic, wbo already today appears in tbe halo of a martyr in the eyes of Europe and the world, we cannot help but be convinced that Joseph Tlso preceded t he development of European and un!versal realities of today, so tbat he could indicate the return of those eternal, mora! and polltlcal values. wbich in today'$ change or the world order have, as lt were, temporarily g!ven place and reign to the forces of the human peripbery SLOVAKIA 7 which is guided by the Iaw of the jungle. His profile appears on the background of this shocking tragedy, wbich 1s not only natlonal, but European as welJ. The Chrlstlan and natlonal values, whlch Joseph Tlso personified In a form thus far unattalned by any Slovak, were and are being torn out of the body of the Slovak natlon, and In their place was and is being forced the criminal phllosophy and morality or Godless Communism. On the European and world stage the equllibrium o! mora! and polltical order was vlolated, and the declared and proven criminallty of Communism was accepted as the equivalent com• ponent of the hnman struggle for a better tomorow. Using sneh unChristian and unhistorical yardstlcks, the human and politlcal pro• file of the President of the Slovak Republic was regarded as sometbing that does not fall into tbe accepted norms of chaos, wbich was tbe result of tbe aggressiveness and perfidiousness of the CommunLstlc system and of the cowardice and appeasement of a world, whlch, of course, did say that it is llving in Christian and democrat!c forms, but was in fact, willlng to lend itself to a suicidal experiment in an alliance witb Communlsm. That !s why the voice of Joseph Tiso was silenced - the voice which defended truth and Christian morality, tbe freedom ot tbe Slovak people and its State; tbe volce that cried out agalnst Communlsm and for European and Christian cultnre. During tbe reign ot pol!tlcaJ and moral chaos, which was instaJJed totally in Slovakia and partially In tbe rest of Europe, the voice of the just confessor of universal moral principles was a volce crying In tbe wilderness. Al that Ume the crimlnal morality of tbe non-Slovak and non-Cbrlstian court In Bratis lava was accepted as tbe norma! form of justice. It took a long tlme for the West to become sat!ated wlth thls unnatural concublnage with the Soviet system and finally declde to defend wbat Communlsm did not as yet have t!me to conquer. Edward Beneš, his people and the renegades of Slovak origin joined witb them, taking advantage of the moral and politlcal chaos of the world and using the norms of communlstlc lies and deceptlon, wanted to present the pol!t!cal and human profile of Joseph Tiso in s uch a way as to evoke averslon. They succeeded in thls, but only temporarily. As long as the world accepted Stalln as the representatlve ot the most perfect democracy, whlle Dimltrov was a model of nobility, as long as Tito was an angel of justlce, wh!le Rákos! was recognlzed as a norm ot tolerance, as long as Anna Pauker, Palmlro Togl!atti, M:aurlce Tborez and Wllliam Pleck were the hope of European brotherhood, and whlle Edward Beneš, Clement Gottwald and thelr companlone qualified as bu!lders of the brldge between the West and the East - the Presldent ot the Slovak Republ!c, Dr. Joseph Tlso, was a phenomenon who slmply dld not belong in Europe. And Joseph Tlso and the Slovak nation did not want a martyr for the falth ot Christ, for a Christian and just Europe and for the Slovak Republic to belong to the gallery of these representatlves ot dera!led Europe. The unreal conception about the posslbility or normal cohabltation of two irreconcilable world outlooks - the Communlst and the Chrlstian - was bullt on deceptlon and violence, on the basis of a philosophy or falsehood and crime, on cowardlce and apostasy. On the basls ot this unnatural concept!on, it was allowed, with the concurrence of the cultured and civilized world, to lead the head of the 8 SLOVAKIA Slovak State to the gallows despite the fact that he was a priest of the Catholic Church who never violated Her doctrines or Her ia,ws; and despite the fact that Tiso was a man of spotless life and a patriot of the highest level; and despite the fact that Tiso was the freely and democratically elected head of a recognized and orderly European State. Over Joseph Tiso, under whose government no one was executed, the verdict of death was dictated by Edward Beneš, a foreigner by blood and spirit in the eyes of the Slovaks, who perpetrated so much damage on Slovak life and property that as long as a Slovak s hall be a Slovak, the mere mentlon of Beneš's name will always inspire mora! repugnance and eternal condemnation. J oseph Tiso - who conducted himself in accordance to the existing cons<titutional and controlllng institutions, as well as the highest authority of God, that Divine Law and Catholic doctrine which he professed and upheld from childhood a11 the way up to the gallows was tried and convicted by Edward Beneš who - even though he had at hand a "freely" elected parliament ready to do his vengeful bidding - Jistened to and was guided by no one except Stalin and himself. Beneš listened only to himself and hls own voice, which was slngularly full of hatred for everything Slovak, and obeyed an unChristian and undemocratic instinct, which in the last years of his life, was centered entirely against the freedom and state independence of the Slovak nation. Individuals devoid of all morals wanted to teach the gospel to a noble, Catholic priest; w ealthy and corrupt men lec tured him a bout Christian soclology; Godless and faithless people with catechisms in their bloody hands tried bim; the destroyers and plu nderers of the national wealth of the Slovak people tried to show him how he should have defended Slovakia; the perpetrators o.f communist terror dared to speak about principles of Democracy and Christianity; cowards, who never had the courage to raise their voices in defense of Slovak interests, were presented to bim as roodels of heroism; the allies of Communism told bim about the "acquisition of the glo· rious insurrections;" traitors of tbe Slovak race tried to teacb hlm patriotism; the grave diggers of Slovak independence tried to convince hlm of the advantages of subordination of the Slovak nation within the framework of cobabitation with the Czechs. On such negative princ lples, drawn from Communist doctrines, they created the profile of Joseph Tlso. In the conflict with this pollUcal and moral underworld, wbich occupled the !and of the Slovaks and also prepared to enthrone its own government and its own principles in the rest of Europe, Joseph Tiso stood tbere before the Communist tribunal as a milestone on the threshold of two ages. The gallows erected in the courtyard of the Bratislava prison, on wbich the great S lovak, Christian, European beart of the first President of the Slovak Republic ceased beating - that is the symbol of the conflict for wblch Communism and its allies were preparing. It is the symbol of the determination shown by a man of European and world outlook, wbo foresaw not only the extent of his own sacrifice, but also its mora! lmportance at a Ume, when Europe and the world - returnlng to the trnditional Chrlstlan norms - would SLOVAK.IA 9 weigb justly the mora! and political values not only of lndivlduals, but also of nations. Looking at the human and political profile of the President ot the Slovak Republic from this historical vantage point, it can be said that the Slovak nation, whích succumbed in the brutal conflict tor its own statehood in the Europe of yesterday and today - in which Beneš, and the Communist and pro-Communist alliance helping bim, had all the say about Slovakia - shall wln its just !Ight for the renewal of Slovak statehood in the Europe of tomorrow, where people of determin ation, goodness, noblesse, Christlan morali ty - Jike J oseph Tiso will appear on the stage o! European history. • • • WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TISO "The execution of Msgr. Joseph Tiso was a judicial murder and it is also a political murder. One can c riticize the polltics of the late Msgr. Joseph Tiso, disagree with it and fight against it wltb all of one's strength, but, according to my deep conviction, a man should not be murdered for his political activity which was in accord with the conviction of his nation and for which he had a motive in the development of political events durlng the flrst and second CzechoSlovak Republlcs and in the course followed by lts presidents and governments. It is a down-right travesty of justice that a Slovak, elected President of the Slovak Republic by a majority of the Slovak nation, be executed by the government of a self-appolnted presldent of the present 'Czechoslovak Republic,' who, accordlng to the laws of the First Republic, himself should first be tried and condemned." - Kare! Lochner, former Czecho-Slovak Consul, London, England, April 1947. • • • "American Slovak Catholic women were horrified at the igno· minious death of Monsignor Joseph Tiso. Greatly resent the ignoring of our plea and petition sent by cablegram to President Edward Be• neš and others from our Annual Board Meeting held F®ruary 27, 1947, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in behalf of our entire membership of 75,000 women and children. The wrath of the entire membership centers itself upon the leaders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. We hail )lonsignor Tiso as a martyr, dying for the cause of bis people." - Susan Matuscak, Secretary First Catholic Slovak Ladles Union, Cleveland, Ohio. • • • • • • "Tbe Czech governmeRt of presldent Edward Beneš sacrificed an opportunity of easing the tension between the Czechs and the Slovaks when it executed the Rev. Joseph Tiso." - Osservatore Romano, Yatican City, Haly. " The execution of Dr. Josepb Tiso, who loved bis people and served tbem conscientiously throughout bis life, wil\ undoubted\y inspire thousands of his brethren to contlnue the fight for the !nherent and God-given rights of tbe Slovak nation." - John Sabol, Secretary l•'irst Cathollc Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The First President of the Slovak Republic Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Cieker Slovakia, Vol. 2, No. 1 (3), March 1952 pp. 1-9 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cieker, Jozef, 1907-1969 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1952 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/44dea4db73a2cba7053fc15fdcff2cab.pdf 18d19ff1faa43e1fbf52876c80522a5e PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 7 The news of Dr. Tiso's departure caused the t ension in Bratislava and in all of Slovakia to grow. There was now not only fear of Hungarian occupation, if Dr. Tiso's mission were to fail but also fear of occupation by the Germans whose troops were stationed on the banks of the Danube on the Austrian side. At the same time there was, however , also a strong hope that Slovakia finally would become an independent state and that the dreams, desires and wishes of many Slovak generations would come true. 1. T h e writer was vice-presiden t of Pax R oma na and Slavia Catholi ca a nd, for ma ny year s, pr esiden t of th e Catholic Fed e ration of Slovak Stud en ts. 2. Cfr. Sidor's: Poznamky k historickym dnom r. 1939 p u blish ed by Lettri ch's R egime, Br atislava, 1946, a nd a lso accounts in Slovenska Obrana, October , 1939. 3. T h e Governm en t was composed as follows : Presiden t - Dr . Joseph T iso ; Prime Minister K. Sid or ; For e ig n Affairs - D r . Durcansky; E du cation - M. Cerna k ; F ina n ce - A. Mederly; Economy - Dr . Pru'.ii ns ky; Communica tions - Dr. Kir schba um ; Nationa l Defense - Gen. ,C atlos; 1Propaganda - A. Mach ; Justice - D r . V. T uka. - See de ta ils in Slovenska Obrana, October 17, 1939 . 4. 'T h e minu tes of th e Slovak Diet. Als o S idor's r em a rks on the historic days (ma nuscr ip ts, no t th e excerpts p ublis h ed b y th e Comm u nists in order to cond emn Dr. Tiso) . • • • THE GERMAN ZONE OF PROTECTION IN SLOVAK.IA (A study in Slovak-German relations in March-August 1939) Frantisek Vnuk On March 14, 1939, the independence of Slovakia was proclaimed by the Slovak Assembly. Two days later Baron von Weizsiicker wired a circular to all German diplomatic missions informing them that Slovak Prime Minister Dr. Tiso had transmitted the following r equest to the Fuhrer by telegram: With full trust in you, the Flihrer and Chancellor of the Gret er German Reich, the Slovak State places itself under your protection. The 'Slovak State asks you to take over this protection (1). Hitler acknowledged the receipt of the telegram and complied with the request. For this purpose a treaty of protection between Germany and Slovakia was drawn up (2) . Article 2 of the treaty stipulated that "the German Wehrmacht shall at all times have the right to set up �8 SLOVAKIA military installations in a zone bounded on the west by the frontier of the Slovak State and on the east by the general line of the eastern edge of the Little Carpathians, the eastern edge of the White Carpathians and the eastern edge of Javorniky, and to man these installations with such forces as the German Wehrmacht consider necessary ... Military sovereign rights (Hoheitsrechts) will be exercised by the German Wehrmacht (in this zone)" (3) . The establishment of this zone ( 4) represents in many respects an interesting aspect of Slovak-German relations. It casts a favorable light on a well-conceived but less successful attempt to extricate Slovak foreign policy from the agreed upon Slovak-German coordination in this field. This praiseworthy attempt and the subsequent unyielding behavior of Slovak politicians in the face of Hitler's demands contrast sharply with the charges of vassalage and servile obedience. In fact, the Slovaks resisted and contradicted Hitler's wishes (and with some success, too ) when powerful nations yielded and were advising others to yield. The negotiations concerning the zone were initiated on the night of March 17-18, 1939, in Vienna. At this time the occupation of Western Slovakia was already an accomplished fact (5) and - since possession is nine points of the law - the position of the ISlovak negotiators was noticeably weakened and by no means enviable. Nevertheless Dr. Joseph Tiso, Durcansky, Tuka, and Mach, the principal Slovak representatives, were determined to save could be saved. Preliminary negotiations started at Biirckel's flat at 5 p. m. Afterwards the Slovaks met SeyssInquart, then Keitel, and finally, at 1 a . m., on the 18th, in the Hotel Imperial they faced Hitler. Each stop represented more humiliation and more pressing demands and brought home one thing: Hitler was going to exact a high price for his protection ; much higher than he ever hinted at in Berlin on March 13th. Tiso was so disappointed at what he rightly considered - being let down that h e wanted to return to Bratislava without even seeing Hitler. Only his companions persuaded him to stay, arguing that in front of the Germans they all ought to show a united �SLOVAKIA 9 determination not to give up even an inch of sacred Slovak soil (6). When Hitler, in the presence of Ribbentrop and Keitel, met the Slovaks, he told them - according to the testimony of Tiso - that the 'Shutzvertrag' could be realized only if Germany were given far-reaching concessions to build up a zone in Western Slovakia. The extent of these concessions - as Tiso clearly saw - left the Slovaks practically without any rights to exercise their sovereignty in that territory. It was more than he could bear. At 2 :45 A. M. he got up and was at the point of departure. Hitler, it must be said, in spite of his many shortcommings had a soft spot for the Slovaks and, apparently moved by the pathetic sight of the hardpressed protegees, stopped Tiso with a very assuring piece of oratory. He said: "I do not want even an inch of Slovak ground. In Slovakia the Slovaks alone will develop their own national, cultural, and economic life. I shall guarantee the full independence and territorial integrity of Slovakia. The historical frontiers of Slovakia are and remain forever unchanged. I shall hold my protective hand over ,S lovakia and nobody will reach with stealthy hand for the Slovak State, where the Slovaks will live their own full life" (7). This rhetorical outburst pacified the Slovaks; the rest of the discussion was carried on in a much happier mood. The Slovaks ceded the Germans the right to build and man fortifications in the zone "so as to enable the German Wehrmacht, in the event of war, to take up such positions as are most advantageous to it" (8). The Slovak delegation left Vienna with the impression that the zone remained within the legal structure of the Slovak State. No treaty was formulated or signed that night. Formal negotiations were conducted on the afternoon of March 18. Tiso did not take part in these conversations. The Slovaks were represented by Dr. Ferdinand :Durcansky, Tuka a Zvrskovec; the Germans by Keppler and Gaus, the legal adviser to the Foreign Minister. The Treaty of Protection ( Schutzvertrag) was signed in Vienna the same day by :Durcansky and Tuka who also pledged to obtain Tiso's signature to the Treaty by noon of March 19, in re-1 �10 SLOVAKIA turn for which Keppl er undert ook to get Ribbe ntrop's signature within 24 hours. :Durcansky, Tuka, and Veesenmayer broug ht the Treaty to Tiso for signat ure the evening March 18; he signed it and appear ed to be satisfi ed · with its formu lation (9). Ribben trop, on the other hand, did not sign the Treaty within the stipula ted time limit. All in all, the Germa ns were in no partic ular hurry with respec t to the Slovaks. The reason for their procra stinati on, which was so frustra ting and inexpl icable to the Slovak s then (10), is seen clearly now: they hoped to come to terms with the Poles and Hunga rians. The Polish White Book gives an accoun t of Ribbentrop's propos als to Lipski on March 21 (11), namely , that German-lPolish discus sions "would be possib le on this subject" (i. e., on the questi on of Slovak ia). But the Germa ns must have consid ered the Polish attitud e discou raging , and Ribbe ntrop put his signat ure on the Treaty on -March 23, in Berlin (12), but not before Article 3 of the Treaty was modifi ed and the words "in order to defend Slovak State agains t any possib le extern al attack s" were omitte d. Once the Treaty was signed, the execut ion of Article 2 proved to be more difficu lt than anticip ated. Appar ently the Germa n milita ry author ities were not very happy with what, after all, was a politic al settlem ent. Their behavi or left much to be desire d and Slovak protes ts were very soon pourin g in. At first, the surpri sed Slovak s asked for an explan ation, but later protes ted very vigorio usly. On March 25, the .Slovak Foreig n ·M inistry in a 'note verbal e" called for a more definit e determ ination of the probable durati on and charac ter in intern ationa l law of the Germa n occupa tion of Slovak territo ry. The note also protested a•g ainst the exerci se of sovere ign rights "beyon d those of milita ry necess ity" and agains t the remov al of milita ry materi al which - they claime d - by the secess ion of Slovak ia, had leg-ally become Slovak 'State proper ty (13). It was inevita ble that the occupa tion would cause considera ble frictio n betwee n the Slovak popula tion and the Germa n troops , and that this frictio n would projec t unfavora bly into Slovak -Germ an relatio ns. But the amoun t �SLOVAKIA 11 of misunderstanding surpassed every expectation. The Slovaks in their optimistic enthusiasm were determined to enjoy their newly-gained independence to the fullest extent and consequently found the German presence in the zone very annoying and did not even try to hide their displeasure. The Germans, on the other hand, especially the military, did not bother to adjust their behavior in respect to the Slovaks. An ordinary German soldier and officer, fresh from victorious entries into Austria, the Sudetenland, and Bohemia, was hardly expected to be less arrogant towards Slovaks than he was towards Czechs; superiority was after all the essential part of his make-up. There were many instances of discontent, misunderstanding, and small incidents, and their existence could be best gauged by the frequent apologies and assurances which the 'Slovak Press Bureau was issuing in the newspapers and on the air. Under pressure of Slovak protests and complaints, the German representatives of General Staff and Foreign Ministry, at a meeting on March 28, agreed on a unified attitude towards the question of the zone. Their conclusions, though still by no means modest, represent in many respects retreat in the face of the Slovak protests, and can be briefly summarized as follows: 1. Withdrawal of the German Custom Frontier Protection Force to the Slovak-Moravian frontier. 2. The Vah fixed as the line of military occupation. 3. Appointment of a staff officer to the Consul General to act as liaison between the Slovak Army and the Wehrmacht. 4. The German troops east of the Vah to be recalled. 5. German claim to the entire war material of the former Czecho~Slovak army. 6. No removal of war material east of the occupied zone. 7. Decision as to size of the Slovak army. 8. Creation of s e p a r ate military formation for the Volksdeutche (14). Negotiations on the above topics took place on April 4 and were reported by Pares. Unfortunately no details concerning conversations are available, but it is known that �12 SLOVAKIA the Slovaks were represented by Dr. Tiso and the Ministers of War, Finance, and Economics, and the chief subject was the removal of war material "purchased by the German Government from the Czecho-!S lovak Government which had been stored in Slovakia" (15). As a result of these conversations, in addition to a German military adviser to be sent to Bratislava, a mixed Slovak-German commission was to be appointed to settle any controversial issue. At about the same time Tuka in his broadcast promised that the German army would leave when it was no longer needed. On April 15, the High Command of the Wehrmacht submitted a list of requirements, the fulfilment of which was expected from the Slovak Government under the Treaty of Protection. The demands, even in their "more lenient" form, were very exacting: 1. The High Command intended to maintain its military forces east of the Vah until the removal of "Czech arms and Czech war material" was completed. 2. Among the sovereign rights they claimed the right to occupy military and also public and private buildings, to use all forms and means of transport, to have at their disposal the factories concerned with war economy, duty-free import and export, postal services, telecommunications and Intelligence Service (Abwehrdienst). 3. The zone to include also Trencin, Krupa, Zilina, and Povazska Bystrica. 4. The size of Slovak army to be completed at one per cent of the population. 5. No units of the Slovak army to be garrisoned within the zone, but para-military formations (Hlinka Guards) to be allowed. 6. Export and import of war material to and from Slovakia to be refused or permitted by the Slovak Government only in agreement with the Reich Government or the High Command of the Wehrmacht (16). When these requirements were communicated by Druffel to Tiso, the latter declared that the Slovak Government did not wish to make difficulties, but asked for discussions with the German authorities on the highest level before �SLOVAKIA 13 making any definite commitments. The Germans consented and, as a result, a conference took place in Berlin on April 19. Slovak representatives included Tiso, :Durcansky, and Tuka, the Ministry of Defense was represented by Catlos and Schneider, and also present were Cernak and Szathmary from the Slovak Legation in Berlin. The German delegation consisted of top-ranking experts, both political and military, but conspicious by their absence were the policy making personalities of the Reich. Its members were: Weissacker, Keppler, Wormann, Gaus, Altenburg, Tippelskirsch, HeydenRynsch, and Becker. Slovak grievances were numerous. To start with, Tiso mentioned the occupation by German troops of the aerodrome of Malacky and the demand by a German armored formation for transit through Bratislava. Then he complained of the severity of the demands of the German Wehrmacht, stating that "extension of the zone to Trencin and Zilina was hardly bearable for the Slovak Government"; of the behaviour of the German troops who in some villages occupied schools and thus made school attendance impossible, and employed Czech workers in preference to Slovaks. Furthermore, he claimed a share in the ownership of the former Czecho-Slovak arms factories and clamored for the return of a number of aircraft. German answers were either non-commital or asked to extend negotiations to clarify the application of the Treaty. Apparently the Slovaks demanded more than the German representatives were empowered to grant. Meanwhile the joint Slovak~German Commission was negotiating the treaty on the Zone of Protection but it did not seem to make any noticeable progress. On June 12, the Slovaks submitted another "note verbale'' which contained a number of Slovak views on the interpretation of the text of the Treaty. Arguments advanced by Slovaks were discussed at the conference on June 19 (17), where Tiso expressed the wish to draw up a memorandum and to discuss it personally with Hitler in hopeful expectation that the Slovaks might get more favorable treatment at the hands of the Fuhrer, than they were getting from his representatives. Hitler, however, declined to see Tiso and refused to consider the various points of the Slovak memorandum. �14 SLOVAKIA On June 21 this memorandum, in the form of an "aide memoire", was submitted to the German Foreign Ministry (18). It represented a voluminous list of complaints and expressed an outburst of accumulated Slovak indi,gnation about the German injustices. It questioned German rights to exclude Slovak garrisons from the zonal area, the interpretation of "sovereign rights", and claimed as Slovak the former Cecho..!Slovak military installations which were taken over by the Wehnnacht (such as the artillery range at Malacky); furthermore, it also questioned the wisdom of maintaining German ,garrisons outside the zone (e. g., in .Zilina, Trencin, Nove Mesto nad Va.horn) and criticised excursions of German troops to Bratislava and other places outside the zone. With regard to military material, the Slovak memorandum complained about the removal of war material from Pezinok, Modra, Malacky, Plavecke Podhradie, Hlboke, Turecky Vrch, Senica, Nemcova, Nove Mesto nad Va.horn, Trencin, Istebnik, Skalka, and .Zilina in a manner which "transgressed the bounds of an amicable atmosphere". Furthermore, it objected to occupation of munition factories and factories producing various types of war material at Dubnica, Povazska IBystrica, Stara Tura, Myjava, and .Zilina; to taking over of the stocks and installations of the airports at Novy Dvor and .Zilina; and it sadly commented that proceedings connected with the removal of war material were often conducted "as though Slovakia were an enemy country and not a State whose political and territorial independence had been guaranted by the Flihrer and Chancellor". The memorandum concluded a few more grievances against the military authorities whose attitude caused "administrative and economic uncertainty". The matter was then brought to Hitler's attention. This is evident from a statement made by Keitel on June 20, according to which Hitler's decision on the subject at the conference held by him amounted to the following: "The Flihrer said that he wished the negotiations to be conducted energetically and resolutely which, together with our concrete offers, must lead to early success. The prerequisite for the proposed support of Slovakia is the complete accep- �SLOVAKIA 15 tance of our demeands, the more so as Slovakia is dependent on our military, economic, and financial aid." This authoritative pronouncement meant that all the subsequent attempts of the ,Slovaks for better terms encountered the adamant attitude of the German authorities. Thus, when, on June 22, the Slovak Minister in 'Berlin (Matus Cernak) saw Wormann at the German Foreign Ministry, he was brusquely told that the Germans disagreed with the Slovak Foreign Ministry's attempts to establish inconsistencies between the demands of the German Military Delegation and the assurances given by leading German statesmen regarding the conclusion of the Treaty of Protection. He was asked to make it clear in Bratislava that "the Military Delegation was among these demands in the name of the German Government". Cernak sugested that concessions be made by both parties and thought that this would make it possible to reach an agreement which would "not only maintain, but arouse sympathy for Germany" among the Slovak poulation. But Wormann had little understanding for the Slovak point of view and berated the Slovaks because several of the demands expressed in the memorandum of June 19 were in contradiction to the Treaty of Protection (19). On July 3, Cernak again called on the German Foreign Ministry, where he saw Weizsa.cker. He pleaded with him for moderation of the German demands, arguing that "Tiso's ... pro-German policy would be shaken, if it were not supported. In case of emergency, Slovakia would, of course, be completely at the disposal of German Armed Forces, but in peace-time one ought to remain within the scope of the terms of the Treaty. But again Cerna.k's arguments were of no avail and were, one by one, refuted by Weizsa.cker. Faced with such an uncooperative attitude, Cernak asked to be allowed to speak to Ribbentrop personally, but was told that the Foreign Minister was not available (20). The Slovaks, ignorant of Hitler's decision and trusting in his words with hopeful optimism, left no stone unturned in their attempts to secure more favorable terms. Their representatives were untiring in demanding interviews with Hitler and Ribbentrop who, as the chief architects of the 1 �16 SLOVAKIA Slovak-German Treaty, could be made, they thought, to stand up to their promises. In this, however, they wer e unsuccessful. But they could get only to Weizsacker; and he, after trying to persuade them that the German negotiators "were acting on the instructions issued to them by the authoritative persons in the Reich", admonished the Slovaks that they should look at them as such and "conduct themselves accordingly" (21). As time went by, the Germans were getting progressively more and more anxious to have the whole issue about the interpretation of the Treaty finally settled and were apparently annoyed by the delay caused by the stubborness of the Slovaks. In view of the approaching German~olish conflict it was paramont for them to have their stand in Slovakia precisely determined and legalized. Their activity (often on the verge of nervousness) was in sharp contrast with the patient and determined attitude of the Slovaks who were unwilling to retreat. The situation was provided with a real touch of comedy when the Slovak statesmen went on their summer holidays (Tiso left for Topofcianky, Durcansky for the High Tatras) while German couriers were flying between and Bratislava. On July 19, Druffel was shown a report from Cernak according to which Eisenlohr and Weizsacker had expressed themselves in favour of token Slovak garrisons in the protected zone. On the strength of this report, Durcansky urged Catlos to dispatch some troops into the zone. On July 2:1, Catlos ordered one batallion to move in and, at the same time, informed the German military mission of his action. From the Germans came a vehement protest, coupled with threats, and the order was recalled. This move displeased Durcansky immensely. He maintained that Catlos should have created a "fait accompli" without regard for the German military mission and their feelings. The argument went so far that Catlos threatened to resign (22). Whether Catlos's action was right or wrong is open to question. It may be recalled, however, that at that time, the German military authorities were resolutely against ·any Slovak troops in that zone, and the same view was shared by Hitler. �SLOVAKIA 17 On July 17, the German Foreign Ministry sent to their representative in Bratislava a letter of instructions with an enclosed draft of the Treaty on the Zone of Protection (23). With this draft as a basis, new negotiations ensued. Unfortunately no records were found concerning their course. From the report of tH. Bernard (new German Minister to Slovakia who replaced Druffel), we learn that they were concluded by July 31 and the Slovak representatives (again, we do not know, who they were; Tuka was probably one of them; Tiso and :Durcansky were vacationing) accepted the draft of the treaty with small amendments (24). Barckhausen then took this modified version of the Treaty to Berlin and, on August 7, brought it to Bratislava to Tuka, who then forwarded it to Tiso and :Durcansky (on their vacation) with a request for their approval (25 ). But the Treaty in its new form did not appeal either to Tiso or :Durcansky. Rejecting various points of the draft, they again upset the German applecart. On August 10, a new series of discussions was initiated, this time with :Durcansky present. These discussions finally brought concrete results. On Saturday evening, August 12, 1939, the Treaty on the Zone of Protection was signed at Bratislava by Minister Bernard and Lt. General Barckhausen on behalf of the German Reich, and by the Slovak Premier Tiso. The Treaty consisted of four Sections. Section I delimitated its extent. ,S ection II defined military sovereign rights of the German Wehrmacht and the sovereign rights of the Slovak State; German military sovereign rights included the right to requisition public and private premises, to use all means and lines of transportation, and to supervise armament factories working for the Reich; Germany was also given jurisdiction over her nationals; this Section also provided for Slovak garrisions within the zone. Section 1',III laid down rules regarding the employment of the personnel and material in, and on the payment for, the construction of fortifications. Section IV contained provisions for settlement of differences arising from the application of the Treaty. 1 �SLOVAKIA: 16 Verbatim German Text of Treaty (.From Photostat) Abschrift. Schutzzonenvert rag Zur Regelung der sich aus dem Schutzvertrage vom 18./23. Marz 1939 ergebenden Fragen ist zwischen dem Deutschen Reich und der Slowakischen Republik durch die unterzeichneten Bevollmachtigten beider Regierungen folgendes vereinbart worden. Abschnitt I): Abgrenzung der Schutzzone. Artikel 1: Die Ausdehnung der in Artikel 2 des deutsch-slowakis chen Vertrages vom 18./ 23. Marz 1939 genannten Zone in folgendem mit ''Schutzzone" bezeichnet - ergibt sich aus der diesem Vertrage als Bestandteil angehefteten Landkarte in Masstabe 1: 7·5,000. Die Schutzzone erstreckt sich von Westen her bis zu der dieser Landkarte eingezeichneten roten Linie, und sie schliesst den von dieser Linie bedecken Tei! des slowakischen Gebietes ein. Eine Bez·e ichnung der ostwartigen Schutzzonenbeg renzungslinie im Gelande durch Tafeln oder Grenzsteine erfolgt nicht. lnnerhalb dieser Schutzzone wird das Deutsche Reich die ihm im Schutzvertrage vom 18-/ 23. Marz 1939 von dem Slowakischen Staat iibertragenen Aufgaben nach Massgabe der Bestimmungen dieses Vertrages durchfiihren. Abschnitt II): Rechtsverhaltni sse in der Schutzzone. Artikel 2: Mit den militarischen IHoheitsrechten, deren Ausiibung der deutschen Wehrmacht in Arti~el 2 des Vertrages vom 18./23. Marz iibertragen worden ist, hat sie das Recht erhalten, im Sinne der fiir die Verteidigung des Slowakischen Staates im allgemeinen bestehenden Gesetze Leistungen im gleichen Masse wie die slowakische Wehrmacht in lFriedenszeiten zu fordern (ohne die ,B estimmungen, die in dem slowakischen Gesetz Nr. 131/36 enthalten sind). Bei Aufwendungen, die iiber den Rahmen normaler Manciverleistung en auch zeitlich hinausgehen, sind die hierfiir zu zahlenden Entschadigungen nach den ortsiiblichen Tagespreisen zu bemessen. Die deutsche Wehrmacht haftet fiir Schaden in gleichem Ausmass wie die slowakische Wehrmacht in tlbungszeiten. Demzufolge hat die deutsche Wehrmacht insbesondere folgende Rechte: a) (Das Recht, jederzeit in der Schutzzone militarische Anlagen zu errichten und im 'Benehmen mit den slowakischen Behcirden tiffentliche Gebaude, Grundstiicke and Anlagen fiir militarische Zwecke in Anspruch zu nehmen und private Gebaude und Grundstiicke in Benutzun_ zu nehmen, ohne die Durchfiihrung des Enteignungsverfahrens oder des Verfahrens zur voriibergehende n Entziehung der Benutzung abzuwarten, jedoch unbeschadet ,e iner spateren Regelung der Entschadigung. Die Entschadigung wird unter Mitwirkun,g deutscher Beauftragter im Wege giitlicher Verhandlun,gen mit den Betroffenen festigesetzt. IKommt eine giitliche Eintgung nicht zustande, so bleibt es den Betroffenen vorbehalten, die Festsetzung der Entschadig-ung nach den slowakischen Gesetzen zu betragen. In diesem Falle bleibt im �SLOVAKIA 19 Verhaltnis zu dem Deutschen Reich die Hohe der Entschadigung einer Vereinbarung mit der Slowakischen Regierung vorbehalten. b) Das Recht zur Benutzung der in der Schutzzone vorhanden,en Transportmittel und Transportwege unter moglichster Berucksichtigung der wirtschaftlichen Jnteressen der Slowakischen Republik. Ausserdem kann bei Vorliegen besonderer militarischer Notwendigkeiten die Bahn Pressburg-Ty,r nau-Pistyan-Trencin'8 illeinJCadca und die Strassen Pressburg-Modern-Na das-Trencin and Pressburg-Tyrnau-Pis tyan-Trencin,Sillein>C adca, von Trencin aus bis Cadca auch auf dem ostwartigen Waag-und Kysucaufer benutzt werden. Ferner erhalt die deutsche Wehrmacht das Recht, alle Orte zwischen Pressburg (ausschliesslich) and Cadca an den oben genannten Strassen bei Vorliegen militarischer Griinde vorubergehend zur Einquartierung zu benutzen. Die Slowakische Regierung ist hiervon in Kenntnis zu setzen. Die Benutzung der Eisenbahnlinien wird durch Sondertarifabmachun gen geregelt. Bei der Benutzung anderer slowakischer Verkehrsmittel sind die ortsiiblichen Tarifsatze zu zahlen, wenn nicht im Wege der Vereinbarung ein anderweitiger Entgelt fur die Benutzung festgesetzt wird. c) Das Recht, Riistungsbetriebe, die Auftrage vom Deutschen Reich erhalten, zu beaufsichtigen und auszunutzen unter BeriicksichUgung der Bediirfnisse der slowakischen Wehrmacht. Hieriiber wird eine besondere Vereinbarung zwischen den zustandigen Stellen der Deutschen Regierung und der Regierung des Slowakischen iStaates abgeschlossen werden. d) iDas Recht, in der Schutzzone alle erforderlichen Massnahmen des militarischen Abwehrdienstes zu treffen und von den Behorden des Slowakischen Staates die Anordnung und Durchfiihrung aller hierfiir erforderlichen Exekutivmassnahmen zu verlangen. !Die Deutsche Wehrmacht hat das !Recht, gegeniiber deutschen Wehrmachtangehori<g en und den fiir Wehrmachtzwecke in der Schutzzone tatigen reichsdeutschen Beamten, An-gestellten und Arbeitern deutsche militarische Exekutivorgane einzusetzen. Diese diirfen ,g egentiber Personen, die nicht die Staatsangehorigkeit im Deutschen Reich besitzen, nur in dringenden •Fallen, sofern slowakische Sicherheitsorgane nicht errechbar sind, Exekutivmassnahmen treffen. Festgenommene sind den zustandigen slowakischen Behorden unverziiglich, spatestens binnen 24 Stunden, zu ubergeben. e) Das Recht zur zollfreien Versor,g ung der deutschen Truppen und zur zollfreien Belieferung der militarischen Anlrugen aus dem Reich. Hieriiber wird eine Sondervereinbarung getroffen. Die Slowakische Regierung wird in engsten Einvernehmen mit der deutschen Wehrmacht alle Massnahmen treffen, die erforderlich sind, um der deutschen Wehrmacht die Durchfiihrung der ihr zum Schutz des Slowakischen S·taates, der Schutzzone und der darin befindlichen Truppen und militarischen Anlagen ubertragenen Aufgaben im Sinne des Vertrages vom 18./23. Marz 1939 zu ermoglichen und zu erleichtern. Artikel 3: Alie Hoheitsrechte in der Schutzzone ubt, soweit nicht im Vertrage vom 18. /2:3. Marz 1939 und in diesem Vertrage anders vereinbart, der Slowakische Staat aus. Hinsichtlich der Hoheitsrechte des Slowakischen Staates ist inbesondere folgendes vereinbart: a) Die Geltung aller jetzt und kiinftig gultigen rechtlichen Vor- �20 SLOVAKIA schriften der Slowakischen Republik erstreckt sich auf das Gebiet der Schutzzone, wenn dies nicht ausdriicklich ausgenommen wird, oder dem Sinne dieses Vertraiges und des Vertrages vom 18./23. Marz 1939 widerspricht. b) ,Die slowakischen Behorden in der Schutzzone iiben ihren Dienst weiterhin aus und unterliegen weiterhin uneingeschrankt der Aufsich t der ihnen vorgesetzten Behorden des Slowakischen Staates. c) Die Ausnutzung und Belegung der in der Schutzzone befindlichen militarischen Anlagen durch die slowakische Wehrmacht, das Uberliegen der Schutzzone durch slowakische Militarflugzeu.ge soiwie das Betraten der Schutzzone durch einzelne Angehorige der slowakischen Wehrmacht wird durch besondere Vereinbarung geregelt. d) In der Schutzzone kann der Zutrtt zu militarisch wichtigen Gebietsteilen, Befestigungsarbeiten and -anlagen von der deutschen Wehrmacht verhindert werden. Das Betretungsverbot wird von den zustandigen slowakischen Behorden auf Veranlassung der deutschen Wehrmachtstellen und in beiderseitigem Einvernehmen erlassen und der Bevolkerung in ortsiiblichen Weise bekanntgegeben werden. e) Die Einrichtung von Uberfluigzonen in der Schutzzone zur Ermoglichen des gegenseitiigen zivilen Flugverkehrs wird einer besonderen Vereinbarung vorbehalten. f) Deutsche Wehrmachtangehorig e diirfen das slowakische Staatsgebiet ausserhalb der Schutzzone nur betreten 1) aus dienstlichem Anlass mit Bewilligung der slowakischen zustandigen Behorden (Ausnahme Art. 2c) 2) bei Urlaub nur gemass den deutschen Bestimmungen iiber Auslandsurlaub. Artikel 4: Deutsche Wehrmachtsangehorig e, die sich auf Grund des Schutzvertragen vom 18./23. Marz 1939 in der Schutzzone befinden, sind den deutschen Strafgesetzen unterworfen und unterstehen wegen aller in der Schutzzone begangenen strafbaren Handlungen der deutschen Strafgerich tsbarkeit. Sonstige deutsche Staatsangehorige, die bei den Befestigungsarbeiten beschaftigt sind, sind wegen strafbarer Handlungen, die in der Schutzzone begangen sind und sich gegen das Deutsche Reich richten, allein der deutschen Strafgerichtsbarkeit unterworfen. Deutsche Reichsangehoriige sowie reichsdeutsche Handelsgesellschaften, Erwerbs- und Wirtschaftsgenossens chaften, die auf Grund eines privaten Vertragsverhaltnisses mit der Errichtung militarischer Anlagen in der Schutzzone befasst sind, konnen aus ihrem gegen-seitigen Rechtsverhaltnis sowie aus ihrem Rechtsverhaltnis zum Deutschen Reich wegen eines Anspruchs aus ihren iRechtsverhaltnissen, namentlich aus Arbeits-, Dienst-- und Lieferungsverhaltnissen oder wegen einer unerlaubten Handlung, die mit der Tatigkeit zur Errichtung der militarischen AnlaJgen unmittelbar in Zusammenhang steht, nur vor deutschen Gerichten verklagt werden. Klagen wegen dieser Anspriiche konnen bei dem Amts- oder Landgericht Briinn erhoben werden. Es bleibt der Reichsregierung vorbehalten, auch andere Gerichte zu bestimmen. Artikel 5: In den vor die deutschen Gerichte gehorigen Strafsachen sind die Sicherheitsbehorden des Slowakischn Staates befugt, bei Gefahr im Verzuge nach den fiir sie geltenden Verfahrengesetzten �SLOVAKIA 21 die ;\-lassnahmen zu treffen, die zur Aufklii.rung des Sachverhalts, zur Festhaltung des Beschuldigten oder zur Sicherung von Gegen-stii.nden notwendig sind, die z1ir Begehung strafbarer Handlungen gebraucht oder bestimmt sind. Von dem Veranlassten haben die Sicherheitsbehiirden des Slowakischen Staates unverziiglich den nii.chsten Gerichtsherrn (Divisionskommander) in Kenntnis zu setzen und ihm einen festgenommen Beschuldigten zuzufahren. Deutsche Wehrmachtsan:gehiirige sowie die fiir Wehrmacht21wecke in der ,s chutzzone tii.ti1g en deutschen •Reichsangehorigen haben stii.ndig einen giiltigen Personenausweis bei sich zu fiihren, mit dem sie sich gegeniiber slowakischen Sicherheitsorganen auf Aufforderung ausweisen konnen. A r t ikel 6 : Die Slowakischen Behiirden werden Handlungen, die ,g egen die in diesem Vertrag festgelegten Interessen des Deutschen Reichs gerichtet sind, so verfol•g en als ob sie gegen den Slowakischen Staat gerichtet wii.ren. Die Slowakische Regierung wird dafiir Sorge tragen, dass das Deutsch e Reich die Miiglichkeit erhii.lt, den deutschen Interessen Geltung zu verschaffen, wenn es sich in Strafverfahren vor slowakischen Justizbehorden um Fragen handelt, die das gemeinsame Interesse des Deutschen Reichs und des Slowakischen Staates beriihren. Die Slowakische Regierung wird ferner im Einvernehmen mit der Reichsregierung Vorkehrungen treffen, dass den in Artikel 4 bezeichneten Personen in Verfahren vor slowakischen Justizbehiirden in sprachlicher Hinsicht weitestgehende Erleichterungen zuteil werden. Absch nitt 111 ) : Befestigung.sarbeiten. A r t ike l 7: Militii.rische Bauten and -Anlagen innerhalb der Schutzzone werden vom Reich auf eigene Kosten hergestellt. Artike l 8 : Die Deutsche Wehrmacht wird das fiir die Arbeiten und Anlagen in der Schutzzone erforderliche Material nach Miiglichkeit aus dem slowakischen Staatsgebiet beziehen. Soweit Preise hierfiir niclrt im Wege der Ausschreibun,g und freien Vereinbarung festJgelegt werden, sind die iiblichen Ta,g espreisen zu zahlen . Artike l 9 : Die Deutsche Wehrmacht wird bei der Ausfiihrung d er Arbeiten und Anlagen vorzugsweise Arbeits krii.fte aus der Slowakei anstellen. Eine Abweichung hiervon kommt insbesondere in Frage, wenn militii.rische Griinde die Einstellung bestimmter anderer Arbeitskrii.fte, z. B. gelernter Fach- und Spezialarbeiter erforderlich machen. Arbeitskrii.fte aus der Slowakei werden in slowakischer Wii.hrung entlohnt. Bei der Einstellung von Arbeitern wird nach einem allgemeinen, im Benehmen mit d er Slowakischen iRegierung aufgestellten Vertrage formular vorfabren. A r t ike l 10: Nach den slowakischen Gesetzen ist zu verfahren, wenn bei Arbeiten and Anlagen der deutschen Wehrmacht in der Schutzzone historisch wichtige 1Funde gemacht werden, oder wenn dabei Mineral- und Erzlager, oder andere Bodenschii.tze entdeckt werden. Art ike l 11 : Die deutsche Wehrmacht ,w ird bei den in der Schutzzone durchzufiihrenden Arbeiten und Anlagen mit besonderer Sor,g falt auf historische Denkmii.ler und auf die fiir den Slowakischen Staat und die slowakische Nation bedeutsamen Oiits Riicksicht nehmen. Abschnitt IV ) : Schlussbestimm ungen. Artike l 12 : Alie Meinungsverchiedenheiten, die sich aus der Durchfiihrung dieses Vertrages ergeben, werden, soweit sie nicht zur Zu- �22 SLOVAKIA stiindigkeit anderer O11gane gehoren, einer Kommission unterbreitet, die aus 2 deutschen und 2 slo.wakischen Mitgliedern bestehen soil, die im Bedarfsfalle zusammen tritt und das Recht hat, Sachvers·tiindige hinzuzuziehen und nach Bedarf auch ein fiinftes Mitglied zu bestellen. Kommt eine Einigung iiber das fiinfte Mitglied nicht zustande, so ist die Angelegenheit auf dem iiblichen diplomatischen Wege bei den 1Regierungen anhangig zu machen. Die Anrufunig der Kommission hat keine aufschiebende Wirkung. Dieser Vertra;g wird in doppelter Urschrift, in deutscher und in slowakischer Sprache ausgefertigt. Er tritt am Tage nach der Unterzeichnung in Kraft. Pressburg, den 12. August 1939. Fiir das Deutsche Reich: a. o. Gesandter und bevollmachtigter Minister des Deutschen Reichs in Pressburg Generalleu tnant 1. Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945, Series D, (hereafter as D. G. F. P.) Volume Vil, pp. 10-11. 2. For the Treaty and the Confidential -P rotocol on economic and financial cooperation see D. G. F. P. V[, pp. 42-4-5. 3. D. G. F. P. VJ, p. 43 - The Academic Guard played an out~ standing role since October 1938, but its participation on the struggle for independence was of great importance especially in the decisive days of March 10-14, 1939. It was a paramilitary organization of university students, led by Dr. J. Kirschbaum as supreme command er. After March 14, it supplied the Slovak Republic with many outstanding workers in the Slovak public life, namely in Party organization, press, diplomacy, cultural associations etc. Among the leaders of the Academic Guard who played an important part in March 1939, are now in exile Dr. Joseph ,P auco, Dr. Joseph Mikula, Koloman Murgas, Dr. G. Danihel, Dr. L . Jankovic, etc. In 1940 the Academic Guard was dissolved by the order of the Ministry of Jnternal Affairs because it opposed introduction of National Socialist ideology in 1Slovakia. Dr. Kirschbaum was first called to arms and then sent abroad. No Slovak newspaper was allowed to mention his nam e for two following years. See Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1939-1945. 4. The origin of this zone can be traced back to Berlin where Hitler, talking to Tiso on March 13, told him among other things tha,t not only Hungarians and Poles were mobilizing, but "the Czechs also want to occcupy the western part of Slovakia up to the Vah." Tiso in his defense hinted at this ominous suggestion which is also ,supported by the 0 . K. W. Memorandum of March 24, (R 100 (see: Nazi Conspiracy and Agression, VJII, p. 83) according to which, if Slovakia is k ept independent, the military Schutzzone is to extend up to the Vah; but if Slovakia is divided between Poles and Hungarians, the whole area up to the Nitra is to be incorporated in the Protectorate ("Sollte Slowakei aufigeteilet werden, soil die Ostwest [Neutra-linie] Grenze werden und Pressburg einbezogen werden"). 5. According to the report of the British Consul in •B ratislava on iMarch 15, the German troops had reached Malacky by mid.day of that day and Trencfn by evening (D. Brit. F. P .. 3rd Series. Vol. IV, �SLOVAKIA 23 p. 287). On March 17, the Slovak Foreign Ministry lodged in a "note verbale" several complaints on the behaviour of the German troops in the occupied territory. 6. Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe, Joseph Pauco, Passaic, 1952, p. 232. 7. ibid. pp. ,233-4. 8. D. G. F. P., VJ, p. 756. 9. Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe, p. 234, footnote. 10. Tiso, Tuka and f>urcansky were invited to Berlin, where the latter two arrived on March 21. ,Ribbentrop kept them waiti.Il!g in complete uncertainty for three full days and then on March 23, at 12: 30 P. M., in their presence si,gned the Schutzvertrag. 11. The Polish White Book, pp. 62-3. 12. The offer to the Poles was, nevertheless, still open, and Hitler would have waived the .g uarantee if the ·Poles had been more cooperative (Cf. Doc. R 100 of March 24. How long the Fueh·rer considers himself bound to the 'T reaty concluded with Slovakia is open to doubt. It seems that he will use Slovakia as an asset to bargain between himself, Poland, and Hungary). On March 26, Ribbentrop a•g ain suggest-ed to Lipski "that the Slovak problem might still be discussed within the framework of a general Ausgleich" (see: Polish White Book, p. 67.), but the Poles now rejected the offer definitely. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. D. G. F. P., VI, pp. 114-115. ibid. p. 146. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. D. G. F. P., V[, pp. 7-56-762. ibid. p. 774. ibid. pp. 840-841. ibid. p. 916. ibid. pp. 9·52-953. ibid. p. 840, footnote. ibid. p. 1025. D. G F. P., Third Series, Vol. V, p. 89. D. G. F. P., Vil, pp. 254-255. At this conference, Tiso, Tuka, f>urcansky, and Mach negotiated with Barckhausen, Drufiel, Becker, and Hoffmann. The Slovaks advanced every argument imaiginable. if>urcansky thought that the presence of the German troops in the zone and outside it was generally interpreted as lack of trust on the part of the German Government in the Slovak Government. Tuka pointed out that the Slovak State should not be protected in the same manner as one would protect a flock of sheep, but that it should contribute to its own protection by having its own army, and this army must not be deprived of its equipment. Tiso and f>urcansky expressed the fea•r that, in case of the outbreak of Polish-!German hostilities, Hungary would invade Slovakia and, hence, Slovakia must be prepared for every eventuality. As for the Slovak desiderata, ihey were centered about these three points: (i) Establishment of two garrisons in the zone and the free use of the Malacky artillery range. (ii) Withdrawal of German military and other uniformed units (police, gendarmerie) from Zilina, Trencin, and Nove Mesto nad Vahom. (iii) Approval to keep nine tons of poisonous war gas ('Yperit'). D. G. F. P., VII, p. 2. � SLOVAKIA 7 The news of Dr. Tiso's departure caused the t ension in Bratislava and in all of Slovakia to grow. There was now not only fear of Hungarian occupation, if Dr. Tiso's mission were to fail but also fear of occupation by the Germans whose troops were stationed on the banks of the Danube on the Austrian side. At the same time there was, however , also a strong hope that Slovakia finally would become an independent state and that the dreams, desires and wishes of many Slovak generations would come true. 1. T h e writer was vice-presiden t of Pax R oma na and Slavia Catholi ca a nd, for ma ny year s, pr esiden t of th e Catholic Fed e ration of Slovak Stud en ts. 2. Cfr. Sidor's: Poznamky k historickym dnom r. 1939 p u blish ed by Lettri ch's R egime, Br atislava, 1946, a nd a lso accounts in Slovenska Obrana, October , 1939. 3. T h e Governm en t was composed as follows : Presiden t - Dr . Joseph T iso ; Prime Minister K. Sid or ; For e ig n Affairs - D r . Durcansky; E du cation - M. Cerna k ; F ina n ce - A. Mederly; Economy - Dr . Pru'.ii ns ky; Communica tions - Dr. Kir schba um ; Nationa l Defense - Gen. ,C atlos; 1Propaganda - A. Mach ; Justice - D r . V. T uka. - See de ta ils in Slovenska Obrana, October 17, 1939 . 4. 'T h e minu tes of th e Slovak Diet. Als o S idor's r em a rks on the historic days (ma nuscr ip ts, no t th e excerpts p ublis h ed b y th e Comm u nists in order to cond emn Dr. Tiso) . • • • THE GERMAN ZONE OF PROTECTION IN SLOVAK.IA (A study in Slovak-German relations in March-August 1939) Frantisek Vnuk On March 14, 1939, the independence of Slovakia was proclaimed by the Slovak Assembly. Two days later Baron von Weizsiicker wired a circular to all German diplomatic missions informing them that Slovak Prime Minister Dr. Tiso had transmitted the following r equest to the Fuhrer by telegram: With full trust in you, the Flihrer and Chancellor of the Gret er German Reich, the Slovak State places itself under your protection. The 'Slovak State asks you to take over this protection (1). Hitler acknowledged the receipt of the telegram and complied with the request. For this purpose a treaty of protection between Germany and Slovakia was drawn up (2) . Article 2 of the treaty stipulated that "the German Wehrmacht shall at all times have the right to set up �8 SLOVAKIA military installations in a zone bounded on the west by the frontier of the Slovak State and on the east by the general line of the eastern edge of the Little Carpathians, the eastern edge of the White Carpathians and the eastern edge of Javorniky, and to man these installations with such forces as the German Wehrmacht consider necessary ... Military sovereign rights (Hoheitsrechts) will be exercised by the German Wehrmacht (in this zone)" (3) . The establishment of this zone ( 4) represents in many respects an interesting aspect of Slovak-German relations. It casts a favorable light on a well-conceived but less successful attempt to extricate Slovak foreign policy from the agreed upon Slovak-German coordination in this field. This praiseworthy attempt and the subsequent unyielding behavior of Slovak politicians in the face of Hitler's demands contrast sharply with the charges of vassalage and servile obedience. In fact, the Slovaks resisted and contradicted Hitler's wishes (and with some success, too ) when powerful nations yielded and were advising others to yield. The negotiations concerning the zone were initiated on the night of March 17-18, 1939, in Vienna. At this time the occupation of Western Slovakia was already an accomplished fact (5) and - since possession is nine points of the law - the position of the ISlovak negotiators was noticeably weakened and by no means enviable. Nevertheless Dr. Joseph Tiso, Durcansky, Tuka, and Mach, the principal Slovak representatives, were determined to save could be saved. Preliminary negotiations started at Biirckel's flat at 5 p. m. Afterwards the Slovaks met SeyssInquart, then Keitel, and finally, at 1 a . m., on the 18th, in the Hotel Imperial they faced Hitler. Each stop represented more humiliation and more pressing demands and brought home one thing: Hitler was going to exact a high price for his protection ; much higher than he ever hinted at in Berlin on March 13th. Tiso was so disappointed at what he rightly considered - being let down that h e wanted to return to Bratislava without even seeing Hitler. Only his companions persuaded him to stay, arguing that in front of the Germans they all ought to show a united �SLOVAKIA 9 determination not to give up even an inch of sacred Slovak soil (6). When Hitler, in the presence of Ribbentrop and Keitel, met the Slovaks, he told them - according to the testimony of Tiso - that the 'Shutzvertrag' could be realized only if Germany were given far-reaching concessions to build up a zone in Western Slovakia. The extent of these concessions - as Tiso clearly saw - left the Slovaks practically without any rights to exercise their sovereignty in that territory. It was more than he could bear. At 2 :45 A. M. he got up and was at the point of departure. Hitler, it must be said, in spite of his many shortcommings had a soft spot for the Slovaks and, apparently moved by the pathetic sight of the hardpressed protegees, stopped Tiso with a very assuring piece of oratory. He said: "I do not want even an inch of Slovak ground. In Slovakia the Slovaks alone will develop their own national, cultural, and economic life. I shall guarantee the full independence and territorial integrity of Slovakia. The historical frontiers of Slovakia are and remain forever unchanged. I shall hold my protective hand over ,S lovakia and nobody will reach with stealthy hand for the Slovak State, where the Slovaks will live their own full life" (7). This rhetorical outburst pacified the Slovaks; the rest of the discussion was carried on in a much happier mood. The Slovaks ceded the Germans the right to build and man fortifications in the zone "so as to enable the German Wehrmacht, in the event of war, to take up such positions as are most advantageous to it" (8). The Slovak delegation left Vienna with the impression that the zone remained within the legal structure of the Slovak State. No treaty was formulated or signed that night. Formal negotiations were conducted on the afternoon of March 18. Tiso did not take part in these conversations. The Slovaks were represented by Dr. Ferdinand :Durcansky, Tuka a Zvrskovec; the Germans by Keppler and Gaus, the legal adviser to the Foreign Minister. The Treaty of Protection ( Schutzvertrag) was signed in Vienna the same day by :Durcansky and Tuka who also pledged to obtain Tiso's signature to the Treaty by noon of March 19, in re-1 �10 SLOVAKIA turn for which Keppl er undert ook to get Ribbe ntrop's signature within 24 hours. :Durcansky, Tuka, and Veesenmayer broug ht the Treaty to Tiso for signat ure the evening March 18; he signed it and appear ed to be satisfi ed · with its formu lation (9). Ribben trop, on the other hand, did not sign the Treaty within the stipula ted time limit. All in all, the Germa ns were in no partic ular hurry with respec t to the Slovaks. The reason for their procra stinati on, which was so frustra ting and inexpl icable to the Slovak s then (10), is seen clearly now: they hoped to come to terms with the Poles and Hunga rians. The Polish White Book gives an accoun t of Ribbentrop's propos als to Lipski on March 21 (11), namely , that German-lPolish discus sions "would be possib le on this subject" (i. e., on the questi on of Slovak ia). But the Germa ns must have consid ered the Polish attitud e discou raging , and Ribbe ntrop put his signat ure on the Treaty on -March 23, in Berlin (12), but not before Article 3 of the Treaty was modifi ed and the words "in order to defend Slovak State agains t any possib le extern al attack s" were omitte d. Once the Treaty was signed, the execut ion of Article 2 proved to be more difficu lt than anticip ated. Appar ently the Germa n milita ry author ities were not very happy with what, after all, was a politic al settlem ent. Their behavi or left much to be desire d and Slovak protes ts were very soon pourin g in. At first, the surpri sed Slovak s asked for an explan ation, but later protes ted very vigorio usly. On March 25, the .Slovak Foreig n ·M inistry in a 'note verbal e" called for a more definit e determ ination of the probable durati on and charac ter in intern ationa l law of the Germa n occupa tion of Slovak territo ry. The note also protested a•g ainst the exerci se of sovere ign rights "beyon d those of milita ry necess ity" and agains t the remov al of milita ry materi al which - they claime d - by the secess ion of Slovak ia, had leg-ally become Slovak 'State proper ty (13). It was inevita ble that the occupa tion would cause considera ble frictio n betwee n the Slovak popula tion and the Germa n troops , and that this frictio n would projec t unfavora bly into Slovak -Germ an relatio ns. But the amoun t �SLOVAKIA 11 of misunderstanding surpassed every expectation. The Slovaks in their optimistic enthusiasm were determined to enjoy their newly-gained independence to the fullest extent and consequently found the German presence in the zone very annoying and did not even try to hide their displeasure. The Germans, on the other hand, especially the military, did not bother to adjust their behavior in respect to the Slovaks. An ordinary German soldier and officer, fresh from victorious entries into Austria, the Sudetenland, and Bohemia, was hardly expected to be less arrogant towards Slovaks than he was towards Czechs; superiority was after all the essential part of his make-up. There were many instances of discontent, misunderstanding, and small incidents, and their existence could be best gauged by the frequent apologies and assurances which the 'Slovak Press Bureau was issuing in the newspapers and on the air. Under pressure of Slovak protests and complaints, the German representatives of General Staff and Foreign Ministry, at a meeting on March 28, agreed on a unified attitude towards the question of the zone. Their conclusions, though still by no means modest, represent in many respects retreat in the face of the Slovak protests, and can be briefly summarized as follows: 1. Withdrawal of the German Custom Frontier Protection Force to the Slovak-Moravian frontier. 2. The Vah fixed as the line of military occupation. 3. Appointment of a staff officer to the Consul General to act as liaison between the Slovak Army and the Wehrmacht. 4. The German troops east of the Vah to be recalled. 5. German claim to the entire war material of the former Czecho~Slovak army. 6. No removal of war material east of the occupied zone. 7. Decision as to size of the Slovak army. 8. Creation of s e p a r ate military formation for the Volksdeutche (14). Negotiations on the above topics took place on April 4 and were reported by Pares. Unfortunately no details concerning conversations are available, but it is known that �12 SLOVAKIA the Slovaks were represented by Dr. Tiso and the Ministers of War, Finance, and Economics, and the chief subject was the removal of war material "purchased by the German Government from the Czecho-!S lovak Government which had been stored in Slovakia" (15). As a result of these conversations, in addition to a German military adviser to be sent to Bratislava, a mixed Slovak-German commission was to be appointed to settle any controversial issue. At about the same time Tuka in his broadcast promised that the German army would leave when it was no longer needed. On April 15, the High Command of the Wehrmacht submitted a list of requirements, the fulfilment of which was expected from the Slovak Government under the Treaty of Protection. The demands, even in their "more lenient" form, were very exacting: 1. The High Command intended to maintain its military forces east of the Vah until the removal of "Czech arms and Czech war material" was completed. 2. Among the sovereign rights they claimed the right to occupy military and also public and private buildings, to use all forms and means of transport, to have at their disposal the factories concerned with war economy, duty-free import and export, postal services, telecommunications and Intelligence Service (Abwehrdienst). 3. The zone to include also Trencin, Krupa, Zilina, and Povazska Bystrica. 4. The size of Slovak army to be completed at one per cent of the population. 5. No units of the Slovak army to be garrisoned within the zone, but para-military formations (Hlinka Guards) to be allowed. 6. Export and import of war material to and from Slovakia to be refused or permitted by the Slovak Government only in agreement with the Reich Government or the High Command of the Wehrmacht (16). When these requirements were communicated by Druffel to Tiso, the latter declared that the Slovak Government did not wish to make difficulties, but asked for discussions with the German authorities on the highest level before �SLOVAKIA 13 making any definite commitments. The Germans consented and, as a result, a conference took place in Berlin on April 19. Slovak representatives included Tiso, :Durcansky, and Tuka, the Ministry of Defense was represented by Catlos and Schneider, and also present were Cernak and Szathmary from the Slovak Legation in Berlin. The German delegation consisted of top-ranking experts, both political and military, but conspicious by their absence were the policy making personalities of the Reich. Its members were: Weissacker, Keppler, Wormann, Gaus, Altenburg, Tippelskirsch, HeydenRynsch, and Becker. Slovak grievances were numerous. To start with, Tiso mentioned the occupation by German troops of the aerodrome of Malacky and the demand by a German armored formation for transit through Bratislava. Then he complained of the severity of the demands of the German Wehrmacht, stating that "extension of the zone to Trencin and Zilina was hardly bearable for the Slovak Government"; of the behaviour of the German troops who in some villages occupied schools and thus made school attendance impossible, and employed Czech workers in preference to Slovaks. Furthermore, he claimed a share in the ownership of the former Czecho-Slovak arms factories and clamored for the return of a number of aircraft. German answers were either non-commital or asked to extend negotiations to clarify the application of the Treaty. Apparently the Slovaks demanded more than the German representatives were empowered to grant. Meanwhile the joint Slovak~German Commission was negotiating the treaty on the Zone of Protection but it did not seem to make any noticeable progress. On June 12, the Slovaks submitted another "note verbale'' which contained a number of Slovak views on the interpretation of the text of the Treaty. Arguments advanced by Slovaks were discussed at the conference on June 19 (17), where Tiso expressed the wish to draw up a memorandum and to discuss it personally with Hitler in hopeful expectation that the Slovaks might get more favorable treatment at the hands of the Fuhrer, than they were getting from his representatives. Hitler, however, declined to see Tiso and refused to consider the various points of the Slovak memorandum. �14 SLOVAKIA On June 21 this memorandum, in the form of an "aide memoire", was submitted to the German Foreign Ministry (18). It represented a voluminous list of complaints and expressed an outburst of accumulated Slovak indi,gnation about the German injustices. It questioned German rights to exclude Slovak garrisons from the zonal area, the interpretation of "sovereign rights", and claimed as Slovak the former Cecho..!Slovak military installations which were taken over by the Wehnnacht (such as the artillery range at Malacky); furthermore, it also questioned the wisdom of maintaining German ,garrisons outside the zone (e. g., in .Zilina, Trencin, Nove Mesto nad Va.horn) and criticised excursions of German troops to Bratislava and other places outside the zone. With regard to military material, the Slovak memorandum complained about the removal of war material from Pezinok, Modra, Malacky, Plavecke Podhradie, Hlboke, Turecky Vrch, Senica, Nemcova, Nove Mesto nad Va.horn, Trencin, Istebnik, Skalka, and .Zilina in a manner which "transgressed the bounds of an amicable atmosphere". Furthermore, it objected to occupation of munition factories and factories producing various types of war material at Dubnica, Povazska IBystrica, Stara Tura, Myjava, and .Zilina; to taking over of the stocks and installations of the airports at Novy Dvor and .Zilina; and it sadly commented that proceedings connected with the removal of war material were often conducted "as though Slovakia were an enemy country and not a State whose political and territorial independence had been guaranted by the Flihrer and Chancellor". The memorandum concluded a few more grievances against the military authorities whose attitude caused "administrative and economic uncertainty". The matter was then brought to Hitler's attention. This is evident from a statement made by Keitel on June 20, according to which Hitler's decision on the subject at the conference held by him amounted to the following: "The Flihrer said that he wished the negotiations to be conducted energetically and resolutely which, together with our concrete offers, must lead to early success. The prerequisite for the proposed support of Slovakia is the complete accep- �SLOVAKIA 15 tance of our demeands, the more so as Slovakia is dependent on our military, economic, and financial aid." This authoritative pronouncement meant that all the subsequent attempts of the ,Slovaks for better terms encountered the adamant attitude of the German authorities. Thus, when, on June 22, the Slovak Minister in 'Berlin (Matus Cernak) saw Wormann at the German Foreign Ministry, he was brusquely told that the Germans disagreed with the Slovak Foreign Ministry's attempts to establish inconsistencies between the demands of the German Military Delegation and the assurances given by leading German statesmen regarding the conclusion of the Treaty of Protection. He was asked to make it clear in Bratislava that "the Military Delegation was among these demands in the name of the German Government". Cernak sugested that concessions be made by both parties and thought that this would make it possible to reach an agreement which would "not only maintain, but arouse sympathy for Germany" among the Slovak poulation. But Wormann had little understanding for the Slovak point of view and berated the Slovaks because several of the demands expressed in the memorandum of June 19 were in contradiction to the Treaty of Protection (19). On July 3, Cernak again called on the German Foreign Ministry, where he saw Weizsa.cker. He pleaded with him for moderation of the German demands, arguing that "Tiso's ... pro-German policy would be shaken, if it were not supported. In case of emergency, Slovakia would, of course, be completely at the disposal of German Armed Forces, but in peace-time one ought to remain within the scope of the terms of the Treaty. But again Cerna.k's arguments were of no avail and were, one by one, refuted by Weizsa.cker. Faced with such an uncooperative attitude, Cernak asked to be allowed to speak to Ribbentrop personally, but was told that the Foreign Minister was not available (20). The Slovaks, ignorant of Hitler's decision and trusting in his words with hopeful optimism, left no stone unturned in their attempts to secure more favorable terms. Their representatives were untiring in demanding interviews with Hitler and Ribbentrop who, as the chief architects of the 1 �16 SLOVAKIA Slovak-German Treaty, could be made, they thought, to stand up to their promises. In this, however, they wer e unsuccessful. But they could get only to Weizsacker; and he, after trying to persuade them that the German negotiators "were acting on the instructions issued to them by the authoritative persons in the Reich", admonished the Slovaks that they should look at them as such and "conduct themselves accordingly" (21). As time went by, the Germans were getting progressively more and more anxious to have the whole issue about the interpretation of the Treaty finally settled and were apparently annoyed by the delay caused by the stubborness of the Slovaks. In view of the approaching German~olish conflict it was paramont for them to have their stand in Slovakia precisely determined and legalized. Their activity (often on the verge of nervousness) was in sharp contrast with the patient and determined attitude of the Slovaks who were unwilling to retreat. The situation was provided with a real touch of comedy when the Slovak statesmen went on their summer holidays (Tiso left for Topofcianky, Durcansky for the High Tatras) while German couriers were flying between and Bratislava. On July 19, Druffel was shown a report from Cernak according to which Eisenlohr and Weizsacker had expressed themselves in favour of token Slovak garrisons in the protected zone. On the strength of this report, Durcansky urged Catlos to dispatch some troops into the zone. On July 2:1, Catlos ordered one batallion to move in and, at the same time, informed the German military mission of his action. From the Germans came a vehement protest, coupled with threats, and the order was recalled. This move displeased Durcansky immensely. He maintained that Catlos should have created a "fait accompli" without regard for the German military mission and their feelings. The argument went so far that Catlos threatened to resign (22). Whether Catlos's action was right or wrong is open to question. It may be recalled, however, that at that time, the German military authorities were resolutely against ·any Slovak troops in that zone, and the same view was shared by Hitler. �SLOVAKIA 17 On July 17, the German Foreign Ministry sent to their representative in Bratislava a letter of instructions with an enclosed draft of the Treaty on the Zone of Protection (23). With this draft as a basis, new negotiations ensued. Unfortunately no records were found concerning their course. From the report of tH. Bernard (new German Minister to Slovakia who replaced Druffel), we learn that they were concluded by July 31 and the Slovak representatives (again, we do not know, who they were; Tuka was probably one of them; Tiso and :Durcansky were vacationing) accepted the draft of the treaty with small amendments (24). Barckhausen then took this modified version of the Treaty to Berlin and, on August 7, brought it to Bratislava to Tuka, who then forwarded it to Tiso and :Durcansky (on their vacation) with a request for their approval (25 ). But the Treaty in its new form did not appeal either to Tiso or :Durcansky. Rejecting various points of the draft, they again upset the German applecart. On August 10, a new series of discussions was initiated, this time with :Durcansky present. These discussions finally brought concrete results. On Saturday evening, August 12, 1939, the Treaty on the Zone of Protection was signed at Bratislava by Minister Bernard and Lt. General Barckhausen on behalf of the German Reich, and by the Slovak Premier Tiso. The Treaty consisted of four Sections. Section I delimitated its extent. ,S ection II defined military sovereign rights of the German Wehrmacht and the sovereign rights of the Slovak State; German military sovereign rights included the right to requisition public and private premises, to use all means and lines of transportation, and to supervise armament factories working for the Reich; Germany was also given jurisdiction over her nationals; this Section also provided for Slovak garrisions within the zone. Section 1',III laid down rules regarding the employment of the personnel and material in, and on the payment for, the construction of fortifications. Section IV contained provisions for settlement of differences arising from the application of the Treaty. 1 �SLOVAKIA: 16 Verbatim German Text of Treaty (.From Photostat) Abschrift. Schutzzonenvert rag Zur Regelung der sich aus dem Schutzvertrage vom 18./23. Marz 1939 ergebenden Fragen ist zwischen dem Deutschen Reich und der Slowakischen Republik durch die unterzeichneten Bevollmachtigten beider Regierungen folgendes vereinbart worden. Abschnitt I): Abgrenzung der Schutzzone. Artikel 1: Die Ausdehnung der in Artikel 2 des deutsch-slowakis chen Vertrages vom 18./ 23. Marz 1939 genannten Zone in folgendem mit ''Schutzzone" bezeichnet - ergibt sich aus der diesem Vertrage als Bestandteil angehefteten Landkarte in Masstabe 1: 7·5,000. Die Schutzzone erstreckt sich von Westen her bis zu der dieser Landkarte eingezeichneten roten Linie, und sie schliesst den von dieser Linie bedecken Tei! des slowakischen Gebietes ein. Eine Bez·e ichnung der ostwartigen Schutzzonenbeg renzungslinie im Gelande durch Tafeln oder Grenzsteine erfolgt nicht. lnnerhalb dieser Schutzzone wird das Deutsche Reich die ihm im Schutzvertrage vom 18-/ 23. Marz 1939 von dem Slowakischen Staat iibertragenen Aufgaben nach Massgabe der Bestimmungen dieses Vertrages durchfiihren. Abschnitt II): Rechtsverhaltni sse in der Schutzzone. Artikel 2: Mit den militarischen IHoheitsrechten, deren Ausiibung der deutschen Wehrmacht in Arti~el 2 des Vertrages vom 18./23. Marz iibertragen worden ist, hat sie das Recht erhalten, im Sinne der fiir die Verteidigung des Slowakischen Staates im allgemeinen bestehenden Gesetze Leistungen im gleichen Masse wie die slowakische Wehrmacht in lFriedenszeiten zu fordern (ohne die ,B estimmungen, die in dem slowakischen Gesetz Nr. 131/36 enthalten sind). Bei Aufwendungen, die iiber den Rahmen normaler Manciverleistung en auch zeitlich hinausgehen, sind die hierfiir zu zahlenden Entschadigungen nach den ortsiiblichen Tagespreisen zu bemessen. Die deutsche Wehrmacht haftet fiir Schaden in gleichem Ausmass wie die slowakische Wehrmacht in tlbungszeiten. Demzufolge hat die deutsche Wehrmacht insbesondere folgende Rechte: a) (Das Recht, jederzeit in der Schutzzone militarische Anlagen zu errichten und im 'Benehmen mit den slowakischen Behcirden tiffentliche Gebaude, Grundstiicke and Anlagen fiir militarische Zwecke in Anspruch zu nehmen und private Gebaude und Grundstiicke in Benutzun_ zu nehmen, ohne die Durchfiihrung des Enteignungsverfahrens oder des Verfahrens zur voriibergehende n Entziehung der Benutzung abzuwarten, jedoch unbeschadet ,e iner spateren Regelung der Entschadigung. Die Entschadigung wird unter Mitwirkun,g deutscher Beauftragter im Wege giitlicher Verhandlun,gen mit den Betroffenen festigesetzt. IKommt eine giitliche Eintgung nicht zustande, so bleibt es den Betroffenen vorbehalten, die Festsetzung der Entschadig-ung nach den slowakischen Gesetzen zu betragen. In diesem Falle bleibt im �SLOVAKIA 19 Verhaltnis zu dem Deutschen Reich die Hohe der Entschadigung einer Vereinbarung mit der Slowakischen Regierung vorbehalten. b) Das Recht zur Benutzung der in der Schutzzone vorhanden,en Transportmittel und Transportwege unter moglichster Berucksichtigung der wirtschaftlichen Jnteressen der Slowakischen Republik. Ausserdem kann bei Vorliegen besonderer militarischer Notwendigkeiten die Bahn Pressburg-Ty,r nau-Pistyan-Trencin'8 illeinJCadca und die Strassen Pressburg-Modern-Na das-Trencin and Pressburg-Tyrnau-Pis tyan-Trencin,Sillein>C adca, von Trencin aus bis Cadca auch auf dem ostwartigen Waag-und Kysucaufer benutzt werden. Ferner erhalt die deutsche Wehrmacht das Recht, alle Orte zwischen Pressburg (ausschliesslich) and Cadca an den oben genannten Strassen bei Vorliegen militarischer Griinde vorubergehend zur Einquartierung zu benutzen. Die Slowakische Regierung ist hiervon in Kenntnis zu setzen. Die Benutzung der Eisenbahnlinien wird durch Sondertarifabmachun gen geregelt. Bei der Benutzung anderer slowakischer Verkehrsmittel sind die ortsiiblichen Tarifsatze zu zahlen, wenn nicht im Wege der Vereinbarung ein anderweitiger Entgelt fur die Benutzung festgesetzt wird. c) Das Recht, Riistungsbetriebe, die Auftrage vom Deutschen Reich erhalten, zu beaufsichtigen und auszunutzen unter BeriicksichUgung der Bediirfnisse der slowakischen Wehrmacht. Hieriiber wird eine besondere Vereinbarung zwischen den zustandigen Stellen der Deutschen Regierung und der Regierung des Slowakischen iStaates abgeschlossen werden. d) iDas Recht, in der Schutzzone alle erforderlichen Massnahmen des militarischen Abwehrdienstes zu treffen und von den Behorden des Slowakischen Staates die Anordnung und Durchfiihrung aller hierfiir erforderlichen Exekutivmassnahmen zu verlangen. !Die Deutsche Wehrmacht hat das !Recht, gegeniiber deutschen Wehrmachtangehori<g en und den fiir Wehrmachtzwecke in der Schutzzone tatigen reichsdeutschen Beamten, An-gestellten und Arbeitern deutsche militarische Exekutivorgane einzusetzen. Diese diirfen ,g egentiber Personen, die nicht die Staatsangehorigkeit im Deutschen Reich besitzen, nur in dringenden •Fallen, sofern slowakische Sicherheitsorgane nicht errechbar sind, Exekutivmassnahmen treffen. Festgenommene sind den zustandigen slowakischen Behorden unverziiglich, spatestens binnen 24 Stunden, zu ubergeben. e) Das Recht zur zollfreien Versor,g ung der deutschen Truppen und zur zollfreien Belieferung der militarischen Anlrugen aus dem Reich. Hieriiber wird eine Sondervereinbarung getroffen. Die Slowakische Regierung wird in engsten Einvernehmen mit der deutschen Wehrmacht alle Massnahmen treffen, die erforderlich sind, um der deutschen Wehrmacht die Durchfiihrung der ihr zum Schutz des Slowakischen S·taates, der Schutzzone und der darin befindlichen Truppen und militarischen Anlagen ubertragenen Aufgaben im Sinne des Vertrages vom 18./23. Marz 1939 zu ermoglichen und zu erleichtern. Artikel 3: Alie Hoheitsrechte in der Schutzzone ubt, soweit nicht im Vertrage vom 18. /2:3. Marz 1939 und in diesem Vertrage anders vereinbart, der Slowakische Staat aus. Hinsichtlich der Hoheitsrechte des Slowakischen Staates ist inbesondere folgendes vereinbart: a) Die Geltung aller jetzt und kiinftig gultigen rechtlichen Vor- �20 SLOVAKIA schriften der Slowakischen Republik erstreckt sich auf das Gebiet der Schutzzone, wenn dies nicht ausdriicklich ausgenommen wird, oder dem Sinne dieses Vertraiges und des Vertrages vom 18./23. Marz 1939 widerspricht. b) ,Die slowakischen Behorden in der Schutzzone iiben ihren Dienst weiterhin aus und unterliegen weiterhin uneingeschrankt der Aufsich t der ihnen vorgesetzten Behorden des Slowakischen Staates. c) Die Ausnutzung und Belegung der in der Schutzzone befindlichen militarischen Anlagen durch die slowakische Wehrmacht, das Uberliegen der Schutzzone durch slowakische Militarflugzeu.ge soiwie das Betraten der Schutzzone durch einzelne Angehorige der slowakischen Wehrmacht wird durch besondere Vereinbarung geregelt. d) In der Schutzzone kann der Zutrtt zu militarisch wichtigen Gebietsteilen, Befestigungsarbeiten and -anlagen von der deutschen Wehrmacht verhindert werden. Das Betretungsverbot wird von den zustandigen slowakischen Behorden auf Veranlassung der deutschen Wehrmachtstellen und in beiderseitigem Einvernehmen erlassen und der Bevolkerung in ortsiiblichen Weise bekanntgegeben werden. e) Die Einrichtung von Uberfluigzonen in der Schutzzone zur Ermoglichen des gegenseitiigen zivilen Flugverkehrs wird einer besonderen Vereinbarung vorbehalten. f) Deutsche Wehrmachtangehorig e diirfen das slowakische Staatsgebiet ausserhalb der Schutzzone nur betreten 1) aus dienstlichem Anlass mit Bewilligung der slowakischen zustandigen Behorden (Ausnahme Art. 2c) 2) bei Urlaub nur gemass den deutschen Bestimmungen iiber Auslandsurlaub. Artikel 4: Deutsche Wehrmachtsangehorig e, die sich auf Grund des Schutzvertragen vom 18./23. Marz 1939 in der Schutzzone befinden, sind den deutschen Strafgesetzen unterworfen und unterstehen wegen aller in der Schutzzone begangenen strafbaren Handlungen der deutschen Strafgerich tsbarkeit. Sonstige deutsche Staatsangehorige, die bei den Befestigungsarbeiten beschaftigt sind, sind wegen strafbarer Handlungen, die in der Schutzzone begangen sind und sich gegen das Deutsche Reich richten, allein der deutschen Strafgerichtsbarkeit unterworfen. Deutsche Reichsangehoriige sowie reichsdeutsche Handelsgesellschaften, Erwerbs- und Wirtschaftsgenossens chaften, die auf Grund eines privaten Vertragsverhaltnisses mit der Errichtung militarischer Anlagen in der Schutzzone befasst sind, konnen aus ihrem gegen-seitigen Rechtsverhaltnis sowie aus ihrem Rechtsverhaltnis zum Deutschen Reich wegen eines Anspruchs aus ihren iRechtsverhaltnissen, namentlich aus Arbeits-, Dienst-- und Lieferungsverhaltnissen oder wegen einer unerlaubten Handlung, die mit der Tatigkeit zur Errichtung der militarischen AnlaJgen unmittelbar in Zusammenhang steht, nur vor deutschen Gerichten verklagt werden. Klagen wegen dieser Anspriiche konnen bei dem Amts- oder Landgericht Briinn erhoben werden. Es bleibt der Reichsregierung vorbehalten, auch andere Gerichte zu bestimmen. Artikel 5: In den vor die deutschen Gerichte gehorigen Strafsachen sind die Sicherheitsbehorden des Slowakischn Staates befugt, bei Gefahr im Verzuge nach den fiir sie geltenden Verfahrengesetzten �SLOVAKIA 21 die ;\-lassnahmen zu treffen, die zur Aufklii.rung des Sachverhalts, zur Festhaltung des Beschuldigten oder zur Sicherung von Gegen-stii.nden notwendig sind, die z1ir Begehung strafbarer Handlungen gebraucht oder bestimmt sind. Von dem Veranlassten haben die Sicherheitsbehiirden des Slowakischen Staates unverziiglich den nii.chsten Gerichtsherrn (Divisionskommander) in Kenntnis zu setzen und ihm einen festgenommen Beschuldigten zuzufahren. Deutsche Wehrmachtsan:gehiirige sowie die fiir Wehrmacht21wecke in der ,s chutzzone tii.ti1g en deutschen •Reichsangehorigen haben stii.ndig einen giiltigen Personenausweis bei sich zu fiihren, mit dem sie sich gegeniiber slowakischen Sicherheitsorganen auf Aufforderung ausweisen konnen. A r t ikel 6 : Die Slowakischen Behiirden werden Handlungen, die ,g egen die in diesem Vertrag festgelegten Interessen des Deutschen Reichs gerichtet sind, so verfol•g en als ob sie gegen den Slowakischen Staat gerichtet wii.ren. Die Slowakische Regierung wird dafiir Sorge tragen, dass das Deutsch e Reich die Miiglichkeit erhii.lt, den deutschen Interessen Geltung zu verschaffen, wenn es sich in Strafverfahren vor slowakischen Justizbehorden um Fragen handelt, die das gemeinsame Interesse des Deutschen Reichs und des Slowakischen Staates beriihren. Die Slowakische Regierung wird ferner im Einvernehmen mit der Reichsregierung Vorkehrungen treffen, dass den in Artikel 4 bezeichneten Personen in Verfahren vor slowakischen Justizbehiirden in sprachlicher Hinsicht weitestgehende Erleichterungen zuteil werden. Absch nitt 111 ) : Befestigung.sarbeiten. A r t ike l 7: Militii.rische Bauten and -Anlagen innerhalb der Schutzzone werden vom Reich auf eigene Kosten hergestellt. Artike l 8 : Die Deutsche Wehrmacht wird das fiir die Arbeiten und Anlagen in der Schutzzone erforderliche Material nach Miiglichkeit aus dem slowakischen Staatsgebiet beziehen. Soweit Preise hierfiir niclrt im Wege der Ausschreibun,g und freien Vereinbarung festJgelegt werden, sind die iiblichen Ta,g espreisen zu zahlen . Artike l 9 : Die Deutsche Wehrmacht wird bei der Ausfiihrung d er Arbeiten und Anlagen vorzugsweise Arbeits krii.fte aus der Slowakei anstellen. Eine Abweichung hiervon kommt insbesondere in Frage, wenn militii.rische Griinde die Einstellung bestimmter anderer Arbeitskrii.fte, z. B. gelernter Fach- und Spezialarbeiter erforderlich machen. Arbeitskrii.fte aus der Slowakei werden in slowakischer Wii.hrung entlohnt. Bei der Einstellung von Arbeitern wird nach einem allgemeinen, im Benehmen mit d er Slowakischen iRegierung aufgestellten Vertrage formular vorfabren. A r t ike l 10: Nach den slowakischen Gesetzen ist zu verfahren, wenn bei Arbeiten and Anlagen der deutschen Wehrmacht in der Schutzzone historisch wichtige 1Funde gemacht werden, oder wenn dabei Mineral- und Erzlager, oder andere Bodenschii.tze entdeckt werden. Art ike l 11 : Die deutsche Wehrmacht ,w ird bei den in der Schutzzone durchzufiihrenden Arbeiten und Anlagen mit besonderer Sor,g falt auf historische Denkmii.ler und auf die fiir den Slowakischen Staat und die slowakische Nation bedeutsamen Oiits Riicksicht nehmen. Abschnitt IV ) : Schlussbestimm ungen. Artike l 12 : Alie Meinungsverchiedenheiten, die sich aus der Durchfiihrung dieses Vertrages ergeben, werden, soweit sie nicht zur Zu- �22 SLOVAKIA stiindigkeit anderer O11gane gehoren, einer Kommission unterbreitet, die aus 2 deutschen und 2 slo.wakischen Mitgliedern bestehen soil, die im Bedarfsfalle zusammen tritt und das Recht hat, Sachvers·tiindige hinzuzuziehen und nach Bedarf auch ein fiinftes Mitglied zu bestellen. Kommt eine Einigung iiber das fiinfte Mitglied nicht zustande, so ist die Angelegenheit auf dem iiblichen diplomatischen Wege bei den 1Regierungen anhangig zu machen. Die Anrufunig der Kommission hat keine aufschiebende Wirkung. Dieser Vertra;g wird in doppelter Urschrift, in deutscher und in slowakischer Sprache ausgefertigt. Er tritt am Tage nach der Unterzeichnung in Kraft. Pressburg, den 12. August 1939. Fiir das Deutsche Reich: a. o. Gesandter und bevollmachtigter Minister des Deutschen Reichs in Pressburg Generalleu tnant 1. Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945, Series D, (hereafter as D. G. F. P.) Volume Vil, pp. 10-11. 2. For the Treaty and the Confidential -P rotocol on economic and financial cooperation see D. G. F. P. V[, pp. 42-4-5. 3. D. G. F. P. VJ, p. 43 - The Academic Guard played an out~ standing role since October 1938, but its participation on the struggle for independence was of great importance especially in the decisive days of March 10-14, 1939. It was a paramilitary organization of university students, led by Dr. J. Kirschbaum as supreme command er. After March 14, it supplied the Slovak Republic with many outstanding workers in the Slovak public life, namely in Party organization, press, diplomacy, cultural associations etc. Among the leaders of the Academic Guard who played an important part in March 1939, are now in exile Dr. Joseph ,P auco, Dr. Joseph Mikula, Koloman Murgas, Dr. G. Danihel, Dr. L . Jankovic, etc. In 1940 the Academic Guard was dissolved by the order of the Ministry of Jnternal Affairs because it opposed introduction of National Socialist ideology in 1Slovakia. Dr. Kirschbaum was first called to arms and then sent abroad. No Slovak newspaper was allowed to mention his nam e for two following years. See Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1939-1945. 4. The origin of this zone can be traced back to Berlin where Hitler, talking to Tiso on March 13, told him among other things tha,t not only Hungarians and Poles were mobilizing, but "the Czechs also want to occcupy the western part of Slovakia up to the Vah." Tiso in his defense hinted at this ominous suggestion which is also ,supported by the 0 . K. W. Memorandum of March 24, (R 100 (see: Nazi Conspiracy and Agression, VJII, p. 83) according to which, if Slovakia is k ept independent, the military Schutzzone is to extend up to the Vah; but if Slovakia is divided between Poles and Hungarians, the whole area up to the Nitra is to be incorporated in the Protectorate ("Sollte Slowakei aufigeteilet werden, soil die Ostwest [Neutra-linie] Grenze werden und Pressburg einbezogen werden"). 5. According to the report of the British Consul in •B ratislava on iMarch 15, the German troops had reached Malacky by mid.day of that day and Trencfn by evening (D. Brit. F. P .. 3rd Series. Vol. IV, �SLOVAKIA 23 p. 287). On March 17, the Slovak Foreign Ministry lodged in a "note verbale" several complaints on the behaviour of the German troops in the occupied territory. 6. Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe, Joseph Pauco, Passaic, 1952, p. 232. 7. ibid. pp. ,233-4. 8. D. G. F. P., VJ, p. 756. 9. Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe, p. 234, footnote. 10. Tiso, Tuka and f>urcansky were invited to Berlin, where the latter two arrived on March 21. ,Ribbentrop kept them waiti.Il!g in complete uncertainty for three full days and then on March 23, at 12: 30 P. M., in their presence si,gned the Schutzvertrag. 11. The Polish White Book, pp. 62-3. 12. The offer to the Poles was, nevertheless, still open, and Hitler would have waived the .g uarantee if the ·Poles had been more cooperative (Cf. Doc. R 100 of March 24. How long the Fueh·rer considers himself bound to the 'T reaty concluded with Slovakia is open to doubt. It seems that he will use Slovakia as an asset to bargain between himself, Poland, and Hungary). On March 26, Ribbentrop a•g ain suggest-ed to Lipski "that the Slovak problem might still be discussed within the framework of a general Ausgleich" (see: Polish White Book, p. 67.), but the Poles now rejected the offer definitely. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. D. G. F. P., VI, pp. 114-115. ibid. p. 146. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. D. G. F. P., V[, pp. 7-56-762. ibid. p. 774. ibid. pp. 840-841. ibid. p. 916. ibid. pp. 9·52-953. ibid. p. 840, footnote. ibid. p. 1025. D. G F. P., Third Series, Vol. V, p. 89. D. G. F. P., Vil, pp. 254-255. At this conference, Tiso, Tuka, f>urcansky, and Mach negotiated with Barckhausen, Drufiel, Becker, and Hoffmann. The Slovaks advanced every argument imaiginable. if>urcansky thought that the presence of the German troops in the zone and outside it was generally interpreted as lack of trust on the part of the German Government in the Slovak Government. Tuka pointed out that the Slovak State should not be protected in the same manner as one would protect a flock of sheep, but that it should contribute to its own protection by having its own army, and this army must not be deprived of its equipment. Tiso and f>urcansky expressed the fea•r that, in case of the outbreak of Polish-!German hostilities, Hungary would invade Slovakia and, hence, Slovakia must be prepared for every eventuality. As for the Slovak desiderata, ihey were centered about these three points: (i) Establishment of two garrisons in the zone and the free use of the Malacky artillery range. (ii) Withdrawal of German military and other uniformed units (police, gendarmerie) from Zilina, Trencin, and Nove Mesto nad Vahom. (iii) Approval to keep nine tons of poisonous war gas ('Yperit'). D. G. F. P., VII, p. 2. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1959, Vol. 9 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 4 [sic] (No. 29), March 1959.</li> <li>Issue 5 [sic] (No. 30), June-December 1959.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1959 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 7 The news of Dr. Tiso's departure caused the t ension in Bratislava and in all of Slovakia to grow. There was now not only fear of Hungarian occupation, if Dr. Tiso's mission were to fail but also fear of occupation by the Germans whose troops were stationed on the banks of the Danube on the Austrian side. At the same time there was, however , also a strong hope that Slovakia finally would become an independent state and that the dreams, desires and wishes of many Slovak generations would come true. 1. T h e writer was vice-presiden t of Pax R oma na and Slavia Catholi ca a nd, for ma ny year s, pr esiden t of th e Catholic Fed e ration of Slovak Stud en ts. 2. Cfr. Sidor's: Poznamky k historickym dnom r. 1939 p u blish ed by Lettri ch's R egime, Br atislava, 1946, a nd a lso accounts in Slovenska Obrana, October , 1939. 3. T h e Governm en t was composed as follows : Presiden t - Dr . Joseph T iso ; Prime Minister K. Sid or ; For e ig n Affairs - D r . Durcansky; E du cation - M. Cerna k ; F ina n ce - A. Mederly; Economy - Dr . Pru'.ii ns ky; Communica tions - Dr. Kir schba um ; Nationa l Defense - Gen. ,C atlos; 1Propaganda - A. Mach ; Justice - D r . V. T uka. - See de ta ils in Slovenska Obrana, October 17, 1939 . 4. 'T h e minu tes of th e Slovak Diet. Als o S idor's r em a rks on the historic days (ma nuscr ip ts, no t th e excerpts p ublis h ed b y th e Comm u nists in order to cond emn Dr. Tiso) . • • • THE GERMAN ZONE OF PROTECTION IN SLOVAK.IA (A study in Slovak-German relations in March-August 1939) Frantisek Vnuk On March 14, 1939, the independence of Slovakia was proclaimed by the Slovak Assembly. Two days later Baron von Weizsiicker wired a circular to all German diplomatic missions informing them that Slovak Prime Minister Dr. Tiso had transmitted the following r equest to the Fuhrer by telegram: With full trust in you, the Flihrer and Chancellor of the Gret er German Reich, the Slovak State places itself under your protection. The 'Slovak State asks you to take over this protection (1). Hitler acknowledged the receipt of the telegram and complied with the request. For this purpose a treaty of protection between Germany and Slovakia was drawn up (2) . Article 2 of the treaty stipulated that "the German Wehrmacht shall at all times have the right to set up 8 SLOVAKIA military installations in a zone bounded on the west by the frontier of the Slovak State and on the east by the general line of the eastern edge of the Little Carpathians, the eastern edge of the White Carpathians and the eastern edge of Javorniky, and to man these installations with such forces as the German Wehrmacht consider necessary ... Military sovereign rights (Hoheitsrechts) will be exercised by the German Wehrmacht (in this zone)" (3) . The establishment of this zone ( 4) represents in many respects an interesting aspect of Slovak-German relations. It casts a favorable light on a well-conceived but less successful attempt to extricate Slovak foreign policy from the agreed upon Slovak-German coordination in this field. This praiseworthy attempt and the subsequent unyielding behavior of Slovak politicians in the face of Hitler's demands contrast sharply with the charges of vassalage and servile obedience. In fact, the Slovaks resisted and contradicted Hitler's wishes (and with some success, too ) when powerful nations yielded and were advising others to yield. The negotiations concerning the zone were initiated on the night of March 17-18, 1939, in Vienna. At this time the occupation of Western Slovakia was already an accomplished fact (5) and - since possession is nine points of the law - the position of the ISlovak negotiators was noticeably weakened and by no means enviable. Nevertheless Dr. Joseph Tiso, Durcansky, Tuka, and Mach, the principal Slovak representatives, were determined to save could be saved. Preliminary negotiations started at Biirckel's flat at 5 p. m. Afterwards the Slovaks met SeyssInquart, then Keitel, and finally, at 1 a . m., on the 18th, in the Hotel Imperial they faced Hitler. Each stop represented more humiliation and more pressing demands and brought home one thing: Hitler was going to exact a high price for his protection ; much higher than he ever hinted at in Berlin on March 13th. Tiso was so disappointed at what he rightly considered - being let down that h e wanted to return to Bratislava without even seeing Hitler. Only his companions persuaded him to stay, arguing that in front of the Germans they all ought to show a united SLOVAKIA 9 determination not to give up even an inch of sacred Slovak soil (6). When Hitler, in the presence of Ribbentrop and Keitel, met the Slovaks, he told them - according to the testimony of Tiso - that the 'Shutzvertrag' could be realized only if Germany were given far-reaching concessions to build up a zone in Western Slovakia. The extent of these concessions - as Tiso clearly saw - left the Slovaks practically without any rights to exercise their sovereignty in that territory. It was more than he could bear. At 2 :45 A. M. he got up and was at the point of departure. Hitler, it must be said, in spite of his many shortcommings had a soft spot for the Slovaks and, apparently moved by the pathetic sight of the hardpressed protegees, stopped Tiso with a very assuring piece of oratory. He said: "I do not want even an inch of Slovak ground. In Slovakia the Slovaks alone will develop their own national, cultural, and economic life. I shall guarantee the full independence and territorial integrity of Slovakia. The historical frontiers of Slovakia are and remain forever unchanged. I shall hold my protective hand over ,S lovakia and nobody will reach with stealthy hand for the Slovak State, where the Slovaks will live their own full life" (7). This rhetorical outburst pacified the Slovaks; the rest of the discussion was carried on in a much happier mood. The Slovaks ceded the Germans the right to build and man fortifications in the zone "so as to enable the German Wehrmacht, in the event of war, to take up such positions as are most advantageous to it" (8). The Slovak delegation left Vienna with the impression that the zone remained within the legal structure of the Slovak State. No treaty was formulated or signed that night. Formal negotiations were conducted on the afternoon of March 18. Tiso did not take part in these conversations. The Slovaks were represented by Dr. Ferdinand :Durcansky, Tuka a Zvrskovec; the Germans by Keppler and Gaus, the legal adviser to the Foreign Minister. The Treaty of Protection ( Schutzvertrag) was signed in Vienna the same day by :Durcansky and Tuka who also pledged to obtain Tiso's signature to the Treaty by noon of March 19, in re-1 10 SLOVAKIA turn for which Keppl er undert ook to get Ribbe ntrop's signature within 24 hours. :Durcansky, Tuka, and Veesenmayer broug ht the Treaty to Tiso for signat ure the evening March 18; he signed it and appear ed to be satisfi ed · with its formu lation (9). Ribben trop, on the other hand, did not sign the Treaty within the stipula ted time limit. All in all, the Germa ns were in no partic ular hurry with respec t to the Slovaks. The reason for their procra stinati on, which was so frustra ting and inexpl icable to the Slovak s then (10), is seen clearly now: they hoped to come to terms with the Poles and Hunga rians. The Polish White Book gives an accoun t of Ribbentrop's propos als to Lipski on March 21 (11), namely , that German-lPolish discus sions "would be possib le on this subject" (i. e., on the questi on of Slovak ia). But the Germa ns must have consid ered the Polish attitud e discou raging , and Ribbe ntrop put his signat ure on the Treaty on -March 23, in Berlin (12), but not before Article 3 of the Treaty was modifi ed and the words "in order to defend Slovak State agains t any possib le extern al attack s" were omitte d. Once the Treaty was signed, the execut ion of Article 2 proved to be more difficu lt than anticip ated. Appar ently the Germa n milita ry author ities were not very happy with what, after all, was a politic al settlem ent. Their behavi or left much to be desire d and Slovak protes ts were very soon pourin g in. At first, the surpri sed Slovak s asked for an explan ation, but later protes ted very vigorio usly. On March 25, the .Slovak Foreig n ·M inistry in a 'note verbal e" called for a more definit e determ ination of the probable durati on and charac ter in intern ationa l law of the Germa n occupa tion of Slovak territo ry. The note also protested a•g ainst the exerci se of sovere ign rights "beyon d those of milita ry necess ity" and agains t the remov al of milita ry materi al which - they claime d - by the secess ion of Slovak ia, had leg-ally become Slovak 'State proper ty (13). It was inevita ble that the occupa tion would cause considera ble frictio n betwee n the Slovak popula tion and the Germa n troops , and that this frictio n would projec t unfavora bly into Slovak -Germ an relatio ns. But the amoun t SLOVAKIA 11 of misunderstanding surpassed every expectation. The Slovaks in their optimistic enthusiasm were determined to enjoy their newly-gained independence to the fullest extent and consequently found the German presence in the zone very annoying and did not even try to hide their displeasure. The Germans, on the other hand, especially the military, did not bother to adjust their behavior in respect to the Slovaks. An ordinary German soldier and officer, fresh from victorious entries into Austria, the Sudetenland, and Bohemia, was hardly expected to be less arrogant towards Slovaks than he was towards Czechs; superiority was after all the essential part of his make-up. There were many instances of discontent, misunderstanding, and small incidents, and their existence could be best gauged by the frequent apologies and assurances which the 'Slovak Press Bureau was issuing in the newspapers and on the air. Under pressure of Slovak protests and complaints, the German representatives of General Staff and Foreign Ministry, at a meeting on March 28, agreed on a unified attitude towards the question of the zone. Their conclusions, though still by no means modest, represent in many respects retreat in the face of the Slovak protests, and can be briefly summarized as follows: 1. Withdrawal of the German Custom Frontier Protection Force to the Slovak-Moravian frontier. 2. The Vah fixed as the line of military occupation. 3. Appointment of a staff officer to the Consul General to act as liaison between the Slovak Army and the Wehrmacht. 4. The German troops east of the Vah to be recalled. 5. German claim to the entire war material of the former Czecho~Slovak army. 6. No removal of war material east of the occupied zone. 7. Decision as to size of the Slovak army. 8. Creation of s e p a r ate military formation for the Volksdeutche (14). Negotiations on the above topics took place on April 4 and were reported by Pares. Unfortunately no details concerning conversations are available, but it is known that 12 SLOVAKIA the Slovaks were represented by Dr. Tiso and the Ministers of War, Finance, and Economics, and the chief subject was the removal of war material "purchased by the German Government from the Czecho-!S lovak Government which had been stored in Slovakia" (15). As a result of these conversations, in addition to a German military adviser to be sent to Bratislava, a mixed Slovak-German commission was to be appointed to settle any controversial issue. At about the same time Tuka in his broadcast promised that the German army would leave when it was no longer needed. On April 15, the High Command of the Wehrmacht submitted a list of requirements, the fulfilment of which was expected from the Slovak Government under the Treaty of Protection. The demands, even in their "more lenient" form, were very exacting: 1. The High Command intended to maintain its military forces east of the Vah until the removal of "Czech arms and Czech war material" was completed. 2. Among the sovereign rights they claimed the right to occupy military and also public and private buildings, to use all forms and means of transport, to have at their disposal the factories concerned with war economy, duty-free import and export, postal services, telecommunications and Intelligence Service (Abwehrdienst). 3. The zone to include also Trencin, Krupa, Zilina, and Povazska Bystrica. 4. The size of Slovak army to be completed at one per cent of the population. 5. No units of the Slovak army to be garrisoned within the zone, but para-military formations (Hlinka Guards) to be allowed. 6. Export and import of war material to and from Slovakia to be refused or permitted by the Slovak Government only in agreement with the Reich Government or the High Command of the Wehrmacht (16). When these requirements were communicated by Druffel to Tiso, the latter declared that the Slovak Government did not wish to make difficulties, but asked for discussions with the German authorities on the highest level before SLOVAKIA 13 making any definite commitments. The Germans consented and, as a result, a conference took place in Berlin on April 19. Slovak representatives included Tiso, :Durcansky, and Tuka, the Ministry of Defense was represented by Catlos and Schneider, and also present were Cernak and Szathmary from the Slovak Legation in Berlin. The German delegation consisted of top-ranking experts, both political and military, but conspicious by their absence were the policy making personalities of the Reich. Its members were: Weissacker, Keppler, Wormann, Gaus, Altenburg, Tippelskirsch, HeydenRynsch, and Becker. Slovak grievances were numerous. To start with, Tiso mentioned the occupation by German troops of the aerodrome of Malacky and the demand by a German armored formation for transit through Bratislava. Then he complained of the severity of the demands of the German Wehrmacht, stating that "extension of the zone to Trencin and Zilina was hardly bearable for the Slovak Government"; of the behaviour of the German troops who in some villages occupied schools and thus made school attendance impossible, and employed Czech workers in preference to Slovaks. Furthermore, he claimed a share in the ownership of the former Czecho-Slovak arms factories and clamored for the return of a number of aircraft. German answers were either non-commital or asked to extend negotiations to clarify the application of the Treaty. Apparently the Slovaks demanded more than the German representatives were empowered to grant. Meanwhile the joint Slovak~German Commission was negotiating the treaty on the Zone of Protection but it did not seem to make any noticeable progress. On June 12, the Slovaks submitted another "note verbale'' which contained a number of Slovak views on the interpretation of the text of the Treaty. Arguments advanced by Slovaks were discussed at the conference on June 19 (17), where Tiso expressed the wish to draw up a memorandum and to discuss it personally with Hitler in hopeful expectation that the Slovaks might get more favorable treatment at the hands of the Fuhrer, than they were getting from his representatives. Hitler, however, declined to see Tiso and refused to consider the various points of the Slovak memorandum. 14 SLOVAKIA On June 21 this memorandum, in the form of an "aide memoire", was submitted to the German Foreign Ministry (18). It represented a voluminous list of complaints and expressed an outburst of accumulated Slovak indi,gnation about the German injustices. It questioned German rights to exclude Slovak garrisons from the zonal area, the interpretation of "sovereign rights", and claimed as Slovak the former Cecho..!Slovak military installations which were taken over by the Wehnnacht (such as the artillery range at Malacky); furthermore, it also questioned the wisdom of maintaining German ,garrisons outside the zone (e. g., in .Zilina, Trencin, Nove Mesto nad Va.horn) and criticised excursions of German troops to Bratislava and other places outside the zone. With regard to military material, the Slovak memorandum complained about the removal of war material from Pezinok, Modra, Malacky, Plavecke Podhradie, Hlboke, Turecky Vrch, Senica, Nemcova, Nove Mesto nad Va.horn, Trencin, Istebnik, Skalka, and .Zilina in a manner which "transgressed the bounds of an amicable atmosphere". Furthermore, it objected to occupation of munition factories and factories producing various types of war material at Dubnica, Povazska IBystrica, Stara Tura, Myjava, and .Zilina; to taking over of the stocks and installations of the airports at Novy Dvor and .Zilina; and it sadly commented that proceedings connected with the removal of war material were often conducted "as though Slovakia were an enemy country and not a State whose political and territorial independence had been guaranted by the Flihrer and Chancellor". The memorandum concluded a few more grievances against the military authorities whose attitude caused "administrative and economic uncertainty". The matter was then brought to Hitler's attention. This is evident from a statement made by Keitel on June 20, according to which Hitler's decision on the subject at the conference held by him amounted to the following: "The Flihrer said that he wished the negotiations to be conducted energetically and resolutely which, together with our concrete offers, must lead to early success. The prerequisite for the proposed support of Slovakia is the complete accep- SLOVAKIA 15 tance of our demeands, the more so as Slovakia is dependent on our military, economic, and financial aid." This authoritative pronouncement meant that all the subsequent attempts of the ,Slovaks for better terms encountered the adamant attitude of the German authorities. Thus, when, on June 22, the Slovak Minister in 'Berlin (Matus Cernak) saw Wormann at the German Foreign Ministry, he was brusquely told that the Germans disagreed with the Slovak Foreign Ministry's attempts to establish inconsistencies between the demands of the German Military Delegation and the assurances given by leading German statesmen regarding the conclusion of the Treaty of Protection. He was asked to make it clear in Bratislava that "the Military Delegation was among these demands in the name of the German Government". Cernak sugested that concessions be made by both parties and thought that this would make it possible to reach an agreement which would "not only maintain, but arouse sympathy for Germany" among the Slovak poulation. But Wormann had little understanding for the Slovak point of view and berated the Slovaks because several of the demands expressed in the memorandum of June 19 were in contradiction to the Treaty of Protection (19). On July 3, Cernak again called on the German Foreign Ministry, where he saw Weizsa.cker. He pleaded with him for moderation of the German demands, arguing that "Tiso's ... pro-German policy would be shaken, if it were not supported. In case of emergency, Slovakia would, of course, be completely at the disposal of German Armed Forces, but in peace-time one ought to remain within the scope of the terms of the Treaty. But again Cerna.k's arguments were of no avail and were, one by one, refuted by Weizsa.cker. Faced with such an uncooperative attitude, Cernak asked to be allowed to speak to Ribbentrop personally, but was told that the Foreign Minister was not available (20). The Slovaks, ignorant of Hitler's decision and trusting in his words with hopeful optimism, left no stone unturned in their attempts to secure more favorable terms. Their representatives were untiring in demanding interviews with Hitler and Ribbentrop who, as the chief architects of the 1 16 SLOVAKIA Slovak-German Treaty, could be made, they thought, to stand up to their promises. In this, however, they wer e unsuccessful. But they could get only to Weizsacker; and he, after trying to persuade them that the German negotiators "were acting on the instructions issued to them by the authoritative persons in the Reich", admonished the Slovaks that they should look at them as such and "conduct themselves accordingly" (21). As time went by, the Germans were getting progressively more and more anxious to have the whole issue about the interpretation of the Treaty finally settled and were apparently annoyed by the delay caused by the stubborness of the Slovaks. In view of the approaching German~olish conflict it was paramont for them to have their stand in Slovakia precisely determined and legalized. Their activity (often on the verge of nervousness) was in sharp contrast with the patient and determined attitude of the Slovaks who were unwilling to retreat. The situation was provided with a real touch of comedy when the Slovak statesmen went on their summer holidays (Tiso left for Topofcianky, Durcansky for the High Tatras) while German couriers were flying between and Bratislava. On July 19, Druffel was shown a report from Cernak according to which Eisenlohr and Weizsacker had expressed themselves in favour of token Slovak garrisons in the protected zone. On the strength of this report, Durcansky urged Catlos to dispatch some troops into the zone. On July 2:1, Catlos ordered one batallion to move in and, at the same time, informed the German military mission of his action. From the Germans came a vehement protest, coupled with threats, and the order was recalled. This move displeased Durcansky immensely. He maintained that Catlos should have created a "fait accompli" without regard for the German military mission and their feelings. The argument went so far that Catlos threatened to resign (22). Whether Catlos's action was right or wrong is open to question. It may be recalled, however, that at that time, the German military authorities were resolutely against ·any Slovak troops in that zone, and the same view was shared by Hitler. SLOVAKIA 17 On July 17, the German Foreign Ministry sent to their representative in Bratislava a letter of instructions with an enclosed draft of the Treaty on the Zone of Protection (23). With this draft as a basis, new negotiations ensued. Unfortunately no records were found concerning their course. From the report of tH. Bernard (new German Minister to Slovakia who replaced Druffel), we learn that they were concluded by July 31 and the Slovak representatives (again, we do not know, who they were; Tuka was probably one of them; Tiso and :Durcansky were vacationing) accepted the draft of the treaty with small amendments (24). Barckhausen then took this modified version of the Treaty to Berlin and, on August 7, brought it to Bratislava to Tuka, who then forwarded it to Tiso and :Durcansky (on their vacation) with a request for their approval (25 ). But the Treaty in its new form did not appeal either to Tiso or :Durcansky. Rejecting various points of the draft, they again upset the German applecart. On August 10, a new series of discussions was initiated, this time with :Durcansky present. These discussions finally brought concrete results. On Saturday evening, August 12, 1939, the Treaty on the Zone of Protection was signed at Bratislava by Minister Bernard and Lt. General Barckhausen on behalf of the German Reich, and by the Slovak Premier Tiso. The Treaty consisted of four Sections. Section I delimitated its extent. ,S ection II defined military sovereign rights of the German Wehrmacht and the sovereign rights of the Slovak State; German military sovereign rights included the right to requisition public and private premises, to use all means and lines of transportation, and to supervise armament factories working for the Reich; Germany was also given jurisdiction over her nationals; this Section also provided for Slovak garrisions within the zone. Section 1',III laid down rules regarding the employment of the personnel and material in, and on the payment for, the construction of fortifications. Section IV contained provisions for settlement of differences arising from the application of the Treaty. 1 SLOVAKIA: 16 Verbatim German Text of Treaty (.From Photostat) Abschrift. Schutzzonenvert rag Zur Regelung der sich aus dem Schutzvertrage vom 18./23. Marz 1939 ergebenden Fragen ist zwischen dem Deutschen Reich und der Slowakischen Republik durch die unterzeichneten Bevollmachtigten beider Regierungen folgendes vereinbart worden. Abschnitt I): Abgrenzung der Schutzzone. Artikel 1: Die Ausdehnung der in Artikel 2 des deutsch-slowakis chen Vertrages vom 18./ 23. Marz 1939 genannten Zone in folgendem mit ''Schutzzone" bezeichnet - ergibt sich aus der diesem Vertrage als Bestandteil angehefteten Landkarte in Masstabe 1: 7·5,000. Die Schutzzone erstreckt sich von Westen her bis zu der dieser Landkarte eingezeichneten roten Linie, und sie schliesst den von dieser Linie bedecken Tei! des slowakischen Gebietes ein. Eine Bez·e ichnung der ostwartigen Schutzzonenbeg renzungslinie im Gelande durch Tafeln oder Grenzsteine erfolgt nicht. lnnerhalb dieser Schutzzone wird das Deutsche Reich die ihm im Schutzvertrage vom 18-/ 23. Marz 1939 von dem Slowakischen Staat iibertragenen Aufgaben nach Massgabe der Bestimmungen dieses Vertrages durchfiihren. Abschnitt II): Rechtsverhaltni sse in der Schutzzone. Artikel 2: Mit den militarischen IHoheitsrechten, deren Ausiibung der deutschen Wehrmacht in Arti~el 2 des Vertrages vom 18./23. Marz iibertragen worden ist, hat sie das Recht erhalten, im Sinne der fiir die Verteidigung des Slowakischen Staates im allgemeinen bestehenden Gesetze Leistungen im gleichen Masse wie die slowakische Wehrmacht in lFriedenszeiten zu fordern (ohne die ,B estimmungen, die in dem slowakischen Gesetz Nr. 131/36 enthalten sind). Bei Aufwendungen, die iiber den Rahmen normaler Manciverleistung en auch zeitlich hinausgehen, sind die hierfiir zu zahlenden Entschadigungen nach den ortsiiblichen Tagespreisen zu bemessen. Die deutsche Wehrmacht haftet fiir Schaden in gleichem Ausmass wie die slowakische Wehrmacht in tlbungszeiten. Demzufolge hat die deutsche Wehrmacht insbesondere folgende Rechte: a) (Das Recht, jederzeit in der Schutzzone militarische Anlagen zu errichten und im 'Benehmen mit den slowakischen Behcirden tiffentliche Gebaude, Grundstiicke and Anlagen fiir militarische Zwecke in Anspruch zu nehmen und private Gebaude und Grundstiicke in Benutzun_ zu nehmen, ohne die Durchfiihrung des Enteignungsverfahrens oder des Verfahrens zur voriibergehende n Entziehung der Benutzung abzuwarten, jedoch unbeschadet ,e iner spateren Regelung der Entschadigung. Die Entschadigung wird unter Mitwirkun,g deutscher Beauftragter im Wege giitlicher Verhandlun,gen mit den Betroffenen festigesetzt. IKommt eine giitliche Eintgung nicht zustande, so bleibt es den Betroffenen vorbehalten, die Festsetzung der Entschadig-ung nach den slowakischen Gesetzen zu betragen. In diesem Falle bleibt im SLOVAKIA 19 Verhaltnis zu dem Deutschen Reich die Hohe der Entschadigung einer Vereinbarung mit der Slowakischen Regierung vorbehalten. b) Das Recht zur Benutzung der in der Schutzzone vorhanden,en Transportmittel und Transportwege unter moglichster Berucksichtigung der wirtschaftlichen Jnteressen der Slowakischen Republik. Ausserdem kann bei Vorliegen besonderer militarischer Notwendigkeiten die Bahn Pressburg-Ty,r nau-Pistyan-Trencin'8 illeinJCadca und die Strassen Pressburg-Modern-Na das-Trencin and Pressburg-Tyrnau-Pis tyan-Trencin,Sillein>C adca, von Trencin aus bis Cadca auch auf dem ostwartigen Waag-und Kysucaufer benutzt werden. Ferner erhalt die deutsche Wehrmacht das Recht, alle Orte zwischen Pressburg (ausschliesslich) and Cadca an den oben genannten Strassen bei Vorliegen militarischer Griinde vorubergehend zur Einquartierung zu benutzen. Die Slowakische Regierung ist hiervon in Kenntnis zu setzen. Die Benutzung der Eisenbahnlinien wird durch Sondertarifabmachun gen geregelt. Bei der Benutzung anderer slowakischer Verkehrsmittel sind die ortsiiblichen Tarifsatze zu zahlen, wenn nicht im Wege der Vereinbarung ein anderweitiger Entgelt fur die Benutzung festgesetzt wird. c) Das Recht, Riistungsbetriebe, die Auftrage vom Deutschen Reich erhalten, zu beaufsichtigen und auszunutzen unter BeriicksichUgung der Bediirfnisse der slowakischen Wehrmacht. Hieriiber wird eine besondere Vereinbarung zwischen den zustandigen Stellen der Deutschen Regierung und der Regierung des Slowakischen iStaates abgeschlossen werden. d) iDas Recht, in der Schutzzone alle erforderlichen Massnahmen des militarischen Abwehrdienstes zu treffen und von den Behorden des Slowakischen Staates die Anordnung und Durchfiihrung aller hierfiir erforderlichen Exekutivmassnahmen zu verlangen. !Die Deutsche Wehrmacht hat das !Recht, gegeniiber deutschen Wehrmachtangehori<g en und den fiir Wehrmachtzwecke in der Schutzzone tatigen reichsdeutschen Beamten, An-gestellten und Arbeitern deutsche militarische Exekutivorgane einzusetzen. Diese diirfen ,g egentiber Personen, die nicht die Staatsangehorigkeit im Deutschen Reich besitzen, nur in dringenden •Fallen, sofern slowakische Sicherheitsorgane nicht errechbar sind, Exekutivmassnahmen treffen. Festgenommene sind den zustandigen slowakischen Behorden unverziiglich, spatestens binnen 24 Stunden, zu ubergeben. e) Das Recht zur zollfreien Versor,g ung der deutschen Truppen und zur zollfreien Belieferung der militarischen Anlrugen aus dem Reich. Hieriiber wird eine Sondervereinbarung getroffen. Die Slowakische Regierung wird in engsten Einvernehmen mit der deutschen Wehrmacht alle Massnahmen treffen, die erforderlich sind, um der deutschen Wehrmacht die Durchfiihrung der ihr zum Schutz des Slowakischen S·taates, der Schutzzone und der darin befindlichen Truppen und militarischen Anlagen ubertragenen Aufgaben im Sinne des Vertrages vom 18./23. Marz 1939 zu ermoglichen und zu erleichtern. Artikel 3: Alie Hoheitsrechte in der Schutzzone ubt, soweit nicht im Vertrage vom 18. /2:3. Marz 1939 und in diesem Vertrage anders vereinbart, der Slowakische Staat aus. Hinsichtlich der Hoheitsrechte des Slowakischen Staates ist inbesondere folgendes vereinbart: a) Die Geltung aller jetzt und kiinftig gultigen rechtlichen Vor- 20 SLOVAKIA schriften der Slowakischen Republik erstreckt sich auf das Gebiet der Schutzzone, wenn dies nicht ausdriicklich ausgenommen wird, oder dem Sinne dieses Vertraiges und des Vertrages vom 18./23. Marz 1939 widerspricht. b) ,Die slowakischen Behorden in der Schutzzone iiben ihren Dienst weiterhin aus und unterliegen weiterhin uneingeschrankt der Aufsich t der ihnen vorgesetzten Behorden des Slowakischen Staates. c) Die Ausnutzung und Belegung der in der Schutzzone befindlichen militarischen Anlagen durch die slowakische Wehrmacht, das Uberliegen der Schutzzone durch slowakische Militarflugzeu.ge soiwie das Betraten der Schutzzone durch einzelne Angehorige der slowakischen Wehrmacht wird durch besondere Vereinbarung geregelt. d) In der Schutzzone kann der Zutrtt zu militarisch wichtigen Gebietsteilen, Befestigungsarbeiten and -anlagen von der deutschen Wehrmacht verhindert werden. Das Betretungsverbot wird von den zustandigen slowakischen Behorden auf Veranlassung der deutschen Wehrmachtstellen und in beiderseitigem Einvernehmen erlassen und der Bevolkerung in ortsiiblichen Weise bekanntgegeben werden. e) Die Einrichtung von Uberfluigzonen in der Schutzzone zur Ermoglichen des gegenseitiigen zivilen Flugverkehrs wird einer besonderen Vereinbarung vorbehalten. f) Deutsche Wehrmachtangehorig e diirfen das slowakische Staatsgebiet ausserhalb der Schutzzone nur betreten 1) aus dienstlichem Anlass mit Bewilligung der slowakischen zustandigen Behorden (Ausnahme Art. 2c) 2) bei Urlaub nur gemass den deutschen Bestimmungen iiber Auslandsurlaub. Artikel 4: Deutsche Wehrmachtsangehorig e, die sich auf Grund des Schutzvertragen vom 18./23. Marz 1939 in der Schutzzone befinden, sind den deutschen Strafgesetzen unterworfen und unterstehen wegen aller in der Schutzzone begangenen strafbaren Handlungen der deutschen Strafgerich tsbarkeit. Sonstige deutsche Staatsangehorige, die bei den Befestigungsarbeiten beschaftigt sind, sind wegen strafbarer Handlungen, die in der Schutzzone begangen sind und sich gegen das Deutsche Reich richten, allein der deutschen Strafgerichtsbarkeit unterworfen. Deutsche Reichsangehoriige sowie reichsdeutsche Handelsgesellschaften, Erwerbs- und Wirtschaftsgenossens chaften, die auf Grund eines privaten Vertragsverhaltnisses mit der Errichtung militarischer Anlagen in der Schutzzone befasst sind, konnen aus ihrem gegen-seitigen Rechtsverhaltnis sowie aus ihrem Rechtsverhaltnis zum Deutschen Reich wegen eines Anspruchs aus ihren iRechtsverhaltnissen, namentlich aus Arbeits-, Dienst-- und Lieferungsverhaltnissen oder wegen einer unerlaubten Handlung, die mit der Tatigkeit zur Errichtung der militarischen AnlaJgen unmittelbar in Zusammenhang steht, nur vor deutschen Gerichten verklagt werden. Klagen wegen dieser Anspriiche konnen bei dem Amts- oder Landgericht Briinn erhoben werden. Es bleibt der Reichsregierung vorbehalten, auch andere Gerichte zu bestimmen. Artikel 5: In den vor die deutschen Gerichte gehorigen Strafsachen sind die Sicherheitsbehorden des Slowakischn Staates befugt, bei Gefahr im Verzuge nach den fiir sie geltenden Verfahrengesetzten SLOVAKIA 21 die ;\-lassnahmen zu treffen, die zur Aufklii.rung des Sachverhalts, zur Festhaltung des Beschuldigten oder zur Sicherung von Gegen-stii.nden notwendig sind, die z1ir Begehung strafbarer Handlungen gebraucht oder bestimmt sind. Von dem Veranlassten haben die Sicherheitsbehiirden des Slowakischen Staates unverziiglich den nii.chsten Gerichtsherrn (Divisionskommander) in Kenntnis zu setzen und ihm einen festgenommen Beschuldigten zuzufahren. Deutsche Wehrmachtsan:gehiirige sowie die fiir Wehrmacht21wecke in der ,s chutzzone tii.ti1g en deutschen •Reichsangehorigen haben stii.ndig einen giiltigen Personenausweis bei sich zu fiihren, mit dem sie sich gegeniiber slowakischen Sicherheitsorganen auf Aufforderung ausweisen konnen. A r t ikel 6 : Die Slowakischen Behiirden werden Handlungen, die ,g egen die in diesem Vertrag festgelegten Interessen des Deutschen Reichs gerichtet sind, so verfol•g en als ob sie gegen den Slowakischen Staat gerichtet wii.ren. Die Slowakische Regierung wird dafiir Sorge tragen, dass das Deutsch e Reich die Miiglichkeit erhii.lt, den deutschen Interessen Geltung zu verschaffen, wenn es sich in Strafverfahren vor slowakischen Justizbehorden um Fragen handelt, die das gemeinsame Interesse des Deutschen Reichs und des Slowakischen Staates beriihren. Die Slowakische Regierung wird ferner im Einvernehmen mit der Reichsregierung Vorkehrungen treffen, dass den in Artikel 4 bezeichneten Personen in Verfahren vor slowakischen Justizbehiirden in sprachlicher Hinsicht weitestgehende Erleichterungen zuteil werden. Absch nitt 111 ) : Befestigung.sarbeiten. A r t ike l 7: Militii.rische Bauten and -Anlagen innerhalb der Schutzzone werden vom Reich auf eigene Kosten hergestellt. Artike l 8 : Die Deutsche Wehrmacht wird das fiir die Arbeiten und Anlagen in der Schutzzone erforderliche Material nach Miiglichkeit aus dem slowakischen Staatsgebiet beziehen. Soweit Preise hierfiir niclrt im Wege der Ausschreibun,g und freien Vereinbarung festJgelegt werden, sind die iiblichen Ta,g espreisen zu zahlen . Artike l 9 : Die Deutsche Wehrmacht wird bei der Ausfiihrung d er Arbeiten und Anlagen vorzugsweise Arbeits krii.fte aus der Slowakei anstellen. Eine Abweichung hiervon kommt insbesondere in Frage, wenn militii.rische Griinde die Einstellung bestimmter anderer Arbeitskrii.fte, z. B. gelernter Fach- und Spezialarbeiter erforderlich machen. Arbeitskrii.fte aus der Slowakei werden in slowakischer Wii.hrung entlohnt. Bei der Einstellung von Arbeitern wird nach einem allgemeinen, im Benehmen mit d er Slowakischen iRegierung aufgestellten Vertrage formular vorfabren. A r t ike l 10: Nach den slowakischen Gesetzen ist zu verfahren, wenn bei Arbeiten and Anlagen der deutschen Wehrmacht in der Schutzzone historisch wichtige 1Funde gemacht werden, oder wenn dabei Mineral- und Erzlager, oder andere Bodenschii.tze entdeckt werden. Art ike l 11 : Die deutsche Wehrmacht ,w ird bei den in der Schutzzone durchzufiihrenden Arbeiten und Anlagen mit besonderer Sor,g falt auf historische Denkmii.ler und auf die fiir den Slowakischen Staat und die slowakische Nation bedeutsamen Oiits Riicksicht nehmen. Abschnitt IV ) : Schlussbestimm ungen. Artike l 12 : Alie Meinungsverchiedenheiten, die sich aus der Durchfiihrung dieses Vertrages ergeben, werden, soweit sie nicht zur Zu- 22 SLOVAKIA stiindigkeit anderer O11gane gehoren, einer Kommission unterbreitet, die aus 2 deutschen und 2 slo.wakischen Mitgliedern bestehen soil, die im Bedarfsfalle zusammen tritt und das Recht hat, Sachvers·tiindige hinzuzuziehen und nach Bedarf auch ein fiinftes Mitglied zu bestellen. Kommt eine Einigung iiber das fiinfte Mitglied nicht zustande, so ist die Angelegenheit auf dem iiblichen diplomatischen Wege bei den 1Regierungen anhangig zu machen. Die Anrufunig der Kommission hat keine aufschiebende Wirkung. Dieser Vertra;g wird in doppelter Urschrift, in deutscher und in slowakischer Sprache ausgefertigt. Er tritt am Tage nach der Unterzeichnung in Kraft. Pressburg, den 12. August 1939. Fiir das Deutsche Reich: a. o. Gesandter und bevollmachtigter Minister des Deutschen Reichs in Pressburg Generalleu tnant 1. Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945, Series D, (hereafter as D. G. F. P.) Volume Vil, pp. 10-11. 2. For the Treaty and the Confidential -P rotocol on economic and financial cooperation see D. G. F. P. V[, pp. 42-4-5. 3. D. G. F. P. VJ, p. 43 - The Academic Guard played an out~ standing role since October 1938, but its participation on the struggle for independence was of great importance especially in the decisive days of March 10-14, 1939. It was a paramilitary organization of university students, led by Dr. J. Kirschbaum as supreme command er. After March 14, it supplied the Slovak Republic with many outstanding workers in the Slovak public life, namely in Party organization, press, diplomacy, cultural associations etc. Among the leaders of the Academic Guard who played an important part in March 1939, are now in exile Dr. Joseph ,P auco, Dr. Joseph Mikula, Koloman Murgas, Dr. G. Danihel, Dr. L . Jankovic, etc. In 1940 the Academic Guard was dissolved by the order of the Ministry of Jnternal Affairs because it opposed introduction of National Socialist ideology in 1Slovakia. Dr. Kirschbaum was first called to arms and then sent abroad. No Slovak newspaper was allowed to mention his nam e for two following years. See Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1939-1945. 4. The origin of this zone can be traced back to Berlin where Hitler, talking to Tiso on March 13, told him among other things tha,t not only Hungarians and Poles were mobilizing, but "the Czechs also want to occcupy the western part of Slovakia up to the Vah." Tiso in his defense hinted at this ominous suggestion which is also ,supported by the 0 . K. W. Memorandum of March 24, (R 100 (see: Nazi Conspiracy and Agression, VJII, p. 83) according to which, if Slovakia is k ept independent, the military Schutzzone is to extend up to the Vah; but if Slovakia is divided between Poles and Hungarians, the whole area up to the Nitra is to be incorporated in the Protectorate ("Sollte Slowakei aufigeteilet werden, soil die Ostwest [Neutra-linie] Grenze werden und Pressburg einbezogen werden"). 5. According to the report of the British Consul in •B ratislava on iMarch 15, the German troops had reached Malacky by mid.day of that day and Trencfn by evening (D. Brit. F. P .. 3rd Series. Vol. IV, SLOVAKIA 23 p. 287). On March 17, the Slovak Foreign Ministry lodged in a "note verbale" several complaints on the behaviour of the German troops in the occupied territory. 6. Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe, Joseph Pauco, Passaic, 1952, p. 232. 7. ibid. pp. ,233-4. 8. D. G. F. P., VJ, p. 756. 9. Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe, p. 234, footnote. 10. Tiso, Tuka and f>urcansky were invited to Berlin, where the latter two arrived on March 21. ,Ribbentrop kept them waiti.Il!g in complete uncertainty for three full days and then on March 23, at 12: 30 P. M., in their presence si,gned the Schutzvertrag. 11. The Polish White Book, pp. 62-3. 12. The offer to the Poles was, nevertheless, still open, and Hitler would have waived the .g uarantee if the ·Poles had been more cooperative (Cf. Doc. R 100 of March 24. How long the Fueh·rer considers himself bound to the 'T reaty concluded with Slovakia is open to doubt. It seems that he will use Slovakia as an asset to bargain between himself, Poland, and Hungary). On March 26, Ribbentrop a•g ain suggest-ed to Lipski "that the Slovak problem might still be discussed within the framework of a general Ausgleich" (see: Polish White Book, p. 67.), but the Poles now rejected the offer definitely. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. D. G. F. P., VI, pp. 114-115. ibid. p. 146. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. D. G. F. P., V[, pp. 7-56-762. ibid. p. 774. ibid. pp. 840-841. ibid. p. 916. ibid. pp. 9·52-953. ibid. p. 840, footnote. ibid. p. 1025. D. G F. P., Third Series, Vol. V, p. 89. D. G. F. P., Vil, pp. 254-255. At this conference, Tiso, Tuka, f>urcansky, and Mach negotiated with Barckhausen, Drufiel, Becker, and Hoffmann. The Slovaks advanced every argument imaiginable. if>urcansky thought that the presence of the German troops in the zone and outside it was generally interpreted as lack of trust on the part of the German Government in the Slovak Government. Tuka pointed out that the Slovak State should not be protected in the same manner as one would protect a flock of sheep, but that it should contribute to its own protection by having its own army, and this army must not be deprived of its equipment. Tiso and f>urcansky expressed the fea•r that, in case of the outbreak of Polish-!German hostilities, Hungary would invade Slovakia and, hence, Slovakia must be prepared for every eventuality. As for the Slovak desiderata, ihey were centered about these three points: (i) Establishment of two garrisons in the zone and the free use of the Malacky artillery range. (ii) Withdrawal of German military and other uniformed units (police, gendarmerie) from Zilina, Trencin, and Nove Mesto nad Vahom. (iii) Approval to keep nine tons of poisonous war gas ('Yperit'). D. G. F. P., VII, p. 2.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The German Zone of Protection in Slovakia Description An account of the resource František Vnuk Slovakia, Vol. 9, No. 4 (29), March 1959 pp. 7-23 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Vnuk, František, 1926- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1959 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/b80238ed3d420a548ce4f6fce8bf66f3.pdf 2c3f01504ad68773fb6965012fd1cc1a PDF Text Text 134 SLOVAKIA THE HANDMAID OF IDEOLOGY (Slovak literature since 1945) Among the Slovaks, literature always played a leading r ole in the national life. The writers were the foremost fighters for the national rights before 1918, and fearless critics of the political and social wrongs in the post-war years. They were looked upon as the conscience of the nation and one can hardly think of a more dignified title bestowed by a people on its writers. It was a convincing sign of a mutual trust; in a sense Slovak literature was not only a collection of novels, books of poems and stories, but a faithful chronicle of Slovak strivings, fights, defeats and victories. The years after the First World War were in fact the golden years of Slovak literature. Freed and uninhibited it blossomed into maturity and was gradually catching up with the modern western literary currents. The years of national independence, 1939-45, in spite of the fact that they coincided with the war years, were on the whole the most fruitful period in the history of Slovak literature. The fall of the Slovak Republic and the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 was a matter of great concern for the Slovak writers. Many of them fled before the advancing Red army (Hronsky, Ga~par, Urban, Zarnov, Dilong, Strmen, etc.) and even those who stayed behind faced the new situation with grave apprehension. Officially the liquidation of Slovak independence was celebrated as an act of liberation by the Red army and of joyful reunification with the fraternal Czech nation, but there is no sign of festive mood in the contemporary literary publications. The bards of the nation failed to express gratitude to the liberators. Even those writers who tried hard to please the new regime could only produce works completely lacking in joy, jubilation or any exulted feeling of a liberated nation. Jan Kostra (who was editor of the cultural section of the Communist daily "Pravda") published a collection of f>Oems entitled "Preponderance of sadness". Other books of poems published at the same time bore titles (and had contents cor- �SLOVAKIA 135 responding to their titles) such as "The mountain of hopelessness", "The age of lepers", "Stars-the wreakers of cruelty", etc. This obviously was not the way to welcome the dawn of liberation. Similar uneasiness was predominant in the Slovak post-war prose. Instead of a joyous present the authors wrote of a legendary past or tried to escape to unreal imaginary worlds of their own creation. Those few writers who listened to the voices of the cultural commissars and attempted to depict the problem of contemporary life achieved very disappointing results (J. Ponican, F. Kral', J. Horak, A. Plavka). The attitude of the Slovak writers was displayed clearly and unmistakably. This attitude of passive contempt was embarrassing to the new regime. The change in it came in 1948/ 9 when the Communists by clever manipulation outwitted their Democratic partners in the National Front and usurped all power in Slovakia. Immediately they set about to dominate and subsequently exploited the Slovak literary community. In April 1948 K. Gottwald declared "nationalization ef culture in general and of literature in particular". Literature was given its definite "constructive tasks". All the creative artistic methods were outlawed as "decadent, formalist, reactionary", etc., except the socialist realism which from the year 1948 on was to reign supreme. Literature became a concern of politicians, parliamentarians, party ideologists and party congresses. Those who would not toe the party line were mercilessly dealt with. The government soon had complete control over the press and publishing houses, and became the only employer of the writers. In their turn the writers were degraded to being "the engineers of human souls" and entrusted with problems corresponding to their profession. In March 1949 the Czechoslovak Writers Union was formed to which 220 Czech and 60 Slovak authors were admitted. The Union absorbed the existing Slovak Writers Association. Not only did the Slovak writers lost their national identity by this step but also the best and most promising of them were excluded from Union membership (V. Beniak, E. B. Lukac, J. Silan, J. Motulko, etc., etc.) and thus forcibly silenced and materially ruined. Subsequent purges further decimated the thin line of the Slovak men of letters. In April 1951 there occurred another �136 SLOVAKIA heavy-handed purge in which the victims were old-time Communist writers accused of bourgeois nationalist deviations, namely Novomesky, D. Okali and I. Horvath. (After expulsion from the Writers Union they were imprisoned and given heavy sentences.) Attacks were hurled also at D. Tatarka, V. Minac, A. Matuska, M. Chorvath and others. In that period of trial and tribulation when the revolution was devouring its own children the literary output was extremely low (altogether 17 new books appeared in 1951, as compared with the average output in the 1939-44 period of 142 new books yearly) and its artistic standard almost nonexistent. The books of poems became political speeches in verse, the prose writing was indistinguishable from political journalism. The progressive character of the poetry is obvious from the titles: "The Ode on Stalin" (J. Kostra, 1949), "Comrade my country" (M. Lajciak, 1949), "The song of peaceloving hands" (J. Rak, 1949), "The song of steel ingots" (L. Miiacko, 1950), "The song of love to new China" (J. Brezina, 1950), "The song of great (i.e. Slovak-Soviet) friendship" (M. Lajciak, 1951), "The song of May" (M. Prochazka 1952), "The spring song of a collective farmer" (C. Stitnicky, 1950), "People, be vigilant!" (F. Citovsky, 1951), "Peace- my love" (P. Gajdos, 1951), "The guardians of peace" (M. Krno, 1951), "The banners of peace", etc. The nebulous and never properly defined concept of socialist realism, the inspiration dictated by ideological expediency and the frontal attack on all formalist tendencies, were fertile soil for the so-called "schematism". The poems of different authors were monotonously alike with no relation to the realities of life. The prose writers composed works which were encyclopedical compilations of Marxist axioms with the positive and negative heroes engaged in a class struggle which predictably ended with the victory of the working class. The popular themes of novels and stories were the collectivization of the villages ("The wooden village" of F. Hecko, 1951 ; "The wasps' nest" of K. Lazarova, 1953, etc.) the Slovak uprising of 1944 (novels and short stories of Krno, Minac, Jilemnicky, Karvas, Plavka, etc.), the industrialization of Slovakia (Hora.k's "Blast furnace", Mina.e's "Blue waves", Miiacko's "The waters of Orava", Tatarka's "Comradely years", etc.). The literary thaw which set in after Stalin's death (1953) �SLOVAKIA 137 made a belated entry into Slovakia in the winter of 1955-6. It provoked some heated exchanges of opinions between the more liberal wing of the literary community on the one hand (I. Kupec, D. Tatarka) and the hardened stalinists (especially F. Hecko) on the other. The spirit of the thaw period found its fullest expression at the second congress of the Czecho-Slovak writers (April 1956) which followed at the heels of the 20th congress of the Soviet Communist Party (February, 1956). The outspoken criticism of the drabness of contemporary literature enunciated in the unscheduled speeches of the Czech writers Seifert and Hrubin (and echoed by D. Tatarka) pointedly demonstrated an unprecedented decay in artistic values brought about by the ruthless subjection of literature to ideology. The writers rebelled against their humiliating roles of soul-engineers and declared themselves to be the conscience of the nation. The spirit of the Writer's Congress was, alas, short-lived. Soviet intervention in Poland and Hungary put a sudden stop to all liberalizing undercurrents in the socialist camp and the Czech.o-Slovak Communist leaders were none too slow to restore the status quo ante 1953. Thus-apart from a few magazine articles-the literary thaw hardly left any sign in the literary production of the time. The only significant book of the thaw period was A. Bednar's "Hours and minutes" (1956) which soon became a target for concentrated attacks by official critics, trade unionists, partisans and other spokesmen -0£ the working class. The Czecho-Slovak Communist leaders succeeded in the following years (1956-62) in restoring the rigorous control of the stalinist er~. Under the slogan of "struggle against revisionism" they devised an ingenious strategy which was then applied by L. Stoll to combat various manifestations of revi.sionism in literature. By threats and promise the writers were forced to abandon the ideas promulgated at the Writers' Congress and to return to the old days of blind obedience to the party's bidding. But only a few writers were willing to follow unconditionally the new twist in the party line. Others tried to escape the rigors of neostalinism by self-imposed silence by writing literature for children or turning back in reminiscences to their own childhood and youth. The group of young writerf'l �138 SLOVAKIA gathered around the literary monthly "Mlada tvorba" showed initially some youthful elan, but lacking a firm program and able leadership on the one hand and facing insurmountable obstructions of the hardened party line on the other, it gradually slipped into restive passivity. (Their Czech counterparts around "Kveten" showed more aggressiveness and in turn were disbanded.) As it was revealed in 1963 the Sfovak Writers Union vetoed the publication of a number of books by young authors (Feldek, Stacho, Hykisch and others) because of alleged lack of ideological clarity, because of objectionable experimenting with modernism or playing up to revisionism. The years 1956-62 (now remorsefully called "the lost years" ) were almost a repetition of the years 1949-54 with the same writers (Minac, Tatarka, Lazarova, Mihalik, Karvas, etc.) enriching Slovak socialist realist literature by books on the same old themes (collectivization, industrialization, the Slovak uprising of 1944 ... but minus the "personality cult"} with the same outworn cliches. But these lost years were not as irreparably lost as the years 1949-53. An almost unnoticed development took place during this oppressive period: the emergence of a new literary generation. These young writers whose past was not tarnished by the sins of the cult era were not attracted by the literary models offered at home (Drda, Minac, Hecko) or in the Soviet Union (Fadeyev, Sholochov} but were casting their . eyes towards the literary achievements in the West. Hem- • mingway, Salinger, Steinbeck were their idols and secretly they admired and studied such proscribed decadents and formalists as Joyce, Kafka, Proust. .. The young poets were shows · ing interest in the works of Aragon and Eluard of the surrealist period and alongside them they were exploring the modern poetry of Rilke, St. John Perse, T. S. Eliot and the Amen-· can beatnik poets. The influences of this search for new poetry are visible in the poetical writings of M. Valek, M. Feldek, J. Sfacho and_ V. Turcany. The new prose made its unobtrusive appearance in the works of J . Blazkova, A. Hykisch and others. The young writers were· permitted to publish ·their books only from 1961 onward, when the change in the political climate ushered in a new liter2ry thaw. Under the impact of the : Sino-Soviet conflict and renewed attacks on Stalin at the 22nd �SLOVAKIA 139 Soviet Communist Party Congress gradually crumbled the tenets of stalinism even in Czecho-Slovakia. This was symbolically represented by the demolition of the gigantic statue of Stalin overlooking Prague. In the wake of the new thaw, several Slovak writers were rehabilitated (Novomesky, Okali and - posthumously - I. Horvath), some prohibited books of bourgeois nationalist authors (Razus, Urban) were reprinted, a number of forcibly silenced authors were given the opportunity to publish_in literary journals (V. Beniak, E. B. Lukac) and even some unmentionable emigre writers (Hronsky) were mentioned without malice. A new look at the Slovak literary past caused the postponement (already the third time since 1957) of the publication of the History of Slovak literature. But there is still no escape from the ideological straitjacket. The party has an all-pervading control over cultural activities, it arbitrarily deposes inconvenient and outspoken critics of its methods. (E.g. it sent to diplomatic exile in Paris L . Mnacko, the author of the notorious "Belated reports". There he repented so thoroughly that the party saw fit to put him as the editor-in-chief of the "Kulturny zivot" to replace the uncomfortably critical P. Stevcek.) It seems that the controversy, criticism and discussion which were so daring in 1963 are now (in 1965) largerly a thing of the past. And the literary development is faring accordingly. F . Vnuk Jozef Ciger Hr on s 1k y, a great Slovak novelist, died J,uly 13, 1960 in Lujan, Argentina. He was the author of some 40 books � 134 SLOVAKIA THE HANDMAID OF IDEOLOGY (Slovak literature since 1945) Among the Slovaks, literature always played a leading r ole in the national life. The writers were the foremost fighters for the national rights before 1918, and fearless critics of the political and social wrongs in the post-war years. They were looked upon as the conscience of the nation and one can hardly think of a more dignified title bestowed by a people on its writers. It was a convincing sign of a mutual trust; in a sense Slovak literature was not only a collection of novels, books of poems and stories, but a faithful chronicle of Slovak strivings, fights, defeats and victories. The years after the First World War were in fact the golden years of Slovak literature. Freed and uninhibited it blossomed into maturity and was gradually catching up with the modern western literary currents. The years of national independence, 1939-45, in spite of the fact that they coincided with the war years, were on the whole the most fruitful period in the history of Slovak literature. The fall of the Slovak Republic and the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 was a matter of great concern for the Slovak writers. Many of them fled before the advancing Red army (Hronsky, Ga~par, Urban, Zarnov, Dilong, Strmen, etc.) and even those who stayed behind faced the new situation with grave apprehension. Officially the liquidation of Slovak independence was celebrated as an act of liberation by the Red army and of joyful reunification with the fraternal Czech nation, but there is no sign of festive mood in the contemporary literary publications. The bards of the nation failed to express gratitude to the liberators. Even those writers who tried hard to please the new regime could only produce works completely lacking in joy, jubilation or any exulted feeling of a liberated nation. Jan Kostra (who was editor of the cultural section of the Communist daily "Pravda") published a collection of f>Oems entitled "Preponderance of sadness". Other books of poems published at the same time bore titles (and had contents cor- �SLOVAKIA 135 responding to their titles) such as "The mountain of hopelessness", "The age of lepers", "Stars-the wreakers of cruelty", etc. This obviously was not the way to welcome the dawn of liberation. Similar uneasiness was predominant in the Slovak post-war prose. Instead of a joyous present the authors wrote of a legendary past or tried to escape to unreal imaginary worlds of their own creation. Those few writers who listened to the voices of the cultural commissars and attempted to depict the problem of contemporary life achieved very disappointing results (J. Ponican, F. Kral', J. Horak, A. Plavka). The attitude of the Slovak writers was displayed clearly and unmistakably. This attitude of passive contempt was embarrassing to the new regime. The change in it came in 1948/ 9 when the Communists by clever manipulation outwitted their Democratic partners in the National Front and usurped all power in Slovakia. Immediately they set about to dominate and subsequently exploited the Slovak literary community. In April 1948 K. Gottwald declared "nationalization ef culture in general and of literature in particular". Literature was given its definite "constructive tasks". All the creative artistic methods were outlawed as "decadent, formalist, reactionary", etc., except the socialist realism which from the year 1948 on was to reign supreme. Literature became a concern of politicians, parliamentarians, party ideologists and party congresses. Those who would not toe the party line were mercilessly dealt with. The government soon had complete control over the press and publishing houses, and became the only employer of the writers. In their turn the writers were degraded to being "the engineers of human souls" and entrusted with problems corresponding to their profession. In March 1949 the Czechoslovak Writers Union was formed to which 220 Czech and 60 Slovak authors were admitted. The Union absorbed the existing Slovak Writers Association. Not only did the Slovak writers lost their national identity by this step but also the best and most promising of them were excluded from Union membership (V. Beniak, E. B. Lukac, J. Silan, J. Motulko, etc., etc.) and thus forcibly silenced and materially ruined. Subsequent purges further decimated the thin line of the Slovak men of letters. In April 1951 there occurred another �136 SLOVAKIA heavy-handed purge in which the victims were old-time Communist writers accused of bourgeois nationalist deviations, namely Novomesky, D. Okali and I. Horvath. (After expulsion from the Writers Union they were imprisoned and given heavy sentences.) Attacks were hurled also at D. Tatarka, V. Minac, A. Matuska, M. Chorvath and others. In that period of trial and tribulation when the revolution was devouring its own children the literary output was extremely low (altogether 17 new books appeared in 1951, as compared with the average output in the 1939-44 period of 142 new books yearly) and its artistic standard almost nonexistent. The books of poems became political speeches in verse, the prose writing was indistinguishable from political journalism. The progressive character of the poetry is obvious from the titles: "The Ode on Stalin" (J. Kostra, 1949), "Comrade my country" (M. Lajciak, 1949), "The song of peaceloving hands" (J. Rak, 1949), "The song of steel ingots" (L. Miiacko, 1950), "The song of love to new China" (J. Brezina, 1950), "The song of great (i.e. Slovak-Soviet) friendship" (M. Lajciak, 1951), "The song of May" (M. Prochazka 1952), "The spring song of a collective farmer" (C. Stitnicky, 1950), "People, be vigilant!" (F. Citovsky, 1951), "Peace- my love" (P. Gajdos, 1951), "The guardians of peace" (M. Krno, 1951), "The banners of peace", etc. The nebulous and never properly defined concept of socialist realism, the inspiration dictated by ideological expediency and the frontal attack on all formalist tendencies, were fertile soil for the so-called "schematism". The poems of different authors were monotonously alike with no relation to the realities of life. The prose writers composed works which were encyclopedical compilations of Marxist axioms with the positive and negative heroes engaged in a class struggle which predictably ended with the victory of the working class. The popular themes of novels and stories were the collectivization of the villages ("The wooden village" of F. Hecko, 1951 ; "The wasps' nest" of K. Lazarova, 1953, etc.) the Slovak uprising of 1944 (novels and short stories of Krno, Minac, Jilemnicky, Karvas, Plavka, etc.), the industrialization of Slovakia (Hora.k's "Blast furnace", Mina.e's "Blue waves", Miiacko's "The waters of Orava", Tatarka's "Comradely years", etc.). The literary thaw which set in after Stalin's death (1953) �SLOVAKIA 137 made a belated entry into Slovakia in the winter of 1955-6. It provoked some heated exchanges of opinions between the more liberal wing of the literary community on the one hand (I. Kupec, D. Tatarka) and the hardened stalinists (especially F. Hecko) on the other. The spirit of the thaw period found its fullest expression at the second congress of the Czecho-Slovak writers (April 1956) which followed at the heels of the 20th congress of the Soviet Communist Party (February, 1956). The outspoken criticism of the drabness of contemporary literature enunciated in the unscheduled speeches of the Czech writers Seifert and Hrubin (and echoed by D. Tatarka) pointedly demonstrated an unprecedented decay in artistic values brought about by the ruthless subjection of literature to ideology. The writers rebelled against their humiliating roles of soul-engineers and declared themselves to be the conscience of the nation. The spirit of the Writer's Congress was, alas, short-lived. Soviet intervention in Poland and Hungary put a sudden stop to all liberalizing undercurrents in the socialist camp and the Czech.o-Slovak Communist leaders were none too slow to restore the status quo ante 1953. Thus-apart from a few magazine articles-the literary thaw hardly left any sign in the literary production of the time. The only significant book of the thaw period was A. Bednar's "Hours and minutes" (1956) which soon became a target for concentrated attacks by official critics, trade unionists, partisans and other spokesmen -0£ the working class. The Czecho-Slovak Communist leaders succeeded in the following years (1956-62) in restoring the rigorous control of the stalinist er~. Under the slogan of "struggle against revisionism" they devised an ingenious strategy which was then applied by L. Stoll to combat various manifestations of revi.sionism in literature. By threats and promise the writers were forced to abandon the ideas promulgated at the Writers' Congress and to return to the old days of blind obedience to the party's bidding. But only a few writers were willing to follow unconditionally the new twist in the party line. Others tried to escape the rigors of neostalinism by self-imposed silence by writing literature for children or turning back in reminiscences to their own childhood and youth. The group of young writerf'l �138 SLOVAKIA gathered around the literary monthly "Mlada tvorba" showed initially some youthful elan, but lacking a firm program and able leadership on the one hand and facing insurmountable obstructions of the hardened party line on the other, it gradually slipped into restive passivity. (Their Czech counterparts around "Kveten" showed more aggressiveness and in turn were disbanded.) As it was revealed in 1963 the Sfovak Writers Union vetoed the publication of a number of books by young authors (Feldek, Stacho, Hykisch and others) because of alleged lack of ideological clarity, because of objectionable experimenting with modernism or playing up to revisionism. The years 1956-62 (now remorsefully called "the lost years" ) were almost a repetition of the years 1949-54 with the same writers (Minac, Tatarka, Lazarova, Mihalik, Karvas, etc.) enriching Slovak socialist realist literature by books on the same old themes (collectivization, industrialization, the Slovak uprising of 1944 ... but minus the "personality cult"} with the same outworn cliches. But these lost years were not as irreparably lost as the years 1949-53. An almost unnoticed development took place during this oppressive period: the emergence of a new literary generation. These young writers whose past was not tarnished by the sins of the cult era were not attracted by the literary models offered at home (Drda, Minac, Hecko) or in the Soviet Union (Fadeyev, Sholochov} but were casting their . eyes towards the literary achievements in the West. Hem- • mingway, Salinger, Steinbeck were their idols and secretly they admired and studied such proscribed decadents and formalists as Joyce, Kafka, Proust. .. The young poets were shows · ing interest in the works of Aragon and Eluard of the surrealist period and alongside them they were exploring the modern poetry of Rilke, St. John Perse, T. S. Eliot and the Amen-· can beatnik poets. The influences of this search for new poetry are visible in the poetical writings of M. Valek, M. Feldek, J. Sfacho and_ V. Turcany. The new prose made its unobtrusive appearance in the works of J . Blazkova, A. Hykisch and others. The young writers were· permitted to publish ·their books only from 1961 onward, when the change in the political climate ushered in a new liter2ry thaw. Under the impact of the : Sino-Soviet conflict and renewed attacks on Stalin at the 22nd �SLOVAKIA 139 Soviet Communist Party Congress gradually crumbled the tenets of stalinism even in Czecho-Slovakia. This was symbolically represented by the demolition of the gigantic statue of Stalin overlooking Prague. In the wake of the new thaw, several Slovak writers were rehabilitated (Novomesky, Okali and - posthumously - I. Horvath), some prohibited books of bourgeois nationalist authors (Razus, Urban) were reprinted, a number of forcibly silenced authors were given the opportunity to publish_in literary journals (V. Beniak, E. B. Lukac) and even some unmentionable emigre writers (Hronsky) were mentioned without malice. A new look at the Slovak literary past caused the postponement (already the third time since 1957) of the publication of the History of Slovak literature. But there is still no escape from the ideological straitjacket. The party has an all-pervading control over cultural activities, it arbitrarily deposes inconvenient and outspoken critics of its methods. (E.g. it sent to diplomatic exile in Paris L . Mnacko, the author of the notorious "Belated reports". There he repented so thoroughly that the party saw fit to put him as the editor-in-chief of the "Kulturny zivot" to replace the uncomfortably critical P. Stevcek.) It seems that the controversy, criticism and discussion which were so daring in 1963 are now (in 1965) largerly a thing of the past. And the literary development is faring accordingly. F . Vnuk Jozef Ciger Hr on s 1k y, a great Slovak novelist, died J,uly 13, 1960 in Lujan, Argentina. He was the author of some 40 books � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1965, Vol. 15 Description An account of the resource Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 134 SLOVAKIA THE HANDMAID OF IDEOLOGY (Slovak literature since 1945) Among the Slovaks, literature always played a leading r ole in the national life. The writers were the foremost fighters for the national rights before 1918, and fearless critics of the political and social wrongs in the post-war years. They were looked upon as the conscience of the nation and one can hardly think of a more dignified title bestowed by a people on its writers. It was a convincing sign of a mutual trust; in a sense Slovak literature was not only a collection of novels, books of poems and stories, but a faithful chronicle of Slovak strivings, fights, defeats and victories. The years after the First World War were in fact the golden years of Slovak literature. Freed and uninhibited it blossomed into maturity and was gradually catching up with the modern western literary currents. The years of national independence, 1939-45, in spite of the fact that they coincided with the war years, were on the whole the most fruitful period in the history of Slovak literature. The fall of the Slovak Republic and the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 was a matter of great concern for the Slovak writers. Many of them fled before the advancing Red army (Hronsky, Ga~par, Urban, Zarnov, Dilong, Strmen, etc.) and even those who stayed behind faced the new situation with grave apprehension. Officially the liquidation of Slovak independence was celebrated as an act of liberation by the Red army and of joyful reunification with the fraternal Czech nation, but there is no sign of festive mood in the contemporary literary publications. The bards of the nation failed to express gratitude to the liberators. Even those writers who tried hard to please the new regime could only produce works completely lacking in joy, jubilation or any exulted feeling of a liberated nation. Jan Kostra (who was editor of the cultural section of the Communist daily "Pravda") published a collection of f>Oems entitled "Preponderance of sadness". Other books of poems published at the same time bore titles (and had contents cor- SLOVAKIA 135 responding to their titles) such as "The mountain of hopelessness", "The age of lepers", "Stars-the wreakers of cruelty", etc. This obviously was not the way to welcome the dawn of liberation. Similar uneasiness was predominant in the Slovak post-war prose. Instead of a joyous present the authors wrote of a legendary past or tried to escape to unreal imaginary worlds of their own creation. Those few writers who listened to the voices of the cultural commissars and attempted to depict the problem of contemporary life achieved very disappointing results (J. Ponican, F. Kral', J. Horak, A. Plavka). The attitude of the Slovak writers was displayed clearly and unmistakably. This attitude of passive contempt was embarrassing to the new regime. The change in it came in 1948/ 9 when the Communists by clever manipulation outwitted their Democratic partners in the National Front and usurped all power in Slovakia. Immediately they set about to dominate and subsequently exploited the Slovak literary community. In April 1948 K. Gottwald declared "nationalization ef culture in general and of literature in particular". Literature was given its definite "constructive tasks". All the creative artistic methods were outlawed as "decadent, formalist, reactionary", etc., except the socialist realism which from the year 1948 on was to reign supreme. Literature became a concern of politicians, parliamentarians, party ideologists and party congresses. Those who would not toe the party line were mercilessly dealt with. The government soon had complete control over the press and publishing houses, and became the only employer of the writers. In their turn the writers were degraded to being "the engineers of human souls" and entrusted with problems corresponding to their profession. In March 1949 the Czechoslovak Writers Union was formed to which 220 Czech and 60 Slovak authors were admitted. The Union absorbed the existing Slovak Writers Association. Not only did the Slovak writers lost their national identity by this step but also the best and most promising of them were excluded from Union membership (V. Beniak, E. B. Lukac, J. Silan, J. Motulko, etc., etc.) and thus forcibly silenced and materially ruined. Subsequent purges further decimated the thin line of the Slovak men of letters. In April 1951 there occurred another 136 SLOVAKIA heavy-handed purge in which the victims were old-time Communist writers accused of bourgeois nationalist deviations, namely Novomesky, D. Okali and I. Horvath. (After expulsion from the Writers Union they were imprisoned and given heavy sentences.) Attacks were hurled also at D. Tatarka, V. Minac, A. Matuska, M. Chorvath and others. In that period of trial and tribulation when the revolution was devouring its own children the literary output was extremely low (altogether 17 new books appeared in 1951, as compared with the average output in the 1939-44 period of 142 new books yearly) and its artistic standard almost nonexistent. The books of poems became political speeches in verse, the prose writing was indistinguishable from political journalism. The progressive character of the poetry is obvious from the titles: "The Ode on Stalin" (J. Kostra, 1949), "Comrade my country" (M. Lajciak, 1949), "The song of peaceloving hands" (J. Rak, 1949), "The song of steel ingots" (L. Miiacko, 1950), "The song of love to new China" (J. Brezina, 1950), "The song of great (i.e. Slovak-Soviet) friendship" (M. Lajciak, 1951), "The song of May" (M. Prochazka 1952), "The spring song of a collective farmer" (C. Stitnicky, 1950), "People, be vigilant!" (F. Citovsky, 1951), "Peace- my love" (P. Gajdos, 1951), "The guardians of peace" (M. Krno, 1951), "The banners of peace", etc. The nebulous and never properly defined concept of socialist realism, the inspiration dictated by ideological expediency and the frontal attack on all formalist tendencies, were fertile soil for the so-called "schematism". The poems of different authors were monotonously alike with no relation to the realities of life. The prose writers composed works which were encyclopedical compilations of Marxist axioms with the positive and negative heroes engaged in a class struggle which predictably ended with the victory of the working class. The popular themes of novels and stories were the collectivization of the villages ("The wooden village" of F. Hecko, 1951 ; "The wasps' nest" of K. Lazarova, 1953, etc.) the Slovak uprising of 1944 (novels and short stories of Krno, Minac, Jilemnicky, Karvas, Plavka, etc.), the industrialization of Slovakia (Hora.k's "Blast furnace", Mina.e's "Blue waves", Miiacko's "The waters of Orava", Tatarka's "Comradely years", etc.). The literary thaw which set in after Stalin's death (1953) SLOVAKIA 137 made a belated entry into Slovakia in the winter of 1955-6. It provoked some heated exchanges of opinions between the more liberal wing of the literary community on the one hand (I. Kupec, D. Tatarka) and the hardened stalinists (especially F. Hecko) on the other. The spirit of the thaw period found its fullest expression at the second congress of the Czecho-Slovak writers (April 1956) which followed at the heels of the 20th congress of the Soviet Communist Party (February, 1956). The outspoken criticism of the drabness of contemporary literature enunciated in the unscheduled speeches of the Czech writers Seifert and Hrubin (and echoed by D. Tatarka) pointedly demonstrated an unprecedented decay in artistic values brought about by the ruthless subjection of literature to ideology. The writers rebelled against their humiliating roles of soul-engineers and declared themselves to be the conscience of the nation. The spirit of the Writer's Congress was, alas, short-lived. Soviet intervention in Poland and Hungary put a sudden stop to all liberalizing undercurrents in the socialist camp and the Czech.o-Slovak Communist leaders were none too slow to restore the status quo ante 1953. Thus-apart from a few magazine articles-the literary thaw hardly left any sign in the literary production of the time. The only significant book of the thaw period was A. Bednar's "Hours and minutes" (1956) which soon became a target for concentrated attacks by official critics, trade unionists, partisans and other spokesmen -0£ the working class. The Czecho-Slovak Communist leaders succeeded in the following years (1956-62) in restoring the rigorous control of the stalinist er~. Under the slogan of "struggle against revisionism" they devised an ingenious strategy which was then applied by L. Stoll to combat various manifestations of revi.sionism in literature. By threats and promise the writers were forced to abandon the ideas promulgated at the Writers' Congress and to return to the old days of blind obedience to the party's bidding. But only a few writers were willing to follow unconditionally the new twist in the party line. Others tried to escape the rigors of neostalinism by self-imposed silence by writing literature for children or turning back in reminiscences to their own childhood and youth. The group of young writerf'l 138 SLOVAKIA gathered around the literary monthly "Mlada tvorba" showed initially some youthful elan, but lacking a firm program and able leadership on the one hand and facing insurmountable obstructions of the hardened party line on the other, it gradually slipped into restive passivity. (Their Czech counterparts around "Kveten" showed more aggressiveness and in turn were disbanded.) As it was revealed in 1963 the Sfovak Writers Union vetoed the publication of a number of books by young authors (Feldek, Stacho, Hykisch and others) because of alleged lack of ideological clarity, because of objectionable experimenting with modernism or playing up to revisionism. The years 1956-62 (now remorsefully called "the lost years" ) were almost a repetition of the years 1949-54 with the same writers (Minac, Tatarka, Lazarova, Mihalik, Karvas, etc.) enriching Slovak socialist realist literature by books on the same old themes (collectivization, industrialization, the Slovak uprising of 1944 ... but minus the "personality cult"} with the same outworn cliches. But these lost years were not as irreparably lost as the years 1949-53. An almost unnoticed development took place during this oppressive period: the emergence of a new literary generation. These young writers whose past was not tarnished by the sins of the cult era were not attracted by the literary models offered at home (Drda, Minac, Hecko) or in the Soviet Union (Fadeyev, Sholochov} but were casting their . eyes towards the literary achievements in the West. Hem- • mingway, Salinger, Steinbeck were their idols and secretly they admired and studied such proscribed decadents and formalists as Joyce, Kafka, Proust. .. The young poets were shows · ing interest in the works of Aragon and Eluard of the surrealist period and alongside them they were exploring the modern poetry of Rilke, St. John Perse, T. S. Eliot and the Amen-· can beatnik poets. The influences of this search for new poetry are visible in the poetical writings of M. Valek, M. Feldek, J. Sfacho and_ V. Turcany. The new prose made its unobtrusive appearance in the works of J . Blazkova, A. Hykisch and others. The young writers were· permitted to publish ·their books only from 1961 onward, when the change in the political climate ushered in a new liter2ry thaw. Under the impact of the : Sino-Soviet conflict and renewed attacks on Stalin at the 22nd SLOVAKIA 139 Soviet Communist Party Congress gradually crumbled the tenets of stalinism even in Czecho-Slovakia. This was symbolically represented by the demolition of the gigantic statue of Stalin overlooking Prague. In the wake of the new thaw, several Slovak writers were rehabilitated (Novomesky, Okali and - posthumously - I. Horvath), some prohibited books of bourgeois nationalist authors (Razus, Urban) were reprinted, a number of forcibly silenced authors were given the opportunity to publish_in literary journals (V. Beniak, E. B. Lukac) and even some unmentionable emigre writers (Hronsky) were mentioned without malice. A new look at the Slovak literary past caused the postponement (already the third time since 1957) of the publication of the History of Slovak literature. But there is still no escape from the ideological straitjacket. The party has an all-pervading control over cultural activities, it arbitrarily deposes inconvenient and outspoken critics of its methods. (E.g. it sent to diplomatic exile in Paris L . Mnacko, the author of the notorious "Belated reports". There he repented so thoroughly that the party saw fit to put him as the editor-in-chief of the "Kulturny zivot" to replace the uncomfortably critical P. Stevcek.) It seems that the controversy, criticism and discussion which were so daring in 1963 are now (in 1965) largerly a thing of the past. And the literary development is faring accordingly. F . Vnuk Jozef Ciger Hr on s 1k y, a great Slovak novelist, died J,uly 13, 1960 in Lujan, Argentina. He was the author of some 40 books  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Handmaid of Ideology (Slovak literature since 1945) Description An account of the resource F. Vnuk Slovakia, Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965 pp. 134-139 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Vnuk, František, 1926- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ab896c8bdc403e834ef271b0733764e8.pdf 33c5c5f231f8814ee7372b748226db24 PDF Text Text 63 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A . HROBAiK SLOVENSKO - SLOVAKIA - SLOVAKLAND The territory occupied by the Slovak people for the past 1500 years is known as Slovakia. It is situated in the very heart of Europe. Present-day Slovakia has an area of 49,015 square kilometers (approximately 19,000 sq. miles) and a population of 4,000,000. There were times when the borders of Slovakia extended beyond their present limits and times when the land of the Slovaks had no definite borders at all. In ancient times the Slovaks occupied even the western bank of the Morava river and the north bank of the Tisa (Theiss) river. Though the area and the borders of Slovakia changed at various times, its topography - the land and its waterways - did not. Slovakia is bound on the north by the Carpathian Mountains and on the south by the blue Danube and the upper arm of the Tisa river. Into these two streams empty all the rivers of Slovakia that have their origin in the foothills of the King's Plateau (Krafova Hofa) - the natural center of Slovakia: those that run off to the southwest empty into the Danube, while those that course to the southwest pour into the Tisa, forming deep valleys and broad basins between the ,i ndividual mountain :zones that fill out the largest part of the territory of Slovakia. This territory is divided into three parts: 1. western Slovakia which drains into the Danube tributaries; 2. eastern Slovakia that drains into the tributaries of the Tisa; 3. the mountainous country of central Slovakia. The geographical picture of Slovakia is extremely varied, because high mountain ranges alternate with deep valleys which, in places, spread out into basins. Fertile plains stretch out from the foothills of the mountains. Slovakia is situated in the very center of Europe where the north-eastern spurs of the Alps near the central Danube touch upon the mountainous arch of the Carpa- �64 SLOVAKIA thians which is the main watershed of central Europe. From this watershed the streams of central Europe run into several seas. In olden times the course of these streams determined the course of roads along which nations migrated and business and culture flowed. We find Slovakia at the juction of these roads which cross the Caripathian Mountains kom the north and the south. Two roads were especially significant in deciding the fate of Slovakia and the Slovak nation. One coursed along the Danube and connected the western oountTies of Europe with the eastern world. Near the Carpatho-Alpian gate this road intersected with the other important highway which started from the coast of the Adriatic Sea, crossed the Danube, proceeded to the north against the current of the Morava river and went to the coast of the Baltic Sea. Slovakia, according to archeological researches, was well inhabited as early as 5000 B. C., but we do not know the race or the names of the peoples who inhabited the land. Traces of the Neolithic Man, who used stone weapons in hunting the mammoth and the huge cave bear, have been found. The scientific investigator will find much material on the prehistoric period in the museum of Bratislava and Turciansky Svaty Martin. About the year 2000 B.C. begins the Bronze Age with its burial urns, and clay and stone remains, found on the sites of ancient settlements in Slovakland. During the ensuing Iron Age, we find traces of the Illyrians in the west, of the Thracians in the east. The latter came into contact with the Scythians in the valley of the Tisa river. Several nations of various origins and culture lived in Slovakia just before the dawn of the Christian era. According to ancient Greek and Roman writers, the land of the Slovaiks was inhabited by the Gauls and the Celts at that time. In the fourth century B. C., we note traces of the more advanced Gallic culture from the discoveries of golden ornaments and coins, imitations of those issued by Philip III of Macedonia and his son, Alexander the Great. At Bratislava coins of the Roman Republic, dating from the first century B. C., have been found. A Greek map of the Slovak territory, dating back to the third century, �SLOVAKIA 65 shows many Slovanic names for mountains and rivers, The fertile plains of south-eastern Slovakia were occupied by the Boii, a Gallic tri'be, and in the mountainous parts of central Slovakia lived the Kotin (Gothine) tribe which worked the ore of the Iron Mountains. The Osi settled in the neighborhood of the Kotins, while the Korkonti - tribes of southern origin - occupied the northwestern part of Slovakia. In the first half of the last century before Christ the Dacians came to Slovakia from the east and overpowered the Gallic Boii. But in the first quarter of the first century after Christ, the Dacians were forced to migrate to the north into the mountains, because they were iha:rd pressed by the J azygi who had come from the Black Sea to take over the land on the left side of the Danube. During the reign of Tiberius, two Germanic tribes settled in the territory of the Slovaks, the Quadi and the Marcomanni, who frequently raided the Roman proi\Tince of Pannonia on the other side of the Danube. Vannius, the bellicose king of the Quadi, built military fortresses along the V ah river and extended his power to the Turiec a:nd Kysuca rivers. About twenty years after Christ, when a large part of the territory of Slovakia was occupied by the Quadi, the Romans were consolidating their might near the Danube. The Franks and the Romans began to wage war for the control of the territory of Slovakia, a struggle that lasted several centuries. South of the Danube the Romans organized the province of Pannonia, east of which was the province of Dacia. To conquer the whole Danube basin to the Carpathians, the Romans built military strongholds along the south bank of the Danube. Such fortresses were established at Vindobona (Vienna), Carnanthum (Hainburg), Brigetium (Komarno) and at Aquincum (Budapest). To defend and to secure the frontier along the Danube against incursions of barbaric tribes, the Romans sent detachments across the river to established military stations on the northern bank, on the territory of Slovakia. From excacations we know that Ro- �66 SLOVAK.IA man troops were stationed at Devin, Stupava, Bratislava and opposite Komarno at li. The Romans bested the Quadi in battle. Their king Vannius ruled over the territory of Slovakia by the grace of the Roman Emperor. Of course, the Quadi resented this. After Vannius' death the aggressive Quadi challenged the power of the Romans on the Danube and the Roman Emperors had to defend their rule with large armies. Along the Vah river the Roman troops penetrated as far as Trencin. Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus defeated the Quadi in 179 A. D. after several bloody skirmishes on Slovak territory, as is commemorate d by inscription on a roc'k at Trencin: "In memory of the IVictory of the Emperor's army that encamped at Laugaricio, 855 soldiers of the II. Legion. Made by Constantine, commander of the II. auxiliary Legion." This army was stationed at Laugaritio, a Roman settlement near Trencin, which has since disappeared. During these skirmishes with the Quadi, probably about 173 A. D., the Roman army in Slovakia found itself threatened by a scarcity of water. In the army that fought against the Germans somewhere along the Hron river, there were several Christians who had come from Asia Minor. These Christian soldiers - the first Christians on Slovak territory - prayed for raiin and their prayers were answered. The Roman army was saved. This incident is immortalized on the Arch of Triumph of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Rome. The Quadi, 1b eaten repeatedly by the Romans, never ·gwve up trying to drive the Romans out of Slovakia. Emperor Constantine LI defeated them in 258 A.ID. and Emperor Valentian, the last Roman emperor who cowd claim sovereignty over the territory of Slovakia, repeated the pel'for:mance in 3·74. Upon the latter's death in 376, the great Mig;ra~ tion of Nations begain.. Shortly thereafter the Romans ipulled thek gax.risoDJS out of Slo-y;aJk ia and let the Quadi take over. The Quadi, however, were evicted from the territory by the Huns in the first half of the fifth century. The Huns in turn were displaced by the Heruli, who held the territory until about 491 when the Lombards defeated �SLOVAKIA 87 them, occupied their lands and held them until about 526, when they crossed the Danube into Pannonia. Slovrukia, however, did not remain even under the Huns for long. After the disintegration of the Roman Empire, the Germans migrated from Slovakia to the south. The Marcomanni, weakened by the wars with the Romans and forced by the hordes of Attila to join his army, were wiped out in the battle of Cha.Ions (Catalaunian Fields) in 451. There is as yet no definite proof, even though it may be safely assumed, that the Slovaks and related Slovanic tribes came into Slovakia in increasing numbers after the extinction of the Marcomanni. The historian J ordannes, writing in the sixth century, said that all the Hungarian plain was inhabited by Slovanic people (the Slavs). AFTIDR THE ADVENT OF THE SLOVAKS The Slovaks came to their present territory from the East, probably from India. At the time Frankish tribes fought the Roman Legions over the territory of Slovakia, the Slovanic peoples occupied the land that stretched to the north of the Carpathians and to the east of the river Vistula. It was a marshy and unfertile land. In time the growing Slovanic families were forced to emigrate to neighboring territories. The Slovanic peoples who migrated to the west and occupied the territory to the Elbe and Saal rivers are called We,stern Slavs; they are the Poles, the SlOJVaks and! the Czechs; those that occwpied the territory between t'he Elbe and Oder rivers and the country along the coast of the Baltic Sea are known as the Lusatian Serbs (northern Germany) and the Kashubes (near the Baltic Sea); today their numbers are few. The Slovanic peoples, who migrated from their ancient land to the south and occupied the Balkan peninsula, are called the Southern Slavs: the Slovenes, Croatians, Serbs and Bulgarians. A large part of the Slovanic peoples migrated to the east and occupied the plains of eastern Europe. They are the Eastern Slavs: the White Russians, the Little Russians (Ukrainians) and the Great Russians. As the great Slovanic family disintegrated, separate �68 SLOVAKIA Slovanic nations developed with the centuries, each with its dictinct culture, language, customs and traditions. The Slovaks, like other Slovanic peoples, originally were hunters. After a time they took to bee culture and animal husbandry, especially sheep raising. From their neighbors they learned to cultivate the soil. The men folk hunted and herded sheep, while .the women and the slaves did the farm work. The only trades known to them were pottery making and blacksmithing. In business transactions they exchanged products or paid in cloth; money was not known as a means of barter. The Slovaks lived in simple huts made of poles driven into the ground, around which were wound branches and twigs which were then covered with mud. Several families, originating from a common forefather, formed a clan ("rod"). The head of the clan was the oldest member; he was in charge of the common property of the clan. A Slovanic settlement, inhabited by several related families, i.e. a clan, was called a village ("dedina" from "dedo"-grandfather). The village was the common heritage ("dedicstvo") of the whole clan. Several related clans made up a tribe ("kmeii"), the leader of which was the tribal chief, called a priest ("kiiaz") or prince ("knieza). When several such related tribes lived in one territory for a long time a Slovanic state evolved and a Slovanic nation was born. SLOVAK CHARACTERISTICS The Slovanic peoples had many good and bad characteristics. They loved songs and entertainment. Not possessing great wealth, they lived frugally. They were goodhearted and hospitable, but suffered discipline with difficulty. They did not know how to obey, hence there was no harmony among them. They did not seek a battle, but when they had to defend themselves they fought heroically and also knew how to be cruel. All these characterictics of the Slovanic nature can be found in the Slovanic nations even at the ,p resent time. The historian Procopius (562) said that the Slavs were rather tall, hardy, blond-haired people and honesty was one �SlJOVAK.I.A 69 of their marked characteristics. Theophylactus recorded an interesting commentary on the Slavs. He said: "In 590 three men were captured by the Greeks in Thrace; the men carried musical instruments instead of weapons. When Caesar M:auricus asked who they ,w ere, the men answered: 'We are Slavs; we love music; we play the guitar and violin and sing.' Mauricus was overcome by their simplicity. Af.., ter feasting them he had a guard escort them to their lands." The German historian Herder had this to say about the Slavs: "They loved farming; they had herds and implements and a home industry ; with the products of their land and their industry they carried on a useful business. They built cities and in places occupied themselves with mining; they knew how to melt and mold metals. The Slavs prepared salt, made cloth, brewed beer, grafted trees, and lived according to their manner a happy, musical life.'' The Slovaks of old had names for implements, furniture, grains, fruit trees, trades and animals. They had their own words for: plow, iron, cloth, needle, pliers, wheel, wagon, seal, ring, blacksmith, spoon, clothier, butcher, cape, jeweler. As a musical people they had many folk songs. In number and variety of content they are second to those of no other nation. SLOVAK MYTHOLOGY There are very few reliable records of the religion of ancient Slovanic peoples. We know that they believed in a Supreme Being and in immortality. The Slovaks called the Supreme Being "Praboh" :_ the God of all gods. They had a White God - the God of all good, and a Black God - the God of evil and death. Many lesser gods, belonging to both the white and black groups, also existed for the ancient Slovaks and other Slovanic peoples. "ZIVENA" was the godess of life, and "MORENA" the godess of death. Brooks and streams housed nymphs, and fairies inhabited the woods and forests. "LADA" was the godess of beauty, while "URODA" was the godess of the fields and crops. ' ~PfilRUIN" (P.AJROM" ) , the God of thunder, was held in great respect. �70 SLOVAKIA The ancient Slovaks worshipped and invoked their gods in sacred groves. They offered sacrifices of grain and animals to images of wood and stone through their priests. The White Priests (BieJok:iiazi) served and invoked the White Gods. The White Priests were most important men of the tribe; they presided at all councils and trials and their judgments and decisions were final. The Black Priests - the magicians and sorcerers - were believed to possess powers of tmnsforming peraons into animals and inanimate objects. The Slovaks, like most of the other Slovanic peoples of ancient times, cremated or buried their dead. Food, weapons, wine and jewelry were usually placed in the graves of the dead. Ashes of the dead were placed in urns of clay and then buried. Mounds of clay and stone were built over burial places; the greater the mound, the more important the person or persons buried there. Several such mounds were found and excavated in Slovakia (at Skalica, Brezolupy, Boooivce, Kras:iiany near 2ilina and at Cepcin in Turiec). One of the most extensive burial grounds was uncovered at Devinska Nova Ves. Some of the customs and practices of the ancient pagan Slovaks have survived the centuries and are still observed in many quaint villages of Slovakia today. Many of the pagan practices, however, disappeared with the advent of Christianity. As the Slovanic peoples abandoned their ancient lands and began to colonize central and eastern Europe - after the Germanic Heruli and Lombards withdrew from the territory of Slovakia in the sixth ·century and the Slovaks came in - the savage nation of the Avars tore into the Danube basin, overran the whole territory, and pushed deeply into the Frankish kingdom in the west. During the next hundred years the whole region seethed in turmoil. The Avars were wild nomads of Turko-Tartarian origin who rode their horses rough-shod over the countries of their neighbors and subjugated them. They settled in Pannonia, where they built military camps which were protected by huge, circular mounds of earth and stone and wooden fences. The Slovaks withdrew from this territory �SLOVAKIA 71 and settled north of the Danube . Part of the Slovak tribes lived in the mounta ins; they were govern ed by their own princes . The Slovan ic peoples along the Danube had to serve the Avars and were forced to go with them on their rampages into neighb oring territor ies. The A vars looted the Germa n lands in the west and Constan tinoiple (Cari•h rad) and Salonik a in the east. Natura lly, the Slovan ic peoples wanted tQ throw off the yoke of the Aivars and waited for the opportu ne momen t to rebel. That time came in 624, when Samo, a Franki sh mercha nt, succeed ed in uniting the Slovani c peoples and led them in battle agains t the savage A;vars. Sa.mo defeate d the Arv,a xs rund founde d the first SlovaJllic state ,near the central Danube . Encour aged by the victory over the A vars, Samo led the Slovan ic peoples agains t the German ic Franks . Samo again was victorio us; his Slovani c army defeate d the Franks under Dagob ert in a three-d ay battle near the Vogast e castle in 631. Becaus e the Slovak s were settled north of the Danub e and the Slovenians south of it, Samo's empire stretch ed over these territor ies. The Slovani c peoples within these territor ies were called by the commo n name of Sloven es (Slovie ni). The main fortres s of this Slovani c empire was situate d in Slovak ia at the conflue nce of the Morava and Danube rivers. Samo's empire , howeve r, disinte grated soon after his death (658). Wheth er it was the ,k ingdom of the Slova!ks alone is questio nable, but the fact remain s that the territory of Slovak ia formed the core of it. ilfu-edegar's "Chron icles" ;record that a ~trong westem Slovan ic empire existed already in the seventh century , strong enough to, resist the pressu re of the Avars and the rule of Dagob ert. Fredeg ar wrote quite plainly that Samo came along when the Slovam c tribes of the area were successful ly rebellin g aga~t the rule of the A vars. His "Chro.nioles" form the basis of most theorie s in ;regard to the ethnica l composiition of Samo's Empire , its territor ial extent and the site of its princip al city or strongh old. In recent yeara Slova!k, Polish, and Czech scholar s of Slavist ics agreed that Samo's strongh old, the center of his empire , was at De... vin, at ,t he conflue nce of the Morav a and Danll!be rivers. �SLOVAK.IA 72 Professor Oettinger, well-knOIWll historian and archeologis t of Vienna, however, .prefers to Tegard Vienna as the center of Samo's Empire. In his book "Das Warden Wiens" (19M), he tells that he .bases his conclusion especially on the findings resulting from the discovery of the ancient Berghof Castle in Vienna, the remains of which can ibe traced ;to Samo's time. The Ava.rs, a nomadic people, could not build such a g,reat citadel of stone. Presenting a whole series of philological airguments to baclk his theory, professor Oettinger states that tt is self-eviden t that SlovaJks and ,p ossibly other Slwanic peoples lived in the aJrea of Vienna iaJIJ.d far to the west along the Danube territory during Samo's time. While the Slovanic peoples were resisting the A vars heroically, a strong Frankish empire was being built in the west. The power of this empire, whose borders in the eighth century extended from the Pyrenees to the Sumava River, became consolidate d especially during the reign of Charles the Great (Charlemag ne), who ruled from 768 to 814, and united all the Germanic tribes, subjugated the Bavarians and the Saxons in the east, and came into contact with the most westerly tribes of the Slovans. In 799 the armies of Charlemag ne defeated the Arvars, who lateT were aJbso;z1bed by the Slovanic inhabitants of the Danube countries. But the great empire of Charlemag ne, who became Emperor in 800, had another weapon besides its strong army for its aggression s into the neighborin g countries of the east. That weapon was Christianit y, which in the Franldsh empire had spread and become so strong that already during the reign of Charlemag ne the way was prepared for it to reach the Danubian Slovans who were settled along the eastern borders of the Frankish empire. To safegururd the eastern f:rontier of his empiire, Charlemagne placed heavy military garrisons along bordering countries. Such territories were called "Marks" and were managed by so-called "Markgrav es." In a short time it became evident that the military garriso!IlS of such Marks were not only for defense, but also for advance into the neighboring Slovanic countries. Contempor aneously new bishoprics and monasterie s were built along these bordering countries which strengthen ed the Christian faith and 1 �SIJOVAKIA 73 propagated Christian culture. It was thus that Christianity came to the neighboring Slovanic nations. Slovakia already in the very beginning of the ninth century came into immediate contact with the military and cultural might of the Frankish empire. The Slovak nation crossed the threshhold of its national and cultural history. ~RiINCiE PRJ.BINA The Slovanic tribes, which settled on the northern bank of the Danube, on ,b oth sides of the 1Mora,va river, weTe called Moravians. Philologis~, historians, a,nd aroheologists have a.miply demonstrated that whatever had b,een mentioned in old historical documents aibout the MoraJVian.s referred in £act to the ancestors of the Slovaks, the Slovans (ISla<vS) who already in the first half of the ninth century were the inhaJbitants of the territory on both sides of the MoTava river. in anoient d0<:uments we find the name "Slovenica" used interchangeably with ' 1Moravia" and "Magna Moravia" to designate the territory on both sides of the Morava riveT. A document of King Loruis from the year 861 also, calls that area "Slovenica." In western (Latin) sources, the inhabit.., ants of that territory were called ''Moravians" and "the Slarvs of Moravia" (Slavi; Sclavi; Sch1avi; Sc,l a,v i Marahenses; Marehenses; Maravi; Mairavani; Moravi; Maraibi; MarahaJvi; Sclavini; Selavi Margenses) to distinguish them from the Slorvans (Slavs) who had occupied other territories (Behemi; Sclavi Boehemia; Boemie; Beheimi; Boemani ; Boo-. manici; Behemani; Bohemani; Bulgari; Vulgari; ChTobati; BeJochrobati; .Kosari; Czechi; Poloni; ,Russi; etc.). In eastern sources, however, the inhabitants of the same territory were called "Slovenes" ('Slovieni; Sloveni), while their land wa:s rreferred to as "Slovak Land" and "Moravia" (.Slovenska zemlja; Morava). It is significant that af.ter the fall olf Great Moravia, her inhabitants were referred to by their a,ndent name: Slavi; ,Sclavi; Slovieni; Sloveni - older forms of the term Slovak, which began to appear onyl after the fifteenth centUTY. From reliable sources we learn that about the year 830,. there ruled in Slovakia a prince named Pribina, who resided in Nitra. The name Pribina and Nitra are very dear �74 SLOVAKIA to ,t he hearts of all .Slovaks, because Prilbina is the name of the first Slovak ruler ever mentioned by history, and Nitra is the name of the first Slovak castle which became the cradle of Slovak national history. Pribina reigned in Nitra and his principality extended over the territory of the fertile basin of the Nitra river. The sovereignty of the Prince of Nitra was acknowledged by other Slovak principalities that extended along the Hron river country, the banks of the Vah and other Slovak lands. Under the rule of Prince Pribina belonged the Slovaik principalities that lay to the east of the Small Carpathians. The same sources tell us that Archbishop Adalram of Salzburg blessed a church on Pribina's land in Nitra. This consecration is proof that the Christianity spread by the German priests among the Slovaks already had taken firm root. Pribina's church in Nitra is the first Christian church on the territory of the western Slovans. While other Slovanic peoples in the eastern half of Europe still lived far off from western-European Christian culture and wandered in the darkness of paganism, the Slovak nation already in the beginning of the ninth century was counted among the Christian, the cultured nations of Europe. At the time of the consecration of the Nitra church, in 833, Pribina himself was not yet a Christian. But the circumstance that Pribina allowed the Christian faith to be preached to his nation proves that the first Slovak ruler, even though he probably could not grasp the significance of Christian doctrine, nevertheless understood the political and cultural significance of Christianity on the SlovanoGermanic border. Pribina, a wise and prudent ruler, knew that a small nation at this dangerous crossroad could defend itself against its stronger neighbors only when it was equal to them culturally. Not long afterwards, however, cruel calamity befell the ruler of Nitra. Prince Mojmir, who had united the Slovak tribes in the western part of the Slovak territory under his rule and who probably resided at Devin, drove Pribina out of Nitra and occupied his domain. Out of this union of .Mojmirs country with Pribina's, there arose on the north bank of the Danube a state that united all the Slovak �SLOVAKIA 75 tribes. The state, thus established about the year 830, was called Great Moravia (VeFka Morava) or the Great Moravian Empire (Vefkomoravska risa). Pribina, with his son Kocef and a retinue of Slovak magnates, sought refuge in the neighboring Mark to the east, near the Danube. Markgrave Ratbod presented Pribina to King Louis the German. The latter had Pribina in:structed in the Christian faith and baptized in St. Martin's ,c hurch in the city of Treisma (probably the present city of Sankt Polten in Germany). For a time Pribina and his group lived in the court of Markgrave Ratbod, but when the latter refused to aid him against Mojmir, he went to the Bulgars. However, he did not tarry there for long either, because soon after we find him seeking the aid of Ratimar, the Croatian Prince. At that time (about 838), Ratimar was not on good terms with Ratbod, so Pribina had to take refuge with Count Salach of Corutania. The latter succeeded in reconciling Pribina with Ratbod. In exile Pribina convinced himself that he could not regain his lost domain and return to Nitra. He became reconciled with his fate and sought to gain the favor of King Louis the German. The latter entrusted to Pribina the new principality beyond the Danube, the country of Pannonia near Blatno. In 847 he became the independent ruler of this principality and built a formidable citadel there that was called Blatnohrad (Moosburg). After his baptism, Pribina became a zealous Christian and sought to convert all his subjects to Christianity. He invited German missionaries into his domain, built churches, endowed monasteries and often welcomed the archbishop of Salzburg at his court. In his work, Pribina had a zealous helper in the person of his son Kocel'. When Pribina died in 861 under mysterious circumstances, Kocel' inherited his principality. The Slovak nation, immediately with its first appearance on the stage of European history, entered the services of Christian culture. The Slovaks are the oldest nation on the central Danube and they were the first nation in Central Europe to have its own independent state. It is well to note that the Slovak State from its very inception was ,a Christian State. �76 SLOVAKIA CHAPTER TWO 'DHiE GREAT M!ORA~ EJMPI'RE The studies of historians, philologists, and -archeolo~ gists clearly indicate that the Great Moravian Empire was not the empire of the ''Great Moravians," but the land of the ancietn Slov•a k s who had settled on both sides of the 'Morava river. The Great Moravian IDmpire, then, was in reality a Great Slova!k Empire, if we are to call the territory by the name of the peole who had occupied it from the dawn of history. These studies refute the hypothesis of the Czech and non-Czech philologists, ethnogr~phers, and historians, who claim that "Czechs and Slovaks of Bohemia, MMoraviia, and Nor.them Hung•a ry (SlovaJkia) fornied a single group with a common langua,ge." Furthermore, these studies tell us that at first there were two estates or rprinciipalities in that area: the one called "Mol'ova" was around the Morava up to the Vah with its capital city at Devin, while the other called "Nitra" the capital city of which bore the i,;ame name - was around the Nitra river. When Mojmir, the ruler of Moravia, conquered Pribina, the ruler of Nitra, German chronicles 'began to call his empire "Magna Mora'Via," whk'h meant the annexation of the NitJ:ra principality to that of Mor8JVia. We afso leiarn from these studies that the ancestors of the Czechs had settled in the land of the Boii (Boehemi,a; Behemia; Bohemia) just ltbout at the same time that the Slovaks occupied the territory of the Morava river. Moj!mir, Rastislav, and Sviitopllllk built the empire of the Slova!ks, while Hostivit and Borivoj built .the state of the Czechs. The Annales Fra,ncofuldenses tell us that "Sviitoplwk extricated the Czech tribes from Frankish rule by force." Later the Czechs (Slavs of Bohemia) even joined the Germans to wage war agaJnst the Great Moravian EmpiTe. When Mojmir, some time in the year 836, drove Pribina out of Nitra and united the territory inhabited by Slovak trib,es into a larger unit, there arose on the northern bank of the Danube an empire which the Byzantine em1 �SLOVAKIA 77 peror, Constantine Po.rphyrogennetos, in his work "About the Management of a State" (950), calls Great Moravia. Mojmir's empire stretched over the territory of present Slovakia and Moravia and was, after Samo's empire, the second Slovanic state near the Danube on the German-Slovanic border. Just as Samo's Empire, so even the Great Mora'Vlian Empire had its origin at the same historic crossroad, because it was here that the greatest danger threatened the Slovanic peoples and they had to unite in defense of their freedom a,nd independence. While Samo's empire , arose because the Slovans along the Danube wanted to protect themselves against the enemies from the east, Great Moravia was established under pressure of danger from the west. Mojmir, like Pribina, tried to live in peace with the neighboring Germans, because he knew that war with them could only end disastrously for the Slovaks. Mojmir was already a Christian, so the missionary activity of the German priests on the territory of Great Moravia went on nuhampered. We must remember that Great Moravia at that time did not have any definite borders, because the borders of states of the Middle Ages never were defined strictly. The area of Great Moravia changed because the successors of Mojmir did undertake expeditions into neighboring countries, defeated them in battle and annexed them to the empire. Louis the German did not relish the idea of a great, united Slovanic empire as a neighbor. In 846 he unseated Mojmir and replaced him with Rastislav. The latter simu~ lated friendship for Louis, but knew well that the independence of his country was constantly threatened by the Germans. The independence of Great Moravia was threatened not only by German armies, but also by the missionary activity of the German priests, who had begun to look upon the territory as a part of the German empire. In about 860 Rastislav sent a special messenger to Pope Nicholas I in Rome with a request for missionaries who had a command of the Slovanic tongues. The Pope, however, answered he was sorry that he could not help Rastislav, �78 SLOVAKIA because at that time there were no such priests in Rome. After due deliberation with his advisers, Rastislav decided to send a special mission to .Constantinople, to .E mperor Michael ill. Rastislav's request, as presented to the Emperor, read: "Since our people has cast off paganism and follows the Christian law, we do not have such a teacher, who might explain the true Christian Faith to us in our own tongue, so that even other parties, witnessing this, might become like unto us. So send us, Emperor, such a bishop and teacher, because your country is everywhere recognized for its good laws." Just about that time the German empire found strong allies in the Bulgarians, who bordered with Great Moravia at the Tisa river and lived in enmity with the Byzantine emperor. Michael did not have to deliberate long with his counsellors. He wanted Rastislav as an ally against the German-Bulgarian alliance and, hence, decided to aid the ruler of Great Moravia in his quest for missionaries who could speak the language of Rastislav's people. Up to this time the land of the Slovaks was subject to the influence of western culture only. Now it was to make contacts with the Christian culture of the European east. SLOVAK .APOSTLES: CYRIL .AND METHODLUS Em;peror Michael of Constantinople decided to send Constantine (Cyril), the philosopher and linguist, and his brother Methodius, who was versed in the art of government, to preach the Gospel to the people of Rastislav. Constantine had distinguished himself in apostolic work before, at first alone and later with his brother Methodius. As natives of Salonica (Thessalonica) they were suited for the mission: they new the language of Rastislav's people, the forefathers of the Slovaks. The Emperor, having summoned them, told the brothers: "You are from Salonica, and all Salonicans speak pUTe Slovanic." Upon learning that Rastislav's people did not have their own script, the task of inventing one fell to the lot of Constantine. Legend has it that the alphabet worked out by Constantine (Cyril) had been revealed to him by God. It was quite an achievement. Constantine started with Greek �SLOVAKIA 79 characters, but Slovanic sounds of the ninth century varied greatly with the Greek, therefore signs and characters had to be created to designate them. The alphabet that resulted is known as "Cyrillic." After due preparation for their new mission, the brothers Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius set out for the country of Rastislav. They arrived in Rastislav's empire in 863 and began preaching the Word of God in the language of the people. Soon ,a fter the translation of the Scriptl.ll'es and liturgical 1b ooks was completed and present... ed to Rastislav's court at Devin. Naturally the saintly brothers gained many admirers and disciples. These catechists went among their people and aided Constantine and Methodius in their missionary work. Up to the time of the Slovak apostles, only three languages were considered feasible for ecclesiastic life, the Holy Scriptures and the Church liturgy: Hebrew, Latin and Greek. The latter two were used extensively-the Greek in the Byzantine (eastern) Church and Latin in the Roman (western) Church. Due to the efforts of Constantine and Methodius, the language of the Slovaks (early Slovanic) became the third language to be used in Church liturgy. The work of Constantine and Methodius in Rastislav's empire was blessed with success. The saintly brothers united the people of Rastislav spiritually and. also contributed handsomely to the material welfare of the Great Moravian Empire. Their disciples later spread the Gospel to other neighboring Slovanic nations (Czechs, Serbs, Russians) in a language that was for the most part understandable to all Slo-\'anic nations. The German clergy of Salzburg viewed the work of Constantine and Methodius with envy and accused the brothers of introdllJlcing dangerous innovations into the liturgy of the Church. A protest against their activities was lodged in Rome, and the brothers were summoned by Pope Nicholas (858-867) to vindicate themselves. Constantine and Methodius set out for Rome in 867. Their journey led them through Lake Blatno (Balaton), the residence of Prince Kocer, Pribina's son. Kocer received the brothers with great joy and examined their liturgical �80 SLOVAKIA books in the Slovanic script with great interest. Leaving Kocer, Constantine and Methodius passed through Corinthia to Venice on the Adriatic Sea. At Venice they successfully defended their use of the language of Rastislav's people in the liturgy of the Church, while the ecclesiastics there had to concede defeat in the debate. While Constantine and Methodius made their way to Rome, Pope Nicholas died. Four days later his successor, Adriam ]I (867--872), was elected head of the ChuTch. The saintly brothers were given a cordial reception by the Pope, and, after convincing a synod of bishops that they were not guilty of introducing any dangerous innovations into the liturgy of the Church, their activities were accorded Adrian's approval. The Holy Father accepted the liturgical books in ;the Slov,anic language, blessed them on the aUar of the church of St. Mary Major, and celebrated the Divine Liturgy over them himself. The Pope then proceeded to consecrate Constantine and Methodius as bishops. A number of their disciples (Clement, Gorazd, Angelar, Sava and Naum) were ordained to the priesthood by the bishops Formosus and Gaundenrich. Shortly thereafter Constantine became seriously ill and retired to a monastery. There he joined the religious community, taking the name of Cyril. He died February 14, 869, and his earthly remains were buried on the right side of the high altar of the church of St. Clement in Rome. After the death of Saint Cyril, the entire burden of spreading the Gospel and teaching of Christ rested on the shoulders of his brother. Methodius returned as archbishop and papal legate fully authorized to organize the Church in the land of Rastislav. Archbishop Methodius became the head of Slovanic Christendom. Besides receiving the highest ecclesiastical dignity, Methodius carried letters from the Pope for Rastislav of Great Moravia, Svatopluk of Nitra and Kocef of Blatnohrad Castle (Moosburg), the three Slovak princes, which stated that the Pope permitted the use of Slovanic liturgy with the reservation that the epistle and ,gospel always be read in Latin before being read in the vernacular (Slovanic). The archdiocese of Methodius extended over Great Moravia and beyond the Danube over �SLOVAKIA 81 Pannonia, uniting the lands governed by Slovak rulers. But as Methodius was returing to continue his apostolic work among the people of Rastislav, a new ruler was taking over the throne of Great Moravia. KING S,V ATOPDUCK While Methodius was in Rome, the Germans continued to harass Rastislav. In 869 King Louis the German declared war against the neighboring Slovanic peoples and invaded their lands with his armies headed by his three sons. Prince Louis attacked the Lusatian Serbs, Charles went after Rastislav, and Carloman tore into the territory that was ruled by Rastislav's nephew, Svatopluk of Nitra. The German armies plundered and pillaged the Great Moravian Empire. But Rastislav's stronghold, the mighty Devin, proved impregnable and Rastislav's empire retained its independence. The following year, however, Rastislav was betrayed by his own kinsman, his nephew Svatopluk, regent of Nitra. Success in battle had turned Svatopluk's head. The Germans played up to Svatopluk and promised to help him gain the throne of Great Moravia. Svatopluk decided to betray his uncle and vowed loyalty to Carloman. Rastislav, however, learned of the plot and became furious. Having vowed to punish his traitorous nephew, he ordered his men to do away with Svatopluk at a banquet, but their attempt to take and kill him failed. Soon thereafter Rastislav led his army against Svatopluk. In the ensuing battle, Rastislav was defeated. Worse than that, he was captured and handed over to the Germans. Carloman sent Rastislav bound in chains to Bavaria where King Louis the German imprisoned him and had his eyes ,gouged out. Rastislav died later as a prisoner of the Germans. With Rastislav's defeat the Great Moravian Empire passed completely into the hands of the German crown. The Germans also seized Archbishop Methodius, who had returned from Rome, and imprisoned him. The Bavarian bishops, who regarded Methodius as a foreign intruder, made claims to the territories of the Slovanic peoples along the Danube and dealt with Methodius so inhumanely that Svatopluk himself intervened in his behalf. When Carlo- �82 SLOVAKIA man took possession of Rastislav's country and seized his royal treasures, he entrusted the rule of the ravaged country to Svatopluk. Svatopluk soon proved himself a strong ruler. As a soldier he excelled in ruthless courage. The Germans began to distrust him, because they feared he would build an empire so strong as to imperil their country. Louis the German decided to put Svatopluk out of the way. In 871 the Germans succeeded in taking Svatopluk and imprisoned him. Some of his castles were taken over by the German Markgraves. Svatopluk denied the charge of Carloman that he plotted against the German crown, but that did not help him. When the Slovaks learned what had happened to their ruler, they elected Slavomir to take his place and rebelled against the Germans. Slavomir was supported by the whole country. A terrilble war followed. The Germans suffered heaivy losses. Devin proved impregnable to their attacks. In the meantime, the wily Svatopluk was plotting to even matters with the Germans who had tricked him. While in prison he repented his betrayal of Rastislav and vowed to even the score with his German captors. Svatopluk begged Carloman to release him so that he might subdue the Slovaks under Slavomir. Carloman was reluctant at first, but finally gave in to Svatopluk's pleadings. Accompanyin g a large German army, Sviitopluk soon found himself below the mighty fortress of Devin. While the German army encamped quietly below the citadel, Svatopluk set out with a small detachment of men to the castle to persuade Slavomir to surrender without a battle. Once inside the castle, Svatopluk disclosed his plan to Slavomir. Assuming command of the Slovak army, Svatopluk tore out of the courtyard and attacked the Germans with such sa;vagery that only few were able to esc•a;pe alirve. Carloman's army was caught unawares and crushed. Svatopluk knew that the Germans would come after him sooner or later. He looked around for allies. That same year (871), he married the sister of Borivoj, ruler of the Bohemian fand, and formed an alliance with' him. Svatopluk pressed the offensive against the Germans and was quite �SLOVAKIA 83 successful. In 873 he defeated Carloman decisively. Carloman asked his father Louis for help to fight the Slovaks. When aid was not forthcoming, Carloman decided to seek a truce with Svatopluk. He signed a pact with Svatopluk at Forsheim in 874 and recognized the independence of the Great Moravian Empire. Svatopluk had reached the pinnacle of his ambitions: he was sole ruler of the Great Moravian Empire, with its crupital at Devin near Bratislava. (Continued) • • • 1856 - DR. SAMUEL CZAMBEL - 1956 P.A. HROBAK T.he year 1956 marks not only the centennial of the dea:th o:f the great Slovak fighter for freedom and democracy, Dr. Louis Sti1r, ,b ut it is a}so the centennial of the birth of the eminent SlovaJk philologist, Samuel Czam:bel. Czambel was born September 1, 1856, in the town of Slovenska Eupca, Zvolen County, 1Slova;kia. The ~tudy of his native Slovak language attracted him early in his life and he devoted much of his adult Hfe to it. He died in Buda.pest, December 18, 1909. In 1887, Czam'bel wrote his Contrioutions to the History of the Slovak Language (''Prispevlky k dejinam jazy.ka slovenskeho") ; he followed this with his Slovak Orthography ("Slovensky praivopis") in 1890; A Manual of the Literary Slovak Language ("Rukovaf spisovnej reci slovenskej") in 1902; The Slovaks and Their Language ("Slovaci a kh rec") in 1903; 8Jlld The Slovak Language and its Place in the Family of Slovanic Languages ("Slo-. venska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovenskych jazykov"), 624 pp., in 1906. Of course, Czambel contributed many other articles on Slovak subjects to Slovak newspapers, periodical reviiews and magazines. Czambel's "Rukovae (Slovak Grammar), revised and modified several times since its first edition by the late Dr. Joseph SkU!ltety, is a ,s tandard work with ,p hilologists, grammarians, and students of Slovak. In his "Slovaoi a ich rec," Czambel promoted the theory that the SlovaJks were every closely related to the Croatians, Slovenes and Serbs � 63 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A . HROBAiK SLOVENSKO - SLOVAKIA - SLOVAKLAND The territory occupied by the Slovak people for the past 1500 years is known as Slovakia. It is situated in the very heart of Europe. Present-day Slovakia has an area of 49,015 square kilometers (approximately 19,000 sq. miles) and a population of 4,000,000. There were times when the borders of Slovakia extended beyond their present limits and times when the land of the Slovaks had no definite borders at all. In ancient times the Slovaks occupied even the western bank of the Morava river and the north bank of the Tisa (Theiss) river. Though the area and the borders of Slovakia changed at various times, its topography - the land and its waterways - did not. Slovakia is bound on the north by the Carpathian Mountains and on the south by the blue Danube and the upper arm of the Tisa river. Into these two streams empty all the rivers of Slovakia that have their origin in the foothills of the King's Plateau (Krafova Hofa) - the natural center of Slovakia: those that run off to the southwest empty into the Danube, while those that course to the southwest pour into the Tisa, forming deep valleys and broad basins between the ,i ndividual mountain :zones that fill out the largest part of the territory of Slovakia. This territory is divided into three parts: 1. western Slovakia which drains into the Danube tributaries; 2. eastern Slovakia that drains into the tributaries of the Tisa; 3. the mountainous country of central Slovakia. The geographical picture of Slovakia is extremely varied, because high mountain ranges alternate with deep valleys which, in places, spread out into basins. Fertile plains stretch out from the foothills of the mountains. Slovakia is situated in the very center of Europe where the north-eastern spurs of the Alps near the central Danube touch upon the mountainous arch of the Carpa- �64 SLOVAKIA thians which is the main watershed of central Europe. From this watershed the streams of central Europe run into several seas. In olden times the course of these streams determined the course of roads along which nations migrated and business and culture flowed. We find Slovakia at the juction of these roads which cross the Caripathian Mountains kom the north and the south. Two roads were especially significant in deciding the fate of Slovakia and the Slovak nation. One coursed along the Danube and connected the western oountTies of Europe with the eastern world. Near the Carpatho-Alpian gate this road intersected with the other important highway which started from the coast of the Adriatic Sea, crossed the Danube, proceeded to the north against the current of the Morava river and went to the coast of the Baltic Sea. Slovakia, according to archeological researches, was well inhabited as early as 5000 B. C., but we do not know the race or the names of the peoples who inhabited the land. Traces of the Neolithic Man, who used stone weapons in hunting the mammoth and the huge cave bear, have been found. The scientific investigator will find much material on the prehistoric period in the museum of Bratislava and Turciansky Svaty Martin. About the year 2000 B.C. begins the Bronze Age with its burial urns, and clay and stone remains, found on the sites of ancient settlements in Slovakland. During the ensuing Iron Age, we find traces of the Illyrians in the west, of the Thracians in the east. The latter came into contact with the Scythians in the valley of the Tisa river. Several nations of various origins and culture lived in Slovakia just before the dawn of the Christian era. According to ancient Greek and Roman writers, the land of the Slovaiks was inhabited by the Gauls and the Celts at that time. In the fourth century B. C., we note traces of the more advanced Gallic culture from the discoveries of golden ornaments and coins, imitations of those issued by Philip III of Macedonia and his son, Alexander the Great. At Bratislava coins of the Roman Republic, dating from the first century B. C., have been found. A Greek map of the Slovak territory, dating back to the third century, �SLOVAKIA 65 shows many Slovanic names for mountains and rivers, The fertile plains of south-eastern Slovakia were occupied by the Boii, a Gallic tri'be, and in the mountainous parts of central Slovakia lived the Kotin (Gothine) tribe which worked the ore of the Iron Mountains. The Osi settled in the neighborhood of the Kotins, while the Korkonti - tribes of southern origin - occupied the northwestern part of Slovakia. In the first half of the last century before Christ the Dacians came to Slovakia from the east and overpowered the Gallic Boii. But in the first quarter of the first century after Christ, the Dacians were forced to migrate to the north into the mountains, because they were iha:rd pressed by the J azygi who had come from the Black Sea to take over the land on the left side of the Danube. During the reign of Tiberius, two Germanic tribes settled in the territory of the Slovaks, the Quadi and the Marcomanni, who frequently raided the Roman proi\Tince of Pannonia on the other side of the Danube. Vannius, the bellicose king of the Quadi, built military fortresses along the V ah river and extended his power to the Turiec a:nd Kysuca rivers. About twenty years after Christ, when a large part of the territory of Slovakia was occupied by the Quadi, the Romans were consolidating their might near the Danube. The Franks and the Romans began to wage war for the control of the territory of Slovakia, a struggle that lasted several centuries. South of the Danube the Romans organized the province of Pannonia, east of which was the province of Dacia. To conquer the whole Danube basin to the Carpathians, the Romans built military strongholds along the south bank of the Danube. Such fortresses were established at Vindobona (Vienna), Carnanthum (Hainburg), Brigetium (Komarno) and at Aquincum (Budapest). To defend and to secure the frontier along the Danube against incursions of barbaric tribes, the Romans sent detachments across the river to established military stations on the northern bank, on the territory of Slovakia. From excacations we know that Ro- �66 SLOVAK.IA man troops were stationed at Devin, Stupava, Bratislava and opposite Komarno at li. The Romans bested the Quadi in battle. Their king Vannius ruled over the territory of Slovakia by the grace of the Roman Emperor. Of course, the Quadi resented this. After Vannius' death the aggressive Quadi challenged the power of the Romans on the Danube and the Roman Emperors had to defend their rule with large armies. Along the Vah river the Roman troops penetrated as far as Trencin. Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus defeated the Quadi in 179 A. D. after several bloody skirmishes on Slovak territory, as is commemorate d by inscription on a roc'k at Trencin: "In memory of the IVictory of the Emperor's army that encamped at Laugaricio, 855 soldiers of the II. Legion. Made by Constantine, commander of the II. auxiliary Legion." This army was stationed at Laugaritio, a Roman settlement near Trencin, which has since disappeared. During these skirmishes with the Quadi, probably about 173 A. D., the Roman army in Slovakia found itself threatened by a scarcity of water. In the army that fought against the Germans somewhere along the Hron river, there were several Christians who had come from Asia Minor. These Christian soldiers - the first Christians on Slovak territory - prayed for raiin and their prayers were answered. The Roman army was saved. This incident is immortalized on the Arch of Triumph of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Rome. The Quadi, 1b eaten repeatedly by the Romans, never ·gwve up trying to drive the Romans out of Slovakia. Emperor Constantine LI defeated them in 258 A.ID. and Emperor Valentian, the last Roman emperor who cowd claim sovereignty over the territory of Slovakia, repeated the pel'for:mance in 3·74. Upon the latter's death in 376, the great Mig;ra~ tion of Nations begain.. Shortly thereafter the Romans ipulled thek gax.risoDJS out of Slo-y;aJk ia and let the Quadi take over. The Quadi, however, were evicted from the territory by the Huns in the first half of the fifth century. The Huns in turn were displaced by the Heruli, who held the territory until about 491 when the Lombards defeated �SLOVAKIA 87 them, occupied their lands and held them until about 526, when they crossed the Danube into Pannonia. Slovrukia, however, did not remain even under the Huns for long. After the disintegration of the Roman Empire, the Germans migrated from Slovakia to the south. The Marcomanni, weakened by the wars with the Romans and forced by the hordes of Attila to join his army, were wiped out in the battle of Cha.Ions (Catalaunian Fields) in 451. There is as yet no definite proof, even though it may be safely assumed, that the Slovaks and related Slovanic tribes came into Slovakia in increasing numbers after the extinction of the Marcomanni. The historian J ordannes, writing in the sixth century, said that all the Hungarian plain was inhabited by Slovanic people (the Slavs). AFTIDR THE ADVENT OF THE SLOVAKS The Slovaks came to their present territory from the East, probably from India. At the time Frankish tribes fought the Roman Legions over the territory of Slovakia, the Slovanic peoples occupied the land that stretched to the north of the Carpathians and to the east of the river Vistula. It was a marshy and unfertile land. In time the growing Slovanic families were forced to emigrate to neighboring territories. The Slovanic peoples who migrated to the west and occupied the territory to the Elbe and Saal rivers are called We,stern Slavs; they are the Poles, the SlOJVaks and! the Czechs; those that occwpied the territory between t'he Elbe and Oder rivers and the country along the coast of the Baltic Sea are known as the Lusatian Serbs (northern Germany) and the Kashubes (near the Baltic Sea); today their numbers are few. The Slovanic peoples, who migrated from their ancient land to the south and occupied the Balkan peninsula, are called the Southern Slavs: the Slovenes, Croatians, Serbs and Bulgarians. A large part of the Slovanic peoples migrated to the east and occupied the plains of eastern Europe. They are the Eastern Slavs: the White Russians, the Little Russians (Ukrainians) and the Great Russians. As the great Slovanic family disintegrated, separate �68 SLOVAKIA Slovanic nations developed with the centuries, each with its dictinct culture, language, customs and traditions. The Slovaks, like other Slovanic peoples, originally were hunters. After a time they took to bee culture and animal husbandry, especially sheep raising. From their neighbors they learned to cultivate the soil. The men folk hunted and herded sheep, while .the women and the slaves did the farm work. The only trades known to them were pottery making and blacksmithing. In business transactions they exchanged products or paid in cloth; money was not known as a means of barter. The Slovaks lived in simple huts made of poles driven into the ground, around which were wound branches and twigs which were then covered with mud. Several families, originating from a common forefather, formed a clan ("rod"). The head of the clan was the oldest member; he was in charge of the common property of the clan. A Slovanic settlement, inhabited by several related families, i.e. a clan, was called a village ("dedina" from "dedo"-grandfather). The village was the common heritage ("dedicstvo") of the whole clan. Several related clans made up a tribe ("kmeii"), the leader of which was the tribal chief, called a priest ("kiiaz") or prince ("knieza). When several such related tribes lived in one territory for a long time a Slovanic state evolved and a Slovanic nation was born. SLOVAK CHARACTERISTICS The Slovanic peoples had many good and bad characteristics. They loved songs and entertainment. Not possessing great wealth, they lived frugally. They were goodhearted and hospitable, but suffered discipline with difficulty. They did not know how to obey, hence there was no harmony among them. They did not seek a battle, but when they had to defend themselves they fought heroically and also knew how to be cruel. All these characterictics of the Slovanic nature can be found in the Slovanic nations even at the ,p resent time. The historian Procopius (562) said that the Slavs were rather tall, hardy, blond-haired people and honesty was one �SlJOVAK.I.A 69 of their marked characteristics. Theophylactus recorded an interesting commentary on the Slavs. He said: "In 590 three men were captured by the Greeks in Thrace; the men carried musical instruments instead of weapons. When Caesar M:auricus asked who they ,w ere, the men answered: 'We are Slavs; we love music; we play the guitar and violin and sing.' Mauricus was overcome by their simplicity. Af.., ter feasting them he had a guard escort them to their lands." The German historian Herder had this to say about the Slavs: "They loved farming; they had herds and implements and a home industry ; with the products of their land and their industry they carried on a useful business. They built cities and in places occupied themselves with mining; they knew how to melt and mold metals. The Slavs prepared salt, made cloth, brewed beer, grafted trees, and lived according to their manner a happy, musical life.'' The Slovaks of old had names for implements, furniture, grains, fruit trees, trades and animals. They had their own words for: plow, iron, cloth, needle, pliers, wheel, wagon, seal, ring, blacksmith, spoon, clothier, butcher, cape, jeweler. As a musical people they had many folk songs. In number and variety of content they are second to those of no other nation. SLOVAK MYTHOLOGY There are very few reliable records of the religion of ancient Slovanic peoples. We know that they believed in a Supreme Being and in immortality. The Slovaks called the Supreme Being "Praboh" :_ the God of all gods. They had a White God - the God of all good, and a Black God - the God of evil and death. Many lesser gods, belonging to both the white and black groups, also existed for the ancient Slovaks and other Slovanic peoples. "ZIVENA" was the godess of life, and "MORENA" the godess of death. Brooks and streams housed nymphs, and fairies inhabited the woods and forests. "LADA" was the godess of beauty, while "URODA" was the godess of the fields and crops. ' ~PfilRUIN" (P.AJROM" ) , the God of thunder, was held in great respect. �70 SLOVAKIA The ancient Slovaks worshipped and invoked their gods in sacred groves. They offered sacrifices of grain and animals to images of wood and stone through their priests. The White Priests (BieJok:iiazi) served and invoked the White Gods. The White Priests were most important men of the tribe; they presided at all councils and trials and their judgments and decisions were final. The Black Priests - the magicians and sorcerers - were believed to possess powers of tmnsforming peraons into animals and inanimate objects. The Slovaks, like most of the other Slovanic peoples of ancient times, cremated or buried their dead. Food, weapons, wine and jewelry were usually placed in the graves of the dead. Ashes of the dead were placed in urns of clay and then buried. Mounds of clay and stone were built over burial places; the greater the mound, the more important the person or persons buried there. Several such mounds were found and excavated in Slovakia (at Skalica, Brezolupy, Boooivce, Kras:iiany near 2ilina and at Cepcin in Turiec). One of the most extensive burial grounds was uncovered at Devinska Nova Ves. Some of the customs and practices of the ancient pagan Slovaks have survived the centuries and are still observed in many quaint villages of Slovakia today. Many of the pagan practices, however, disappeared with the advent of Christianity. As the Slovanic peoples abandoned their ancient lands and began to colonize central and eastern Europe - after the Germanic Heruli and Lombards withdrew from the territory of Slovakia in the sixth ·century and the Slovaks came in - the savage nation of the Avars tore into the Danube basin, overran the whole territory, and pushed deeply into the Frankish kingdom in the west. During the next hundred years the whole region seethed in turmoil. The Avars were wild nomads of Turko-Tartarian origin who rode their horses rough-shod over the countries of their neighbors and subjugated them. They settled in Pannonia, where they built military camps which were protected by huge, circular mounds of earth and stone and wooden fences. The Slovaks withdrew from this territory �SLOVAKIA 71 and settled north of the Danube . Part of the Slovak tribes lived in the mounta ins; they were govern ed by their own princes . The Slovan ic peoples along the Danube had to serve the Avars and were forced to go with them on their rampages into neighb oring territor ies. The A vars looted the Germa n lands in the west and Constan tinoiple (Cari•h rad) and Salonik a in the east. Natura lly, the Slovan ic peoples wanted tQ throw off the yoke of the Aivars and waited for the opportu ne momen t to rebel. That time came in 624, when Samo, a Franki sh mercha nt, succeed ed in uniting the Slovani c peoples and led them in battle agains t the savage A;vars. Sa.mo defeate d the Arv,a xs rund founde d the first SlovaJllic state ,near the central Danube . Encour aged by the victory over the A vars, Samo led the Slovan ic peoples agains t the German ic Franks . Samo again was victorio us; his Slovani c army defeate d the Franks under Dagob ert in a three-d ay battle near the Vogast e castle in 631. Becaus e the Slovak s were settled north of the Danub e and the Slovenians south of it, Samo's empire stretch ed over these territor ies. The Slovani c peoples within these territor ies were called by the commo n name of Sloven es (Slovie ni). The main fortres s of this Slovani c empire was situate d in Slovak ia at the conflue nce of the Morava and Danube rivers. Samo's empire , howeve r, disinte grated soon after his death (658). Wheth er it was the ,k ingdom of the Slova!ks alone is questio nable, but the fact remain s that the territory of Slovak ia formed the core of it. ilfu-edegar's "Chron icles" ;record that a ~trong westem Slovan ic empire existed already in the seventh century , strong enough to, resist the pressu re of the Avars and the rule of Dagob ert. Fredeg ar wrote quite plainly that Samo came along when the Slovam c tribes of the area were successful ly rebellin g aga~t the rule of the A vars. His "Chro.nioles" form the basis of most theorie s in ;regard to the ethnica l composiition of Samo's Empire , its territor ial extent and the site of its princip al city or strongh old. In recent yeara Slova!k, Polish, and Czech scholar s of Slavist ics agreed that Samo's strongh old, the center of his empire , was at De... vin, at ,t he conflue nce of the Morav a and Danll!be rivers. �SLOVAK.IA 72 Professor Oettinger, well-knOIWll historian and archeologis t of Vienna, however, .prefers to Tegard Vienna as the center of Samo's Empire. In his book "Das Warden Wiens" (19M), he tells that he .bases his conclusion especially on the findings resulting from the discovery of the ancient Berghof Castle in Vienna, the remains of which can ibe traced ;to Samo's time. The Ava.rs, a nomadic people, could not build such a g,reat citadel of stone. Presenting a whole series of philological airguments to baclk his theory, professor Oettinger states that tt is self-eviden t that SlovaJks and ,p ossibly other Slwanic peoples lived in the aJrea of Vienna iaJIJ.d far to the west along the Danube territory during Samo's time. While the Slovanic peoples were resisting the A vars heroically, a strong Frankish empire was being built in the west. The power of this empire, whose borders in the eighth century extended from the Pyrenees to the Sumava River, became consolidate d especially during the reign of Charles the Great (Charlemag ne), who ruled from 768 to 814, and united all the Germanic tribes, subjugated the Bavarians and the Saxons in the east, and came into contact with the most westerly tribes of the Slovans. In 799 the armies of Charlemag ne defeated the Arvars, who lateT were aJbso;z1bed by the Slovanic inhabitants of the Danube countries. But the great empire of Charlemag ne, who became Emperor in 800, had another weapon besides its strong army for its aggression s into the neighborin g countries of the east. That weapon was Christianit y, which in the Franldsh empire had spread and become so strong that already during the reign of Charlemag ne the way was prepared for it to reach the Danubian Slovans who were settled along the eastern borders of the Frankish empire. To safegururd the eastern f:rontier of his empiire, Charlemagne placed heavy military garrisons along bordering countries. Such territories were called "Marks" and were managed by so-called "Markgrav es." In a short time it became evident that the military garriso!IlS of such Marks were not only for defense, but also for advance into the neighboring Slovanic countries. Contempor aneously new bishoprics and monasterie s were built along these bordering countries which strengthen ed the Christian faith and 1 �SIJOVAKIA 73 propagated Christian culture. It was thus that Christianity came to the neighboring Slovanic nations. Slovakia already in the very beginning of the ninth century came into immediate contact with the military and cultural might of the Frankish empire. The Slovak nation crossed the threshhold of its national and cultural history. ~RiINCiE PRJ.BINA The Slovanic tribes, which settled on the northern bank of the Danube, on ,b oth sides of the 1Mora,va river, weTe called Moravians. Philologis~, historians, a,nd aroheologists have a.miply demonstrated that whatever had b,een mentioned in old historical documents aibout the MoraJVian.s referred in £act to the ancestors of the Slovaks, the Slovans (ISla<vS) who already in the first half of the ninth century were the inhaJbitants of the territory on both sides of the MoTava river. in anoient d0<:uments we find the name "Slovenica" used interchangeably with ' 1Moravia" and "Magna Moravia" to designate the territory on both sides of the Morava riveT. A document of King Loruis from the year 861 also, calls that area "Slovenica." In western (Latin) sources, the inhabit.., ants of that territory were called ''Moravians" and "the Slarvs of Moravia" (Slavi; Sclavi; Sch1avi; Sc,l a,v i Marahenses; Marehenses; Maravi; Mairavani; Moravi; Maraibi; MarahaJvi; Sclavini; Selavi Margenses) to distinguish them from the Slorvans (Slavs) who had occupied other territories (Behemi; Sclavi Boehemia; Boemie; Beheimi; Boemani ; Boo-. manici; Behemani; Bohemani; Bulgari; Vulgari; ChTobati; BeJochrobati; .Kosari; Czechi; Poloni; ,Russi; etc.). In eastern sources, however, the inhabitants of the same territory were called "Slovenes" ('Slovieni; Sloveni), while their land wa:s rreferred to as "Slovak Land" and "Moravia" (.Slovenska zemlja; Morava). It is significant that af.ter the fall olf Great Moravia, her inhabitants were referred to by their a,ndent name: Slavi; ,Sclavi; Slovieni; Sloveni - older forms of the term Slovak, which began to appear onyl after the fifteenth centUTY. From reliable sources we learn that about the year 830,. there ruled in Slovakia a prince named Pribina, who resided in Nitra. The name Pribina and Nitra are very dear �74 SLOVAKIA to ,t he hearts of all .Slovaks, because Prilbina is the name of the first Slovak ruler ever mentioned by history, and Nitra is the name of the first Slovak castle which became the cradle of Slovak national history. Pribina reigned in Nitra and his principality extended over the territory of the fertile basin of the Nitra river. The sovereignty of the Prince of Nitra was acknowledged by other Slovak principalities that extended along the Hron river country, the banks of the Vah and other Slovak lands. Under the rule of Prince Pribina belonged the Slovaik principalities that lay to the east of the Small Carpathians. The same sources tell us that Archbishop Adalram of Salzburg blessed a church on Pribina's land in Nitra. This consecration is proof that the Christianity spread by the German priests among the Slovaks already had taken firm root. Pribina's church in Nitra is the first Christian church on the territory of the western Slovans. While other Slovanic peoples in the eastern half of Europe still lived far off from western-European Christian culture and wandered in the darkness of paganism, the Slovak nation already in the beginning of the ninth century was counted among the Christian, the cultured nations of Europe. At the time of the consecration of the Nitra church, in 833, Pribina himself was not yet a Christian. But the circumstance that Pribina allowed the Christian faith to be preached to his nation proves that the first Slovak ruler, even though he probably could not grasp the significance of Christian doctrine, nevertheless understood the political and cultural significance of Christianity on the SlovanoGermanic border. Pribina, a wise and prudent ruler, knew that a small nation at this dangerous crossroad could defend itself against its stronger neighbors only when it was equal to them culturally. Not long afterwards, however, cruel calamity befell the ruler of Nitra. Prince Mojmir, who had united the Slovak tribes in the western part of the Slovak territory under his rule and who probably resided at Devin, drove Pribina out of Nitra and occupied his domain. Out of this union of .Mojmirs country with Pribina's, there arose on the north bank of the Danube a state that united all the Slovak �SLOVAKIA 75 tribes. The state, thus established about the year 830, was called Great Moravia (VeFka Morava) or the Great Moravian Empire (Vefkomoravska risa). Pribina, with his son Kocef and a retinue of Slovak magnates, sought refuge in the neighboring Mark to the east, near the Danube. Markgrave Ratbod presented Pribina to King Louis the German. The latter had Pribina in:structed in the Christian faith and baptized in St. Martin's ,c hurch in the city of Treisma (probably the present city of Sankt Polten in Germany). For a time Pribina and his group lived in the court of Markgrave Ratbod, but when the latter refused to aid him against Mojmir, he went to the Bulgars. However, he did not tarry there for long either, because soon after we find him seeking the aid of Ratimar, the Croatian Prince. At that time (about 838), Ratimar was not on good terms with Ratbod, so Pribina had to take refuge with Count Salach of Corutania. The latter succeeded in reconciling Pribina with Ratbod. In exile Pribina convinced himself that he could not regain his lost domain and return to Nitra. He became reconciled with his fate and sought to gain the favor of King Louis the German. The latter entrusted to Pribina the new principality beyond the Danube, the country of Pannonia near Blatno. In 847 he became the independent ruler of this principality and built a formidable citadel there that was called Blatnohrad (Moosburg). After his baptism, Pribina became a zealous Christian and sought to convert all his subjects to Christianity. He invited German missionaries into his domain, built churches, endowed monasteries and often welcomed the archbishop of Salzburg at his court. In his work, Pribina had a zealous helper in the person of his son Kocel'. When Pribina died in 861 under mysterious circumstances, Kocel' inherited his principality. The Slovak nation, immediately with its first appearance on the stage of European history, entered the services of Christian culture. The Slovaks are the oldest nation on the central Danube and they were the first nation in Central Europe to have its own independent state. It is well to note that the Slovak State from its very inception was ,a Christian State. �76 SLOVAKIA CHAPTER TWO 'DHiE GREAT M!ORA~ EJMPI'RE The studies of historians, philologists, and -archeolo~ gists clearly indicate that the Great Moravian Empire was not the empire of the ''Great Moravians," but the land of the ancietn Slov•a k s who had settled on both sides of the 'Morava river. The Great Moravian IDmpire, then, was in reality a Great Slova!k Empire, if we are to call the territory by the name of the peole who had occupied it from the dawn of history. These studies refute the hypothesis of the Czech and non-Czech philologists, ethnogr~phers, and historians, who claim that "Czechs and Slovaks of Bohemia, MMoraviia, and Nor.them Hung•a ry (SlovaJkia) fornied a single group with a common langua,ge." Furthermore, these studies tell us that at first there were two estates or rprinciipalities in that area: the one called "Mol'ova" was around the Morava up to the Vah with its capital city at Devin, while the other called "Nitra" the capital city of which bore the i,;ame name - was around the Nitra river. When Mojmir, the ruler of Moravia, conquered Pribina, the ruler of Nitra, German chronicles 'began to call his empire "Magna Mora'Via," whk'h meant the annexation of the NitJ:ra principality to that of Mor8JVia. We afso leiarn from these studies that the ancestors of the Czechs had settled in the land of the Boii (Boehemi,a; Behemia; Bohemia) just ltbout at the same time that the Slovaks occupied the territory of the Morava river. Moj!mir, Rastislav, and Sviitopllllk built the empire of the Slova!ks, while Hostivit and Borivoj built .the state of the Czechs. The Annales Fra,ncofuldenses tell us that "Sviitoplwk extricated the Czech tribes from Frankish rule by force." Later the Czechs (Slavs of Bohemia) even joined the Germans to wage war agaJnst the Great Moravian EmpiTe. When Mojmir, some time in the year 836, drove Pribina out of Nitra and united the territory inhabited by Slovak trib,es into a larger unit, there arose on the northern bank of the Danube an empire which the Byzantine em1 �SLOVAKIA 77 peror, Constantine Po.rphyrogennetos, in his work "About the Management of a State" (950), calls Great Moravia. Mojmir's empire stretched over the territory of present Slovakia and Moravia and was, after Samo's empire, the second Slovanic state near the Danube on the German-Slovanic border. Just as Samo's Empire, so even the Great Mora'Vlian Empire had its origin at the same historic crossroad, because it was here that the greatest danger threatened the Slovanic peoples and they had to unite in defense of their freedom a,nd independence. While Samo's empire , arose because the Slovans along the Danube wanted to protect themselves against the enemies from the east, Great Moravia was established under pressure of danger from the west. Mojmir, like Pribina, tried to live in peace with the neighboring Germans, because he knew that war with them could only end disastrously for the Slovaks. Mojmir was already a Christian, so the missionary activity of the German priests on the territory of Great Moravia went on nuhampered. We must remember that Great Moravia at that time did not have any definite borders, because the borders of states of the Middle Ages never were defined strictly. The area of Great Moravia changed because the successors of Mojmir did undertake expeditions into neighboring countries, defeated them in battle and annexed them to the empire. Louis the German did not relish the idea of a great, united Slovanic empire as a neighbor. In 846 he unseated Mojmir and replaced him with Rastislav. The latter simu~ lated friendship for Louis, but knew well that the independence of his country was constantly threatened by the Germans. The independence of Great Moravia was threatened not only by German armies, but also by the missionary activity of the German priests, who had begun to look upon the territory as a part of the German empire. In about 860 Rastislav sent a special messenger to Pope Nicholas I in Rome with a request for missionaries who had a command of the Slovanic tongues. The Pope, however, answered he was sorry that he could not help Rastislav, �78 SLOVAKIA because at that time there were no such priests in Rome. After due deliberation with his advisers, Rastislav decided to send a special mission to .Constantinople, to .E mperor Michael ill. Rastislav's request, as presented to the Emperor, read: "Since our people has cast off paganism and follows the Christian law, we do not have such a teacher, who might explain the true Christian Faith to us in our own tongue, so that even other parties, witnessing this, might become like unto us. So send us, Emperor, such a bishop and teacher, because your country is everywhere recognized for its good laws." Just about that time the German empire found strong allies in the Bulgarians, who bordered with Great Moravia at the Tisa river and lived in enmity with the Byzantine emperor. Michael did not have to deliberate long with his counsellors. He wanted Rastislav as an ally against the German-Bulgarian alliance and, hence, decided to aid the ruler of Great Moravia in his quest for missionaries who could speak the language of Rastislav's people. Up to this time the land of the Slovaks was subject to the influence of western culture only. Now it was to make contacts with the Christian culture of the European east. SLOVAK .APOSTLES: CYRIL .AND METHODLUS Em;peror Michael of Constantinople decided to send Constantine (Cyril), the philosopher and linguist, and his brother Methodius, who was versed in the art of government, to preach the Gospel to the people of Rastislav. Constantine had distinguished himself in apostolic work before, at first alone and later with his brother Methodius. As natives of Salonica (Thessalonica) they were suited for the mission: they new the language of Rastislav's people, the forefathers of the Slovaks. The Emperor, having summoned them, told the brothers: "You are from Salonica, and all Salonicans speak pUTe Slovanic." Upon learning that Rastislav's people did not have their own script, the task of inventing one fell to the lot of Constantine. Legend has it that the alphabet worked out by Constantine (Cyril) had been revealed to him by God. It was quite an achievement. Constantine started with Greek �SLOVAKIA 79 characters, but Slovanic sounds of the ninth century varied greatly with the Greek, therefore signs and characters had to be created to designate them. The alphabet that resulted is known as "Cyrillic." After due preparation for their new mission, the brothers Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius set out for the country of Rastislav. They arrived in Rastislav's empire in 863 and began preaching the Word of God in the language of the people. Soon ,a fter the translation of the Scriptl.ll'es and liturgical 1b ooks was completed and present... ed to Rastislav's court at Devin. Naturally the saintly brothers gained many admirers and disciples. These catechists went among their people and aided Constantine and Methodius in their missionary work. Up to the time of the Slovak apostles, only three languages were considered feasible for ecclesiastic life, the Holy Scriptures and the Church liturgy: Hebrew, Latin and Greek. The latter two were used extensively-the Greek in the Byzantine (eastern) Church and Latin in the Roman (western) Church. Due to the efforts of Constantine and Methodius, the language of the Slovaks (early Slovanic) became the third language to be used in Church liturgy. The work of Constantine and Methodius in Rastislav's empire was blessed with success. The saintly brothers united the people of Rastislav spiritually and. also contributed handsomely to the material welfare of the Great Moravian Empire. Their disciples later spread the Gospel to other neighboring Slovanic nations (Czechs, Serbs, Russians) in a language that was for the most part understandable to all Slo-\'anic nations. The German clergy of Salzburg viewed the work of Constantine and Methodius with envy and accused the brothers of introdllJlcing dangerous innovations into the liturgy of the Church. A protest against their activities was lodged in Rome, and the brothers were summoned by Pope Nicholas (858-867) to vindicate themselves. Constantine and Methodius set out for Rome in 867. Their journey led them through Lake Blatno (Balaton), the residence of Prince Kocer, Pribina's son. Kocer received the brothers with great joy and examined their liturgical �80 SLOVAKIA books in the Slovanic script with great interest. Leaving Kocer, Constantine and Methodius passed through Corinthia to Venice on the Adriatic Sea. At Venice they successfully defended their use of the language of Rastislav's people in the liturgy of the Church, while the ecclesiastics there had to concede defeat in the debate. While Constantine and Methodius made their way to Rome, Pope Nicholas died. Four days later his successor, Adriam ]I (867--872), was elected head of the ChuTch. The saintly brothers were given a cordial reception by the Pope, and, after convincing a synod of bishops that they were not guilty of introducing any dangerous innovations into the liturgy of the Church, their activities were accorded Adrian's approval. The Holy Father accepted the liturgical books in ;the Slov,anic language, blessed them on the aUar of the church of St. Mary Major, and celebrated the Divine Liturgy over them himself. The Pope then proceeded to consecrate Constantine and Methodius as bishops. A number of their disciples (Clement, Gorazd, Angelar, Sava and Naum) were ordained to the priesthood by the bishops Formosus and Gaundenrich. Shortly thereafter Constantine became seriously ill and retired to a monastery. There he joined the religious community, taking the name of Cyril. He died February 14, 869, and his earthly remains were buried on the right side of the high altar of the church of St. Clement in Rome. After the death of Saint Cyril, the entire burden of spreading the Gospel and teaching of Christ rested on the shoulders of his brother. Methodius returned as archbishop and papal legate fully authorized to organize the Church in the land of Rastislav. Archbishop Methodius became the head of Slovanic Christendom. Besides receiving the highest ecclesiastical dignity, Methodius carried letters from the Pope for Rastislav of Great Moravia, Svatopluk of Nitra and Kocef of Blatnohrad Castle (Moosburg), the three Slovak princes, which stated that the Pope permitted the use of Slovanic liturgy with the reservation that the epistle and ,gospel always be read in Latin before being read in the vernacular (Slovanic). The archdiocese of Methodius extended over Great Moravia and beyond the Danube over �SLOVAKIA 81 Pannonia, uniting the lands governed by Slovak rulers. But as Methodius was returing to continue his apostolic work among the people of Rastislav, a new ruler was taking over the throne of Great Moravia. KING S,V ATOPDUCK While Methodius was in Rome, the Germans continued to harass Rastislav. In 869 King Louis the German declared war against the neighboring Slovanic peoples and invaded their lands with his armies headed by his three sons. Prince Louis attacked the Lusatian Serbs, Charles went after Rastislav, and Carloman tore into the territory that was ruled by Rastislav's nephew, Svatopluk of Nitra. The German armies plundered and pillaged the Great Moravian Empire. But Rastislav's stronghold, the mighty Devin, proved impregnable and Rastislav's empire retained its independence. The following year, however, Rastislav was betrayed by his own kinsman, his nephew Svatopluk, regent of Nitra. Success in battle had turned Svatopluk's head. The Germans played up to Svatopluk and promised to help him gain the throne of Great Moravia. Svatopluk decided to betray his uncle and vowed loyalty to Carloman. Rastislav, however, learned of the plot and became furious. Having vowed to punish his traitorous nephew, he ordered his men to do away with Svatopluk at a banquet, but their attempt to take and kill him failed. Soon thereafter Rastislav led his army against Svatopluk. In the ensuing battle, Rastislav was defeated. Worse than that, he was captured and handed over to the Germans. Carloman sent Rastislav bound in chains to Bavaria where King Louis the German imprisoned him and had his eyes ,gouged out. Rastislav died later as a prisoner of the Germans. With Rastislav's defeat the Great Moravian Empire passed completely into the hands of the German crown. The Germans also seized Archbishop Methodius, who had returned from Rome, and imprisoned him. The Bavarian bishops, who regarded Methodius as a foreign intruder, made claims to the territories of the Slovanic peoples along the Danube and dealt with Methodius so inhumanely that Svatopluk himself intervened in his behalf. When Carlo- �82 SLOVAKIA man took possession of Rastislav's country and seized his royal treasures, he entrusted the rule of the ravaged country to Svatopluk. Svatopluk soon proved himself a strong ruler. As a soldier he excelled in ruthless courage. The Germans began to distrust him, because they feared he would build an empire so strong as to imperil their country. Louis the German decided to put Svatopluk out of the way. In 871 the Germans succeeded in taking Svatopluk and imprisoned him. Some of his castles were taken over by the German Markgraves. Svatopluk denied the charge of Carloman that he plotted against the German crown, but that did not help him. When the Slovaks learned what had happened to their ruler, they elected Slavomir to take his place and rebelled against the Germans. Slavomir was supported by the whole country. A terrilble war followed. The Germans suffered heaivy losses. Devin proved impregnable to their attacks. In the meantime, the wily Svatopluk was plotting to even matters with the Germans who had tricked him. While in prison he repented his betrayal of Rastislav and vowed to even the score with his German captors. Svatopluk begged Carloman to release him so that he might subdue the Slovaks under Slavomir. Carloman was reluctant at first, but finally gave in to Svatopluk's pleadings. Accompanyin g a large German army, Sviitopluk soon found himself below the mighty fortress of Devin. While the German army encamped quietly below the citadel, Svatopluk set out with a small detachment of men to the castle to persuade Slavomir to surrender without a battle. Once inside the castle, Svatopluk disclosed his plan to Slavomir. Assuming command of the Slovak army, Svatopluk tore out of the courtyard and attacked the Germans with such sa;vagery that only few were able to esc•a;pe alirve. Carloman's army was caught unawares and crushed. Svatopluk knew that the Germans would come after him sooner or later. He looked around for allies. That same year (871), he married the sister of Borivoj, ruler of the Bohemian fand, and formed an alliance with' him. Svatopluk pressed the offensive against the Germans and was quite �SLOVAKIA 83 successful. In 873 he defeated Carloman decisively. Carloman asked his father Louis for help to fight the Slovaks. When aid was not forthcoming, Carloman decided to seek a truce with Svatopluk. He signed a pact with Svatopluk at Forsheim in 874 and recognized the independence of the Great Moravian Empire. Svatopluk had reached the pinnacle of his ambitions: he was sole ruler of the Great Moravian Empire, with its crupital at Devin near Bratislava. (Continued) • • • 1856 - DR. SAMUEL CZAMBEL - 1956 P.A. HROBAK T.he year 1956 marks not only the centennial of the dea:th o:f the great Slovak fighter for freedom and democracy, Dr. Louis Sti1r, ,b ut it is a}so the centennial of the birth of the eminent SlovaJk philologist, Samuel Czam:bel. Czambel was born September 1, 1856, in the town of Slovenska Eupca, Zvolen County, 1Slova;kia. The ~tudy of his native Slovak language attracted him early in his life and he devoted much of his adult Hfe to it. He died in Buda.pest, December 18, 1909. In 1887, Czam'bel wrote his Contrioutions to the History of the Slovak Language (''Prispevlky k dejinam jazy.ka slovenskeho") ; he followed this with his Slovak Orthography ("Slovensky praivopis") in 1890; A Manual of the Literary Slovak Language ("Rukovaf spisovnej reci slovenskej") in 1902; The Slovaks and Their Language ("Slovaci a kh rec") in 1903; 8Jlld The Slovak Language and its Place in the Family of Slovanic Languages ("Slo-. venska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovenskych jazykov"), 624 pp., in 1906. Of course, Czambel contributed many other articles on Slovak subjects to Slovak newspapers, periodical reviiews and magazines. Czambel's "Rukovae (Slovak Grammar), revised and modified several times since its first edition by the late Dr. Joseph SkU!ltety, is a ,s tandard work with ,p hilologists, grammarians, and students of Slovak. In his "Slovaoi a ich rec," Czambel promoted the theory that the SlovaJks were every closely related to the Croatians, Slovenes and Serbs � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1956, Vol. 6 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 18), March 1956.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 19), June 1956.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 20-21), September-December 1956.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1956 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 63 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A . HROBAiK SLOVENSKO - SLOVAKIA - SLOVAKLAND The territory occupied by the Slovak people for the past 1500 years is known as Slovakia. It is situated in the very heart of Europe. Present-day Slovakia has an area of 49,015 square kilometers (approximately 19,000 sq. miles) and a population of 4,000,000. There were times when the borders of Slovakia extended beyond their present limits and times when the land of the Slovaks had no definite borders at all. In ancient times the Slovaks occupied even the western bank of the Morava river and the north bank of the Tisa (Theiss) river. Though the area and the borders of Slovakia changed at various times, its topography - the land and its waterways - did not. Slovakia is bound on the north by the Carpathian Mountains and on the south by the blue Danube and the upper arm of the Tisa river. Into these two streams empty all the rivers of Slovakia that have their origin in the foothills of the King's Plateau (Krafova Hofa) - the natural center of Slovakia: those that run off to the southwest empty into the Danube, while those that course to the southwest pour into the Tisa, forming deep valleys and broad basins between the ,i ndividual mountain :zones that fill out the largest part of the territory of Slovakia. This territory is divided into three parts: 1. western Slovakia which drains into the Danube tributaries; 2. eastern Slovakia that drains into the tributaries of the Tisa; 3. the mountainous country of central Slovakia. The geographical picture of Slovakia is extremely varied, because high mountain ranges alternate with deep valleys which, in places, spread out into basins. Fertile plains stretch out from the foothills of the mountains. Slovakia is situated in the very center of Europe where the north-eastern spurs of the Alps near the central Danube touch upon the mountainous arch of the Carpa- 64 SLOVAKIA thians which is the main watershed of central Europe. From this watershed the streams of central Europe run into several seas. In olden times the course of these streams determined the course of roads along which nations migrated and business and culture flowed. We find Slovakia at the juction of these roads which cross the Caripathian Mountains kom the north and the south. Two roads were especially significant in deciding the fate of Slovakia and the Slovak nation. One coursed along the Danube and connected the western oountTies of Europe with the eastern world. Near the Carpatho-Alpian gate this road intersected with the other important highway which started from the coast of the Adriatic Sea, crossed the Danube, proceeded to the north against the current of the Morava river and went to the coast of the Baltic Sea. Slovakia, according to archeological researches, was well inhabited as early as 5000 B. C., but we do not know the race or the names of the peoples who inhabited the land. Traces of the Neolithic Man, who used stone weapons in hunting the mammoth and the huge cave bear, have been found. The scientific investigator will find much material on the prehistoric period in the museum of Bratislava and Turciansky Svaty Martin. About the year 2000 B.C. begins the Bronze Age with its burial urns, and clay and stone remains, found on the sites of ancient settlements in Slovakland. During the ensuing Iron Age, we find traces of the Illyrians in the west, of the Thracians in the east. The latter came into contact with the Scythians in the valley of the Tisa river. Several nations of various origins and culture lived in Slovakia just before the dawn of the Christian era. According to ancient Greek and Roman writers, the land of the Slovaiks was inhabited by the Gauls and the Celts at that time. In the fourth century B. C., we note traces of the more advanced Gallic culture from the discoveries of golden ornaments and coins, imitations of those issued by Philip III of Macedonia and his son, Alexander the Great. At Bratislava coins of the Roman Republic, dating from the first century B. C., have been found. A Greek map of the Slovak territory, dating back to the third century, SLOVAKIA 65 shows many Slovanic names for mountains and rivers, The fertile plains of south-eastern Slovakia were occupied by the Boii, a Gallic tri'be, and in the mountainous parts of central Slovakia lived the Kotin (Gothine) tribe which worked the ore of the Iron Mountains. The Osi settled in the neighborhood of the Kotins, while the Korkonti - tribes of southern origin - occupied the northwestern part of Slovakia. In the first half of the last century before Christ the Dacians came to Slovakia from the east and overpowered the Gallic Boii. But in the first quarter of the first century after Christ, the Dacians were forced to migrate to the north into the mountains, because they were iha:rd pressed by the J azygi who had come from the Black Sea to take over the land on the left side of the Danube. During the reign of Tiberius, two Germanic tribes settled in the territory of the Slovaks, the Quadi and the Marcomanni, who frequently raided the Roman proi\Tince of Pannonia on the other side of the Danube. Vannius, the bellicose king of the Quadi, built military fortresses along the V ah river and extended his power to the Turiec a:nd Kysuca rivers. About twenty years after Christ, when a large part of the territory of Slovakia was occupied by the Quadi, the Romans were consolidating their might near the Danube. The Franks and the Romans began to wage war for the control of the territory of Slovakia, a struggle that lasted several centuries. South of the Danube the Romans organized the province of Pannonia, east of which was the province of Dacia. To conquer the whole Danube basin to the Carpathians, the Romans built military strongholds along the south bank of the Danube. Such fortresses were established at Vindobona (Vienna), Carnanthum (Hainburg), Brigetium (Komarno) and at Aquincum (Budapest). To defend and to secure the frontier along the Danube against incursions of barbaric tribes, the Romans sent detachments across the river to established military stations on the northern bank, on the territory of Slovakia. From excacations we know that Ro- 66 SLOVAK.IA man troops were stationed at Devin, Stupava, Bratislava and opposite Komarno at li. The Romans bested the Quadi in battle. Their king Vannius ruled over the territory of Slovakia by the grace of the Roman Emperor. Of course, the Quadi resented this. After Vannius' death the aggressive Quadi challenged the power of the Romans on the Danube and the Roman Emperors had to defend their rule with large armies. Along the Vah river the Roman troops penetrated as far as Trencin. Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus defeated the Quadi in 179 A. D. after several bloody skirmishes on Slovak territory, as is commemorate d by inscription on a roc'k at Trencin: "In memory of the IVictory of the Emperor's army that encamped at Laugaricio, 855 soldiers of the II. Legion. Made by Constantine, commander of the II. auxiliary Legion." This army was stationed at Laugaritio, a Roman settlement near Trencin, which has since disappeared. During these skirmishes with the Quadi, probably about 173 A. D., the Roman army in Slovakia found itself threatened by a scarcity of water. In the army that fought against the Germans somewhere along the Hron river, there were several Christians who had come from Asia Minor. These Christian soldiers - the first Christians on Slovak territory - prayed for raiin and their prayers were answered. The Roman army was saved. This incident is immortalized on the Arch of Triumph of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Rome. The Quadi, 1b eaten repeatedly by the Romans, never ·gwve up trying to drive the Romans out of Slovakia. Emperor Constantine LI defeated them in 258 A.ID. and Emperor Valentian, the last Roman emperor who cowd claim sovereignty over the territory of Slovakia, repeated the pel'for:mance in 3·74. Upon the latter's death in 376, the great Mig;ra~ tion of Nations begain.. Shortly thereafter the Romans ipulled thek gax.risoDJS out of Slo-y;aJk ia and let the Quadi take over. The Quadi, however, were evicted from the territory by the Huns in the first half of the fifth century. The Huns in turn were displaced by the Heruli, who held the territory until about 491 when the Lombards defeated SLOVAKIA 87 them, occupied their lands and held them until about 526, when they crossed the Danube into Pannonia. Slovrukia, however, did not remain even under the Huns for long. After the disintegration of the Roman Empire, the Germans migrated from Slovakia to the south. The Marcomanni, weakened by the wars with the Romans and forced by the hordes of Attila to join his army, were wiped out in the battle of Cha.Ions (Catalaunian Fields) in 451. There is as yet no definite proof, even though it may be safely assumed, that the Slovaks and related Slovanic tribes came into Slovakia in increasing numbers after the extinction of the Marcomanni. The historian J ordannes, writing in the sixth century, said that all the Hungarian plain was inhabited by Slovanic people (the Slavs). AFTIDR THE ADVENT OF THE SLOVAKS The Slovaks came to their present territory from the East, probably from India. At the time Frankish tribes fought the Roman Legions over the territory of Slovakia, the Slovanic peoples occupied the land that stretched to the north of the Carpathians and to the east of the river Vistula. It was a marshy and unfertile land. In time the growing Slovanic families were forced to emigrate to neighboring territories. The Slovanic peoples who migrated to the west and occupied the territory to the Elbe and Saal rivers are called We,stern Slavs; they are the Poles, the SlOJVaks and! the Czechs; those that occwpied the territory between t'he Elbe and Oder rivers and the country along the coast of the Baltic Sea are known as the Lusatian Serbs (northern Germany) and the Kashubes (near the Baltic Sea); today their numbers are few. The Slovanic peoples, who migrated from their ancient land to the south and occupied the Balkan peninsula, are called the Southern Slavs: the Slovenes, Croatians, Serbs and Bulgarians. A large part of the Slovanic peoples migrated to the east and occupied the plains of eastern Europe. They are the Eastern Slavs: the White Russians, the Little Russians (Ukrainians) and the Great Russians. As the great Slovanic family disintegrated, separate 68 SLOVAKIA Slovanic nations developed with the centuries, each with its dictinct culture, language, customs and traditions. The Slovaks, like other Slovanic peoples, originally were hunters. After a time they took to bee culture and animal husbandry, especially sheep raising. From their neighbors they learned to cultivate the soil. The men folk hunted and herded sheep, while .the women and the slaves did the farm work. The only trades known to them were pottery making and blacksmithing. In business transactions they exchanged products or paid in cloth; money was not known as a means of barter. The Slovaks lived in simple huts made of poles driven into the ground, around which were wound branches and twigs which were then covered with mud. Several families, originating from a common forefather, formed a clan ("rod"). The head of the clan was the oldest member; he was in charge of the common property of the clan. A Slovanic settlement, inhabited by several related families, i.e. a clan, was called a village ("dedina" from "dedo"-grandfather). The village was the common heritage ("dedicstvo") of the whole clan. Several related clans made up a tribe ("kmeii"), the leader of which was the tribal chief, called a priest ("kiiaz") or prince ("knieza). When several such related tribes lived in one territory for a long time a Slovanic state evolved and a Slovanic nation was born. SLOVAK CHARACTERISTICS The Slovanic peoples had many good and bad characteristics. They loved songs and entertainment. Not possessing great wealth, they lived frugally. They were goodhearted and hospitable, but suffered discipline with difficulty. They did not know how to obey, hence there was no harmony among them. They did not seek a battle, but when they had to defend themselves they fought heroically and also knew how to be cruel. All these characterictics of the Slovanic nature can be found in the Slovanic nations even at the ,p resent time. The historian Procopius (562) said that the Slavs were rather tall, hardy, blond-haired people and honesty was one SlJOVAK.I.A 69 of their marked characteristics. Theophylactus recorded an interesting commentary on the Slavs. He said: "In 590 three men were captured by the Greeks in Thrace; the men carried musical instruments instead of weapons. When Caesar M:auricus asked who they ,w ere, the men answered: 'We are Slavs; we love music; we play the guitar and violin and sing.' Mauricus was overcome by their simplicity. Af.., ter feasting them he had a guard escort them to their lands." The German historian Herder had this to say about the Slavs: "They loved farming; they had herds and implements and a home industry ; with the products of their land and their industry they carried on a useful business. They built cities and in places occupied themselves with mining; they knew how to melt and mold metals. The Slavs prepared salt, made cloth, brewed beer, grafted trees, and lived according to their manner a happy, musical life.'' The Slovaks of old had names for implements, furniture, grains, fruit trees, trades and animals. They had their own words for: plow, iron, cloth, needle, pliers, wheel, wagon, seal, ring, blacksmith, spoon, clothier, butcher, cape, jeweler. As a musical people they had many folk songs. In number and variety of content they are second to those of no other nation. SLOVAK MYTHOLOGY There are very few reliable records of the religion of ancient Slovanic peoples. We know that they believed in a Supreme Being and in immortality. The Slovaks called the Supreme Being "Praboh" :_ the God of all gods. They had a White God - the God of all good, and a Black God - the God of evil and death. Many lesser gods, belonging to both the white and black groups, also existed for the ancient Slovaks and other Slovanic peoples. "ZIVENA" was the godess of life, and "MORENA" the godess of death. Brooks and streams housed nymphs, and fairies inhabited the woods and forests. "LADA" was the godess of beauty, while "URODA" was the godess of the fields and crops. ' ~PfilRUIN" (P.AJROM" ) , the God of thunder, was held in great respect. 70 SLOVAKIA The ancient Slovaks worshipped and invoked their gods in sacred groves. They offered sacrifices of grain and animals to images of wood and stone through their priests. The White Priests (BieJok:iiazi) served and invoked the White Gods. The White Priests were most important men of the tribe; they presided at all councils and trials and their judgments and decisions were final. The Black Priests - the magicians and sorcerers - were believed to possess powers of tmnsforming peraons into animals and inanimate objects. The Slovaks, like most of the other Slovanic peoples of ancient times, cremated or buried their dead. Food, weapons, wine and jewelry were usually placed in the graves of the dead. Ashes of the dead were placed in urns of clay and then buried. Mounds of clay and stone were built over burial places; the greater the mound, the more important the person or persons buried there. Several such mounds were found and excavated in Slovakia (at Skalica, Brezolupy, Boooivce, Kras:iiany near 2ilina and at Cepcin in Turiec). One of the most extensive burial grounds was uncovered at Devinska Nova Ves. Some of the customs and practices of the ancient pagan Slovaks have survived the centuries and are still observed in many quaint villages of Slovakia today. Many of the pagan practices, however, disappeared with the advent of Christianity. As the Slovanic peoples abandoned their ancient lands and began to colonize central and eastern Europe - after the Germanic Heruli and Lombards withdrew from the territory of Slovakia in the sixth ·century and the Slovaks came in - the savage nation of the Avars tore into the Danube basin, overran the whole territory, and pushed deeply into the Frankish kingdom in the west. During the next hundred years the whole region seethed in turmoil. The Avars were wild nomads of Turko-Tartarian origin who rode their horses rough-shod over the countries of their neighbors and subjugated them. They settled in Pannonia, where they built military camps which were protected by huge, circular mounds of earth and stone and wooden fences. The Slovaks withdrew from this territory SLOVAKIA 71 and settled north of the Danube . Part of the Slovak tribes lived in the mounta ins; they were govern ed by their own princes . The Slovan ic peoples along the Danube had to serve the Avars and were forced to go with them on their rampages into neighb oring territor ies. The A vars looted the Germa n lands in the west and Constan tinoiple (Cari•h rad) and Salonik a in the east. Natura lly, the Slovan ic peoples wanted tQ throw off the yoke of the Aivars and waited for the opportu ne momen t to rebel. That time came in 624, when Samo, a Franki sh mercha nt, succeed ed in uniting the Slovani c peoples and led them in battle agains t the savage A;vars. Sa.mo defeate d the Arv,a xs rund founde d the first SlovaJllic state ,near the central Danube . Encour aged by the victory over the A vars, Samo led the Slovan ic peoples agains t the German ic Franks . Samo again was victorio us; his Slovani c army defeate d the Franks under Dagob ert in a three-d ay battle near the Vogast e castle in 631. Becaus e the Slovak s were settled north of the Danub e and the Slovenians south of it, Samo's empire stretch ed over these territor ies. The Slovani c peoples within these territor ies were called by the commo n name of Sloven es (Slovie ni). The main fortres s of this Slovani c empire was situate d in Slovak ia at the conflue nce of the Morava and Danube rivers. Samo's empire , howeve r, disinte grated soon after his death (658). Wheth er it was the ,k ingdom of the Slova!ks alone is questio nable, but the fact remain s that the territory of Slovak ia formed the core of it. ilfu-edegar's "Chron icles" ;record that a ~trong westem Slovan ic empire existed already in the seventh century , strong enough to, resist the pressu re of the Avars and the rule of Dagob ert. Fredeg ar wrote quite plainly that Samo came along when the Slovam c tribes of the area were successful ly rebellin g aga~t the rule of the A vars. His "Chro.nioles" form the basis of most theorie s in ;regard to the ethnica l composiition of Samo's Empire , its territor ial extent and the site of its princip al city or strongh old. In recent yeara Slova!k, Polish, and Czech scholar s of Slavist ics agreed that Samo's strongh old, the center of his empire , was at De... vin, at ,t he conflue nce of the Morav a and Danll!be rivers. SLOVAK.IA 72 Professor Oettinger, well-knOIWll historian and archeologis t of Vienna, however, .prefers to Tegard Vienna as the center of Samo's Empire. In his book "Das Warden Wiens" (19M), he tells that he .bases his conclusion especially on the findings resulting from the discovery of the ancient Berghof Castle in Vienna, the remains of which can ibe traced ;to Samo's time. The Ava.rs, a nomadic people, could not build such a g,reat citadel of stone. Presenting a whole series of philological airguments to baclk his theory, professor Oettinger states that tt is self-eviden t that SlovaJks and ,p ossibly other Slwanic peoples lived in the aJrea of Vienna iaJIJ.d far to the west along the Danube territory during Samo's time. While the Slovanic peoples were resisting the A vars heroically, a strong Frankish empire was being built in the west. The power of this empire, whose borders in the eighth century extended from the Pyrenees to the Sumava River, became consolidate d especially during the reign of Charles the Great (Charlemag ne), who ruled from 768 to 814, and united all the Germanic tribes, subjugated the Bavarians and the Saxons in the east, and came into contact with the most westerly tribes of the Slovans. In 799 the armies of Charlemag ne defeated the Arvars, who lateT were aJbso;z1bed by the Slovanic inhabitants of the Danube countries. But the great empire of Charlemag ne, who became Emperor in 800, had another weapon besides its strong army for its aggression s into the neighborin g countries of the east. That weapon was Christianit y, which in the Franldsh empire had spread and become so strong that already during the reign of Charlemag ne the way was prepared for it to reach the Danubian Slovans who were settled along the eastern borders of the Frankish empire. To safegururd the eastern f:rontier of his empiire, Charlemagne placed heavy military garrisons along bordering countries. Such territories were called "Marks" and were managed by so-called "Markgrav es." In a short time it became evident that the military garriso!IlS of such Marks were not only for defense, but also for advance into the neighboring Slovanic countries. Contempor aneously new bishoprics and monasterie s were built along these bordering countries which strengthen ed the Christian faith and 1 SIJOVAKIA 73 propagated Christian culture. It was thus that Christianity came to the neighboring Slovanic nations. Slovakia already in the very beginning of the ninth century came into immediate contact with the military and cultural might of the Frankish empire. The Slovak nation crossed the threshhold of its national and cultural history. ~RiINCiE PRJ.BINA The Slovanic tribes, which settled on the northern bank of the Danube, on ,b oth sides of the 1Mora,va river, weTe called Moravians. Philologis~, historians, a,nd aroheologists have a.miply demonstrated that whatever had b,een mentioned in old historical documents aibout the MoraJVian.s referred in £act to the ancestors of the Slovaks, the Slovans (ISla<vS) who already in the first half of the ninth century were the inhaJbitants of the territory on both sides of the MoTava river. in anoient d0<:uments we find the name "Slovenica" used interchangeably with ' 1Moravia" and "Magna Moravia" to designate the territory on both sides of the Morava riveT. A document of King Loruis from the year 861 also, calls that area "Slovenica." In western (Latin) sources, the inhabit.., ants of that territory were called ''Moravians" and "the Slarvs of Moravia" (Slavi; Sclavi; Sch1avi; Sc,l a,v i Marahenses; Marehenses; Maravi; Mairavani; Moravi; Maraibi; MarahaJvi; Sclavini; Selavi Margenses) to distinguish them from the Slorvans (Slavs) who had occupied other territories (Behemi; Sclavi Boehemia; Boemie; Beheimi; Boemani ; Boo-. manici; Behemani; Bohemani; Bulgari; Vulgari; ChTobati; BeJochrobati; .Kosari; Czechi; Poloni; ,Russi; etc.). In eastern sources, however, the inhabitants of the same territory were called "Slovenes" ('Slovieni; Sloveni), while their land wa:s rreferred to as "Slovak Land" and "Moravia" (.Slovenska zemlja; Morava). It is significant that af.ter the fall olf Great Moravia, her inhabitants were referred to by their a,ndent name: Slavi; ,Sclavi; Slovieni; Sloveni - older forms of the term Slovak, which began to appear onyl after the fifteenth centUTY. From reliable sources we learn that about the year 830,. there ruled in Slovakia a prince named Pribina, who resided in Nitra. The name Pribina and Nitra are very dear 74 SLOVAKIA to ,t he hearts of all .Slovaks, because Prilbina is the name of the first Slovak ruler ever mentioned by history, and Nitra is the name of the first Slovak castle which became the cradle of Slovak national history. Pribina reigned in Nitra and his principality extended over the territory of the fertile basin of the Nitra river. The sovereignty of the Prince of Nitra was acknowledged by other Slovak principalities that extended along the Hron river country, the banks of the Vah and other Slovak lands. Under the rule of Prince Pribina belonged the Slovaik principalities that lay to the east of the Small Carpathians. The same sources tell us that Archbishop Adalram of Salzburg blessed a church on Pribina's land in Nitra. This consecration is proof that the Christianity spread by the German priests among the Slovaks already had taken firm root. Pribina's church in Nitra is the first Christian church on the territory of the western Slovans. While other Slovanic peoples in the eastern half of Europe still lived far off from western-European Christian culture and wandered in the darkness of paganism, the Slovak nation already in the beginning of the ninth century was counted among the Christian, the cultured nations of Europe. At the time of the consecration of the Nitra church, in 833, Pribina himself was not yet a Christian. But the circumstance that Pribina allowed the Christian faith to be preached to his nation proves that the first Slovak ruler, even though he probably could not grasp the significance of Christian doctrine, nevertheless understood the political and cultural significance of Christianity on the SlovanoGermanic border. Pribina, a wise and prudent ruler, knew that a small nation at this dangerous crossroad could defend itself against its stronger neighbors only when it was equal to them culturally. Not long afterwards, however, cruel calamity befell the ruler of Nitra. Prince Mojmir, who had united the Slovak tribes in the western part of the Slovak territory under his rule and who probably resided at Devin, drove Pribina out of Nitra and occupied his domain. Out of this union of .Mojmirs country with Pribina's, there arose on the north bank of the Danube a state that united all the Slovak SLOVAKIA 75 tribes. The state, thus established about the year 830, was called Great Moravia (VeFka Morava) or the Great Moravian Empire (Vefkomoravska risa). Pribina, with his son Kocef and a retinue of Slovak magnates, sought refuge in the neighboring Mark to the east, near the Danube. Markgrave Ratbod presented Pribina to King Louis the German. The latter had Pribina in:structed in the Christian faith and baptized in St. Martin's ,c hurch in the city of Treisma (probably the present city of Sankt Polten in Germany). For a time Pribina and his group lived in the court of Markgrave Ratbod, but when the latter refused to aid him against Mojmir, he went to the Bulgars. However, he did not tarry there for long either, because soon after we find him seeking the aid of Ratimar, the Croatian Prince. At that time (about 838), Ratimar was not on good terms with Ratbod, so Pribina had to take refuge with Count Salach of Corutania. The latter succeeded in reconciling Pribina with Ratbod. In exile Pribina convinced himself that he could not regain his lost domain and return to Nitra. He became reconciled with his fate and sought to gain the favor of King Louis the German. The latter entrusted to Pribina the new principality beyond the Danube, the country of Pannonia near Blatno. In 847 he became the independent ruler of this principality and built a formidable citadel there that was called Blatnohrad (Moosburg). After his baptism, Pribina became a zealous Christian and sought to convert all his subjects to Christianity. He invited German missionaries into his domain, built churches, endowed monasteries and often welcomed the archbishop of Salzburg at his court. In his work, Pribina had a zealous helper in the person of his son Kocel'. When Pribina died in 861 under mysterious circumstances, Kocel' inherited his principality. The Slovak nation, immediately with its first appearance on the stage of European history, entered the services of Christian culture. The Slovaks are the oldest nation on the central Danube and they were the first nation in Central Europe to have its own independent state. It is well to note that the Slovak State from its very inception was ,a Christian State. 76 SLOVAKIA CHAPTER TWO 'DHiE GREAT M!ORA~ EJMPI'RE The studies of historians, philologists, and -archeolo~ gists clearly indicate that the Great Moravian Empire was not the empire of the ''Great Moravians," but the land of the ancietn Slov•a k s who had settled on both sides of the 'Morava river. The Great Moravian IDmpire, then, was in reality a Great Slova!k Empire, if we are to call the territory by the name of the peole who had occupied it from the dawn of history. These studies refute the hypothesis of the Czech and non-Czech philologists, ethnogr~phers, and historians, who claim that "Czechs and Slovaks of Bohemia, MMoraviia, and Nor.them Hung•a ry (SlovaJkia) fornied a single group with a common langua,ge." Furthermore, these studies tell us that at first there were two estates or rprinciipalities in that area: the one called "Mol'ova" was around the Morava up to the Vah with its capital city at Devin, while the other called "Nitra" the capital city of which bore the i,;ame name - was around the Nitra river. When Mojmir, the ruler of Moravia, conquered Pribina, the ruler of Nitra, German chronicles 'began to call his empire "Magna Mora'Via," whk'h meant the annexation of the NitJ:ra principality to that of Mor8JVia. We afso leiarn from these studies that the ancestors of the Czechs had settled in the land of the Boii (Boehemi,a; Behemia; Bohemia) just ltbout at the same time that the Slovaks occupied the territory of the Morava river. Moj!mir, Rastislav, and Sviitopllllk built the empire of the Slova!ks, while Hostivit and Borivoj built .the state of the Czechs. The Annales Fra,ncofuldenses tell us that "Sviitoplwk extricated the Czech tribes from Frankish rule by force." Later the Czechs (Slavs of Bohemia) even joined the Germans to wage war agaJnst the Great Moravian EmpiTe. When Mojmir, some time in the year 836, drove Pribina out of Nitra and united the territory inhabited by Slovak trib,es into a larger unit, there arose on the northern bank of the Danube an empire which the Byzantine em1 SLOVAKIA 77 peror, Constantine Po.rphyrogennetos, in his work "About the Management of a State" (950), calls Great Moravia. Mojmir's empire stretched over the territory of present Slovakia and Moravia and was, after Samo's empire, the second Slovanic state near the Danube on the German-Slovanic border. Just as Samo's Empire, so even the Great Mora'Vlian Empire had its origin at the same historic crossroad, because it was here that the greatest danger threatened the Slovanic peoples and they had to unite in defense of their freedom a,nd independence. While Samo's empire , arose because the Slovans along the Danube wanted to protect themselves against the enemies from the east, Great Moravia was established under pressure of danger from the west. Mojmir, like Pribina, tried to live in peace with the neighboring Germans, because he knew that war with them could only end disastrously for the Slovaks. Mojmir was already a Christian, so the missionary activity of the German priests on the territory of Great Moravia went on nuhampered. We must remember that Great Moravia at that time did not have any definite borders, because the borders of states of the Middle Ages never were defined strictly. The area of Great Moravia changed because the successors of Mojmir did undertake expeditions into neighboring countries, defeated them in battle and annexed them to the empire. Louis the German did not relish the idea of a great, united Slovanic empire as a neighbor. In 846 he unseated Mojmir and replaced him with Rastislav. The latter simu~ lated friendship for Louis, but knew well that the independence of his country was constantly threatened by the Germans. The independence of Great Moravia was threatened not only by German armies, but also by the missionary activity of the German priests, who had begun to look upon the territory as a part of the German empire. In about 860 Rastislav sent a special messenger to Pope Nicholas I in Rome with a request for missionaries who had a command of the Slovanic tongues. The Pope, however, answered he was sorry that he could not help Rastislav, 78 SLOVAKIA because at that time there were no such priests in Rome. After due deliberation with his advisers, Rastislav decided to send a special mission to .Constantinople, to .E mperor Michael ill. Rastislav's request, as presented to the Emperor, read: "Since our people has cast off paganism and follows the Christian law, we do not have such a teacher, who might explain the true Christian Faith to us in our own tongue, so that even other parties, witnessing this, might become like unto us. So send us, Emperor, such a bishop and teacher, because your country is everywhere recognized for its good laws." Just about that time the German empire found strong allies in the Bulgarians, who bordered with Great Moravia at the Tisa river and lived in enmity with the Byzantine emperor. Michael did not have to deliberate long with his counsellors. He wanted Rastislav as an ally against the German-Bulgarian alliance and, hence, decided to aid the ruler of Great Moravia in his quest for missionaries who could speak the language of Rastislav's people. Up to this time the land of the Slovaks was subject to the influence of western culture only. Now it was to make contacts with the Christian culture of the European east. SLOVAK .APOSTLES: CYRIL .AND METHODLUS Em;peror Michael of Constantinople decided to send Constantine (Cyril), the philosopher and linguist, and his brother Methodius, who was versed in the art of government, to preach the Gospel to the people of Rastislav. Constantine had distinguished himself in apostolic work before, at first alone and later with his brother Methodius. As natives of Salonica (Thessalonica) they were suited for the mission: they new the language of Rastislav's people, the forefathers of the Slovaks. The Emperor, having summoned them, told the brothers: "You are from Salonica, and all Salonicans speak pUTe Slovanic." Upon learning that Rastislav's people did not have their own script, the task of inventing one fell to the lot of Constantine. Legend has it that the alphabet worked out by Constantine (Cyril) had been revealed to him by God. It was quite an achievement. Constantine started with Greek SLOVAKIA 79 characters, but Slovanic sounds of the ninth century varied greatly with the Greek, therefore signs and characters had to be created to designate them. The alphabet that resulted is known as "Cyrillic." After due preparation for their new mission, the brothers Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius set out for the country of Rastislav. They arrived in Rastislav's empire in 863 and began preaching the Word of God in the language of the people. Soon ,a fter the translation of the Scriptl.ll'es and liturgical 1b ooks was completed and present... ed to Rastislav's court at Devin. Naturally the saintly brothers gained many admirers and disciples. These catechists went among their people and aided Constantine and Methodius in their missionary work. Up to the time of the Slovak apostles, only three languages were considered feasible for ecclesiastic life, the Holy Scriptures and the Church liturgy: Hebrew, Latin and Greek. The latter two were used extensively-the Greek in the Byzantine (eastern) Church and Latin in the Roman (western) Church. Due to the efforts of Constantine and Methodius, the language of the Slovaks (early Slovanic) became the third language to be used in Church liturgy. The work of Constantine and Methodius in Rastislav's empire was blessed with success. The saintly brothers united the people of Rastislav spiritually and. also contributed handsomely to the material welfare of the Great Moravian Empire. Their disciples later spread the Gospel to other neighboring Slovanic nations (Czechs, Serbs, Russians) in a language that was for the most part understandable to all Slo-\'anic nations. The German clergy of Salzburg viewed the work of Constantine and Methodius with envy and accused the brothers of introdllJlcing dangerous innovations into the liturgy of the Church. A protest against their activities was lodged in Rome, and the brothers were summoned by Pope Nicholas (858-867) to vindicate themselves. Constantine and Methodius set out for Rome in 867. Their journey led them through Lake Blatno (Balaton), the residence of Prince Kocer, Pribina's son. Kocer received the brothers with great joy and examined their liturgical 80 SLOVAKIA books in the Slovanic script with great interest. Leaving Kocer, Constantine and Methodius passed through Corinthia to Venice on the Adriatic Sea. At Venice they successfully defended their use of the language of Rastislav's people in the liturgy of the Church, while the ecclesiastics there had to concede defeat in the debate. While Constantine and Methodius made their way to Rome, Pope Nicholas died. Four days later his successor, Adriam ]I (867--872), was elected head of the ChuTch. The saintly brothers were given a cordial reception by the Pope, and, after convincing a synod of bishops that they were not guilty of introducing any dangerous innovations into the liturgy of the Church, their activities were accorded Adrian's approval. The Holy Father accepted the liturgical books in ;the Slov,anic language, blessed them on the aUar of the church of St. Mary Major, and celebrated the Divine Liturgy over them himself. The Pope then proceeded to consecrate Constantine and Methodius as bishops. A number of their disciples (Clement, Gorazd, Angelar, Sava and Naum) were ordained to the priesthood by the bishops Formosus and Gaundenrich. Shortly thereafter Constantine became seriously ill and retired to a monastery. There he joined the religious community, taking the name of Cyril. He died February 14, 869, and his earthly remains were buried on the right side of the high altar of the church of St. Clement in Rome. After the death of Saint Cyril, the entire burden of spreading the Gospel and teaching of Christ rested on the shoulders of his brother. Methodius returned as archbishop and papal legate fully authorized to organize the Church in the land of Rastislav. Archbishop Methodius became the head of Slovanic Christendom. Besides receiving the highest ecclesiastical dignity, Methodius carried letters from the Pope for Rastislav of Great Moravia, Svatopluk of Nitra and Kocef of Blatnohrad Castle (Moosburg), the three Slovak princes, which stated that the Pope permitted the use of Slovanic liturgy with the reservation that the epistle and ,gospel always be read in Latin before being read in the vernacular (Slovanic). The archdiocese of Methodius extended over Great Moravia and beyond the Danube over SLOVAKIA 81 Pannonia, uniting the lands governed by Slovak rulers. But as Methodius was returing to continue his apostolic work among the people of Rastislav, a new ruler was taking over the throne of Great Moravia. KING S,V ATOPDUCK While Methodius was in Rome, the Germans continued to harass Rastislav. In 869 King Louis the German declared war against the neighboring Slovanic peoples and invaded their lands with his armies headed by his three sons. Prince Louis attacked the Lusatian Serbs, Charles went after Rastislav, and Carloman tore into the territory that was ruled by Rastislav's nephew, Svatopluk of Nitra. The German armies plundered and pillaged the Great Moravian Empire. But Rastislav's stronghold, the mighty Devin, proved impregnable and Rastislav's empire retained its independence. The following year, however, Rastislav was betrayed by his own kinsman, his nephew Svatopluk, regent of Nitra. Success in battle had turned Svatopluk's head. The Germans played up to Svatopluk and promised to help him gain the throne of Great Moravia. Svatopluk decided to betray his uncle and vowed loyalty to Carloman. Rastislav, however, learned of the plot and became furious. Having vowed to punish his traitorous nephew, he ordered his men to do away with Svatopluk at a banquet, but their attempt to take and kill him failed. Soon thereafter Rastislav led his army against Svatopluk. In the ensuing battle, Rastislav was defeated. Worse than that, he was captured and handed over to the Germans. Carloman sent Rastislav bound in chains to Bavaria where King Louis the German imprisoned him and had his eyes ,gouged out. Rastislav died later as a prisoner of the Germans. With Rastislav's defeat the Great Moravian Empire passed completely into the hands of the German crown. The Germans also seized Archbishop Methodius, who had returned from Rome, and imprisoned him. The Bavarian bishops, who regarded Methodius as a foreign intruder, made claims to the territories of the Slovanic peoples along the Danube and dealt with Methodius so inhumanely that Svatopluk himself intervened in his behalf. When Carlo- 82 SLOVAKIA man took possession of Rastislav's country and seized his royal treasures, he entrusted the rule of the ravaged country to Svatopluk. Svatopluk soon proved himself a strong ruler. As a soldier he excelled in ruthless courage. The Germans began to distrust him, because they feared he would build an empire so strong as to imperil their country. Louis the German decided to put Svatopluk out of the way. In 871 the Germans succeeded in taking Svatopluk and imprisoned him. Some of his castles were taken over by the German Markgraves. Svatopluk denied the charge of Carloman that he plotted against the German crown, but that did not help him. When the Slovaks learned what had happened to their ruler, they elected Slavomir to take his place and rebelled against the Germans. Slavomir was supported by the whole country. A terrilble war followed. The Germans suffered heaivy losses. Devin proved impregnable to their attacks. In the meantime, the wily Svatopluk was plotting to even matters with the Germans who had tricked him. While in prison he repented his betrayal of Rastislav and vowed to even the score with his German captors. Svatopluk begged Carloman to release him so that he might subdue the Slovaks under Slavomir. Carloman was reluctant at first, but finally gave in to Svatopluk's pleadings. Accompanyin g a large German army, Sviitopluk soon found himself below the mighty fortress of Devin. While the German army encamped quietly below the citadel, Svatopluk set out with a small detachment of men to the castle to persuade Slavomir to surrender without a battle. Once inside the castle, Svatopluk disclosed his plan to Slavomir. Assuming command of the Slovak army, Svatopluk tore out of the courtyard and attacked the Germans with such sa;vagery that only few were able to esc•a;pe alirve. Carloman's army was caught unawares and crushed. Svatopluk knew that the Germans would come after him sooner or later. He looked around for allies. That same year (871), he married the sister of Borivoj, ruler of the Bohemian fand, and formed an alliance with' him. Svatopluk pressed the offensive against the Germans and was quite SLOVAKIA 83 successful. In 873 he defeated Carloman decisively. Carloman asked his father Louis for help to fight the Slovaks. When aid was not forthcoming, Carloman decided to seek a truce with Svatopluk. He signed a pact with Svatopluk at Forsheim in 874 and recognized the independence of the Great Moravian Empire. Svatopluk had reached the pinnacle of his ambitions: he was sole ruler of the Great Moravian Empire, with its crupital at Devin near Bratislava. (Continued) • • • 1856 - DR. SAMUEL CZAMBEL - 1956 P.A. HROBAK T.he year 1956 marks not only the centennial of the dea:th o:f the great Slovak fighter for freedom and democracy, Dr. Louis Sti1r, ,b ut it is a}so the centennial of the birth of the eminent SlovaJk philologist, Samuel Czam:bel. Czambel was born September 1, 1856, in the town of Slovenska Eupca, Zvolen County, 1Slova;kia. The ~tudy of his native Slovak language attracted him early in his life and he devoted much of his adult Hfe to it. He died in Buda.pest, December 18, 1909. In 1887, Czam'bel wrote his Contrioutions to the History of the Slovak Language (''Prispevlky k dejinam jazy.ka slovenskeho") ; he followed this with his Slovak Orthography ("Slovensky praivopis") in 1890; A Manual of the Literary Slovak Language ("Rukovaf spisovnej reci slovenskej") in 1902; The Slovaks and Their Language ("Slovaci a kh rec") in 1903; 8Jlld The Slovak Language and its Place in the Family of Slovanic Languages ("Slo-. venska rec a jej miesto v rodine slovenskych jazykov"), 624 pp., in 1906. Of course, Czambel contributed many other articles on Slovak subjects to Slovak newspapers, periodical reviiews and magazines. Czambel's "Rukovae (Slovak Grammar), revised and modified several times since its first edition by the late Dr. Joseph SkU!ltety, is a ,s tandard work with ,p hilologists, grammarians, and students of Slovak. In his "Slovaoi a ich rec," Czambel promoted the theory that the SlovaJks were every closely related to the Croatians, Slovenes and Serbs  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The History of Slovakia (1/9) Description An account of the resource Philip A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 6, No. 3-4 (20-21), September-December 1956 pp. 63-83 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1956 Relation A related resource continues in <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/252">Vol. 7, No. 1 (22), pp. 53-59</a> LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/4629f4afa5a3b52f881ee535dd4c3deb.pdf 83b46dc762d873fd23cace63c438b140 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 53 (9) Dr. E. Zatko published three volumes regarding the endeavors of Tuka for Slovak independence. (10) About the origin of national states in Central Europe see: C. A. Macartney, " NATIONAL STATES AND NATIONAL MINORITIES" (London, 1935), also his "HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS" (London, 1937), in which he devotes some 100 pages to Slovakia. • • • The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK (Continued from last issue) ME'l'HODIUS AGAIN JiN ROME In the meantime Pope John VIII effected the liberation of Arclibishop Methodius and punished the Bavarian bishops. To put a stop to the wars between Germany and the Great Moravian Empire, the Pope forbade the use of the Slovanic liturgy and ordered Methodius to come to Rome. Methodius learned that the German hierarchy had accused him of preaching heresy. Svatopluk sent his personal messenger (Zemezizeii) along with Archbishop Methodius to Rome, because he wanted to place his country under the protection of the Holy See. When Methodius reached Rome, he proved to the Pope's satisfaction that the charges placed against him were without foundation. Pope John VIII approved the apostolic work of Methodius and his priests. He gave the Archbishop a letter for Svatopluk which stated that he again permits the use of the Slovanic liturgy in Svatopluk's country and accepted King Svatopluk and his whole nation under the protection of St. Peter. When Archbishop Methodius returned to the land of the Slovaks, he and his priests labored zealously in the vineyard of the Lord to gain all the people of Svatopluk's country for the kingdom of Christ. But this mission, as we shall see, was soon to be hindered by Svatopluk himself. Svatopluk had accepted Christianity and had begged the Pope to protect the territory of the Slovak people, yet his life was not that of a true Christian. Svatopluk was a �54 SLOVAKIA fearless wairrior; he used any and all means to extend his power and attain his ends. In his private life he followed some pagan practices. Because Archbishop Methodius reproached Sviitopluk for his sinful life, he fell into disfavor with the regent. The regent of Great Moravia hated the Germans, yet he preferred to support the German clergymen, especially Wiching the bishop of Nitra, who conveniently overlooked Sviitopluk's shortcomings and incited him against Methodius. The saintly archbishop was hurt deeply by Sviitopluk's conduct, but suffered the humiliation silently because he knew that open opposition would only threaten the future of his apostolic work and hasten the downfall of haughty Sviitopluk's Great Moravia. When Archbishop Methodius felt that his life was drawing to a close, he called his priests, magnates and people together and, pointing to the priest Gorazd, said: "He is a free man of your country, well versed in Latin books, and orthodox. May it be the will of God and your love as it is mine." With these words Methodius named Gorazd, the Slovak, as his successor and died in 885. After Methodius died, Sviitopluk was dominated completely by German clergymen. He persecuted Slovak priests and finally chased them out of his realm. But this did not enhance his position with the Germans. King Arnulf was determined to prevent the existence of a large Slovanic state as a neighbor of his empire. Secrety he sought allies against Sviitopluk to break him and destroy his kingdom . .Arnn.tlf succeeded in gaining the wild Magyairs who ha,d come over the Carpathians several years before and had begun to colonize the fertile plains of the Danube and the Tisa. Arnulf attacked Sviitopluk's stronghold on several occasions, but in vain. During Sviitopluk's lifetime Great Moravia successfully resisted all assaults of the Germans. One of the mightiest rulers of the land of the Slovaks passed on with the last years of his life shrouded in mystery, when Sviitopluk died in 894. One beautiful legend has it that Sviitopluk realized at the end Ot:f his days that power, glory and military suc~ses cannot -satisfy the soul of a man with a burdened conscience. So, he decided to spend the last years of his life �SLOVAKIA 55 doing penance in a monastery. Svatopluk left ho.s royal palace and went up to Zobor. There in the mountain he divested himself of his royal attire, killed his horse, and buried his sword. Then, dressed as a beggar, he knocked on the gate of the Zobor monastery and begged the monks to let him in. They did. Svatopluk spent the rest of his days in prayer, but nobody knew that he was the mighty ruler of Great Moravia. It was only at his death that Svatopluk revealed to the amazed monks his true identity. In 1885 - when Slavdom celebrated the millell!ial memorial of the death of Methodius - the Russian historian Konstantin Grot asked: "What was Slavdom prior to CyrJ and Methodius ?" and answered: "Scattered over the vast spaces of middle Europe, Russia and the Balkan Peninsula, among foreign and hostile nations, the Slovanic race, although gifted by nature with beautiful spiritual endowments, represented a torn, disjointed mass of different tribes without any consciousness of racial relationship ... " Cyril and Methodius unified the people of Rastislav, and their disciples brought Christian culture and national consciousness to the other Slovanic peoples in a comparatively short time thereafter. Saints Cyril and Methodius performed their mission, spreading the Gospel of Christ, within the territory settled by the ancient Slovaks. This has been well estab~hed by phuological analysis of the Cyrilo-Methodius texts, the Cividalian Gospel Book, legends and chronicles, names of people, rivers, mountains, c'hurches, and places, and, furthermore, ,b y scientific study of dialects am.d "bor.rowed" or foreign words. Dr. John Stanislav, Slovak historian and philologist, states with certainty that Met!hodius resided in Nitra and performed his mission in the land of the Slovaks. Dr. Francis Dvornik, Czech historian and rphilologist, confirmed this,. even though indirectly, when 'he wrote that "Slovanic liturgy in S'lovakia 01\ltlived the catastrophe of the Great Moravian IDmpire," and that the territory of present'day Slovakia was "in a definite sense the most cultured rpart of the Magyar empire" (more co'I'rectly: the Hungarian empire). Dvornik also noted that the Slovanic monks, after being e:,cpelled f:rom Czech lands, from the monastery of �56 SLOVAKIA Sazava, in 1055, found refuge in Slovakia, as well as the historical fact that Slovaikia rund her ancient Slovanic centers served as "half-way transmittin g centers" not only between Croatia, but even Kievian Russia. As far a:s the literary efforts of the Slovax .Aipostles and their immediate disciples are concerned, the document "Skazani" tells us that Constantin e (Cyril) and Methodius translated and wrote ma/Ily other books ( "i proceje knigy") . Dr. Stanislav wrote that "after his arrival in Great Mora,via, Oonstantin e translated abnost the entire ecclesia;stical ritual" and also completed the translation of the Gospel texts of all four evangelists , as well as the Acts of the Apostles and the Psalms. St. Methodius, according to Stanislav, continued in the woJ'lk !begun by his brother and, after the issuance of the glorious Bull, "Industriae tuae," by which the Slova;nic liturgy again was approved and permitted, "made a compendium of everything that was translated during the twelve years (869-881) of 'his independen t lea'dershi!p of t'he Great Moravian mission. He selected two priest 'rapidw,riters' and with them translated - probably dictated to them - the entire text of the Holy Bible - the Old and New Testaments , besides the books of the Maccrubees, within eight months." -Methodius also tra/Ilslated, or had translated, the Latin Missal, whrich is preserved as the so...called Kiev Missal; written in Gla,golic letters it is preserved in a copy from the tenth century with elements of the Great Mora,vian tongue. Stanislav also mentions the translation of the ri-. tual, the breviary and the oredo, which, according to the 'biogrruphy of Methodius, Svatopluk was swpposed to hruve prayed in the Slovak translation . Of the non-liturgic al books of the saintly brothers, Stanislav mentions the translation of the Nomocanon , or the Ko.rmcaja book, i.e., the collection of laws and regulations of the Byzantian rulers and Church Fathers, then Cyril's polemic treatise in Greek against the Jews which was translated by Methodius, and the original works "A P,reface to the Gospels" and "Writings About the True Faith," both written by Constantine . Among the original mementoes b,e- �SLOVAKIA 57 long the so--called Pannonian-Moravian Legends, "The Life of St. Cyril amd Methodius," written, according to Stanislav, without a doubt in Great Moravia, also the "Praises of Cyril and Methodius," a'lld "about the end of the ancient SloV'a!k epoch of Slovak culture" - the legend about Naurn. One of the "1Morarvian-1Slova.k sons," Stanislav claims, also com... posed the ancient Slovak legend about St. Wenceslaus around the year 935. Sltanis1'av states quite clearly that this literary activity developed on Slovak territory and that in the "great wora along with Oyril and Methodius undoubtedly other sons of the Slovaik nation had a part, especially Gorazd. Traces of this are found particularly in many words of these mementoes." And since "these memoiTs were written for the religious, i.e., the cultural needs of the Slovalk nation, and ,p rompted by it, the predecessors of the Sl01Vaks took part in this work passively and actively, and, therefore, this literary work belongs also to our (Slovaik) national treasure." As for the content and extent of the cultural mission of Cyril and Methodius, Slovak scholars of Slavistics agree with K. J. Grot that in Great Moravia was made not only "the most important attempt at a political unification of the Slovanic peoples" - the Greater Moravian Union - but also that: 1. there "were laid the foundations for a national Church and a national Christian education; 2. there originated the draft and the directive for the future, for the entire subsequent, historic development of Slavdom, its world role and relation to Roman-Oermanic Europe, to the West, and to the Asi·a tic question; 3. the foundation of ChurchSlovanic literature and education in the Slovaruc South among the Bu:lgars and Serbs, and in the East among the Russians, and partly also among other western Slavs, was only a continuation of that wo'.t1k which Cyril and Methodius had !begun in Great Moravia." THE FALL OF GRJEAT MORJAVIA The Great Moravian Empire was established after the Slovanic tribes in the Danube region became united to fight a common enemy that threatened their existence - �58 SLOVAKIA the aggressive Germans. The regents of the empire were often forced to take up arms· to safeguard their independ.. ence. The danger of German aggression, however, was never removed. Great Moravia was able to withstand German pressure only as long as she was united and had a strong ruler, a personality like Svatopluk. When the mighty Svatopluk died, the external danger that threatened Great Moravia increased and, at the same time, internal dissention hastened the downfall of the first independent state of central Europe. Svatopluk's eldest son, Mojmir II, succeeded him as ruler of Great Moravia. A younger son, Svatopluk II, received a grant principality which was subject to Mojmir's rule. Mojmir II was a wise ruler and possessed the fighting traits of his illustrious father. He wanted to secure the independence of his country, but the times were very difficult. The Slovanic tribes, which the great Svatopluk had conquered by force, anxiously awaited the first opportunity to secede from Great Moravia. Soon after his accession to the throne, Mojmir Il was forced to relinquish Pannonia. The Czechs had seceded from the empire already in 895, because they preferred to be vassals of the German king than to be subject to Mojmir's rule. Shortly thereafter, the Serbians and the Vislani fell away, so that the total area of the empire under Mojmir II was reduced to that once ruled over by Rastislav. It was a state inhabited only by the Slovaks who formed the nucleus of Great Moravia. After the other Slovanic tribes seceded from the empire, the Slovaks remained alone on the historical crossroads of Europe. Mojmir II used all means at his disposal to secure his country against attack from its neighbors. In the meantime, Mojmir's younger brother, Svatopluk II, dissatisfied with his brother's rule, was being prodded by the Germans to revolt. German armies invaded Slovakia three times and pillaged the border lands, but Mojmir II staunchly defended his domain and successfully repulsed the invading Germans and even took over his brother's domain. The Germans garve Srviitopluk ]I a title land in Bavaria. �SLOVAKIA 59 In 900 A. D. the Germans _again invaded Mojmir's territory, this time aided by the Czechs. After a terrific battle Mojmir II was forced to sue for peace, because his country was completely exhausted from constant warfare. After a peace was negotiated with the Germans, Mojmir sought to renew the church organization in the land of the Slovaks. After the expulsion of the disciples of Methodius and the death of Bishop Wiching, the Church was in a state of collapse. Mojmir II sent a special delegation to Rome with his request for aid. Pope John IX heard his plea and appointed an archbishop and two bishops to take over the burdens of the Church in the land of the Slovaks. Mojmir :LI worked assiduously and courageously to save his country from impending doom, but the odds were against him. To the danger from the west was added the menace from the east. The fierce Magyars, who from 896 had settled in the valley of the lower Danube and made continual attacks on their neighbors, tore into Slovakia in 902. Mojmir rallied his forces and successfully repulsed the Magyar hordes. But the nomadic Mongols were not to be denied. After every setback, they retreated and prepared for a new attack. The Slovaks defended the independence of their country heroically, but finally were overpowered by the overwhelming forces of their enemies. In 906 Moj.mir's state collapsed and the Slovak nation lost its independence. (Continu ed) • • • Kerner's "Czechoslovakia" (Cont'd.) HISTORY OR PROPAGANDA? P.A. HROBAK "The tragedy of Czecho-Slovakia's fate hinged, of course, not on whether this democracy treated her minorities 'justly' or not, but on the fact that the minorities were used as 'Trojan horses' for the aggressive policies of the neighboring Powers. After all, it is not even debatable that Germany's minorities, and particularly the Jews, have been treated with much less 'justice' than Czecho-Slovakia's minorities. The same statement applies to the fate of the minirities in Hungary and Poland. The Polish treatment of her minorities in � SLOVAKIA 53 (9) Dr. E. Zatko published three volumes regarding the endeavors of Tuka for Slovak independence. (10) About the origin of national states in Central Europe see: C. A. Macartney, " NATIONAL STATES AND NATIONAL MINORITIES" (London, 1935), also his "HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS" (London, 1937), in which he devotes some 100 pages to Slovakia. • • • The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK (Continued from last issue) ME'l'HODIUS AGAIN JiN ROME In the meantime Pope John VIII effected the liberation of Arclibishop Methodius and punished the Bavarian bishops. To put a stop to the wars between Germany and the Great Moravian Empire, the Pope forbade the use of the Slovanic liturgy and ordered Methodius to come to Rome. Methodius learned that the German hierarchy had accused him of preaching heresy. Svatopluk sent his personal messenger (Zemezizeii) along with Archbishop Methodius to Rome, because he wanted to place his country under the protection of the Holy See. When Methodius reached Rome, he proved to the Pope's satisfaction that the charges placed against him were without foundation. Pope John VIII approved the apostolic work of Methodius and his priests. He gave the Archbishop a letter for Svatopluk which stated that he again permits the use of the Slovanic liturgy in Svatopluk's country and accepted King Svatopluk and his whole nation under the protection of St. Peter. When Archbishop Methodius returned to the land of the Slovaks, he and his priests labored zealously in the vineyard of the Lord to gain all the people of Svatopluk's country for the kingdom of Christ. But this mission, as we shall see, was soon to be hindered by Svatopluk himself. Svatopluk had accepted Christianity and had begged the Pope to protect the territory of the Slovak people, yet his life was not that of a true Christian. Svatopluk was a �54 SLOVAKIA fearless wairrior; he used any and all means to extend his power and attain his ends. In his private life he followed some pagan practices. Because Archbishop Methodius reproached Sviitopluk for his sinful life, he fell into disfavor with the regent. The regent of Great Moravia hated the Germans, yet he preferred to support the German clergymen, especially Wiching the bishop of Nitra, who conveniently overlooked Sviitopluk's shortcomings and incited him against Methodius. The saintly archbishop was hurt deeply by Sviitopluk's conduct, but suffered the humiliation silently because he knew that open opposition would only threaten the future of his apostolic work and hasten the downfall of haughty Sviitopluk's Great Moravia. When Archbishop Methodius felt that his life was drawing to a close, he called his priests, magnates and people together and, pointing to the priest Gorazd, said: "He is a free man of your country, well versed in Latin books, and orthodox. May it be the will of God and your love as it is mine." With these words Methodius named Gorazd, the Slovak, as his successor and died in 885. After Methodius died, Sviitopluk was dominated completely by German clergymen. He persecuted Slovak priests and finally chased them out of his realm. But this did not enhance his position with the Germans. King Arnulf was determined to prevent the existence of a large Slovanic state as a neighbor of his empire. Secrety he sought allies against Sviitopluk to break him and destroy his kingdom . .Arnn.tlf succeeded in gaining the wild Magyairs who ha,d come over the Carpathians several years before and had begun to colonize the fertile plains of the Danube and the Tisa. Arnulf attacked Sviitopluk's stronghold on several occasions, but in vain. During Sviitopluk's lifetime Great Moravia successfully resisted all assaults of the Germans. One of the mightiest rulers of the land of the Slovaks passed on with the last years of his life shrouded in mystery, when Sviitopluk died in 894. One beautiful legend has it that Sviitopluk realized at the end Ot:f his days that power, glory and military suc~ses cannot -satisfy the soul of a man with a burdened conscience. So, he decided to spend the last years of his life �SLOVAKIA 55 doing penance in a monastery. Svatopluk left ho.s royal palace and went up to Zobor. There in the mountain he divested himself of his royal attire, killed his horse, and buried his sword. Then, dressed as a beggar, he knocked on the gate of the Zobor monastery and begged the monks to let him in. They did. Svatopluk spent the rest of his days in prayer, but nobody knew that he was the mighty ruler of Great Moravia. It was only at his death that Svatopluk revealed to the amazed monks his true identity. In 1885 - when Slavdom celebrated the millell!ial memorial of the death of Methodius - the Russian historian Konstantin Grot asked: "What was Slavdom prior to CyrJ and Methodius ?" and answered: "Scattered over the vast spaces of middle Europe, Russia and the Balkan Peninsula, among foreign and hostile nations, the Slovanic race, although gifted by nature with beautiful spiritual endowments, represented a torn, disjointed mass of different tribes without any consciousness of racial relationship ... " Cyril and Methodius unified the people of Rastislav, and their disciples brought Christian culture and national consciousness to the other Slovanic peoples in a comparatively short time thereafter. Saints Cyril and Methodius performed their mission, spreading the Gospel of Christ, within the territory settled by the ancient Slovaks. This has been well estab~hed by phuological analysis of the Cyrilo-Methodius texts, the Cividalian Gospel Book, legends and chronicles, names of people, rivers, mountains, c'hurches, and places, and, furthermore, ,b y scientific study of dialects am.d "bor.rowed" or foreign words. Dr. John Stanislav, Slovak historian and philologist, states with certainty that Met!hodius resided in Nitra and performed his mission in the land of the Slovaks. Dr. Francis Dvornik, Czech historian and rphilologist, confirmed this,. even though indirectly, when 'he wrote that "Slovanic liturgy in S'lovakia 01\ltlived the catastrophe of the Great Moravian IDmpire," and that the territory of present'day Slovakia was "in a definite sense the most cultured rpart of the Magyar empire" (more co'I'rectly: the Hungarian empire). Dvornik also noted that the Slovanic monks, after being e:,cpelled f:rom Czech lands, from the monastery of �56 SLOVAKIA Sazava, in 1055, found refuge in Slovakia, as well as the historical fact that Slovaikia rund her ancient Slovanic centers served as "half-way transmittin g centers" not only between Croatia, but even Kievian Russia. As far a:s the literary efforts of the Slovax .Aipostles and their immediate disciples are concerned, the document "Skazani" tells us that Constantin e (Cyril) and Methodius translated and wrote ma/Ily other books ( "i proceje knigy") . Dr. Stanislav wrote that "after his arrival in Great Mora,via, Oonstantin e translated abnost the entire ecclesia;stical ritual" and also completed the translation of the Gospel texts of all four evangelists , as well as the Acts of the Apostles and the Psalms. St. Methodius, according to Stanislav, continued in the woJ'lk !begun by his brother and, after the issuance of the glorious Bull, "Industriae tuae," by which the Slova;nic liturgy again was approved and permitted, "made a compendium of everything that was translated during the twelve years (869-881) of 'his independen t lea'dershi!p of t'he Great Moravian mission. He selected two priest 'rapidw,riters' and with them translated - probably dictated to them - the entire text of the Holy Bible - the Old and New Testaments , besides the books of the Maccrubees, within eight months." -Methodius also tra/Ilslated, or had translated, the Latin Missal, whrich is preserved as the so...called Kiev Missal; written in Gla,golic letters it is preserved in a copy from the tenth century with elements of the Great Mora,vian tongue. Stanislav also mentions the translation of the ri-. tual, the breviary and the oredo, which, according to the 'biogrruphy of Methodius, Svatopluk was swpposed to hruve prayed in the Slovak translation . Of the non-liturgic al books of the saintly brothers, Stanislav mentions the translation of the Nomocanon , or the Ko.rmcaja book, i.e., the collection of laws and regulations of the Byzantian rulers and Church Fathers, then Cyril's polemic treatise in Greek against the Jews which was translated by Methodius, and the original works "A P,reface to the Gospels" and "Writings About the True Faith," both written by Constantine . Among the original mementoes b,e- �SLOVAKIA 57 long the so--called Pannonian-Moravian Legends, "The Life of St. Cyril amd Methodius," written, according to Stanislav, without a doubt in Great Moravia, also the "Praises of Cyril and Methodius," a'lld "about the end of the ancient SloV'a!k epoch of Slovak culture" - the legend about Naurn. One of the "1Morarvian-1Slova.k sons," Stanislav claims, also com... posed the ancient Slovak legend about St. Wenceslaus around the year 935. Sltanis1'av states quite clearly that this literary activity developed on Slovak territory and that in the "great wora along with Oyril and Methodius undoubtedly other sons of the Slovaik nation had a part, especially Gorazd. Traces of this are found particularly in many words of these mementoes." And since "these memoiTs were written for the religious, i.e., the cultural needs of the Slovalk nation, and ,p rompted by it, the predecessors of the Sl01Vaks took part in this work passively and actively, and, therefore, this literary work belongs also to our (Slovaik) national treasure." As for the content and extent of the cultural mission of Cyril and Methodius, Slovak scholars of Slavistics agree with K. J. Grot that in Great Moravia was made not only "the most important attempt at a political unification of the Slovanic peoples" - the Greater Moravian Union - but also that: 1. there "were laid the foundations for a national Church and a national Christian education; 2. there originated the draft and the directive for the future, for the entire subsequent, historic development of Slavdom, its world role and relation to Roman-Oermanic Europe, to the West, and to the Asi·a tic question; 3. the foundation of ChurchSlovanic literature and education in the Slovaruc South among the Bu:lgars and Serbs, and in the East among the Russians, and partly also among other western Slavs, was only a continuation of that wo'.t1k which Cyril and Methodius had !begun in Great Moravia." THE FALL OF GRJEAT MORJAVIA The Great Moravian Empire was established after the Slovanic tribes in the Danube region became united to fight a common enemy that threatened their existence - �58 SLOVAKIA the aggressive Germans. The regents of the empire were often forced to take up arms· to safeguard their independ.. ence. The danger of German aggression, however, was never removed. Great Moravia was able to withstand German pressure only as long as she was united and had a strong ruler, a personality like Svatopluk. When the mighty Svatopluk died, the external danger that threatened Great Moravia increased and, at the same time, internal dissention hastened the downfall of the first independent state of central Europe. Svatopluk's eldest son, Mojmir II, succeeded him as ruler of Great Moravia. A younger son, Svatopluk II, received a grant principality which was subject to Mojmir's rule. Mojmir II was a wise ruler and possessed the fighting traits of his illustrious father. He wanted to secure the independence of his country, but the times were very difficult. The Slovanic tribes, which the great Svatopluk had conquered by force, anxiously awaited the first opportunity to secede from Great Moravia. Soon after his accession to the throne, Mojmir Il was forced to relinquish Pannonia. The Czechs had seceded from the empire already in 895, because they preferred to be vassals of the German king than to be subject to Mojmir's rule. Shortly thereafter, the Serbians and the Vislani fell away, so that the total area of the empire under Mojmir II was reduced to that once ruled over by Rastislav. It was a state inhabited only by the Slovaks who formed the nucleus of Great Moravia. After the other Slovanic tribes seceded from the empire, the Slovaks remained alone on the historical crossroads of Europe. Mojmir II used all means at his disposal to secure his country against attack from its neighbors. In the meantime, Mojmir's younger brother, Svatopluk II, dissatisfied with his brother's rule, was being prodded by the Germans to revolt. German armies invaded Slovakia three times and pillaged the border lands, but Mojmir II staunchly defended his domain and successfully repulsed the invading Germans and even took over his brother's domain. The Germans garve Srviitopluk ]I a title land in Bavaria. �SLOVAKIA 59 In 900 A. D. the Germans _again invaded Mojmir's territory, this time aided by the Czechs. After a terrific battle Mojmir II was forced to sue for peace, because his country was completely exhausted from constant warfare. After a peace was negotiated with the Germans, Mojmir sought to renew the church organization in the land of the Slovaks. After the expulsion of the disciples of Methodius and the death of Bishop Wiching, the Church was in a state of collapse. Mojmir II sent a special delegation to Rome with his request for aid. Pope John IX heard his plea and appointed an archbishop and two bishops to take over the burdens of the Church in the land of the Slovaks. Mojmir :LI worked assiduously and courageously to save his country from impending doom, but the odds were against him. To the danger from the west was added the menace from the east. The fierce Magyars, who from 896 had settled in the valley of the lower Danube and made continual attacks on their neighbors, tore into Slovakia in 902. Mojmir rallied his forces and successfully repulsed the Magyar hordes. But the nomadic Mongols were not to be denied. After every setback, they retreated and prepared for a new attack. The Slovaks defended the independence of their country heroically, but finally were overpowered by the overwhelming forces of their enemies. In 906 Moj.mir's state collapsed and the Slovak nation lost its independence. (Continu ed) • • • Kerner's "Czechoslovakia" (Cont'd.) HISTORY OR PROPAGANDA? P.A. HROBAK "The tragedy of Czecho-Slovakia's fate hinged, of course, not on whether this democracy treated her minorities 'justly' or not, but on the fact that the minorities were used as 'Trojan horses' for the aggressive policies of the neighboring Powers. After all, it is not even debatable that Germany's minorities, and particularly the Jews, have been treated with much less 'justice' than Czecho-Slovakia's minorities. The same statement applies to the fate of the minirities in Hungary and Poland. The Polish treatment of her minorities in � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1957, Vol. 7 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 22), March 1957.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 23), June 1957.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 24-25), September-December 1957.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1957 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 53 (9) Dr. E. Zatko published three volumes regarding the endeavors of Tuka for Slovak independence. (10) About the origin of national states in Central Europe see: C. A. Macartney, " NATIONAL STATES AND NATIONAL MINORITIES" (London, 1935), also his "HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS" (London, 1937), in which he devotes some 100 pages to Slovakia. • • • The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK (Continued from last issue) ME'l'HODIUS AGAIN JiN ROME In the meantime Pope John VIII effected the liberation of Arclibishop Methodius and punished the Bavarian bishops. To put a stop to the wars between Germany and the Great Moravian Empire, the Pope forbade the use of the Slovanic liturgy and ordered Methodius to come to Rome. Methodius learned that the German hierarchy had accused him of preaching heresy. Svatopluk sent his personal messenger (Zemezizeii) along with Archbishop Methodius to Rome, because he wanted to place his country under the protection of the Holy See. When Methodius reached Rome, he proved to the Pope's satisfaction that the charges placed against him were without foundation. Pope John VIII approved the apostolic work of Methodius and his priests. He gave the Archbishop a letter for Svatopluk which stated that he again permits the use of the Slovanic liturgy in Svatopluk's country and accepted King Svatopluk and his whole nation under the protection of St. Peter. When Archbishop Methodius returned to the land of the Slovaks, he and his priests labored zealously in the vineyard of the Lord to gain all the people of Svatopluk's country for the kingdom of Christ. But this mission, as we shall see, was soon to be hindered by Svatopluk himself. Svatopluk had accepted Christianity and had begged the Pope to protect the territory of the Slovak people, yet his life was not that of a true Christian. Svatopluk was a 54 SLOVAKIA fearless wairrior; he used any and all means to extend his power and attain his ends. In his private life he followed some pagan practices. Because Archbishop Methodius reproached Sviitopluk for his sinful life, he fell into disfavor with the regent. The regent of Great Moravia hated the Germans, yet he preferred to support the German clergymen, especially Wiching the bishop of Nitra, who conveniently overlooked Sviitopluk's shortcomings and incited him against Methodius. The saintly archbishop was hurt deeply by Sviitopluk's conduct, but suffered the humiliation silently because he knew that open opposition would only threaten the future of his apostolic work and hasten the downfall of haughty Sviitopluk's Great Moravia. When Archbishop Methodius felt that his life was drawing to a close, he called his priests, magnates and people together and, pointing to the priest Gorazd, said: "He is a free man of your country, well versed in Latin books, and orthodox. May it be the will of God and your love as it is mine." With these words Methodius named Gorazd, the Slovak, as his successor and died in 885. After Methodius died, Sviitopluk was dominated completely by German clergymen. He persecuted Slovak priests and finally chased them out of his realm. But this did not enhance his position with the Germans. King Arnulf was determined to prevent the existence of a large Slovanic state as a neighbor of his empire. Secrety he sought allies against Sviitopluk to break him and destroy his kingdom . .Arnn.tlf succeeded in gaining the wild Magyairs who ha,d come over the Carpathians several years before and had begun to colonize the fertile plains of the Danube and the Tisa. Arnulf attacked Sviitopluk's stronghold on several occasions, but in vain. During Sviitopluk's lifetime Great Moravia successfully resisted all assaults of the Germans. One of the mightiest rulers of the land of the Slovaks passed on with the last years of his life shrouded in mystery, when Sviitopluk died in 894. One beautiful legend has it that Sviitopluk realized at the end Ot:f his days that power, glory and military suc~ses cannot -satisfy the soul of a man with a burdened conscience. So, he decided to spend the last years of his life SLOVAKIA 55 doing penance in a monastery. Svatopluk left ho.s royal palace and went up to Zobor. There in the mountain he divested himself of his royal attire, killed his horse, and buried his sword. Then, dressed as a beggar, he knocked on the gate of the Zobor monastery and begged the monks to let him in. They did. Svatopluk spent the rest of his days in prayer, but nobody knew that he was the mighty ruler of Great Moravia. It was only at his death that Svatopluk revealed to the amazed monks his true identity. In 1885 - when Slavdom celebrated the millell!ial memorial of the death of Methodius - the Russian historian Konstantin Grot asked: "What was Slavdom prior to CyrJ and Methodius ?" and answered: "Scattered over the vast spaces of middle Europe, Russia and the Balkan Peninsula, among foreign and hostile nations, the Slovanic race, although gifted by nature with beautiful spiritual endowments, represented a torn, disjointed mass of different tribes without any consciousness of racial relationship ... " Cyril and Methodius unified the people of Rastislav, and their disciples brought Christian culture and national consciousness to the other Slovanic peoples in a comparatively short time thereafter. Saints Cyril and Methodius performed their mission, spreading the Gospel of Christ, within the territory settled by the ancient Slovaks. This has been well estab~hed by phuological analysis of the Cyrilo-Methodius texts, the Cividalian Gospel Book, legends and chronicles, names of people, rivers, mountains, c'hurches, and places, and, furthermore, ,b y scientific study of dialects am.d "bor.rowed" or foreign words. Dr. John Stanislav, Slovak historian and philologist, states with certainty that Met!hodius resided in Nitra and performed his mission in the land of the Slovaks. Dr. Francis Dvornik, Czech historian and rphilologist, confirmed this,. even though indirectly, when 'he wrote that "Slovanic liturgy in S'lovakia 01\ltlived the catastrophe of the Great Moravian IDmpire," and that the territory of present'day Slovakia was "in a definite sense the most cultured rpart of the Magyar empire" (more co'I'rectly: the Hungarian empire). Dvornik also noted that the Slovanic monks, after being e:,cpelled f:rom Czech lands, from the monastery of 56 SLOVAKIA Sazava, in 1055, found refuge in Slovakia, as well as the historical fact that Slovaikia rund her ancient Slovanic centers served as "half-way transmittin g centers" not only between Croatia, but even Kievian Russia. As far a:s the literary efforts of the Slovax .Aipostles and their immediate disciples are concerned, the document "Skazani" tells us that Constantin e (Cyril) and Methodius translated and wrote ma/Ily other books ( "i proceje knigy") . Dr. Stanislav wrote that "after his arrival in Great Mora,via, Oonstantin e translated abnost the entire ecclesia;stical ritual" and also completed the translation of the Gospel texts of all four evangelists , as well as the Acts of the Apostles and the Psalms. St. Methodius, according to Stanislav, continued in the woJ'lk !begun by his brother and, after the issuance of the glorious Bull, "Industriae tuae," by which the Slova;nic liturgy again was approved and permitted, "made a compendium of everything that was translated during the twelve years (869-881) of 'his independen t lea'dershi!p of t'he Great Moravian mission. He selected two priest 'rapidw,riters' and with them translated - probably dictated to them - the entire text of the Holy Bible - the Old and New Testaments , besides the books of the Maccrubees, within eight months." -Methodius also tra/Ilslated, or had translated, the Latin Missal, whrich is preserved as the so...called Kiev Missal; written in Gla,golic letters it is preserved in a copy from the tenth century with elements of the Great Mora,vian tongue. Stanislav also mentions the translation of the ri-. tual, the breviary and the oredo, which, according to the 'biogrruphy of Methodius, Svatopluk was swpposed to hruve prayed in the Slovak translation . Of the non-liturgic al books of the saintly brothers, Stanislav mentions the translation of the Nomocanon , or the Ko.rmcaja book, i.e., the collection of laws and regulations of the Byzantian rulers and Church Fathers, then Cyril's polemic treatise in Greek against the Jews which was translated by Methodius, and the original works "A P,reface to the Gospels" and "Writings About the True Faith," both written by Constantine . Among the original mementoes b,e- SLOVAKIA 57 long the so--called Pannonian-Moravian Legends, "The Life of St. Cyril amd Methodius," written, according to Stanislav, without a doubt in Great Moravia, also the "Praises of Cyril and Methodius," a'lld "about the end of the ancient SloV'a!k epoch of Slovak culture" - the legend about Naurn. One of the "1Morarvian-1Slova.k sons," Stanislav claims, also com... posed the ancient Slovak legend about St. Wenceslaus around the year 935. Sltanis1'av states quite clearly that this literary activity developed on Slovak territory and that in the "great wora along with Oyril and Methodius undoubtedly other sons of the Slovaik nation had a part, especially Gorazd. Traces of this are found particularly in many words of these mementoes." And since "these memoiTs were written for the religious, i.e., the cultural needs of the Slovalk nation, and ,p rompted by it, the predecessors of the Sl01Vaks took part in this work passively and actively, and, therefore, this literary work belongs also to our (Slovaik) national treasure." As for the content and extent of the cultural mission of Cyril and Methodius, Slovak scholars of Slavistics agree with K. J. Grot that in Great Moravia was made not only "the most important attempt at a political unification of the Slovanic peoples" - the Greater Moravian Union - but also that: 1. there "were laid the foundations for a national Church and a national Christian education; 2. there originated the draft and the directive for the future, for the entire subsequent, historic development of Slavdom, its world role and relation to Roman-Oermanic Europe, to the West, and to the Asi·a tic question; 3. the foundation of ChurchSlovanic literature and education in the Slovaruc South among the Bu:lgars and Serbs, and in the East among the Russians, and partly also among other western Slavs, was only a continuation of that wo'.t1k which Cyril and Methodius had !begun in Great Moravia." THE FALL OF GRJEAT MORJAVIA The Great Moravian Empire was established after the Slovanic tribes in the Danube region became united to fight a common enemy that threatened their existence - 58 SLOVAKIA the aggressive Germans. The regents of the empire were often forced to take up arms· to safeguard their independ.. ence. The danger of German aggression, however, was never removed. Great Moravia was able to withstand German pressure only as long as she was united and had a strong ruler, a personality like Svatopluk. When the mighty Svatopluk died, the external danger that threatened Great Moravia increased and, at the same time, internal dissention hastened the downfall of the first independent state of central Europe. Svatopluk's eldest son, Mojmir II, succeeded him as ruler of Great Moravia. A younger son, Svatopluk II, received a grant principality which was subject to Mojmir's rule. Mojmir II was a wise ruler and possessed the fighting traits of his illustrious father. He wanted to secure the independence of his country, but the times were very difficult. The Slovanic tribes, which the great Svatopluk had conquered by force, anxiously awaited the first opportunity to secede from Great Moravia. Soon after his accession to the throne, Mojmir Il was forced to relinquish Pannonia. The Czechs had seceded from the empire already in 895, because they preferred to be vassals of the German king than to be subject to Mojmir's rule. Shortly thereafter, the Serbians and the Vislani fell away, so that the total area of the empire under Mojmir II was reduced to that once ruled over by Rastislav. It was a state inhabited only by the Slovaks who formed the nucleus of Great Moravia. After the other Slovanic tribes seceded from the empire, the Slovaks remained alone on the historical crossroads of Europe. Mojmir II used all means at his disposal to secure his country against attack from its neighbors. In the meantime, Mojmir's younger brother, Svatopluk II, dissatisfied with his brother's rule, was being prodded by the Germans to revolt. German armies invaded Slovakia three times and pillaged the border lands, but Mojmir II staunchly defended his domain and successfully repulsed the invading Germans and even took over his brother's domain. The Germans garve Srviitopluk ]I a title land in Bavaria. SLOVAKIA 59 In 900 A. D. the Germans _again invaded Mojmir's territory, this time aided by the Czechs. After a terrific battle Mojmir II was forced to sue for peace, because his country was completely exhausted from constant warfare. After a peace was negotiated with the Germans, Mojmir sought to renew the church organization in the land of the Slovaks. After the expulsion of the disciples of Methodius and the death of Bishop Wiching, the Church was in a state of collapse. Mojmir II sent a special delegation to Rome with his request for aid. Pope John IX heard his plea and appointed an archbishop and two bishops to take over the burdens of the Church in the land of the Slovaks. Mojmir :LI worked assiduously and courageously to save his country from impending doom, but the odds were against him. To the danger from the west was added the menace from the east. The fierce Magyars, who from 896 had settled in the valley of the lower Danube and made continual attacks on their neighbors, tore into Slovakia in 902. Mojmir rallied his forces and successfully repulsed the Magyar hordes. But the nomadic Mongols were not to be denied. After every setback, they retreated and prepared for a new attack. The Slovaks defended the independence of their country heroically, but finally were overpowered by the overwhelming forces of their enemies. In 906 Moj.mir's state collapsed and the Slovak nation lost its independence. (Continu ed) • • • Kerner's "Czechoslovakia" (Cont'd.) HISTORY OR PROPAGANDA? P.A. HROBAK "The tragedy of Czecho-Slovakia's fate hinged, of course, not on whether this democracy treated her minorities 'justly' or not, but on the fact that the minorities were used as 'Trojan horses' for the aggressive policies of the neighboring Powers. After all, it is not even debatable that Germany's minorities, and particularly the Jews, have been treated with much less 'justice' than Czecho-Slovakia's minorities. The same statement applies to the fate of the minirities in Hungary and Poland. The Polish treatment of her minorities in  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The History of Slovakia (2/9) Description An account of the resource Philip A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 1 (22), March 1957 pp. 53-59 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1957 Relation A related resource continued from <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/200">Vol. 6, No. 3-4 (20-21), pp. 63-83</a><br />continues in <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/241">Vol. 7, No. 2 (23), pp. 57-64</a> LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2ec1d8d8e06dc222f3bc60fea84e770e.pdf c4d0ffaba97ff359ac0b327c65bede8a PDF Text Text 57 SLOVAKIA Red Czech regime of Prague. Hromadka returned to Prague ten years ago to head the "Czechoslovak National Church; when the Czech Reds took over all power in February 1948, Hromadka and his Czech church voluntarily offered to co·Operate 100 percent! It would seem that the Czech "reformers" are continually reforming against Christianity! (Continued) • • • The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK . CHAPTER THREE AFTER THE FALL OF GREAT MORAVIA There are no clear and reliable reports in historical sources to tell us when and under what circumstances Mojmir's country lost its independence. It is possible that the Slovak army, which clashed with the enemy so frequently, together with courageous Mojmir II, the last of the early Slovak rulers, perished in a final battle for the freedom of Slovakland. However, it is also possible that Mojmir IT, exhausted by constant warfare and without outside help in sight, did not venture into another war which he could not possibly win. Mojmir Il in his ten-year reign proved on more than one occasion that he was a sagacious ruler, and we can be certain that in those trying times he did what he deemed best for his country. From reliable sources we can learn only that in 906 A. D. Mojmir's country no longer was an independent state, because the Magyars marched through Slovakia in that year to aid the Slovanic Glomaches in their fight against the Saxons. Slovakia did not immediately fall prey to the Magyars who passed through it into neighboring countries on foraging expeditions. Slovakia only ceased to be an independent state. She no longer had her own ruler and could no longer defend herself, but she did not as yet belong under the rule of a foreign state. The German empire, exposed to the at- �58 SLOVAKIA tacks of Magyar hordes, could not take possesion of Slovakia, and the nomadic Magyars did not establish any kind of state for quite some time. The Slovaks, then, lost their state, but did not lose or abandon the country which they already had occupied for several centuries and, therefore, regarded it as their own homeland. The Slovaks retreated gradually from the open valleys near the Danube and the Tisa rivers to the North and settled in the hilly areas of Slovakia where they were relatively safe. Slovak geographical names along the banks of the Danube and 'l'isa show how far the land of the Slovaks extended in the tenth century. Despite all the calamities that befell Slovakia, her people preserved itself on her soil. At the foot of mountains, in the extensive valleys and deep gorges of Slovakland, that people safeguard€d its language, its time-honored customs and its Slovanic nature. The people of Slovakia did not mingle with other nations and, therefore, did not succumb to foreign influences. At the beginning of the tenth century, when the Slovak nation lost its political independence, Slovakia had behind it a full century of cultural development which began during the reign of Prince Pribina. Christian culture, which came to the Slovaks from Bavarian Passau (Pasov), Regensburg (Rezno), and Salzburg (Sol'nohrad) and met with the Christian culture of Byzantium, sank such deep roots in Slovakia that it sprea:d from the Slovaks, with the help of Slovak princes and priests, even to the neighboring nations. And this Christian culture outlived the fall of Great Moravia, became the permanent heritage of the Slovak nation, and gave the Slovaks a cultural and moral precedence over their eastern conquerors. With this heritage the Slovak nation placed itself firmly and for all time among the cultured nations of Europe. Even at the height of Magyar aggression, the ecclesiactical organization of Slovakland did not vanish completely. Nitra continued to be the center of religious life .Jt is possible that even after Wiching's death the bishopric was preserved in Nitra, and it is probable that even the Zobor monastery, in which, according to legend, King Sva- �SLOVAKIA 59 topluk died, survived all storms and was the center of Christian culture in the tenth century. The rulers of Great Moravia established in Slovakia a good state organization along western lines. The whole country was divided into smaller districts, called counties ("zupy" or "stolice"), which were governed by commissioners ("zupani"), who resided in castles or citadels ("hrady"). Some of these counties constituted a geographical unit with natural boundries and undoubtedly originated from territories of tribal ,principalities. These counties retained their .significance even after the fall of Great Moravia. The most ancient Slovak castles or citadels, which served as places of refuge for inhabitants of the respective counties, date from this period. The Slovaks had been farmers and husbandmen for several centuries and, therefore, knew how to till the soil and raise livestock. Besides the old . Slovanic art, which they brought from their old home beyond, the Carpathian Mountains, they lean1ed new trades from their neighbors, as is attested to by relics found in old Slovak castles and graves. The people of Slovakia did business with their neighbors; foreign merchants frequently came into Slovakia, bringing with them various commodities, and established places of business beneath the walls of Slovak citadels where marketplaces sprang up in the ninth and tenth centuries. The Slovak nation, therefore, possessed all the prerequisites to live in its own country even without a state of its own. SLOVAKIA ANN E XED BY HU N GA R Y Two states originated in the tenth century on the territory which once belonged under the rule of King Svatopluk: the Czech State in the west, and the Hungarian State in the east. These states, heirs to Great Moravia, developed gradually over the years. About fifteen various Czech tribes inhabited the territory known as Bohemia, which were being united under the rule of the princes of the Pfemysl clan. Prague became the main stronghold of Bohemia in the tenth century. The Pfemysl rulers broke with the Moravian kingdom soon after Svatopluk's death, recognized the supremacy of the �60 SLOVAKIA German empire, accepted Christianity, and began to build a united state on both banks of the Vltava river. Eventually the Czech nation evolved from the union of these tribes in the land of the Boii, Bohemia. One of the outstanding rulers of early Bohemia was Saint Wenceslaus (920-929 A.D.), who concerned himself with consolidating Christianity and living in peace with the Germans to spare his country and nation from a catastrophe that would have resulted from a war with them. Wenceslaus' friendly attitude with the Germans made his. brother Boleslav furious. His plan to put Wenceslaus out of the way was successful, and Boleslav took 9ver the reigns of government after Wenceslaus' murder. But even Boleslav had to yield to the Germans and pay them annual tribute. Succeeding Czech rulers also recognized their dependency on the German empire and helped the German emperors in their frequent wars with their neighbors. The Czech ruler Borivoj was baptized by St. Methodius during King Svatopluk's reign. When St. Methodius died, many of the Slovanic priests persecuted by Svatopluk escaped from Great Moravia into Bohemia. Thus it happened that the Slovanic liturgy was spread throughout Bohemia where it was used along with the Latin liturgy in the tenth century. Among the Slovanic priests who spread Christianity in Bohemia were also a number of Slovaks. It is very likely that Gorazd, successor to St. Methodius, lived in Bohemia and continued in the work which he was forced to abandon in Slovakia. Thus it was that the young Czech state became heir to the territory and the Christian culture of Great Moravia. In the second half of the tenth century the Czech rulers succeeded in uniting all the Czech tribes to build up a comparatively strong state, which--even though dependent on the German empire-made its own expeditions into neighboring countries and extended its boundaries eastward. In 973 A. D. a bishopric was established in Prague, which helped to unify and strenghten the Czech state. But the Hungarian state - which in the later half of the tenth century gradually developed on the territories once ruled by Prince Pribina and his son Kocel (Transda- �SLO\'AK!A 61 nubia)-also became partial heir to Svatopluk's empire and the Christian culture of Great Moravia. The new state inherited not only the lands once governed by the Slovak rulers, but also the culture which had been developed in those lands during the reign of Slovak rulers. The builders of this new state became the Magyars who settled in the fertile Transdanubian territory of Pannonia at the close of the ninth century, after the wild Huns and the bellicose Avars had abandoned the territory. The Magyars were of Turkish-Tartar (Mongolian) origin. Their ancient homeland was somewhere in southern Russia, north of the Black Sea. Like other nations of those times, the Magyars, too, were divided into several tribes until Arpad united them. Because they were exposed to frequent attacks of wild nomadic tribes, the Magyar tribes near the Black Sea began to migrate westward. Under Arpad's leadership they crossed the Carpathian Mountains and, during Svatopluk's reign in Great Moravia, conquered Pannonia, whence they menaced all neighboring nations. The Magyars fought on the side of the Germans against Svatopluk and Mojmir II and, therefore, contributed to the downfall of the Great Moravian Empire at the opening of the tenth century. Nomadic and bellicose in their habits, the Magyars spent most of their lives in the saddle. They were renowned horsemen who specialized in surprise raids on their neighbors. Their swift cavalry units pierced far into foreign lands, swooped down upon rich towns and monasteries to raid them and then, laden with spoils, returned to their encampments. They destroyed whatever they could not haul away. Like all nomads they avoided hard work, spent their time in roisterous living, ate raw meat, drank soured mare's milk, shaved most of their heads and braided the rest of their hair into queues. The Magyars were exceptionally bold and cruel. Their depredatory expeditions took them into the Balkan states, Italy and France, but they looted Germany more often than any other European country. The Magyars suffered a serious setback in 955, when King Otto crushed their forces near Augsburg. Otto's army �62 SLOVAKIA also had a well equipped Czech division. Most of the Magyar invaders perished in battle, but many drowned in the river Lech. After this catastrophe, the Magyars abandoned their predatory expeditions and changed their manner of living. To save themselves they had to settle down and live in peace with the nE:ighbors. In time the adventurous warriors became shepherds and farmers who learned to till the soil from their Slovanic neighbors. Bavarian missionaries came to the Magyars to instruct them in the Christian faith with which they already had become acquainted through their Slovanic neighbors. At the same time missionaries came also from the East so that the currents of western and eastern culture met on the territory of the rising state of Hungary. But Christianity took hold with difficulty among th Magyars who, by their very nature, did not know how to orientate themselves ot Christian teaching. At the close of the tenth century, St. Adalbert, Bishop of Prague, came to Hungary and labored vlith his band of missionaries to convert the Magyars to Christianity. At that time Hungary was ruled by Geza (972-997), who was building a new state in the territory of Pribina's and Kocel's principality. Geza already was a Christian, but still followed many pagan customs. His son Vajk took the name of Stephen at baptism and very zealously continued in the work of consolidating Christianity and building the Hungarian State. The nucleus of the political organization of the Hungarian State was Pannonia, the country which already during the reign of the Slovak princes in the ninth century had played a prominent role in the political and cultural history of central Europe. Slovakia, however, became the nucleus of the ecclesiastical organization of Hungary. It was the same Slovakia which already from the times of Pribina was a Christian country, the land which already during the reign of King Svatopluk had its own bishop and which, at the beginning of the 11th century, became the territory of the first and most significant Hungarian archbishopric, that of Ostrihom (Esztergom). The greater part of the territory, inhabited from time �SLOVAKIA 63 immemorial by the Slovaks, lying east of the Moravia river and north of the Danube, namely, Slovakia, became a part of the Hungarian state sometime at the end of the tenth .and the beginning of the eleventh century. But the western part of the Slovak land, which extended along the central flow of the Moravian river - from which it received its name Moravia (Morava)- seceded from Slovakia during those turbulant times. After losing its independence and a part of its territory, the Slovak nation, pressed on all sides by its stronger neighbors, did not have sufficient space to increase numerically and use all its energy to contribute to the building of its own life. Under such conditions the Slovaks remained a small nation, but even as such, they did not perish amidst the turbulant currents of history which swept over their country for long centuries. Into the new state, which was to be the home of the Slovak people for almost a thousand years, the Slovaks brought everything they had inherited from the times of their state independence. First of all, they excelled over the rest of the nations living in Hungary with their Christian culture. As has been frequently demonstrated in history, so even in this case it was proven tha.t a nation's culture is far more important than its numerical strength and military might. Slovakia, with the remnants of her ecclesiastical organization and state administration from the times of her political independence, preserved her individual status even in the new state of Hungary. After Slovakland was annexed to Hungary, it played a significant role in the building of the new state. This role was especially useful during the formation of international relations between Hungary and the German Empire, Bohemia and Poland, and in the building of internal relationships within the Hungarian state as well. When Hungary was on friendly terms with her western and northern neighbors, Slovakia served as a bridge for making friendly contacts. However, when Hungary was at odds with her neighbors, Slovakia became the battlefield on which issues were settled. The armies of the German Emperor, who wanted to establish his rule over Hun- �64 SLOVAKIA gary, the Czech armies which helped the German Emperor, and the army of the Polish king who became unfriendly with the Hungarian ruler, often tore into Slovakia, devastated the land and killed its people. At the very beginning of the 11th century, St. Stephen of Hungary quarreled with the mighty Polish ruler, Boleslaw the Brave (Chrabry). Polish troops invaded Hungary and occupied the whole of Slovakia as far as the Danube. The Polish occupation of Slovakia, however, was shortlived, because Boleslaw had other wars on his hands at that time and, therefore, was glad to give up Slovakia and conclude a peace pact with King St. Stephen. St. Stephen was an outstanding ruler ; he vanquished his enemies and, by propagating Christianity, fought against the paganism which still prevailed among the Magyars. He founded several Episcopal Sees and monasteries in order to strengthen the unity of the Hungarian State with the aid of ecclesiastical organizations. But pagan chieftains in the southern and eastern regions of his domain revolted against the zealous Christian king. During these crises Stephen found aid and succor in Slovakia. The Slovak magnates Hunt and Poznan gave the King military aid against the pagan rebels and helped to safeguard the integrity of the Hungarian State and Christianity in the Danube basin. Stephen, aware of the fact that various nations inhabited the territory of the Hungarian State, wanted each nation to regard Hungary as its homeland. He trained his son and successor Emery accordingly, that he, too, might rule wisely and justly all the nations of his kingdom. To St. Stephen is ascribed the dictum: A state with only one language is weak. (To be continued) • • • WHO SAID IT? "Some pussy-footing ostriches criticirze the treaty between Soviet Russia aind Ozeohoslovakia. Our close collaboration with the Soviet Union needs no explanation. We do not want anything from the Russia,ns e~cept protection frOiID the Germruns, and the Russians want nothlrng whatsoever from us." - (Jan Masaryk, BUSINESS WEEK, May 13, 1944). � 57 SLOVAKIA Red Czech regime of Prague. Hromadka returned to Prague ten years ago to head the "Czechoslovak National Church; when the Czech Reds took over all power in February 1948, Hromadka and his Czech church voluntarily offered to co·Operate 100 percent! It would seem that the Czech "reformers" are continually reforming against Christianity! (Continued) • • • The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK . CHAPTER THREE AFTER THE FALL OF GREAT MORAVIA There are no clear and reliable reports in historical sources to tell us when and under what circumstances Mojmir's country lost its independence. It is possible that the Slovak army, which clashed with the enemy so frequently, together with courageous Mojmir II, the last of the early Slovak rulers, perished in a final battle for the freedom of Slovakland. However, it is also possible that Mojmir IT, exhausted by constant warfare and without outside help in sight, did not venture into another war which he could not possibly win. Mojmir Il in his ten-year reign proved on more than one occasion that he was a sagacious ruler, and we can be certain that in those trying times he did what he deemed best for his country. From reliable sources we can learn only that in 906 A. D. Mojmir's country no longer was an independent state, because the Magyars marched through Slovakia in that year to aid the Slovanic Glomaches in their fight against the Saxons. Slovakia did not immediately fall prey to the Magyars who passed through it into neighboring countries on foraging expeditions. Slovakia only ceased to be an independent state. She no longer had her own ruler and could no longer defend herself, but she did not as yet belong under the rule of a foreign state. The German empire, exposed to the at- �58 SLOVAKIA tacks of Magyar hordes, could not take possesion of Slovakia, and the nomadic Magyars did not establish any kind of state for quite some time. The Slovaks, then, lost their state, but did not lose or abandon the country which they already had occupied for several centuries and, therefore, regarded it as their own homeland. The Slovaks retreated gradually from the open valleys near the Danube and the Tisa rivers to the North and settled in the hilly areas of Slovakia where they were relatively safe. Slovak geographical names along the banks of the Danube and 'l'isa show how far the land of the Slovaks extended in the tenth century. Despite all the calamities that befell Slovakia, her people preserved itself on her soil. At the foot of mountains, in the extensive valleys and deep gorges of Slovakland, that people safeguard€d its language, its time-honored customs and its Slovanic nature. The people of Slovakia did not mingle with other nations and, therefore, did not succumb to foreign influences. At the beginning of the tenth century, when the Slovak nation lost its political independence, Slovakia had behind it a full century of cultural development which began during the reign of Prince Pribina. Christian culture, which came to the Slovaks from Bavarian Passau (Pasov), Regensburg (Rezno), and Salzburg (Sol'nohrad) and met with the Christian culture of Byzantium, sank such deep roots in Slovakia that it sprea:d from the Slovaks, with the help of Slovak princes and priests, even to the neighboring nations. And this Christian culture outlived the fall of Great Moravia, became the permanent heritage of the Slovak nation, and gave the Slovaks a cultural and moral precedence over their eastern conquerors. With this heritage the Slovak nation placed itself firmly and for all time among the cultured nations of Europe. Even at the height of Magyar aggression, the ecclesiactical organization of Slovakland did not vanish completely. Nitra continued to be the center of religious life .Jt is possible that even after Wiching's death the bishopric was preserved in Nitra, and it is probable that even the Zobor monastery, in which, according to legend, King Sva- �SLOVAKIA 59 topluk died, survived all storms and was the center of Christian culture in the tenth century. The rulers of Great Moravia established in Slovakia a good state organization along western lines. The whole country was divided into smaller districts, called counties ("zupy" or "stolice"), which were governed by commissioners ("zupani"), who resided in castles or citadels ("hrady"). Some of these counties constituted a geographical unit with natural boundries and undoubtedly originated from territories of tribal ,principalities. These counties retained their .significance even after the fall of Great Moravia. The most ancient Slovak castles or citadels, which served as places of refuge for inhabitants of the respective counties, date from this period. The Slovaks had been farmers and husbandmen for several centuries and, therefore, knew how to till the soil and raise livestock. Besides the old . Slovanic art, which they brought from their old home beyond, the Carpathian Mountains, they lean1ed new trades from their neighbors, as is attested to by relics found in old Slovak castles and graves. The people of Slovakia did business with their neighbors; foreign merchants frequently came into Slovakia, bringing with them various commodities, and established places of business beneath the walls of Slovak citadels where marketplaces sprang up in the ninth and tenth centuries. The Slovak nation, therefore, possessed all the prerequisites to live in its own country even without a state of its own. SLOVAKIA ANN E XED BY HU N GA R Y Two states originated in the tenth century on the territory which once belonged under the rule of King Svatopluk: the Czech State in the west, and the Hungarian State in the east. These states, heirs to Great Moravia, developed gradually over the years. About fifteen various Czech tribes inhabited the territory known as Bohemia, which were being united under the rule of the princes of the Pfemysl clan. Prague became the main stronghold of Bohemia in the tenth century. The Pfemysl rulers broke with the Moravian kingdom soon after Svatopluk's death, recognized the supremacy of the �60 SLOVAKIA German empire, accepted Christianity, and began to build a united state on both banks of the Vltava river. Eventually the Czech nation evolved from the union of these tribes in the land of the Boii, Bohemia. One of the outstanding rulers of early Bohemia was Saint Wenceslaus (920-929 A.D.), who concerned himself with consolidating Christianity and living in peace with the Germans to spare his country and nation from a catastrophe that would have resulted from a war with them. Wenceslaus' friendly attitude with the Germans made his. brother Boleslav furious. His plan to put Wenceslaus out of the way was successful, and Boleslav took 9ver the reigns of government after Wenceslaus' murder. But even Boleslav had to yield to the Germans and pay them annual tribute. Succeeding Czech rulers also recognized their dependency on the German empire and helped the German emperors in their frequent wars with their neighbors. The Czech ruler Borivoj was baptized by St. Methodius during King Svatopluk's reign. When St. Methodius died, many of the Slovanic priests persecuted by Svatopluk escaped from Great Moravia into Bohemia. Thus it happened that the Slovanic liturgy was spread throughout Bohemia where it was used along with the Latin liturgy in the tenth century. Among the Slovanic priests who spread Christianity in Bohemia were also a number of Slovaks. It is very likely that Gorazd, successor to St. Methodius, lived in Bohemia and continued in the work which he was forced to abandon in Slovakia. Thus it was that the young Czech state became heir to the territory and the Christian culture of Great Moravia. In the second half of the tenth century the Czech rulers succeeded in uniting all the Czech tribes to build up a comparatively strong state, which--even though dependent on the German empire-made its own expeditions into neighboring countries and extended its boundaries eastward. In 973 A. D. a bishopric was established in Prague, which helped to unify and strenghten the Czech state. But the Hungarian state - which in the later half of the tenth century gradually developed on the territories once ruled by Prince Pribina and his son Kocel (Transda- �SLO\'AK!A 61 nubia)-also became partial heir to Svatopluk's empire and the Christian culture of Great Moravia. The new state inherited not only the lands once governed by the Slovak rulers, but also the culture which had been developed in those lands during the reign of Slovak rulers. The builders of this new state became the Magyars who settled in the fertile Transdanubian territory of Pannonia at the close of the ninth century, after the wild Huns and the bellicose Avars had abandoned the territory. The Magyars were of Turkish-Tartar (Mongolian) origin. Their ancient homeland was somewhere in southern Russia, north of the Black Sea. Like other nations of those times, the Magyars, too, were divided into several tribes until Arpad united them. Because they were exposed to frequent attacks of wild nomadic tribes, the Magyar tribes near the Black Sea began to migrate westward. Under Arpad's leadership they crossed the Carpathian Mountains and, during Svatopluk's reign in Great Moravia, conquered Pannonia, whence they menaced all neighboring nations. The Magyars fought on the side of the Germans against Svatopluk and Mojmir II and, therefore, contributed to the downfall of the Great Moravian Empire at the opening of the tenth century. Nomadic and bellicose in their habits, the Magyars spent most of their lives in the saddle. They were renowned horsemen who specialized in surprise raids on their neighbors. Their swift cavalry units pierced far into foreign lands, swooped down upon rich towns and monasteries to raid them and then, laden with spoils, returned to their encampments. They destroyed whatever they could not haul away. Like all nomads they avoided hard work, spent their time in roisterous living, ate raw meat, drank soured mare's milk, shaved most of their heads and braided the rest of their hair into queues. The Magyars were exceptionally bold and cruel. Their depredatory expeditions took them into the Balkan states, Italy and France, but they looted Germany more often than any other European country. The Magyars suffered a serious setback in 955, when King Otto crushed their forces near Augsburg. Otto's army �62 SLOVAKIA also had a well equipped Czech division. Most of the Magyar invaders perished in battle, but many drowned in the river Lech. After this catastrophe, the Magyars abandoned their predatory expeditions and changed their manner of living. To save themselves they had to settle down and live in peace with the nE:ighbors. In time the adventurous warriors became shepherds and farmers who learned to till the soil from their Slovanic neighbors. Bavarian missionaries came to the Magyars to instruct them in the Christian faith with which they already had become acquainted through their Slovanic neighbors. At the same time missionaries came also from the East so that the currents of western and eastern culture met on the territory of the rising state of Hungary. But Christianity took hold with difficulty among th Magyars who, by their very nature, did not know how to orientate themselves ot Christian teaching. At the close of the tenth century, St. Adalbert, Bishop of Prague, came to Hungary and labored vlith his band of missionaries to convert the Magyars to Christianity. At that time Hungary was ruled by Geza (972-997), who was building a new state in the territory of Pribina's and Kocel's principality. Geza already was a Christian, but still followed many pagan customs. His son Vajk took the name of Stephen at baptism and very zealously continued in the work of consolidating Christianity and building the Hungarian State. The nucleus of the political organization of the Hungarian State was Pannonia, the country which already during the reign of the Slovak princes in the ninth century had played a prominent role in the political and cultural history of central Europe. Slovakia, however, became the nucleus of the ecclesiastical organization of Hungary. It was the same Slovakia which already from the times of Pribina was a Christian country, the land which already during the reign of King Svatopluk had its own bishop and which, at the beginning of the 11th century, became the territory of the first and most significant Hungarian archbishopric, that of Ostrihom (Esztergom). The greater part of the territory, inhabited from time �SLOVAKIA 63 immemorial by the Slovaks, lying east of the Moravia river and north of the Danube, namely, Slovakia, became a part of the Hungarian state sometime at the end of the tenth .and the beginning of the eleventh century. But the western part of the Slovak land, which extended along the central flow of the Moravian river - from which it received its name Moravia (Morava)- seceded from Slovakia during those turbulant times. After losing its independence and a part of its territory, the Slovak nation, pressed on all sides by its stronger neighbors, did not have sufficient space to increase numerically and use all its energy to contribute to the building of its own life. Under such conditions the Slovaks remained a small nation, but even as such, they did not perish amidst the turbulant currents of history which swept over their country for long centuries. Into the new state, which was to be the home of the Slovak people for almost a thousand years, the Slovaks brought everything they had inherited from the times of their state independence. First of all, they excelled over the rest of the nations living in Hungary with their Christian culture. As has been frequently demonstrated in history, so even in this case it was proven tha.t a nation's culture is far more important than its numerical strength and military might. Slovakia, with the remnants of her ecclesiastical organization and state administration from the times of her political independence, preserved her individual status even in the new state of Hungary. After Slovakland was annexed to Hungary, it played a significant role in the building of the new state. This role was especially useful during the formation of international relations between Hungary and the German Empire, Bohemia and Poland, and in the building of internal relationships within the Hungarian state as well. When Hungary was on friendly terms with her western and northern neighbors, Slovakia served as a bridge for making friendly contacts. However, when Hungary was at odds with her neighbors, Slovakia became the battlefield on which issues were settled. The armies of the German Emperor, who wanted to establish his rule over Hun- �64 SLOVAKIA gary, the Czech armies which helped the German Emperor, and the army of the Polish king who became unfriendly with the Hungarian ruler, often tore into Slovakia, devastated the land and killed its people. At the very beginning of the 11th century, St. Stephen of Hungary quarreled with the mighty Polish ruler, Boleslaw the Brave (Chrabry). Polish troops invaded Hungary and occupied the whole of Slovakia as far as the Danube. The Polish occupation of Slovakia, however, was shortlived, because Boleslaw had other wars on his hands at that time and, therefore, was glad to give up Slovakia and conclude a peace pact with King St. Stephen. St. Stephen was an outstanding ruler ; he vanquished his enemies and, by propagating Christianity, fought against the paganism which still prevailed among the Magyars. He founded several Episcopal Sees and monasteries in order to strengthen the unity of the Hungarian State with the aid of ecclesiastical organizations. But pagan chieftains in the southern and eastern regions of his domain revolted against the zealous Christian king. During these crises Stephen found aid and succor in Slovakia. The Slovak magnates Hunt and Poznan gave the King military aid against the pagan rebels and helped to safeguard the integrity of the Hungarian State and Christianity in the Danube basin. Stephen, aware of the fact that various nations inhabited the territory of the Hungarian State, wanted each nation to regard Hungary as its homeland. He trained his son and successor Emery accordingly, that he, too, might rule wisely and justly all the nations of his kingdom. To St. Stephen is ascribed the dictum: A state with only one language is weak. (To be continued) • • • WHO SAID IT? "Some pussy-footing ostriches criticirze the treaty between Soviet Russia aind Ozeohoslovakia. Our close collaboration with the Soviet Union needs no explanation. We do not want anything from the Russia,ns e~cept protection frOiID the Germruns, and the Russians want nothlrng whatsoever from us." - (Jan Masaryk, BUSINESS WEEK, May 13, 1944). � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1957, Vol. 7 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 22), March 1957.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 23), June 1957.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 24-25), September-December 1957.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1957 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 57 SLOVAKIA Red Czech regime of Prague. Hromadka returned to Prague ten years ago to head the "Czechoslovak National Church; when the Czech Reds took over all power in February 1948, Hromadka and his Czech church voluntarily offered to co·Operate 100 percent! It would seem that the Czech "reformers" are continually reforming against Christianity! (Continued) • • • The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK . CHAPTER THREE AFTER THE FALL OF GREAT MORAVIA There are no clear and reliable reports in historical sources to tell us when and under what circumstances Mojmir's country lost its independence. It is possible that the Slovak army, which clashed with the enemy so frequently, together with courageous Mojmir II, the last of the early Slovak rulers, perished in a final battle for the freedom of Slovakland. However, it is also possible that Mojmir IT, exhausted by constant warfare and without outside help in sight, did not venture into another war which he could not possibly win. Mojmir Il in his ten-year reign proved on more than one occasion that he was a sagacious ruler, and we can be certain that in those trying times he did what he deemed best for his country. From reliable sources we can learn only that in 906 A. D. Mojmir's country no longer was an independent state, because the Magyars marched through Slovakia in that year to aid the Slovanic Glomaches in their fight against the Saxons. Slovakia did not immediately fall prey to the Magyars who passed through it into neighboring countries on foraging expeditions. Slovakia only ceased to be an independent state. She no longer had her own ruler and could no longer defend herself, but she did not as yet belong under the rule of a foreign state. The German empire, exposed to the at- 58 SLOVAKIA tacks of Magyar hordes, could not take possesion of Slovakia, and the nomadic Magyars did not establish any kind of state for quite some time. The Slovaks, then, lost their state, but did not lose or abandon the country which they already had occupied for several centuries and, therefore, regarded it as their own homeland. The Slovaks retreated gradually from the open valleys near the Danube and the Tisa rivers to the North and settled in the hilly areas of Slovakia where they were relatively safe. Slovak geographical names along the banks of the Danube and 'l'isa show how far the land of the Slovaks extended in the tenth century. Despite all the calamities that befell Slovakia, her people preserved itself on her soil. At the foot of mountains, in the extensive valleys and deep gorges of Slovakland, that people safeguard€d its language, its time-honored customs and its Slovanic nature. The people of Slovakia did not mingle with other nations and, therefore, did not succumb to foreign influences. At the beginning of the tenth century, when the Slovak nation lost its political independence, Slovakia had behind it a full century of cultural development which began during the reign of Prince Pribina. Christian culture, which came to the Slovaks from Bavarian Passau (Pasov), Regensburg (Rezno), and Salzburg (Sol'nohrad) and met with the Christian culture of Byzantium, sank such deep roots in Slovakia that it sprea:d from the Slovaks, with the help of Slovak princes and priests, even to the neighboring nations. And this Christian culture outlived the fall of Great Moravia, became the permanent heritage of the Slovak nation, and gave the Slovaks a cultural and moral precedence over their eastern conquerors. With this heritage the Slovak nation placed itself firmly and for all time among the cultured nations of Europe. Even at the height of Magyar aggression, the ecclesiactical organization of Slovakland did not vanish completely. Nitra continued to be the center of religious life .Jt is possible that even after Wiching's death the bishopric was preserved in Nitra, and it is probable that even the Zobor monastery, in which, according to legend, King Sva- SLOVAKIA 59 topluk died, survived all storms and was the center of Christian culture in the tenth century. The rulers of Great Moravia established in Slovakia a good state organization along western lines. The whole country was divided into smaller districts, called counties ("zupy" or "stolice"), which were governed by commissioners ("zupani"), who resided in castles or citadels ("hrady"). Some of these counties constituted a geographical unit with natural boundries and undoubtedly originated from territories of tribal ,principalities. These counties retained their .significance even after the fall of Great Moravia. The most ancient Slovak castles or citadels, which served as places of refuge for inhabitants of the respective counties, date from this period. The Slovaks had been farmers and husbandmen for several centuries and, therefore, knew how to till the soil and raise livestock. Besides the old . Slovanic art, which they brought from their old home beyond, the Carpathian Mountains, they lean1ed new trades from their neighbors, as is attested to by relics found in old Slovak castles and graves. The people of Slovakia did business with their neighbors; foreign merchants frequently came into Slovakia, bringing with them various commodities, and established places of business beneath the walls of Slovak citadels where marketplaces sprang up in the ninth and tenth centuries. The Slovak nation, therefore, possessed all the prerequisites to live in its own country even without a state of its own. SLOVAKIA ANN E XED BY HU N GA R Y Two states originated in the tenth century on the territory which once belonged under the rule of King Svatopluk: the Czech State in the west, and the Hungarian State in the east. These states, heirs to Great Moravia, developed gradually over the years. About fifteen various Czech tribes inhabited the territory known as Bohemia, which were being united under the rule of the princes of the Pfemysl clan. Prague became the main stronghold of Bohemia in the tenth century. The Pfemysl rulers broke with the Moravian kingdom soon after Svatopluk's death, recognized the supremacy of the 60 SLOVAKIA German empire, accepted Christianity, and began to build a united state on both banks of the Vltava river. Eventually the Czech nation evolved from the union of these tribes in the land of the Boii, Bohemia. One of the outstanding rulers of early Bohemia was Saint Wenceslaus (920-929 A.D.), who concerned himself with consolidating Christianity and living in peace with the Germans to spare his country and nation from a catastrophe that would have resulted from a war with them. Wenceslaus' friendly attitude with the Germans made his. brother Boleslav furious. His plan to put Wenceslaus out of the way was successful, and Boleslav took 9ver the reigns of government after Wenceslaus' murder. But even Boleslav had to yield to the Germans and pay them annual tribute. Succeeding Czech rulers also recognized their dependency on the German empire and helped the German emperors in their frequent wars with their neighbors. The Czech ruler Borivoj was baptized by St. Methodius during King Svatopluk's reign. When St. Methodius died, many of the Slovanic priests persecuted by Svatopluk escaped from Great Moravia into Bohemia. Thus it happened that the Slovanic liturgy was spread throughout Bohemia where it was used along with the Latin liturgy in the tenth century. Among the Slovanic priests who spread Christianity in Bohemia were also a number of Slovaks. It is very likely that Gorazd, successor to St. Methodius, lived in Bohemia and continued in the work which he was forced to abandon in Slovakia. Thus it was that the young Czech state became heir to the territory and the Christian culture of Great Moravia. In the second half of the tenth century the Czech rulers succeeded in uniting all the Czech tribes to build up a comparatively strong state, which--even though dependent on the German empire-made its own expeditions into neighboring countries and extended its boundaries eastward. In 973 A. D. a bishopric was established in Prague, which helped to unify and strenghten the Czech state. But the Hungarian state - which in the later half of the tenth century gradually developed on the territories once ruled by Prince Pribina and his son Kocel (Transda- SLO\'AK!A 61 nubia)-also became partial heir to Svatopluk's empire and the Christian culture of Great Moravia. The new state inherited not only the lands once governed by the Slovak rulers, but also the culture which had been developed in those lands during the reign of Slovak rulers. The builders of this new state became the Magyars who settled in the fertile Transdanubian territory of Pannonia at the close of the ninth century, after the wild Huns and the bellicose Avars had abandoned the territory. The Magyars were of Turkish-Tartar (Mongolian) origin. Their ancient homeland was somewhere in southern Russia, north of the Black Sea. Like other nations of those times, the Magyars, too, were divided into several tribes until Arpad united them. Because they were exposed to frequent attacks of wild nomadic tribes, the Magyar tribes near the Black Sea began to migrate westward. Under Arpad's leadership they crossed the Carpathian Mountains and, during Svatopluk's reign in Great Moravia, conquered Pannonia, whence they menaced all neighboring nations. The Magyars fought on the side of the Germans against Svatopluk and Mojmir II and, therefore, contributed to the downfall of the Great Moravian Empire at the opening of the tenth century. Nomadic and bellicose in their habits, the Magyars spent most of their lives in the saddle. They were renowned horsemen who specialized in surprise raids on their neighbors. Their swift cavalry units pierced far into foreign lands, swooped down upon rich towns and monasteries to raid them and then, laden with spoils, returned to their encampments. They destroyed whatever they could not haul away. Like all nomads they avoided hard work, spent their time in roisterous living, ate raw meat, drank soured mare's milk, shaved most of their heads and braided the rest of their hair into queues. The Magyars were exceptionally bold and cruel. Their depredatory expeditions took them into the Balkan states, Italy and France, but they looted Germany more often than any other European country. The Magyars suffered a serious setback in 955, when King Otto crushed their forces near Augsburg. Otto's army 62 SLOVAKIA also had a well equipped Czech division. Most of the Magyar invaders perished in battle, but many drowned in the river Lech. After this catastrophe, the Magyars abandoned their predatory expeditions and changed their manner of living. To save themselves they had to settle down and live in peace with the nE:ighbors. In time the adventurous warriors became shepherds and farmers who learned to till the soil from their Slovanic neighbors. Bavarian missionaries came to the Magyars to instruct them in the Christian faith with which they already had become acquainted through their Slovanic neighbors. At the same time missionaries came also from the East so that the currents of western and eastern culture met on the territory of the rising state of Hungary. But Christianity took hold with difficulty among th Magyars who, by their very nature, did not know how to orientate themselves ot Christian teaching. At the close of the tenth century, St. Adalbert, Bishop of Prague, came to Hungary and labored vlith his band of missionaries to convert the Magyars to Christianity. At that time Hungary was ruled by Geza (972-997), who was building a new state in the territory of Pribina's and Kocel's principality. Geza already was a Christian, but still followed many pagan customs. His son Vajk took the name of Stephen at baptism and very zealously continued in the work of consolidating Christianity and building the Hungarian State. The nucleus of the political organization of the Hungarian State was Pannonia, the country which already during the reign of the Slovak princes in the ninth century had played a prominent role in the political and cultural history of central Europe. Slovakia, however, became the nucleus of the ecclesiastical organization of Hungary. It was the same Slovakia which already from the times of Pribina was a Christian country, the land which already during the reign of King Svatopluk had its own bishop and which, at the beginning of the 11th century, became the territory of the first and most significant Hungarian archbishopric, that of Ostrihom (Esztergom). The greater part of the territory, inhabited from time SLOVAKIA 63 immemorial by the Slovaks, lying east of the Moravia river and north of the Danube, namely, Slovakia, became a part of the Hungarian state sometime at the end of the tenth .and the beginning of the eleventh century. But the western part of the Slovak land, which extended along the central flow of the Moravian river - from which it received its name Moravia (Morava)- seceded from Slovakia during those turbulant times. After losing its independence and a part of its territory, the Slovak nation, pressed on all sides by its stronger neighbors, did not have sufficient space to increase numerically and use all its energy to contribute to the building of its own life. Under such conditions the Slovaks remained a small nation, but even as such, they did not perish amidst the turbulant currents of history which swept over their country for long centuries. Into the new state, which was to be the home of the Slovak people for almost a thousand years, the Slovaks brought everything they had inherited from the times of their state independence. First of all, they excelled over the rest of the nations living in Hungary with their Christian culture. As has been frequently demonstrated in history, so even in this case it was proven tha.t a nation's culture is far more important than its numerical strength and military might. Slovakia, with the remnants of her ecclesiastical organization and state administration from the times of her political independence, preserved her individual status even in the new state of Hungary. After Slovakland was annexed to Hungary, it played a significant role in the building of the new state. This role was especially useful during the formation of international relations between Hungary and the German Empire, Bohemia and Poland, and in the building of internal relationships within the Hungarian state as well. When Hungary was on friendly terms with her western and northern neighbors, Slovakia served as a bridge for making friendly contacts. However, when Hungary was at odds with her neighbors, Slovakia became the battlefield on which issues were settled. The armies of the German Emperor, who wanted to establish his rule over Hun- 64 SLOVAKIA gary, the Czech armies which helped the German Emperor, and the army of the Polish king who became unfriendly with the Hungarian ruler, often tore into Slovakia, devastated the land and killed its people. At the very beginning of the 11th century, St. Stephen of Hungary quarreled with the mighty Polish ruler, Boleslaw the Brave (Chrabry). Polish troops invaded Hungary and occupied the whole of Slovakia as far as the Danube. The Polish occupation of Slovakia, however, was shortlived, because Boleslaw had other wars on his hands at that time and, therefore, was glad to give up Slovakia and conclude a peace pact with King St. Stephen. St. Stephen was an outstanding ruler ; he vanquished his enemies and, by propagating Christianity, fought against the paganism which still prevailed among the Magyars. He founded several Episcopal Sees and monasteries in order to strengthen the unity of the Hungarian State with the aid of ecclesiastical organizations. But pagan chieftains in the southern and eastern regions of his domain revolted against the zealous Christian king. During these crises Stephen found aid and succor in Slovakia. The Slovak magnates Hunt and Poznan gave the King military aid against the pagan rebels and helped to safeguard the integrity of the Hungarian State and Christianity in the Danube basin. Stephen, aware of the fact that various nations inhabited the territory of the Hungarian State, wanted each nation to regard Hungary as its homeland. He trained his son and successor Emery accordingly, that he, too, might rule wisely and justly all the nations of his kingdom. To St. Stephen is ascribed the dictum: A state with only one language is weak. (To be continued) • • • WHO SAID IT? "Some pussy-footing ostriches criticirze the treaty between Soviet Russia aind Ozeohoslovakia. Our close collaboration with the Soviet Union needs no explanation. We do not want anything from the Russia,ns e~cept protection frOiID the Germruns, and the Russians want nothlrng whatsoever from us." - (Jan Masaryk, BUSINESS WEEK, May 13, 1944).  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The History of Slovakia (3/9) Description An account of the resource Philip A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 2 (23), June 1957 pp. 57-64 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1957 Relation A related resource continued from <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/252">Vol. 7, No. 1 (22), pp. 53-59</a><br />continues in <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/229">Vol. 7, No. 3-4 (24-25), pp. 88-96</a> LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/7dc3bb2a80b7ecccde225334813a36b2.pdf 655dbddf4c55c09b133a0c019ccebd3e PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 88 The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A . HROBAK (Continu ed ) During St. Stephen's reign two holy hermits, SS. Andrew-Svorad and Benedict, came to Slovakia from Poland and Jived for a time in the forest near the confluence of the Dunajec and Visla rivers. Later they went to the Benedictine monastery on Mt. Zobor near Nitra. Desiring to continue their lives as hermits even in Slovakia, they left the monastery and retreated to the hills which stretched along the banks of the V ah near Trencin. Many legends have been recorded about these two selfless, holy men. The oldest of these, originating about 1070 A. D., was recorded by the Zobor monk Maurus, who later became bishop of Pee (Patikostolie). The Hungarian State which was gradually being formed in the Danube Basin was not united geographically, racially, or culturally. A large part of the population was of Slovanic origin. We must bear in mind that Slovanic peoples inhabited and developed the territory long before the advent of the Magyars, because the Magyars settled in the central part of the country. It took several centuries before these various parts of the Danube Basin grew together, before the hilly countries were settled and the borders of the Hungarian State spread to the highest crests of the Carpathian Mountain range which enclosed the Danube Basin. In such a political formation Slovakia did not lose her independence suddenly, but preserved her individuality even in the new State. The historical nucleus of Slovakia was from the beginning that part of the Slovak country which already in the first half of the ninth century appeared in history as the Nitra principality of Pribina, which even during the reign of Rastislav in Great Moravia had its own ruler - Svatopluk - and which during the latter's reign had its own bishop. The historical Slovakia, whose main citadel was Nitra, extended from the Danube to the north �SLOVAKIA 89 deep into the Slovak mountains and in the east spread even beyond the river Hron. Within the framework of the Hungarian State, Slovakia became the terrritory of the Ostrihom archbishopric and formed a part of the separate grant principality which was ruled by the sons or the younger brothers of the Hungarian king. In size, the territory was about one-third that of the entire Hungarian kingdom and was made up of two parts: In the east, near the upper end of the Tisa river, Bihar belonged to it, and, in the west, the western half of present-day Slovakia, that is historic Slovakia with Nitra as its stronghold. Slovakia, which was more mature even culturally, had a greater political significance than Bihar. Due to frequent struggles for the throne among the rulers of Hungary and the other members of the Arpad clan, the vassal princes who governed Slovakia had an opportunity to make close ties with their neighbors, especially with the Slovanic States. The grant princes resided in Nitra and often sought the aid of Polish, Czech and Russian rulers with whom they were on friendly terms and to whom they were related. Since German emperors, who sought to strengthen their rule in Hungary, often intervened in the internal struggles of Hungary, the territory of Slovakia in the eleventh century was the scene of many bloody battles. Emery, St. Stephen's son, was the first of the vassal princes to rule Slovakia; he also was the Crown Prince of Hungary. Because Emery died before his illustrious father, Vazul, the eldest member of the Arpad dynasty, was destined to be the successor to the throne of Hungary. Vazul, however, did not excel in Christian virtues, lived as a pagan and was imprisoned in the Nitra Castle, where even today the "Tower of Vazul" bears memory to that prince. Vazul's sons - Andrew, Bela and Levanta - were still pagans. When their father was blinded, they fled the country. Andrew and Levanta escaped to Russia, while Bela sought refuge at the court of the Czech King Bretislav. When Henry, the German Emperor, invaded Slovakia in 1042 A. D. to force the Hungarian king to acknowledge the supremacy of the German Empire, Bretislav came to �90 SLOVAKIA the aid of the Emperor with a large Czech army. Bela, who fought on the side of the victors, was made ruler of Slovakia. But Bela's reign did not last long; the Hungarian king drove him out of the principality soon after Henry returned to Germa.ny. Bela then sought the asylum of the court of King Casimir of Poland. The Polish monarch, engaged in a war with the Prussians and Lithuanians, welcomed Bela's aid. Bela won renown as an intrepid fighter. Shortly thereafter he was baptized, receiving the name of Adalbert, and wed to a Polish princess. In the meantime Bela's brother, Andrew, was baptized at the Russian court. The burden of kingship fell upon his shoulders in 1047. But at that time another rebellion was stirred up by the pagan Magyars in Hungary who wanted to destroy all vestiges of Christianity and institute paganism in the State. When Andrew took over the throne of Hungary, he called Bela from Poland and appointed him ruler of the principality of Slovakia. Bela was subject to his brother, but had his own court, coined his own money and in all respects was the ruler of his country. Since the German emperor never gave up the idea of subjecting Hungary to his rule, Bela often had to fight the Germans who invaded Slovakia. Andrew died in 1060 and Bela succeeded him as King of Hungary. Geza, his eldest son, was made prince regent of Slovakia, and Ladislaus, a younger son, was made ruler of Bihar. Geza proved himself an exceptional ruler, successfully defending his land against all neighbors, even against Salamon who became King of Hungary after Bela's death. In 1069 Geza repulsed the Czechs who had invaded Slovakia and occupied the land as far as Trencin. The following year Geza took the offensive and invaded Moravia. Heading Slovak divisions Geza often fought against the Hungarian king and the German emperor, Henry IV. In 1074 Geza defeated Salamon decisively and forced him into exile. When Geza ascended the throne of Hungary, he appointed Ladislaus regent of Slovakia. Geza, as a vassal prince, had founded the Abbey of St. Benedict in the Hron valley and endowed it with extensive lands in 1075. While in Nitra, he became a great �SLOVAKIA 91 devotee of St. (Andrew) Svorad and St. Benedict. He prized highly the iron chain which the saintly Svorad had worn and which had been given him by the abbot of Mt. Zobor Monastery. As the ruler of Nitra, he saw to it that the Episcopal See of Nitra was re-established. When Geza died in 1077, Ladislaus became King of Hungary. Lampert, a younger brother, was given the title of grant prince, but Ladislaus himself ruled over the entire State. At the end of the eleventh century Slovakia vanished as a grant principality, but even then did not lose its individual status in the Hungarian State. When Slovakia lost its status as a grant principality at the end of the eleventh century and was absorbed in the rest of the Hungarian kingdom, she ceased to play for a time an independent role within the state. In the political development of Hungary, Slovakia in the twelfth century did not have an independent significance not only because it did not form a political unit, but also because in those times the balance of political life in Hungary gravitated toward the South. At the beginning of the twelfth century the Hungarian lords gained the territories of Croatia and Dalmatia, strengthened their positions in those countries and came under the influence of the Byzantine Empire with which they established close contacts. Christian Europe was aroused to a high pitch of religious fervor and enthusiasm at the end of the eleventh century; the urge to liberate the Holy Land from the Mohammedan Turks was widespread on the entire continent. The Pope himself called upon all Christian rulers of Europe to march against the enemies of Christianity with the banner of the Cross as their standard. The first crusading expedition set out already in 1096 A.D. While the main forces of the crusade hurried by land or by sea to Asia to free the holy places from the infidels, motley contingents of adventurers, who ruthlessly pillaged their way across Europe, came after them. One wing of such an undisciplined group of French and German soldiers, under the leadership of Folkmar, raced through Bohemia and Moravia into Slovakia and looted the whole country. The inhabitants of the Vah valley and Nitra fought these adventurous despoilers. �92 SLOVAKIA They defeated a large part of Folkmar's warriors and put the rest to flight; but Folkmar continued to trail the Crusaders with his warriors. Similar catastrophies befell Slovakia in the twelfth century, when German emperors aided by Czech rulers threatened the independence of Hungary. Thus, in 1108, Emperor Henry V set out against Hungary to make war on the erudite King Koloman (1095--1116). The Czech Svatopluk took part in the expedition. When Emperor Henry besieged Bratislava, Svatopluk tore into Slovakia through Moravia to help him devastate the land. The Czech armies laid waste the V ah valley area from Trencin to the Danube, but could not aid the Emperor in Hungary proper, because Svatopluk was forced to return to Bohemia by domestic issues. Svatopluk again invaded Slovakia the following year, devastated the entire country as far as Nitra, but failed to take the castle there. Enraged by this failure, Svatopluk's warriors swooped down on the vicinity, burnt many villages and then returned to their country with much loot. Hostil~ relations between Hungary and Bohemia invariably were the cause of much bloodshed and misery in Slovakia. Therefore, Slovakia welcomed a much needed breathing spell after the defeat of King Stephen II (11161131) by the Czechs on the Moravian-Slovak border,when his successor Bela II (1131-1141), made peace with Sobeslav (1125-1140), the Czech king. War in the west between Hungary and Bohemia caused much suffering in western Slovakia, while hostilities in the east between Hungary and Poland brought disaster to eastern Slovakia. Peace was restored only after several campaigns and Slovakia lived in peace in the twelfth century. While political conditions in Slovakia were more stabilized in the twelfth century, important changes took place in the religious and cultural life of Slovakia. Already in 1083 A.D., during the reign of the saintly monarch Ladislaus, the hermits Andrew Svorad and Benedict were canonized and their remains were buried with great solemnity in St. Emeram's Church in Nitra. The Nitra bishopric, restored during Koloman's reign, included the central Vah �SLOVAKIA 93 and the Kysuca valleys, the region which later became the County of Trencin. King Koloman (Colman) issued a decree establishing ecclesiastical courts in Bratislava and Nitra. Probably at this time, too, the Benedictine abbeys of St. Mary in Kliz (upper Nitra) and Sts. Cosmas and Damian in Ludanice (Topolcany district) were founded. In the forest areas of central Slovakia, in 1135 A.D., an abbey of Premonstratentians was founded in Bzovik by the Slovak nobleman Lampert, who was a descendant of the ancient Hunt family. St. Stephen's abbey, church properties of which were near the Krupina and Ipel (Eipel) rivers, became an important center of cultural and religious life in this territory. The Spis prepositure also was established at the beginning of the twelfth century; it had jurisdiction over that part of the Ostrihom (Esztergom) archdiocese on the Slovak-Polish boundary. About the same time the Knight Templars also founded several monasteries in Slovakia. The Slovaks called the Templars "Red Monks" because of the red cross on their white cloaks. There were several Templar monasteries in Turiec and Liptov where many legends about the "Red Monks" are preserved even to this day. SLOVAKIA BEFORE THE INVASION OF THE TURKS The catastrophies which befell Slovakia from the ninth century were responsible for the fact that Slovakia lost its independence and finally became a part of the Hungarian State. But Slovakia, even after its incorporation into the Hungarian State, became the stage for constant warfare waged between Hungary and its neighbors. Slovakia suffered economically and its population was depleted. Yet it weathered all these storms and survived. Slovakia never ceased to be the country of the Slovak nation and the people, even under most adverse conditions, never left their homeland for others to move in. Of course, Slovakia was not as densely populated from the tenth to the twelfth centuries as it is today. Where the fertility of the soil assured a livehood, there people would settle. The most fertile regions were the lowlands of western and southern Slovakia along the banks of the Vah, �94 SLOVAKIA Nitra, Hron and Ipel rivers and, consequently, these regions attracted more people. From these areas the population advanced up the river valleys into the forest regions of northern and central Slovakia and, in the 11th and 12th centuries, established new colonies in the river basins and mountain velleys whereever it could till the soil and devote itself to animal husbandry. Already in the 11th century a stream of settlers, which advanced against the current of the Nitra, got as far as Turiec, where they came upon several older settlements which had existed since the times of Great Moravia. It was there that this group met up with another which was advancing up the Vah. From the confluence of the Turiec and Vah rivers, the population penetrated farther to the east, so that already in the 12th century Liptov was settled, whence the Slovaks gradually spread into the neighboring valleys. In the south, the Slovaks settled in the foothills of the Slovak mountains, penetrated into the northern part of the valley between the Danube and the Tisa, settled on the right bank of the Danube, where already in the 9th century there were several Slovak settlements, occupied th country along the north bank of the Tisa River and continued against the current of its tributaries into the fertile lowlands of eastern Slovakia, where they met with colonists who had come there from the west. Among the settled areas of Slovakia were the extensive mountainous regions which at that time were covered by a dense forest. Such a forest spread between the Hron and Ipel rivers (the Hont Forest), near the upper flow of the Hron (the Zvolen Forest), and near the upper flow of the Hornad (the Spis Forest). In these forest regions there were only small colonies which subsisted by hunting and animal husbandry. The greater the increase in population in the fertile areas of western and southern Slovakia, the greater was the stream of settlers which pressed into the mountainous regions. In those times countries and states did not have any accurate boundaries. Ordinarily the boundary was a forest which covered especially the hilly regions and descended �SLOVAKIA 95 down the slopes deeply into the valleys and plains. The broad belt of a dense forest was the safest border and, of course, the most reliable defense against an enemy. But even individual regions were separated from each other by forests. The western boundary of Slovakia was such a forest which covered the Small and the White Carpathian Mountains, stretched as far west as the Morava river and in places in the east came very close to the river Vah. The northern boundary of Slovakia ran along the forest which covered the crests of the Carpathian s and extended deeply on the north and south into the Slovak valleys. Such forests also separated the Nitra river valley from the Turiec Basin, Turiec from the Hron area and Liptov from Spis. HIGHWAYS OF SLOVAKIA Roads cutting through these forests connected the individual areas of Slovakia, and Slovakia with its neighbors as well. At the point where the roads led out of the bordering forest huge gates were erected. In times of danger these gates would be barricaded with huge trees. Sentry outposts were established near the frontier gates; it was their duty to defend the country against enemy attacks. When frontier guards noticed that a hostile army had entered the forest, they would barricade the gate and ma,ke a fire on the hill to signal that danger threatened . Geographic al terms, all relating to the word "gate" (brana)-li ke Brana, Branka, Branc, Branisko, Podbranc, Zavory, Zelezne vrata, Kamenne vrata, Vratna - indicate the places where such gates were erected. But outpost settlements were established not only near the frontier gates, but also along the entire frontier and near all roads. The memory of these sentry outposts has been preserved in such names as Hradiste, Hradok, Vysehrad, Hradec, Hradova, Hradna, Hradecnica (all from "hrad" - castle, fortress, citadel), Straz (guard), Straza, Straze, Strazisko, Straziste, Strazka, Strazky, Strazov, Straznica, Strazna hora, Strazske, Strehova. Sentry duty at these gates, along the frontier and near the roads, was often done by warlike foreigners, such as the Plavci, Pecheni and the Sikuli, who began to settle in Hungary in the 11th century. These tribes were by their origin, nature and tongue related to �li6 SLOVAKIA the Magyars with whom they later fused. In some Slovak areas even the Magyars settled as frontier guards. 'fhe names of villages, such as Sekule, Pecenady, Pecenice, Pecenany, Besenov, Besenova, Uhorska Ves, Plavec, tell us just where garrisons of foreign warriors did sentry duty. In many places only the "graves of pagans" are recalled as testimonials to these sentry posts. The most important roads which connected Slovakia with neighboring countries were: 1. The Bohemian highway, which led from Germany to Prague, passed through Brno, and near Holic entered Slovak territory. Through Sastin it led to Jablonica, where there was an outpost gate guarded on the east and west by a border garrison. Bi:ksad, Smolenice and Boleraz were outposts of this kind. This road then went through Trnava, crossed the river Vah near Sintava and continued on to Ostrihom, Vacov and Budin. 2. A second highway led from Znojmo in Moravia through Breclav into Brodsky, then through Straz and Sastin into Senice, and thence into Krajny where it entered the regions of the Vah Valley. 3. Another road crossed these roads near Sastin which led to Olomouc, Uhorske Hradiste, Straznice in Slovakia and then went along the left bank of the Morava into Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. 4. On the northeastern tip of the Alps near the Danube, at the southern spurs of the Carpathians, there was a famous gate through which the road branched out on both banks of the Danube to the east. From Bratislava one of these roads led to Nitra through Senec and Sintava, while the other passed through Trnava on its way up the Vah to northern Slovakia. This was the Vah valley road, which detoured through the Vlar pass into Moravia, through the Jablunkov defile to the Morava Gate, and thence into Poland, while another side road went along the Orava river to the Visla. From the Vah highway a side road went through Hlohovec into Nitra and through Turiec, below the castle of Vysehrad, toward the upper flow of the Nitra. (To be continued) � SLOVAKIA 88 The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A . HROBAK (Continu ed ) During St. Stephen's reign two holy hermits, SS. Andrew-Svorad and Benedict, came to Slovakia from Poland and Jived for a time in the forest near the confluence of the Dunajec and Visla rivers. Later they went to the Benedictine monastery on Mt. Zobor near Nitra. Desiring to continue their lives as hermits even in Slovakia, they left the monastery and retreated to the hills which stretched along the banks of the V ah near Trencin. Many legends have been recorded about these two selfless, holy men. The oldest of these, originating about 1070 A. D., was recorded by the Zobor monk Maurus, who later became bishop of Pee (Patikostolie). The Hungarian State which was gradually being formed in the Danube Basin was not united geographically, racially, or culturally. A large part of the population was of Slovanic origin. We must bear in mind that Slovanic peoples inhabited and developed the territory long before the advent of the Magyars, because the Magyars settled in the central part of the country. It took several centuries before these various parts of the Danube Basin grew together, before the hilly countries were settled and the borders of the Hungarian State spread to the highest crests of the Carpathian Mountain range which enclosed the Danube Basin. In such a political formation Slovakia did not lose her independence suddenly, but preserved her individuality even in the new State. The historical nucleus of Slovakia was from the beginning that part of the Slovak country which already in the first half of the ninth century appeared in history as the Nitra principality of Pribina, which even during the reign of Rastislav in Great Moravia had its own ruler - Svatopluk - and which during the latter's reign had its own bishop. The historical Slovakia, whose main citadel was Nitra, extended from the Danube to the north �SLOVAKIA 89 deep into the Slovak mountains and in the east spread even beyond the river Hron. Within the framework of the Hungarian State, Slovakia became the terrritory of the Ostrihom archbishopric and formed a part of the separate grant principality which was ruled by the sons or the younger brothers of the Hungarian king. In size, the territory was about one-third that of the entire Hungarian kingdom and was made up of two parts: In the east, near the upper end of the Tisa river, Bihar belonged to it, and, in the west, the western half of present-day Slovakia, that is historic Slovakia with Nitra as its stronghold. Slovakia, which was more mature even culturally, had a greater political significance than Bihar. Due to frequent struggles for the throne among the rulers of Hungary and the other members of the Arpad clan, the vassal princes who governed Slovakia had an opportunity to make close ties with their neighbors, especially with the Slovanic States. The grant princes resided in Nitra and often sought the aid of Polish, Czech and Russian rulers with whom they were on friendly terms and to whom they were related. Since German emperors, who sought to strengthen their rule in Hungary, often intervened in the internal struggles of Hungary, the territory of Slovakia in the eleventh century was the scene of many bloody battles. Emery, St. Stephen's son, was the first of the vassal princes to rule Slovakia; he also was the Crown Prince of Hungary. Because Emery died before his illustrious father, Vazul, the eldest member of the Arpad dynasty, was destined to be the successor to the throne of Hungary. Vazul, however, did not excel in Christian virtues, lived as a pagan and was imprisoned in the Nitra Castle, where even today the "Tower of Vazul" bears memory to that prince. Vazul's sons - Andrew, Bela and Levanta - were still pagans. When their father was blinded, they fled the country. Andrew and Levanta escaped to Russia, while Bela sought refuge at the court of the Czech King Bretislav. When Henry, the German Emperor, invaded Slovakia in 1042 A. D. to force the Hungarian king to acknowledge the supremacy of the German Empire, Bretislav came to �90 SLOVAKIA the aid of the Emperor with a large Czech army. Bela, who fought on the side of the victors, was made ruler of Slovakia. But Bela's reign did not last long; the Hungarian king drove him out of the principality soon after Henry returned to Germa.ny. Bela then sought the asylum of the court of King Casimir of Poland. The Polish monarch, engaged in a war with the Prussians and Lithuanians, welcomed Bela's aid. Bela won renown as an intrepid fighter. Shortly thereafter he was baptized, receiving the name of Adalbert, and wed to a Polish princess. In the meantime Bela's brother, Andrew, was baptized at the Russian court. The burden of kingship fell upon his shoulders in 1047. But at that time another rebellion was stirred up by the pagan Magyars in Hungary who wanted to destroy all vestiges of Christianity and institute paganism in the State. When Andrew took over the throne of Hungary, he called Bela from Poland and appointed him ruler of the principality of Slovakia. Bela was subject to his brother, but had his own court, coined his own money and in all respects was the ruler of his country. Since the German emperor never gave up the idea of subjecting Hungary to his rule, Bela often had to fight the Germans who invaded Slovakia. Andrew died in 1060 and Bela succeeded him as King of Hungary. Geza, his eldest son, was made prince regent of Slovakia, and Ladislaus, a younger son, was made ruler of Bihar. Geza proved himself an exceptional ruler, successfully defending his land against all neighbors, even against Salamon who became King of Hungary after Bela's death. In 1069 Geza repulsed the Czechs who had invaded Slovakia and occupied the land as far as Trencin. The following year Geza took the offensive and invaded Moravia. Heading Slovak divisions Geza often fought against the Hungarian king and the German emperor, Henry IV. In 1074 Geza defeated Salamon decisively and forced him into exile. When Geza ascended the throne of Hungary, he appointed Ladislaus regent of Slovakia. Geza, as a vassal prince, had founded the Abbey of St. Benedict in the Hron valley and endowed it with extensive lands in 1075. While in Nitra, he became a great �SLOVAKIA 91 devotee of St. (Andrew) Svorad and St. Benedict. He prized highly the iron chain which the saintly Svorad had worn and which had been given him by the abbot of Mt. Zobor Monastery. As the ruler of Nitra, he saw to it that the Episcopal See of Nitra was re-established. When Geza died in 1077, Ladislaus became King of Hungary. Lampert, a younger brother, was given the title of grant prince, but Ladislaus himself ruled over the entire State. At the end of the eleventh century Slovakia vanished as a grant principality, but even then did not lose its individual status in the Hungarian State. When Slovakia lost its status as a grant principality at the end of the eleventh century and was absorbed in the rest of the Hungarian kingdom, she ceased to play for a time an independent role within the state. In the political development of Hungary, Slovakia in the twelfth century did not have an independent significance not only because it did not form a political unit, but also because in those times the balance of political life in Hungary gravitated toward the South. At the beginning of the twelfth century the Hungarian lords gained the territories of Croatia and Dalmatia, strengthened their positions in those countries and came under the influence of the Byzantine Empire with which they established close contacts. Christian Europe was aroused to a high pitch of religious fervor and enthusiasm at the end of the eleventh century; the urge to liberate the Holy Land from the Mohammedan Turks was widespread on the entire continent. The Pope himself called upon all Christian rulers of Europe to march against the enemies of Christianity with the banner of the Cross as their standard. The first crusading expedition set out already in 1096 A.D. While the main forces of the crusade hurried by land or by sea to Asia to free the holy places from the infidels, motley contingents of adventurers, who ruthlessly pillaged their way across Europe, came after them. One wing of such an undisciplined group of French and German soldiers, under the leadership of Folkmar, raced through Bohemia and Moravia into Slovakia and looted the whole country. The inhabitants of the Vah valley and Nitra fought these adventurous despoilers. �92 SLOVAKIA They defeated a large part of Folkmar's warriors and put the rest to flight; but Folkmar continued to trail the Crusaders with his warriors. Similar catastrophies befell Slovakia in the twelfth century, when German emperors aided by Czech rulers threatened the independence of Hungary. Thus, in 1108, Emperor Henry V set out against Hungary to make war on the erudite King Koloman (1095--1116). The Czech Svatopluk took part in the expedition. When Emperor Henry besieged Bratislava, Svatopluk tore into Slovakia through Moravia to help him devastate the land. The Czech armies laid waste the V ah valley area from Trencin to the Danube, but could not aid the Emperor in Hungary proper, because Svatopluk was forced to return to Bohemia by domestic issues. Svatopluk again invaded Slovakia the following year, devastated the entire country as far as Nitra, but failed to take the castle there. Enraged by this failure, Svatopluk's warriors swooped down on the vicinity, burnt many villages and then returned to their country with much loot. Hostil~ relations between Hungary and Bohemia invariably were the cause of much bloodshed and misery in Slovakia. Therefore, Slovakia welcomed a much needed breathing spell after the defeat of King Stephen II (11161131) by the Czechs on the Moravian-Slovak border,when his successor Bela II (1131-1141), made peace with Sobeslav (1125-1140), the Czech king. War in the west between Hungary and Bohemia caused much suffering in western Slovakia, while hostilities in the east between Hungary and Poland brought disaster to eastern Slovakia. Peace was restored only after several campaigns and Slovakia lived in peace in the twelfth century. While political conditions in Slovakia were more stabilized in the twelfth century, important changes took place in the religious and cultural life of Slovakia. Already in 1083 A.D., during the reign of the saintly monarch Ladislaus, the hermits Andrew Svorad and Benedict were canonized and their remains were buried with great solemnity in St. Emeram's Church in Nitra. The Nitra bishopric, restored during Koloman's reign, included the central Vah �SLOVAKIA 93 and the Kysuca valleys, the region which later became the County of Trencin. King Koloman (Colman) issued a decree establishing ecclesiastical courts in Bratislava and Nitra. Probably at this time, too, the Benedictine abbeys of St. Mary in Kliz (upper Nitra) and Sts. Cosmas and Damian in Ludanice (Topolcany district) were founded. In the forest areas of central Slovakia, in 1135 A.D., an abbey of Premonstratentians was founded in Bzovik by the Slovak nobleman Lampert, who was a descendant of the ancient Hunt family. St. Stephen's abbey, church properties of which were near the Krupina and Ipel (Eipel) rivers, became an important center of cultural and religious life in this territory. The Spis prepositure also was established at the beginning of the twelfth century; it had jurisdiction over that part of the Ostrihom (Esztergom) archdiocese on the Slovak-Polish boundary. About the same time the Knight Templars also founded several monasteries in Slovakia. The Slovaks called the Templars "Red Monks" because of the red cross on their white cloaks. There were several Templar monasteries in Turiec and Liptov where many legends about the "Red Monks" are preserved even to this day. SLOVAKIA BEFORE THE INVASION OF THE TURKS The catastrophies which befell Slovakia from the ninth century were responsible for the fact that Slovakia lost its independence and finally became a part of the Hungarian State. But Slovakia, even after its incorporation into the Hungarian State, became the stage for constant warfare waged between Hungary and its neighbors. Slovakia suffered economically and its population was depleted. Yet it weathered all these storms and survived. Slovakia never ceased to be the country of the Slovak nation and the people, even under most adverse conditions, never left their homeland for others to move in. Of course, Slovakia was not as densely populated from the tenth to the twelfth centuries as it is today. Where the fertility of the soil assured a livehood, there people would settle. The most fertile regions were the lowlands of western and southern Slovakia along the banks of the Vah, �94 SLOVAKIA Nitra, Hron and Ipel rivers and, consequently, these regions attracted more people. From these areas the population advanced up the river valleys into the forest regions of northern and central Slovakia and, in the 11th and 12th centuries, established new colonies in the river basins and mountain velleys whereever it could till the soil and devote itself to animal husbandry. Already in the 11th century a stream of settlers, which advanced against the current of the Nitra, got as far as Turiec, where they came upon several older settlements which had existed since the times of Great Moravia. It was there that this group met up with another which was advancing up the Vah. From the confluence of the Turiec and Vah rivers, the population penetrated farther to the east, so that already in the 12th century Liptov was settled, whence the Slovaks gradually spread into the neighboring valleys. In the south, the Slovaks settled in the foothills of the Slovak mountains, penetrated into the northern part of the valley between the Danube and the Tisa, settled on the right bank of the Danube, where already in the 9th century there were several Slovak settlements, occupied th country along the north bank of the Tisa River and continued against the current of its tributaries into the fertile lowlands of eastern Slovakia, where they met with colonists who had come there from the west. Among the settled areas of Slovakia were the extensive mountainous regions which at that time were covered by a dense forest. Such a forest spread between the Hron and Ipel rivers (the Hont Forest), near the upper flow of the Hron (the Zvolen Forest), and near the upper flow of the Hornad (the Spis Forest). In these forest regions there were only small colonies which subsisted by hunting and animal husbandry. The greater the increase in population in the fertile areas of western and southern Slovakia, the greater was the stream of settlers which pressed into the mountainous regions. In those times countries and states did not have any accurate boundaries. Ordinarily the boundary was a forest which covered especially the hilly regions and descended �SLOVAKIA 95 down the slopes deeply into the valleys and plains. The broad belt of a dense forest was the safest border and, of course, the most reliable defense against an enemy. But even individual regions were separated from each other by forests. The western boundary of Slovakia was such a forest which covered the Small and the White Carpathian Mountains, stretched as far west as the Morava river and in places in the east came very close to the river Vah. The northern boundary of Slovakia ran along the forest which covered the crests of the Carpathian s and extended deeply on the north and south into the Slovak valleys. Such forests also separated the Nitra river valley from the Turiec Basin, Turiec from the Hron area and Liptov from Spis. HIGHWAYS OF SLOVAKIA Roads cutting through these forests connected the individual areas of Slovakia, and Slovakia with its neighbors as well. At the point where the roads led out of the bordering forest huge gates were erected. In times of danger these gates would be barricaded with huge trees. Sentry outposts were established near the frontier gates; it was their duty to defend the country against enemy attacks. When frontier guards noticed that a hostile army had entered the forest, they would barricade the gate and ma,ke a fire on the hill to signal that danger threatened . Geographic al terms, all relating to the word "gate" (brana)-li ke Brana, Branka, Branc, Branisko, Podbranc, Zavory, Zelezne vrata, Kamenne vrata, Vratna - indicate the places where such gates were erected. But outpost settlements were established not only near the frontier gates, but also along the entire frontier and near all roads. The memory of these sentry outposts has been preserved in such names as Hradiste, Hradok, Vysehrad, Hradec, Hradova, Hradna, Hradecnica (all from "hrad" - castle, fortress, citadel), Straz (guard), Straza, Straze, Strazisko, Straziste, Strazka, Strazky, Strazov, Straznica, Strazna hora, Strazske, Strehova. Sentry duty at these gates, along the frontier and near the roads, was often done by warlike foreigners, such as the Plavci, Pecheni and the Sikuli, who began to settle in Hungary in the 11th century. These tribes were by their origin, nature and tongue related to �li6 SLOVAKIA the Magyars with whom they later fused. In some Slovak areas even the Magyars settled as frontier guards. 'fhe names of villages, such as Sekule, Pecenady, Pecenice, Pecenany, Besenov, Besenova, Uhorska Ves, Plavec, tell us just where garrisons of foreign warriors did sentry duty. In many places only the "graves of pagans" are recalled as testimonials to these sentry posts. The most important roads which connected Slovakia with neighboring countries were: 1. The Bohemian highway, which led from Germany to Prague, passed through Brno, and near Holic entered Slovak territory. Through Sastin it led to Jablonica, where there was an outpost gate guarded on the east and west by a border garrison. Bi:ksad, Smolenice and Boleraz were outposts of this kind. This road then went through Trnava, crossed the river Vah near Sintava and continued on to Ostrihom, Vacov and Budin. 2. A second highway led from Znojmo in Moravia through Breclav into Brodsky, then through Straz and Sastin into Senice, and thence into Krajny where it entered the regions of the Vah Valley. 3. Another road crossed these roads near Sastin which led to Olomouc, Uhorske Hradiste, Straznice in Slovakia and then went along the left bank of the Morava into Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. 4. On the northeastern tip of the Alps near the Danube, at the southern spurs of the Carpathians, there was a famous gate through which the road branched out on both banks of the Danube to the east. From Bratislava one of these roads led to Nitra through Senec and Sintava, while the other passed through Trnava on its way up the Vah to northern Slovakia. This was the Vah valley road, which detoured through the Vlar pass into Moravia, through the Jablunkov defile to the Morava Gate, and thence into Poland, while another side road went along the Orava river to the Visla. From the Vah highway a side road went through Hlohovec into Nitra and through Turiec, below the castle of Vysehrad, toward the upper flow of the Nitra. (To be continued) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1957, Vol. 7 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 22), March 1957.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 23), June 1957.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 24-25), September-December 1957.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1957 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 88 The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A . HROBAK (Continu ed ) During St. Stephen's reign two holy hermits, SS. Andrew-Svorad and Benedict, came to Slovakia from Poland and Jived for a time in the forest near the confluence of the Dunajec and Visla rivers. Later they went to the Benedictine monastery on Mt. Zobor near Nitra. Desiring to continue their lives as hermits even in Slovakia, they left the monastery and retreated to the hills which stretched along the banks of the V ah near Trencin. Many legends have been recorded about these two selfless, holy men. The oldest of these, originating about 1070 A. D., was recorded by the Zobor monk Maurus, who later became bishop of Pee (Patikostolie). The Hungarian State which was gradually being formed in the Danube Basin was not united geographically, racially, or culturally. A large part of the population was of Slovanic origin. We must bear in mind that Slovanic peoples inhabited and developed the territory long before the advent of the Magyars, because the Magyars settled in the central part of the country. It took several centuries before these various parts of the Danube Basin grew together, before the hilly countries were settled and the borders of the Hungarian State spread to the highest crests of the Carpathian Mountain range which enclosed the Danube Basin. In such a political formation Slovakia did not lose her independence suddenly, but preserved her individuality even in the new State. The historical nucleus of Slovakia was from the beginning that part of the Slovak country which already in the first half of the ninth century appeared in history as the Nitra principality of Pribina, which even during the reign of Rastislav in Great Moravia had its own ruler - Svatopluk - and which during the latter's reign had its own bishop. The historical Slovakia, whose main citadel was Nitra, extended from the Danube to the north SLOVAKIA 89 deep into the Slovak mountains and in the east spread even beyond the river Hron. Within the framework of the Hungarian State, Slovakia became the terrritory of the Ostrihom archbishopric and formed a part of the separate grant principality which was ruled by the sons or the younger brothers of the Hungarian king. In size, the territory was about one-third that of the entire Hungarian kingdom and was made up of two parts: In the east, near the upper end of the Tisa river, Bihar belonged to it, and, in the west, the western half of present-day Slovakia, that is historic Slovakia with Nitra as its stronghold. Slovakia, which was more mature even culturally, had a greater political significance than Bihar. Due to frequent struggles for the throne among the rulers of Hungary and the other members of the Arpad clan, the vassal princes who governed Slovakia had an opportunity to make close ties with their neighbors, especially with the Slovanic States. The grant princes resided in Nitra and often sought the aid of Polish, Czech and Russian rulers with whom they were on friendly terms and to whom they were related. Since German emperors, who sought to strengthen their rule in Hungary, often intervened in the internal struggles of Hungary, the territory of Slovakia in the eleventh century was the scene of many bloody battles. Emery, St. Stephen's son, was the first of the vassal princes to rule Slovakia; he also was the Crown Prince of Hungary. Because Emery died before his illustrious father, Vazul, the eldest member of the Arpad dynasty, was destined to be the successor to the throne of Hungary. Vazul, however, did not excel in Christian virtues, lived as a pagan and was imprisoned in the Nitra Castle, where even today the "Tower of Vazul" bears memory to that prince. Vazul's sons - Andrew, Bela and Levanta - were still pagans. When their father was blinded, they fled the country. Andrew and Levanta escaped to Russia, while Bela sought refuge at the court of the Czech King Bretislav. When Henry, the German Emperor, invaded Slovakia in 1042 A. D. to force the Hungarian king to acknowledge the supremacy of the German Empire, Bretislav came to 90 SLOVAKIA the aid of the Emperor with a large Czech army. Bela, who fought on the side of the victors, was made ruler of Slovakia. But Bela's reign did not last long; the Hungarian king drove him out of the principality soon after Henry returned to Germa.ny. Bela then sought the asylum of the court of King Casimir of Poland. The Polish monarch, engaged in a war with the Prussians and Lithuanians, welcomed Bela's aid. Bela won renown as an intrepid fighter. Shortly thereafter he was baptized, receiving the name of Adalbert, and wed to a Polish princess. In the meantime Bela's brother, Andrew, was baptized at the Russian court. The burden of kingship fell upon his shoulders in 1047. But at that time another rebellion was stirred up by the pagan Magyars in Hungary who wanted to destroy all vestiges of Christianity and institute paganism in the State. When Andrew took over the throne of Hungary, he called Bela from Poland and appointed him ruler of the principality of Slovakia. Bela was subject to his brother, but had his own court, coined his own money and in all respects was the ruler of his country. Since the German emperor never gave up the idea of subjecting Hungary to his rule, Bela often had to fight the Germans who invaded Slovakia. Andrew died in 1060 and Bela succeeded him as King of Hungary. Geza, his eldest son, was made prince regent of Slovakia, and Ladislaus, a younger son, was made ruler of Bihar. Geza proved himself an exceptional ruler, successfully defending his land against all neighbors, even against Salamon who became King of Hungary after Bela's death. In 1069 Geza repulsed the Czechs who had invaded Slovakia and occupied the land as far as Trencin. The following year Geza took the offensive and invaded Moravia. Heading Slovak divisions Geza often fought against the Hungarian king and the German emperor, Henry IV. In 1074 Geza defeated Salamon decisively and forced him into exile. When Geza ascended the throne of Hungary, he appointed Ladislaus regent of Slovakia. Geza, as a vassal prince, had founded the Abbey of St. Benedict in the Hron valley and endowed it with extensive lands in 1075. While in Nitra, he became a great SLOVAKIA 91 devotee of St. (Andrew) Svorad and St. Benedict. He prized highly the iron chain which the saintly Svorad had worn and which had been given him by the abbot of Mt. Zobor Monastery. As the ruler of Nitra, he saw to it that the Episcopal See of Nitra was re-established. When Geza died in 1077, Ladislaus became King of Hungary. Lampert, a younger brother, was given the title of grant prince, but Ladislaus himself ruled over the entire State. At the end of the eleventh century Slovakia vanished as a grant principality, but even then did not lose its individual status in the Hungarian State. When Slovakia lost its status as a grant principality at the end of the eleventh century and was absorbed in the rest of the Hungarian kingdom, she ceased to play for a time an independent role within the state. In the political development of Hungary, Slovakia in the twelfth century did not have an independent significance not only because it did not form a political unit, but also because in those times the balance of political life in Hungary gravitated toward the South. At the beginning of the twelfth century the Hungarian lords gained the territories of Croatia and Dalmatia, strengthened their positions in those countries and came under the influence of the Byzantine Empire with which they established close contacts. Christian Europe was aroused to a high pitch of religious fervor and enthusiasm at the end of the eleventh century; the urge to liberate the Holy Land from the Mohammedan Turks was widespread on the entire continent. The Pope himself called upon all Christian rulers of Europe to march against the enemies of Christianity with the banner of the Cross as their standard. The first crusading expedition set out already in 1096 A.D. While the main forces of the crusade hurried by land or by sea to Asia to free the holy places from the infidels, motley contingents of adventurers, who ruthlessly pillaged their way across Europe, came after them. One wing of such an undisciplined group of French and German soldiers, under the leadership of Folkmar, raced through Bohemia and Moravia into Slovakia and looted the whole country. The inhabitants of the Vah valley and Nitra fought these adventurous despoilers. 92 SLOVAKIA They defeated a large part of Folkmar's warriors and put the rest to flight; but Folkmar continued to trail the Crusaders with his warriors. Similar catastrophies befell Slovakia in the twelfth century, when German emperors aided by Czech rulers threatened the independence of Hungary. Thus, in 1108, Emperor Henry V set out against Hungary to make war on the erudite King Koloman (1095--1116). The Czech Svatopluk took part in the expedition. When Emperor Henry besieged Bratislava, Svatopluk tore into Slovakia through Moravia to help him devastate the land. The Czech armies laid waste the V ah valley area from Trencin to the Danube, but could not aid the Emperor in Hungary proper, because Svatopluk was forced to return to Bohemia by domestic issues. Svatopluk again invaded Slovakia the following year, devastated the entire country as far as Nitra, but failed to take the castle there. Enraged by this failure, Svatopluk's warriors swooped down on the vicinity, burnt many villages and then returned to their country with much loot. Hostil~ relations between Hungary and Bohemia invariably were the cause of much bloodshed and misery in Slovakia. Therefore, Slovakia welcomed a much needed breathing spell after the defeat of King Stephen II (11161131) by the Czechs on the Moravian-Slovak border,when his successor Bela II (1131-1141), made peace with Sobeslav (1125-1140), the Czech king. War in the west between Hungary and Bohemia caused much suffering in western Slovakia, while hostilities in the east between Hungary and Poland brought disaster to eastern Slovakia. Peace was restored only after several campaigns and Slovakia lived in peace in the twelfth century. While political conditions in Slovakia were more stabilized in the twelfth century, important changes took place in the religious and cultural life of Slovakia. Already in 1083 A.D., during the reign of the saintly monarch Ladislaus, the hermits Andrew Svorad and Benedict were canonized and their remains were buried with great solemnity in St. Emeram's Church in Nitra. The Nitra bishopric, restored during Koloman's reign, included the central Vah SLOVAKIA 93 and the Kysuca valleys, the region which later became the County of Trencin. King Koloman (Colman) issued a decree establishing ecclesiastical courts in Bratislava and Nitra. Probably at this time, too, the Benedictine abbeys of St. Mary in Kliz (upper Nitra) and Sts. Cosmas and Damian in Ludanice (Topolcany district) were founded. In the forest areas of central Slovakia, in 1135 A.D., an abbey of Premonstratentians was founded in Bzovik by the Slovak nobleman Lampert, who was a descendant of the ancient Hunt family. St. Stephen's abbey, church properties of which were near the Krupina and Ipel (Eipel) rivers, became an important center of cultural and religious life in this territory. The Spis prepositure also was established at the beginning of the twelfth century; it had jurisdiction over that part of the Ostrihom (Esztergom) archdiocese on the Slovak-Polish boundary. About the same time the Knight Templars also founded several monasteries in Slovakia. The Slovaks called the Templars "Red Monks" because of the red cross on their white cloaks. There were several Templar monasteries in Turiec and Liptov where many legends about the "Red Monks" are preserved even to this day. SLOVAKIA BEFORE THE INVASION OF THE TURKS The catastrophies which befell Slovakia from the ninth century were responsible for the fact that Slovakia lost its independence and finally became a part of the Hungarian State. But Slovakia, even after its incorporation into the Hungarian State, became the stage for constant warfare waged between Hungary and its neighbors. Slovakia suffered economically and its population was depleted. Yet it weathered all these storms and survived. Slovakia never ceased to be the country of the Slovak nation and the people, even under most adverse conditions, never left their homeland for others to move in. Of course, Slovakia was not as densely populated from the tenth to the twelfth centuries as it is today. Where the fertility of the soil assured a livehood, there people would settle. The most fertile regions were the lowlands of western and southern Slovakia along the banks of the Vah, 94 SLOVAKIA Nitra, Hron and Ipel rivers and, consequently, these regions attracted more people. From these areas the population advanced up the river valleys into the forest regions of northern and central Slovakia and, in the 11th and 12th centuries, established new colonies in the river basins and mountain velleys whereever it could till the soil and devote itself to animal husbandry. Already in the 11th century a stream of settlers, which advanced against the current of the Nitra, got as far as Turiec, where they came upon several older settlements which had existed since the times of Great Moravia. It was there that this group met up with another which was advancing up the Vah. From the confluence of the Turiec and Vah rivers, the population penetrated farther to the east, so that already in the 12th century Liptov was settled, whence the Slovaks gradually spread into the neighboring valleys. In the south, the Slovaks settled in the foothills of the Slovak mountains, penetrated into the northern part of the valley between the Danube and the Tisa, settled on the right bank of the Danube, where already in the 9th century there were several Slovak settlements, occupied th country along the north bank of the Tisa River and continued against the current of its tributaries into the fertile lowlands of eastern Slovakia, where they met with colonists who had come there from the west. Among the settled areas of Slovakia were the extensive mountainous regions which at that time were covered by a dense forest. Such a forest spread between the Hron and Ipel rivers (the Hont Forest), near the upper flow of the Hron (the Zvolen Forest), and near the upper flow of the Hornad (the Spis Forest). In these forest regions there were only small colonies which subsisted by hunting and animal husbandry. The greater the increase in population in the fertile areas of western and southern Slovakia, the greater was the stream of settlers which pressed into the mountainous regions. In those times countries and states did not have any accurate boundaries. Ordinarily the boundary was a forest which covered especially the hilly regions and descended SLOVAKIA 95 down the slopes deeply into the valleys and plains. The broad belt of a dense forest was the safest border and, of course, the most reliable defense against an enemy. But even individual regions were separated from each other by forests. The western boundary of Slovakia was such a forest which covered the Small and the White Carpathian Mountains, stretched as far west as the Morava river and in places in the east came very close to the river Vah. The northern boundary of Slovakia ran along the forest which covered the crests of the Carpathian s and extended deeply on the north and south into the Slovak valleys. Such forests also separated the Nitra river valley from the Turiec Basin, Turiec from the Hron area and Liptov from Spis. HIGHWAYS OF SLOVAKIA Roads cutting through these forests connected the individual areas of Slovakia, and Slovakia with its neighbors as well. At the point where the roads led out of the bordering forest huge gates were erected. In times of danger these gates would be barricaded with huge trees. Sentry outposts were established near the frontier gates; it was their duty to defend the country against enemy attacks. When frontier guards noticed that a hostile army had entered the forest, they would barricade the gate and ma,ke a fire on the hill to signal that danger threatened . Geographic al terms, all relating to the word "gate" (brana)-li ke Brana, Branka, Branc, Branisko, Podbranc, Zavory, Zelezne vrata, Kamenne vrata, Vratna - indicate the places where such gates were erected. But outpost settlements were established not only near the frontier gates, but also along the entire frontier and near all roads. The memory of these sentry outposts has been preserved in such names as Hradiste, Hradok, Vysehrad, Hradec, Hradova, Hradna, Hradecnica (all from "hrad" - castle, fortress, citadel), Straz (guard), Straza, Straze, Strazisko, Straziste, Strazka, Strazky, Strazov, Straznica, Strazna hora, Strazske, Strehova. Sentry duty at these gates, along the frontier and near the roads, was often done by warlike foreigners, such as the Plavci, Pecheni and the Sikuli, who began to settle in Hungary in the 11th century. These tribes were by their origin, nature and tongue related to li6 SLOVAKIA the Magyars with whom they later fused. In some Slovak areas even the Magyars settled as frontier guards. 'fhe names of villages, such as Sekule, Pecenady, Pecenice, Pecenany, Besenov, Besenova, Uhorska Ves, Plavec, tell us just where garrisons of foreign warriors did sentry duty. In many places only the "graves of pagans" are recalled as testimonials to these sentry posts. The most important roads which connected Slovakia with neighboring countries were: 1. The Bohemian highway, which led from Germany to Prague, passed through Brno, and near Holic entered Slovak territory. Through Sastin it led to Jablonica, where there was an outpost gate guarded on the east and west by a border garrison. Bi:ksad, Smolenice and Boleraz were outposts of this kind. This road then went through Trnava, crossed the river Vah near Sintava and continued on to Ostrihom, Vacov and Budin. 2. A second highway led from Znojmo in Moravia through Breclav into Brodsky, then through Straz and Sastin into Senice, and thence into Krajny where it entered the regions of the Vah Valley. 3. Another road crossed these roads near Sastin which led to Olomouc, Uhorske Hradiste, Straznice in Slovakia and then went along the left bank of the Morava into Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. 4. On the northeastern tip of the Alps near the Danube, at the southern spurs of the Carpathians, there was a famous gate through which the road branched out on both banks of the Danube to the east. From Bratislava one of these roads led to Nitra through Senec and Sintava, while the other passed through Trnava on its way up the Vah to northern Slovakia. This was the Vah valley road, which detoured through the Vlar pass into Moravia, through the Jablunkov defile to the Morava Gate, and thence into Poland, while another side road went along the Orava river to the Visla. From the Vah highway a side road went through Hlohovec into Nitra and through Turiec, below the castle of Vysehrad, toward the upper flow of the Nitra. (To be continued)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The History of Slovakia (4/9) Description An account of the resource Philip A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 3-4 (24-25), September-December 1957 pp. 88-96 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1957 Relation A related resource continued from <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/241">Vol. 7, No. 2 (23), pp. 57-64</a><br />continues in <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/278">Vol. 8, No. 1 (26), pp. 60-64</a> LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/25c6222e686d29376116b9467f446ab3.pdf 0e3370bce8d294dca51f3e0edbd2de47 PDF Text Text 60 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK (Continued) 5. The city of Nitra was a significant crossroads in those times. An important highway went northward from the city, branched off into Trencin and connected the Nitra valley with the Vah river country. This road continued northward through Prievidza to Vysehrad on the Nitra and Turiec boundaries, then downriver towards the Vah where it connected with the Vah river road. This connection enabled Nitra to keep in touch with northern Slovakia and also with Poland. 6. Another road went out from Nitra towards the Danube to Ostrihom and Budin, and from there continued along the Danube to the Balkans. Two side roads branched off from this highway to the east: one turned from the mouth of the Ipel river, winding upstream into the valley of the Hornad, and then went into the valley of the Poprad river, and downstream to the Visla river into Poland; the other led from Budin along the southern foot of the Matra Mountain and the northern bank of the Tisa river into Zemplin and through the Saris country to the north. In addition to these main highways which connected Slovakia with the neighboring countries, numerous sideroads ran through the Slovak territory which connected individual Slovak regions and extended from valley to valley. These roads also went from castle to castle and, therefore, were called "castle roads" (hradske cesty). CASTLES OF SLOVAKIA A multitude of picturesque ruins of medieval castles is one of the special attractions of Slovakia. They bear witness of the centuries during which Slovakia was a frontier bulwark of Western European civilization against the continuous encroachment of the rapacious Turks. Life in those days was full of romance and danger. The most ancient castles in Slovakia were already men- �SLOVAKIA 61 tioned in the times of the Great Moravian Empire. Foremost among these was the Devin Castle, the residential citadel of the rulers of Great Moravia, which was an important border fortress near the Danube Gate even after Slovakia was annexed by Hungary. In the historical development of Slovakia, a significant role was played by the Nitra Castle which retained its importance in the succeeding centuries because of its strategic position. Wooden forts preceeded the mighty stone edifices of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The disastrous Mongol incursion of 1241 proved the inefficacy of the wooden structures and there followed a period of intensive building of castles with stone. This building activity continued well into the seventeenth century and ended with the foundation of Leopoldov in 1665 by Emperor Leopold I, which was closely modeled after Palma Nuova in Northern Italy. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the medieval castles no longer fulfilled the demands of military technique and, as the danger of further Turkish invasions ceased, their owners abandoned them to live in more comfortable quarters. Palaces replaced citadels. A few of the old castles were refashioned and to this day remain habitable. One of the largest and most interesting of the latter is at Bojnice which has no less than 218 halls and rooms, is encircled by wide moats, and has several massive, lofty towers. Near the Danube river, marking the southern border of Slovakia during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries, were the Ostrihom and Vysehrad castles which belonged to Slovakia even though situated on the right bank of the Danube. There were many fortresses along the Vah river, such as: ~intava, which guarded the passage across the Vah and which was later destroyed ; Hlohovec, which towers over the gorge that connects the Vah region with the Nitra country; and farther to the north, the castles Bana (today "Vesele' near Piesfany) , Beckov and Trencin. On the Nitra-Turiec frontier toward the extensive Vysehrad Castle which lost its importance in the 13th century, Tekov Castle was in the southern part of Slovakia, in the �62 SLOVAKIA Hron country, and Hont Castle was in the Ipel valley. The Budinec Castle was built on the northern slope of Mount Matra, and the Gerner Castle stood near the Bodrog river. In addition to these more significant castles of the 10-12th centuries, there were many other strongholds in Slovakia which provided protection and shelter for the people and their livestock in times of danger. As to the number and picturesquene ss of ruins, the Vah river compares favorably to the Rhine. The setting is possibly even more romantic and cer tainly more primitive. Many of the ruins are flanked by dense forests. There are some thirty of them, built mostly upon steep crags over looking the river. In the Middle Ages they were quite impregnable. Standing aloof from human habitations of today, their very isolation transports the visitor in spirit to bygone centuries of armored knights and robber barons, to the years when royal authority was rather difficult to enforce. The owner was truly lord over the land which his eye could survey. The mightiest and most accessible of the citadels on the Vah is at Trencin. Between the years 1301-1321 it was the residence of the famous Matthew Cak, "lord of Vah and of the Tatras, " who possessed more than thirty castles in different parts of the land. King Charles Robert of Hungary besieged him in vain. The only time the stronghold fell before an enemy was in 1528 after a month's arduous siege. The large stone cannon balls from this siege are still visible in the walls of the ruined castle. In 1663 the Turks and in 1704 Francis Rakoczy II tried to capture it, but failed. Fire reduced it to ruins in 1790. The most extensive ruins in Slovakia is Spis Hrad, situated in the Spis region. Built of white limestone, it glistens six hundred feet above the sur rounding landscape. It is huge, having no less than five large courtyards and 135 halls and rooms. The lookout tower has four stories. The walls are ten feet thick and reach an altitude of seventy feet. It is also one of the oldest castles in Slovakia, being mentioned already in the year 1120. It was abandoned in 1710 and devastated by fire in 1780. Undoubtedly the most memorable of the ruins of Slo- �SLOVAKIA 63 vakia is magnificent Devin, situated not far from Bratislava, some five miles towards Vienna. Devin is unique. It is unlike anything else to be seen in Europe. A romantic complex of ruins loom some 240 feet above the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers, right on the frontier between Slovakia and Austria. Here end the Carpathians, and across the Danube commence the Alps. The view from Devin is exquisitely beautiful. Regardless of season and weather it rewards the visitor with a vista which penetrates the soul. Towards sunrise you behold the majestic Danube flowing swiftly towards the Black Sea. Along its left bank are hills adorned with deciduous forests, and on the slopes, exposed to the southern sun, are vineyards, small and quiltlike, as are the fields on the more level opposite side of the stream. Also there are forests, restful to gaze upon, which ascend hills, the outposts of the Alps. During the first two centuries of our era Devin served as an outpost of the Roman Empire against the turbulent Marcomanni and Quadi, Germanic tribes living north of the Danube. It was fortified by the fourteenth legion. With the advent of the Slovaks about the sixth century, the place received its present appellation, named probably after the national godess "Deva" (girl, maiden). It became a refuge from the ruthless Uralo-Altaic Avars who held to the plains and to the swamps. As the Slovaks became united and powerful, it became one of the principal centers. It was here that King Louis the German besieged the Slovak Rastislav, ruler of the Great Moravian realm, without avail in the year 864. Right beneath the ruins lies the town of Devin, exetic and appealing, where life is placid, more like the gently flowing Morava than the more energetic Danube. Towards sunset you see the fertile plains of Austria, park-like scenery with villages and an occasional manor set in woods and fields. You see the Danube approaching, undulating, and forming many wooded islets. Across the Danube to the south you behold the Austrian town of Hainburg nestled beneath the ruins of the historic fortress of Altenburg, the Carnuntum of the Romans, headquarters of one of their legions. Finally, on the horizon to the southwest, the real Alps meet your avid gaze. Looking about upon the wonder- �64 SLOVAKIA ful panorama, you forget the woes and worries of everyday life and for the moment become a poet to whom the world is a paradise. Great Moravia, divided and embroiled, collapsed in 906 before the savage onrush of the Magyar horsemen. Devin, however, remained in the hands of the Slovaks well into the eleventh century. In 1683 it successfully withstood a siege by the Turks. The destruction of the castle was due to Napoleon who, in 1809, ordered it to be razed. Despite the fact that of the once mighty stone castle only two medieval towers and a few walls have been preserved, the ruins, nevertheless, present a majestic appearance. That which remains is stately and imposing. The site of Devin is truly immense. Its expanse is large enough for a dozen ordinary castles or fortresses. That, as well as its incomparable location, gives it majesty. The places where there were once lofty walls and wide moats can still be clearly distinguished. Devin is prehistoric as well as historic ground. Man was here long before the commencement of the Christian era. Bits of pottery from the Hallstatt period and remains of abodes from the second La Tene period have been unearthed by archeologists, who have been carrying on extensive excavations since 1923. The future is likely to further extend the past. For untold centuries it was strategically the most vital point of Central Europe. In its immediate vicinity were fought the battles which determined the fate of the heart of the continent. (To be continued) "The Deliverance of Sister Cecilia" - Farrar, Straus and Young, 360 pgs., $3.75. - The book tells the story of a Slovak nun who helped many Slovaks escape from their Communist-domin ated land to the west and then had to flee for her life herself, when the Reds learned about her activity. Sister Cecilia told her story to William Brinkley, assistant editor of LIFE magazine, who then wrote the book. Read this exciting book. Order your copy from SLOVAKIA. � 60 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK (Continued) 5. The city of Nitra was a significant crossroads in those times. An important highway went northward from the city, branched off into Trencin and connected the Nitra valley with the Vah river country. This road continued northward through Prievidza to Vysehrad on the Nitra and Turiec boundaries, then downriver towards the Vah where it connected with the Vah river road. This connection enabled Nitra to keep in touch with northern Slovakia and also with Poland. 6. Another road went out from Nitra towards the Danube to Ostrihom and Budin, and from there continued along the Danube to the Balkans. Two side roads branched off from this highway to the east: one turned from the mouth of the Ipel river, winding upstream into the valley of the Hornad, and then went into the valley of the Poprad river, and downstream to the Visla river into Poland; the other led from Budin along the southern foot of the Matra Mountain and the northern bank of the Tisa river into Zemplin and through the Saris country to the north. In addition to these main highways which connected Slovakia with the neighboring countries, numerous sideroads ran through the Slovak territory which connected individual Slovak regions and extended from valley to valley. These roads also went from castle to castle and, therefore, were called "castle roads" (hradske cesty). CASTLES OF SLOVAKIA A multitude of picturesque ruins of medieval castles is one of the special attractions of Slovakia. They bear witness of the centuries during which Slovakia was a frontier bulwark of Western European civilization against the continuous encroachment of the rapacious Turks. Life in those days was full of romance and danger. The most ancient castles in Slovakia were already men- �SLOVAKIA 61 tioned in the times of the Great Moravian Empire. Foremost among these was the Devin Castle, the residential citadel of the rulers of Great Moravia, which was an important border fortress near the Danube Gate even after Slovakia was annexed by Hungary. In the historical development of Slovakia, a significant role was played by the Nitra Castle which retained its importance in the succeeding centuries because of its strategic position. Wooden forts preceeded the mighty stone edifices of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The disastrous Mongol incursion of 1241 proved the inefficacy of the wooden structures and there followed a period of intensive building of castles with stone. This building activity continued well into the seventeenth century and ended with the foundation of Leopoldov in 1665 by Emperor Leopold I, which was closely modeled after Palma Nuova in Northern Italy. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the medieval castles no longer fulfilled the demands of military technique and, as the danger of further Turkish invasions ceased, their owners abandoned them to live in more comfortable quarters. Palaces replaced citadels. A few of the old castles were refashioned and to this day remain habitable. One of the largest and most interesting of the latter is at Bojnice which has no less than 218 halls and rooms, is encircled by wide moats, and has several massive, lofty towers. Near the Danube river, marking the southern border of Slovakia during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries, were the Ostrihom and Vysehrad castles which belonged to Slovakia even though situated on the right bank of the Danube. There were many fortresses along the Vah river, such as: ~intava, which guarded the passage across the Vah and which was later destroyed ; Hlohovec, which towers over the gorge that connects the Vah region with the Nitra country; and farther to the north, the castles Bana (today "Vesele' near Piesfany) , Beckov and Trencin. On the Nitra-Turiec frontier toward the extensive Vysehrad Castle which lost its importance in the 13th century, Tekov Castle was in the southern part of Slovakia, in the �62 SLOVAKIA Hron country, and Hont Castle was in the Ipel valley. The Budinec Castle was built on the northern slope of Mount Matra, and the Gerner Castle stood near the Bodrog river. In addition to these more significant castles of the 10-12th centuries, there were many other strongholds in Slovakia which provided protection and shelter for the people and their livestock in times of danger. As to the number and picturesquene ss of ruins, the Vah river compares favorably to the Rhine. The setting is possibly even more romantic and cer tainly more primitive. Many of the ruins are flanked by dense forests. There are some thirty of them, built mostly upon steep crags over looking the river. In the Middle Ages they were quite impregnable. Standing aloof from human habitations of today, their very isolation transports the visitor in spirit to bygone centuries of armored knights and robber barons, to the years when royal authority was rather difficult to enforce. The owner was truly lord over the land which his eye could survey. The mightiest and most accessible of the citadels on the Vah is at Trencin. Between the years 1301-1321 it was the residence of the famous Matthew Cak, "lord of Vah and of the Tatras, " who possessed more than thirty castles in different parts of the land. King Charles Robert of Hungary besieged him in vain. The only time the stronghold fell before an enemy was in 1528 after a month's arduous siege. The large stone cannon balls from this siege are still visible in the walls of the ruined castle. In 1663 the Turks and in 1704 Francis Rakoczy II tried to capture it, but failed. Fire reduced it to ruins in 1790. The most extensive ruins in Slovakia is Spis Hrad, situated in the Spis region. Built of white limestone, it glistens six hundred feet above the sur rounding landscape. It is huge, having no less than five large courtyards and 135 halls and rooms. The lookout tower has four stories. The walls are ten feet thick and reach an altitude of seventy feet. It is also one of the oldest castles in Slovakia, being mentioned already in the year 1120. It was abandoned in 1710 and devastated by fire in 1780. Undoubtedly the most memorable of the ruins of Slo- �SLOVAKIA 63 vakia is magnificent Devin, situated not far from Bratislava, some five miles towards Vienna. Devin is unique. It is unlike anything else to be seen in Europe. A romantic complex of ruins loom some 240 feet above the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers, right on the frontier between Slovakia and Austria. Here end the Carpathians, and across the Danube commence the Alps. The view from Devin is exquisitely beautiful. Regardless of season and weather it rewards the visitor with a vista which penetrates the soul. Towards sunrise you behold the majestic Danube flowing swiftly towards the Black Sea. Along its left bank are hills adorned with deciduous forests, and on the slopes, exposed to the southern sun, are vineyards, small and quiltlike, as are the fields on the more level opposite side of the stream. Also there are forests, restful to gaze upon, which ascend hills, the outposts of the Alps. During the first two centuries of our era Devin served as an outpost of the Roman Empire against the turbulent Marcomanni and Quadi, Germanic tribes living north of the Danube. It was fortified by the fourteenth legion. With the advent of the Slovaks about the sixth century, the place received its present appellation, named probably after the national godess "Deva" (girl, maiden). It became a refuge from the ruthless Uralo-Altaic Avars who held to the plains and to the swamps. As the Slovaks became united and powerful, it became one of the principal centers. It was here that King Louis the German besieged the Slovak Rastislav, ruler of the Great Moravian realm, without avail in the year 864. Right beneath the ruins lies the town of Devin, exetic and appealing, where life is placid, more like the gently flowing Morava than the more energetic Danube. Towards sunset you see the fertile plains of Austria, park-like scenery with villages and an occasional manor set in woods and fields. You see the Danube approaching, undulating, and forming many wooded islets. Across the Danube to the south you behold the Austrian town of Hainburg nestled beneath the ruins of the historic fortress of Altenburg, the Carnuntum of the Romans, headquarters of one of their legions. Finally, on the horizon to the southwest, the real Alps meet your avid gaze. Looking about upon the wonder- �64 SLOVAKIA ful panorama, you forget the woes and worries of everyday life and for the moment become a poet to whom the world is a paradise. Great Moravia, divided and embroiled, collapsed in 906 before the savage onrush of the Magyar horsemen. Devin, however, remained in the hands of the Slovaks well into the eleventh century. In 1683 it successfully withstood a siege by the Turks. The destruction of the castle was due to Napoleon who, in 1809, ordered it to be razed. Despite the fact that of the once mighty stone castle only two medieval towers and a few walls have been preserved, the ruins, nevertheless, present a majestic appearance. That which remains is stately and imposing. The site of Devin is truly immense. Its expanse is large enough for a dozen ordinary castles or fortresses. That, as well as its incomparable location, gives it majesty. The places where there were once lofty walls and wide moats can still be clearly distinguished. Devin is prehistoric as well as historic ground. Man was here long before the commencement of the Christian era. Bits of pottery from the Hallstatt period and remains of abodes from the second La Tene period have been unearthed by archeologists, who have been carrying on extensive excavations since 1923. The future is likely to further extend the past. For untold centuries it was strategically the most vital point of Central Europe. In its immediate vicinity were fought the battles which determined the fate of the heart of the continent. (To be continued) "The Deliverance of Sister Cecilia" - Farrar, Straus and Young, 360 pgs., $3.75. - The book tells the story of a Slovak nun who helped many Slovaks escape from their Communist-domin ated land to the west and then had to flee for her life herself, when the Reds learned about her activity. Sister Cecilia told her story to William Brinkley, assistant editor of LIFE magazine, who then wrote the book. Read this exciting book. Order your copy from SLOVAKIA. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958, Vol. 8 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 26), March 1958.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 27), June 1958.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 28), December 1958.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 60 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK (Continued) 5. The city of Nitra was a significant crossroads in those times. An important highway went northward from the city, branched off into Trencin and connected the Nitra valley with the Vah river country. This road continued northward through Prievidza to Vysehrad on the Nitra and Turiec boundaries, then downriver towards the Vah where it connected with the Vah river road. This connection enabled Nitra to keep in touch with northern Slovakia and also with Poland. 6. Another road went out from Nitra towards the Danube to Ostrihom and Budin, and from there continued along the Danube to the Balkans. Two side roads branched off from this highway to the east: one turned from the mouth of the Ipel river, winding upstream into the valley of the Hornad, and then went into the valley of the Poprad river, and downstream to the Visla river into Poland; the other led from Budin along the southern foot of the Matra Mountain and the northern bank of the Tisa river into Zemplin and through the Saris country to the north. In addition to these main highways which connected Slovakia with the neighboring countries, numerous sideroads ran through the Slovak territory which connected individual Slovak regions and extended from valley to valley. These roads also went from castle to castle and, therefore, were called "castle roads" (hradske cesty). CASTLES OF SLOVAKIA A multitude of picturesque ruins of medieval castles is one of the special attractions of Slovakia. They bear witness of the centuries during which Slovakia was a frontier bulwark of Western European civilization against the continuous encroachment of the rapacious Turks. Life in those days was full of romance and danger. The most ancient castles in Slovakia were already men- SLOVAKIA 61 tioned in the times of the Great Moravian Empire. Foremost among these was the Devin Castle, the residential citadel of the rulers of Great Moravia, which was an important border fortress near the Danube Gate even after Slovakia was annexed by Hungary. In the historical development of Slovakia, a significant role was played by the Nitra Castle which retained its importance in the succeeding centuries because of its strategic position. Wooden forts preceeded the mighty stone edifices of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The disastrous Mongol incursion of 1241 proved the inefficacy of the wooden structures and there followed a period of intensive building of castles with stone. This building activity continued well into the seventeenth century and ended with the foundation of Leopoldov in 1665 by Emperor Leopold I, which was closely modeled after Palma Nuova in Northern Italy. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the medieval castles no longer fulfilled the demands of military technique and, as the danger of further Turkish invasions ceased, their owners abandoned them to live in more comfortable quarters. Palaces replaced citadels. A few of the old castles were refashioned and to this day remain habitable. One of the largest and most interesting of the latter is at Bojnice which has no less than 218 halls and rooms, is encircled by wide moats, and has several massive, lofty towers. Near the Danube river, marking the southern border of Slovakia during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries, were the Ostrihom and Vysehrad castles which belonged to Slovakia even though situated on the right bank of the Danube. There were many fortresses along the Vah river, such as: ~intava, which guarded the passage across the Vah and which was later destroyed ; Hlohovec, which towers over the gorge that connects the Vah region with the Nitra country; and farther to the north, the castles Bana (today "Vesele' near Piesfany) , Beckov and Trencin. On the Nitra-Turiec frontier toward the extensive Vysehrad Castle which lost its importance in the 13th century, Tekov Castle was in the southern part of Slovakia, in the 62 SLOVAKIA Hron country, and Hont Castle was in the Ipel valley. The Budinec Castle was built on the northern slope of Mount Matra, and the Gerner Castle stood near the Bodrog river. In addition to these more significant castles of the 10-12th centuries, there were many other strongholds in Slovakia which provided protection and shelter for the people and their livestock in times of danger. As to the number and picturesquene ss of ruins, the Vah river compares favorably to the Rhine. The setting is possibly even more romantic and cer tainly more primitive. Many of the ruins are flanked by dense forests. There are some thirty of them, built mostly upon steep crags over looking the river. In the Middle Ages they were quite impregnable. Standing aloof from human habitations of today, their very isolation transports the visitor in spirit to bygone centuries of armored knights and robber barons, to the years when royal authority was rather difficult to enforce. The owner was truly lord over the land which his eye could survey. The mightiest and most accessible of the citadels on the Vah is at Trencin. Between the years 1301-1321 it was the residence of the famous Matthew Cak, "lord of Vah and of the Tatras, " who possessed more than thirty castles in different parts of the land. King Charles Robert of Hungary besieged him in vain. The only time the stronghold fell before an enemy was in 1528 after a month's arduous siege. The large stone cannon balls from this siege are still visible in the walls of the ruined castle. In 1663 the Turks and in 1704 Francis Rakoczy II tried to capture it, but failed. Fire reduced it to ruins in 1790. The most extensive ruins in Slovakia is Spis Hrad, situated in the Spis region. Built of white limestone, it glistens six hundred feet above the sur rounding landscape. It is huge, having no less than five large courtyards and 135 halls and rooms. The lookout tower has four stories. The walls are ten feet thick and reach an altitude of seventy feet. It is also one of the oldest castles in Slovakia, being mentioned already in the year 1120. It was abandoned in 1710 and devastated by fire in 1780. Undoubtedly the most memorable of the ruins of Slo- SLOVAKIA 63 vakia is magnificent Devin, situated not far from Bratislava, some five miles towards Vienna. Devin is unique. It is unlike anything else to be seen in Europe. A romantic complex of ruins loom some 240 feet above the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers, right on the frontier between Slovakia and Austria. Here end the Carpathians, and across the Danube commence the Alps. The view from Devin is exquisitely beautiful. Regardless of season and weather it rewards the visitor with a vista which penetrates the soul. Towards sunrise you behold the majestic Danube flowing swiftly towards the Black Sea. Along its left bank are hills adorned with deciduous forests, and on the slopes, exposed to the southern sun, are vineyards, small and quiltlike, as are the fields on the more level opposite side of the stream. Also there are forests, restful to gaze upon, which ascend hills, the outposts of the Alps. During the first two centuries of our era Devin served as an outpost of the Roman Empire against the turbulent Marcomanni and Quadi, Germanic tribes living north of the Danube. It was fortified by the fourteenth legion. With the advent of the Slovaks about the sixth century, the place received its present appellation, named probably after the national godess "Deva" (girl, maiden). It became a refuge from the ruthless Uralo-Altaic Avars who held to the plains and to the swamps. As the Slovaks became united and powerful, it became one of the principal centers. It was here that King Louis the German besieged the Slovak Rastislav, ruler of the Great Moravian realm, without avail in the year 864. Right beneath the ruins lies the town of Devin, exetic and appealing, where life is placid, more like the gently flowing Morava than the more energetic Danube. Towards sunset you see the fertile plains of Austria, park-like scenery with villages and an occasional manor set in woods and fields. You see the Danube approaching, undulating, and forming many wooded islets. Across the Danube to the south you behold the Austrian town of Hainburg nestled beneath the ruins of the historic fortress of Altenburg, the Carnuntum of the Romans, headquarters of one of their legions. Finally, on the horizon to the southwest, the real Alps meet your avid gaze. Looking about upon the wonder- 64 SLOVAKIA ful panorama, you forget the woes and worries of everyday life and for the moment become a poet to whom the world is a paradise. Great Moravia, divided and embroiled, collapsed in 906 before the savage onrush of the Magyar horsemen. Devin, however, remained in the hands of the Slovaks well into the eleventh century. In 1683 it successfully withstood a siege by the Turks. The destruction of the castle was due to Napoleon who, in 1809, ordered it to be razed. Despite the fact that of the once mighty stone castle only two medieval towers and a few walls have been preserved, the ruins, nevertheless, present a majestic appearance. That which remains is stately and imposing. The site of Devin is truly immense. Its expanse is large enough for a dozen ordinary castles or fortresses. That, as well as its incomparable location, gives it majesty. The places where there were once lofty walls and wide moats can still be clearly distinguished. Devin is prehistoric as well as historic ground. Man was here long before the commencement of the Christian era. Bits of pottery from the Hallstatt period and remains of abodes from the second La Tene period have been unearthed by archeologists, who have been carrying on extensive excavations since 1923. The future is likely to further extend the past. For untold centuries it was strategically the most vital point of Central Europe. In its immediate vicinity were fought the battles which determined the fate of the heart of the continent. (To be continued) "The Deliverance of Sister Cecilia" - Farrar, Straus and Young, 360 pgs., $3.75. - The book tells the story of a Slovak nun who helped many Slovaks escape from their Communist-domin ated land to the west and then had to flee for her life herself, when the Reds learned about her activity. Sister Cecilia told her story to William Brinkley, assistant editor of LIFE magazine, who then wrote the book. Read this exciting book. Order your copy from SLOVAKIA.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The History of Slovakia (5/9) Description An account of the resource Philip A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 8, No. 1 (26), March 1958 pp. 60-64 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1958 Relation A related resource continued from <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/229">Vol. 7, No. 3-4 (24-25), pp. 88-96</a><br />continues in <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/271">Vol. 8, No. 2 (27), pp. 56-64</a> LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0085549364f4ab9f07fc2b8fbbab86db.pdf b417fb83e147b748ef4979f0e379c128 PDF Text Text 56 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK (Continued) In the areas which were quite populated, the country was divided into regions (zupy), according to the pattern of Great Moravia. A representative of the king, administering a region, was called a regional administrator (zupan; ispan). The zupan was not only administrator in political and economic affairs, but in judicial matters as well. He was the judge, who presided over all litigations, and the commander of the army which the region was obliged to muster for the king in time of war. The Slovaks used to refer to these regions also as "stolice" (seats). The oldest regional seats in Slovakia originated from the territories of Slovak tribal principalities. The center of a region was the castle in which the zupan resided. Churches and rectories, to which all settlements belonged, were part and parcel of the regional castles. The regional seats thus became the centers of Church and State administrations. In those times the feudal system prevailed. The entire system rested. on the basis of land. According to the theory of the time, all lands belonged to the emperor or king. The king could make grants of land-fiefs or feuds, from which we derive feudalism - to his followers. Such a grant was called a feudal tenure. A lord (magnate or magistrate) could also be a vassal of another lord by virtue of such a grant of land, and kings holding lands from other kings were also vassals to those kings. A lord (vel'moz) had the right to subdivide his land among other vassals on the same basis as that on which he had received it from the king. A lord obtaining land from another had to go through a ceremony known as homage. Kneeling before the grantor, and placing his hands between the hands of the lord, he swore aloud that he would be his lord's man (homme), that he would devote himself to him and render him such services as were necessary and stipulated. After the oath was given and accepted, the lord granted the lands by investiture. �SLOVAKIA 57 In taking the oath, a vassal promised never to disclose his lord's secrets and to acquaint his lord with all information about his enemies. If the lord was unhorsed in battle, the vassal was obliged to give his own horse to his lord. A vassal was bound to uphold his lord's honor and reputation at all times. When necessary, the vassal was obliged to go to battle with his lord and, in proportion to the amount of land granted, to raise the required number of men to serve for a stipulated period, which meant that the fighting could be waged only near home. The vassal agreed to serve as magistrate and to assist the lord in the government of his domain and in the maintenanc e of order. Of course, the relation of rights and duties of lords and vassals was reciprocal. A fief could not be taken back arbitrarily. The lord promised to protect his vassal, deal with him justly and safeguard his rights and privileges. The regulations described above pertained to the higher classes - the nobility, the fighting class in the feudal system. But a similar system prevailed in the parceling out of land by the lord to his working-cl ass tenants. In this case, however, the grants were known as "servile tenures." After a lord received his grant of land from the king, he had to have it cultivated. This work was done by the working classes known as serfs. Those who received "servile tenures" later on became the landed genry (zemianstv o), while the others remained landless serfs. The holders of "servile tenures" paid for their land in labor or in produce, giving a portion of their annual crops. Upon these the lord depended for his support, and in his relation to them he had duties to perform as well as rights to exact. Most of the lowest peasants, the landless serfs, were inalienably attached to the land, tied up forever to the manor within which they were born. The citizens of some villages were servants of the king's court and, hence, were called courtiers (dvornici). These villages even today are named "Dvorniky." Forest wardens (hajnici) took care of the king's forests, raised and trained his hounds and falcons. Towns and villages named Hajniky, Psary, Sokolany, Sokolce, Sokolova, Sokolovce, harbored these forest wardens. Fishermen lived in �58 SLOVAKIA the village of Ryba.re. Artisans who worked for the king's court or the royal castle named the towns they inhabited after their trades (Stitare, Hrnciarovce, Tesare, Kovacova, etc.). Among the inhabitants of the villages, which already in 1075 belonged to the monastery of St. Benedict-Abovethe-Hron, even goldsmiths (zlatnici) are mentioned. The people who inhabited the territory of Slovak:a during the 10th-12th centuries were descendants of the inhabitants of Great Moravia. That they were Slovaks is attested to by the geographical names of the entire Slovak territory. After a time, when the Magyars began to settle in Slovakia, the Slovak names were adopted by them in the form used by the Slovaks. But even personal names of the inhabitants of Slovakia, preserved in old documents, tell us that Slovakia was inhabited by Slovaks continuously from about the fifth century. These personal names come to us either from ancient pagan times or are the Slovak forms of Latin Christian names. In those times, the Slovaks used such names most frequently: Bogat, Bogdan, Bogomier, Bogomil, Bogorad, Bohumir, Bohurad, Bohuta, Bolerad, Boleslav, Domagost, Domoslav, Dragos, Drazko, Ivan, Ivanka, Milovan, Milvan, Mladen, Milgost, Milota, Mojtech, Mojta, Mutimir, Premlad, Pribyla, Preslav, Radovan, Radvan, Radon, Rados, Stoj(i)slav, Sebeslav, Tvrdos, Vid(a), Vojislav, Vojtech, Vladislav, Zdislav. The Slovak names Beno, Benko, Benus, Benata are derived from the Latin "Benedictus." Many geographical names originated from these personal names: Bohunice from Bohun, Boleraz from Bolerad, Budatin from Budata, Radosina from Radosa, Radvan from Radovan, Mojtin from Mojta, Tvrdosin from Tvrdos. Besides the orig,i nal Slovak inhabitants who settled in Slovakia, the Magyars began to settle near the lower ends of Slovak rivers and even established several settlements in the valleys farther north, where, in time, they were assimilated by the older Slovak inhabitants. Besides the Magyars, only scattered groups of foreign warriors settled along the Slovak frontier, where they served as sentinels. The only memento of their stay in Slovakia has been preserved in the names of the several settlements they occupied. For- �SLOVAKIA 59 eign merchants, especially Germans and Jews, settled below the most famous castles, such as Bratislava and Nitra, but only as guests whom the king allowed to peddle foreign goods. It was thus that the first market settlements originated beneath the most ancient castles of Slovakia. THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH The Church played a preeminent role in the cultural life of Slovakia from the earliest times. From the beginning of the eleventh century practically the entire area of Slovakia was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Ostrihom. From the end of the eleventh century a part of eastern Slovakia was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Jager (Eger; Erlau), and from the beginning of the twelfth century a part of northwest Slovakia with the central Vah area became the territory of the revived Bishopric of Nitra. The spiritual needs of the population were taken care of by the parishes connected with the castles, and especially by the parishes of the regional castles. Later, in place of these large castle parishes, there originated archdiaconates which had jurisdiction over several parishes. Monasteries had an extraordinary significance. Besides propagating Christianity, they sought to improve the economic and cultural conditions of their respective communities. The monks cleared forests, drained marshes, regulated the flow of streams, and changed unfertile soil into fertile fields. It was thus that new settlements sprang up in the vicinity of the monasteries. Near the monasteries imposing churches were erected which the monks ornamented with paintings and statues. The monasteries were, therefore, the first workshops of creative art in Slovakia. The oldest Slovak monasteries belonged to the Benedictine Order. Among these is the abbey of St. Hippolytus on Mount Zobor, whose origin goes back to the Great Moravian Empire. During the reign of King St. Stephen, this abbey became the heir to the properties of the Slovak principality of Nitra. St. Benedict's Abbey, near the Hron river, played a significant role in the settlement of the Hron region and in its economic and cultural development. It was founded by the Slovak feudal lord Gejza in 1075. Towards �60 SLOVAKIA the end of the 11th century another Slovak Benedictine monastery was founded in Diakovcie, in southern Slovakia, which belonged to the abbey on Mount Pannonia. In the twelfth century prepositures were established in Bratislava, Nitra and Spis. The first monastery of the Order of the Premonstratensians was founded by Lord Lampert in 1135 A.D. in Bzovik. The Cistercians settled in Lipovnik, near Roznava, in 1141 A.D., and later in Bardejov and Stiavnik. In the first half of the 13th century, the mendicant order of St. Francis came to the land of the Slovaks and built its first monasteries in Bratislava, Nitra and Trnava. Christian churches were being built in Slovakia since the ninth century. Because these ancient churches, connected with castles and monasteries, were made of wood, few traces of them remain today. In many places, however, cemeteries which date back to the 11th and 12th centuries, have been preserved. They have evidences that even churches once stood on the premises. In those days church architecture in Bavaria and Italy was Romanesque. In the 12th century small stone structures in that style were constructed also in Slovakia. The oldest Romanesque churches that have withstood the assault of the ages in Slovakia are found in Drazovcie, near Nitra, in Pominovci~, near Puchov, and in Kliz-Hradiste, not far from Topol'cany. Larger churches were erected near monasteries, and their foundations may be found to this day under newer top-structures which were added during the succeeding centuries. In southern Slovakia the Italian influence was prevalent, as might be seen from the extant Romanesque churches in Bin, not far from Komarno, and in Diakovcie. In many places at least the remains of Romanesque structures have been preserved and these now form parts of churches which were built after a later pattern. The Cathedral in Spisska Kapitula and in Nitra are examples of such structures. Romanesque paintings have been preserved in Zegra, Spis county. An interesting relic of Romanesque architecture are the rotundas found in Skalica and Dechtice. The Romanesque style was followed in Slo- �SLOVAKIA 61 vakia up to the middle of the 13th century, · at which time a new form of architecture replaced it. THE TURKS IliVADE SLOVAKIA In the twelfth century Slovakia enjoyed years of relatively peaceful development. The increasing population shifted upstream from the densely populated plains into the hills of central Slovakia, where conditions were almost ideal for animal husbandry. ln the lowlands and basins of northern Slovakia forests were cleared, new tracts of land were made arable and new settlements were founded. New monastic institutions establishing their monasteries on border-lands of Slovakia effectively aided the settlement of the hilly regions. Germans also settled in these wooded regions of Slovakia. The number of settlements increased and new churches were. built, so that Slovakia progressed not only economically, but also culturally. In the thirteenth century, however, a terrible catastrophe interrupted this peaceful development when the terrible Turks invaded Slovakia. The Turks belong to the group of Mongolian nations. Turkish tribes lived in central Asia, where they created a large empire in the beginning of the thirteenth century, the heart of which was near the Bajkal Sea. The le_a der of the Turks was the notorious and brutal warrior Temudzin, later known as Genghis Khan, "the Scourge of God." In a short time the Turks conquered all neighboring Mongolian nations and extended their power to China and India, so that a large part of Asia was ,under their domination. Later they set out to subjugate Europe. On. the north of the Caucasus region, they defeated the Kumani who sought the aid of Russian princes. ln 1223 A.D. they attacked the Russians and crushed them near the Kalka river. Shortly thereafter the Turkish armies came up all the way to the Carpathians and prepared to invade Poland and Hungary under the leadership of Khan Batu. The Turks engaged in animal husbandry, but spent most of their lives in warfare. To get accustomed to the hardships of military life, they lived very simply. Their food was frugal, their clothing was made of skins of animals, and they cared little for personal cleanliness. Only the nobility lived in luxury and splendor. Their women and �62 SLOVAKIA children usually accompanied them on their military expeditions. The Turks were not very talkative. The Turks waged war on ponies which excelled in endurance and speed. Courage and cruelty were the trademarks of the Turkish army. Any soldier guilty of a breach of discipline, or retreating in battle, or of showing mercy to a foe, was executed summarily. They slaughtered their conquered foe mercilessly; only women and healthy young men were taken into capbvity as slaves. Captives, placed in the vanguard, had to engage the enemy before the regular Turkish army went into the skirmish. The country through which they passed became a barren wasteland, because they burned all villages and towns, massacred their inhabitants, and carried off all portable booty. They were armed with long arrows, curved scimitars, javelins, leather helmets and shields. They were so well trained that even in full gallop they could release an arrow or javelin with deadly accuracy. The Kumani in southern Russia, attacked by the Turks, fled to the west and begged the king of Hungary to permit them to settle in his kingdom. They numbered about 40,000 families. The king acquiesced, because he thought they could greatly assist him against the Turks. However, at that time conditions in Hungary were rather unsettled. During the reign of Andrew II (1205-1235 A.D.), who permitted many foreigners to settle in Hungary, many disorders took place. The feudal magnates took advantage of the situation by appropriating royal property. Belo, the oldest son of the King, became the leader of the feudal magnates, because he saw that his father's weakness was the cause of the weakness of the entire country. In 1222 A.D. the King was compelled to issue the Golden Bull in which he guaranteed the nobility various rights. When Belo IV (1235-1270) succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father, conditions in Hungary were such that he was forced to break the power of the feudal barons and recover the lands which they had appropriated. Relations between the nobility and the King were tense and the tension increased all the more when danger from the outside threatened the country. And at that time, the Turks stood before the gates of Hungary. �SLOVAKIA 63 The Turkish armies were divided into several units. One division under Peta invaded Poland, burned Cracow, and defeated Henry the Pius near Lehnica in Silesia. The second poured through the Carpathian passes into Hungary in 1241 A.D. Upon learning that Khan Batu at the head of a great force broke through the Verek Pass and was coming into the interior to take revenge on the ingdom for harboring the Kumani, King Belo issued a command to all nobles to mobilize their forces and hasten to the royal camp. But the nobility even then underestimated the gravity of the situation, gave the King trouble and accused the Kumani as the cause of the Turkish invasion. Finally, when the King collected enough men for his army, he set out to meet the invaders, who in the meantime had forded the Slam\ (Salty) river. At midnight, April 11, 1241, the Turks encircled Bela's camp and then utterly defeated his army. Many nobles and bishops, among them also the Bishop of Nitra, fell in battle. Only small detachments succeeded in hacking their way through the Turks and saving themselves by flight. Belo IV himself was in grave danger, but his most loyal magnates covered him well and enabled him to escape into the hills nearby. The King, escorted by several riders, rode through Saris, Spis and Liptov and came to Turiec. After resting a while at the Nitra castle, he fled to Austria, leaving the country to the mercy of the savage Turks. Hungary was defenseless and the Turks pillaged the country mercilessly. One division of the invaders tore deeply into Slovakia, ravaged Zemplin and Saris, and came as far as Spis. To saive themselves from destruction, the inhabitants of Spis fled into the inaccessible forests and took refuge on a huge, protruding cliff, known since that day as the Rock of Refuge. Another division devastated Gerner, Novohrad and Hont, and penetrated deeply into the Hron region. On the western and southern slopes of Stina, above Banska Stiavnica, is an extensive meadow, which even today is called the Turkish Meadow. Western iand southern Slovakra did not ascape the catastrophe either. The Turkish force led by Peta, which invaded Silesia, turned south, rode through Moravia and the �64 SLOVAKIA Vlar Pass into Slovakia. The inhabitants of the Vah region fled to the forests to escape the savage hordes of Peta. The strongholds of Trencin, Nitra, Bratisla.va and Komarno defended themselves heroically. Ancient Slovak churches became the victims of Turkish devastation, and a large part of the Slovak population pel'ished at the hands of the savage, bloodthirsty Turks. In the winter of 1241-1242, the Turks crossed the frozen Danube river near 0strihom and conquered and pillaged the Transdanubian territory. Belo IV took refuge on the Dalmatian islands. At that time Khan Batu received word from Asia of the death of the Great Khan 0gotaj. Being anxious to make his claim to the vacant throne, Batu hastened home with his entire force. In this way Slovakia was freed from the unbearable tyranny of the Turks. But what the Tur.k;s failed to destroy became the spoils of the feudal barons who tore into Slovak regions to complete the work of destruction. Upon emerging from their. hiding places in the inaccessible mountains, the inhabitants of Slovaki,a found their viUfl,ges, homes and churches i~ ashes. M4sery, want and disease reigned everywhere. But the Slovak nation outlived even that calamity and put its shoulders to the task of rebuilding its homes and churches to s~feguard its national existence in its homeland. (To be continued) fl. l -f • 'f , 'T • • • WHO SAID IT? "Consider the situation of the twent-y--Odd non-western nations which are nexlt door to tlhe SOIViet world. These exposed: nrutions fe1t that they have been ipUt in the exipendable class, condeimned in perpeiDrni.ty to be the ramparts against whiich tJhe ang,ry waves of So'Vie't cOIIIlmunism will constantly hlurl themselives. . . . They cannot he enthusi astic about polides whitch wouiltl merely perpetuate so hrezardous ailld uncomfortruble a !Position. Today they liive close to '.deSipair because the United States, th~ historic lea:der of the forces of freedom, seems dedicated to the negative policy of containment and stalemate." - (John 'Foster Dulles, A POLICY OF BOLDNESS, May 19, 1952). 1 � 56 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK (Continued) In the areas which were quite populated, the country was divided into regions (zupy), according to the pattern of Great Moravia. A representative of the king, administering a region, was called a regional administrator (zupan; ispan). The zupan was not only administrator in political and economic affairs, but in judicial matters as well. He was the judge, who presided over all litigations, and the commander of the army which the region was obliged to muster for the king in time of war. The Slovaks used to refer to these regions also as "stolice" (seats). The oldest regional seats in Slovakia originated from the territories of Slovak tribal principalities. The center of a region was the castle in which the zupan resided. Churches and rectories, to which all settlements belonged, were part and parcel of the regional castles. The regional seats thus became the centers of Church and State administrations. In those times the feudal system prevailed. The entire system rested. on the basis of land. According to the theory of the time, all lands belonged to the emperor or king. The king could make grants of land-fiefs or feuds, from which we derive feudalism - to his followers. Such a grant was called a feudal tenure. A lord (magnate or magistrate) could also be a vassal of another lord by virtue of such a grant of land, and kings holding lands from other kings were also vassals to those kings. A lord (vel'moz) had the right to subdivide his land among other vassals on the same basis as that on which he had received it from the king. A lord obtaining land from another had to go through a ceremony known as homage. Kneeling before the grantor, and placing his hands between the hands of the lord, he swore aloud that he would be his lord's man (homme), that he would devote himself to him and render him such services as were necessary and stipulated. After the oath was given and accepted, the lord granted the lands by investiture. �SLOVAKIA 57 In taking the oath, a vassal promised never to disclose his lord's secrets and to acquaint his lord with all information about his enemies. If the lord was unhorsed in battle, the vassal was obliged to give his own horse to his lord. A vassal was bound to uphold his lord's honor and reputation at all times. When necessary, the vassal was obliged to go to battle with his lord and, in proportion to the amount of land granted, to raise the required number of men to serve for a stipulated period, which meant that the fighting could be waged only near home. The vassal agreed to serve as magistrate and to assist the lord in the government of his domain and in the maintenanc e of order. Of course, the relation of rights and duties of lords and vassals was reciprocal. A fief could not be taken back arbitrarily. The lord promised to protect his vassal, deal with him justly and safeguard his rights and privileges. The regulations described above pertained to the higher classes - the nobility, the fighting class in the feudal system. But a similar system prevailed in the parceling out of land by the lord to his working-cl ass tenants. In this case, however, the grants were known as "servile tenures." After a lord received his grant of land from the king, he had to have it cultivated. This work was done by the working classes known as serfs. Those who received "servile tenures" later on became the landed genry (zemianstv o), while the others remained landless serfs. The holders of "servile tenures" paid for their land in labor or in produce, giving a portion of their annual crops. Upon these the lord depended for his support, and in his relation to them he had duties to perform as well as rights to exact. Most of the lowest peasants, the landless serfs, were inalienably attached to the land, tied up forever to the manor within which they were born. The citizens of some villages were servants of the king's court and, hence, were called courtiers (dvornici). These villages even today are named "Dvorniky." Forest wardens (hajnici) took care of the king's forests, raised and trained his hounds and falcons. Towns and villages named Hajniky, Psary, Sokolany, Sokolce, Sokolova, Sokolovce, harbored these forest wardens. Fishermen lived in �58 SLOVAKIA the village of Ryba.re. Artisans who worked for the king's court or the royal castle named the towns they inhabited after their trades (Stitare, Hrnciarovce, Tesare, Kovacova, etc.). Among the inhabitants of the villages, which already in 1075 belonged to the monastery of St. Benedict-Abovethe-Hron, even goldsmiths (zlatnici) are mentioned. The people who inhabited the territory of Slovak:a during the 10th-12th centuries were descendants of the inhabitants of Great Moravia. That they were Slovaks is attested to by the geographical names of the entire Slovak territory. After a time, when the Magyars began to settle in Slovakia, the Slovak names were adopted by them in the form used by the Slovaks. But even personal names of the inhabitants of Slovakia, preserved in old documents, tell us that Slovakia was inhabited by Slovaks continuously from about the fifth century. These personal names come to us either from ancient pagan times or are the Slovak forms of Latin Christian names. In those times, the Slovaks used such names most frequently: Bogat, Bogdan, Bogomier, Bogomil, Bogorad, Bohumir, Bohurad, Bohuta, Bolerad, Boleslav, Domagost, Domoslav, Dragos, Drazko, Ivan, Ivanka, Milovan, Milvan, Mladen, Milgost, Milota, Mojtech, Mojta, Mutimir, Premlad, Pribyla, Preslav, Radovan, Radvan, Radon, Rados, Stoj(i)slav, Sebeslav, Tvrdos, Vid(a), Vojislav, Vojtech, Vladislav, Zdislav. The Slovak names Beno, Benko, Benus, Benata are derived from the Latin "Benedictus." Many geographical names originated from these personal names: Bohunice from Bohun, Boleraz from Bolerad, Budatin from Budata, Radosina from Radosa, Radvan from Radovan, Mojtin from Mojta, Tvrdosin from Tvrdos. Besides the orig,i nal Slovak inhabitants who settled in Slovakia, the Magyars began to settle near the lower ends of Slovak rivers and even established several settlements in the valleys farther north, where, in time, they were assimilated by the older Slovak inhabitants. Besides the Magyars, only scattered groups of foreign warriors settled along the Slovak frontier, where they served as sentinels. The only memento of their stay in Slovakia has been preserved in the names of the several settlements they occupied. For- �SLOVAKIA 59 eign merchants, especially Germans and Jews, settled below the most famous castles, such as Bratislava and Nitra, but only as guests whom the king allowed to peddle foreign goods. It was thus that the first market settlements originated beneath the most ancient castles of Slovakia. THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH The Church played a preeminent role in the cultural life of Slovakia from the earliest times. From the beginning of the eleventh century practically the entire area of Slovakia was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Ostrihom. From the end of the eleventh century a part of eastern Slovakia was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Jager (Eger; Erlau), and from the beginning of the twelfth century a part of northwest Slovakia with the central Vah area became the territory of the revived Bishopric of Nitra. The spiritual needs of the population were taken care of by the parishes connected with the castles, and especially by the parishes of the regional castles. Later, in place of these large castle parishes, there originated archdiaconates which had jurisdiction over several parishes. Monasteries had an extraordinary significance. Besides propagating Christianity, they sought to improve the economic and cultural conditions of their respective communities. The monks cleared forests, drained marshes, regulated the flow of streams, and changed unfertile soil into fertile fields. It was thus that new settlements sprang up in the vicinity of the monasteries. Near the monasteries imposing churches were erected which the monks ornamented with paintings and statues. The monasteries were, therefore, the first workshops of creative art in Slovakia. The oldest Slovak monasteries belonged to the Benedictine Order. Among these is the abbey of St. Hippolytus on Mount Zobor, whose origin goes back to the Great Moravian Empire. During the reign of King St. Stephen, this abbey became the heir to the properties of the Slovak principality of Nitra. St. Benedict's Abbey, near the Hron river, played a significant role in the settlement of the Hron region and in its economic and cultural development. It was founded by the Slovak feudal lord Gejza in 1075. Towards �60 SLOVAKIA the end of the 11th century another Slovak Benedictine monastery was founded in Diakovcie, in southern Slovakia, which belonged to the abbey on Mount Pannonia. In the twelfth century prepositures were established in Bratislava, Nitra and Spis. The first monastery of the Order of the Premonstratensians was founded by Lord Lampert in 1135 A.D. in Bzovik. The Cistercians settled in Lipovnik, near Roznava, in 1141 A.D., and later in Bardejov and Stiavnik. In the first half of the 13th century, the mendicant order of St. Francis came to the land of the Slovaks and built its first monasteries in Bratislava, Nitra and Trnava. Christian churches were being built in Slovakia since the ninth century. Because these ancient churches, connected with castles and monasteries, were made of wood, few traces of them remain today. In many places, however, cemeteries which date back to the 11th and 12th centuries, have been preserved. They have evidences that even churches once stood on the premises. In those days church architecture in Bavaria and Italy was Romanesque. In the 12th century small stone structures in that style were constructed also in Slovakia. The oldest Romanesque churches that have withstood the assault of the ages in Slovakia are found in Drazovcie, near Nitra, in Pominovci~, near Puchov, and in Kliz-Hradiste, not far from Topol'cany. Larger churches were erected near monasteries, and their foundations may be found to this day under newer top-structures which were added during the succeeding centuries. In southern Slovakia the Italian influence was prevalent, as might be seen from the extant Romanesque churches in Bin, not far from Komarno, and in Diakovcie. In many places at least the remains of Romanesque structures have been preserved and these now form parts of churches which were built after a later pattern. The Cathedral in Spisska Kapitula and in Nitra are examples of such structures. Romanesque paintings have been preserved in Zegra, Spis county. An interesting relic of Romanesque architecture are the rotundas found in Skalica and Dechtice. The Romanesque style was followed in Slo- �SLOVAKIA 61 vakia up to the middle of the 13th century, · at which time a new form of architecture replaced it. THE TURKS IliVADE SLOVAKIA In the twelfth century Slovakia enjoyed years of relatively peaceful development. The increasing population shifted upstream from the densely populated plains into the hills of central Slovakia, where conditions were almost ideal for animal husbandry. ln the lowlands and basins of northern Slovakia forests were cleared, new tracts of land were made arable and new settlements were founded. New monastic institutions establishing their monasteries on border-lands of Slovakia effectively aided the settlement of the hilly regions. Germans also settled in these wooded regions of Slovakia. The number of settlements increased and new churches were. built, so that Slovakia progressed not only economically, but also culturally. In the thirteenth century, however, a terrible catastrophe interrupted this peaceful development when the terrible Turks invaded Slovakia. The Turks belong to the group of Mongolian nations. Turkish tribes lived in central Asia, where they created a large empire in the beginning of the thirteenth century, the heart of which was near the Bajkal Sea. The le_a der of the Turks was the notorious and brutal warrior Temudzin, later known as Genghis Khan, "the Scourge of God." In a short time the Turks conquered all neighboring Mongolian nations and extended their power to China and India, so that a large part of Asia was ,under their domination. Later they set out to subjugate Europe. On. the north of the Caucasus region, they defeated the Kumani who sought the aid of Russian princes. ln 1223 A.D. they attacked the Russians and crushed them near the Kalka river. Shortly thereafter the Turkish armies came up all the way to the Carpathians and prepared to invade Poland and Hungary under the leadership of Khan Batu. The Turks engaged in animal husbandry, but spent most of their lives in warfare. To get accustomed to the hardships of military life, they lived very simply. Their food was frugal, their clothing was made of skins of animals, and they cared little for personal cleanliness. Only the nobility lived in luxury and splendor. Their women and �62 SLOVAKIA children usually accompanied them on their military expeditions. The Turks were not very talkative. The Turks waged war on ponies which excelled in endurance and speed. Courage and cruelty were the trademarks of the Turkish army. Any soldier guilty of a breach of discipline, or retreating in battle, or of showing mercy to a foe, was executed summarily. They slaughtered their conquered foe mercilessly; only women and healthy young men were taken into capbvity as slaves. Captives, placed in the vanguard, had to engage the enemy before the regular Turkish army went into the skirmish. The country through which they passed became a barren wasteland, because they burned all villages and towns, massacred their inhabitants, and carried off all portable booty. They were armed with long arrows, curved scimitars, javelins, leather helmets and shields. They were so well trained that even in full gallop they could release an arrow or javelin with deadly accuracy. The Kumani in southern Russia, attacked by the Turks, fled to the west and begged the king of Hungary to permit them to settle in his kingdom. They numbered about 40,000 families. The king acquiesced, because he thought they could greatly assist him against the Turks. However, at that time conditions in Hungary were rather unsettled. During the reign of Andrew II (1205-1235 A.D.), who permitted many foreigners to settle in Hungary, many disorders took place. The feudal magnates took advantage of the situation by appropriating royal property. Belo, the oldest son of the King, became the leader of the feudal magnates, because he saw that his father's weakness was the cause of the weakness of the entire country. In 1222 A.D. the King was compelled to issue the Golden Bull in which he guaranteed the nobility various rights. When Belo IV (1235-1270) succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father, conditions in Hungary were such that he was forced to break the power of the feudal barons and recover the lands which they had appropriated. Relations between the nobility and the King were tense and the tension increased all the more when danger from the outside threatened the country. And at that time, the Turks stood before the gates of Hungary. �SLOVAKIA 63 The Turkish armies were divided into several units. One division under Peta invaded Poland, burned Cracow, and defeated Henry the Pius near Lehnica in Silesia. The second poured through the Carpathian passes into Hungary in 1241 A.D. Upon learning that Khan Batu at the head of a great force broke through the Verek Pass and was coming into the interior to take revenge on the ingdom for harboring the Kumani, King Belo issued a command to all nobles to mobilize their forces and hasten to the royal camp. But the nobility even then underestimated the gravity of the situation, gave the King trouble and accused the Kumani as the cause of the Turkish invasion. Finally, when the King collected enough men for his army, he set out to meet the invaders, who in the meantime had forded the Slam\ (Salty) river. At midnight, April 11, 1241, the Turks encircled Bela's camp and then utterly defeated his army. Many nobles and bishops, among them also the Bishop of Nitra, fell in battle. Only small detachments succeeded in hacking their way through the Turks and saving themselves by flight. Belo IV himself was in grave danger, but his most loyal magnates covered him well and enabled him to escape into the hills nearby. The King, escorted by several riders, rode through Saris, Spis and Liptov and came to Turiec. After resting a while at the Nitra castle, he fled to Austria, leaving the country to the mercy of the savage Turks. Hungary was defenseless and the Turks pillaged the country mercilessly. One division of the invaders tore deeply into Slovakia, ravaged Zemplin and Saris, and came as far as Spis. To saive themselves from destruction, the inhabitants of Spis fled into the inaccessible forests and took refuge on a huge, protruding cliff, known since that day as the Rock of Refuge. Another division devastated Gerner, Novohrad and Hont, and penetrated deeply into the Hron region. On the western and southern slopes of Stina, above Banska Stiavnica, is an extensive meadow, which even today is called the Turkish Meadow. Western iand southern Slovakra did not ascape the catastrophe either. The Turkish force led by Peta, which invaded Silesia, turned south, rode through Moravia and the �64 SLOVAKIA Vlar Pass into Slovakia. The inhabitants of the Vah region fled to the forests to escape the savage hordes of Peta. The strongholds of Trencin, Nitra, Bratisla.va and Komarno defended themselves heroically. Ancient Slovak churches became the victims of Turkish devastation, and a large part of the Slovak population pel'ished at the hands of the savage, bloodthirsty Turks. In the winter of 1241-1242, the Turks crossed the frozen Danube river near 0strihom and conquered and pillaged the Transdanubian territory. Belo IV took refuge on the Dalmatian islands. At that time Khan Batu received word from Asia of the death of the Great Khan 0gotaj. Being anxious to make his claim to the vacant throne, Batu hastened home with his entire force. In this way Slovakia was freed from the unbearable tyranny of the Turks. But what the Tur.k;s failed to destroy became the spoils of the feudal barons who tore into Slovak regions to complete the work of destruction. Upon emerging from their. hiding places in the inaccessible mountains, the inhabitants of Slovaki,a found their viUfl,ges, homes and churches i~ ashes. M4sery, want and disease reigned everywhere. But the Slovak nation outlived even that calamity and put its shoulders to the task of rebuilding its homes and churches to s~feguard its national existence in its homeland. (To be continued) fl. l -f • 'f , 'T • • • WHO SAID IT? "Consider the situation of the twent-y--Odd non-western nations which are nexlt door to tlhe SOIViet world. These exposed: nrutions fe1t that they have been ipUt in the exipendable class, condeimned in perpeiDrni.ty to be the ramparts against whiich tJhe ang,ry waves of So'Vie't cOIIIlmunism will constantly hlurl themselives. . . . They cannot he enthusi astic about polides whitch wouiltl merely perpetuate so hrezardous ailld uncomfortruble a !Position. Today they liive close to '.deSipair because the United States, th~ historic lea:der of the forces of freedom, seems dedicated to the negative policy of containment and stalemate." - (John 'Foster Dulles, A POLICY OF BOLDNESS, May 19, 1952). 1 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958, Vol. 8 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 26), March 1958.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 27), June 1958.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 28), December 1958.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 56 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK (Continued) In the areas which were quite populated, the country was divided into regions (zupy), according to the pattern of Great Moravia. A representative of the king, administering a region, was called a regional administrator (zupan; ispan). The zupan was not only administrator in political and economic affairs, but in judicial matters as well. He was the judge, who presided over all litigations, and the commander of the army which the region was obliged to muster for the king in time of war. The Slovaks used to refer to these regions also as "stolice" (seats). The oldest regional seats in Slovakia originated from the territories of Slovak tribal principalities. The center of a region was the castle in which the zupan resided. Churches and rectories, to which all settlements belonged, were part and parcel of the regional castles. The regional seats thus became the centers of Church and State administrations. In those times the feudal system prevailed. The entire system rested. on the basis of land. According to the theory of the time, all lands belonged to the emperor or king. The king could make grants of land-fiefs or feuds, from which we derive feudalism - to his followers. Such a grant was called a feudal tenure. A lord (magnate or magistrate) could also be a vassal of another lord by virtue of such a grant of land, and kings holding lands from other kings were also vassals to those kings. A lord (vel'moz) had the right to subdivide his land among other vassals on the same basis as that on which he had received it from the king. A lord obtaining land from another had to go through a ceremony known as homage. Kneeling before the grantor, and placing his hands between the hands of the lord, he swore aloud that he would be his lord's man (homme), that he would devote himself to him and render him such services as were necessary and stipulated. After the oath was given and accepted, the lord granted the lands by investiture. SLOVAKIA 57 In taking the oath, a vassal promised never to disclose his lord's secrets and to acquaint his lord with all information about his enemies. If the lord was unhorsed in battle, the vassal was obliged to give his own horse to his lord. A vassal was bound to uphold his lord's honor and reputation at all times. When necessary, the vassal was obliged to go to battle with his lord and, in proportion to the amount of land granted, to raise the required number of men to serve for a stipulated period, which meant that the fighting could be waged only near home. The vassal agreed to serve as magistrate and to assist the lord in the government of his domain and in the maintenanc e of order. Of course, the relation of rights and duties of lords and vassals was reciprocal. A fief could not be taken back arbitrarily. The lord promised to protect his vassal, deal with him justly and safeguard his rights and privileges. The regulations described above pertained to the higher classes - the nobility, the fighting class in the feudal system. But a similar system prevailed in the parceling out of land by the lord to his working-cl ass tenants. In this case, however, the grants were known as "servile tenures." After a lord received his grant of land from the king, he had to have it cultivated. This work was done by the working classes known as serfs. Those who received "servile tenures" later on became the landed genry (zemianstv o), while the others remained landless serfs. The holders of "servile tenures" paid for their land in labor or in produce, giving a portion of their annual crops. Upon these the lord depended for his support, and in his relation to them he had duties to perform as well as rights to exact. Most of the lowest peasants, the landless serfs, were inalienably attached to the land, tied up forever to the manor within which they were born. The citizens of some villages were servants of the king's court and, hence, were called courtiers (dvornici). These villages even today are named "Dvorniky." Forest wardens (hajnici) took care of the king's forests, raised and trained his hounds and falcons. Towns and villages named Hajniky, Psary, Sokolany, Sokolce, Sokolova, Sokolovce, harbored these forest wardens. Fishermen lived in 58 SLOVAKIA the village of Ryba.re. Artisans who worked for the king's court or the royal castle named the towns they inhabited after their trades (Stitare, Hrnciarovce, Tesare, Kovacova, etc.). Among the inhabitants of the villages, which already in 1075 belonged to the monastery of St. Benedict-Abovethe-Hron, even goldsmiths (zlatnici) are mentioned. The people who inhabited the territory of Slovak:a during the 10th-12th centuries were descendants of the inhabitants of Great Moravia. That they were Slovaks is attested to by the geographical names of the entire Slovak territory. After a time, when the Magyars began to settle in Slovakia, the Slovak names were adopted by them in the form used by the Slovaks. But even personal names of the inhabitants of Slovakia, preserved in old documents, tell us that Slovakia was inhabited by Slovaks continuously from about the fifth century. These personal names come to us either from ancient pagan times or are the Slovak forms of Latin Christian names. In those times, the Slovaks used such names most frequently: Bogat, Bogdan, Bogomier, Bogomil, Bogorad, Bohumir, Bohurad, Bohuta, Bolerad, Boleslav, Domagost, Domoslav, Dragos, Drazko, Ivan, Ivanka, Milovan, Milvan, Mladen, Milgost, Milota, Mojtech, Mojta, Mutimir, Premlad, Pribyla, Preslav, Radovan, Radvan, Radon, Rados, Stoj(i)slav, Sebeslav, Tvrdos, Vid(a), Vojislav, Vojtech, Vladislav, Zdislav. The Slovak names Beno, Benko, Benus, Benata are derived from the Latin "Benedictus." Many geographical names originated from these personal names: Bohunice from Bohun, Boleraz from Bolerad, Budatin from Budata, Radosina from Radosa, Radvan from Radovan, Mojtin from Mojta, Tvrdosin from Tvrdos. Besides the orig,i nal Slovak inhabitants who settled in Slovakia, the Magyars began to settle near the lower ends of Slovak rivers and even established several settlements in the valleys farther north, where, in time, they were assimilated by the older Slovak inhabitants. Besides the Magyars, only scattered groups of foreign warriors settled along the Slovak frontier, where they served as sentinels. The only memento of their stay in Slovakia has been preserved in the names of the several settlements they occupied. For- SLOVAKIA 59 eign merchants, especially Germans and Jews, settled below the most famous castles, such as Bratislava and Nitra, but only as guests whom the king allowed to peddle foreign goods. It was thus that the first market settlements originated beneath the most ancient castles of Slovakia. THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH The Church played a preeminent role in the cultural life of Slovakia from the earliest times. From the beginning of the eleventh century practically the entire area of Slovakia was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Ostrihom. From the end of the eleventh century a part of eastern Slovakia was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Jager (Eger; Erlau), and from the beginning of the twelfth century a part of northwest Slovakia with the central Vah area became the territory of the revived Bishopric of Nitra. The spiritual needs of the population were taken care of by the parishes connected with the castles, and especially by the parishes of the regional castles. Later, in place of these large castle parishes, there originated archdiaconates which had jurisdiction over several parishes. Monasteries had an extraordinary significance. Besides propagating Christianity, they sought to improve the economic and cultural conditions of their respective communities. The monks cleared forests, drained marshes, regulated the flow of streams, and changed unfertile soil into fertile fields. It was thus that new settlements sprang up in the vicinity of the monasteries. Near the monasteries imposing churches were erected which the monks ornamented with paintings and statues. The monasteries were, therefore, the first workshops of creative art in Slovakia. The oldest Slovak monasteries belonged to the Benedictine Order. Among these is the abbey of St. Hippolytus on Mount Zobor, whose origin goes back to the Great Moravian Empire. During the reign of King St. Stephen, this abbey became the heir to the properties of the Slovak principality of Nitra. St. Benedict's Abbey, near the Hron river, played a significant role in the settlement of the Hron region and in its economic and cultural development. It was founded by the Slovak feudal lord Gejza in 1075. Towards 60 SLOVAKIA the end of the 11th century another Slovak Benedictine monastery was founded in Diakovcie, in southern Slovakia, which belonged to the abbey on Mount Pannonia. In the twelfth century prepositures were established in Bratislava, Nitra and Spis. The first monastery of the Order of the Premonstratensians was founded by Lord Lampert in 1135 A.D. in Bzovik. The Cistercians settled in Lipovnik, near Roznava, in 1141 A.D., and later in Bardejov and Stiavnik. In the first half of the 13th century, the mendicant order of St. Francis came to the land of the Slovaks and built its first monasteries in Bratislava, Nitra and Trnava. Christian churches were being built in Slovakia since the ninth century. Because these ancient churches, connected with castles and monasteries, were made of wood, few traces of them remain today. In many places, however, cemeteries which date back to the 11th and 12th centuries, have been preserved. They have evidences that even churches once stood on the premises. In those days church architecture in Bavaria and Italy was Romanesque. In the 12th century small stone structures in that style were constructed also in Slovakia. The oldest Romanesque churches that have withstood the assault of the ages in Slovakia are found in Drazovcie, near Nitra, in Pominovci~, near Puchov, and in Kliz-Hradiste, not far from Topol'cany. Larger churches were erected near monasteries, and their foundations may be found to this day under newer top-structures which were added during the succeeding centuries. In southern Slovakia the Italian influence was prevalent, as might be seen from the extant Romanesque churches in Bin, not far from Komarno, and in Diakovcie. In many places at least the remains of Romanesque structures have been preserved and these now form parts of churches which were built after a later pattern. The Cathedral in Spisska Kapitula and in Nitra are examples of such structures. Romanesque paintings have been preserved in Zegra, Spis county. An interesting relic of Romanesque architecture are the rotundas found in Skalica and Dechtice. The Romanesque style was followed in Slo- SLOVAKIA 61 vakia up to the middle of the 13th century, · at which time a new form of architecture replaced it. THE TURKS IliVADE SLOVAKIA In the twelfth century Slovakia enjoyed years of relatively peaceful development. The increasing population shifted upstream from the densely populated plains into the hills of central Slovakia, where conditions were almost ideal for animal husbandry. ln the lowlands and basins of northern Slovakia forests were cleared, new tracts of land were made arable and new settlements were founded. New monastic institutions establishing their monasteries on border-lands of Slovakia effectively aided the settlement of the hilly regions. Germans also settled in these wooded regions of Slovakia. The number of settlements increased and new churches were. built, so that Slovakia progressed not only economically, but also culturally. In the thirteenth century, however, a terrible catastrophe interrupted this peaceful development when the terrible Turks invaded Slovakia. The Turks belong to the group of Mongolian nations. Turkish tribes lived in central Asia, where they created a large empire in the beginning of the thirteenth century, the heart of which was near the Bajkal Sea. The le_a der of the Turks was the notorious and brutal warrior Temudzin, later known as Genghis Khan, "the Scourge of God." In a short time the Turks conquered all neighboring Mongolian nations and extended their power to China and India, so that a large part of Asia was ,under their domination. Later they set out to subjugate Europe. On. the north of the Caucasus region, they defeated the Kumani who sought the aid of Russian princes. ln 1223 A.D. they attacked the Russians and crushed them near the Kalka river. Shortly thereafter the Turkish armies came up all the way to the Carpathians and prepared to invade Poland and Hungary under the leadership of Khan Batu. The Turks engaged in animal husbandry, but spent most of their lives in warfare. To get accustomed to the hardships of military life, they lived very simply. Their food was frugal, their clothing was made of skins of animals, and they cared little for personal cleanliness. Only the nobility lived in luxury and splendor. Their women and 62 SLOVAKIA children usually accompanied them on their military expeditions. The Turks were not very talkative. The Turks waged war on ponies which excelled in endurance and speed. Courage and cruelty were the trademarks of the Turkish army. Any soldier guilty of a breach of discipline, or retreating in battle, or of showing mercy to a foe, was executed summarily. They slaughtered their conquered foe mercilessly; only women and healthy young men were taken into capbvity as slaves. Captives, placed in the vanguard, had to engage the enemy before the regular Turkish army went into the skirmish. The country through which they passed became a barren wasteland, because they burned all villages and towns, massacred their inhabitants, and carried off all portable booty. They were armed with long arrows, curved scimitars, javelins, leather helmets and shields. They were so well trained that even in full gallop they could release an arrow or javelin with deadly accuracy. The Kumani in southern Russia, attacked by the Turks, fled to the west and begged the king of Hungary to permit them to settle in his kingdom. They numbered about 40,000 families. The king acquiesced, because he thought they could greatly assist him against the Turks. However, at that time conditions in Hungary were rather unsettled. During the reign of Andrew II (1205-1235 A.D.), who permitted many foreigners to settle in Hungary, many disorders took place. The feudal magnates took advantage of the situation by appropriating royal property. Belo, the oldest son of the King, became the leader of the feudal magnates, because he saw that his father's weakness was the cause of the weakness of the entire country. In 1222 A.D. the King was compelled to issue the Golden Bull in which he guaranteed the nobility various rights. When Belo IV (1235-1270) succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father, conditions in Hungary were such that he was forced to break the power of the feudal barons and recover the lands which they had appropriated. Relations between the nobility and the King were tense and the tension increased all the more when danger from the outside threatened the country. And at that time, the Turks stood before the gates of Hungary. SLOVAKIA 63 The Turkish armies were divided into several units. One division under Peta invaded Poland, burned Cracow, and defeated Henry the Pius near Lehnica in Silesia. The second poured through the Carpathian passes into Hungary in 1241 A.D. Upon learning that Khan Batu at the head of a great force broke through the Verek Pass and was coming into the interior to take revenge on the ingdom for harboring the Kumani, King Belo issued a command to all nobles to mobilize their forces and hasten to the royal camp. But the nobility even then underestimated the gravity of the situation, gave the King trouble and accused the Kumani as the cause of the Turkish invasion. Finally, when the King collected enough men for his army, he set out to meet the invaders, who in the meantime had forded the Slam\ (Salty) river. At midnight, April 11, 1241, the Turks encircled Bela's camp and then utterly defeated his army. Many nobles and bishops, among them also the Bishop of Nitra, fell in battle. Only small detachments succeeded in hacking their way through the Turks and saving themselves by flight. Belo IV himself was in grave danger, but his most loyal magnates covered him well and enabled him to escape into the hills nearby. The King, escorted by several riders, rode through Saris, Spis and Liptov and came to Turiec. After resting a while at the Nitra castle, he fled to Austria, leaving the country to the mercy of the savage Turks. Hungary was defenseless and the Turks pillaged the country mercilessly. One division of the invaders tore deeply into Slovakia, ravaged Zemplin and Saris, and came as far as Spis. To saive themselves from destruction, the inhabitants of Spis fled into the inaccessible forests and took refuge on a huge, protruding cliff, known since that day as the Rock of Refuge. Another division devastated Gerner, Novohrad and Hont, and penetrated deeply into the Hron region. On the western and southern slopes of Stina, above Banska Stiavnica, is an extensive meadow, which even today is called the Turkish Meadow. Western iand southern Slovakra did not ascape the catastrophe either. The Turkish force led by Peta, which invaded Silesia, turned south, rode through Moravia and the 64 SLOVAKIA Vlar Pass into Slovakia. The inhabitants of the Vah region fled to the forests to escape the savage hordes of Peta. The strongholds of Trencin, Nitra, Bratisla.va and Komarno defended themselves heroically. Ancient Slovak churches became the victims of Turkish devastation, and a large part of the Slovak population pel'ished at the hands of the savage, bloodthirsty Turks. In the winter of 1241-1242, the Turks crossed the frozen Danube river near 0strihom and conquered and pillaged the Transdanubian territory. Belo IV took refuge on the Dalmatian islands. At that time Khan Batu received word from Asia of the death of the Great Khan 0gotaj. Being anxious to make his claim to the vacant throne, Batu hastened home with his entire force. In this way Slovakia was freed from the unbearable tyranny of the Turks. But what the Tur.k;s failed to destroy became the spoils of the feudal barons who tore into Slovak regions to complete the work of destruction. Upon emerging from their. hiding places in the inaccessible mountains, the inhabitants of Slovaki,a found their viUfl,ges, homes and churches i~ ashes. M4sery, want and disease reigned everywhere. But the Slovak nation outlived even that calamity and put its shoulders to the task of rebuilding its homes and churches to s~feguard its national existence in its homeland. (To be continued) fl. l -f • 'f , 'T • • • WHO SAID IT? "Consider the situation of the twent-y--Odd non-western nations which are nexlt door to tlhe SOIViet world. These exposed: nrutions fe1t that they have been ipUt in the exipendable class, condeimned in perpeiDrni.ty to be the ramparts against whiich tJhe ang,ry waves of So'Vie't cOIIIlmunism will constantly hlurl themselives. . . . They cannot he enthusi astic about polides whitch wouiltl merely perpetuate so hrezardous ailld uncomfortruble a !Position. Today they liive close to '.deSipair because the United States, th~ historic lea:der of the forces of freedom, seems dedicated to the negative policy of containment and stalemate." - (John 'Foster Dulles, A POLICY OF BOLDNESS, May 19, 1952). 1  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The History of Slovakia (6/9) Description An account of the resource Philip A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 8, No. 2 (27), June 1958 pp. 56-64 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1958 Relation A related resource continued from <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/278">Vol. 8, No. 1 (26), pp. 60-64</a><br />continues in <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/260">Vol. 8, No. 3 (28), pp. 69-80</a> LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8119a7e4e3d51dc0baf5fb17592a2950.pdf 1a9472da62d85fbadbb8f3a2e87784f1 PDF Text Text 69 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: P.A. HROBAK GERMAN COLONIZATION IN SLOVAKIA In Hungary there were not enough people to settle all the land. The country was sparsely populated especi ally in the wooded hills along the frontier. For that reason from the beginning of the eleventh century the Germans began to migrate into Hungary. As foreign guests they settled at first beneath the larger castles where they established market settlements. Hungarian rulers, who made family ties with the ruling class in Germany, encouraged the immigration of the Germans. The influx of Germans was also aided by the monasteries which invited foreign settlers to their extensive but unoccupied lands. Individual nobles also followed the ex:ample of their King and helped the Germans establish new settlements where the population was small. Because the territory of mountainous Slovakia was only sparsely settled, the Germans moved into these areas in large numbers. Already during the reign of Geza II (1141-1161) Germans had come to Spis where they founded many villages and towns. The successors of Geza II, especially Andrew II (1205--1235 A.D.), invited Germans into the country and granted them many privileges to establish new settlements in the hiHy regions. The national picture of the Slovak country changed even before the Turkish invasion, because numerous German settlements were added to the original Slovak popu1'ation. This flood of German colonists increased especially after the Tartar invasion, when Bela IV and his successors desired to rebuild deva,s tated and depopulated areas. This strong influx of German settlers continued throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and created a great transformation in the national, economic and cultural conditions of Slovakia. 1 The dense mountainous region of central Slovakia, the primitive Zvolen forest, was a veritable hunter's paradise, and up to the 13th century the kings of Hungary used it exclusively as such. This vast uninhabited region, except �70 SLOVAKIA for small scattered settlements of forest wardens, dogtrainers, falconers and fishermen, brought the King only a very small revenue. And because the population of the fertile plains of southern Slovakia was not large enough to settle this vast region along the upper Hron river, the Germans, settled in Krupina since the twelfth century, literaliy poured into the region. In like manner the Germans settled along the borders of the Nitra and Turiec counties. in the Spis forest and also in Liptov. The privileges which the Hungarian kings granted immigrants lured the Germans to SloV1a.kia. The first of these German colonists came to Slovakia from northern Germany, where poor soil, often inundated by the sea, produced but sparsely. l.Jater they came to Slovakia from other parts of Germany. SloV'akia's mountainous regions concealed an abundance of precious minerals, including gold and silver ore. The native population, employed in tilling the soil and in animal husbandry, did not know how to exploit this natural wealth, even though the first mining settlements originated in Slovakia in the eleventh century. Names of towns like Rudno, Rudnik, Rudna (ruda=ore), Zlatno, Zlatnik, Zlatovce (zlato=gold), prove that the first miners in Slovakia were Slovaks. To exploit this wea:lth of various ore deposits efficiently, the owners of the lands-the King, nobility, and the monks - called in the Germans who had greater experience in mining and could assure large returns to the landowners. German colonists, who migrated in great numbers to Slovakia were no longer only guests, but became hereditary holders of properties which the authorities granted them. Every group of colonists was brought in by the King's representative who was called a locator (lokator). He took over the lands marked out by the authorities for the colonists, surveyed and assigned parcels of land to individual :families, organized a settlement, and became its administrator (rychtar). Of course, such a settlement did not bring any return to the authorities the first year, because the settlers first had to clear the forests, condition the soil and lay out the fields. So that a new settlement might become sound economi'cally, the authorities usually granted a period �SLOVAKIA 71 of relief (lehota) upon the expiration of which the settlers began paying taxes to the owner. This relief period usually lasted eighteen years. To this day there are forty-six villages in SloV'akia bearing the name "Lehota" : Mnichova Lehota, Janova Lehota, Bartosova Lehota, Kral'ova Lehota, Petrova Lehota, Paucina Lehota, Bzovska Lehota, Horna Lehota, Dolna Lehota, etc. The "rychtar" (administrator) was the head of every such settlement; he took the largest tract of land and paid no taxes. He was the judge and jury in all litigations and collected the fines, of which he was entitled to keep onethird. The authority put him in charge of the village tavern, let him run a mill, a workshop and granted him many other rights and privileges. The office of "rychtar" was usually heriditary. After the expiration of the relief period, the colonists began to pay the prescribed tribute. At first it was onetenth of the harvest, which the taxpayer had to bring into the court of his respective lord. Moreover, the colonist had to supply his lord with poultry, eggs, cheese and other items. Later, when the peasant could sell his produce, he paid all his taxes in money. Because this revenue was determined once and for all time, the position of these settlers was not intolerable, for they could increase their a:nnual income by industrious labor, while the tribute remained unchanged. Taxes were usually paid twice annually: in the spring on St. George's day (April 24) , and in the fall on the feast-day of St. Havel (October 16). Since the ruler, noble, or abbey, derived rich revenues from new settlements, many villages were promoted in those times. All new communities founded by the Germans were ruled by the laws which the colonists brought from their own country. In Slovakia the Saxon Law of the city of Magdenburg prevailed. Among the new settlements, organized according to German law, the cities attained greatest significance. THE BEGINNINGS OF SLOVAK CITIES Agricultural towns and villages were for the most part in Slovakia up to the thirteenth century, because the Slovaks occupied themselves in the main with agriculture. �72 SLOVAKIA In the more densely forested areas, where there was little arable soil, there were settlements of people who concerned themselves with animal husbandry, and farming was taken up only after the forests were cleared and burnt away. Tradesmen, in the employ of the king's court and the royal castles, resided in some of the villages already in this period. Beneath the significant county-seat castles market settlements were established, but usually by foreign merchants. Along the frontier regions of Slovakia, near the strategic gates, and near the important trade highways, settlements of foreign warriors, assigned to sentinel duty, were founded. And in central Slovakia at that time there already were several mining settlements. But up to the eleventh century there were no cities in Slovakia. Slovak cities did not arise until the Germans immigrated to Slovakia in large numbers. Slovak cities came into being in the 13th and 14th centuries. But not all of them sprang up in the same manner. Some developed gradually from ancient villages as, for example, Trnava, Zilina, Turciansky Svaty Martin, Prievidza, Topofcany. Others, like Bratislava, Nitra, Hlohovec, Zvolen and Trencin, developed from market settlements beneath the castles. Many cities in Slovakia developed near the important commercial highways and became centers of economic life. Hlohovec had such an origin for it is along the road which joins the Vah region with the Nitra area; Topofcany and Prievidza developed along the highway which connected Nitra to Turiec; Zilina originated at the crossroads leading to Silesia, Moravia and Poland. Ruzomberok and Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas sprouted up in the upper Vah region. In the Spis district the commercial cities of Kezmarok and Levoca attained great significance. Kosice, the largest city in the east, developed along the road which connected Budin with Cracow; along this same road arose Presov, Sabinov and Bardejov in the Saris district. Great economic importance was attained by towns which had their origin in the mining settlements of the Zvolen Forest area (Banska Stiavnica, Banska Bystrica, Kremnica, Krupina, Slovenska :r,upca, :r,ubietova, Pukanec, Brezno), those of Liptov (Nemecka :r,upca) and Spis (Gelnica, Spisska Nova V es) . �SLOVAKIA 73 The difference between the city and the village was especially in the various privileges granted to cities by the ruler, which guaranteed the city not only independence from the county administration (zupan), but also enabled its economic development. Every city had the right to have weekly and annual market days. On such days the people of the entire vicinity assembled to sell their agricultur al products and buy manufactured goods and merchandise from the city tradesmen and merchants. The "mile law" had a deep significance, for it denied a merchant the right to set up his business within a mile of the city lest he jeopardize the interests of the urban tradesmen. These cities near the frontier or impor tant commercial highways were granted the right of "stor age" (maintaining warehouses) , which gave them the assurance that merchants who brought merchandise from neighboring countries could not pass up the city and had to store their goods there. Bratislava had such a right of storage for goods from Austria; Trnava on goods from Bohemia and Moravia; Bardejov and Podolinec on goods from Poland; Sucany on Polish salt; Kosice on merchandise from Poland and Russia and on wine to be exported to Poland. Furthermore, cities were granted the privilege of brewing beer. Merchants of many cities displayed and sold their merchandise over a wide area without paying taxes or customs duty. To prevent brigands and r obbers from menacing the security of a city and its vicinity, the cities were granted the "right of the sword" by which they could condemn criminals to death and execute them. The cities also safeguarded their security further by being allowed to build strong walls; it was thus that many cities became real fortresses, places of refuge in times of peril. The most important privilege enjoyed by the cities, however, was their independence of the regional authority, whereby they could govern themselves according to the legal code brought to Slovakia from Germany. According to this 1aw, a city elected its own council, which usually consisted of twelve councilmen or advisors. Every councilman had to serve as "rychtar" (administrator or mayor) for a period �74 SLOVAKIA of one month. The city inhabitants also could elect their own parish priest. Such cities, not under the jurisdiction of a "zupan" and subject directly to the king, were called "royal free cities." Each had its own coat of arms and seal. BRATISLAVA is mentioned as the Breslauspurch castle already in 907 A.D. A market settlement, mentioned in 1151, sprang up beneath the castle. In 1290 a city was established near this settlement; later it fused with the older market settlement. Bratislava was granted many privileges in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. TRNAVA developed from an old Slovak village which was situated on the bank of the Trnava Creek and on the highway which connected Praha with Budin. Trnava was granted city privileges in 1238 and, hence, is the oldest city in Slovakia. SKALICA became a city in 1372. NITRA was the most significant Slovak castle already in the ninth century. A market settlement was established, which was granted city rights in 1248 A. D. as a reward for valiantly defending the castle during the Turkish invasion. Later, the original "Stare Mesto" (Old Town) was fused with several villages (like Parovce) and thus originated the city of Nitra of today. HLOHOVEC belongs among the most ancient castles in Slovakia. It guarded the road from the Vah region to Nitra. A settlement sprang up under its walls and ne~t to it, in the 14th century, the city of Friestadt. When these two settlements united, the present city of Hlohovec came into being. TRENCIN was mentioned as Laugaricio already in the second century. The Trencin castle was there in the 11th century and protected the Vah region road which was connected to the Vlar highway. Beneath its walls was a settlement, which became a city rubout the year 1300, after the advent of German colonists. In 1402 Trencin was granted the right of "storage." ZILINA was originally a Slovak village which grew raipidly, because of its advantageous location at the point where the Kysuca flows into the Vah and at the intersection of commercial highways. It was mentioned for the first �SLOVAKIA 75 time in 1208. It became a city about 1350 and probably one of the most significant cities of Slovakia. The people of Zilina founded several nearby settlements, among them also Kysucke N ove Mesto. TOPOr..CANY became a city some time at the beginning of the second half of the thirteenth century and attained significance largely because it was situated on the road going from Nitra to Turiec and near the road that came from the V ah region. PRIEVIDZA, as a settlement, was mentioned for the first time in 1113. It attained municipal status in 1388, when it gained its independence from Bojnice castle. Prievidza was granted city rights by the city of Krnpina. TURCIANSKY SY.A.TY MARTIN developed near the old settlement of Modla, the very name of which shows that it was founded in the Great Moravian period. As a village it was mentioned in 1284 and was granted city rights in 1340 by the city of Krupina. RUZOMBEROK was founded by German colonists, who searched for precious metals in Liptov. It became a city in 1318, when it was granted the same rights as those enjoyed by N emeclka r..upca since 1263. KEZMAROK, as its name indicates, is also of German origin. It was a village which was granted some rights in 1269. In 1380 it became a city. LEVOCA, first mentioned in 1263, was granted city rights at the opening of the fourteenth century and shortly thereafter became the leading city of the entire Spis region. PRESOV, granted city rights in 1324, became the center of economic life of the entire Saris region. SABINOV grew up from a village which had its origin in the twelfth century. It became a city about the middle of the fourteenth century. BARDEJOV was founded by the Cistercian monks who settled in the territory at the beginning of the thirteenth century. It was granted city rights in 1320 and became a free royal city in 1376. PODOL1NEC belongs among the frontier towns. The Poles founded it in 1244, because at that time this part of �76 SLOVAKIA Spis belonged to Poland. W enceslaus II, King of Bohemia and Poland, elevated it to a city in 1292, but a few years later it reverted to Slovakia. KRUPINA is one of the oldest Slovak cities. It became a city the same time as Trnava (1238). The Krupina Right (law) was extended over the whole of Slovakia. ZVOLEN was mentioned, in 1214, as a village beneath the walls of the castle bearing that name. It was granted some rights in 1244 and became a city gradually. Its inhabitants founded other settlements, especially in the upper Hron region. KOSICE was originally a village at the foot of the Hradova Castle and received its city charter the same year that Bratislava was incorporated. Since the main highway from Hungary to Poland passed this way, a city sprang up near the old village which was granted city rights the same time as Bratislava (1290). Kosice prospered not only from trade, but also from the new privileges granted to it by the Hungarian kings in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Of course, not a:ll Slovak cities enjoyed equal rights. The kings favored ,s ome cities more than others. Some cities were granted all rights outright, while others received them only gradually. This charter or document of rights had to be confirmed by successive rulers, who had the authority to enhance the rights granted by their predecessors. Some cities, because of their advantageous location, used their privileges to prosper economica;lly, while others, lacking the conditions for development, made no progress economically and declined in time. Mining cities, in regions rich in precious metals, were specially favored and enjoyed a special status. These cities were granted the right to seek out and e~loit the rich metal deposits in their vicinity. Slovaks were engaged in mining already in the eleventh century, but the Germans introduced a highly efficient method of mining. The oldest mining town in Slovakia, Banska Stiavnica, was granted city rights in 1250; it was administered by the law of the Czech mining city of Jihlava. Through Banska Stiavnica �SLOVAKIA 77 the rest of the Slovak mining towns received their charters, except Kremnica, which was governed by the Kutnohorie .furm of charter. The mines of Ban.ska Stiavnica were very profitable; about half of the silver mined in Hungary in the thirteenth century came from its mines. Kremnica, however, soon became the richest mining center. The famous Kremnica ducats, valid in the whole of central Europe, were coined here since 1335. In 1255 Bansika Bystrica be.came a city. The inhabitants of all these cities were quite prosperous, they could afford to build large and imposing homes and churches. Besides these large mining centers, there were smaller ones like Pukanec (1337), Hanska Bela (1440), Nova Bana (1345), r..ubietova (1379) , Brezno (1380), Gelnica (about 1250) and Spisska Nova Ves (1380). Nowhere in the Hugarian kingdom did so many cities arise as in Slovakia. SLOVAK CITIES IN THE MIDDLE AGES So that cities could conform with their purpose, they had to be built •p roperly. Every city was, therefore, built according to a ,p lan which fitted the terrain. Where a city developed from an older settlement, the latter became the foundation for building the city. Where a city arose as an entirely new settlement, it could be built precisely according to a predetermined plan. On level ground with sufficient free area, the ground plan of the city was regular. But many cities sprang up in hilly areas, where there was insufficient level ground and, hence, had to be built on a slope (Hanska Stiavnica), in a basin (Banska Bystrica and Kremnica), or on a bank of a river (Nitra and Trencin). The ,s tructural development of a city depended on natural conditions. The public square (namestie) was the most important part of a city; it was usua:lly centrally located. Through it passed the main highway that connected the city with the vicinity. The square had to be quite spacious, because it was there that the weekly and annual markets (trh or jarmok) were held. The homes of the wealthiest citizens encircled the square. They were narrow, usually two-story dwellings with high gables and steep roofs. The workshops �78 SLOVAKIA of the tradesmen were in the long, narrow courtyards of these homes. On the ground-floor of these stone structures there often were vaulted arcades under which merchants laid out their wares during inclement weather. Such homes still stand in Zilina and Kysucke N ove Mesto. The majority of the other homes were of wood. Architecturally, the city hall and the churches were the most imposing buildings. Streets ran in all directions in a parallel or vertical fashion. They were quite narrow, unpaved, and unlighted at night. Some streets were made blind so that in case of invasion by the enemy, he could be chased into them and captured or destroyed. On the most prominent site of a city stood the parish church, the pride and ornament of every city. It was built either on the square (Skalica, Podolinec, Spisska Nova Ves, Presov, Sabinov, Kosice, etc.), or near the city ramparts (Trnava, Krupina and Zilina). The parish church often formed a part of the city fortifications (Bw:::ka Bystrica and Kremnica) . The parish cemetery was near the church. Large imposing churches were built in Slovak cities by the Franciscans and Dominicans (Trnava, Nitra, Skalica, IIlohovec, Banska Stiavnica and Ifosice). The most significant building of each city was its City Hall (mestsky dom) which was situated either directly on the square (Levoca, Spisska Nova Ves, Bardejov), or very near it (Kosice, Brati<slava). The larger and more prosperous Slovak cities were granted the right of enclosure. At first the cities were enclosed with wooden palisades, but later with solid stone walls. Because the construction of stone walls was very expensive, the city was exempt from paying various taxes while the walls were being constructed. In some cities, which were protected by nature itself, only the castle stood high above the city (Banska Stiavnica, Banska Bystrica), or individual bastions stood near the highways which guarded the entrance to the city. The wealthiest cities, fearing invasion by an enemy, were enclosed by a solid stone wall with numerous citad~ls. Gates led through the ramparts into the city; usually two if only one road ran through the city, and four gates if there were two roads running through it; and there usually were several lesser gates. The main gates �SLOVAKIA 79 were part of a mighty bastion in which there was a permanent guard. All gates were closed and locked at night. A wide and deep moat surrounded the walls to prevent the enemy from getting directly beneath them. Above the moat was a drawbridge. In front of the main gate some cities built lesser fortifications to protect the entrance to the city (Bardejov). Some Slovak cities built their ramparts immediately after their founding. Trnava, located on an open plain had fortifications with many bastions, four main and two secondary gates; these ramparts, except the main gates, are still standing today. Bratislava fortified itself in 1311; Michael's Gate and the names of other gates have been preserved. Presov built its ramparts in 1378, Zilina in 1405, and Ska:lica in 1372. Some Slovak cities erected their fortifications later, when the Turks threatened Slovakia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Zvolen, Krurpina). Smaller, but more securely situated cities never had any fortifications around them (Turciansky Svaty Martin, Liptovsky Svaty Mi'kulas). Naturally, cities built in such a fashion could not be very extensive and have a very numerous population. Trnava was the largest city in Slovakia; it grew up in the center of a fertile valley in western Slovakia, on the crossroads of import'<lnt highways. In the Spis region, Levoca was the leading city. In central Slovakia, Kremnica grew unusually fast; in 1442 it already had about three thousand inhabitants. Later Bratislavia and Kosice outgrew these cities. Other Slovak towns had from 800 to 1000 inhabitants. The overwhelming majority of urban populations were engaged in the trades or in commerce. Slovak cities, located on important commercial highways which connected S1ovakia with neighboring countries, became the centers of a lively economic life and made vital contacts with foreign cities (Bratislava, Levoca, Bardejov, Kosice). In some towns there was an -agricultural population which tilled the fields beyond the walls of the city. In the cities which developed from ancient Slovak villages, the original Slovak population was preserved along with the German colonists. In the new cities, especially in �80 SLOVAKIA the numng cities, the inhabitants were almost exclusively German. They made it their concern to own all property, control the economy and political life and thus prevented other naJtionalities from settling in their cities. In such German towns, Slovaks could not buy property, own homes, engage in the trades, or have any part in the city government. Thus it happened that some cities in Slovakia retained their German character for a very long time. But in other cities, situated in densly populated areas, even the Slovaks settled, changed their national character, and engaged in the trades and the political life of the cities. In the second half of the fourteenth century, there were so many Slovruks in Zilina that King Louis the Great issued an order in 1381 which decreed that half of the members of the city council of Zilina had to be Slovak. In other cities Slovak churches were built along with German parish churches; this definitely attests to the fact that the Slovaks were relatively numerous in such cities. Already in the Middle Ages streets carried Slovak names in Bardejov and Presov. In the following centuries, when a part of the Germans of Slovak cities perished in the wars, in which the cities suffered most, more and more Slovaks migrated to the cities so that gradually, ibut certainly, they became predominantly Slovak in character. Jewish merchants began to settle in Slovak cities from the most ancient times. They usually occupied that part of the city which was set aside specifically for them. This Jewish section of the city was separated from the rest of the city by a wall (Zamocka Street and its vicinity in Bratislava; Jericho and Jerusalem Streets in Trnava; and Parovce in Nitra). (To be continued) WHO SAID IT? ''Today more than ever before, I cannot stop believing that a free and independent Czooho-Slovakia can exist only in Europe thait is brought to balance, where the West and Russia find a proper agreement to collaborate. Even the even1s of February 1948 could not shake me from this conviction, which remains the basis of my whole conception of national politics." - (The late Dr. Hubert Ripka, right-hand man of Dr. Edward Benes, FIGARO, Paris, April 4, 1949.) � 69 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: P.A. HROBAK GERMAN COLONIZATION IN SLOVAKIA In Hungary there were not enough people to settle all the land. The country was sparsely populated especi ally in the wooded hills along the frontier. For that reason from the beginning of the eleventh century the Germans began to migrate into Hungary. As foreign guests they settled at first beneath the larger castles where they established market settlements. Hungarian rulers, who made family ties with the ruling class in Germany, encouraged the immigration of the Germans. The influx of Germans was also aided by the monasteries which invited foreign settlers to their extensive but unoccupied lands. Individual nobles also followed the ex:ample of their King and helped the Germans establish new settlements where the population was small. Because the territory of mountainous Slovakia was only sparsely settled, the Germans moved into these areas in large numbers. Already during the reign of Geza II (1141-1161) Germans had come to Spis where they founded many villages and towns. The successors of Geza II, especially Andrew II (1205--1235 A.D.), invited Germans into the country and granted them many privileges to establish new settlements in the hiHy regions. The national picture of the Slovak country changed even before the Turkish invasion, because numerous German settlements were added to the original Slovak popu1'ation. This flood of German colonists increased especially after the Tartar invasion, when Bela IV and his successors desired to rebuild deva,s tated and depopulated areas. This strong influx of German settlers continued throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and created a great transformation in the national, economic and cultural conditions of Slovakia. 1 The dense mountainous region of central Slovakia, the primitive Zvolen forest, was a veritable hunter's paradise, and up to the 13th century the kings of Hungary used it exclusively as such. This vast uninhabited region, except �70 SLOVAKIA for small scattered settlements of forest wardens, dogtrainers, falconers and fishermen, brought the King only a very small revenue. And because the population of the fertile plains of southern Slovakia was not large enough to settle this vast region along the upper Hron river, the Germans, settled in Krupina since the twelfth century, literaliy poured into the region. In like manner the Germans settled along the borders of the Nitra and Turiec counties. in the Spis forest and also in Liptov. The privileges which the Hungarian kings granted immigrants lured the Germans to SloV1a.kia. The first of these German colonists came to Slovakia from northern Germany, where poor soil, often inundated by the sea, produced but sparsely. l.Jater they came to Slovakia from other parts of Germany. SloV'akia's mountainous regions concealed an abundance of precious minerals, including gold and silver ore. The native population, employed in tilling the soil and in animal husbandry, did not know how to exploit this natural wealth, even though the first mining settlements originated in Slovakia in the eleventh century. Names of towns like Rudno, Rudnik, Rudna (ruda=ore), Zlatno, Zlatnik, Zlatovce (zlato=gold), prove that the first miners in Slovakia were Slovaks. To exploit this wea:lth of various ore deposits efficiently, the owners of the lands-the King, nobility, and the monks - called in the Germans who had greater experience in mining and could assure large returns to the landowners. German colonists, who migrated in great numbers to Slovakia were no longer only guests, but became hereditary holders of properties which the authorities granted them. Every group of colonists was brought in by the King's representative who was called a locator (lokator). He took over the lands marked out by the authorities for the colonists, surveyed and assigned parcels of land to individual :families, organized a settlement, and became its administrator (rychtar). Of course, such a settlement did not bring any return to the authorities the first year, because the settlers first had to clear the forests, condition the soil and lay out the fields. So that a new settlement might become sound economi'cally, the authorities usually granted a period �SLOVAKIA 71 of relief (lehota) upon the expiration of which the settlers began paying taxes to the owner. This relief period usually lasted eighteen years. To this day there are forty-six villages in SloV'akia bearing the name "Lehota" : Mnichova Lehota, Janova Lehota, Bartosova Lehota, Kral'ova Lehota, Petrova Lehota, Paucina Lehota, Bzovska Lehota, Horna Lehota, Dolna Lehota, etc. The "rychtar" (administrator) was the head of every such settlement; he took the largest tract of land and paid no taxes. He was the judge and jury in all litigations and collected the fines, of which he was entitled to keep onethird. The authority put him in charge of the village tavern, let him run a mill, a workshop and granted him many other rights and privileges. The office of "rychtar" was usually heriditary. After the expiration of the relief period, the colonists began to pay the prescribed tribute. At first it was onetenth of the harvest, which the taxpayer had to bring into the court of his respective lord. Moreover, the colonist had to supply his lord with poultry, eggs, cheese and other items. Later, when the peasant could sell his produce, he paid all his taxes in money. Because this revenue was determined once and for all time, the position of these settlers was not intolerable, for they could increase their a:nnual income by industrious labor, while the tribute remained unchanged. Taxes were usually paid twice annually: in the spring on St. George's day (April 24) , and in the fall on the feast-day of St. Havel (October 16). Since the ruler, noble, or abbey, derived rich revenues from new settlements, many villages were promoted in those times. All new communities founded by the Germans were ruled by the laws which the colonists brought from their own country. In Slovakia the Saxon Law of the city of Magdenburg prevailed. Among the new settlements, organized according to German law, the cities attained greatest significance. THE BEGINNINGS OF SLOVAK CITIES Agricultural towns and villages were for the most part in Slovakia up to the thirteenth century, because the Slovaks occupied themselves in the main with agriculture. �72 SLOVAKIA In the more densely forested areas, where there was little arable soil, there were settlements of people who concerned themselves with animal husbandry, and farming was taken up only after the forests were cleared and burnt away. Tradesmen, in the employ of the king's court and the royal castles, resided in some of the villages already in this period. Beneath the significant county-seat castles market settlements were established, but usually by foreign merchants. Along the frontier regions of Slovakia, near the strategic gates, and near the important trade highways, settlements of foreign warriors, assigned to sentinel duty, were founded. And in central Slovakia at that time there already were several mining settlements. But up to the eleventh century there were no cities in Slovakia. Slovak cities did not arise until the Germans immigrated to Slovakia in large numbers. Slovak cities came into being in the 13th and 14th centuries. But not all of them sprang up in the same manner. Some developed gradually from ancient villages as, for example, Trnava, Zilina, Turciansky Svaty Martin, Prievidza, Topofcany. Others, like Bratislava, Nitra, Hlohovec, Zvolen and Trencin, developed from market settlements beneath the castles. Many cities in Slovakia developed near the important commercial highways and became centers of economic life. Hlohovec had such an origin for it is along the road which joins the Vah region with the Nitra area; Topofcany and Prievidza developed along the highway which connected Nitra to Turiec; Zilina originated at the crossroads leading to Silesia, Moravia and Poland. Ruzomberok and Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas sprouted up in the upper Vah region. In the Spis district the commercial cities of Kezmarok and Levoca attained great significance. Kosice, the largest city in the east, developed along the road which connected Budin with Cracow; along this same road arose Presov, Sabinov and Bardejov in the Saris district. Great economic importance was attained by towns which had their origin in the mining settlements of the Zvolen Forest area (Banska Stiavnica, Banska Bystrica, Kremnica, Krupina, Slovenska :r,upca, :r,ubietova, Pukanec, Brezno), those of Liptov (Nemecka :r,upca) and Spis (Gelnica, Spisska Nova V es) . �SLOVAKIA 73 The difference between the city and the village was especially in the various privileges granted to cities by the ruler, which guaranteed the city not only independence from the county administration (zupan), but also enabled its economic development. Every city had the right to have weekly and annual market days. On such days the people of the entire vicinity assembled to sell their agricultur al products and buy manufactured goods and merchandise from the city tradesmen and merchants. The "mile law" had a deep significance, for it denied a merchant the right to set up his business within a mile of the city lest he jeopardize the interests of the urban tradesmen. These cities near the frontier or impor tant commercial highways were granted the right of "stor age" (maintaining warehouses) , which gave them the assurance that merchants who brought merchandise from neighboring countries could not pass up the city and had to store their goods there. Bratislava had such a right of storage for goods from Austria; Trnava on goods from Bohemia and Moravia; Bardejov and Podolinec on goods from Poland; Sucany on Polish salt; Kosice on merchandise from Poland and Russia and on wine to be exported to Poland. Furthermore, cities were granted the privilege of brewing beer. Merchants of many cities displayed and sold their merchandise over a wide area without paying taxes or customs duty. To prevent brigands and r obbers from menacing the security of a city and its vicinity, the cities were granted the "right of the sword" by which they could condemn criminals to death and execute them. The cities also safeguarded their security further by being allowed to build strong walls; it was thus that many cities became real fortresses, places of refuge in times of peril. The most important privilege enjoyed by the cities, however, was their independence of the regional authority, whereby they could govern themselves according to the legal code brought to Slovakia from Germany. According to this 1aw, a city elected its own council, which usually consisted of twelve councilmen or advisors. Every councilman had to serve as "rychtar" (administrator or mayor) for a period �74 SLOVAKIA of one month. The city inhabitants also could elect their own parish priest. Such cities, not under the jurisdiction of a "zupan" and subject directly to the king, were called "royal free cities." Each had its own coat of arms and seal. BRATISLAVA is mentioned as the Breslauspurch castle already in 907 A.D. A market settlement, mentioned in 1151, sprang up beneath the castle. In 1290 a city was established near this settlement; later it fused with the older market settlement. Bratislava was granted many privileges in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. TRNAVA developed from an old Slovak village which was situated on the bank of the Trnava Creek and on the highway which connected Praha with Budin. Trnava was granted city privileges in 1238 and, hence, is the oldest city in Slovakia. SKALICA became a city in 1372. NITRA was the most significant Slovak castle already in the ninth century. A market settlement was established, which was granted city rights in 1248 A. D. as a reward for valiantly defending the castle during the Turkish invasion. Later, the original "Stare Mesto" (Old Town) was fused with several villages (like Parovce) and thus originated the city of Nitra of today. HLOHOVEC belongs among the most ancient castles in Slovakia. It guarded the road from the Vah region to Nitra. A settlement sprang up under its walls and ne~t to it, in the 14th century, the city of Friestadt. When these two settlements united, the present city of Hlohovec came into being. TRENCIN was mentioned as Laugaricio already in the second century. The Trencin castle was there in the 11th century and protected the Vah region road which was connected to the Vlar highway. Beneath its walls was a settlement, which became a city rubout the year 1300, after the advent of German colonists. In 1402 Trencin was granted the right of "storage." ZILINA was originally a Slovak village which grew raipidly, because of its advantageous location at the point where the Kysuca flows into the Vah and at the intersection of commercial highways. It was mentioned for the first �SLOVAKIA 75 time in 1208. It became a city about 1350 and probably one of the most significant cities of Slovakia. The people of Zilina founded several nearby settlements, among them also Kysucke N ove Mesto. TOPOr..CANY became a city some time at the beginning of the second half of the thirteenth century and attained significance largely because it was situated on the road going from Nitra to Turiec and near the road that came from the V ah region. PRIEVIDZA, as a settlement, was mentioned for the first time in 1113. It attained municipal status in 1388, when it gained its independence from Bojnice castle. Prievidza was granted city rights by the city of Krnpina. TURCIANSKY SY.A.TY MARTIN developed near the old settlement of Modla, the very name of which shows that it was founded in the Great Moravian period. As a village it was mentioned in 1284 and was granted city rights in 1340 by the city of Krupina. RUZOMBEROK was founded by German colonists, who searched for precious metals in Liptov. It became a city in 1318, when it was granted the same rights as those enjoyed by N emeclka r..upca since 1263. KEZMAROK, as its name indicates, is also of German origin. It was a village which was granted some rights in 1269. In 1380 it became a city. LEVOCA, first mentioned in 1263, was granted city rights at the opening of the fourteenth century and shortly thereafter became the leading city of the entire Spis region. PRESOV, granted city rights in 1324, became the center of economic life of the entire Saris region. SABINOV grew up from a village which had its origin in the twelfth century. It became a city about the middle of the fourteenth century. BARDEJOV was founded by the Cistercian monks who settled in the territory at the beginning of the thirteenth century. It was granted city rights in 1320 and became a free royal city in 1376. PODOL1NEC belongs among the frontier towns. The Poles founded it in 1244, because at that time this part of �76 SLOVAKIA Spis belonged to Poland. W enceslaus II, King of Bohemia and Poland, elevated it to a city in 1292, but a few years later it reverted to Slovakia. KRUPINA is one of the oldest Slovak cities. It became a city the same time as Trnava (1238). The Krupina Right (law) was extended over the whole of Slovakia. ZVOLEN was mentioned, in 1214, as a village beneath the walls of the castle bearing that name. It was granted some rights in 1244 and became a city gradually. Its inhabitants founded other settlements, especially in the upper Hron region. KOSICE was originally a village at the foot of the Hradova Castle and received its city charter the same year that Bratislava was incorporated. Since the main highway from Hungary to Poland passed this way, a city sprang up near the old village which was granted city rights the same time as Bratislava (1290). Kosice prospered not only from trade, but also from the new privileges granted to it by the Hungarian kings in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Of course, not a:ll Slovak cities enjoyed equal rights. The kings favored ,s ome cities more than others. Some cities were granted all rights outright, while others received them only gradually. This charter or document of rights had to be confirmed by successive rulers, who had the authority to enhance the rights granted by their predecessors. Some cities, because of their advantageous location, used their privileges to prosper economica;lly, while others, lacking the conditions for development, made no progress economically and declined in time. Mining cities, in regions rich in precious metals, were specially favored and enjoyed a special status. These cities were granted the right to seek out and e~loit the rich metal deposits in their vicinity. Slovaks were engaged in mining already in the eleventh century, but the Germans introduced a highly efficient method of mining. The oldest mining town in Slovakia, Banska Stiavnica, was granted city rights in 1250; it was administered by the law of the Czech mining city of Jihlava. Through Banska Stiavnica �SLOVAKIA 77 the rest of the Slovak mining towns received their charters, except Kremnica, which was governed by the Kutnohorie .furm of charter. The mines of Ban.ska Stiavnica were very profitable; about half of the silver mined in Hungary in the thirteenth century came from its mines. Kremnica, however, soon became the richest mining center. The famous Kremnica ducats, valid in the whole of central Europe, were coined here since 1335. In 1255 Bansika Bystrica be.came a city. The inhabitants of all these cities were quite prosperous, they could afford to build large and imposing homes and churches. Besides these large mining centers, there were smaller ones like Pukanec (1337), Hanska Bela (1440), Nova Bana (1345), r..ubietova (1379) , Brezno (1380), Gelnica (about 1250) and Spisska Nova Ves (1380). Nowhere in the Hugarian kingdom did so many cities arise as in Slovakia. SLOVAK CITIES IN THE MIDDLE AGES So that cities could conform with their purpose, they had to be built •p roperly. Every city was, therefore, built according to a ,p lan which fitted the terrain. Where a city developed from an older settlement, the latter became the foundation for building the city. Where a city arose as an entirely new settlement, it could be built precisely according to a predetermined plan. On level ground with sufficient free area, the ground plan of the city was regular. But many cities sprang up in hilly areas, where there was insufficient level ground and, hence, had to be built on a slope (Hanska Stiavnica), in a basin (Banska Bystrica and Kremnica), or on a bank of a river (Nitra and Trencin). The ,s tructural development of a city depended on natural conditions. The public square (namestie) was the most important part of a city; it was usua:lly centrally located. Through it passed the main highway that connected the city with the vicinity. The square had to be quite spacious, because it was there that the weekly and annual markets (trh or jarmok) were held. The homes of the wealthiest citizens encircled the square. They were narrow, usually two-story dwellings with high gables and steep roofs. The workshops �78 SLOVAKIA of the tradesmen were in the long, narrow courtyards of these homes. On the ground-floor of these stone structures there often were vaulted arcades under which merchants laid out their wares during inclement weather. Such homes still stand in Zilina and Kysucke N ove Mesto. The majority of the other homes were of wood. Architecturally, the city hall and the churches were the most imposing buildings. Streets ran in all directions in a parallel or vertical fashion. They were quite narrow, unpaved, and unlighted at night. Some streets were made blind so that in case of invasion by the enemy, he could be chased into them and captured or destroyed. On the most prominent site of a city stood the parish church, the pride and ornament of every city. It was built either on the square (Skalica, Podolinec, Spisska Nova Ves, Presov, Sabinov, Kosice, etc.), or near the city ramparts (Trnava, Krupina and Zilina). The parish church often formed a part of the city fortifications (Bw:::ka Bystrica and Kremnica) . The parish cemetery was near the church. Large imposing churches were built in Slovak cities by the Franciscans and Dominicans (Trnava, Nitra, Skalica, IIlohovec, Banska Stiavnica and Ifosice). The most significant building of each city was its City Hall (mestsky dom) which was situated either directly on the square (Levoca, Spisska Nova Ves, Bardejov), or very near it (Kosice, Brati<slava). The larger and more prosperous Slovak cities were granted the right of enclosure. At first the cities were enclosed with wooden palisades, but later with solid stone walls. Because the construction of stone walls was very expensive, the city was exempt from paying various taxes while the walls were being constructed. In some cities, which were protected by nature itself, only the castle stood high above the city (Banska Stiavnica, Banska Bystrica), or individual bastions stood near the highways which guarded the entrance to the city. The wealthiest cities, fearing invasion by an enemy, were enclosed by a solid stone wall with numerous citad~ls. Gates led through the ramparts into the city; usually two if only one road ran through the city, and four gates if there were two roads running through it; and there usually were several lesser gates. The main gates �SLOVAKIA 79 were part of a mighty bastion in which there was a permanent guard. All gates were closed and locked at night. A wide and deep moat surrounded the walls to prevent the enemy from getting directly beneath them. Above the moat was a drawbridge. In front of the main gate some cities built lesser fortifications to protect the entrance to the city (Bardejov). Some Slovak cities built their ramparts immediately after their founding. Trnava, located on an open plain had fortifications with many bastions, four main and two secondary gates; these ramparts, except the main gates, are still standing today. Bratislava fortified itself in 1311; Michael's Gate and the names of other gates have been preserved. Presov built its ramparts in 1378, Zilina in 1405, and Ska:lica in 1372. Some Slovak cities erected their fortifications later, when the Turks threatened Slovakia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Zvolen, Krurpina). Smaller, but more securely situated cities never had any fortifications around them (Turciansky Svaty Martin, Liptovsky Svaty Mi'kulas). Naturally, cities built in such a fashion could not be very extensive and have a very numerous population. Trnava was the largest city in Slovakia; it grew up in the center of a fertile valley in western Slovakia, on the crossroads of import'<lnt highways. In the Spis region, Levoca was the leading city. In central Slovakia, Kremnica grew unusually fast; in 1442 it already had about three thousand inhabitants. Later Bratislavia and Kosice outgrew these cities. Other Slovak towns had from 800 to 1000 inhabitants. The overwhelming majority of urban populations were engaged in the trades or in commerce. Slovak cities, located on important commercial highways which connected S1ovakia with neighboring countries, became the centers of a lively economic life and made vital contacts with foreign cities (Bratislava, Levoca, Bardejov, Kosice). In some towns there was an -agricultural population which tilled the fields beyond the walls of the city. In the cities which developed from ancient Slovak villages, the original Slovak population was preserved along with the German colonists. In the new cities, especially in �80 SLOVAKIA the numng cities, the inhabitants were almost exclusively German. They made it their concern to own all property, control the economy and political life and thus prevented other naJtionalities from settling in their cities. In such German towns, Slovaks could not buy property, own homes, engage in the trades, or have any part in the city government. Thus it happened that some cities in Slovakia retained their German character for a very long time. But in other cities, situated in densly populated areas, even the Slovaks settled, changed their national character, and engaged in the trades and the political life of the cities. In the second half of the fourteenth century, there were so many Slovruks in Zilina that King Louis the Great issued an order in 1381 which decreed that half of the members of the city council of Zilina had to be Slovak. In other cities Slovak churches were built along with German parish churches; this definitely attests to the fact that the Slovaks were relatively numerous in such cities. Already in the Middle Ages streets carried Slovak names in Bardejov and Presov. In the following centuries, when a part of the Germans of Slovak cities perished in the wars, in which the cities suffered most, more and more Slovaks migrated to the cities so that gradually, ibut certainly, they became predominantly Slovak in character. Jewish merchants began to settle in Slovak cities from the most ancient times. They usually occupied that part of the city which was set aside specifically for them. This Jewish section of the city was separated from the rest of the city by a wall (Zamocka Street and its vicinity in Bratislava; Jericho and Jerusalem Streets in Trnava; and Parovce in Nitra). (To be continued) WHO SAID IT? ''Today more than ever before, I cannot stop believing that a free and independent Czooho-Slovakia can exist only in Europe thait is brought to balance, where the West and Russia find a proper agreement to collaborate. Even the even1s of February 1948 could not shake me from this conviction, which remains the basis of my whole conception of national politics." - (The late Dr. Hubert Ripka, right-hand man of Dr. Edward Benes, FIGARO, Paris, April 4, 1949.) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958, Vol. 8 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 26), March 1958.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 27), June 1958.</li> <li>Issue 3 (No. 28), December 1958.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 69 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: P.A. HROBAK GERMAN COLONIZATION IN SLOVAKIA In Hungary there were not enough people to settle all the land. The country was sparsely populated especi ally in the wooded hills along the frontier. For that reason from the beginning of the eleventh century the Germans began to migrate into Hungary. As foreign guests they settled at first beneath the larger castles where they established market settlements. Hungarian rulers, who made family ties with the ruling class in Germany, encouraged the immigration of the Germans. The influx of Germans was also aided by the monasteries which invited foreign settlers to their extensive but unoccupied lands. Individual nobles also followed the ex:ample of their King and helped the Germans establish new settlements where the population was small. Because the territory of mountainous Slovakia was only sparsely settled, the Germans moved into these areas in large numbers. Already during the reign of Geza II (1141-1161) Germans had come to Spis where they founded many villages and towns. The successors of Geza II, especially Andrew II (1205--1235 A.D.), invited Germans into the country and granted them many privileges to establish new settlements in the hiHy regions. The national picture of the Slovak country changed even before the Turkish invasion, because numerous German settlements were added to the original Slovak popu1'ation. This flood of German colonists increased especially after the Tartar invasion, when Bela IV and his successors desired to rebuild deva,s tated and depopulated areas. This strong influx of German settlers continued throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and created a great transformation in the national, economic and cultural conditions of Slovakia. 1 The dense mountainous region of central Slovakia, the primitive Zvolen forest, was a veritable hunter's paradise, and up to the 13th century the kings of Hungary used it exclusively as such. This vast uninhabited region, except 70 SLOVAKIA for small scattered settlements of forest wardens, dogtrainers, falconers and fishermen, brought the King only a very small revenue. And because the population of the fertile plains of southern Slovakia was not large enough to settle this vast region along the upper Hron river, the Germans, settled in Krupina since the twelfth century, literaliy poured into the region. In like manner the Germans settled along the borders of the Nitra and Turiec counties. in the Spis forest and also in Liptov. The privileges which the Hungarian kings granted immigrants lured the Germans to SloV1a.kia. The first of these German colonists came to Slovakia from northern Germany, where poor soil, often inundated by the sea, produced but sparsely. l.Jater they came to Slovakia from other parts of Germany. SloV'akia's mountainous regions concealed an abundance of precious minerals, including gold and silver ore. The native population, employed in tilling the soil and in animal husbandry, did not know how to exploit this natural wealth, even though the first mining settlements originated in Slovakia in the eleventh century. Names of towns like Rudno, Rudnik, Rudna (ruda=ore), Zlatno, Zlatnik, Zlatovce (zlato=gold), prove that the first miners in Slovakia were Slovaks. To exploit this wea:lth of various ore deposits efficiently, the owners of the lands-the King, nobility, and the monks - called in the Germans who had greater experience in mining and could assure large returns to the landowners. German colonists, who migrated in great numbers to Slovakia were no longer only guests, but became hereditary holders of properties which the authorities granted them. Every group of colonists was brought in by the King's representative who was called a locator (lokator). He took over the lands marked out by the authorities for the colonists, surveyed and assigned parcels of land to individual :families, organized a settlement, and became its administrator (rychtar). Of course, such a settlement did not bring any return to the authorities the first year, because the settlers first had to clear the forests, condition the soil and lay out the fields. So that a new settlement might become sound economi'cally, the authorities usually granted a period SLOVAKIA 71 of relief (lehota) upon the expiration of which the settlers began paying taxes to the owner. This relief period usually lasted eighteen years. To this day there are forty-six villages in SloV'akia bearing the name "Lehota" : Mnichova Lehota, Janova Lehota, Bartosova Lehota, Kral'ova Lehota, Petrova Lehota, Paucina Lehota, Bzovska Lehota, Horna Lehota, Dolna Lehota, etc. The "rychtar" (administrator) was the head of every such settlement; he took the largest tract of land and paid no taxes. He was the judge and jury in all litigations and collected the fines, of which he was entitled to keep onethird. The authority put him in charge of the village tavern, let him run a mill, a workshop and granted him many other rights and privileges. The office of "rychtar" was usually heriditary. After the expiration of the relief period, the colonists began to pay the prescribed tribute. At first it was onetenth of the harvest, which the taxpayer had to bring into the court of his respective lord. Moreover, the colonist had to supply his lord with poultry, eggs, cheese and other items. Later, when the peasant could sell his produce, he paid all his taxes in money. Because this revenue was determined once and for all time, the position of these settlers was not intolerable, for they could increase their a:nnual income by industrious labor, while the tribute remained unchanged. Taxes were usually paid twice annually: in the spring on St. George's day (April 24) , and in the fall on the feast-day of St. Havel (October 16). Since the ruler, noble, or abbey, derived rich revenues from new settlements, many villages were promoted in those times. All new communities founded by the Germans were ruled by the laws which the colonists brought from their own country. In Slovakia the Saxon Law of the city of Magdenburg prevailed. Among the new settlements, organized according to German law, the cities attained greatest significance. THE BEGINNINGS OF SLOVAK CITIES Agricultural towns and villages were for the most part in Slovakia up to the thirteenth century, because the Slovaks occupied themselves in the main with agriculture. 72 SLOVAKIA In the more densely forested areas, where there was little arable soil, there were settlements of people who concerned themselves with animal husbandry, and farming was taken up only after the forests were cleared and burnt away. Tradesmen, in the employ of the king's court and the royal castles, resided in some of the villages already in this period. Beneath the significant county-seat castles market settlements were established, but usually by foreign merchants. Along the frontier regions of Slovakia, near the strategic gates, and near the important trade highways, settlements of foreign warriors, assigned to sentinel duty, were founded. And in central Slovakia at that time there already were several mining settlements. But up to the eleventh century there were no cities in Slovakia. Slovak cities did not arise until the Germans immigrated to Slovakia in large numbers. Slovak cities came into being in the 13th and 14th centuries. But not all of them sprang up in the same manner. Some developed gradually from ancient villages as, for example, Trnava, Zilina, Turciansky Svaty Martin, Prievidza, Topofcany. Others, like Bratislava, Nitra, Hlohovec, Zvolen and Trencin, developed from market settlements beneath the castles. Many cities in Slovakia developed near the important commercial highways and became centers of economic life. Hlohovec had such an origin for it is along the road which joins the Vah region with the Nitra area; Topofcany and Prievidza developed along the highway which connected Nitra to Turiec; Zilina originated at the crossroads leading to Silesia, Moravia and Poland. Ruzomberok and Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas sprouted up in the upper Vah region. In the Spis district the commercial cities of Kezmarok and Levoca attained great significance. Kosice, the largest city in the east, developed along the road which connected Budin with Cracow; along this same road arose Presov, Sabinov and Bardejov in the Saris district. Great economic importance was attained by towns which had their origin in the mining settlements of the Zvolen Forest area (Banska Stiavnica, Banska Bystrica, Kremnica, Krupina, Slovenska :r,upca, :r,ubietova, Pukanec, Brezno), those of Liptov (Nemecka :r,upca) and Spis (Gelnica, Spisska Nova V es) . SLOVAKIA 73 The difference between the city and the village was especially in the various privileges granted to cities by the ruler, which guaranteed the city not only independence from the county administration (zupan), but also enabled its economic development. Every city had the right to have weekly and annual market days. On such days the people of the entire vicinity assembled to sell their agricultur al products and buy manufactured goods and merchandise from the city tradesmen and merchants. The "mile law" had a deep significance, for it denied a merchant the right to set up his business within a mile of the city lest he jeopardize the interests of the urban tradesmen. These cities near the frontier or impor tant commercial highways were granted the right of "stor age" (maintaining warehouses) , which gave them the assurance that merchants who brought merchandise from neighboring countries could not pass up the city and had to store their goods there. Bratislava had such a right of storage for goods from Austria; Trnava on goods from Bohemia and Moravia; Bardejov and Podolinec on goods from Poland; Sucany on Polish salt; Kosice on merchandise from Poland and Russia and on wine to be exported to Poland. Furthermore, cities were granted the privilege of brewing beer. Merchants of many cities displayed and sold their merchandise over a wide area without paying taxes or customs duty. To prevent brigands and r obbers from menacing the security of a city and its vicinity, the cities were granted the "right of the sword" by which they could condemn criminals to death and execute them. The cities also safeguarded their security further by being allowed to build strong walls; it was thus that many cities became real fortresses, places of refuge in times of peril. The most important privilege enjoyed by the cities, however, was their independence of the regional authority, whereby they could govern themselves according to the legal code brought to Slovakia from Germany. According to this 1aw, a city elected its own council, which usually consisted of twelve councilmen or advisors. Every councilman had to serve as "rychtar" (administrator or mayor) for a period 74 SLOVAKIA of one month. The city inhabitants also could elect their own parish priest. Such cities, not under the jurisdiction of a "zupan" and subject directly to the king, were called "royal free cities." Each had its own coat of arms and seal. BRATISLAVA is mentioned as the Breslauspurch castle already in 907 A.D. A market settlement, mentioned in 1151, sprang up beneath the castle. In 1290 a city was established near this settlement; later it fused with the older market settlement. Bratislava was granted many privileges in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. TRNAVA developed from an old Slovak village which was situated on the bank of the Trnava Creek and on the highway which connected Praha with Budin. Trnava was granted city privileges in 1238 and, hence, is the oldest city in Slovakia. SKALICA became a city in 1372. NITRA was the most significant Slovak castle already in the ninth century. A market settlement was established, which was granted city rights in 1248 A. D. as a reward for valiantly defending the castle during the Turkish invasion. Later, the original "Stare Mesto" (Old Town) was fused with several villages (like Parovce) and thus originated the city of Nitra of today. HLOHOVEC belongs among the most ancient castles in Slovakia. It guarded the road from the Vah region to Nitra. A settlement sprang up under its walls and ne~t to it, in the 14th century, the city of Friestadt. When these two settlements united, the present city of Hlohovec came into being. TRENCIN was mentioned as Laugaricio already in the second century. The Trencin castle was there in the 11th century and protected the Vah region road which was connected to the Vlar highway. Beneath its walls was a settlement, which became a city rubout the year 1300, after the advent of German colonists. In 1402 Trencin was granted the right of "storage." ZILINA was originally a Slovak village which grew raipidly, because of its advantageous location at the point where the Kysuca flows into the Vah and at the intersection of commercial highways. It was mentioned for the first SLOVAKIA 75 time in 1208. It became a city about 1350 and probably one of the most significant cities of Slovakia. The people of Zilina founded several nearby settlements, among them also Kysucke N ove Mesto. TOPOr..CANY became a city some time at the beginning of the second half of the thirteenth century and attained significance largely because it was situated on the road going from Nitra to Turiec and near the road that came from the V ah region. PRIEVIDZA, as a settlement, was mentioned for the first time in 1113. It attained municipal status in 1388, when it gained its independence from Bojnice castle. Prievidza was granted city rights by the city of Krnpina. TURCIANSKY SY.A.TY MARTIN developed near the old settlement of Modla, the very name of which shows that it was founded in the Great Moravian period. As a village it was mentioned in 1284 and was granted city rights in 1340 by the city of Krupina. RUZOMBEROK was founded by German colonists, who searched for precious metals in Liptov. It became a city in 1318, when it was granted the same rights as those enjoyed by N emeclka r..upca since 1263. KEZMAROK, as its name indicates, is also of German origin. It was a village which was granted some rights in 1269. In 1380 it became a city. LEVOCA, first mentioned in 1263, was granted city rights at the opening of the fourteenth century and shortly thereafter became the leading city of the entire Spis region. PRESOV, granted city rights in 1324, became the center of economic life of the entire Saris region. SABINOV grew up from a village which had its origin in the twelfth century. It became a city about the middle of the fourteenth century. BARDEJOV was founded by the Cistercian monks who settled in the territory at the beginning of the thirteenth century. It was granted city rights in 1320 and became a free royal city in 1376. PODOL1NEC belongs among the frontier towns. The Poles founded it in 1244, because at that time this part of 76 SLOVAKIA Spis belonged to Poland. W enceslaus II, King of Bohemia and Poland, elevated it to a city in 1292, but a few years later it reverted to Slovakia. KRUPINA is one of the oldest Slovak cities. It became a city the same time as Trnava (1238). The Krupina Right (law) was extended over the whole of Slovakia. ZVOLEN was mentioned, in 1214, as a village beneath the walls of the castle bearing that name. It was granted some rights in 1244 and became a city gradually. Its inhabitants founded other settlements, especially in the upper Hron region. KOSICE was originally a village at the foot of the Hradova Castle and received its city charter the same year that Bratislava was incorporated. Since the main highway from Hungary to Poland passed this way, a city sprang up near the old village which was granted city rights the same time as Bratislava (1290). Kosice prospered not only from trade, but also from the new privileges granted to it by the Hungarian kings in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Of course, not a:ll Slovak cities enjoyed equal rights. The kings favored ,s ome cities more than others. Some cities were granted all rights outright, while others received them only gradually. This charter or document of rights had to be confirmed by successive rulers, who had the authority to enhance the rights granted by their predecessors. Some cities, because of their advantageous location, used their privileges to prosper economica;lly, while others, lacking the conditions for development, made no progress economically and declined in time. Mining cities, in regions rich in precious metals, were specially favored and enjoyed a special status. These cities were granted the right to seek out and e~loit the rich metal deposits in their vicinity. Slovaks were engaged in mining already in the eleventh century, but the Germans introduced a highly efficient method of mining. The oldest mining town in Slovakia, Banska Stiavnica, was granted city rights in 1250; it was administered by the law of the Czech mining city of Jihlava. Through Banska Stiavnica SLOVAKIA 77 the rest of the Slovak mining towns received their charters, except Kremnica, which was governed by the Kutnohorie .furm of charter. The mines of Ban.ska Stiavnica were very profitable; about half of the silver mined in Hungary in the thirteenth century came from its mines. Kremnica, however, soon became the richest mining center. The famous Kremnica ducats, valid in the whole of central Europe, were coined here since 1335. In 1255 Bansika Bystrica be.came a city. The inhabitants of all these cities were quite prosperous, they could afford to build large and imposing homes and churches. Besides these large mining centers, there were smaller ones like Pukanec (1337), Hanska Bela (1440), Nova Bana (1345), r..ubietova (1379) , Brezno (1380), Gelnica (about 1250) and Spisska Nova Ves (1380). Nowhere in the Hugarian kingdom did so many cities arise as in Slovakia. SLOVAK CITIES IN THE MIDDLE AGES So that cities could conform with their purpose, they had to be built •p roperly. Every city was, therefore, built according to a ,p lan which fitted the terrain. Where a city developed from an older settlement, the latter became the foundation for building the city. Where a city arose as an entirely new settlement, it could be built precisely according to a predetermined plan. On level ground with sufficient free area, the ground plan of the city was regular. But many cities sprang up in hilly areas, where there was insufficient level ground and, hence, had to be built on a slope (Hanska Stiavnica), in a basin (Banska Bystrica and Kremnica), or on a bank of a river (Nitra and Trencin). The ,s tructural development of a city depended on natural conditions. The public square (namestie) was the most important part of a city; it was usua:lly centrally located. Through it passed the main highway that connected the city with the vicinity. The square had to be quite spacious, because it was there that the weekly and annual markets (trh or jarmok) were held. The homes of the wealthiest citizens encircled the square. They were narrow, usually two-story dwellings with high gables and steep roofs. The workshops 78 SLOVAKIA of the tradesmen were in the long, narrow courtyards of these homes. On the ground-floor of these stone structures there often were vaulted arcades under which merchants laid out their wares during inclement weather. Such homes still stand in Zilina and Kysucke N ove Mesto. The majority of the other homes were of wood. Architecturally, the city hall and the churches were the most imposing buildings. Streets ran in all directions in a parallel or vertical fashion. They were quite narrow, unpaved, and unlighted at night. Some streets were made blind so that in case of invasion by the enemy, he could be chased into them and captured or destroyed. On the most prominent site of a city stood the parish church, the pride and ornament of every city. It was built either on the square (Skalica, Podolinec, Spisska Nova Ves, Presov, Sabinov, Kosice, etc.), or near the city ramparts (Trnava, Krupina and Zilina). The parish church often formed a part of the city fortifications (Bw:::ka Bystrica and Kremnica) . The parish cemetery was near the church. Large imposing churches were built in Slovak cities by the Franciscans and Dominicans (Trnava, Nitra, Skalica, IIlohovec, Banska Stiavnica and Ifosice). The most significant building of each city was its City Hall (mestsky dom) which was situated either directly on the square (Levoca, Spisska Nova Ves, Bardejov), or very near it (Kosice, Brati<slava). The larger and more prosperous Slovak cities were granted the right of enclosure. At first the cities were enclosed with wooden palisades, but later with solid stone walls. Because the construction of stone walls was very expensive, the city was exempt from paying various taxes while the walls were being constructed. In some cities, which were protected by nature itself, only the castle stood high above the city (Banska Stiavnica, Banska Bystrica), or individual bastions stood near the highways which guarded the entrance to the city. The wealthiest cities, fearing invasion by an enemy, were enclosed by a solid stone wall with numerous citad~ls. Gates led through the ramparts into the city; usually two if only one road ran through the city, and four gates if there were two roads running through it; and there usually were several lesser gates. The main gates SLOVAKIA 79 were part of a mighty bastion in which there was a permanent guard. All gates were closed and locked at night. A wide and deep moat surrounded the walls to prevent the enemy from getting directly beneath them. Above the moat was a drawbridge. In front of the main gate some cities built lesser fortifications to protect the entrance to the city (Bardejov). Some Slovak cities built their ramparts immediately after their founding. Trnava, located on an open plain had fortifications with many bastions, four main and two secondary gates; these ramparts, except the main gates, are still standing today. Bratislava fortified itself in 1311; Michael's Gate and the names of other gates have been preserved. Presov built its ramparts in 1378, Zilina in 1405, and Ska:lica in 1372. Some Slovak cities erected their fortifications later, when the Turks threatened Slovakia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Zvolen, Krurpina). Smaller, but more securely situated cities never had any fortifications around them (Turciansky Svaty Martin, Liptovsky Svaty Mi'kulas). Naturally, cities built in such a fashion could not be very extensive and have a very numerous population. Trnava was the largest city in Slovakia; it grew up in the center of a fertile valley in western Slovakia, on the crossroads of import'<lnt highways. In the Spis region, Levoca was the leading city. In central Slovakia, Kremnica grew unusually fast; in 1442 it already had about three thousand inhabitants. Later Bratislavia and Kosice outgrew these cities. Other Slovak towns had from 800 to 1000 inhabitants. The overwhelming majority of urban populations were engaged in the trades or in commerce. Slovak cities, located on important commercial highways which connected S1ovakia with neighboring countries, became the centers of a lively economic life and made vital contacts with foreign cities (Bratislava, Levoca, Bardejov, Kosice). In some towns there was an -agricultural population which tilled the fields beyond the walls of the city. In the cities which developed from ancient Slovak villages, the original Slovak population was preserved along with the German colonists. In the new cities, especially in 80 SLOVAKIA the numng cities, the inhabitants were almost exclusively German. They made it their concern to own all property, control the economy and political life and thus prevented other naJtionalities from settling in their cities. In such German towns, Slovaks could not buy property, own homes, engage in the trades, or have any part in the city government. Thus it happened that some cities in Slovakia retained their German character for a very long time. But in other cities, situated in densly populated areas, even the Slovaks settled, changed their national character, and engaged in the trades and the political life of the cities. In the second half of the fourteenth century, there were so many Slovruks in Zilina that King Louis the Great issued an order in 1381 which decreed that half of the members of the city council of Zilina had to be Slovak. In other cities Slovak churches were built along with German parish churches; this definitely attests to the fact that the Slovaks were relatively numerous in such cities. Already in the Middle Ages streets carried Slovak names in Bardejov and Presov. In the following centuries, when a part of the Germans of Slovak cities perished in the wars, in which the cities suffered most, more and more Slovaks migrated to the cities so that gradually, ibut certainly, they became predominantly Slovak in character. Jewish merchants began to settle in Slovak cities from the most ancient times. They usually occupied that part of the city which was set aside specifically for them. This Jewish section of the city was separated from the rest of the city by a wall (Zamocka Street and its vicinity in Bratislava; Jericho and Jerusalem Streets in Trnava; and Parovce in Nitra). (To be continued) WHO SAID IT? ''Today more than ever before, I cannot stop believing that a free and independent Czooho-Slovakia can exist only in Europe thait is brought to balance, where the West and Russia find a proper agreement to collaborate. Even the even1s of February 1948 could not shake me from this conviction, which remains the basis of my whole conception of national politics." - (The late Dr. Hubert Ripka, right-hand man of Dr. Edward Benes, FIGARO, Paris, April 4, 1949.)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The History of Slovakia (7/9) Description An account of the resource Philip A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 8, No. 3 (28), December 1958 pp. 69-80 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1958 Relation A related resource continued from <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/271">Vol. 8, No. 2 (27), pp. 56-64</a><br />continues in <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/299">Vol. 9, No. 1 (29), pp. 72-80</a> LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/cbb7ce60aa3a0e412b377e83ab896a76.pdf 1b1c514b3207fc0bcaa5382ba1dbba99 PDF Text Text 72 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK tContinued) With their economic development the cities and towns also became important centers of cultural life. German settlers brough higher education to the Slovaks, so that many Slovak cities became centers of western European culture. Schools originated near the parish churches and the monasteries. Hospitals were built in many cities. Into all the cities came the architects, contractors and artists, who built and decorated not on:ly churches and city halls, but also the homes of the prosperous citizens. Of course, all this had some influence on the outlying villages and hamlets which were in constant touch with the cities. CRAFTSMEN'S GUILDS IN SLOVAKIA Besides the merchants, who brought various merchandise from the neighboring countries into Slovak cities and formed the wealthiest group, there lived in these cities also the tradesmen, who established their workshops and sold their wares at the markets. Slovaks were acquainted with some trades, others they acquired from their neighbors, but the bulk of trades were introduced into Slovakia by the German colonists in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. At first only those trades were fostered which served the everyday needs of the people (carpentry, cabinet-making, tanning, shoemaking, cloth-making, tailoring, etc.). Other trades originated and developed gradually with the economic and cultural conditions of the country. The higher the standard of living, the more trades were developed and applied in the cities, towns and hamlets. Just as the various types of trades came to the Slovaks by way of Germany, so came also the custom of the tradesmen organizing in associations which were called guilds. In every city there were as many guilds as there were different types of trades. As the number of trades �SLOVAKIA 73 gradually increased, so did the number of guilds. In the large cities each trade had its own independent guild, while in the smaller towns, and later in the larger villages, the closely-related trades were united in one common guild. Only some cities were granted a monopoly on certain types of trade; e.g., only Kosice had the privilege of making linen (barchet) and Bardejov had the right to bleach cloth. In the larger cities work shops were usually grouped in particular streets so that many of these streets derived their names from the type of trade that prevailed there. In Bratislava, even today there still are streets called Sedlarska, Klobucnicka; in Trnava: Pekarska, Halenarska, Ostrozna, Masiarska ; in Banska Bystrica : Kovacska ; in Hlohovec: Mydlarska ; in Zilina and in Kosice: Zvonarska, Kovacska, Masiarska. As a technical organization, the guild took care of all the interests of its member,s. Each guild had its own written by-laws which contained detailed regulations called articles. The furrier's guild in Kosice had its own articles already in 1305. The Bratislava guild of butchers, shoemakers and bakers had written articles already in 1376. The organization of the guilds took place in the fourteenth century, attained its greatest development in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and lasted until modern times, when factory products began to give real competition to the products of the guilds. The by-laws of each city guild had to be approved by the city council and by the landlords; and by secular and church authorities in the smaller towns. The guilds frequently had their statutes approved even by their sovereigns. Due to the fact that many Slovak cities in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had a majority of German inhabitants, the guild regulations were written at first in German or Latin. But later, when the Slovaks became the majority, the by-laws and correspondence of the guilds were more frequently in the Slovak language. The Trnava Guild of Tailors already in 1558 did its writing in Slovak; the Butchers' Guild in 1562. The guilds of Trencin and Hlohovec used the Slovak language at the end of the sixteenth �74 SLOVAKIA century. In the seventeenth century all the smaller towns (Banovce, Bojnice, Beckov, Bytca, Holic, Humenne, !lava, Jelsava, Myjava, Prievidza, Puchov, Rajec, Skalica, Sastin, Topol'cany, etc.) kept their guild records in Slovak. Only a master-craftsman could become a member of a respectable guild, after he had fulfilled all technical and moral requirements. In each guild the number of mastercraftsmen was limited to prevent overproduction in goods. In Bratislava in 1376, there could be only twenty-eight butchers and sixteen bakers. Every member of a guild was obliged to present only perfect products at prices determined by the guild. All tradesmen had to work in the same way so that their products were of like quality and price, and all competition removed. At the head of each guild was a guildmaster, whom the members elected for a period of one year. If there were a number of master craftsmen in a guild, the leader of the guild was the chief guildmaster. The guildmaster was the head of the guild, represented the guild before the authorities, especially before the city council in whose presence he took the oath of office after his election. He took care of all the guild's interests, ipresided at meetings, held several times a year in his home, and at banquets. He supervised the work of all members of his particular guild, judged th~ir products especially before they went to market, saw to it that all regulations were strictly observed, and in his care were all documents and letters and finances of his guild. The guildmaster was ,s ole arbiter of all arguments between members; he imposed punishment and collected all fines. He was a very respected personality not only among the membership of his guild, but among the general public as well. Members of the guild were divided into senior and junior master craftsmen. The elder masters, authorized by the guildmaster, supervised the work of the members of the guild and maintained order and discipline. The younger masters were obliged to perform various menial duties, such as lighting candles in the church, serving as waiters at banquets, taking care of the weak and sick masters, dig- �SLOVAKIA 75 ging graves and acting as pallbearers for deceased masters. After banquets, if the senior masters were unable to find their way home, the junior members were obliged to escort them. Great care was taken to see that all members of a guild conscientiousl y performed their religious obligations. The wealthier guilds had their own altar in the parish church which was dedicated to the patron saint of their guild. Every guild member was obliged to attend divine services on Sunday and Holy Days, and had to receive the sacraments at least once a year. At church processions the entire guild took part under its own standard, which bore the image of the patron saint and the trademark of the guild. Any member guilty of transgression s, which caused scandal and so harmed the good name of a respectable guild, was obliged to pay a prescribed sum into the guild's treasury, or give candles to his church. In the event of danger, when an enemy threatened the city, the guild members were obliged to defend the ramparts of the city. The city assigned to each guild a tower or bastion which the members had to keep in good order and supply it with weapons and ammunition. City bastions have retained individual guild names even to this day (Pekarska basta, Obuvnicka, Masiarska, etc.). If a fire broke out in the city, each guild had to take part in the rescue work and also bring a prescribed number of buckets of water to help extinguish it. So that only honorable persons could become members of a guild, people of good morals and technically well prepared, many years of apprenticeshi p and str ict education wer e prescribed for applicants. SLOVAKIA AFTER THE TURKISH INVASION When the Turks abandoned plundered Hungary, King Bela IV set out to reconstruct his country. He invited foreign settlers in large numbers, so that some might cultivate the depopulated areas. Many Germans settled in the hilly regions to found new villages and towns. But nomadic Cumans also came again to occupy the lowlands and the southern foothills of the Slovak mountains. The Ger mans �76 SLOVAKIA brought a high degree of culture into the country and contributed handsomely to its economy, while the Cumans were supposed to be the military support of the Hungarian king. But Hungary, even during the reign of Bela IV, was in a difficult situation, which was caused by internal revolutions and the growth of the Bohemian kingdom under Premysl Otokar II and his successors. Bela nr could not maintain the integrity of his kingdom. His son wanted to rule during his lifetime, and Bela was forced to let him rule over the Eastern part of Hungary. This partition of Hungary weakened it terribly and increased the dangers of invasion by outside enemies. While the members of the ruling family quarreled, the wealthy nobles strengthened thei r own positions and prestige. Slovak territory played an important role in the development of these relations, since both the Czechs and the Hungarians were interested in it. Premysl Otokar II became ruler of Austrian lands and extended his rule to the banks of the Adriatic Sea. Since the Hungarian king claimed a part of these lands, especially Styria, hostile relations between the Czechs and Hungarians resulted. But Premysl Otokar II also wanted Slovakia, and this only infuriated the Hungarian monarch more. Wars were inevitable. They were fought on Slovak soil and the Slovaks paid with their lives and property for the enmity existing between two foreign rulers. A part of western Slovakia, including Bratislava, Trnava and Nitra, became prey of the Bohemian king several times after 1271 and the victim of the ruthless devastation of the Czech armies. Finally, this area fell into the hands of Austrian dukes and barons. After Bela's death (1270), the Hungarian throne was occupied by rulers who became friendly with the pagan Cumans, spent most of their time in their camps, where they abandoned themselves to riotous, pagan living. Consequently the whole country suffered. In 1280 the Bishops and nobles persuaded King Ladislaus IV to abandon his reckless adventures and to domesticate the wild Cumans. But the Cumans rebelled and pillaged the whole country, including Slovakia, where they committed the most brutal �SLOVAKIA 77 .atrocities. Later, in 1285, the Tartars again invaded Slovakia and devastated Spis and the whole of eastern Slovakia. This invasion was used by the Cumans to pillage western Slovakia. It was thus that Slovakia had to pay for the weaknesses and defects of the kings of Hungary and their friendly relations with the Cumans. The weaker the king, the more the power of the nobility increased. They appropriated royal and ecclesiastical properties and recognized no government over themselves. When King Ladislaus IV refused to reform and continued to spend most of his time in the Cuman camps, the Hungarian magnates assassinated him. His successor, Andrew III (1290-1301), tried to be a good king and did what he could to save the kingdom from catastrophe; but it was too late. By the end of the thirteenth century Hungary disintegrated into several parts in which wealthy magnates reigned as independent little kings. Among these nobles was Matus Cak (Mahtoosh Tchak) of Trencin, "the lord of the Vah and the Tatras," who become the ruler of a large part of Slovakia at the end of the thirteenth century. Ca:k was not a Slovak by birth, but his ancestors had acquired large tracts of land in Slovakia. When he became the highest official of the royalty during the reign of Andrew III, he took advantage of his position and added new lands and castles to his family's holdings. Matus Cak seized the lands of many nobles, forced others to recognize his sovereignty, appropriated many royal citadels and in his ruthlessness did not even hesitate taking ecclesiastical properties. In 1299 he captured Trencin Castle which became the main stronghold of the mighty lord of the Vah and the Tatras. Ca.k's power extended from the Morava river to Spis and from the Danube to the Tatras, so that all of western Slovakia, except Bratislava and vicinity, and a large part of central Slovakia were under his rule. Beyond the Danube the mighty Vy s e h r a d Castle guarded the borders of Ca.k's country. In his Trencin citadel Matus Cak organized his entire court in regal splendor, and numerous courtiers did his bidding. As an independent ruler, he had his own army, coined his own money in Nitra �78 SLOVAKIA and established relations with neighboring rulers. Cak of Trencin built up his great power on the wealth which flowed to him from his extensive holdings. But the most reliable support of his power was the devotion and loyalty of his land administrators and his people. In Ca.k's army divisions of Slovak warriors also fought; they distinguished themselves by their courage, devotion and heroism. Ca.k's military glory, therefore, was in a large measure the merit of his Slovak subjects. At that time the Amadei Clan ruled over eastern Slovakia, including Kosice. It did not recognize the sovereignty of the Hungarian king. In 1301, when the death of King Andrew ill brought the Arpad dynasty to an end and several rulers sought the Hungarian throne, Slovakia was for all practical purposes an independent state under Matus Cak of Trencin. SLOVAKIA UNDER THE ANJOUS After Andrew ill's death, a part of the Hungarian nobility headed by Matus Cak called a son of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia to the throne, who already then was in possession of the Polish Crown. But the twelve-year-old Crown Prince Wenceslaus, crowned in Stolny Belehrad, was op.p osed by another group which sided with Pope Boniface VIII and chose Charles Robert of the French house of Anjou, who ruled in Naples. Relying on his power, Matus Cak of Trencin opposed Charles Robert and defended the interests of the Bohemian Wenceslaus. He resisted the An jous even after Wenceslaus renounced the Hungarian Crown and died shortly after in 1306 as the last male descendant of the Premysl dynasty. Soon after his accession to the throne, the Hungarian king attempted to break the power of the magnates and unite Hungary under his own rule. Matus Cak of Trencin continued to oppose the rule of Charles Robert. With his army he attacked the royal castle at Budin and fought the magnates and bishops who supported Charles Robert. In 1311, after he succeeded in gaining the support of the majority of the nobility, Charles Robert prepared for a showdown with Matus Cak. But the latter allied himself with �SLOVAKIA 79 the Amadei clan who opposed the king in eastern Slovakia. The combined armies of Matus Cak and the Amadei defended themselves successfully at Saris Castle and forced the king to retreat. The royal army withdrew to Spis to rally the support of the German colonists there. With these new allies Charles again set out after Matus Cak. In the decisive battle, which took place June 15, 1312, at Rozhanovce, not far from Kosice, the king was victorious. The Amadei clan was completely routed, lost all its citadels and properties and was forced to flee to Poland, where it found refuge at the court of Ladislaus Lokietek, whom it had aided a short time before against the Czechs. The Amadei never returned to Hungary, but remained in Poland, and Charles Robert became master of eastern Slovakia. Matus Ca.k's setback at Rozhanovce did not break him completely. He continued to act independently in western Slovakia. Indeed, his power and prestige were still so great that the German King Frederick the Handsome, sought his aid in 1315 against Louis, the Bavarian, and against John of Luxemburg. Even though Charles Robert captured Vysehrad and Komarno in 1317 and dangerously threatened the sovereignty of Matus Cak of Trencin, nevertheless, the lord of the Vah and the 'flatras continued to rule independently to the end of his life. It was only after Matus Cak died in the Trencin castle in 1321, that Charles Robert was able to extend his rule over the western half of Slovakia. The following year Charles Robert also seized Bratislava. which had been in the hands of the Austrian dukes since tht beginning of the fourteenth century. Slovakia, after a brief period of independence, again became a part of the kingdom of Hungary which, under the rule of the Anjou dynasty, enjoyed a period of great political, economic and cultural growth. As soon as Charles Robert reunited the Hungarian kingdom, his first care was to put the economic affairs of Hungary into order. He founded many new cities, supported the development of mining, established a sound financial system, and encouraged commerce with neighboring states. It was during this period that a large number of new cities were founded also in Slovakia ·a nd the older ones were granted new privileges. �80 SLOVAKIA Bratislava, Trnava, Levoca, and Kosice became important centers of international commerce. The king- ipaid special attention to the Slovak mining towns, because their wealth swelled the royal coffers appreciably. Mining commissions supervised all mining projects and regulated the sale of all precious metals. A Count of the Chamber headed the mining commission; he concluded the rental agreement with the ruler and guaranteed the king revenues from the mines. The territory of Slovakia, rich in metallic ores, was divided into two mining chambers: the western half of Slovakia belonged under the management of the mining chamber of Kremnica, while the eastern half was managed by the chamber of Smolnica, which later moved its headquarters to Kosice. Zupan Done, who managed a large part of central Slovakia as the administrator of Zvolen, was a loyal adherent and faithful aide of Robert. At that time the Zvolen region was an extensive area, out of which later were gradually formed the independent districts of Turiec, Orava and Liptov, besides that of Zvolen. Administrator Done founded Liptovsky Hradok, built many churches, endowed monasteries, and served at the pa!pal court in Avignon as a rei[)resentative of Charles Robert. Slovakia played a significant role even in the international relations of the Hungarian kingdom. Already in 1327, Charles Robert and the Bohemian king, met in Trnava, where they formed an alliance against the Habsburgs. Slovakia became the territory on which the interests of the Hungarian, Bohemian and Polish kingdoms were settled. In 1335 the legates of John of Bohemia, Casimir the Great of Po-land and Charles Robert assembled at Trenein to determine the conditions of a friendly alliance. At this meeting an agreement was reached which enabled the meeting of the three kings in Vysehrad Castle and thus contributed largely to safeguard peace in central Europe. Louis the Great (1342-1382), son and successor of Charles Robert, tried to extend the limits of the Hungarian kingdom. He waged frequent wars on the southern borders of Hungary and conquered the northern part of the Balkan peninsula and the territory of present-day Rumania. (To be continued) � 72 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK tContinued) With their economic development the cities and towns also became important centers of cultural life. German settlers brough higher education to the Slovaks, so that many Slovak cities became centers of western European culture. Schools originated near the parish churches and the monasteries. Hospitals were built in many cities. Into all the cities came the architects, contractors and artists, who built and decorated not on:ly churches and city halls, but also the homes of the prosperous citizens. Of course, all this had some influence on the outlying villages and hamlets which were in constant touch with the cities. CRAFTSMEN'S GUILDS IN SLOVAKIA Besides the merchants, who brought various merchandise from the neighboring countries into Slovak cities and formed the wealthiest group, there lived in these cities also the tradesmen, who established their workshops and sold their wares at the markets. Slovaks were acquainted with some trades, others they acquired from their neighbors, but the bulk of trades were introduced into Slovakia by the German colonists in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. At first only those trades were fostered which served the everyday needs of the people (carpentry, cabinet-making, tanning, shoemaking, cloth-making, tailoring, etc.). Other trades originated and developed gradually with the economic and cultural conditions of the country. The higher the standard of living, the more trades were developed and applied in the cities, towns and hamlets. Just as the various types of trades came to the Slovaks by way of Germany, so came also the custom of the tradesmen organizing in associations which were called guilds. In every city there were as many guilds as there were different types of trades. As the number of trades �SLOVAKIA 73 gradually increased, so did the number of guilds. In the large cities each trade had its own independent guild, while in the smaller towns, and later in the larger villages, the closely-related trades were united in one common guild. Only some cities were granted a monopoly on certain types of trade; e.g., only Kosice had the privilege of making linen (barchet) and Bardejov had the right to bleach cloth. In the larger cities work shops were usually grouped in particular streets so that many of these streets derived their names from the type of trade that prevailed there. In Bratislava, even today there still are streets called Sedlarska, Klobucnicka; in Trnava: Pekarska, Halenarska, Ostrozna, Masiarska ; in Banska Bystrica : Kovacska ; in Hlohovec: Mydlarska ; in Zilina and in Kosice: Zvonarska, Kovacska, Masiarska. As a technical organization, the guild took care of all the interests of its member,s. Each guild had its own written by-laws which contained detailed regulations called articles. The furrier's guild in Kosice had its own articles already in 1305. The Bratislava guild of butchers, shoemakers and bakers had written articles already in 1376. The organization of the guilds took place in the fourteenth century, attained its greatest development in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and lasted until modern times, when factory products began to give real competition to the products of the guilds. The by-laws of each city guild had to be approved by the city council and by the landlords; and by secular and church authorities in the smaller towns. The guilds frequently had their statutes approved even by their sovereigns. Due to the fact that many Slovak cities in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had a majority of German inhabitants, the guild regulations were written at first in German or Latin. But later, when the Slovaks became the majority, the by-laws and correspondence of the guilds were more frequently in the Slovak language. The Trnava Guild of Tailors already in 1558 did its writing in Slovak; the Butchers' Guild in 1562. The guilds of Trencin and Hlohovec used the Slovak language at the end of the sixteenth �74 SLOVAKIA century. In the seventeenth century all the smaller towns (Banovce, Bojnice, Beckov, Bytca, Holic, Humenne, !lava, Jelsava, Myjava, Prievidza, Puchov, Rajec, Skalica, Sastin, Topol'cany, etc.) kept their guild records in Slovak. Only a master-craftsman could become a member of a respectable guild, after he had fulfilled all technical and moral requirements. In each guild the number of mastercraftsmen was limited to prevent overproduction in goods. In Bratislava in 1376, there could be only twenty-eight butchers and sixteen bakers. Every member of a guild was obliged to present only perfect products at prices determined by the guild. All tradesmen had to work in the same way so that their products were of like quality and price, and all competition removed. At the head of each guild was a guildmaster, whom the members elected for a period of one year. If there were a number of master craftsmen in a guild, the leader of the guild was the chief guildmaster. The guildmaster was the head of the guild, represented the guild before the authorities, especially before the city council in whose presence he took the oath of office after his election. He took care of all the guild's interests, ipresided at meetings, held several times a year in his home, and at banquets. He supervised the work of all members of his particular guild, judged th~ir products especially before they went to market, saw to it that all regulations were strictly observed, and in his care were all documents and letters and finances of his guild. The guildmaster was ,s ole arbiter of all arguments between members; he imposed punishment and collected all fines. He was a very respected personality not only among the membership of his guild, but among the general public as well. Members of the guild were divided into senior and junior master craftsmen. The elder masters, authorized by the guildmaster, supervised the work of the members of the guild and maintained order and discipline. The younger masters were obliged to perform various menial duties, such as lighting candles in the church, serving as waiters at banquets, taking care of the weak and sick masters, dig- �SLOVAKIA 75 ging graves and acting as pallbearers for deceased masters. After banquets, if the senior masters were unable to find their way home, the junior members were obliged to escort them. Great care was taken to see that all members of a guild conscientiousl y performed their religious obligations. The wealthier guilds had their own altar in the parish church which was dedicated to the patron saint of their guild. Every guild member was obliged to attend divine services on Sunday and Holy Days, and had to receive the sacraments at least once a year. At church processions the entire guild took part under its own standard, which bore the image of the patron saint and the trademark of the guild. Any member guilty of transgression s, which caused scandal and so harmed the good name of a respectable guild, was obliged to pay a prescribed sum into the guild's treasury, or give candles to his church. In the event of danger, when an enemy threatened the city, the guild members were obliged to defend the ramparts of the city. The city assigned to each guild a tower or bastion which the members had to keep in good order and supply it with weapons and ammunition. City bastions have retained individual guild names even to this day (Pekarska basta, Obuvnicka, Masiarska, etc.). If a fire broke out in the city, each guild had to take part in the rescue work and also bring a prescribed number of buckets of water to help extinguish it. So that only honorable persons could become members of a guild, people of good morals and technically well prepared, many years of apprenticeshi p and str ict education wer e prescribed for applicants. SLOVAKIA AFTER THE TURKISH INVASION When the Turks abandoned plundered Hungary, King Bela IV set out to reconstruct his country. He invited foreign settlers in large numbers, so that some might cultivate the depopulated areas. Many Germans settled in the hilly regions to found new villages and towns. But nomadic Cumans also came again to occupy the lowlands and the southern foothills of the Slovak mountains. The Ger mans �76 SLOVAKIA brought a high degree of culture into the country and contributed handsomely to its economy, while the Cumans were supposed to be the military support of the Hungarian king. But Hungary, even during the reign of Bela IV, was in a difficult situation, which was caused by internal revolutions and the growth of the Bohemian kingdom under Premysl Otokar II and his successors. Bela nr could not maintain the integrity of his kingdom. His son wanted to rule during his lifetime, and Bela was forced to let him rule over the Eastern part of Hungary. This partition of Hungary weakened it terribly and increased the dangers of invasion by outside enemies. While the members of the ruling family quarreled, the wealthy nobles strengthened thei r own positions and prestige. Slovak territory played an important role in the development of these relations, since both the Czechs and the Hungarians were interested in it. Premysl Otokar II became ruler of Austrian lands and extended his rule to the banks of the Adriatic Sea. Since the Hungarian king claimed a part of these lands, especially Styria, hostile relations between the Czechs and Hungarians resulted. But Premysl Otokar II also wanted Slovakia, and this only infuriated the Hungarian monarch more. Wars were inevitable. They were fought on Slovak soil and the Slovaks paid with their lives and property for the enmity existing between two foreign rulers. A part of western Slovakia, including Bratislava, Trnava and Nitra, became prey of the Bohemian king several times after 1271 and the victim of the ruthless devastation of the Czech armies. Finally, this area fell into the hands of Austrian dukes and barons. After Bela's death (1270), the Hungarian throne was occupied by rulers who became friendly with the pagan Cumans, spent most of their time in their camps, where they abandoned themselves to riotous, pagan living. Consequently the whole country suffered. In 1280 the Bishops and nobles persuaded King Ladislaus IV to abandon his reckless adventures and to domesticate the wild Cumans. But the Cumans rebelled and pillaged the whole country, including Slovakia, where they committed the most brutal �SLOVAKIA 77 .atrocities. Later, in 1285, the Tartars again invaded Slovakia and devastated Spis and the whole of eastern Slovakia. This invasion was used by the Cumans to pillage western Slovakia. It was thus that Slovakia had to pay for the weaknesses and defects of the kings of Hungary and their friendly relations with the Cumans. The weaker the king, the more the power of the nobility increased. They appropriated royal and ecclesiastical properties and recognized no government over themselves. When King Ladislaus IV refused to reform and continued to spend most of his time in the Cuman camps, the Hungarian magnates assassinated him. His successor, Andrew III (1290-1301), tried to be a good king and did what he could to save the kingdom from catastrophe; but it was too late. By the end of the thirteenth century Hungary disintegrated into several parts in which wealthy magnates reigned as independent little kings. Among these nobles was Matus Cak (Mahtoosh Tchak) of Trencin, "the lord of the Vah and the Tatras," who become the ruler of a large part of Slovakia at the end of the thirteenth century. Ca:k was not a Slovak by birth, but his ancestors had acquired large tracts of land in Slovakia. When he became the highest official of the royalty during the reign of Andrew III, he took advantage of his position and added new lands and castles to his family's holdings. Matus Cak seized the lands of many nobles, forced others to recognize his sovereignty, appropriated many royal citadels and in his ruthlessness did not even hesitate taking ecclesiastical properties. In 1299 he captured Trencin Castle which became the main stronghold of the mighty lord of the Vah and the Tatras. Ca.k's power extended from the Morava river to Spis and from the Danube to the Tatras, so that all of western Slovakia, except Bratislava and vicinity, and a large part of central Slovakia were under his rule. Beyond the Danube the mighty Vy s e h r a d Castle guarded the borders of Ca.k's country. In his Trencin citadel Matus Cak organized his entire court in regal splendor, and numerous courtiers did his bidding. As an independent ruler, he had his own army, coined his own money in Nitra �78 SLOVAKIA and established relations with neighboring rulers. Cak of Trencin built up his great power on the wealth which flowed to him from his extensive holdings. But the most reliable support of his power was the devotion and loyalty of his land administrators and his people. In Ca.k's army divisions of Slovak warriors also fought; they distinguished themselves by their courage, devotion and heroism. Ca.k's military glory, therefore, was in a large measure the merit of his Slovak subjects. At that time the Amadei Clan ruled over eastern Slovakia, including Kosice. It did not recognize the sovereignty of the Hungarian king. In 1301, when the death of King Andrew ill brought the Arpad dynasty to an end and several rulers sought the Hungarian throne, Slovakia was for all practical purposes an independent state under Matus Cak of Trencin. SLOVAKIA UNDER THE ANJOUS After Andrew ill's death, a part of the Hungarian nobility headed by Matus Cak called a son of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia to the throne, who already then was in possession of the Polish Crown. But the twelve-year-old Crown Prince Wenceslaus, crowned in Stolny Belehrad, was op.p osed by another group which sided with Pope Boniface VIII and chose Charles Robert of the French house of Anjou, who ruled in Naples. Relying on his power, Matus Cak of Trencin opposed Charles Robert and defended the interests of the Bohemian Wenceslaus. He resisted the An jous even after Wenceslaus renounced the Hungarian Crown and died shortly after in 1306 as the last male descendant of the Premysl dynasty. Soon after his accession to the throne, the Hungarian king attempted to break the power of the magnates and unite Hungary under his own rule. Matus Cak of Trencin continued to oppose the rule of Charles Robert. With his army he attacked the royal castle at Budin and fought the magnates and bishops who supported Charles Robert. In 1311, after he succeeded in gaining the support of the majority of the nobility, Charles Robert prepared for a showdown with Matus Cak. But the latter allied himself with �SLOVAKIA 79 the Amadei clan who opposed the king in eastern Slovakia. The combined armies of Matus Cak and the Amadei defended themselves successfully at Saris Castle and forced the king to retreat. The royal army withdrew to Spis to rally the support of the German colonists there. With these new allies Charles again set out after Matus Cak. In the decisive battle, which took place June 15, 1312, at Rozhanovce, not far from Kosice, the king was victorious. The Amadei clan was completely routed, lost all its citadels and properties and was forced to flee to Poland, where it found refuge at the court of Ladislaus Lokietek, whom it had aided a short time before against the Czechs. The Amadei never returned to Hungary, but remained in Poland, and Charles Robert became master of eastern Slovakia. Matus Ca.k's setback at Rozhanovce did not break him completely. He continued to act independently in western Slovakia. Indeed, his power and prestige were still so great that the German King Frederick the Handsome, sought his aid in 1315 against Louis, the Bavarian, and against John of Luxemburg. Even though Charles Robert captured Vysehrad and Komarno in 1317 and dangerously threatened the sovereignty of Matus Cak of Trencin, nevertheless, the lord of the Vah and the 'flatras continued to rule independently to the end of his life. It was only after Matus Cak died in the Trencin castle in 1321, that Charles Robert was able to extend his rule over the western half of Slovakia. The following year Charles Robert also seized Bratislava. which had been in the hands of the Austrian dukes since tht beginning of the fourteenth century. Slovakia, after a brief period of independence, again became a part of the kingdom of Hungary which, under the rule of the Anjou dynasty, enjoyed a period of great political, economic and cultural growth. As soon as Charles Robert reunited the Hungarian kingdom, his first care was to put the economic affairs of Hungary into order. He founded many new cities, supported the development of mining, established a sound financial system, and encouraged commerce with neighboring states. It was during this period that a large number of new cities were founded also in Slovakia ·a nd the older ones were granted new privileges. �80 SLOVAKIA Bratislava, Trnava, Levoca, and Kosice became important centers of international commerce. The king- ipaid special attention to the Slovak mining towns, because their wealth swelled the royal coffers appreciably. Mining commissions supervised all mining projects and regulated the sale of all precious metals. A Count of the Chamber headed the mining commission; he concluded the rental agreement with the ruler and guaranteed the king revenues from the mines. The territory of Slovakia, rich in metallic ores, was divided into two mining chambers: the western half of Slovakia belonged under the management of the mining chamber of Kremnica, while the eastern half was managed by the chamber of Smolnica, which later moved its headquarters to Kosice. Zupan Done, who managed a large part of central Slovakia as the administrator of Zvolen, was a loyal adherent and faithful aide of Robert. At that time the Zvolen region was an extensive area, out of which later were gradually formed the independent districts of Turiec, Orava and Liptov, besides that of Zvolen. Administrator Done founded Liptovsky Hradok, built many churches, endowed monasteries, and served at the pa!pal court in Avignon as a rei[)resentative of Charles Robert. Slovakia played a significant role even in the international relations of the Hungarian kingdom. Already in 1327, Charles Robert and the Bohemian king, met in Trnava, where they formed an alliance against the Habsburgs. Slovakia became the territory on which the interests of the Hungarian, Bohemian and Polish kingdoms were settled. In 1335 the legates of John of Bohemia, Casimir the Great of Po-land and Charles Robert assembled at Trenein to determine the conditions of a friendly alliance. At this meeting an agreement was reached which enabled the meeting of the three kings in Vysehrad Castle and thus contributed largely to safeguard peace in central Europe. Louis the Great (1342-1382), son and successor of Charles Robert, tried to extend the limits of the Hungarian kingdom. He waged frequent wars on the southern borders of Hungary and conquered the northern part of the Balkan peninsula and the territory of present-day Rumania. (To be continued) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1959, Vol. 9 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 4 [sic] (No. 29), March 1959.</li> <li>Issue 5 [sic] (No. 30), June-December 1959.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1959 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 72 SLOVAKIA The History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK tContinued) With their economic development the cities and towns also became important centers of cultural life. German settlers brough higher education to the Slovaks, so that many Slovak cities became centers of western European culture. Schools originated near the parish churches and the monasteries. Hospitals were built in many cities. Into all the cities came the architects, contractors and artists, who built and decorated not on:ly churches and city halls, but also the homes of the prosperous citizens. Of course, all this had some influence on the outlying villages and hamlets which were in constant touch with the cities. CRAFTSMEN'S GUILDS IN SLOVAKIA Besides the merchants, who brought various merchandise from the neighboring countries into Slovak cities and formed the wealthiest group, there lived in these cities also the tradesmen, who established their workshops and sold their wares at the markets. Slovaks were acquainted with some trades, others they acquired from their neighbors, but the bulk of trades were introduced into Slovakia by the German colonists in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. At first only those trades were fostered which served the everyday needs of the people (carpentry, cabinet-making, tanning, shoemaking, cloth-making, tailoring, etc.). Other trades originated and developed gradually with the economic and cultural conditions of the country. The higher the standard of living, the more trades were developed and applied in the cities, towns and hamlets. Just as the various types of trades came to the Slovaks by way of Germany, so came also the custom of the tradesmen organizing in associations which were called guilds. In every city there were as many guilds as there were different types of trades. As the number of trades SLOVAKIA 73 gradually increased, so did the number of guilds. In the large cities each trade had its own independent guild, while in the smaller towns, and later in the larger villages, the closely-related trades were united in one common guild. Only some cities were granted a monopoly on certain types of trade; e.g., only Kosice had the privilege of making linen (barchet) and Bardejov had the right to bleach cloth. In the larger cities work shops were usually grouped in particular streets so that many of these streets derived their names from the type of trade that prevailed there. In Bratislava, even today there still are streets called Sedlarska, Klobucnicka; in Trnava: Pekarska, Halenarska, Ostrozna, Masiarska ; in Banska Bystrica : Kovacska ; in Hlohovec: Mydlarska ; in Zilina and in Kosice: Zvonarska, Kovacska, Masiarska. As a technical organization, the guild took care of all the interests of its member,s. Each guild had its own written by-laws which contained detailed regulations called articles. The furrier's guild in Kosice had its own articles already in 1305. The Bratislava guild of butchers, shoemakers and bakers had written articles already in 1376. The organization of the guilds took place in the fourteenth century, attained its greatest development in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and lasted until modern times, when factory products began to give real competition to the products of the guilds. The by-laws of each city guild had to be approved by the city council and by the landlords; and by secular and church authorities in the smaller towns. The guilds frequently had their statutes approved even by their sovereigns. Due to the fact that many Slovak cities in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had a majority of German inhabitants, the guild regulations were written at first in German or Latin. But later, when the Slovaks became the majority, the by-laws and correspondence of the guilds were more frequently in the Slovak language. The Trnava Guild of Tailors already in 1558 did its writing in Slovak; the Butchers' Guild in 1562. The guilds of Trencin and Hlohovec used the Slovak language at the end of the sixteenth 74 SLOVAKIA century. In the seventeenth century all the smaller towns (Banovce, Bojnice, Beckov, Bytca, Holic, Humenne, !lava, Jelsava, Myjava, Prievidza, Puchov, Rajec, Skalica, Sastin, Topol'cany, etc.) kept their guild records in Slovak. Only a master-craftsman could become a member of a respectable guild, after he had fulfilled all technical and moral requirements. In each guild the number of mastercraftsmen was limited to prevent overproduction in goods. In Bratislava in 1376, there could be only twenty-eight butchers and sixteen bakers. Every member of a guild was obliged to present only perfect products at prices determined by the guild. All tradesmen had to work in the same way so that their products were of like quality and price, and all competition removed. At the head of each guild was a guildmaster, whom the members elected for a period of one year. If there were a number of master craftsmen in a guild, the leader of the guild was the chief guildmaster. The guildmaster was the head of the guild, represented the guild before the authorities, especially before the city council in whose presence he took the oath of office after his election. He took care of all the guild's interests, ipresided at meetings, held several times a year in his home, and at banquets. He supervised the work of all members of his particular guild, judged th~ir products especially before they went to market, saw to it that all regulations were strictly observed, and in his care were all documents and letters and finances of his guild. The guildmaster was ,s ole arbiter of all arguments between members; he imposed punishment and collected all fines. He was a very respected personality not only among the membership of his guild, but among the general public as well. Members of the guild were divided into senior and junior master craftsmen. The elder masters, authorized by the guildmaster, supervised the work of the members of the guild and maintained order and discipline. The younger masters were obliged to perform various menial duties, such as lighting candles in the church, serving as waiters at banquets, taking care of the weak and sick masters, dig- SLOVAKIA 75 ging graves and acting as pallbearers for deceased masters. After banquets, if the senior masters were unable to find their way home, the junior members were obliged to escort them. Great care was taken to see that all members of a guild conscientiousl y performed their religious obligations. The wealthier guilds had their own altar in the parish church which was dedicated to the patron saint of their guild. Every guild member was obliged to attend divine services on Sunday and Holy Days, and had to receive the sacraments at least once a year. At church processions the entire guild took part under its own standard, which bore the image of the patron saint and the trademark of the guild. Any member guilty of transgression s, which caused scandal and so harmed the good name of a respectable guild, was obliged to pay a prescribed sum into the guild's treasury, or give candles to his church. In the event of danger, when an enemy threatened the city, the guild members were obliged to defend the ramparts of the city. The city assigned to each guild a tower or bastion which the members had to keep in good order and supply it with weapons and ammunition. City bastions have retained individual guild names even to this day (Pekarska basta, Obuvnicka, Masiarska, etc.). If a fire broke out in the city, each guild had to take part in the rescue work and also bring a prescribed number of buckets of water to help extinguish it. So that only honorable persons could become members of a guild, people of good morals and technically well prepared, many years of apprenticeshi p and str ict education wer e prescribed for applicants. SLOVAKIA AFTER THE TURKISH INVASION When the Turks abandoned plundered Hungary, King Bela IV set out to reconstruct his country. He invited foreign settlers in large numbers, so that some might cultivate the depopulated areas. Many Germans settled in the hilly regions to found new villages and towns. But nomadic Cumans also came again to occupy the lowlands and the southern foothills of the Slovak mountains. The Ger mans 76 SLOVAKIA brought a high degree of culture into the country and contributed handsomely to its economy, while the Cumans were supposed to be the military support of the Hungarian king. But Hungary, even during the reign of Bela IV, was in a difficult situation, which was caused by internal revolutions and the growth of the Bohemian kingdom under Premysl Otokar II and his successors. Bela nr could not maintain the integrity of his kingdom. His son wanted to rule during his lifetime, and Bela was forced to let him rule over the Eastern part of Hungary. This partition of Hungary weakened it terribly and increased the dangers of invasion by outside enemies. While the members of the ruling family quarreled, the wealthy nobles strengthened thei r own positions and prestige. Slovak territory played an important role in the development of these relations, since both the Czechs and the Hungarians were interested in it. Premysl Otokar II became ruler of Austrian lands and extended his rule to the banks of the Adriatic Sea. Since the Hungarian king claimed a part of these lands, especially Styria, hostile relations between the Czechs and Hungarians resulted. But Premysl Otokar II also wanted Slovakia, and this only infuriated the Hungarian monarch more. Wars were inevitable. They were fought on Slovak soil and the Slovaks paid with their lives and property for the enmity existing between two foreign rulers. A part of western Slovakia, including Bratislava, Trnava and Nitra, became prey of the Bohemian king several times after 1271 and the victim of the ruthless devastation of the Czech armies. Finally, this area fell into the hands of Austrian dukes and barons. After Bela's death (1270), the Hungarian throne was occupied by rulers who became friendly with the pagan Cumans, spent most of their time in their camps, where they abandoned themselves to riotous, pagan living. Consequently the whole country suffered. In 1280 the Bishops and nobles persuaded King Ladislaus IV to abandon his reckless adventures and to domesticate the wild Cumans. But the Cumans rebelled and pillaged the whole country, including Slovakia, where they committed the most brutal SLOVAKIA 77 .atrocities. Later, in 1285, the Tartars again invaded Slovakia and devastated Spis and the whole of eastern Slovakia. This invasion was used by the Cumans to pillage western Slovakia. It was thus that Slovakia had to pay for the weaknesses and defects of the kings of Hungary and their friendly relations with the Cumans. The weaker the king, the more the power of the nobility increased. They appropriated royal and ecclesiastical properties and recognized no government over themselves. When King Ladislaus IV refused to reform and continued to spend most of his time in the Cuman camps, the Hungarian magnates assassinated him. His successor, Andrew III (1290-1301), tried to be a good king and did what he could to save the kingdom from catastrophe; but it was too late. By the end of the thirteenth century Hungary disintegrated into several parts in which wealthy magnates reigned as independent little kings. Among these nobles was Matus Cak (Mahtoosh Tchak) of Trencin, "the lord of the Vah and the Tatras," who become the ruler of a large part of Slovakia at the end of the thirteenth century. Ca:k was not a Slovak by birth, but his ancestors had acquired large tracts of land in Slovakia. When he became the highest official of the royalty during the reign of Andrew III, he took advantage of his position and added new lands and castles to his family's holdings. Matus Cak seized the lands of many nobles, forced others to recognize his sovereignty, appropriated many royal citadels and in his ruthlessness did not even hesitate taking ecclesiastical properties. In 1299 he captured Trencin Castle which became the main stronghold of the mighty lord of the Vah and the Tatras. Ca.k's power extended from the Morava river to Spis and from the Danube to the Tatras, so that all of western Slovakia, except Bratislava and vicinity, and a large part of central Slovakia were under his rule. Beyond the Danube the mighty Vy s e h r a d Castle guarded the borders of Ca.k's country. In his Trencin citadel Matus Cak organized his entire court in regal splendor, and numerous courtiers did his bidding. As an independent ruler, he had his own army, coined his own money in Nitra 78 SLOVAKIA and established relations with neighboring rulers. Cak of Trencin built up his great power on the wealth which flowed to him from his extensive holdings. But the most reliable support of his power was the devotion and loyalty of his land administrators and his people. In Ca.k's army divisions of Slovak warriors also fought; they distinguished themselves by their courage, devotion and heroism. Ca.k's military glory, therefore, was in a large measure the merit of his Slovak subjects. At that time the Amadei Clan ruled over eastern Slovakia, including Kosice. It did not recognize the sovereignty of the Hungarian king. In 1301, when the death of King Andrew ill brought the Arpad dynasty to an end and several rulers sought the Hungarian throne, Slovakia was for all practical purposes an independent state under Matus Cak of Trencin. SLOVAKIA UNDER THE ANJOUS After Andrew ill's death, a part of the Hungarian nobility headed by Matus Cak called a son of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia to the throne, who already then was in possession of the Polish Crown. But the twelve-year-old Crown Prince Wenceslaus, crowned in Stolny Belehrad, was op.p osed by another group which sided with Pope Boniface VIII and chose Charles Robert of the French house of Anjou, who ruled in Naples. Relying on his power, Matus Cak of Trencin opposed Charles Robert and defended the interests of the Bohemian Wenceslaus. He resisted the An jous even after Wenceslaus renounced the Hungarian Crown and died shortly after in 1306 as the last male descendant of the Premysl dynasty. Soon after his accession to the throne, the Hungarian king attempted to break the power of the magnates and unite Hungary under his own rule. Matus Cak of Trencin continued to oppose the rule of Charles Robert. With his army he attacked the royal castle at Budin and fought the magnates and bishops who supported Charles Robert. In 1311, after he succeeded in gaining the support of the majority of the nobility, Charles Robert prepared for a showdown with Matus Cak. But the latter allied himself with SLOVAKIA 79 the Amadei clan who opposed the king in eastern Slovakia. The combined armies of Matus Cak and the Amadei defended themselves successfully at Saris Castle and forced the king to retreat. The royal army withdrew to Spis to rally the support of the German colonists there. With these new allies Charles again set out after Matus Cak. In the decisive battle, which took place June 15, 1312, at Rozhanovce, not far from Kosice, the king was victorious. The Amadei clan was completely routed, lost all its citadels and properties and was forced to flee to Poland, where it found refuge at the court of Ladislaus Lokietek, whom it had aided a short time before against the Czechs. The Amadei never returned to Hungary, but remained in Poland, and Charles Robert became master of eastern Slovakia. Matus Ca.k's setback at Rozhanovce did not break him completely. He continued to act independently in western Slovakia. Indeed, his power and prestige were still so great that the German King Frederick the Handsome, sought his aid in 1315 against Louis, the Bavarian, and against John of Luxemburg. Even though Charles Robert captured Vysehrad and Komarno in 1317 and dangerously threatened the sovereignty of Matus Cak of Trencin, nevertheless, the lord of the Vah and the 'flatras continued to rule independently to the end of his life. It was only after Matus Cak died in the Trencin castle in 1321, that Charles Robert was able to extend his rule over the western half of Slovakia. The following year Charles Robert also seized Bratislava. which had been in the hands of the Austrian dukes since tht beginning of the fourteenth century. Slovakia, after a brief period of independence, again became a part of the kingdom of Hungary which, under the rule of the Anjou dynasty, enjoyed a period of great political, economic and cultural growth. As soon as Charles Robert reunited the Hungarian kingdom, his first care was to put the economic affairs of Hungary into order. He founded many new cities, supported the development of mining, established a sound financial system, and encouraged commerce with neighboring states. It was during this period that a large number of new cities were founded also in Slovakia ·a nd the older ones were granted new privileges. 80 SLOVAKIA Bratislava, Trnava, Levoca, and Kosice became important centers of international commerce. The king- ipaid special attention to the Slovak mining towns, because their wealth swelled the royal coffers appreciably. Mining commissions supervised all mining projects and regulated the sale of all precious metals. A Count of the Chamber headed the mining commission; he concluded the rental agreement with the ruler and guaranteed the king revenues from the mines. The territory of Slovakia, rich in metallic ores, was divided into two mining chambers: the western half of Slovakia belonged under the management of the mining chamber of Kremnica, while the eastern half was managed by the chamber of Smolnica, which later moved its headquarters to Kosice. Zupan Done, who managed a large part of central Slovakia as the administrator of Zvolen, was a loyal adherent and faithful aide of Robert. At that time the Zvolen region was an extensive area, out of which later were gradually formed the independent districts of Turiec, Orava and Liptov, besides that of Zvolen. Administrator Done founded Liptovsky Hradok, built many churches, endowed monasteries, and served at the pa!pal court in Avignon as a rei[)resentative of Charles Robert. Slovakia played a significant role even in the international relations of the Hungarian kingdom. Already in 1327, Charles Robert and the Bohemian king, met in Trnava, where they formed an alliance against the Habsburgs. Slovakia became the territory on which the interests of the Hungarian, Bohemian and Polish kingdoms were settled. In 1335 the legates of John of Bohemia, Casimir the Great of Po-land and Charles Robert assembled at Trenein to determine the conditions of a friendly alliance. At this meeting an agreement was reached which enabled the meeting of the three kings in Vysehrad Castle and thus contributed largely to safeguard peace in central Europe. Louis the Great (1342-1382), son and successor of Charles Robert, tried to extend the limits of the Hungarian kingdom. He waged frequent wars on the southern borders of Hungary and conquered the northern part of the Balkan peninsula and the territory of present-day Rumania. (To be continued)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The History of Slovakia (8/9) Description An account of the resource Philip A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 9, No. 4 (29), March 1959 pp. 72-80 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1959 Relation A related resource continued from <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/260">Vol. 8, No. 3 (28), pp. 69-80</a><br />continues in <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/285">Vol. 9, No. 5 (30), pp. 75-80</a> LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ea7114ef5ca7fee82566ca0db869e3bb.pdf 9b1864922378b5efa3e619289ee3e3ac PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 75 In politics it seldom pays to to sit on two chairs. OsuS'ky began his career when the Slovak League sent him to Europe to Masaryk to work for the establishment of Czecho-,Slovakia and to see to it that Slovakia was granted autonomy. Osusky found it convenient and profitable to forget the League and the rights of his Slovak people to freedom, freedom from a1ien domination. He preferred to serve Masaryk and his senseless concept of "Czechoslovakism." At one time it was said that Osusky claimed "credit" for the fact that the Pittsburgh Pact was not even mentioned dunng the Paris Peace Conference negotiations. Osusky served as a Prague ambassador for over twenty years. He did a commendable job of it. Today, perhaps as he writes his memoirs in Washington, the Czechs don't want him - and the Slovaks, his own people, won't ·have him. • • • ibe History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK 1Continu ed) Slovakia played an important role in the relations of the kingdom which developed between Hungary and Poland during the reign of the Anjous. Louis the Great wanted to ,b ecome Polish king after the death of Casimir the Great, the last male descendant of the Piastov Clan. The agreements by which this union of Poland and Hungary was to be realized, were concluded in Slovak cities, especially in ,Kosice which was on the Cracow-Budin highway. It was at Kosice, after several meetings, that it was decided to have t!he daughter of Louis the Great, succeed him to the cP olish throne after his death. The reign of the Anjous brought Slovakia a notable contribution especially in the field of culture. G001HIC ClJiL'NJRE IN SLOVAKIA Medieval culture is a Christian culture. The Church concerned itself not only with the advancement of Christian faith and morals among the uncivilized nations of Europe, �76 SLOVAKIA but also that of the cultural life. Christianity changed and ennobled the character of the medieval man who learned to realize that his life's goal was the salvation of his immortal soul. The religious spirit of the medieval person knew how to suffer the difficulties and miseries of this life patiently, because he understood that it was in this valley of tears that he prepared for eternal life. The Christian concept of life elevated the human spirit to God and gave medieval culture a special character. Christian culture of the Middle Ages attained its full development in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries and found beautiful expression in the creative arts in the Gothic style of architecture. In the beginning the Church was the only organization which fostered culture, the sciences and the arts, educated youth in its ,p arish, capitulary and monastery schools, and also collected rich treasures of artistic creations in its churches. Later, especially from the thirteneth century on, knights became a significant factor in the cultural life of Europe. They endeavored to excell not only in military accomplishments, but also in Christian virtues. From the fourteenth century the cities became important centers of progress, both cultural and spiritual. Slovakia, because of her geogrruphical position, came under the strong influence of the cultural movements, which swept across Central Europe from the second half of the thirteenth century. In Slovakia, Gothic culture reached a high degree of perfection and beauty in 1:!he fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and its final offshoots extend to the sixteenth century. Artistic works, which have been preserved from those times in Slovakia, are proof that cultural life there developed somewhat belatedly, but in its maturity did not remain behind the cultural devel'o pment of Central Europe. As everywhere in Europe, so in Slovakia, the first and only centers of culture were the monasteries and other ecclesiastical institutions. Supported generously by the royalty and the nobility, they performed not only a religious, but also a highly worthy cultural mission. �SLOVAKIA 77 Besides the old abbeys of the Benedictine Order, which originated in Slovaki'a before the inva:sion of the Turks, a large number of monasteries and churches of the Order of St. Francis a:nd of the Preachers of St. Dominic were founded in the cities of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Franciscans came from Italy and the Dominicans from Spain. The Premonstratensi'ans and Cistercians originated in France and founded their first monasteries in Slovakia outside the cities. Not only beautiful churches, but also artshops, trade shops and libraries sprang up near all these institutions. To some of these monasteries and chapters the king granted the right of issuing, transcribing and clarifying documents. Such monasteries were called "trustworthy" places. In Slovakia the following enjoyed· that privilege: the Chapters in Bratislava, Nitra and Spis; the Benedictine abbey of St. Benedict near the Hron, the Premonstratensian monastery in Klastor-pod-Znievom and in Jasov. Archives originated in these abbeys in which records, various literary works and documents were deposited. When the Anjous came to the throne in Hungary, and the Luxemburgs to the throne in Bohemia, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, higher western European culture came to Central Europe, which in a twofold way penetrated into the territory of Slovakia. In those times Knighthood developed in Central Europe which with its higher culture and refined morals enlightened and edified the masses of the people. Slovak nobility soon adopted the manner of life of the knights, even to the extent of replacing wooden palisades and fortresses with strong stone citadels with moats, towers and bastions. These castles of the knights, often built on high a:nd impregnable rocks, were not only strongholds, but also witnesses of the active life of the knights. Among the owners of these castles were many Slova:k knights, as it attested to by Slovak names of many citadels Strecno, Lietava, Likava, Vrsatec, Lednica, Hrusov, Hricov, Blatnica, Krasna Horka, etc. Later, rich mining a:nd commercial towns became the most significant centers of culture. The inhabitants of the cities had more of a mind for cultural interests than the �78 SLOVAKIA agricultural inhabitants of the villages. This undoubtedly was due to the influence of their occupation and their economic condition. The German settlers of Slovak cities maintained contacts with their fatherland and its higher culture. This "city" culture made itself manifest not only in the city itself, in the architecture of urban homes and public buildings, but also in the life of the people in general. The city dwellers, as merchants and artisans, came into contact with near and distant lands, and adopted the more progressive ways of living. In the cities there were schools (in Bratislava and in Spisska Kapitula already in the thirteenth century), and foreign artisans and artists came to the cities to build and decorate civic structures, especially the parish churches. At fuat time several universities were set up in Central Europe after the pattern of the University of Paris. These universities (Prague, 1348; Cracow, 1364; Vienna, 1365) were also attended by students from Slovakia, because the first Hungarian university founded ·b y Louis the Great in Patikostoly in 1367, had closed its doors. Some of them won high academic honors and became professors at these universities. In this way Slovakia was in contact with higher European culture, the centers of which were the universities. But most striking is the participation of Slovakia in the contemporary cultural trends in the field of creative art. Gothic art, as it developed in France, Germany and Italy, ex,pressed the loftiness of the Christian spirit which .frees itself from the earth and soars into the heights. This idea received expression especially in the building of Gothic churches, which with their height, ease and gracefulness rose high above the surroundings and elevated the thoughts of the believing man to God. This style was adopted in Slovakia already in the middle of the thirteenth century and, in the church structures, blended with the final echoes of the Romanesque style. An example of early Gothic architecture has been preserved in Slovakia in the church of the former prepositure of Turiec, in Klastor-pod-Z nievom (The Monastery-be neathZniev), built about 1260. The Franciscan church in Brati- �SLOVAKIA 79 slava and the Dominican church in Kosice were built at the end of the thirteenth century. Many imposing Gothic churches were erected in the fourteenth century in the thriving cities of Slovakia, among them the parish churches in Bratislava, Levoca, Trnava, Bardejov, Presov, and, especially, St. Elizabeth's Cathedral in Kosice. Beautiful Gothic temples of worsmp were also con,rtructed in the Spis region and the mining cities of Central Slovakia. The Gothic churches of the Slovak monasteries at St. Beiiadik, Mariatal, Oko1icne, and the church of the Red Monastery ( Cerveny Klastor) date from that time. Vienna and Prague strongly influenced the development of Gothic art in western Slovakia, while Bratislava and Cracow influenced its growth in Central and Eastern Slovakia. Besides the great and imposing Gothic churches of the cities, there arose in Slovakia a large number of small village churches, which even in their simplicity and artistic modesty attest that Gothic culture penetrated deeply into medieval Slovakia arrd left many relics there. While the city churches were, as a rule, designed and built by foreign architects, the small village churches were generally designed and built by native masters, who had adopted the structural characteristics of the Gothic .style of architecture. Besides the ecclesiastical edifices of the city, the medieval castles which ornament the peaks of Slovak mountains are also counted among the relics of Gothic art. Hardly anywhere in Central Europe are there as many castles as in Slovakia. Even this circumstance proves that Slovakia participated in the contemporary growth of Europe. Some of these castles because of their location, size, and structure, are outstanding souvenirs of Gothic architecture. The majority of these castles already has succumbed to the ha:rmful influence of time, but even in the ruins some Gothic gates, windows, high vaults and arches have been preserved in Bratislava, Zvolen, Vigfas, Strecno, Trencin, Orava and Spis. Only a few Gothic homes have been preserved in the cities, because they had to be removed to make way for newer building developments in later centuries. Remnants �80 SLOVAKIA of ancient municipal buildings, city fortifications and Gothic homes are rare; only in Bratislava has, a portion of the ancient City Hall been preserved, while Levoca still has a part of its old city wall and a part of a Gothic home. Several examples of stone decorations have also been preserved; especially the reliefs on the portals of the church in Bratislava, Banska Bystrica, Spisska Nova Ves and Kosice. Woodcarving reached a high degree of perfection in Slovakia and many wooden statues of the Madonna, St. Barbara and St. Catherine have been preserved in Spis and :in the mining towns. The wing altars of the churches of Spis, Saris and other eastern cities, are among the most valuable memorials of Gothic art in Slova!kia. Some wing altars have also been preserved in Banska Bystrica, Stiavnica and other parts of Slovakia. An outstanding woodcarver of that time was Master Paul of Levoca, who made the beautiful altar of the Nativity in Bardejov and the main altar in St. Jacob's church in Levoca. The apprentices of this master artist of Levoca decorated the churches in Spis with remarkable wood-carvings. The development of Gothic painting was subject to several influences. In southern Slovakia, where Gothic frescoes were preserved in Chyzne and Stitnik, the Italian influence predominated. In western Slovakia the Italian style came 'by way of neighboring Austria, while Gothic painting developed in eastern Slovakia under the influence of Silesia. Besides mural frescoes ( the oldest painting in the Spisska Krupitula depicts the coronation of Charles Robert and dates back to 1317), many framed paintings on the wing altars have been preserved. E~amples of high artistic workmanship, especially religious articles ( chalices, monstrances, crucifixes, Mass vestments, etc.) have been preserved in many parish and monastery churches. Many of these relics originated in Slovak workshops which also exported their products. In Spis bells were poured for churches in Poland. This great wealth of mementos from the Gothic period shows clearly that Slovakia lived a rich cultural life from the 13th to the 15th century and did not remain behind neighboring cultured countries in the field of creative arts . � SLOVAKIA 75 In politics it seldom pays to to sit on two chairs. OsuS'ky began his career when the Slovak League sent him to Europe to Masaryk to work for the establishment of Czecho-,Slovakia and to see to it that Slovakia was granted autonomy. Osusky found it convenient and profitable to forget the League and the rights of his Slovak people to freedom, freedom from a1ien domination. He preferred to serve Masaryk and his senseless concept of "Czechoslovakism." At one time it was said that Osusky claimed "credit" for the fact that the Pittsburgh Pact was not even mentioned dunng the Paris Peace Conference negotiations. Osusky served as a Prague ambassador for over twenty years. He did a commendable job of it. Today, perhaps as he writes his memoirs in Washington, the Czechs don't want him - and the Slovaks, his own people, won't ·have him. • • • ibe History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK 1Continu ed) Slovakia played an important role in the relations of the kingdom which developed between Hungary and Poland during the reign of the Anjous. Louis the Great wanted to ,b ecome Polish king after the death of Casimir the Great, the last male descendant of the Piastov Clan. The agreements by which this union of Poland and Hungary was to be realized, were concluded in Slovak cities, especially in ,Kosice which was on the Cracow-Budin highway. It was at Kosice, after several meetings, that it was decided to have t!he daughter of Louis the Great, succeed him to the cP olish throne after his death. The reign of the Anjous brought Slovakia a notable contribution especially in the field of culture. G001HIC ClJiL'NJRE IN SLOVAKIA Medieval culture is a Christian culture. The Church concerned itself not only with the advancement of Christian faith and morals among the uncivilized nations of Europe, �76 SLOVAKIA but also that of the cultural life. Christianity changed and ennobled the character of the medieval man who learned to realize that his life's goal was the salvation of his immortal soul. The religious spirit of the medieval person knew how to suffer the difficulties and miseries of this life patiently, because he understood that it was in this valley of tears that he prepared for eternal life. The Christian concept of life elevated the human spirit to God and gave medieval culture a special character. Christian culture of the Middle Ages attained its full development in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries and found beautiful expression in the creative arts in the Gothic style of architecture. In the beginning the Church was the only organization which fostered culture, the sciences and the arts, educated youth in its ,p arish, capitulary and monastery schools, and also collected rich treasures of artistic creations in its churches. Later, especially from the thirteneth century on, knights became a significant factor in the cultural life of Europe. They endeavored to excell not only in military accomplishments, but also in Christian virtues. From the fourteenth century the cities became important centers of progress, both cultural and spiritual. Slovakia, because of her geogrruphical position, came under the strong influence of the cultural movements, which swept across Central Europe from the second half of the thirteenth century. In Slovakia, Gothic culture reached a high degree of perfection and beauty in 1:!he fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and its final offshoots extend to the sixteenth century. Artistic works, which have been preserved from those times in Slovakia, are proof that cultural life there developed somewhat belatedly, but in its maturity did not remain behind the cultural devel'o pment of Central Europe. As everywhere in Europe, so in Slovakia, the first and only centers of culture were the monasteries and other ecclesiastical institutions. Supported generously by the royalty and the nobility, they performed not only a religious, but also a highly worthy cultural mission. �SLOVAKIA 77 Besides the old abbeys of the Benedictine Order, which originated in Slovaki'a before the inva:sion of the Turks, a large number of monasteries and churches of the Order of St. Francis a:nd of the Preachers of St. Dominic were founded in the cities of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Franciscans came from Italy and the Dominicans from Spain. The Premonstratensi'ans and Cistercians originated in France and founded their first monasteries in Slovakia outside the cities. Not only beautiful churches, but also artshops, trade shops and libraries sprang up near all these institutions. To some of these monasteries and chapters the king granted the right of issuing, transcribing and clarifying documents. Such monasteries were called "trustworthy" places. In Slovakia the following enjoyed· that privilege: the Chapters in Bratislava, Nitra and Spis; the Benedictine abbey of St. Benedict near the Hron, the Premonstratensian monastery in Klastor-pod-Znievom and in Jasov. Archives originated in these abbeys in which records, various literary works and documents were deposited. When the Anjous came to the throne in Hungary, and the Luxemburgs to the throne in Bohemia, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, higher western European culture came to Central Europe, which in a twofold way penetrated into the territory of Slovakia. In those times Knighthood developed in Central Europe which with its higher culture and refined morals enlightened and edified the masses of the people. Slovak nobility soon adopted the manner of life of the knights, even to the extent of replacing wooden palisades and fortresses with strong stone citadels with moats, towers and bastions. These castles of the knights, often built on high a:nd impregnable rocks, were not only strongholds, but also witnesses of the active life of the knights. Among the owners of these castles were many Slova:k knights, as it attested to by Slovak names of many citadels Strecno, Lietava, Likava, Vrsatec, Lednica, Hrusov, Hricov, Blatnica, Krasna Horka, etc. Later, rich mining a:nd commercial towns became the most significant centers of culture. The inhabitants of the cities had more of a mind for cultural interests than the �78 SLOVAKIA agricultural inhabitants of the villages. This undoubtedly was due to the influence of their occupation and their economic condition. The German settlers of Slovak cities maintained contacts with their fatherland and its higher culture. This "city" culture made itself manifest not only in the city itself, in the architecture of urban homes and public buildings, but also in the life of the people in general. The city dwellers, as merchants and artisans, came into contact with near and distant lands, and adopted the more progressive ways of living. In the cities there were schools (in Bratislava and in Spisska Kapitula already in the thirteenth century), and foreign artisans and artists came to the cities to build and decorate civic structures, especially the parish churches. At fuat time several universities were set up in Central Europe after the pattern of the University of Paris. These universities (Prague, 1348; Cracow, 1364; Vienna, 1365) were also attended by students from Slovakia, because the first Hungarian university founded ·b y Louis the Great in Patikostoly in 1367, had closed its doors. Some of them won high academic honors and became professors at these universities. In this way Slovakia was in contact with higher European culture, the centers of which were the universities. But most striking is the participation of Slovakia in the contemporary cultural trends in the field of creative art. Gothic art, as it developed in France, Germany and Italy, ex,pressed the loftiness of the Christian spirit which .frees itself from the earth and soars into the heights. This idea received expression especially in the building of Gothic churches, which with their height, ease and gracefulness rose high above the surroundings and elevated the thoughts of the believing man to God. This style was adopted in Slovakia already in the middle of the thirteenth century and, in the church structures, blended with the final echoes of the Romanesque style. An example of early Gothic architecture has been preserved in Slovakia in the church of the former prepositure of Turiec, in Klastor-pod-Z nievom (The Monastery-be neathZniev), built about 1260. The Franciscan church in Brati- �SLOVAKIA 79 slava and the Dominican church in Kosice were built at the end of the thirteenth century. Many imposing Gothic churches were erected in the fourteenth century in the thriving cities of Slovakia, among them the parish churches in Bratislava, Levoca, Trnava, Bardejov, Presov, and, especially, St. Elizabeth's Cathedral in Kosice. Beautiful Gothic temples of worsmp were also con,rtructed in the Spis region and the mining cities of Central Slovakia. The Gothic churches of the Slovak monasteries at St. Beiiadik, Mariatal, Oko1icne, and the church of the Red Monastery ( Cerveny Klastor) date from that time. Vienna and Prague strongly influenced the development of Gothic art in western Slovakia, while Bratislava and Cracow influenced its growth in Central and Eastern Slovakia. Besides the great and imposing Gothic churches of the cities, there arose in Slovakia a large number of small village churches, which even in their simplicity and artistic modesty attest that Gothic culture penetrated deeply into medieval Slovakia arrd left many relics there. While the city churches were, as a rule, designed and built by foreign architects, the small village churches were generally designed and built by native masters, who had adopted the structural characteristics of the Gothic .style of architecture. Besides the ecclesiastical edifices of the city, the medieval castles which ornament the peaks of Slovak mountains are also counted among the relics of Gothic art. Hardly anywhere in Central Europe are there as many castles as in Slovakia. Even this circumstance proves that Slovakia participated in the contemporary growth of Europe. Some of these castles because of their location, size, and structure, are outstanding souvenirs of Gothic architecture. The majority of these castles already has succumbed to the ha:rmful influence of time, but even in the ruins some Gothic gates, windows, high vaults and arches have been preserved in Bratislava, Zvolen, Vigfas, Strecno, Trencin, Orava and Spis. Only a few Gothic homes have been preserved in the cities, because they had to be removed to make way for newer building developments in later centuries. Remnants �80 SLOVAKIA of ancient municipal buildings, city fortifications and Gothic homes are rare; only in Bratislava has, a portion of the ancient City Hall been preserved, while Levoca still has a part of its old city wall and a part of a Gothic home. Several examples of stone decorations have also been preserved; especially the reliefs on the portals of the church in Bratislava, Banska Bystrica, Spisska Nova Ves and Kosice. Woodcarving reached a high degree of perfection in Slovakia and many wooden statues of the Madonna, St. Barbara and St. Catherine have been preserved in Spis and :in the mining towns. The wing altars of the churches of Spis, Saris and other eastern cities, are among the most valuable memorials of Gothic art in Slova!kia. Some wing altars have also been preserved in Banska Bystrica, Stiavnica and other parts of Slovakia. An outstanding woodcarver of that time was Master Paul of Levoca, who made the beautiful altar of the Nativity in Bardejov and the main altar in St. Jacob's church in Levoca. The apprentices of this master artist of Levoca decorated the churches in Spis with remarkable wood-carvings. The development of Gothic painting was subject to several influences. In southern Slovakia, where Gothic frescoes were preserved in Chyzne and Stitnik, the Italian influence predominated. In western Slovakia the Italian style came 'by way of neighboring Austria, while Gothic painting developed in eastern Slovakia under the influence of Silesia. Besides mural frescoes ( the oldest painting in the Spisska Krupitula depicts the coronation of Charles Robert and dates back to 1317), many framed paintings on the wing altars have been preserved. E~amples of high artistic workmanship, especially religious articles ( chalices, monstrances, crucifixes, Mass vestments, etc.) have been preserved in many parish and monastery churches. Many of these relics originated in Slovak workshops which also exported their products. In Spis bells were poured for churches in Poland. This great wealth of mementos from the Gothic period shows clearly that Slovakia lived a rich cultural life from the 13th to the 15th century and did not remain behind neighboring cultured countries in the field of creative arts . � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1959, Vol. 9 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 4 [sic] (No. 29), March 1959.</li> <li>Issue 5 [sic] (No. 30), June-December 1959.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1959 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 75 In politics it seldom pays to to sit on two chairs. OsuS'ky began his career when the Slovak League sent him to Europe to Masaryk to work for the establishment of Czecho-,Slovakia and to see to it that Slovakia was granted autonomy. Osusky found it convenient and profitable to forget the League and the rights of his Slovak people to freedom, freedom from a1ien domination. He preferred to serve Masaryk and his senseless concept of "Czechoslovakism." At one time it was said that Osusky claimed "credit" for the fact that the Pittsburgh Pact was not even mentioned dunng the Paris Peace Conference negotiations. Osusky served as a Prague ambassador for over twenty years. He did a commendable job of it. Today, perhaps as he writes his memoirs in Washington, the Czechs don't want him - and the Slovaks, his own people, won't ·have him. • • • ibe History of Slovakia: By PHILIP A. HROBAK 1Continu ed) Slovakia played an important role in the relations of the kingdom which developed between Hungary and Poland during the reign of the Anjous. Louis the Great wanted to ,b ecome Polish king after the death of Casimir the Great, the last male descendant of the Piastov Clan. The agreements by which this union of Poland and Hungary was to be realized, were concluded in Slovak cities, especially in ,Kosice which was on the Cracow-Budin highway. It was at Kosice, after several meetings, that it was decided to have t!he daughter of Louis the Great, succeed him to the cP olish throne after his death. The reign of the Anjous brought Slovakia a notable contribution especially in the field of culture. G001HIC ClJiL'NJRE IN SLOVAKIA Medieval culture is a Christian culture. The Church concerned itself not only with the advancement of Christian faith and morals among the uncivilized nations of Europe, 76 SLOVAKIA but also that of the cultural life. Christianity changed and ennobled the character of the medieval man who learned to realize that his life's goal was the salvation of his immortal soul. The religious spirit of the medieval person knew how to suffer the difficulties and miseries of this life patiently, because he understood that it was in this valley of tears that he prepared for eternal life. The Christian concept of life elevated the human spirit to God and gave medieval culture a special character. Christian culture of the Middle Ages attained its full development in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries and found beautiful expression in the creative arts in the Gothic style of architecture. In the beginning the Church was the only organization which fostered culture, the sciences and the arts, educated youth in its ,p arish, capitulary and monastery schools, and also collected rich treasures of artistic creations in its churches. Later, especially from the thirteneth century on, knights became a significant factor in the cultural life of Europe. They endeavored to excell not only in military accomplishments, but also in Christian virtues. From the fourteenth century the cities became important centers of progress, both cultural and spiritual. Slovakia, because of her geogrruphical position, came under the strong influence of the cultural movements, which swept across Central Europe from the second half of the thirteenth century. In Slovakia, Gothic culture reached a high degree of perfection and beauty in 1:!he fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and its final offshoots extend to the sixteenth century. Artistic works, which have been preserved from those times in Slovakia, are proof that cultural life there developed somewhat belatedly, but in its maturity did not remain behind the cultural devel'o pment of Central Europe. As everywhere in Europe, so in Slovakia, the first and only centers of culture were the monasteries and other ecclesiastical institutions. Supported generously by the royalty and the nobility, they performed not only a religious, but also a highly worthy cultural mission. SLOVAKIA 77 Besides the old abbeys of the Benedictine Order, which originated in Slovaki'a before the inva:sion of the Turks, a large number of monasteries and churches of the Order of St. Francis a:nd of the Preachers of St. Dominic were founded in the cities of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Franciscans came from Italy and the Dominicans from Spain. The Premonstratensi'ans and Cistercians originated in France and founded their first monasteries in Slovakia outside the cities. Not only beautiful churches, but also artshops, trade shops and libraries sprang up near all these institutions. To some of these monasteries and chapters the king granted the right of issuing, transcribing and clarifying documents. Such monasteries were called "trustworthy" places. In Slovakia the following enjoyed· that privilege: the Chapters in Bratislava, Nitra and Spis; the Benedictine abbey of St. Benedict near the Hron, the Premonstratensian monastery in Klastor-pod-Znievom and in Jasov. Archives originated in these abbeys in which records, various literary works and documents were deposited. When the Anjous came to the throne in Hungary, and the Luxemburgs to the throne in Bohemia, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, higher western European culture came to Central Europe, which in a twofold way penetrated into the territory of Slovakia. In those times Knighthood developed in Central Europe which with its higher culture and refined morals enlightened and edified the masses of the people. Slovak nobility soon adopted the manner of life of the knights, even to the extent of replacing wooden palisades and fortresses with strong stone citadels with moats, towers and bastions. These castles of the knights, often built on high a:nd impregnable rocks, were not only strongholds, but also witnesses of the active life of the knights. Among the owners of these castles were many Slova:k knights, as it attested to by Slovak names of many citadels Strecno, Lietava, Likava, Vrsatec, Lednica, Hrusov, Hricov, Blatnica, Krasna Horka, etc. Later, rich mining a:nd commercial towns became the most significant centers of culture. The inhabitants of the cities had more of a mind for cultural interests than the 78 SLOVAKIA agricultural inhabitants of the villages. This undoubtedly was due to the influence of their occupation and their economic condition. The German settlers of Slovak cities maintained contacts with their fatherland and its higher culture. This "city" culture made itself manifest not only in the city itself, in the architecture of urban homes and public buildings, but also in the life of the people in general. The city dwellers, as merchants and artisans, came into contact with near and distant lands, and adopted the more progressive ways of living. In the cities there were schools (in Bratislava and in Spisska Kapitula already in the thirteenth century), and foreign artisans and artists came to the cities to build and decorate civic structures, especially the parish churches. At fuat time several universities were set up in Central Europe after the pattern of the University of Paris. These universities (Prague, 1348; Cracow, 1364; Vienna, 1365) were also attended by students from Slovakia, because the first Hungarian university founded ·b y Louis the Great in Patikostoly in 1367, had closed its doors. Some of them won high academic honors and became professors at these universities. In this way Slovakia was in contact with higher European culture, the centers of which were the universities. But most striking is the participation of Slovakia in the contemporary cultural trends in the field of creative art. Gothic art, as it developed in France, Germany and Italy, ex,pressed the loftiness of the Christian spirit which .frees itself from the earth and soars into the heights. This idea received expression especially in the building of Gothic churches, which with their height, ease and gracefulness rose high above the surroundings and elevated the thoughts of the believing man to God. This style was adopted in Slovakia already in the middle of the thirteenth century and, in the church structures, blended with the final echoes of the Romanesque style. An example of early Gothic architecture has been preserved in Slovakia in the church of the former prepositure of Turiec, in Klastor-pod-Z nievom (The Monastery-be neathZniev), built about 1260. The Franciscan church in Brati- SLOVAKIA 79 slava and the Dominican church in Kosice were built at the end of the thirteenth century. Many imposing Gothic churches were erected in the fourteenth century in the thriving cities of Slovakia, among them the parish churches in Bratislava, Levoca, Trnava, Bardejov, Presov, and, especially, St. Elizabeth's Cathedral in Kosice. Beautiful Gothic temples of worsmp were also con,rtructed in the Spis region and the mining cities of Central Slovakia. The Gothic churches of the Slovak monasteries at St. Beiiadik, Mariatal, Oko1icne, and the church of the Red Monastery ( Cerveny Klastor) date from that time. Vienna and Prague strongly influenced the development of Gothic art in western Slovakia, while Bratislava and Cracow influenced its growth in Central and Eastern Slovakia. Besides the great and imposing Gothic churches of the cities, there arose in Slovakia a large number of small village churches, which even in their simplicity and artistic modesty attest that Gothic culture penetrated deeply into medieval Slovakia arrd left many relics there. While the city churches were, as a rule, designed and built by foreign architects, the small village churches were generally designed and built by native masters, who had adopted the structural characteristics of the Gothic .style of architecture. Besides the ecclesiastical edifices of the city, the medieval castles which ornament the peaks of Slovak mountains are also counted among the relics of Gothic art. Hardly anywhere in Central Europe are there as many castles as in Slovakia. Even this circumstance proves that Slovakia participated in the contemporary growth of Europe. Some of these castles because of their location, size, and structure, are outstanding souvenirs of Gothic architecture. The majority of these castles already has succumbed to the ha:rmful influence of time, but even in the ruins some Gothic gates, windows, high vaults and arches have been preserved in Bratislava, Zvolen, Vigfas, Strecno, Trencin, Orava and Spis. Only a few Gothic homes have been preserved in the cities, because they had to be removed to make way for newer building developments in later centuries. Remnants 80 SLOVAKIA of ancient municipal buildings, city fortifications and Gothic homes are rare; only in Bratislava has, a portion of the ancient City Hall been preserved, while Levoca still has a part of its old city wall and a part of a Gothic home. Several examples of stone decorations have also been preserved; especially the reliefs on the portals of the church in Bratislava, Banska Bystrica, Spisska Nova Ves and Kosice. Woodcarving reached a high degree of perfection in Slovakia and many wooden statues of the Madonna, St. Barbara and St. Catherine have been preserved in Spis and :in the mining towns. The wing altars of the churches of Spis, Saris and other eastern cities, are among the most valuable memorials of Gothic art in Slova!kia. Some wing altars have also been preserved in Banska Bystrica, Stiavnica and other parts of Slovakia. An outstanding woodcarver of that time was Master Paul of Levoca, who made the beautiful altar of the Nativity in Bardejov and the main altar in St. Jacob's church in Levoca. The apprentices of this master artist of Levoca decorated the churches in Spis with remarkable wood-carvings. The development of Gothic painting was subject to several influences. In southern Slovakia, where Gothic frescoes were preserved in Chyzne and Stitnik, the Italian influence predominated. In western Slovakia the Italian style came 'by way of neighboring Austria, while Gothic painting developed in eastern Slovakia under the influence of Silesia. Besides mural frescoes ( the oldest painting in the Spisska Krupitula depicts the coronation of Charles Robert and dates back to 1317), many framed paintings on the wing altars have been preserved. E~amples of high artistic workmanship, especially religious articles ( chalices, monstrances, crucifixes, Mass vestments, etc.) have been preserved in many parish and monastery churches. Many of these relics originated in Slovak workshops which also exported their products. In Spis bells were poured for churches in Poland. This great wealth of mementos from the Gothic period shows clearly that Slovakia lived a rich cultural life from the 13th to the 15th century and did not remain behind neighboring cultured countries in the field of creative arts .  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The History of Slovakia (9/9) Description An account of the resource Philip A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 9, No. 5 (30), June-December 1959 pp. 75-80 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June-December 1959 Relation A related resource continued from <a href="https://slovakia.omeka.net/items/show/299">Vol. 9, No. 4 (29), pp. 72-80</a> LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/18b3bde70493d2466a2d646ebd4dfc79.pdf c76c37a8411a35935f83972174612cc6 PDF Text Text 76 SLOVAKIA The Ideas of the Hlasist Movement BY ANTHONY SUTHERLAND The Slovak National Revolution of 1918 followed in the wake of the First World War and the disintegration of the Habsburg Empire. It achieved for the Slovaks the first period of political freedom after one thousand years under Magyar domination. Much of the thought and leadership for this liberation came from a small but effective intellectual circle commonly known as the ' 'hlasists ' ' . (1) Named after their periodical, Hlas, the group originated in the mid 1890s among several young Slovak intellectuals who sought new directions for the Slovak national movement . They borrowed from the realism of Thomas Masaryk and the philosophies of Herbert Spencer, William James and others. Although always a minority and never an organized political party, the ' 'hlasists'' had an impact on Slovak political and intellectual history far exceeding their numbers. Besides being a main impetus in the Slovak National Revolution, they provided much of the Slovak leadership in the subsequent First Czecho-Slovak Republic. They represented the first Slovak intellectual movement based on English philosophy. Slovak national politics until then had been dominated largely by the Slovak National Party, a small Lutheran intellectual group headed by the renouned poet-nationalist, Svetozar Hurban Vajansky. Rooted strongly in German romanticism, the Nationalists sought primarily cultural freedom from Budapest while look4lg to the Russian Empire for assistance and eventual liberation. The "ltlasists" rejected both the outlook and apparent passivity of the Nationalists and insisted on a program of action joined with economic and social reforms. Salvation for the Slovaks, the "hlasists" believed, would come not from Russia but from Western Europe, particularly England, and from close cooperation with the Czechs. In a similar manner, the Czech national movement was influenced by romanticism and marked by vague concepts of Pan Slavism. Thomas Masaryk, the father of Czecho-Slovakia, saw the inadequacy of the Czech politics and so searched for a new political philosophy that would bring about tangible results. In his book Ceska Otazka, Masaryk expressed the need for active politics, education and self-consciousness while criticizing the negativism of the Czech national movement. He added the need for social reform and humanism. (2) The founders and probably best exponents of Slovak realism were Vavro Srobar and Pavel Blaho. Srobar was born in 1867 in Liskova, the fourth of twelve children. After attending local schools, he went to the University of Prague to prepare for a career in medicine. While in �SLOVAKIA 77 Prague, Srobar, through the Slavic society, "Detvan", came into contact with Masaryk and his philosophy of realism. (3) Until this time, Srobar was a romantic nationalist clinging to the traditional ideals of Svetozar Hurban-Vajansky and other Nationalists . In 1899 he was even invited by Ambor Pietor to become an editor of Narodne noviny, the voice of the Slovak Nationalist Party, but turned down the offer feeling unfit for the task at that time. (4) Srobar soon began to have doubts about the leadership and direction of the national movement. He became increasingly critical of the Slovak National Party's unrealistic faith in tsarist Russia and the former' s apparent inability to achieve any substantial gains for the Slovak cause. Pavel Blaho (1867-1927), in a similar way, began as a romantic nationalist and ended as a follower of Masaryk's realism. Born in Skalica and educated at the University of Vienna, Blaho became a close collaborator of Srobar and the new generation of Slovak intellectuals. By 1894, both men had been completely converted to Masaryk's realism and were determined to translate realistic principles into Slovakia. One of the first goals of the ''hlasists'' was the publication of a new political review, one completely independent from the Narodne noviny and one which would reflect the new progressive ideals of realism. (5) At a meeting of young Slovak intellectuals held in Turc. Sv. Martin on August 4, 1897, the decision was made to prepare for a new periodical, and at another conference four weeks later the title, Hlas, was selected. (6) During several succeeding conferences the aims and ideology of the new school of realism were put forth and debated. At the yearly conference of 1898 Srobar talked of the ideals and principles of realism but in such vague generalities that he left the one hundred people who attended uncertain over the actual nature of the new philosophy. (7) The 1899 conference in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas, attended by some sixty people including such notables as Andrej Hlinka and Karol Kmet'ko, was of far greater practical value. Here Srobar elaborated on the realistic principles placing emphasis on the need for education and performance of 'small deeds' for the people. (8) The "hlasists" had many aims and ideas, some challenging traditional Slovak nationalism, others seemingly impractical or idealistic. Throughout ''hlasist'' thought there was a clear faith in science, in the pragmatic, positivist philosophy and distrust of the methods of the conservative, national movement. Srobar believed that pragmatism and the ability to act were the reasons for America's success. (9) Such a belief in pragmatism, for Srobar, necessitated a knowledge of the truth. The notion of truth was borrowed from Masaryk who once said, "Seek the truth, hear the truth, learn the truth, love the truth, hold on to the truth, defend the truth to the death." (10) Truth to Srobar must replace lies, work was to replace laziness, and love to replace hatred. (11) In the search for truth nothing was held to be too sacred, not national custom, literature, songs or �78 SLOVAKIA anything. (12) Milan Hodza, one of the most gifted members of the "hlasist" group, wrote in Hl,as that Slovak history had to be examined objectively with no preconceived notions or feelings. (13) Once the truth was ascertained, then appropriate action could be taken to produce progress in the national movement. The primacy of truth, according to Srobar, demanded the '' regeneration in the morality of the Slovak man'' (14) but left it unclear as to the exact meaning of this morality . (15) By being better in the moral sense it was hoped the Slovak people would somehow be better equipped to deflect the onslaught of Magyarization. (16) Throughout the history of the ''hlasist'' movement, education was made a paramount objective. Self-enlightenment was the sine qua non of all progress for the "hlasists". It had to be democratic, not limited to the privileged few or for city dwellers but to all levels of society, including farmers, tradesmen, and workers . (17) Blaho emphasized the need for regional specialization in education . Blaho, the author of regionalism in the ''hlasist'' movement, proposed that every district have its own local newspaper to meet local needs as well as to supply information on national events. (18) "Hlasists" believed that national education rather than education for a selected few was necessary for a national movement. Blaho wrote, '' A nation that learns to want and demand begins also to fight and struggle." (19) Blaho, too, along with Hodza believed that with education came economic liberation, another precondition for national liberation. Blaho later wrote, "We want to liberate the people from spiritual darkness, from economic slavery, we want to restore Slovak elementary schools, we want to teach the people the intensive and technical cultivation of the soil. We want to teach them in a trade, to improve production, to teach them to work in business, to work in a cooperative society, we want to teach them to sacrifice for themselves, for their goals, their needs. '' (20) Education of the masses and moral regeneration could be accomplished, according to the "hlasists", dnly by 'work' or by the performance of small deeds, (drobnci prcica). (21) Pragmatism and science possessed little value unless they were translated into action. (22) "Work and only work for the people, for without work it is impossible to imagine a cultural life for the Slovaks," (23) Blaho wrote: "Look, we stand under the protection of the great power which maintains and directs the whole world, we stand under the patronage of abstract work . The entire universe is built on work . ... We fulfill the great law of life when we work.'' The ''hlasist'' virtue of work, although never really explained beyond a general sense, stood in contradiction to the apparent inactivity of traditional Slovak politics. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the "hlasist" movement was the criticism leveled against the Slovak National Party. Since the closing of the Matica Slovenska, the nationalists had accomplished little and it seemed to the "hlasists" �SLOVAKIA 79 that they were resigned to their fate. Milan Hodfa charged that the National Party had no real political program. The memorandums of 1848 and 1861 contained only the "Alpha and Omega" of Slovak demands (25) but ignor~d specific economic and social needs. He concluded that nationaliSln alone was insufficient as the basis for national politics. (26) ' ' Hlasists'' concentrated their sharpest attacks on the leader of the National Party, Svetozar Hurban Vajansky. Vajansky was the recognized leader of the nation, the interpreter of national tradition. As the son of the famous Jozef M. Hurban, the 1848 revolutionary leader and pioneer in the work of establishing a separate written Slovak language, his authority not only in literature but in politics went often unquestioned . (27) Vajansky's political and spiritual ideas were based on romanticism and Russian Slavophilism. He believed Slovakia's salvation would come not from the West which he distributed for its materialism and atheism, but from Russia. (28) "Hlasists" saw in Vajansky's philosophy and politics a dangerous fatalism. Liberation would not come from tsarist Russia, Srobar felt, and even if it did, it would lead only to ''tsarist despotism.'' (29) Srobar once wrote, "Hurban is not an active politician yet directs Slovak politics; he likes to judge and condemn. Hurban is a spiritual leader of the nation; his powerful artistic talent is known to implant the soul of the Slovak intelligentsia, its thoughts, desires, ideals. Hurban personifies the entire Slovak intelligentsia." (30) Srobar reacted strongly to Vajansky's statement, ''We are the nation - pars pro toto (a part of the whole),'' (31) making the intelligentsia the national elite. Srobar answered, ''We are not the nation, we are crumbs in the nation, we are servants and not these haughty lords, elite of the nation, but we are the worst part of the nation.'' (32) The nation, Srobar continued, was to be found among the "honest workers, the hand-calloused laborers, among the soiled peasants and tenant farmers ." (33) Hodfa agreed with Srobar that the nation could not be found among a few intellectuals. He wrote in Hlas in 1904: "The nation is the people with all its needs and desires . The nation must be something concrete, calculable and not some fictitious ideal. Therefore then, national culture must not be limited to the intelligentsia; it deserves the name 'national' culture only if it penetrates and inspires all levels of the nation." (34) Srobar was particularly concerned over the direction that Vajansky seemed to be leading Slovak politics. The Slovaks were politically isolated, Srobar recalled, with no real allies or ties with any strong state. (35) Since a continuation of the Nationalist's Russophile policy was out of the question the only ' realistic' alternative the "hlasists" had was to develop closer relations with the Czechs, their closest Slavic neighbor. (36) Although Czech-Slovak cooperation was no invention of Srobar or the other "hlasists", it was their efforts that prepared the way for collaboration during the First World War. �80 SLOVAKIA On the question of Czech-Slovak unity, Srobar was cautiously silent. (37) He said only that it was impossible at this time to talk about political unification with the Czechs. "We reject emphatically all debate a priori about unification of us with the Czech nation in the political sense. There can be no unification in language but only in spirit." (38) Later in 1920, Srobar acknowledged the close cultural and political ties that existed between the two nations. ''The origin of a new written language in Slovakia did not interrupt the conscious tribal (kmen) unity of the Czecho-Slovaks even for one moment. The desire for close cultural, economic, and political unity increased year after year in proportion to the growth of a brutal Magyar suppression.'' (39) Many Slovaks anxiously awaited Vajansky's reaction to "hlasist" attacks, but were left somewhat disappointed. For a long time he said little. (40) In a series of articles appearing in the Narodne noviny Vajansky made references to the youth movement, meaning the "hlasists", as "trivial and childish." (41) It was known that Vajansky was opposed to the Czech orientation and to the placing of economic reforms before political goals. (42) But the most controversial feature of ''hlasist'' views was their critical position taken against the Catholic Church and clerical influence in Slovak society. Srobar attacked the Slovak priesthood as corrupt, materialistic and Magyar in spirit. (43) Since his student days Srobar had begun to question Church authority. (44) Much of this questioning attitude towards the Church was taken from Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy taught that the organized Church had corrupted and formalized Christianity to the extent that it was necessary to return to a primitive type of Christianity as was found in the early Church. In Tolstoy Srobar also discovered support for his idea of truth as the most important element in dealing with social problems. Tolstoy said all the revolutions of the nineteenth century lacked this principle of truth. It is not necessary to merely proclaim truth but to act on it. (45) Srobar looked at the Slovak problem as largely a religious problem. (46) Slovaks, he said, cared for little else but religion. Art, science, politics concerned them only to the extent that they served religious needs. (47) Slovak Catholics, Srobar believed, although sincere and pious, were infected with superstition and f~talism. He wrote: ''Great masses of the Slovak people designate thems~lves, 'I am a Catholic' or 'I am a Lutheran', but the faiths of the Slovaks are not joined in one unit but left divided. The faith of Slovaks is pure, sincere, but the content of their faith is completely pagan, fetishistic, superstitious, fatalistic . . . . Here is where I expect the guarantee of our fall. All our people have fallen to this decadent Catholicism." (48) It would be a mistake, however, to label Srobar at this time as an atheist or an irreverent Christian, for many of his early writings reveal a sincere religious faith. His disagreement was not with Catholicism but with the adverse influence it seemed to have on the development of �SLOVAKIA 81 the nation. Srobar was opposed to anything resembling a theocratic type state and one which did not permit freedom of thought and expression. His arguments for freedom of conscience were founded in Christ's teaching, "Seek the truth and the truth will free you," adding that one who did not support the free search for truth was in violation of divine teaching. (49) Freedom of conscience, for Srobar, was a precondition for all progress, economic and social. To stifle the free quest for truth would ~ot only stagnate a society's growth but ultimately destroy that society. (50) He wrote: Without freedom of conscience and conviction there is no life for a dignified man, only the animal in man remains, in one degree of development. A man must teach and educate himself every day, that is seek and know the truth because who seeks the truth enriches his knowledge and becomes more learned than one who does not seek the truth. And if this law is applicable for the individual, that he educate and perfect himself, then it is even important for the entire nation. Free and educated nations enslave backward and uncultured nations. And he who cries and calls names at progress in a nation is the greatest enemy of his nation because he wants his nation to remain in darkness and ignorance so that nothing new is passed or begun. (51) At the same time, Srobar did not deny the necessity of good religious and moral standards for a healthy society. Srobar traced the evolution of moral standards. In primitive societies customs comprised the moral code. During the " age of faith" religious laws provided this same code . Later, in the age of democracy, faith and customs had lost their value, thus moral feelings of men had to be "more sincere, one had to perform voluntarily what he was once forced to do." (52) A man committed to religious ideals, Srobar continued, would be better able to serve the state than one lacking any religious conviction. (53) Srobar felt the neglect of moral faith was the foremost weakness of modern times . He wrote: Religious feelings, because they are developed from morality and fear of God have directed and controlled the natural impulses of man from time immemorial. A devout, religious man better performs his obligations towards himself, his family, and all society than a man without principles, without religion, or a man standing purely on materialism. Modern times forget the harmonious cultivation of reason and feeling and so becomes one-sided and superficial. A wise democracy expends all its efforts so that this harmonious culture among its citizenry is not forgotten. (54) �82 SLOVAKIA But, while Srobar did not completely reject organized religion, he did advocate that its activity be limited to purely spiritual concerns while leaving material questions to politicians. (55) Both church and state should exist, in Srobar's view, in a harmonious union but they had to remain separated. Srobar warned against religious intolerance which he defined as "hatred and anger against one's neighbor," (56) and against clericalism. Every unhappy nation, Srobar added, has a clerical leader at its head, and no class or political prejudice is as dangerous as religious intolerance. (57) "Every Slovak who holds dear freedom and independence for his homeland, who desires that we not remain under Magyar enslavement, who wants to rule himself, will avoid clerical slavery." (58) Such assaults on the Church caused the expected reaction and probably accounted for the defection of most of the clerical leaders from the " hlasist" camp. During the first few years of "hlasist" activity, the response by many Catholic priests was favorable . Several Catholic priests corresponded regularly with the "hlasists". Jozef Buday, a noted priest in the People's Party, complimented Blaho in 1898 on Hlas for exposing the nation's weaknesses . In a letter to Blaho of July 14, 1898, Buday wrote, " Therefore, with unspeakable joy I wish the periodical Hlas the most beautiful secure future, and I welcome you as its author, as its intrepid fighter for the development of the Slovak nation and as a sacrificing leader of Slovak youth on the thorny, spiral path of national life." (59) The following year Buday submitted an article for Hlas in which he recommended that priests not turn their backs on modem science and progress but take part in modem movements. The famous priest Ferdis Juriga supported the movement of Hlas towards moral regeneration. (60) But perhaps the most enthusiastic clerical supporter of Hlas was the priest and later Magyarone, Frantisek Jehlicka. He eagerly volunteered to work to obtain subscriptions for Hlas, telling Blaho, ''I want to become an eternal subscriber to Hlas." (61) Soon, however, many priests including Jehlicka became disillusioned with "hlasist" radicalism and seemingly irreligious attitudes. Many Slovak clerics were no doubt faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, they supported the progressivism of the "hlasists", but on the other hand, they could not accept their questioning attitude towards Church authority. Leaders in the Lutheran Church were in ~ similar position. They praised the '' hlasists'' but also cautioned them about condemning the entire old intelligentsia. They warned them against looking abroad for foreign ideas to follow, when good ideas could be found at home. (62) Reassuring the Lutheran hierarchy, Blaho said, " ... we want to reform by work and not destroy the work of our fathers, not attack the church in dogma, ... we want to be better." (63) The "hlasists" remained a small, disorganized group of men possessing a variety of ideas. Despite all the alleged radicalism at- �SLOVAKIA 83 tributed to them , the "hlasists" were quite traditional in many respects, at least during the first few years of their activity. There was never an attempt to break completely from the past but efforts were made to reconcile realistic principles with Slovak tradition, with the ideas of Stur and other leaders. The spiritual nature found throughout the works of Slovak nationalists was unmistakably evident in many "hlasist" writings, particularly those of Srobar. A good portion of "hlasist" thinking involved introspection or analysis of the nation's soul or character. In this respect "hlasists" were no different from the generations of Slovak thinkers that came before them. Even in their 'Czechoslovak' position, they were at first moderate . They were admirers of the Czechs and their culture, but they did not deny Slovak national individuality. Cooperation with the Czechs was viewed as the only realistic alternative, the only politically expedient course. Later, however, many "hlasists" became zealous supporters of Prague centralism, and some even adhered to the fictitious idea of the 'Czechoslovak' nation. Their Czechoslovak orientation before 1914 guaranteed the "hlasists" several leadership posts in the First Czecho-Slovak Republic. Srobar was chosen Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia during the first months of the republic, while other "hlasists" dominated the remaining Slovak posts. During the critical years of the First World War it was often the '' hlasists'' rather than the Nationalists or Populists who took the decisive action calling for national conferences, issuing declarations of independence, or working with foreign governments. Hlinka and others often hesitated, moved more cautiously, thus possibly losing some of the leadership in the new republic. Although popular at first, the "hlasists" gradually lost support from many quarters. Buday, Juriga and other priests lost all confidence in the ''hlasists'' because of their increasing radicalism, their free thinking, and their Czechoslovakism. The main significance of the ''hlasist'' movement, though, was in providing a journal and an atmosphere for critical, secular thought in Slovakia. This brought some progress, it might be argued; on the other hand, it meant tragedy for the Slovak nation. The ''hlasists'' seriously divided the Slovak national intelligentsia before 1914 and brought an end to the once united national movement. FOOTNOTES Included in the hlasist group were: Vavro Srobar, Pavel Blaho, Milan Hodia, Anton Stefanek. (2) Stefan Jansak, .Zivot Dr. Pavla Blahu, Vol. I (Tmava: Spolok sv. Vojtecha, 1947), pp. 129-130. (1) �84 SLOVAKIA (3) Srobar related in his memoirs how he became acquainted with Masaryk . What especially impressed him was Masaryk's statement that in religious questions, realism " stood on Christian principles." Vavro Srobar, Z m6jho iivota (Praha: Fr. Borovy , 1946) , p . 181. (4) Ibid ., p. 162 . (5) Jansak, pp . 138 and 141. (6) Ibid., pp . 145-147. An eleven-member editorial board was chosen: Srobar , Blaho, Hodfa , Me dvecky, Zathurecky, Rath, Minarik, Ivanko, Dohnany, Ziak-Somolicky and Jesensky. (7) Ibid., pp. 302-303. (8) Ibid . , pp. 306-307. (9) Ibid. , pp. 208-209 . (10) Ibid., p. 200 . (11) Ibid. , p . 198 Quoted in Anton Stefanek, Slovensko pred prevratom a poi!as prevratu (Praha , 1923), p. 35. (12) Srobar disagreed with Blaho over the national individuality found in Slovak weddings, songs, and costumes . Srobar attacked what he considered to be the backwardness and primitivism of Slovak weddings. He said, "In our weddings, individuals drink and eat to excess . It is necessary to improve and refine the people so that they can be convinced that they can enjoy themselves without becoming inebriated.'' Jansak, p. 259. (13) Milan Hodfa, " Realizmus u nas," Hlas VI (1904) p . 294 . (14) Jansak, p . 197. (15) Ibid., p. 198. (16) Ibid., p. 198 (17) Ibid., pp. 209-210 . Vavro Srobar, Via.do l'udu v demokracii (Praha, 1920), p. 125. (18) Jansak, p. 211. (19) Pavel Blaho , Obrodenie slovenskeho zci.padu (Praha, n .d .) p . 22. (20) Ibid., p . 31. (21) Jansak, p . 306. (22) Ibid . , p . 205 (23) Ibid., p. 206 (24) Ibid . , p. 206. (25) Milan Hodfa "K aktivite slovenskej narodnej strany," Clanky, reti, ~tudie I (Praha, 1935) , pp. 176-177. (26) Hodfa "Realizmus u nas," Hlas VI, p. 162. (27) Jansak, p . 330. See Ignotus (Milan Hodfa) Nacionalizmus je slepy," Hlas, V (1903) 97-99 . (28) Vavro Srobar, Politicky problem Slovenska (Praha, 1926) pp. 4-5. (29) Srobar, z m6jho iivota, p. 402 . (30) Ibid ., p . 360. (31) Jansak, p. 335 . (32) Ibid. , p . 335. (33) Ibid . , p. 335. (34) Hodfa, "Realizmus u nas," Hlas VI , pp. 295-296. �SLOVAKIA 85 (35) Srobar, Z mojho iivota , pp. 361-362 . (36) Ibid ., p. 362. Jansak, p. 221. (37) Jansak, p . 221. (38) Ibid ., pp. 221-222 . (39) Vavro Srobar, Osvobodene Slovensko (Praha , 1928) . p . 11. (40) Jansak, p. 332. (41) Ibid ., p . 334. (42) See Jansak, p. 217. (43) Vavro Srobar, Pamiiti z vojny a z viizenia (1914-1918) (Praha: Nakladom Gustava Dubskeho, 1922), pp. 177-178. (44) See Srobar, Z mojho iivota, p. 221. (45) Jansak, pp. 200-201. (46) Srobar, Z mojho iivota, p . 36'1 . Srobar, Pamiitizvojnyaz viizenia, p . 176. (47) Srobar, Pamati z vojny a z viizenia, pp. 176-177. (48) Ibid ., pp . 176-177. (49) Srobar, Vldda l'udu v demokracii, p. 88. (50) Ibid. , pp. 87-89. (51) Ibid., p. 92 . (52) Ibid., p . 94 . (53) Ibid ., p. 95. (54) Ibid., p . 95 . (55) Ibid., pp. 95 and 100. (56) Ibid ., p . 106. (57) Ibid ., p. 106. (58) Ibid ., p . 107. (59) Jansak, p . 342. (60) Ibid., pp. 294-295. (61) Ibid ., p. 297. (62) Ibid ., pp . 346-347. (63) Ibid ., p . 347. BIBLIOGRAPHY Blaho, Pavel. Obrodenie slovenskeho zcipadu (The Rebirth of the Slovak West). Praha: Ostredny vybor prednaskovy, n.d. Hlas (The Voice) V, VI, (Ruzomberok), 1903, 1904. Hodia , Milan . Clcinky, re<!i,. studie (Articles, Speeches, Studies). Vol. I, Praha, 1930. Jansak , Stefan . Zivot Dr. Pavla Blaha, (The Life of Dr. Paul Blaho). Vol. I. Trnava: Spolok sv . Vojtecha, 1947 . Srobar, Vavro. Osvobodenie Slovensko (Liberated Slovakia) . Praho, 1928. - - - · Pamiiti z vojny a z viizenia (Memoirs from the War and from Prison). Praha: Nakladom Gustava Dubskeho , 1921. �86 SLOVAKIA _ _ _ . Politicky problem Slovenska (The Political Problem of Slovakia). Praha, 1926. _ _ _ . Vlcida l'udu v demokracii (Government of the People in a Democracy). Praha, 1920. _ _ _ , Z m6jho iivota (From My Life). Praha: Fr. Borovy, 1946. Stefimek, Anton. Slovensko pred prevratom a pot!as prevratu (Slovakia Before 1918 and During 1918). Praha, 1923. � 76 SLOVAKIA The Ideas of the Hlasist Movement BY ANTHONY SUTHERLAND The Slovak National Revolution of 1918 followed in the wake of the First World War and the disintegration of the Habsburg Empire. It achieved for the Slovaks the first period of political freedom after one thousand years under Magyar domination. Much of the thought and leadership for this liberation came from a small but effective intellectual circle commonly known as the ' 'hlasists ' ' . (1) Named after their periodical, Hlas, the group originated in the mid 1890s among several young Slovak intellectuals who sought new directions for the Slovak national movement . They borrowed from the realism of Thomas Masaryk and the philosophies of Herbert Spencer, William James and others. Although always a minority and never an organized political party, the ' 'hlasists'' had an impact on Slovak political and intellectual history far exceeding their numbers. Besides being a main impetus in the Slovak National Revolution, they provided much of the Slovak leadership in the subsequent First Czecho-Slovak Republic. They represented the first Slovak intellectual movement based on English philosophy. Slovak national politics until then had been dominated largely by the Slovak National Party, a small Lutheran intellectual group headed by the renouned poet-nationalist, Svetozar Hurban Vajansky. Rooted strongly in German romanticism, the Nationalists sought primarily cultural freedom from Budapest while look4lg to the Russian Empire for assistance and eventual liberation. The "ltlasists" rejected both the outlook and apparent passivity of the Nationalists and insisted on a program of action joined with economic and social reforms. Salvation for the Slovaks, the "hlasists" believed, would come not from Russia but from Western Europe, particularly England, and from close cooperation with the Czechs. In a similar manner, the Czech national movement was influenced by romanticism and marked by vague concepts of Pan Slavism. Thomas Masaryk, the father of Czecho-Slovakia, saw the inadequacy of the Czech politics and so searched for a new political philosophy that would bring about tangible results. In his book Ceska Otazka, Masaryk expressed the need for active politics, education and self-consciousness while criticizing the negativism of the Czech national movement. He added the need for social reform and humanism. (2) The founders and probably best exponents of Slovak realism were Vavro Srobar and Pavel Blaho. Srobar was born in 1867 in Liskova, the fourth of twelve children. After attending local schools, he went to the University of Prague to prepare for a career in medicine. While in �SLOVAKIA 77 Prague, Srobar, through the Slavic society, "Detvan", came into contact with Masaryk and his philosophy of realism. (3) Until this time, Srobar was a romantic nationalist clinging to the traditional ideals of Svetozar Hurban-Vajansky and other Nationalists . In 1899 he was even invited by Ambor Pietor to become an editor of Narodne noviny, the voice of the Slovak Nationalist Party, but turned down the offer feeling unfit for the task at that time. (4) Srobar soon began to have doubts about the leadership and direction of the national movement. He became increasingly critical of the Slovak National Party's unrealistic faith in tsarist Russia and the former' s apparent inability to achieve any substantial gains for the Slovak cause. Pavel Blaho (1867-1927), in a similar way, began as a romantic nationalist and ended as a follower of Masaryk's realism. Born in Skalica and educated at the University of Vienna, Blaho became a close collaborator of Srobar and the new generation of Slovak intellectuals. By 1894, both men had been completely converted to Masaryk's realism and were determined to translate realistic principles into Slovakia. One of the first goals of the ''hlasists'' was the publication of a new political review, one completely independent from the Narodne noviny and one which would reflect the new progressive ideals of realism. (5) At a meeting of young Slovak intellectuals held in Turc. Sv. Martin on August 4, 1897, the decision was made to prepare for a new periodical, and at another conference four weeks later the title, Hlas, was selected. (6) During several succeeding conferences the aims and ideology of the new school of realism were put forth and debated. At the yearly conference of 1898 Srobar talked of the ideals and principles of realism but in such vague generalities that he left the one hundred people who attended uncertain over the actual nature of the new philosophy. (7) The 1899 conference in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas, attended by some sixty people including such notables as Andrej Hlinka and Karol Kmet'ko, was of far greater practical value. Here Srobar elaborated on the realistic principles placing emphasis on the need for education and performance of 'small deeds' for the people. (8) The "hlasists" had many aims and ideas, some challenging traditional Slovak nationalism, others seemingly impractical or idealistic. Throughout ''hlasist'' thought there was a clear faith in science, in the pragmatic, positivist philosophy and distrust of the methods of the conservative, national movement. Srobar believed that pragmatism and the ability to act were the reasons for America's success. (9) Such a belief in pragmatism, for Srobar, necessitated a knowledge of the truth. The notion of truth was borrowed from Masaryk who once said, "Seek the truth, hear the truth, learn the truth, love the truth, hold on to the truth, defend the truth to the death." (10) Truth to Srobar must replace lies, work was to replace laziness, and love to replace hatred. (11) In the search for truth nothing was held to be too sacred, not national custom, literature, songs or �78 SLOVAKIA anything. (12) Milan Hodza, one of the most gifted members of the "hlasist" group, wrote in Hl,as that Slovak history had to be examined objectively with no preconceived notions or feelings. (13) Once the truth was ascertained, then appropriate action could be taken to produce progress in the national movement. The primacy of truth, according to Srobar, demanded the '' regeneration in the morality of the Slovak man'' (14) but left it unclear as to the exact meaning of this morality . (15) By being better in the moral sense it was hoped the Slovak people would somehow be better equipped to deflect the onslaught of Magyarization. (16) Throughout the history of the ''hlasist'' movement, education was made a paramount objective. Self-enlightenment was the sine qua non of all progress for the "hlasists". It had to be democratic, not limited to the privileged few or for city dwellers but to all levels of society, including farmers, tradesmen, and workers . (17) Blaho emphasized the need for regional specialization in education . Blaho, the author of regionalism in the ''hlasist'' movement, proposed that every district have its own local newspaper to meet local needs as well as to supply information on national events. (18) "Hlasists" believed that national education rather than education for a selected few was necessary for a national movement. Blaho wrote, '' A nation that learns to want and demand begins also to fight and struggle." (19) Blaho, too, along with Hodza believed that with education came economic liberation, another precondition for national liberation. Blaho later wrote, "We want to liberate the people from spiritual darkness, from economic slavery, we want to restore Slovak elementary schools, we want to teach the people the intensive and technical cultivation of the soil. We want to teach them in a trade, to improve production, to teach them to work in business, to work in a cooperative society, we want to teach them to sacrifice for themselves, for their goals, their needs. '' (20) Education of the masses and moral regeneration could be accomplished, according to the "hlasists", dnly by 'work' or by the performance of small deeds, (drobnci prcica). (21) Pragmatism and science possessed little value unless they were translated into action. (22) "Work and only work for the people, for without work it is impossible to imagine a cultural life for the Slovaks," (23) Blaho wrote: "Look, we stand under the protection of the great power which maintains and directs the whole world, we stand under the patronage of abstract work . The entire universe is built on work . ... We fulfill the great law of life when we work.'' The ''hlasist'' virtue of work, although never really explained beyond a general sense, stood in contradiction to the apparent inactivity of traditional Slovak politics. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the "hlasist" movement was the criticism leveled against the Slovak National Party. Since the closing of the Matica Slovenska, the nationalists had accomplished little and it seemed to the "hlasists" �SLOVAKIA 79 that they were resigned to their fate. Milan Hodfa charged that the National Party had no real political program. The memorandums of 1848 and 1861 contained only the "Alpha and Omega" of Slovak demands (25) but ignor~d specific economic and social needs. He concluded that nationaliSln alone was insufficient as the basis for national politics. (26) ' ' Hlasists'' concentrated their sharpest attacks on the leader of the National Party, Svetozar Hurban Vajansky. Vajansky was the recognized leader of the nation, the interpreter of national tradition. As the son of the famous Jozef M. Hurban, the 1848 revolutionary leader and pioneer in the work of establishing a separate written Slovak language, his authority not only in literature but in politics went often unquestioned . (27) Vajansky's political and spiritual ideas were based on romanticism and Russian Slavophilism. He believed Slovakia's salvation would come not from the West which he distributed for its materialism and atheism, but from Russia. (28) "Hlasists" saw in Vajansky's philosophy and politics a dangerous fatalism. Liberation would not come from tsarist Russia, Srobar felt, and even if it did, it would lead only to ''tsarist despotism.'' (29) Srobar once wrote, "Hurban is not an active politician yet directs Slovak politics; he likes to judge and condemn. Hurban is a spiritual leader of the nation; his powerful artistic talent is known to implant the soul of the Slovak intelligentsia, its thoughts, desires, ideals. Hurban personifies the entire Slovak intelligentsia." (30) Srobar reacted strongly to Vajansky's statement, ''We are the nation - pars pro toto (a part of the whole),'' (31) making the intelligentsia the national elite. Srobar answered, ''We are not the nation, we are crumbs in the nation, we are servants and not these haughty lords, elite of the nation, but we are the worst part of the nation.'' (32) The nation, Srobar continued, was to be found among the "honest workers, the hand-calloused laborers, among the soiled peasants and tenant farmers ." (33) Hodfa agreed with Srobar that the nation could not be found among a few intellectuals. He wrote in Hlas in 1904: "The nation is the people with all its needs and desires . The nation must be something concrete, calculable and not some fictitious ideal. Therefore then, national culture must not be limited to the intelligentsia; it deserves the name 'national' culture only if it penetrates and inspires all levels of the nation." (34) Srobar was particularly concerned over the direction that Vajansky seemed to be leading Slovak politics. The Slovaks were politically isolated, Srobar recalled, with no real allies or ties with any strong state. (35) Since a continuation of the Nationalist's Russophile policy was out of the question the only ' realistic' alternative the "hlasists" had was to develop closer relations with the Czechs, their closest Slavic neighbor. (36) Although Czech-Slovak cooperation was no invention of Srobar or the other "hlasists", it was their efforts that prepared the way for collaboration during the First World War. �80 SLOVAKIA On the question of Czech-Slovak unity, Srobar was cautiously silent. (37) He said only that it was impossible at this time to talk about political unification with the Czechs. "We reject emphatically all debate a priori about unification of us with the Czech nation in the political sense. There can be no unification in language but only in spirit." (38) Later in 1920, Srobar acknowledged the close cultural and political ties that existed between the two nations. ''The origin of a new written language in Slovakia did not interrupt the conscious tribal (kmen) unity of the Czecho-Slovaks even for one moment. The desire for close cultural, economic, and political unity increased year after year in proportion to the growth of a brutal Magyar suppression.'' (39) Many Slovaks anxiously awaited Vajansky's reaction to "hlasist" attacks, but were left somewhat disappointed. For a long time he said little. (40) In a series of articles appearing in the Narodne noviny Vajansky made references to the youth movement, meaning the "hlasists", as "trivial and childish." (41) It was known that Vajansky was opposed to the Czech orientation and to the placing of economic reforms before political goals. (42) But the most controversial feature of ''hlasist'' views was their critical position taken against the Catholic Church and clerical influence in Slovak society. Srobar attacked the Slovak priesthood as corrupt, materialistic and Magyar in spirit. (43) Since his student days Srobar had begun to question Church authority. (44) Much of this questioning attitude towards the Church was taken from Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy taught that the organized Church had corrupted and formalized Christianity to the extent that it was necessary to return to a primitive type of Christianity as was found in the early Church. In Tolstoy Srobar also discovered support for his idea of truth as the most important element in dealing with social problems. Tolstoy said all the revolutions of the nineteenth century lacked this principle of truth. It is not necessary to merely proclaim truth but to act on it. (45) Srobar looked at the Slovak problem as largely a religious problem. (46) Slovaks, he said, cared for little else but religion. Art, science, politics concerned them only to the extent that they served religious needs. (47) Slovak Catholics, Srobar believed, although sincere and pious, were infected with superstition and f~talism. He wrote: ''Great masses of the Slovak people designate thems~lves, 'I am a Catholic' or 'I am a Lutheran', but the faiths of the Slovaks are not joined in one unit but left divided. The faith of Slovaks is pure, sincere, but the content of their faith is completely pagan, fetishistic, superstitious, fatalistic . . . . Here is where I expect the guarantee of our fall. All our people have fallen to this decadent Catholicism." (48) It would be a mistake, however, to label Srobar at this time as an atheist or an irreverent Christian, for many of his early writings reveal a sincere religious faith. His disagreement was not with Catholicism but with the adverse influence it seemed to have on the development of �SLOVAKIA 81 the nation. Srobar was opposed to anything resembling a theocratic type state and one which did not permit freedom of thought and expression. His arguments for freedom of conscience were founded in Christ's teaching, "Seek the truth and the truth will free you," adding that one who did not support the free search for truth was in violation of divine teaching. (49) Freedom of conscience, for Srobar, was a precondition for all progress, economic and social. To stifle the free quest for truth would ~ot only stagnate a society's growth but ultimately destroy that society. (50) He wrote: Without freedom of conscience and conviction there is no life for a dignified man, only the animal in man remains, in one degree of development. A man must teach and educate himself every day, that is seek and know the truth because who seeks the truth enriches his knowledge and becomes more learned than one who does not seek the truth. And if this law is applicable for the individual, that he educate and perfect himself, then it is even important for the entire nation. Free and educated nations enslave backward and uncultured nations. And he who cries and calls names at progress in a nation is the greatest enemy of his nation because he wants his nation to remain in darkness and ignorance so that nothing new is passed or begun. (51) At the same time, Srobar did not deny the necessity of good religious and moral standards for a healthy society. Srobar traced the evolution of moral standards. In primitive societies customs comprised the moral code. During the " age of faith" religious laws provided this same code . Later, in the age of democracy, faith and customs had lost their value, thus moral feelings of men had to be "more sincere, one had to perform voluntarily what he was once forced to do." (52) A man committed to religious ideals, Srobar continued, would be better able to serve the state than one lacking any religious conviction. (53) Srobar felt the neglect of moral faith was the foremost weakness of modern times . He wrote: Religious feelings, because they are developed from morality and fear of God have directed and controlled the natural impulses of man from time immemorial. A devout, religious man better performs his obligations towards himself, his family, and all society than a man without principles, without religion, or a man standing purely on materialism. Modern times forget the harmonious cultivation of reason and feeling and so becomes one-sided and superficial. A wise democracy expends all its efforts so that this harmonious culture among its citizenry is not forgotten. (54) �82 SLOVAKIA But, while Srobar did not completely reject organized religion, he did advocate that its activity be limited to purely spiritual concerns while leaving material questions to politicians. (55) Both church and state should exist, in Srobar's view, in a harmonious union but they had to remain separated. Srobar warned against religious intolerance which he defined as "hatred and anger against one's neighbor," (56) and against clericalism. Every unhappy nation, Srobar added, has a clerical leader at its head, and no class or political prejudice is as dangerous as religious intolerance. (57) "Every Slovak who holds dear freedom and independence for his homeland, who desires that we not remain under Magyar enslavement, who wants to rule himself, will avoid clerical slavery." (58) Such assaults on the Church caused the expected reaction and probably accounted for the defection of most of the clerical leaders from the " hlasist" camp. During the first few years of "hlasist" activity, the response by many Catholic priests was favorable . Several Catholic priests corresponded regularly with the "hlasists". Jozef Buday, a noted priest in the People's Party, complimented Blaho in 1898 on Hlas for exposing the nation's weaknesses . In a letter to Blaho of July 14, 1898, Buday wrote, " Therefore, with unspeakable joy I wish the periodical Hlas the most beautiful secure future, and I welcome you as its author, as its intrepid fighter for the development of the Slovak nation and as a sacrificing leader of Slovak youth on the thorny, spiral path of national life." (59) The following year Buday submitted an article for Hlas in which he recommended that priests not turn their backs on modem science and progress but take part in modem movements. The famous priest Ferdis Juriga supported the movement of Hlas towards moral regeneration. (60) But perhaps the most enthusiastic clerical supporter of Hlas was the priest and later Magyarone, Frantisek Jehlicka. He eagerly volunteered to work to obtain subscriptions for Hlas, telling Blaho, ''I want to become an eternal subscriber to Hlas." (61) Soon, however, many priests including Jehlicka became disillusioned with "hlasist" radicalism and seemingly irreligious attitudes. Many Slovak clerics were no doubt faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, they supported the progressivism of the "hlasists", but on the other hand, they could not accept their questioning attitude towards Church authority. Leaders in the Lutheran Church were in ~ similar position. They praised the '' hlasists'' but also cautioned them about condemning the entire old intelligentsia. They warned them against looking abroad for foreign ideas to follow, when good ideas could be found at home. (62) Reassuring the Lutheran hierarchy, Blaho said, " ... we want to reform by work and not destroy the work of our fathers, not attack the church in dogma, ... we want to be better." (63) The "hlasists" remained a small, disorganized group of men possessing a variety of ideas. Despite all the alleged radicalism at- �SLOVAKIA 83 tributed to them , the "hlasists" were quite traditional in many respects, at least during the first few years of their activity. There was never an attempt to break completely from the past but efforts were made to reconcile realistic principles with Slovak tradition, with the ideas of Stur and other leaders. The spiritual nature found throughout the works of Slovak nationalists was unmistakably evident in many "hlasist" writings, particularly those of Srobar. A good portion of "hlasist" thinking involved introspection or analysis of the nation's soul or character. In this respect "hlasists" were no different from the generations of Slovak thinkers that came before them. Even in their 'Czechoslovak' position, they were at first moderate . They were admirers of the Czechs and their culture, but they did not deny Slovak national individuality. Cooperation with the Czechs was viewed as the only realistic alternative, the only politically expedient course. Later, however, many "hlasists" became zealous supporters of Prague centralism, and some even adhered to the fictitious idea of the 'Czechoslovak' nation. Their Czechoslovak orientation before 1914 guaranteed the "hlasists" several leadership posts in the First Czecho-Slovak Republic. Srobar was chosen Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia during the first months of the republic, while other "hlasists" dominated the remaining Slovak posts. During the critical years of the First World War it was often the '' hlasists'' rather than the Nationalists or Populists who took the decisive action calling for national conferences, issuing declarations of independence, or working with foreign governments. Hlinka and others often hesitated, moved more cautiously, thus possibly losing some of the leadership in the new republic. Although popular at first, the "hlasists" gradually lost support from many quarters. Buday, Juriga and other priests lost all confidence in the ''hlasists'' because of their increasing radicalism, their free thinking, and their Czechoslovakism. The main significance of the ''hlasist'' movement, though, was in providing a journal and an atmosphere for critical, secular thought in Slovakia. This brought some progress, it might be argued; on the other hand, it meant tragedy for the Slovak nation. The ''hlasists'' seriously divided the Slovak national intelligentsia before 1914 and brought an end to the once united national movement. FOOTNOTES Included in the hlasist group were: Vavro Srobar, Pavel Blaho, Milan Hodia, Anton Stefanek. (2) Stefan Jansak, .Zivot Dr. Pavla Blahu, Vol. I (Tmava: Spolok sv. Vojtecha, 1947), pp. 129-130. (1) �84 SLOVAKIA (3) Srobar related in his memoirs how he became acquainted with Masaryk . What especially impressed him was Masaryk's statement that in religious questions, realism " stood on Christian principles." Vavro Srobar, Z m6jho iivota (Praha: Fr. Borovy , 1946) , p . 181. (4) Ibid ., p. 162 . (5) Jansak, pp . 138 and 141. (6) Ibid., pp . 145-147. An eleven-member editorial board was chosen: Srobar , Blaho, Hodfa , Me dvecky, Zathurecky, Rath, Minarik, Ivanko, Dohnany, Ziak-Somolicky and Jesensky. (7) Ibid., pp. 302-303. (8) Ibid . , pp. 306-307. (9) Ibid. , pp. 208-209 . (10) Ibid., p. 200 . (11) Ibid. , p . 198 Quoted in Anton Stefanek, Slovensko pred prevratom a poi!as prevratu (Praha , 1923), p. 35. (12) Srobar disagreed with Blaho over the national individuality found in Slovak weddings, songs, and costumes . Srobar attacked what he considered to be the backwardness and primitivism of Slovak weddings. He said, "In our weddings, individuals drink and eat to excess . It is necessary to improve and refine the people so that they can be convinced that they can enjoy themselves without becoming inebriated.'' Jansak, p. 259. (13) Milan Hodfa, " Realizmus u nas," Hlas VI (1904) p . 294 . (14) Jansak, p . 197. (15) Ibid., p. 198. (16) Ibid., p. 198 (17) Ibid., pp. 209-210 . Vavro Srobar, Via.do l'udu v demokracii (Praha, 1920), p. 125. (18) Jansak, p. 211. (19) Pavel Blaho , Obrodenie slovenskeho zci.padu (Praha, n .d .) p . 22. (20) Ibid., p . 31. (21) Jansak, p . 306. (22) Ibid . , p . 205 (23) Ibid., p. 206 (24) Ibid . , p. 206. (25) Milan Hodfa "K aktivite slovenskej narodnej strany," Clanky, reti, ~tudie I (Praha, 1935) , pp. 176-177. (26) Hodfa "Realizmus u nas," Hlas VI, p. 162. (27) Jansak, p . 330. See Ignotus (Milan Hodfa) Nacionalizmus je slepy," Hlas, V (1903) 97-99 . (28) Vavro Srobar, Politicky problem Slovenska (Praha, 1926) pp. 4-5. (29) Srobar, z m6jho iivota, p. 402 . (30) Ibid ., p . 360. (31) Jansak, p. 335 . (32) Ibid. , p . 335. (33) Ibid . , p. 335. (34) Hodfa, "Realizmus u nas," Hlas VI , pp. 295-296. �SLOVAKIA 85 (35) Srobar, Z mojho iivota , pp. 361-362 . (36) Ibid ., p. 362. Jansak, p. 221. (37) Jansak, p . 221. (38) Ibid ., pp. 221-222 . (39) Vavro Srobar, Osvobodene Slovensko (Praha , 1928) . p . 11. (40) Jansak, p. 332. (41) Ibid ., p . 334. (42) See Jansak, p. 217. (43) Vavro Srobar, Pamiiti z vojny a z viizenia (1914-1918) (Praha: Nakladom Gustava Dubskeho, 1922), pp. 177-178. (44) See Srobar, Z mojho iivota, p. 221. (45) Jansak, pp. 200-201. (46) Srobar, Z mojho iivota, p . 36'1 . Srobar, Pamiitizvojnyaz viizenia, p . 176. (47) Srobar, Pamati z vojny a z viizenia, pp. 176-177. (48) Ibid ., pp . 176-177. (49) Srobar, Vldda l'udu v demokracii, p. 88. (50) Ibid. , pp. 87-89. (51) Ibid., p. 92 . (52) Ibid., p . 94 . (53) Ibid ., p. 95. (54) Ibid., p . 95 . (55) Ibid., pp. 95 and 100. (56) Ibid ., p . 106. (57) Ibid ., p. 106. (58) Ibid ., p . 107. (59) Jansak, p . 342. (60) Ibid., pp. 294-295. (61) Ibid ., p. 297. (62) Ibid ., pp . 346-347. (63) Ibid ., p . 347. BIBLIOGRAPHY Blaho, Pavel. Obrodenie slovenskeho zcipadu (The Rebirth of the Slovak West). Praha: Ostredny vybor prednaskovy, n.d. Hlas (The Voice) V, VI, (Ruzomberok), 1903, 1904. Hodia , Milan . Clcinky, re<!i,. studie (Articles, Speeches, Studies). Vol. I, Praha, 1930. Jansak , Stefan . Zivot Dr. Pavla Blaha, (The Life of Dr. Paul Blaho). Vol. I. Trnava: Spolok sv . Vojtecha, 1947 . Srobar, Vavro. Osvobodenie Slovensko (Liberated Slovakia) . Praho, 1928. - - - · Pamiiti z vojny a z viizenia (Memoirs from the War and from Prison). Praha: Nakladom Gustava Dubskeho , 1921. �86 SLOVAKIA _ _ _ . Politicky problem Slovenska (The Political Problem of Slovakia). Praha, 1926. _ _ _ . Vlcida l'udu v demokracii (Government of the People in a Democracy). Praha, 1920. _ _ _ , Z m6jho iivota (From My Life). Praha: Fr. Borovy, 1946. Stefimek, Anton. Slovensko pred prevratom a pot!as prevratu (Slovakia Before 1918 and During 1918). Praha, 1923. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1976, Vol. 26 Description An account of the resource Vol. 26 (No. 49), 1976. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1976 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 76 SLOVAKIA The Ideas of the Hlasist Movement BY ANTHONY SUTHERLAND The Slovak National Revolution of 1918 followed in the wake of the First World War and the disintegration of the Habsburg Empire. It achieved for the Slovaks the first period of political freedom after one thousand years under Magyar domination. Much of the thought and leadership for this liberation came from a small but effective intellectual circle commonly known as the ' 'hlasists ' ' . (1) Named after their periodical, Hlas, the group originated in the mid 1890s among several young Slovak intellectuals who sought new directions for the Slovak national movement . They borrowed from the realism of Thomas Masaryk and the philosophies of Herbert Spencer, William James and others. Although always a minority and never an organized political party, the ' 'hlasists'' had an impact on Slovak political and intellectual history far exceeding their numbers. Besides being a main impetus in the Slovak National Revolution, they provided much of the Slovak leadership in the subsequent First Czecho-Slovak Republic. They represented the first Slovak intellectual movement based on English philosophy. Slovak national politics until then had been dominated largely by the Slovak National Party, a small Lutheran intellectual group headed by the renouned poet-nationalist, Svetozar Hurban Vajansky. Rooted strongly in German romanticism, the Nationalists sought primarily cultural freedom from Budapest while look4lg to the Russian Empire for assistance and eventual liberation. The "ltlasists" rejected both the outlook and apparent passivity of the Nationalists and insisted on a program of action joined with economic and social reforms. Salvation for the Slovaks, the "hlasists" believed, would come not from Russia but from Western Europe, particularly England, and from close cooperation with the Czechs. In a similar manner, the Czech national movement was influenced by romanticism and marked by vague concepts of Pan Slavism. Thomas Masaryk, the father of Czecho-Slovakia, saw the inadequacy of the Czech politics and so searched for a new political philosophy that would bring about tangible results. In his book Ceska Otazka, Masaryk expressed the need for active politics, education and self-consciousness while criticizing the negativism of the Czech national movement. He added the need for social reform and humanism. (2) The founders and probably best exponents of Slovak realism were Vavro Srobar and Pavel Blaho. Srobar was born in 1867 in Liskova, the fourth of twelve children. After attending local schools, he went to the University of Prague to prepare for a career in medicine. While in SLOVAKIA 77 Prague, Srobar, through the Slavic society, "Detvan", came into contact with Masaryk and his philosophy of realism. (3) Until this time, Srobar was a romantic nationalist clinging to the traditional ideals of Svetozar Hurban-Vajansky and other Nationalists . In 1899 he was even invited by Ambor Pietor to become an editor of Narodne noviny, the voice of the Slovak Nationalist Party, but turned down the offer feeling unfit for the task at that time. (4) Srobar soon began to have doubts about the leadership and direction of the national movement. He became increasingly critical of the Slovak National Party's unrealistic faith in tsarist Russia and the former' s apparent inability to achieve any substantial gains for the Slovak cause. Pavel Blaho (1867-1927), in a similar way, began as a romantic nationalist and ended as a follower of Masaryk's realism. Born in Skalica and educated at the University of Vienna, Blaho became a close collaborator of Srobar and the new generation of Slovak intellectuals. By 1894, both men had been completely converted to Masaryk's realism and were determined to translate realistic principles into Slovakia. One of the first goals of the ''hlasists'' was the publication of a new political review, one completely independent from the Narodne noviny and one which would reflect the new progressive ideals of realism. (5) At a meeting of young Slovak intellectuals held in Turc. Sv. Martin on August 4, 1897, the decision was made to prepare for a new periodical, and at another conference four weeks later the title, Hlas, was selected. (6) During several succeeding conferences the aims and ideology of the new school of realism were put forth and debated. At the yearly conference of 1898 Srobar talked of the ideals and principles of realism but in such vague generalities that he left the one hundred people who attended uncertain over the actual nature of the new philosophy. (7) The 1899 conference in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas, attended by some sixty people including such notables as Andrej Hlinka and Karol Kmet'ko, was of far greater practical value. Here Srobar elaborated on the realistic principles placing emphasis on the need for education and performance of 'small deeds' for the people. (8) The "hlasists" had many aims and ideas, some challenging traditional Slovak nationalism, others seemingly impractical or idealistic. Throughout ''hlasist'' thought there was a clear faith in science, in the pragmatic, positivist philosophy and distrust of the methods of the conservative, national movement. Srobar believed that pragmatism and the ability to act were the reasons for America's success. (9) Such a belief in pragmatism, for Srobar, necessitated a knowledge of the truth. The notion of truth was borrowed from Masaryk who once said, "Seek the truth, hear the truth, learn the truth, love the truth, hold on to the truth, defend the truth to the death." (10) Truth to Srobar must replace lies, work was to replace laziness, and love to replace hatred. (11) In the search for truth nothing was held to be too sacred, not national custom, literature, songs or 78 SLOVAKIA anything. (12) Milan Hodza, one of the most gifted members of the "hlasist" group, wrote in Hl,as that Slovak history had to be examined objectively with no preconceived notions or feelings. (13) Once the truth was ascertained, then appropriate action could be taken to produce progress in the national movement. The primacy of truth, according to Srobar, demanded the '' regeneration in the morality of the Slovak man'' (14) but left it unclear as to the exact meaning of this morality . (15) By being better in the moral sense it was hoped the Slovak people would somehow be better equipped to deflect the onslaught of Magyarization. (16) Throughout the history of the ''hlasist'' movement, education was made a paramount objective. Self-enlightenment was the sine qua non of all progress for the "hlasists". It had to be democratic, not limited to the privileged few or for city dwellers but to all levels of society, including farmers, tradesmen, and workers . (17) Blaho emphasized the need for regional specialization in education . Blaho, the author of regionalism in the ''hlasist'' movement, proposed that every district have its own local newspaper to meet local needs as well as to supply information on national events. (18) "Hlasists" believed that national education rather than education for a selected few was necessary for a national movement. Blaho wrote, '' A nation that learns to want and demand begins also to fight and struggle." (19) Blaho, too, along with Hodza believed that with education came economic liberation, another precondition for national liberation. Blaho later wrote, "We want to liberate the people from spiritual darkness, from economic slavery, we want to restore Slovak elementary schools, we want to teach the people the intensive and technical cultivation of the soil. We want to teach them in a trade, to improve production, to teach them to work in business, to work in a cooperative society, we want to teach them to sacrifice for themselves, for their goals, their needs. '' (20) Education of the masses and moral regeneration could be accomplished, according to the "hlasists", dnly by 'work' or by the performance of small deeds, (drobnci prcica). (21) Pragmatism and science possessed little value unless they were translated into action. (22) "Work and only work for the people, for without work it is impossible to imagine a cultural life for the Slovaks," (23) Blaho wrote: "Look, we stand under the protection of the great power which maintains and directs the whole world, we stand under the patronage of abstract work . The entire universe is built on work . ... We fulfill the great law of life when we work.'' The ''hlasist'' virtue of work, although never really explained beyond a general sense, stood in contradiction to the apparent inactivity of traditional Slovak politics. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the "hlasist" movement was the criticism leveled against the Slovak National Party. Since the closing of the Matica Slovenska, the nationalists had accomplished little and it seemed to the "hlasists" SLOVAKIA 79 that they were resigned to their fate. Milan Hodfa charged that the National Party had no real political program. The memorandums of 1848 and 1861 contained only the "Alpha and Omega" of Slovak demands (25) but ignor~d specific economic and social needs. He concluded that nationaliSln alone was insufficient as the basis for national politics. (26) ' ' Hlasists'' concentrated their sharpest attacks on the leader of the National Party, Svetozar Hurban Vajansky. Vajansky was the recognized leader of the nation, the interpreter of national tradition. As the son of the famous Jozef M. Hurban, the 1848 revolutionary leader and pioneer in the work of establishing a separate written Slovak language, his authority not only in literature but in politics went often unquestioned . (27) Vajansky's political and spiritual ideas were based on romanticism and Russian Slavophilism. He believed Slovakia's salvation would come not from the West which he distributed for its materialism and atheism, but from Russia. (28) "Hlasists" saw in Vajansky's philosophy and politics a dangerous fatalism. Liberation would not come from tsarist Russia, Srobar felt, and even if it did, it would lead only to ''tsarist despotism.'' (29) Srobar once wrote, "Hurban is not an active politician yet directs Slovak politics; he likes to judge and condemn. Hurban is a spiritual leader of the nation; his powerful artistic talent is known to implant the soul of the Slovak intelligentsia, its thoughts, desires, ideals. Hurban personifies the entire Slovak intelligentsia." (30) Srobar reacted strongly to Vajansky's statement, ''We are the nation - pars pro toto (a part of the whole),'' (31) making the intelligentsia the national elite. Srobar answered, ''We are not the nation, we are crumbs in the nation, we are servants and not these haughty lords, elite of the nation, but we are the worst part of the nation.'' (32) The nation, Srobar continued, was to be found among the "honest workers, the hand-calloused laborers, among the soiled peasants and tenant farmers ." (33) Hodfa agreed with Srobar that the nation could not be found among a few intellectuals. He wrote in Hlas in 1904: "The nation is the people with all its needs and desires . The nation must be something concrete, calculable and not some fictitious ideal. Therefore then, national culture must not be limited to the intelligentsia; it deserves the name 'national' culture only if it penetrates and inspires all levels of the nation." (34) Srobar was particularly concerned over the direction that Vajansky seemed to be leading Slovak politics. The Slovaks were politically isolated, Srobar recalled, with no real allies or ties with any strong state. (35) Since a continuation of the Nationalist's Russophile policy was out of the question the only ' realistic' alternative the "hlasists" had was to develop closer relations with the Czechs, their closest Slavic neighbor. (36) Although Czech-Slovak cooperation was no invention of Srobar or the other "hlasists", it was their efforts that prepared the way for collaboration during the First World War. 80 SLOVAKIA On the question of Czech-Slovak unity, Srobar was cautiously silent. (37) He said only that it was impossible at this time to talk about political unification with the Czechs. "We reject emphatically all debate a priori about unification of us with the Czech nation in the political sense. There can be no unification in language but only in spirit." (38) Later in 1920, Srobar acknowledged the close cultural and political ties that existed between the two nations. ''The origin of a new written language in Slovakia did not interrupt the conscious tribal (kmen) unity of the Czecho-Slovaks even for one moment. The desire for close cultural, economic, and political unity increased year after year in proportion to the growth of a brutal Magyar suppression.'' (39) Many Slovaks anxiously awaited Vajansky's reaction to "hlasist" attacks, but were left somewhat disappointed. For a long time he said little. (40) In a series of articles appearing in the Narodne noviny Vajansky made references to the youth movement, meaning the "hlasists", as "trivial and childish." (41) It was known that Vajansky was opposed to the Czech orientation and to the placing of economic reforms before political goals. (42) But the most controversial feature of ''hlasist'' views was their critical position taken against the Catholic Church and clerical influence in Slovak society. Srobar attacked the Slovak priesthood as corrupt, materialistic and Magyar in spirit. (43) Since his student days Srobar had begun to question Church authority. (44) Much of this questioning attitude towards the Church was taken from Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy taught that the organized Church had corrupted and formalized Christianity to the extent that it was necessary to return to a primitive type of Christianity as was found in the early Church. In Tolstoy Srobar also discovered support for his idea of truth as the most important element in dealing with social problems. Tolstoy said all the revolutions of the nineteenth century lacked this principle of truth. It is not necessary to merely proclaim truth but to act on it. (45) Srobar looked at the Slovak problem as largely a religious problem. (46) Slovaks, he said, cared for little else but religion. Art, science, politics concerned them only to the extent that they served religious needs. (47) Slovak Catholics, Srobar believed, although sincere and pious, were infected with superstition and f~talism. He wrote: ''Great masses of the Slovak people designate thems~lves, 'I am a Catholic' or 'I am a Lutheran', but the faiths of the Slovaks are not joined in one unit but left divided. The faith of Slovaks is pure, sincere, but the content of their faith is completely pagan, fetishistic, superstitious, fatalistic . . . . Here is where I expect the guarantee of our fall. All our people have fallen to this decadent Catholicism." (48) It would be a mistake, however, to label Srobar at this time as an atheist or an irreverent Christian, for many of his early writings reveal a sincere religious faith. His disagreement was not with Catholicism but with the adverse influence it seemed to have on the development of SLOVAKIA 81 the nation. Srobar was opposed to anything resembling a theocratic type state and one which did not permit freedom of thought and expression. His arguments for freedom of conscience were founded in Christ's teaching, "Seek the truth and the truth will free you," adding that one who did not support the free search for truth was in violation of divine teaching. (49) Freedom of conscience, for Srobar, was a precondition for all progress, economic and social. To stifle the free quest for truth would ~ot only stagnate a society's growth but ultimately destroy that society. (50) He wrote: Without freedom of conscience and conviction there is no life for a dignified man, only the animal in man remains, in one degree of development. A man must teach and educate himself every day, that is seek and know the truth because who seeks the truth enriches his knowledge and becomes more learned than one who does not seek the truth. And if this law is applicable for the individual, that he educate and perfect himself, then it is even important for the entire nation. Free and educated nations enslave backward and uncultured nations. And he who cries and calls names at progress in a nation is the greatest enemy of his nation because he wants his nation to remain in darkness and ignorance so that nothing new is passed or begun. (51) At the same time, Srobar did not deny the necessity of good religious and moral standards for a healthy society. Srobar traced the evolution of moral standards. In primitive societies customs comprised the moral code. During the " age of faith" religious laws provided this same code . Later, in the age of democracy, faith and customs had lost their value, thus moral feelings of men had to be "more sincere, one had to perform voluntarily what he was once forced to do." (52) A man committed to religious ideals, Srobar continued, would be better able to serve the state than one lacking any religious conviction. (53) Srobar felt the neglect of moral faith was the foremost weakness of modern times . He wrote: Religious feelings, because they are developed from morality and fear of God have directed and controlled the natural impulses of man from time immemorial. A devout, religious man better performs his obligations towards himself, his family, and all society than a man without principles, without religion, or a man standing purely on materialism. Modern times forget the harmonious cultivation of reason and feeling and so becomes one-sided and superficial. A wise democracy expends all its efforts so that this harmonious culture among its citizenry is not forgotten. (54) 82 SLOVAKIA But, while Srobar did not completely reject organized religion, he did advocate that its activity be limited to purely spiritual concerns while leaving material questions to politicians. (55) Both church and state should exist, in Srobar's view, in a harmonious union but they had to remain separated. Srobar warned against religious intolerance which he defined as "hatred and anger against one's neighbor," (56) and against clericalism. Every unhappy nation, Srobar added, has a clerical leader at its head, and no class or political prejudice is as dangerous as religious intolerance. (57) "Every Slovak who holds dear freedom and independence for his homeland, who desires that we not remain under Magyar enslavement, who wants to rule himself, will avoid clerical slavery." (58) Such assaults on the Church caused the expected reaction and probably accounted for the defection of most of the clerical leaders from the " hlasist" camp. During the first few years of "hlasist" activity, the response by many Catholic priests was favorable . Several Catholic priests corresponded regularly with the "hlasists". Jozef Buday, a noted priest in the People's Party, complimented Blaho in 1898 on Hlas for exposing the nation's weaknesses . In a letter to Blaho of July 14, 1898, Buday wrote, " Therefore, with unspeakable joy I wish the periodical Hlas the most beautiful secure future, and I welcome you as its author, as its intrepid fighter for the development of the Slovak nation and as a sacrificing leader of Slovak youth on the thorny, spiral path of national life." (59) The following year Buday submitted an article for Hlas in which he recommended that priests not turn their backs on modem science and progress but take part in modem movements. The famous priest Ferdis Juriga supported the movement of Hlas towards moral regeneration. (60) But perhaps the most enthusiastic clerical supporter of Hlas was the priest and later Magyarone, Frantisek Jehlicka. He eagerly volunteered to work to obtain subscriptions for Hlas, telling Blaho, ''I want to become an eternal subscriber to Hlas." (61) Soon, however, many priests including Jehlicka became disillusioned with "hlasist" radicalism and seemingly irreligious attitudes. Many Slovak clerics were no doubt faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, they supported the progressivism of the "hlasists", but on the other hand, they could not accept their questioning attitude towards Church authority. Leaders in the Lutheran Church were in ~ similar position. They praised the '' hlasists'' but also cautioned them about condemning the entire old intelligentsia. They warned them against looking abroad for foreign ideas to follow, when good ideas could be found at home. (62) Reassuring the Lutheran hierarchy, Blaho said, " ... we want to reform by work and not destroy the work of our fathers, not attack the church in dogma, ... we want to be better." (63) The "hlasists" remained a small, disorganized group of men possessing a variety of ideas. Despite all the alleged radicalism at- SLOVAKIA 83 tributed to them , the "hlasists" were quite traditional in many respects, at least during the first few years of their activity. There was never an attempt to break completely from the past but efforts were made to reconcile realistic principles with Slovak tradition, with the ideas of Stur and other leaders. The spiritual nature found throughout the works of Slovak nationalists was unmistakably evident in many "hlasist" writings, particularly those of Srobar. A good portion of "hlasist" thinking involved introspection or analysis of the nation's soul or character. In this respect "hlasists" were no different from the generations of Slovak thinkers that came before them. Even in their 'Czechoslovak' position, they were at first moderate . They were admirers of the Czechs and their culture, but they did not deny Slovak national individuality. Cooperation with the Czechs was viewed as the only realistic alternative, the only politically expedient course. Later, however, many "hlasists" became zealous supporters of Prague centralism, and some even adhered to the fictitious idea of the 'Czechoslovak' nation. Their Czechoslovak orientation before 1914 guaranteed the "hlasists" several leadership posts in the First Czecho-Slovak Republic. Srobar was chosen Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia during the first months of the republic, while other "hlasists" dominated the remaining Slovak posts. During the critical years of the First World War it was often the '' hlasists'' rather than the Nationalists or Populists who took the decisive action calling for national conferences, issuing declarations of independence, or working with foreign governments. Hlinka and others often hesitated, moved more cautiously, thus possibly losing some of the leadership in the new republic. Although popular at first, the "hlasists" gradually lost support from many quarters. Buday, Juriga and other priests lost all confidence in the ''hlasists'' because of their increasing radicalism, their free thinking, and their Czechoslovakism. The main significance of the ''hlasist'' movement, though, was in providing a journal and an atmosphere for critical, secular thought in Slovakia. This brought some progress, it might be argued; on the other hand, it meant tragedy for the Slovak nation. The ''hlasists'' seriously divided the Slovak national intelligentsia before 1914 and brought an end to the once united national movement. FOOTNOTES Included in the hlasist group were: Vavro Srobar, Pavel Blaho, Milan Hodia, Anton Stefanek. (2) Stefan Jansak, .Zivot Dr. Pavla Blahu, Vol. I (Tmava: Spolok sv. Vojtecha, 1947), pp. 129-130. (1) 84 SLOVAKIA (3) Srobar related in his memoirs how he became acquainted with Masaryk . What especially impressed him was Masaryk's statement that in religious questions, realism " stood on Christian principles." Vavro Srobar, Z m6jho iivota (Praha: Fr. Borovy , 1946) , p . 181. (4) Ibid ., p. 162 . (5) Jansak, pp . 138 and 141. (6) Ibid., pp . 145-147. An eleven-member editorial board was chosen: Srobar , Blaho, Hodfa , Me dvecky, Zathurecky, Rath, Minarik, Ivanko, Dohnany, Ziak-Somolicky and Jesensky. (7) Ibid., pp. 302-303. (8) Ibid . , pp. 306-307. (9) Ibid. , pp. 208-209 . (10) Ibid., p. 200 . (11) Ibid. , p . 198 Quoted in Anton Stefanek, Slovensko pred prevratom a poi!as prevratu (Praha , 1923), p. 35. (12) Srobar disagreed with Blaho over the national individuality found in Slovak weddings, songs, and costumes . Srobar attacked what he considered to be the backwardness and primitivism of Slovak weddings. He said, "In our weddings, individuals drink and eat to excess . It is necessary to improve and refine the people so that they can be convinced that they can enjoy themselves without becoming inebriated.'' Jansak, p. 259. (13) Milan Hodfa, " Realizmus u nas," Hlas VI (1904) p . 294 . (14) Jansak, p . 197. (15) Ibid., p. 198. (16) Ibid., p. 198 (17) Ibid., pp. 209-210 . Vavro Srobar, Via.do l'udu v demokracii (Praha, 1920), p. 125. (18) Jansak, p. 211. (19) Pavel Blaho , Obrodenie slovenskeho zci.padu (Praha, n .d .) p . 22. (20) Ibid., p . 31. (21) Jansak, p . 306. (22) Ibid . , p . 205 (23) Ibid., p. 206 (24) Ibid . , p. 206. (25) Milan Hodfa "K aktivite slovenskej narodnej strany," Clanky, reti, ~tudie I (Praha, 1935) , pp. 176-177. (26) Hodfa "Realizmus u nas," Hlas VI, p. 162. (27) Jansak, p . 330. See Ignotus (Milan Hodfa) Nacionalizmus je slepy," Hlas, V (1903) 97-99 . (28) Vavro Srobar, Politicky problem Slovenska (Praha, 1926) pp. 4-5. (29) Srobar, z m6jho iivota, p. 402 . (30) Ibid ., p . 360. (31) Jansak, p. 335 . (32) Ibid. , p . 335. (33) Ibid . , p. 335. (34) Hodfa, "Realizmus u nas," Hlas VI , pp. 295-296. SLOVAKIA 85 (35) Srobar, Z mojho iivota , pp. 361-362 . (36) Ibid ., p. 362. Jansak, p. 221. (37) Jansak, p . 221. (38) Ibid ., pp. 221-222 . (39) Vavro Srobar, Osvobodene Slovensko (Praha , 1928) . p . 11. (40) Jansak, p. 332. (41) Ibid ., p . 334. (42) See Jansak, p. 217. (43) Vavro Srobar, Pamiiti z vojny a z viizenia (1914-1918) (Praha: Nakladom Gustava Dubskeho, 1922), pp. 177-178. (44) See Srobar, Z mojho iivota, p. 221. (45) Jansak, pp. 200-201. (46) Srobar, Z mojho iivota, p . 36'1 . Srobar, Pamiitizvojnyaz viizenia, p . 176. (47) Srobar, Pamati z vojny a z viizenia, pp. 176-177. (48) Ibid ., pp . 176-177. (49) Srobar, Vldda l'udu v demokracii, p. 88. (50) Ibid. , pp. 87-89. (51) Ibid., p. 92 . (52) Ibid., p . 94 . (53) Ibid ., p. 95. (54) Ibid., p . 95 . (55) Ibid., pp. 95 and 100. (56) Ibid ., p . 106. (57) Ibid ., p. 106. (58) Ibid ., p . 107. (59) Jansak, p . 342. (60) Ibid., pp. 294-295. (61) Ibid ., p. 297. (62) Ibid ., pp . 346-347. (63) Ibid ., p . 347. BIBLIOGRAPHY Blaho, Pavel. Obrodenie slovenskeho zcipadu (The Rebirth of the Slovak West). Praha: Ostredny vybor prednaskovy, n.d. Hlas (The Voice) V, VI, (Ruzomberok), 1903, 1904. Hodia , Milan . Clcinky, re<!i,. studie (Articles, Speeches, Studies). Vol. I, Praha, 1930. Jansak , Stefan . Zivot Dr. Pavla Blaha, (The Life of Dr. Paul Blaho). Vol. I. Trnava: Spolok sv . Vojtecha, 1947 . Srobar, Vavro. Osvobodenie Slovensko (Liberated Slovakia) . Praho, 1928. - - - · Pamiiti z vojny a z viizenia (Memoirs from the War and from Prison). Praha: Nakladom Gustava Dubskeho , 1921. 86 SLOVAKIA _ _ _ . Politicky problem Slovenska (The Political Problem of Slovakia). Praha, 1926. _ _ _ . Vlcida l'udu v demokracii (Government of the People in a Democracy). Praha, 1920. _ _ _ , Z m6jho iivota (From My Life). Praha: Fr. Borovy, 1946. Stefimek, Anton. Slovensko pred prevratom a pot!as prevratu (Slovakia Before 1918 and During 1918). Praha, 1923.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Ideas of the Hlasist Movement Description An account of the resource Anthony Sutherland Slovakia, Vol. 26 (No. 49), 1976 pp. 76-86 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sutherland, Anthony X. (Anthony Xavier) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1976 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d2580d8f22a5bab5b9efef3435b6b3de.pdf 29e1b80b253050aaae107bbb71ba1066 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 9 The Impact of the Protestant Reformation on Education in Slovakia DAVID P. DANIEL National revival moments awakened the ethnic, linguistic and cultural consciousness of the various peoples of the Austrian Empire throughout east central Europe during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These movements were manifestations of the influence of the Enlightenment which penetrated the region prior to and during the reign of Joseph II . Their leaders sought to define, express, and to realize the national aspirations of the peoples of the region. In Slovakia, the movement of national revival (narodne obrodenie) was particularly significant. It led to the codification of the Slovak language and the creation of a diverse body of literary works in Slovak and thus stimulated the emergence of the cultural and ethnic consciousness of the people and, ultimately, to expressions of their political aspirations. This movement can be considered one of the most significant events in the history of the Slovaks. Its leaders, among them Bel, Bernolak, Tablic, Holly, Palkovic, Safarik, Kollar, Kuzmany, Shir and Hurban, to name but a few, are rightly honored as major contributors to the development of the Slovak language, literature and culture. 1 While this national revival was primarily an expression of Enlightenment thought and was fostered by contacts with German universities and intellectuals, its roots can be traced to the transformation of education which occurred in Slovakia during the early modern era. Members of the Slovak intelligentsia of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were the intellectual and cultural heirs of traditions which can be traced back to the era of �10 SLOVAKIA the Reformation and the Counter or Catholic Reformation. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, both Protestants and Catholics contributed to the establishment of popular education . The schools in Slovakia, which were founded or reorganized during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, were local outputs of the broad intellectual and cultural currents of early modern European civilization. Their teachers and students had considerable influence, not only among the Magyar and German population of the major cities of Upper Hungary, but also among the Slovaks who comprised the largest proportion of the population in the region. Although often bitterly divided over religious issues, the faculty and graduates of those Protestant and Catholic schools were important agents both of religious reformation and cultural formation. The history of the transformation wrought in education during the Renaissance and Reformation has attracted much scholarly attention during the last twenty years. 2 Recent reformation research has devoted considerable attention to the influence of Renaissance humanism upon the curriculum of European universities and its subsequent impact upon the emergence and spread of the Reformation .3 Sharply criticizing what they considered the sterility of late medieval scholasticism, Renaisance humanists sought to engender eloquence, piety and civic responsibility. They emphasized the study of Latin, Greek, and for would-be theologians, Hebrew, as the necessary foundation for reading classic texts in their original languages. In addition, especially in its northern European manifestation, evangelical humanism also stressed religious morality and piety as well as the civic activity and responsibility which characterized Italian humanism. This influence of Renaissance humanism was not limited to the newly founded or reformed universities. It was clearly evident in the reform or founding of new grammar or middle schools throughout Europe . The education of the young was one of the primary concerns of the ecclesiastical reformers of the sixteenth century. The Protestant reformers and, following the Council of Trent, leaders of Catholic reform, urged that local institutions be established to inculcate pure doctrine and to foster piety as well as to train students in the so-called "studia humanitatis ." The reformers �SLOVAKIA 11 encouraged laymen to establish and support local schools as nurseries of humanist learning and of religious formation. In these schools, the form and substance of the traditional curricula was transformed . Evangelical humanist pedagogical methods were adopted by Protestant communities and used to inculcate Lutheran or Reformed theology. These methods were also adapted for use in Catholic schools where they were employed to counter the spread of Protestantism and regain the populace for post-Tridentine Catholicism. Aided by the contemporary growth in the number and variety of printed materials, these schools created a literate public by producing and disseminating religious literature as an aid to institutionalizing ecclesiastical reform. 4 This was true not merely for Germany or western Europe, where the Reformation began and was first consolidated. It also characterized developments in east and south east central Europe as a whole and in Hungary in particular. 5 In Hungary, and specifically in Upper Hungary, roughly congruent with modernday Slovakia, educational reform and the development of local schools was one of the major features of the history of the region during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and has been the subject of considerable scholarly interest.6 These schools were particularly important for the population of the region since none of the universities founded in medieval Hungary endured into the sixteenth century . On the one hand, this meant that these local schools had to prepare students for study at foreign universities and therefore maintained close contacts with these universities . On the other hand, it not only meant that a substantial number of students, who could not afford to attend a university abroad, received all of their training in Slovakia but also that the founding of a local university or institution of higher learning eventually emerged as a major concern of both Protestant and Catholic educators. Both of these developments had considerable significance not only for the course of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Slovakia but also for the history of popular education and the emergence of a Slovak intelligentsia. MEDIEVAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Of course, the history of education in Hungary in general and �12 SLOVAKIA in Slovakia in particular did not begin with the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Both the Protestant and Catholic reformers built upon, enlarged and transformed educational institutions and traditions which had been established by the end of the fifteenth century . Indeed, in many respects, the way for the pedagogical reformers of the sixteenth century was paved by an increasing interest in education among the citizens, at the court and in the chancellery of Hungary during the time of Matthias Corvinus" Hunyadi. This growing concern for an education which went beyond that offered primarily in the older ecclesiastical institutions and schools was a manifestation both of changes in society and statecraft as well as of the influence of Italian humanism in Hungary. 7 While individual teachers could be found in Hungary during the early middle ages and although a school may have existed in the cathedral city of Nitra as early as the twelfth century, it was not until cities had begun to emerge as centers of economic and cultural activity that the existence of more than a handful of schools can be established. In addition, although a few nobles may have employed teachers in their courts, the higher nobility, as a group, did not show much interest in formal academic education prior to the sixteenth century and actually sought to inhibit the children of their serfs from attending school. Thus, most of the early schools were primarily ecclesiastical in character and emphasized the preparation of their students for functions within the church .8 The first schools to be established in the region were probably those of the three chapters, in Nitra, Bratislava and Spis and from the fragmentary documentary evidence available it is clear that each of these chapters had individuals who served as teachers by the end of the thirteenth or at the beginning of the fourteenth centuries. These not only were charged with the instruction of members of the chapter but also taught a few lay students as well. While there may also have been rudimentary schools maintained at the chancellery and in the so-called vierohodne mies ta" or II trustworthy places, which served as repositories of important legal documents, the evidence for such is fragmentary. The same is true for schools which may have been supported by the various monastic communities in Slovakia. These schools served the specific needs 11 11 11 �SLOVAKIA 13 of the supporting community and taught, besides reading and writing, singing and rudimentary arithmetic or computation, necessary for determining the major, movable festivals of the ecclesiastical year. The Ars minor of Donatus and Priscian's Institutio de artica grammatica were used as the primary language instruction texts which prepared the students to read the Bible and the Church fathers. However, the reading of works by Vergil, Horace, and Ovid, usually in "Florilegia," collections of excerpts from their works, was not unknown. 9 More significant, at least in terms of the number that existed, were schools established as agencies of parish churches in the major towns of Slovakia. In northern Hungary, by the end of the fifteenth century, there were more than thirty such parish schools and eleven more towns established schools during the first two decades of the sixteenth century. Thus, at the beginning of the Reformation, most of the larger towns and at least thirteen villages in Slovakia had established schools. Although documentary evidence for the curriculum of these schools is also fragmentary, it does appear that they too were primarily concerned with meeting ecclesiastical needs and preparing students for participation in church services . However, it is reasonable to suppose that these schools were similar to "trivial" Latin schools elsewhere, especially in Germany. The "trivium" of grammar, rhetoric and logic were the foundations of the plan of studies which also included elements of the " quadrivium" of arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. In addition to the rector who supervised the administration and established, with the approval of the ecclesiastical or municipal authorities, the curriculum, there were several assistants and a cantor was employed to give instruction in music. Especially important were schools founded at Kezmarok, Bardejov, Levoca and Kosice in eastern Slovakia as well as at Kremnica, Banska Bystrica and Banska Stiavnica in central Slovakia . 10 The schools of eastern Slovakia had particularly strong connections with the University of Cracow. Leonard Cox, a former tutor of Henry VII of England, who had been honored as a poet at Cracow, taught at Levoca and then in Kosice while Valentin Eck served as rector in Bardejov. 11 These schools prepared many of their students �14 SLOVAKIA for subsequent university training. Indeed, during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the number of students from the territory inhabited by the Slovaks who attended universities in Italy, Austria, Bohemia and Poland steadily increased. While Italian universities, especially Bologna and Padua were the first to attract students from Hungary, ethnic Slovaks were particularly drawn to the University of Prague, founded by Charles IV in 1348, and then to Cracow where from 1492 the students from Hungary had their own bourse or foundation which provided financial assistance and their own matriculation book in which they registered as students . The University of Vienna also attracted a considerable number of students from Hungary where they were members of the Hungarian nation. 12 One reason that the number of students from Hungary at foreign Universities grew during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was that the number of city schools in Slovakia increased . Another reason was the closure of the universities which had been founded in Hungary, the chapter school at Veszprem, the University at Pees, which had close contacts with Bologna and was a center of Italian humnist influence, the short-lived university at Buda, and the Academia Istropolitana, founded by Matthias Corvinus in Bratislava in 1465 at which, in addition to humanism the influence of the "devotio moderna" was evident during its existence which lasted until 1493. Indeed, one of the noteworthy features of both the city schools founded in Slovakia during the decades prior to the inauguration of the Reformation and of the university training received at foreign or domestic universities, was the influence of Renaissance humanism. While Italian humanist influence predominated at Pees and in the court of Corvinus, the humanism which radiated from the Academia Istropolitana and Cracow, and whose influence was also evident in the court of Louis II and Mary, exhibited many of the particular concerns of the ''northern'' humanists for whom Desiderius Erasmus was a paradigmatic model. 13 This increase in the number of schools and the spread of humanist educational methods and concerns was not only a manifestation of a growing interest in and concern for education, especially among the urban population and the higher nobility, but also, together with the closure of domestic universities, helped to �SLOVAKIA 15 prepare the way for the Reformation and the educational reforms which it effected throughout Slovakia. THE REFORMATION AND EDUCATION In Slovakia a substantial transformation in both the number and the quality of schools occurred during the sixteenth century. After the invasion of Hungary by the Turks in the 1520' s, the subsequent tripartition of the country and the spread of the Reformation, the number, structure, curriculum and administration of the schools changed considerably. There is historical evidence for the existence of schools in at least fifty places in Slovakia before 1520. The majority of these were founded during the fifteenth century. To these were added, between 1520 and the end of the century, at least eighty-three schools, the majority of which, sixty-three, were established after 1550. Of these less than ten, including the academy founded by Mikulas Olah at Trnava after 1543, were Catholic. Over one hundred of these schools, reformed or newly founded, were Protestant, and most of these were Lutheran. They were supported by city or town councils or established by individual nobles who had converted to Lutheranism either in their primary residences or in one of the towns or villages under their jurisdiction. Almost all of the royal free cities and many of the mining cities had schools while nearly fifty additional towns and villages also had regularly established schools, some supported or aided by local noble families. The 11leshazy, Thurzo, Revay, Balasa, Radvan and Mariassi families all established or supported Evangelical schools and school masters. 14 The level of instruction in these Protestant schools in Slovakia differed according to the size of the school, the financial support provided, and the training and experience of the teachers. While some of them only offered rudimentary instruction in Latin or in German or Slovak, others, like the humanist school in Bardejov during the rectorate of Leonard Stockel, attained an international reputation. By the end of the sixteenth century at least sixteen of the city and eight of the noble schools can be classified as gymnasiums or higher Latin schools while by 1640 nearly 70 Protestant schools in Hungary can be considered to have achieved that status. 15 The records of these schools, as well as of many of the �16 SLOVAKIA schools in the smaller towns and some of the villages, had received some university training abroad . Large numbers of students from Hungary, including Slovaks as well as Germans and Magyars, attended universities in Germany. Of the one thousand students from Hungary who matriculated at the university of Wittenberg during the sixteenth century, 360 were from Slovakia. 16 The school established by Gregor Hovrath-Stansic, who had attended Strasbourg, in his castle at Strazky was one of the more important noble schools for Slovaks and became one of the citadels of Lutheran orthodoxy in Slovakia. Unfortunately, no school order or plan of studies has yet been located for any of the castle or village schools. However, the scanty documentary evidence available does seem to indicate that their school masters were influenced by the same pedagogical concerns and followed the approach of their colleagues in the evangelical humanist schools established in the cities of Upper Hungary. The cities were the first centers of the Reformation in Slovakia. In them its course and the changes it wrought, particularly in the area of education, can be most readily identified and documented . The texts of several Protestant school orders and disciplinary regulations have been preserved. They reflect the strong influence of the educational program of the Lutheran reformation and especially of Melanchthon, Sturm and Trotzendorf upon the pedagogues in Slovakia. While the oldest preserved school order is Matthias Freundt's 1566 verbatim copy of the Zweibruecken-Neuberg order used in Banska Bystrica, the most systematic and extensive is the one prepared by John Mylius from Jihlava for the city school in Levoca in 1589. As had John Haunold, who compiled in 1587 a school order for Banska Stiavnica, Mylius used as his model the order prepared by Peter Vincentius from Wroclaw (Breslau) which was itself based on one prepared by the latter's mentor, Valentin Trotzendorf for Goldberg. Among the disciplinary regulations preserved the oldest is that prepared by Leonard Stockel for Bardejov. It was based upon the Eisleben order compiled by Johann Agricola and Herman Tulich, reflecting the three-class model recommended by Melanchthon in his instructions for the Saxon visitation of 1528. Stockel' s regulations were also adapted for use in Kezmarok and Presov. 1 7 �SLOVAKIA 17 The pedagogical influence of these and other German school orders upon those in Slovakia clearly indicates that by the second half of the sixteenth century the theology of the Lutheran Reformation and Evangelical humanist pedagogy was well grounded in Slovakia . While the three class or division model recommended by Melanchthon was initially followed, by the end of the sixteenth century, under the influence of Strum's Strasbourg school order, the number of class divisions had increased, first to five and then, in the larger schools, to nine or even ten as formal classes in Greek, theology and philosophy were added to the curriculum in order to prepare graduates to assume immediately positions as teachers and pastors. The two major goals of education were piety, the inculcation of pure Protestant doctrine and practice, and eloquence, the '' artes dicendi, scribendi, et lendi, '' the art of speaking, writing and reading Latin. As Leonard Stockel wrote in his Leges Scholae Bartphensis in 1540, "Because everything ought to be carried on in the name of God, especially among God's children, since apart from this nothing can prosper, the first concern of a teacher ought to be the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom." 18 Thus, the schools devoted as much attention to the moral and religious formation of their students as they did to instruction in language. However, since "grammar was the doorway to all knowledge" the curricula of these Latin schools was organized grammatically, that is following the accepted humanist pedagogical methods which were intended to lead the students, by precept, example, and imitation, from the rudiments of reading and writing through grammar and rhetoric to the knowledge of dialectic and, finally, theology. This confessionalization of education in Slovakia was accompanied by a laicization of the supervision and administration of the schools. Even before the new school orders were drawn up, the influence of the Reformation was manifested in the transformation of the older parish and cloister trivial schools into town or city schools supported and directly administered by laymen. Starting during the second quarter of the sixteenth century, the responsibility for financing and supervising the schools was exercised either by city or town councils or by individual nobles. These laymen claimed the right to appoint the rector and to supervise his activities, as well as those of any private teachers; they approved the school �18 SLOVAKIA orders and disciplinary regulations; they assessed and provided for the material needs of the school and its personnel; and they appointed or served as school visitors or examiners. 19 Thus, by the end of the sixteenth century the schools of Slovakia had school orders based upon those utilized by Lutheran schools or territories in Germany, they were administered and supported by Lutheran councils or nobles, and they employed Lutheran teachers who used both classic humanist and Lutheran texts or materials which they themselves had written. Not that this transformation had come easily. After mid-century, the Lutherans of Slovakia were challenged not only by post-Tridentine Catholicism and the entry of the Jesuits into Slovakia, but also by the spread of Reformed doctrines, especially those of Bullinger and the Second Helvetic Confession. Mikulas Olah, the Primate of Hungary, a learned humanist, and an industrious administrator, realized that the Reformation was becoming a popular movement in Slovakia. He was convinced that the defense of the Roman Catholic faith was possible only if it adopted and adapted the methods of education effectively employed by the Evangelicals. He therefore set out to increase the discipline and moral character of priests and to improve their education by strengthening existing schools and establishing new ones. In Trnava, to which the Archbishop Paul Varadi had transferred his episcopal court in 1543 after the fall of Buda and Esztergom to the Turks, Olah began his work of reorganization of Catholic education. 2° In 1554, with the agreement of the city council, he combined the administration of the local city school and the chapter school which had come with the episcopal bureaucracy to Trnava and prepared for it a plan of studies in the decree Concerning the reform of the Trnava School. " This situation lasted only several years and in 1558 Olah placed the school completely under the administration of the chapter . Thus while the administrator of the school was the canonical lector, the actual educational director of the six-class school was the sub-rector who was empowerd to appoint two teachers, one who spoke Slovak, the other German, and to engage a cantor for instruction in music . The Emperor and Hungarian King, Ferdinand I, not only provided materially for the well-being of the school by granting it ec11 �SLOVAKIA 19 clesiastical benefices, he also approved the request of Olah and Diego Laynez Lainer, the general superior of the Jesuit order, to found a Jesuit school in Trnava which was opened in 1561. However, this Jesuit academy lasted only six years and foundered as a result of the plague, fire, and the opposition of the local magistrates and pastor. Some of the community transferred their activities to Sala nad Vahom where they established a three-class Latin School. While other Catholic schools existed in Komarno, Nove Zamky, Zvolen and in Bratislava, the majority of the schools in Slovakia were and remained Protestant until the seventeenth century. The revival of post-Tridentine Catholicism was not the only challenge which confronted the Protestant schools. Within the Lutheran communities of eastern Slovakia confessional controversies raged for the last two decades of the century which were a manifestation of the influence of Reformed theology to which the majority of Magyar Protestants adhered. These debates focused on the acceptance of the Book of Concord as the norm of Lutheran teaching and, therefore, also a struggle for the control of the schools and for education. During these confessional controversies Slovaks, among them Severinus Sculteti and Elias Lani, who had received almost all of their education in Slovakia, began to emerge as major theological and ecclesiastical leaders within the Lutheran movement in Slovakia. This growing influence of Slovaks can also be seen in the elections of seniors at the synods of Zilina (1610) and Spisske Podhradie (1614), which established legally recognized ecclesiastical seniorats for the Lutherans in Slovakia.21 By the dawn of the seventeenth century Slovaks comprised the majority of the membership of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia and an increasing proportion of the pastors and teachers were of Slovak origin. These would be joined, especially after the battle of White Mountain of 1620, by a significant number of emigres from the Czech lands who sought refuge in Hungary, among them the hymnodist Juraj Tranovsky, and the noted educator Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius), whose pansophic philosophy and pedagogical ideas had considerable impact in middle Europe. This influx of emigres enriched the life of the schools and the Protestant communities in Slovakia and, at the same time, created �20 SLOVAKIA some difficulties for them since it contributed to and accentuated already existing confessional disputes or tensions. Especially significant for the Slovak-speaking Lutherans was the increasing availability of publications in Czech or Slovakicized Czech which served their worship and devotional needs . In addition to the translation of Luther' s Small Catechism, published in Bardejov in 1581, and the catechism of Jan Pruno-Frastacky (1583) and Daniel Pribis (1634), the devotional life of Slovak-speaking Lutherans was enriched by the hymn collection of Juraj Tranovsky, published in Levoca in 1636. Together with the translation of the Bible produced by the Unitas Fratrum in Moravia at the end of the sixteenth century, the so-called "Kralice Bible," these publications served the private and public worship and devotional needs of Slovak-speaking Lutherans. 22 While Protestant schools continued to be established or improved during the first half of the seventeenth century, they were confronted with significant challenges which increased substantially after mid-century despite the provisions of the Peace of Linz of 1645 which guaranteed religious freedom in Hungary. The level of instruction in many of the schools was quite high. The rectors and teachers often received their university training abroad . This brought them into contact with the prevailing academic and cultural currents of thought . Some were also quite accomplished and widely recognized scholars. Among these were Elias Ladiver, Izak Caban, Jan Duchon and Jan Bayer to mention but a few .23 The number of scholarly and culturally significant works published in Hungary or abroad by the teachers active in Slovakia also grew substantially during the seventeenth century. From presses in Levoca and Bardejov came several editions of works by Comenius including his Janua Linguae Latinae, an innovative, illustrated textbook for learning Latin. 24 However, the Lutherans lacked a university of their own in Slovakia and the quality of their schools was still quite diverse and dependent both on the financial commitment of their patrons and the training and experience of their rectors. 25 To be sure, attempts were made by the Lutherans in Slovakia to resolve their internal difficulties. During the 1550' s and 1560's proposals were made to establish a unified school order but, aside from the approval of texts, little was accomplished . Moreover, after the Synod of Zilina in 1610, despite the support of Juraj Thurzo �SLOVAKIA 21 and Gaspar Illeshazy, the Lutherans were unable to establish their own academy or university during the first half of the seventeenth century. During the second half of the century, the Latin school in Presov was reorganized as a college according to the suggestion of Jan Bayer while other schools added additional advanced courses in both philosophy and theology. Despite these and other modifications to the curricula of the Lutheran schools, including the gradual acceptance of some of the pedagogical principles of Comenius, they continued to lose ground to the forces of the Counter-Reformation in Slovakia. 26 During the first half of the sevententh century the work anticipated by Mikulas Olah was carred on by his even more remarkable successor, the Hungarian Jesuit Peter Pazmany . He emerged as a major figure in the years following the Peace of Vienna in 1606 which granted Protestants religious toleration in Hungary. Pazmany was untiring in his opposition to the Reformation movement . His energy, combined with intellectual acuity and powerful connections, brought about the re-introduction of the Jesuit order into Hungary, despite the opposition of many of the nobility and cities. In 1615 Pazmany re-established the Jesuit academy or college in the Dominican cloister in Trnava as a three-class school. After receiving a dispensation which released him from his order, Pazmany became Archbishop and in this capacity set about establishing a Catholic university in Hungary . In 1635 he received approval to found a university in Trnava which would have, as one of its chief functions, combatting the spread of Protestantism and the fostering of Catholic doctrine and practice. The school was open to students of all faiths and instruction was without charge . It was organized according to the Jesuit program of education set down in the Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Jesu issued by the general superior of the order, Claudius Aquaviva, in 1599. That this educational model was congruent with the program of studies advocated by the Evangelical Sturm in Strasbourg is understandable . The "Ratio" was based upon the educational ideas and programs of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, who had been a contemporary of Sturm at Louvain and Paris. 27 The Jesuit system of education, as established by the " Ratio, " �SLOVAKIA 22 was divided into two categories: the studia inferiora or lower school, which corresponded to the grammar or Latin schools of the cities, and the studia superiora" or higher studies, which was equivalent to university training. While the lower schools, which were open to all, were divided into five classes or grades which took between five and seven years to complete, the upper division or university level was divided into two levels, the general philosophical or liberal arts program and finally, the highest level, the study of theology . While the philosophy program lasted three years, those who wished to study theology completed at least four years of study and then, if a doctorate in theology was desired, an additional two years. The goal of this Jesuit educational system was piety and eloquence, the same as it had been for the Evangelical humanists of the sixteenth century. It was designed to achieve specific religious purposes and to serve as an agency for Catholic Reformation and to counter the spread of the Protestant Reformation. However, unlike other traditional universities, the Jesuit school at Trnava did not have a faculty of medicine or of law. The same program of studies was followed by Benedikt Kisdy, Bishop of Eger, who in 1657 organized a studium generale or university in Kosice .28 While these higher educational institutions were in the hands of the Jesuits, the Piarists were active, especially after the midseventeenth century, in establishing lower or basic schools which they founded or established in formerly Lutheran schools whose patrons had converted to Catholicism, or which were taken from the non-Catholics by force. The members of these orders proved to be effective educators and even adopted many of the same methods and materials which had been employed by the Protestants in their schools. The influence and excellence of the Jesuit and Piarist schools combined, after mid-century, with open persecution and military force, to bring about a substantial decline in the number of Lutheran schools in Slovakia . In addition, the re-conversion of many of the higher nobility to Catholicism, the rebellions of Thokoly and Rakoci, the Wesselenyi conspiracy and the growing power of the Habsburgs, who successfully campaigned against the Turks following the second siege of Vienna in 1683, together combined to create both the Habsburgs 11 11 II II 11 �SLOVAKIA 23 alliance with the Counter-Reformation and the peculiar Catholic Baroque culture in southeast central Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This effective alliance substantially reduced the number of Evangelicals in Hungary and led to a decline in the number and quality of the Lutheran schools in Slovakia. According to Jan Rezik, from the more than seventy Protestant schools in Hungary which could be considered gymnasiums in 1640, only 10 possessed that character at the dawn of the eighteenth century. Many of the former Evangelical city schools were taken from the Lutherans or lost their gymnasia! character and became grammar schools. Even though fewer in number and much constrained, Lutheran schools continued to function in Slovakia and to provide Slovaks with training both in the classical languages and in Lutheran doctrine and to prepare their students for university study, most often at universities in Germany or elsewhere in western and northern Europe. This meant that the graduates of these schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, like their sixteenth and seventeenth century predecessors, would become well acquainted with the broad intellectual currents of the day including the Enlightenment principles which fostered the national awakening of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. On the other hand, although they were co-creators of the peculiar Baroque culture of the Austrian Habsburg lands, the Catholic schools also actively cultivated the use of the Slovak language as part of the program of education and thereby also contributed to the eventual codification of Slovak as a literary language and the creation of a Slovak intelligentsia. Thus, Lutheran and Catholic schools made it possible for a broad cross-section of the population, including many ethnic Slovaks, to gain an education and enter public life. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries these schools were among the chief agencies which aided the social and cultural advancement of the Slovaks . Although the development of Protestant and Catholic popular education in Slovakia during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries helped to create a Slovak intelligentsia and thereby laid the foundations for the Slovak cultural and literary revival of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it also created substan- �24 SLOVAKIA tial problems for the subsequent history of the Slovaks. The Slovak intelligentsia and the population were divided into two, often very hostile groups, Protestants and Catholics. Their education, historical development, traditions, and even their cultural awareness and perceptions of Slovak history were quite different. These differences would be manifested in the history of the Slovaks and Slovakia. The continuing heritage of the educational reform of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and the broader cultural and social changes these effected were evident not only during the period of the national cultural revival, but also in the subsequent attempts to foster an ethnic solidarity and a common political consciousness among the Slovaks in the struggle to define and create a Slovak nation and state. FOOTNOTES 1 [udovft Holotfk and Jan Tibensky, Dejiny 5/ovenska I (Bratislava, 1961), pp. 380-392, 456-478; Pavo! Mazak, Mikulas Gasparfk, Pavo! Petrus and Milan Pisut. Dejiny slovenskej literatun; 2 (Bratislava, 1984), pp. 9-86; Jan Hucko, Socialne zlozenie a povod slovenskej obrodenskej inteligencie (Bratislava, 1974). 2 Contemporary scholars are debating whether or not Reformation schools were successful , a debate which focuses on th e question of whether or not an improvement in individual and/or public morality is the best standard by which the success or failure of the Reformation is to be ascertained. Some, like Gerald Strauss, conclude that the Reformation schools fai led because they did not effect a fundamental improvement in or transformation of the moral lives of their gradu ates. Others, however, question the use of the hermeneutical principle of moral transformation as a sta ndard for judging the success of the Reformation as a historical, ecclesiastical and theological movement . They argue that observable changes in theological formu lations, liturgical practices, ecclesiastical institutions and cu ltural development are more effective means to evaluate the impact of the Reformation. See especially Gerald Strauss, Luther's House of Leaming. Indoctrination of the Young in the Gennan Reformation (Baltimore, 1976); James M. Kittelson, " Successes and Failures of the German Reformation: The Report from Strasbourg," Arch iv fiir Refonna tionsgeschichte 73 (1982) and also his " The Confessional Age: The Late Reformation in Germany " pages 361-381 in Reformation Europe: A Guide to Research edited by Steven Ozment (St. Louis, 1982); Leif Crane (Ed.), University and Reformation: Lectures from the University of Copen hagen Symposium (Leiden, 1981). Also very useful is the older work of Georg Mertz, Das Schulwesen der deu tschen Reformation im 16. Jahrhundert (Heidelberg, 1902), and of Friedrich Paulson, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts �SLOVAKIA 25 auf den deutschen Schulen und Universitiiten vom Ausgang des Mittelalters bis zur Gegenwart (Leipzig, 1919). 3 For a brief discussion of contemporary research questions see James D. Tracy, " Humanism and the Reformation," pages 33-57 in Reformation Europe: a Guide to Research. A very useful collection of essays on the various aspects of Humanism is Renaissance Humanism: Foundations, Forms and Legacy, 3 volumes, Edited by Albert Rabil, Jr. (Philadelphia, 1988). See also Humanizmus a renesancia na Slovensku v. 15. - 16. storoci edited by tudovft Holoti'.k and Anton Vantuch (Bratislava, 1967) which contains several excellent essays touching on humanism and education in Slovakia. 4 The role of printing in the spread of the Reformation is another topic of great interest to contemporary Reformation historians. See especially Elizabeth L. Eisenstein , The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe (New York, 1983); Miriam Usher Chrisman, Lay Culture and the Culture of the Learned: Books, Men and Ideas in Strasbourg, 1480-1599 (New Haven, 1982); Richard Crofts, "Books, Reform and the Reformation," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 71 (1980) : 21-35; Richard Cole, "The Reformation in Print: German Pamphlets and Propaganda," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 66 (1975): 93-102; and Louise W. Holborn, " Printing and the Growth of a Protestant Movement in Germany from 1517 to 1524," Church History 11 (1942): 123-137. s See especially Heinz Scheible, "Melanchthons Beziehungen zum DonauKarpaten-Rum bis 1546," pages 36-67 in Luther und Siebenbiirgen, Siebenbiirgisches Archiv 19, edited by George and Renate Weber (Koln, 1985); William Toth, " Highlights of the Hungarian Reformation," Church History 9 (1940):141-156, and also his "Luther's Frontier in Hungary," pages 75-91 in Reformation Studies, Essays in Honor of Roland H. Bainton, edited by Franklin H. Littel (Richmond, 1972); R.J. W. Evangs, "Calvinism in East Central Europe, Hungary and Her Neighbors," pages 167-196 in International Calvinism, 1541-1717, edited by Menna Prestwich (Oxford, 1985); and William Hammer, "Latin Instruction in the Schools of Transylvania from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century," The Phoenix 8 (1954):92-108. 6 The literature on education in Hungary as a whole and on Slovakia in particular owes a great deal to several older works including the compilation of material gathered during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Jan Rezik and Samuel Matthaeides, Gymnaziolfgia, Dejiny Gymnazii na Slovensku, edited by Vladislav Ruzicka (Bratislava, 1971). Also extremely useful is Vilmos Frankl (Fraknoi), A hazai es kiilfoldi iskolazas a XVI szazadban (Budapest, 1873) . A recent general survey was published by Josef Matej el al. Dejiny Ceskej a Slovenskej Pedagogiky (Bratislava, 1976). For the era of the Reformation and CounterReformation the following three works are indispensible: Peter Vajcik, Skolstvo, studijne a skolske poriadky na Slovensku v XVI storoci (Bratislava, 1955); Istvan Meszaros, XVI. szazadi varosi iskolaink es a "studia humanitatis ", Humanizmus es Reformaci6, 11 (Budapest, 1981); and Vladislav Ruzicka, Skolstvo na Slovensku v obdobf neskoreho feudalizmu (Bratislava, 1974) which draws much from Rezik's �26 SLOVAKIA Gym naziol6gia but also provides many extensive and useful annotations. For individual schools especially helpful are : Janos Breznyik, A Se/mecbanya agost. hitv. evang. egyhaz es lyzeum tiirtenete (Selmecbanyan, 1883); Jan Gallo, Dejiny strednych skol v Gemeri do polovici 19. storocia (Martin, 1977); Jozsef Hi:irk, Az eperjesi ev. ker. collegium tiirtenete (Kassa, 1896); Pavo! Krizko, Kremnicke skolstvo v rokoch 1527-1 674 (Bratislava, 1975); Johann Liptak, Geschichte des evangelischen Lyzeums A. B. in Kesmark, 400 Jahre (Kezmarok, 1933); and Jan Mikles, " Dejiny skolstva v Banskej Bystrici mestska latinska skola" Jednotna skola 10 (1955):308-343 . See also his " Obrazky z dejfn skolstva na pociatku reformacie v Banskej Bystrici . Dokumenty k dejinam mestskej skoly v Banskej Bystrici v 16. storoci" pp. 53-84 and " Vyznam pokrokovej tradicie bystrickych skolskych zakonov z roku 1617 a ich suvislost' s komenskeho ucebnicami v Kremnici av Banskej Bystrici" pp . 85-106 in Sbom{k vyssej pedagogickej skoly v Banskej Bystrici (Banska Bystrica, 1958). 7 8 For a concise review of the evidence concerning education in Slovakia during the high middle ages see Pavol Krizko, Kremn icke skolstvo v rokoch 1526-1674. (Bratislava, 1975), pp. 10-18. Julius Sopko, " O skolstve a vzdelanosti na Slovensku v stredoveku " Historicky casopis 36 (1968) :175-197. 9 Peter Vajcik, " Nizsie skolstvo na Slovensku v 15.-16. storocf," in Holotik and Vantuch, pp. 118-127 and Matej, pp . 51-53. 10 See Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp . 7-13. 11 Ivan Chalupecky, "Vzdelanost' a Kultura spisskych miest a mesteciek v 15.-18. storoff ' Historicky casopis 35 (1987) :427-435. 12 See especially the following articles in Holotik and Vantuch: Branislav Varsik, "Slovensko a eur6pska vzdelanost' v 15.-16. storocf'', pp . 128-135; Frantisek Kavda, " Slovensti studenti na prazske universite v 15. a 16. stoletf" , pp. 137-146; Endre Kovacs, " Vzt'ahy krakovskej univerzity k Slovensku za renesancie", pp. 147-161; Pavel Horvath, "Studenti zo Slovenska na krakovskej univerzite v 15. av prvej polovici 16. storocia, " pp. 162-172; and Matus Kucera, "Studenti zo Slovenska na viedenskej univerzite d o r. 1530," pp . 173-188. 13 Tibor Kard os, " Devotio Moderna na Academii Istropolitane, " pages 25-39 in Holotik and Vantuch . Adalbert Hudak, " Der Hofprediger Johannes Henckel und seine Beziehungen zu Erasmus von Rotterdam, " Ki rch e im Osten 2 (1959):106-133; Gustav Bauch, " Dr. Johann Henckel, der Hofprediger der Ki:inigin Maria von Ungarn," Ungarische Revue 4 (1884) :559-627; Jan Kvacala, "Kralovna Maria a jej ucast v dejoch reformacie" Viera a veda 1 (1930):10-22, 59-72, 97-105 . 14 Vajcik, Skolstvo pp . 10-24; Rezik and Matthaeides; Ruzicka, pp. 34-71. 15 See Ruzicka, Rezik and Matthaeides, and Frankl. The statistics are to be considered minimum figures since they only take into account schools fo r which written evidence currently exists. �SLOVAKIA 16 27 Geza Szabo, Geschichte des Ungarischen Coetus and der Universitiit Wittenberg, 155-1613 (Halle, 1941). Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 59-135; Ruzicka, pp. 72-123. See also Friedrich Paulsen, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts I, 3rd Ed . (Berlin and Leipzig, 1919) for a general introduction to school reforms in the German states during the era of the Reformation. 18 Vajcik, Skolstvo, p. 61. 19 Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 15-24. 20 Trnavska Univerzita v slovenskych dejinach . Edited by Viliam Cicaj and Vladimir Matula (Bratislava, 1987). 21 David P . Daniel, "The Acceptance of the Formula of Concord in Slovakia,' Archive fiir Reformationsgeschichte 70 (1979):160-277 . 22 David P. Daniel, " The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia , 28 (1978-1979) :49-65. 23 For brief biographical sketches see Slovensky Biograficky Slovn{k vols . 1-3 (Martin, 1986-1989). 24 In 1643 Valentine Brewer printed his first edition of the Janua Linguae Latinae. It was quickly followed by printings in 1644, 48, 49 and again in 1655. See Jan Caplovic, Bibliografia Tlacf vydanych na Slovensku do roku 1700. I (Martin, 1972), nos . 896, 906, 938, 957, 958, 1012. 25 Presovske kolegium v s/ovenskych dejinach, edited by Imrich Sedlak (Kosice, 1967). 26 Frantisek Bokes, "Rozvoj vyssieho skolstva na Slovensku v 17.-19. storoci," in Presovske kolegium , p. 13. 2 7 Ruzicka, p . 126. 2 8 Ruzicka, pp. 125-169. 17 � SLOVAKIA 9 The Impact of the Protestant Reformation on Education in Slovakia DAVID P. DANIEL National revival moments awakened the ethnic, linguistic and cultural consciousness of the various peoples of the Austrian Empire throughout east central Europe during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These movements were manifestations of the influence of the Enlightenment which penetrated the region prior to and during the reign of Joseph II . Their leaders sought to define, express, and to realize the national aspirations of the peoples of the region. In Slovakia, the movement of national revival (narodne obrodenie) was particularly significant. It led to the codification of the Slovak language and the creation of a diverse body of literary works in Slovak and thus stimulated the emergence of the cultural and ethnic consciousness of the people and, ultimately, to expressions of their political aspirations. This movement can be considered one of the most significant events in the history of the Slovaks. Its leaders, among them Bel, Bernolak, Tablic, Holly, Palkovic, Safarik, Kollar, Kuzmany, Shir and Hurban, to name but a few, are rightly honored as major contributors to the development of the Slovak language, literature and culture. 1 While this national revival was primarily an expression of Enlightenment thought and was fostered by contacts with German universities and intellectuals, its roots can be traced to the transformation of education which occurred in Slovakia during the early modern era. Members of the Slovak intelligentsia of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were the intellectual and cultural heirs of traditions which can be traced back to the era of �10 SLOVAKIA the Reformation and the Counter or Catholic Reformation. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, both Protestants and Catholics contributed to the establishment of popular education . The schools in Slovakia, which were founded or reorganized during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, were local outputs of the broad intellectual and cultural currents of early modern European civilization. Their teachers and students had considerable influence, not only among the Magyar and German population of the major cities of Upper Hungary, but also among the Slovaks who comprised the largest proportion of the population in the region. Although often bitterly divided over religious issues, the faculty and graduates of those Protestant and Catholic schools were important agents both of religious reformation and cultural formation. The history of the transformation wrought in education during the Renaissance and Reformation has attracted much scholarly attention during the last twenty years. 2 Recent reformation research has devoted considerable attention to the influence of Renaissance humanism upon the curriculum of European universities and its subsequent impact upon the emergence and spread of the Reformation .3 Sharply criticizing what they considered the sterility of late medieval scholasticism, Renaisance humanists sought to engender eloquence, piety and civic responsibility. They emphasized the study of Latin, Greek, and for would-be theologians, Hebrew, as the necessary foundation for reading classic texts in their original languages. In addition, especially in its northern European manifestation, evangelical humanism also stressed religious morality and piety as well as the civic activity and responsibility which characterized Italian humanism. This influence of Renaissance humanism was not limited to the newly founded or reformed universities. It was clearly evident in the reform or founding of new grammar or middle schools throughout Europe . The education of the young was one of the primary concerns of the ecclesiastical reformers of the sixteenth century. The Protestant reformers and, following the Council of Trent, leaders of Catholic reform, urged that local institutions be established to inculcate pure doctrine and to foster piety as well as to train students in the so-called "studia humanitatis ." The reformers �SLOVAKIA 11 encouraged laymen to establish and support local schools as nurseries of humanist learning and of religious formation. In these schools, the form and substance of the traditional curricula was transformed . Evangelical humanist pedagogical methods were adopted by Protestant communities and used to inculcate Lutheran or Reformed theology. These methods were also adapted for use in Catholic schools where they were employed to counter the spread of Protestantism and regain the populace for post-Tridentine Catholicism. Aided by the contemporary growth in the number and variety of printed materials, these schools created a literate public by producing and disseminating religious literature as an aid to institutionalizing ecclesiastical reform. 4 This was true not merely for Germany or western Europe, where the Reformation began and was first consolidated. It also characterized developments in east and south east central Europe as a whole and in Hungary in particular. 5 In Hungary, and specifically in Upper Hungary, roughly congruent with modernday Slovakia, educational reform and the development of local schools was one of the major features of the history of the region during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and has been the subject of considerable scholarly interest.6 These schools were particularly important for the population of the region since none of the universities founded in medieval Hungary endured into the sixteenth century . On the one hand, this meant that these local schools had to prepare students for study at foreign universities and therefore maintained close contacts with these universities . On the other hand, it not only meant that a substantial number of students, who could not afford to attend a university abroad, received all of their training in Slovakia but also that the founding of a local university or institution of higher learning eventually emerged as a major concern of both Protestant and Catholic educators. Both of these developments had considerable significance not only for the course of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Slovakia but also for the history of popular education and the emergence of a Slovak intelligentsia. MEDIEVAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Of course, the history of education in Hungary in general and �12 SLOVAKIA in Slovakia in particular did not begin with the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Both the Protestant and Catholic reformers built upon, enlarged and transformed educational institutions and traditions which had been established by the end of the fifteenth century . Indeed, in many respects, the way for the pedagogical reformers of the sixteenth century was paved by an increasing interest in education among the citizens, at the court and in the chancellery of Hungary during the time of Matthias Corvinus" Hunyadi. This growing concern for an education which went beyond that offered primarily in the older ecclesiastical institutions and schools was a manifestation both of changes in society and statecraft as well as of the influence of Italian humanism in Hungary. 7 While individual teachers could be found in Hungary during the early middle ages and although a school may have existed in the cathedral city of Nitra as early as the twelfth century, it was not until cities had begun to emerge as centers of economic and cultural activity that the existence of more than a handful of schools can be established. In addition, although a few nobles may have employed teachers in their courts, the higher nobility, as a group, did not show much interest in formal academic education prior to the sixteenth century and actually sought to inhibit the children of their serfs from attending school. Thus, most of the early schools were primarily ecclesiastical in character and emphasized the preparation of their students for functions within the church .8 The first schools to be established in the region were probably those of the three chapters, in Nitra, Bratislava and Spis and from the fragmentary documentary evidence available it is clear that each of these chapters had individuals who served as teachers by the end of the thirteenth or at the beginning of the fourteenth centuries. These not only were charged with the instruction of members of the chapter but also taught a few lay students as well. While there may also have been rudimentary schools maintained at the chancellery and in the so-called vierohodne mies ta" or II trustworthy places, which served as repositories of important legal documents, the evidence for such is fragmentary. The same is true for schools which may have been supported by the various monastic communities in Slovakia. These schools served the specific needs 11 11 11 �SLOVAKIA 13 of the supporting community and taught, besides reading and writing, singing and rudimentary arithmetic or computation, necessary for determining the major, movable festivals of the ecclesiastical year. The Ars minor of Donatus and Priscian's Institutio de artica grammatica were used as the primary language instruction texts which prepared the students to read the Bible and the Church fathers. However, the reading of works by Vergil, Horace, and Ovid, usually in "Florilegia," collections of excerpts from their works, was not unknown. 9 More significant, at least in terms of the number that existed, were schools established as agencies of parish churches in the major towns of Slovakia. In northern Hungary, by the end of the fifteenth century, there were more than thirty such parish schools and eleven more towns established schools during the first two decades of the sixteenth century. Thus, at the beginning of the Reformation, most of the larger towns and at least thirteen villages in Slovakia had established schools. Although documentary evidence for the curriculum of these schools is also fragmentary, it does appear that they too were primarily concerned with meeting ecclesiastical needs and preparing students for participation in church services . However, it is reasonable to suppose that these schools were similar to "trivial" Latin schools elsewhere, especially in Germany. The "trivium" of grammar, rhetoric and logic were the foundations of the plan of studies which also included elements of the " quadrivium" of arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. In addition to the rector who supervised the administration and established, with the approval of the ecclesiastical or municipal authorities, the curriculum, there were several assistants and a cantor was employed to give instruction in music. Especially important were schools founded at Kezmarok, Bardejov, Levoca and Kosice in eastern Slovakia as well as at Kremnica, Banska Bystrica and Banska Stiavnica in central Slovakia . 10 The schools of eastern Slovakia had particularly strong connections with the University of Cracow. Leonard Cox, a former tutor of Henry VII of England, who had been honored as a poet at Cracow, taught at Levoca and then in Kosice while Valentin Eck served as rector in Bardejov. 11 These schools prepared many of their students �14 SLOVAKIA for subsequent university training. Indeed, during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the number of students from the territory inhabited by the Slovaks who attended universities in Italy, Austria, Bohemia and Poland steadily increased. While Italian universities, especially Bologna and Padua were the first to attract students from Hungary, ethnic Slovaks were particularly drawn to the University of Prague, founded by Charles IV in 1348, and then to Cracow where from 1492 the students from Hungary had their own bourse or foundation which provided financial assistance and their own matriculation book in which they registered as students . The University of Vienna also attracted a considerable number of students from Hungary where they were members of the Hungarian nation. 12 One reason that the number of students from Hungary at foreign Universities grew during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was that the number of city schools in Slovakia increased . Another reason was the closure of the universities which had been founded in Hungary, the chapter school at Veszprem, the University at Pees, which had close contacts with Bologna and was a center of Italian humnist influence, the short-lived university at Buda, and the Academia Istropolitana, founded by Matthias Corvinus in Bratislava in 1465 at which, in addition to humanism the influence of the "devotio moderna" was evident during its existence which lasted until 1493. Indeed, one of the noteworthy features of both the city schools founded in Slovakia during the decades prior to the inauguration of the Reformation and of the university training received at foreign or domestic universities, was the influence of Renaissance humanism. While Italian humanist influence predominated at Pees and in the court of Corvinus, the humanism which radiated from the Academia Istropolitana and Cracow, and whose influence was also evident in the court of Louis II and Mary, exhibited many of the particular concerns of the ''northern'' humanists for whom Desiderius Erasmus was a paradigmatic model. 13 This increase in the number of schools and the spread of humanist educational methods and concerns was not only a manifestation of a growing interest in and concern for education, especially among the urban population and the higher nobility, but also, together with the closure of domestic universities, helped to �SLOVAKIA 15 prepare the way for the Reformation and the educational reforms which it effected throughout Slovakia. THE REFORMATION AND EDUCATION In Slovakia a substantial transformation in both the number and the quality of schools occurred during the sixteenth century. After the invasion of Hungary by the Turks in the 1520' s, the subsequent tripartition of the country and the spread of the Reformation, the number, structure, curriculum and administration of the schools changed considerably. There is historical evidence for the existence of schools in at least fifty places in Slovakia before 1520. The majority of these were founded during the fifteenth century. To these were added, between 1520 and the end of the century, at least eighty-three schools, the majority of which, sixty-three, were established after 1550. Of these less than ten, including the academy founded by Mikulas Olah at Trnava after 1543, were Catholic. Over one hundred of these schools, reformed or newly founded, were Protestant, and most of these were Lutheran. They were supported by city or town councils or established by individual nobles who had converted to Lutheranism either in their primary residences or in one of the towns or villages under their jurisdiction. Almost all of the royal free cities and many of the mining cities had schools while nearly fifty additional towns and villages also had regularly established schools, some supported or aided by local noble families. The 11leshazy, Thurzo, Revay, Balasa, Radvan and Mariassi families all established or supported Evangelical schools and school masters. 14 The level of instruction in these Protestant schools in Slovakia differed according to the size of the school, the financial support provided, and the training and experience of the teachers. While some of them only offered rudimentary instruction in Latin or in German or Slovak, others, like the humanist school in Bardejov during the rectorate of Leonard Stockel, attained an international reputation. By the end of the sixteenth century at least sixteen of the city and eight of the noble schools can be classified as gymnasiums or higher Latin schools while by 1640 nearly 70 Protestant schools in Hungary can be considered to have achieved that status. 15 The records of these schools, as well as of many of the �16 SLOVAKIA schools in the smaller towns and some of the villages, had received some university training abroad . Large numbers of students from Hungary, including Slovaks as well as Germans and Magyars, attended universities in Germany. Of the one thousand students from Hungary who matriculated at the university of Wittenberg during the sixteenth century, 360 were from Slovakia. 16 The school established by Gregor Hovrath-Stansic, who had attended Strasbourg, in his castle at Strazky was one of the more important noble schools for Slovaks and became one of the citadels of Lutheran orthodoxy in Slovakia. Unfortunately, no school order or plan of studies has yet been located for any of the castle or village schools. However, the scanty documentary evidence available does seem to indicate that their school masters were influenced by the same pedagogical concerns and followed the approach of their colleagues in the evangelical humanist schools established in the cities of Upper Hungary. The cities were the first centers of the Reformation in Slovakia. In them its course and the changes it wrought, particularly in the area of education, can be most readily identified and documented . The texts of several Protestant school orders and disciplinary regulations have been preserved. They reflect the strong influence of the educational program of the Lutheran reformation and especially of Melanchthon, Sturm and Trotzendorf upon the pedagogues in Slovakia. While the oldest preserved school order is Matthias Freundt's 1566 verbatim copy of the Zweibruecken-Neuberg order used in Banska Bystrica, the most systematic and extensive is the one prepared by John Mylius from Jihlava for the city school in Levoca in 1589. As had John Haunold, who compiled in 1587 a school order for Banska Stiavnica, Mylius used as his model the order prepared by Peter Vincentius from Wroclaw (Breslau) which was itself based on one prepared by the latter's mentor, Valentin Trotzendorf for Goldberg. Among the disciplinary regulations preserved the oldest is that prepared by Leonard Stockel for Bardejov. It was based upon the Eisleben order compiled by Johann Agricola and Herman Tulich, reflecting the three-class model recommended by Melanchthon in his instructions for the Saxon visitation of 1528. Stockel' s regulations were also adapted for use in Kezmarok and Presov. 1 7 �SLOVAKIA 17 The pedagogical influence of these and other German school orders upon those in Slovakia clearly indicates that by the second half of the sixteenth century the theology of the Lutheran Reformation and Evangelical humanist pedagogy was well grounded in Slovakia . While the three class or division model recommended by Melanchthon was initially followed, by the end of the sixteenth century, under the influence of Strum's Strasbourg school order, the number of class divisions had increased, first to five and then, in the larger schools, to nine or even ten as formal classes in Greek, theology and philosophy were added to the curriculum in order to prepare graduates to assume immediately positions as teachers and pastors. The two major goals of education were piety, the inculcation of pure Protestant doctrine and practice, and eloquence, the '' artes dicendi, scribendi, et lendi, '' the art of speaking, writing and reading Latin. As Leonard Stockel wrote in his Leges Scholae Bartphensis in 1540, "Because everything ought to be carried on in the name of God, especially among God's children, since apart from this nothing can prosper, the first concern of a teacher ought to be the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom." 18 Thus, the schools devoted as much attention to the moral and religious formation of their students as they did to instruction in language. However, since "grammar was the doorway to all knowledge" the curricula of these Latin schools was organized grammatically, that is following the accepted humanist pedagogical methods which were intended to lead the students, by precept, example, and imitation, from the rudiments of reading and writing through grammar and rhetoric to the knowledge of dialectic and, finally, theology. This confessionalization of education in Slovakia was accompanied by a laicization of the supervision and administration of the schools. Even before the new school orders were drawn up, the influence of the Reformation was manifested in the transformation of the older parish and cloister trivial schools into town or city schools supported and directly administered by laymen. Starting during the second quarter of the sixteenth century, the responsibility for financing and supervising the schools was exercised either by city or town councils or by individual nobles. These laymen claimed the right to appoint the rector and to supervise his activities, as well as those of any private teachers; they approved the school �18 SLOVAKIA orders and disciplinary regulations; they assessed and provided for the material needs of the school and its personnel; and they appointed or served as school visitors or examiners. 19 Thus, by the end of the sixteenth century the schools of Slovakia had school orders based upon those utilized by Lutheran schools or territories in Germany, they were administered and supported by Lutheran councils or nobles, and they employed Lutheran teachers who used both classic humanist and Lutheran texts or materials which they themselves had written. Not that this transformation had come easily. After mid-century, the Lutherans of Slovakia were challenged not only by post-Tridentine Catholicism and the entry of the Jesuits into Slovakia, but also by the spread of Reformed doctrines, especially those of Bullinger and the Second Helvetic Confession. Mikulas Olah, the Primate of Hungary, a learned humanist, and an industrious administrator, realized that the Reformation was becoming a popular movement in Slovakia. He was convinced that the defense of the Roman Catholic faith was possible only if it adopted and adapted the methods of education effectively employed by the Evangelicals. He therefore set out to increase the discipline and moral character of priests and to improve their education by strengthening existing schools and establishing new ones. In Trnava, to which the Archbishop Paul Varadi had transferred his episcopal court in 1543 after the fall of Buda and Esztergom to the Turks, Olah began his work of reorganization of Catholic education. 2° In 1554, with the agreement of the city council, he combined the administration of the local city school and the chapter school which had come with the episcopal bureaucracy to Trnava and prepared for it a plan of studies in the decree Concerning the reform of the Trnava School. " This situation lasted only several years and in 1558 Olah placed the school completely under the administration of the chapter . Thus while the administrator of the school was the canonical lector, the actual educational director of the six-class school was the sub-rector who was empowerd to appoint two teachers, one who spoke Slovak, the other German, and to engage a cantor for instruction in music . The Emperor and Hungarian King, Ferdinand I, not only provided materially for the well-being of the school by granting it ec11 �SLOVAKIA 19 clesiastical benefices, he also approved the request of Olah and Diego Laynez Lainer, the general superior of the Jesuit order, to found a Jesuit school in Trnava which was opened in 1561. However, this Jesuit academy lasted only six years and foundered as a result of the plague, fire, and the opposition of the local magistrates and pastor. Some of the community transferred their activities to Sala nad Vahom where they established a three-class Latin School. While other Catholic schools existed in Komarno, Nove Zamky, Zvolen and in Bratislava, the majority of the schools in Slovakia were and remained Protestant until the seventeenth century. The revival of post-Tridentine Catholicism was not the only challenge which confronted the Protestant schools. Within the Lutheran communities of eastern Slovakia confessional controversies raged for the last two decades of the century which were a manifestation of the influence of Reformed theology to which the majority of Magyar Protestants adhered. These debates focused on the acceptance of the Book of Concord as the norm of Lutheran teaching and, therefore, also a struggle for the control of the schools and for education. During these confessional controversies Slovaks, among them Severinus Sculteti and Elias Lani, who had received almost all of their education in Slovakia, began to emerge as major theological and ecclesiastical leaders within the Lutheran movement in Slovakia. This growing influence of Slovaks can also be seen in the elections of seniors at the synods of Zilina (1610) and Spisske Podhradie (1614), which established legally recognized ecclesiastical seniorats for the Lutherans in Slovakia.21 By the dawn of the seventeenth century Slovaks comprised the majority of the membership of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia and an increasing proportion of the pastors and teachers were of Slovak origin. These would be joined, especially after the battle of White Mountain of 1620, by a significant number of emigres from the Czech lands who sought refuge in Hungary, among them the hymnodist Juraj Tranovsky, and the noted educator Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius), whose pansophic philosophy and pedagogical ideas had considerable impact in middle Europe. This influx of emigres enriched the life of the schools and the Protestant communities in Slovakia and, at the same time, created �20 SLOVAKIA some difficulties for them since it contributed to and accentuated already existing confessional disputes or tensions. Especially significant for the Slovak-speaking Lutherans was the increasing availability of publications in Czech or Slovakicized Czech which served their worship and devotional needs . In addition to the translation of Luther' s Small Catechism, published in Bardejov in 1581, and the catechism of Jan Pruno-Frastacky (1583) and Daniel Pribis (1634), the devotional life of Slovak-speaking Lutherans was enriched by the hymn collection of Juraj Tranovsky, published in Levoca in 1636. Together with the translation of the Bible produced by the Unitas Fratrum in Moravia at the end of the sixteenth century, the so-called "Kralice Bible," these publications served the private and public worship and devotional needs of Slovak-speaking Lutherans. 22 While Protestant schools continued to be established or improved during the first half of the seventeenth century, they were confronted with significant challenges which increased substantially after mid-century despite the provisions of the Peace of Linz of 1645 which guaranteed religious freedom in Hungary. The level of instruction in many of the schools was quite high. The rectors and teachers often received their university training abroad . This brought them into contact with the prevailing academic and cultural currents of thought . Some were also quite accomplished and widely recognized scholars. Among these were Elias Ladiver, Izak Caban, Jan Duchon and Jan Bayer to mention but a few .23 The number of scholarly and culturally significant works published in Hungary or abroad by the teachers active in Slovakia also grew substantially during the seventeenth century. From presses in Levoca and Bardejov came several editions of works by Comenius including his Janua Linguae Latinae, an innovative, illustrated textbook for learning Latin. 24 However, the Lutherans lacked a university of their own in Slovakia and the quality of their schools was still quite diverse and dependent both on the financial commitment of their patrons and the training and experience of their rectors. 25 To be sure, attempts were made by the Lutherans in Slovakia to resolve their internal difficulties. During the 1550' s and 1560's proposals were made to establish a unified school order but, aside from the approval of texts, little was accomplished . Moreover, after the Synod of Zilina in 1610, despite the support of Juraj Thurzo �SLOVAKIA 21 and Gaspar Illeshazy, the Lutherans were unable to establish their own academy or university during the first half of the seventeenth century. During the second half of the century, the Latin school in Presov was reorganized as a college according to the suggestion of Jan Bayer while other schools added additional advanced courses in both philosophy and theology. Despite these and other modifications to the curricula of the Lutheran schools, including the gradual acceptance of some of the pedagogical principles of Comenius, they continued to lose ground to the forces of the Counter-Reformation in Slovakia. 26 During the first half of the sevententh century the work anticipated by Mikulas Olah was carred on by his even more remarkable successor, the Hungarian Jesuit Peter Pazmany . He emerged as a major figure in the years following the Peace of Vienna in 1606 which granted Protestants religious toleration in Hungary. Pazmany was untiring in his opposition to the Reformation movement . His energy, combined with intellectual acuity and powerful connections, brought about the re-introduction of the Jesuit order into Hungary, despite the opposition of many of the nobility and cities. In 1615 Pazmany re-established the Jesuit academy or college in the Dominican cloister in Trnava as a three-class school. After receiving a dispensation which released him from his order, Pazmany became Archbishop and in this capacity set about establishing a Catholic university in Hungary . In 1635 he received approval to found a university in Trnava which would have, as one of its chief functions, combatting the spread of Protestantism and the fostering of Catholic doctrine and practice. The school was open to students of all faiths and instruction was without charge . It was organized according to the Jesuit program of education set down in the Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Jesu issued by the general superior of the order, Claudius Aquaviva, in 1599. That this educational model was congruent with the program of studies advocated by the Evangelical Sturm in Strasbourg is understandable . The "Ratio" was based upon the educational ideas and programs of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, who had been a contemporary of Sturm at Louvain and Paris. 27 The Jesuit system of education, as established by the " Ratio, " �SLOVAKIA 22 was divided into two categories: the studia inferiora or lower school, which corresponded to the grammar or Latin schools of the cities, and the studia superiora" or higher studies, which was equivalent to university training. While the lower schools, which were open to all, were divided into five classes or grades which took between five and seven years to complete, the upper division or university level was divided into two levels, the general philosophical or liberal arts program and finally, the highest level, the study of theology . While the philosophy program lasted three years, those who wished to study theology completed at least four years of study and then, if a doctorate in theology was desired, an additional two years. The goal of this Jesuit educational system was piety and eloquence, the same as it had been for the Evangelical humanists of the sixteenth century. It was designed to achieve specific religious purposes and to serve as an agency for Catholic Reformation and to counter the spread of the Protestant Reformation. However, unlike other traditional universities, the Jesuit school at Trnava did not have a faculty of medicine or of law. The same program of studies was followed by Benedikt Kisdy, Bishop of Eger, who in 1657 organized a studium generale or university in Kosice .28 While these higher educational institutions were in the hands of the Jesuits, the Piarists were active, especially after the midseventeenth century, in establishing lower or basic schools which they founded or established in formerly Lutheran schools whose patrons had converted to Catholicism, or which were taken from the non-Catholics by force. The members of these orders proved to be effective educators and even adopted many of the same methods and materials which had been employed by the Protestants in their schools. The influence and excellence of the Jesuit and Piarist schools combined, after mid-century, with open persecution and military force, to bring about a substantial decline in the number of Lutheran schools in Slovakia . In addition, the re-conversion of many of the higher nobility to Catholicism, the rebellions of Thokoly and Rakoci, the Wesselenyi conspiracy and the growing power of the Habsburgs, who successfully campaigned against the Turks following the second siege of Vienna in 1683, together combined to create both the Habsburgs 11 11 II II 11 �SLOVAKIA 23 alliance with the Counter-Reformation and the peculiar Catholic Baroque culture in southeast central Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This effective alliance substantially reduced the number of Evangelicals in Hungary and led to a decline in the number and quality of the Lutheran schools in Slovakia. According to Jan Rezik, from the more than seventy Protestant schools in Hungary which could be considered gymnasiums in 1640, only 10 possessed that character at the dawn of the eighteenth century. Many of the former Evangelical city schools were taken from the Lutherans or lost their gymnasia! character and became grammar schools. Even though fewer in number and much constrained, Lutheran schools continued to function in Slovakia and to provide Slovaks with training both in the classical languages and in Lutheran doctrine and to prepare their students for university study, most often at universities in Germany or elsewhere in western and northern Europe. This meant that the graduates of these schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, like their sixteenth and seventeenth century predecessors, would become well acquainted with the broad intellectual currents of the day including the Enlightenment principles which fostered the national awakening of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. On the other hand, although they were co-creators of the peculiar Baroque culture of the Austrian Habsburg lands, the Catholic schools also actively cultivated the use of the Slovak language as part of the program of education and thereby also contributed to the eventual codification of Slovak as a literary language and the creation of a Slovak intelligentsia. Thus, Lutheran and Catholic schools made it possible for a broad cross-section of the population, including many ethnic Slovaks, to gain an education and enter public life. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries these schools were among the chief agencies which aided the social and cultural advancement of the Slovaks . Although the development of Protestant and Catholic popular education in Slovakia during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries helped to create a Slovak intelligentsia and thereby laid the foundations for the Slovak cultural and literary revival of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it also created substan- �24 SLOVAKIA tial problems for the subsequent history of the Slovaks. The Slovak intelligentsia and the population were divided into two, often very hostile groups, Protestants and Catholics. Their education, historical development, traditions, and even their cultural awareness and perceptions of Slovak history were quite different. These differences would be manifested in the history of the Slovaks and Slovakia. The continuing heritage of the educational reform of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and the broader cultural and social changes these effected were evident not only during the period of the national cultural revival, but also in the subsequent attempts to foster an ethnic solidarity and a common political consciousness among the Slovaks in the struggle to define and create a Slovak nation and state. FOOTNOTES 1 [udovft Holotfk and Jan Tibensky, Dejiny 5/ovenska I (Bratislava, 1961), pp. 380-392, 456-478; Pavo! Mazak, Mikulas Gasparfk, Pavo! Petrus and Milan Pisut. Dejiny slovenskej literatun; 2 (Bratislava, 1984), pp. 9-86; Jan Hucko, Socialne zlozenie a povod slovenskej obrodenskej inteligencie (Bratislava, 1974). 2 Contemporary scholars are debating whether or not Reformation schools were successful , a debate which focuses on th e question of whether or not an improvement in individual and/or public morality is the best standard by which the success or failure of the Reformation is to be ascertained. Some, like Gerald Strauss, conclude that the Reformation schools fai led because they did not effect a fundamental improvement in or transformation of the moral lives of their gradu ates. Others, however, question the use of the hermeneutical principle of moral transformation as a sta ndard for judging the success of the Reformation as a historical, ecclesiastical and theological movement . They argue that observable changes in theological formu lations, liturgical practices, ecclesiastical institutions and cu ltural development are more effective means to evaluate the impact of the Reformation. See especially Gerald Strauss, Luther's House of Leaming. Indoctrination of the Young in the Gennan Reformation (Baltimore, 1976); James M. Kittelson, " Successes and Failures of the German Reformation: The Report from Strasbourg," Arch iv fiir Refonna tionsgeschichte 73 (1982) and also his " The Confessional Age: The Late Reformation in Germany " pages 361-381 in Reformation Europe: A Guide to Research edited by Steven Ozment (St. Louis, 1982); Leif Crane (Ed.), University and Reformation: Lectures from the University of Copen hagen Symposium (Leiden, 1981). Also very useful is the older work of Georg Mertz, Das Schulwesen der deu tschen Reformation im 16. Jahrhundert (Heidelberg, 1902), and of Friedrich Paulson, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts �SLOVAKIA 25 auf den deutschen Schulen und Universitiiten vom Ausgang des Mittelalters bis zur Gegenwart (Leipzig, 1919). 3 For a brief discussion of contemporary research questions see James D. Tracy, " Humanism and the Reformation," pages 33-57 in Reformation Europe: a Guide to Research. A very useful collection of essays on the various aspects of Humanism is Renaissance Humanism: Foundations, Forms and Legacy, 3 volumes, Edited by Albert Rabil, Jr. (Philadelphia, 1988). See also Humanizmus a renesancia na Slovensku v. 15. - 16. storoci edited by tudovft Holoti'.k and Anton Vantuch (Bratislava, 1967) which contains several excellent essays touching on humanism and education in Slovakia. 4 The role of printing in the spread of the Reformation is another topic of great interest to contemporary Reformation historians. See especially Elizabeth L. Eisenstein , The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe (New York, 1983); Miriam Usher Chrisman, Lay Culture and the Culture of the Learned: Books, Men and Ideas in Strasbourg, 1480-1599 (New Haven, 1982); Richard Crofts, "Books, Reform and the Reformation," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 71 (1980) : 21-35; Richard Cole, "The Reformation in Print: German Pamphlets and Propaganda," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 66 (1975): 93-102; and Louise W. Holborn, " Printing and the Growth of a Protestant Movement in Germany from 1517 to 1524," Church History 11 (1942): 123-137. s See especially Heinz Scheible, "Melanchthons Beziehungen zum DonauKarpaten-Rum bis 1546," pages 36-67 in Luther und Siebenbiirgen, Siebenbiirgisches Archiv 19, edited by George and Renate Weber (Koln, 1985); William Toth, " Highlights of the Hungarian Reformation," Church History 9 (1940):141-156, and also his "Luther's Frontier in Hungary," pages 75-91 in Reformation Studies, Essays in Honor of Roland H. Bainton, edited by Franklin H. Littel (Richmond, 1972); R.J. W. Evangs, "Calvinism in East Central Europe, Hungary and Her Neighbors," pages 167-196 in International Calvinism, 1541-1717, edited by Menna Prestwich (Oxford, 1985); and William Hammer, "Latin Instruction in the Schools of Transylvania from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century," The Phoenix 8 (1954):92-108. 6 The literature on education in Hungary as a whole and on Slovakia in particular owes a great deal to several older works including the compilation of material gathered during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Jan Rezik and Samuel Matthaeides, Gymnaziolfgia, Dejiny Gymnazii na Slovensku, edited by Vladislav Ruzicka (Bratislava, 1971). Also extremely useful is Vilmos Frankl (Fraknoi), A hazai es kiilfoldi iskolazas a XVI szazadban (Budapest, 1873) . A recent general survey was published by Josef Matej el al. Dejiny Ceskej a Slovenskej Pedagogiky (Bratislava, 1976). For the era of the Reformation and CounterReformation the following three works are indispensible: Peter Vajcik, Skolstvo, studijne a skolske poriadky na Slovensku v XVI storoci (Bratislava, 1955); Istvan Meszaros, XVI. szazadi varosi iskolaink es a "studia humanitatis ", Humanizmus es Reformaci6, 11 (Budapest, 1981); and Vladislav Ruzicka, Skolstvo na Slovensku v obdobf neskoreho feudalizmu (Bratislava, 1974) which draws much from Rezik's �26 SLOVAKIA Gym naziol6gia but also provides many extensive and useful annotations. For individual schools especially helpful are : Janos Breznyik, A Se/mecbanya agost. hitv. evang. egyhaz es lyzeum tiirtenete (Selmecbanyan, 1883); Jan Gallo, Dejiny strednych skol v Gemeri do polovici 19. storocia (Martin, 1977); Jozsef Hi:irk, Az eperjesi ev. ker. collegium tiirtenete (Kassa, 1896); Pavo! Krizko, Kremnicke skolstvo v rokoch 1527-1 674 (Bratislava, 1975); Johann Liptak, Geschichte des evangelischen Lyzeums A. B. in Kesmark, 400 Jahre (Kezmarok, 1933); and Jan Mikles, " Dejiny skolstva v Banskej Bystrici mestska latinska skola" Jednotna skola 10 (1955):308-343 . See also his " Obrazky z dejfn skolstva na pociatku reformacie v Banskej Bystrici . Dokumenty k dejinam mestskej skoly v Banskej Bystrici v 16. storoci" pp. 53-84 and " Vyznam pokrokovej tradicie bystrickych skolskych zakonov z roku 1617 a ich suvislost' s komenskeho ucebnicami v Kremnici av Banskej Bystrici" pp . 85-106 in Sbom{k vyssej pedagogickej skoly v Banskej Bystrici (Banska Bystrica, 1958). 7 8 For a concise review of the evidence concerning education in Slovakia during the high middle ages see Pavol Krizko, Kremn icke skolstvo v rokoch 1526-1674. (Bratislava, 1975), pp. 10-18. Julius Sopko, " O skolstve a vzdelanosti na Slovensku v stredoveku " Historicky casopis 36 (1968) :175-197. 9 Peter Vajcik, " Nizsie skolstvo na Slovensku v 15.-16. storocf," in Holotik and Vantuch, pp. 118-127 and Matej, pp . 51-53. 10 See Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp . 7-13. 11 Ivan Chalupecky, "Vzdelanost' a Kultura spisskych miest a mesteciek v 15.-18. storoff ' Historicky casopis 35 (1987) :427-435. 12 See especially the following articles in Holotik and Vantuch: Branislav Varsik, "Slovensko a eur6pska vzdelanost' v 15.-16. storocf'', pp . 128-135; Frantisek Kavda, " Slovensti studenti na prazske universite v 15. a 16. stoletf" , pp. 137-146; Endre Kovacs, " Vzt'ahy krakovskej univerzity k Slovensku za renesancie", pp. 147-161; Pavel Horvath, "Studenti zo Slovenska na krakovskej univerzite v 15. av prvej polovici 16. storocia, " pp. 162-172; and Matus Kucera, "Studenti zo Slovenska na viedenskej univerzite d o r. 1530," pp . 173-188. 13 Tibor Kard os, " Devotio Moderna na Academii Istropolitane, " pages 25-39 in Holotik and Vantuch . Adalbert Hudak, " Der Hofprediger Johannes Henckel und seine Beziehungen zu Erasmus von Rotterdam, " Ki rch e im Osten 2 (1959):106-133; Gustav Bauch, " Dr. Johann Henckel, der Hofprediger der Ki:inigin Maria von Ungarn," Ungarische Revue 4 (1884) :559-627; Jan Kvacala, "Kralovna Maria a jej ucast v dejoch reformacie" Viera a veda 1 (1930):10-22, 59-72, 97-105 . 14 Vajcik, Skolstvo pp . 10-24; Rezik and Matthaeides; Ruzicka, pp. 34-71. 15 See Ruzicka, Rezik and Matthaeides, and Frankl. The statistics are to be considered minimum figures since they only take into account schools fo r which written evidence currently exists. �SLOVAKIA 16 27 Geza Szabo, Geschichte des Ungarischen Coetus and der Universitiit Wittenberg, 155-1613 (Halle, 1941). Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 59-135; Ruzicka, pp. 72-123. See also Friedrich Paulsen, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts I, 3rd Ed . (Berlin and Leipzig, 1919) for a general introduction to school reforms in the German states during the era of the Reformation. 18 Vajcik, Skolstvo, p. 61. 19 Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 15-24. 20 Trnavska Univerzita v slovenskych dejinach . Edited by Viliam Cicaj and Vladimir Matula (Bratislava, 1987). 21 David P . Daniel, "The Acceptance of the Formula of Concord in Slovakia,' Archive fiir Reformationsgeschichte 70 (1979):160-277 . 22 David P. Daniel, " The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia , 28 (1978-1979) :49-65. 23 For brief biographical sketches see Slovensky Biograficky Slovn{k vols . 1-3 (Martin, 1986-1989). 24 In 1643 Valentine Brewer printed his first edition of the Janua Linguae Latinae. It was quickly followed by printings in 1644, 48, 49 and again in 1655. See Jan Caplovic, Bibliografia Tlacf vydanych na Slovensku do roku 1700. I (Martin, 1972), nos . 896, 906, 938, 957, 958, 1012. 25 Presovske kolegium v s/ovenskych dejinach, edited by Imrich Sedlak (Kosice, 1967). 26 Frantisek Bokes, "Rozvoj vyssieho skolstva na Slovensku v 17.-19. storoci," in Presovske kolegium , p. 13. 2 7 Ruzicka, p . 126. 2 8 Ruzicka, pp. 125-169. 17 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1989-90, Vol. 34 Description An account of the resource Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-90 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 9 The Impact of the Protestant Reformation on Education in Slovakia DAVID P. DANIEL National revival moments awakened the ethnic, linguistic and cultural consciousness of the various peoples of the Austrian Empire throughout east central Europe during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These movements were manifestations of the influence of the Enlightenment which penetrated the region prior to and during the reign of Joseph II . Their leaders sought to define, express, and to realize the national aspirations of the peoples of the region. In Slovakia, the movement of national revival (narodne obrodenie) was particularly significant. It led to the codification of the Slovak language and the creation of a diverse body of literary works in Slovak and thus stimulated the emergence of the cultural and ethnic consciousness of the people and, ultimately, to expressions of their political aspirations. This movement can be considered one of the most significant events in the history of the Slovaks. Its leaders, among them Bel, Bernolak, Tablic, Holly, Palkovic, Safarik, Kollar, Kuzmany, Shir and Hurban, to name but a few, are rightly honored as major contributors to the development of the Slovak language, literature and culture. 1 While this national revival was primarily an expression of Enlightenment thought and was fostered by contacts with German universities and intellectuals, its roots can be traced to the transformation of education which occurred in Slovakia during the early modern era. Members of the Slovak intelligentsia of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were the intellectual and cultural heirs of traditions which can be traced back to the era of 10 SLOVAKIA the Reformation and the Counter or Catholic Reformation. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, both Protestants and Catholics contributed to the establishment of popular education . The schools in Slovakia, which were founded or reorganized during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, were local outputs of the broad intellectual and cultural currents of early modern European civilization. Their teachers and students had considerable influence, not only among the Magyar and German population of the major cities of Upper Hungary, but also among the Slovaks who comprised the largest proportion of the population in the region. Although often bitterly divided over religious issues, the faculty and graduates of those Protestant and Catholic schools were important agents both of religious reformation and cultural formation. The history of the transformation wrought in education during the Renaissance and Reformation has attracted much scholarly attention during the last twenty years. 2 Recent reformation research has devoted considerable attention to the influence of Renaissance humanism upon the curriculum of European universities and its subsequent impact upon the emergence and spread of the Reformation .3 Sharply criticizing what they considered the sterility of late medieval scholasticism, Renaisance humanists sought to engender eloquence, piety and civic responsibility. They emphasized the study of Latin, Greek, and for would-be theologians, Hebrew, as the necessary foundation for reading classic texts in their original languages. In addition, especially in its northern European manifestation, evangelical humanism also stressed religious morality and piety as well as the civic activity and responsibility which characterized Italian humanism. This influence of Renaissance humanism was not limited to the newly founded or reformed universities. It was clearly evident in the reform or founding of new grammar or middle schools throughout Europe . The education of the young was one of the primary concerns of the ecclesiastical reformers of the sixteenth century. The Protestant reformers and, following the Council of Trent, leaders of Catholic reform, urged that local institutions be established to inculcate pure doctrine and to foster piety as well as to train students in the so-called "studia humanitatis ." The reformers SLOVAKIA 11 encouraged laymen to establish and support local schools as nurseries of humanist learning and of religious formation. In these schools, the form and substance of the traditional curricula was transformed . Evangelical humanist pedagogical methods were adopted by Protestant communities and used to inculcate Lutheran or Reformed theology. These methods were also adapted for use in Catholic schools where they were employed to counter the spread of Protestantism and regain the populace for post-Tridentine Catholicism. Aided by the contemporary growth in the number and variety of printed materials, these schools created a literate public by producing and disseminating religious literature as an aid to institutionalizing ecclesiastical reform. 4 This was true not merely for Germany or western Europe, where the Reformation began and was first consolidated. It also characterized developments in east and south east central Europe as a whole and in Hungary in particular. 5 In Hungary, and specifically in Upper Hungary, roughly congruent with modernday Slovakia, educational reform and the development of local schools was one of the major features of the history of the region during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and has been the subject of considerable scholarly interest.6 These schools were particularly important for the population of the region since none of the universities founded in medieval Hungary endured into the sixteenth century . On the one hand, this meant that these local schools had to prepare students for study at foreign universities and therefore maintained close contacts with these universities . On the other hand, it not only meant that a substantial number of students, who could not afford to attend a university abroad, received all of their training in Slovakia but also that the founding of a local university or institution of higher learning eventually emerged as a major concern of both Protestant and Catholic educators. Both of these developments had considerable significance not only for the course of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Slovakia but also for the history of popular education and the emergence of a Slovak intelligentsia. MEDIEVAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Of course, the history of education in Hungary in general and 12 SLOVAKIA in Slovakia in particular did not begin with the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Both the Protestant and Catholic reformers built upon, enlarged and transformed educational institutions and traditions which had been established by the end of the fifteenth century . Indeed, in many respects, the way for the pedagogical reformers of the sixteenth century was paved by an increasing interest in education among the citizens, at the court and in the chancellery of Hungary during the time of Matthias Corvinus" Hunyadi. This growing concern for an education which went beyond that offered primarily in the older ecclesiastical institutions and schools was a manifestation both of changes in society and statecraft as well as of the influence of Italian humanism in Hungary. 7 While individual teachers could be found in Hungary during the early middle ages and although a school may have existed in the cathedral city of Nitra as early as the twelfth century, it was not until cities had begun to emerge as centers of economic and cultural activity that the existence of more than a handful of schools can be established. In addition, although a few nobles may have employed teachers in their courts, the higher nobility, as a group, did not show much interest in formal academic education prior to the sixteenth century and actually sought to inhibit the children of their serfs from attending school. Thus, most of the early schools were primarily ecclesiastical in character and emphasized the preparation of their students for functions within the church .8 The first schools to be established in the region were probably those of the three chapters, in Nitra, Bratislava and Spis and from the fragmentary documentary evidence available it is clear that each of these chapters had individuals who served as teachers by the end of the thirteenth or at the beginning of the fourteenth centuries. These not only were charged with the instruction of members of the chapter but also taught a few lay students as well. While there may also have been rudimentary schools maintained at the chancellery and in the so-called vierohodne mies ta" or II trustworthy places, which served as repositories of important legal documents, the evidence for such is fragmentary. The same is true for schools which may have been supported by the various monastic communities in Slovakia. These schools served the specific needs 11 11 11 SLOVAKIA 13 of the supporting community and taught, besides reading and writing, singing and rudimentary arithmetic or computation, necessary for determining the major, movable festivals of the ecclesiastical year. The Ars minor of Donatus and Priscian's Institutio de artica grammatica were used as the primary language instruction texts which prepared the students to read the Bible and the Church fathers. However, the reading of works by Vergil, Horace, and Ovid, usually in "Florilegia," collections of excerpts from their works, was not unknown. 9 More significant, at least in terms of the number that existed, were schools established as agencies of parish churches in the major towns of Slovakia. In northern Hungary, by the end of the fifteenth century, there were more than thirty such parish schools and eleven more towns established schools during the first two decades of the sixteenth century. Thus, at the beginning of the Reformation, most of the larger towns and at least thirteen villages in Slovakia had established schools. Although documentary evidence for the curriculum of these schools is also fragmentary, it does appear that they too were primarily concerned with meeting ecclesiastical needs and preparing students for participation in church services . However, it is reasonable to suppose that these schools were similar to "trivial" Latin schools elsewhere, especially in Germany. The "trivium" of grammar, rhetoric and logic were the foundations of the plan of studies which also included elements of the " quadrivium" of arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. In addition to the rector who supervised the administration and established, with the approval of the ecclesiastical or municipal authorities, the curriculum, there were several assistants and a cantor was employed to give instruction in music. Especially important were schools founded at Kezmarok, Bardejov, Levoca and Kosice in eastern Slovakia as well as at Kremnica, Banska Bystrica and Banska Stiavnica in central Slovakia . 10 The schools of eastern Slovakia had particularly strong connections with the University of Cracow. Leonard Cox, a former tutor of Henry VII of England, who had been honored as a poet at Cracow, taught at Levoca and then in Kosice while Valentin Eck served as rector in Bardejov. 11 These schools prepared many of their students 14 SLOVAKIA for subsequent university training. Indeed, during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the number of students from the territory inhabited by the Slovaks who attended universities in Italy, Austria, Bohemia and Poland steadily increased. While Italian universities, especially Bologna and Padua were the first to attract students from Hungary, ethnic Slovaks were particularly drawn to the University of Prague, founded by Charles IV in 1348, and then to Cracow where from 1492 the students from Hungary had their own bourse or foundation which provided financial assistance and their own matriculation book in which they registered as students . The University of Vienna also attracted a considerable number of students from Hungary where they were members of the Hungarian nation. 12 One reason that the number of students from Hungary at foreign Universities grew during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was that the number of city schools in Slovakia increased . Another reason was the closure of the universities which had been founded in Hungary, the chapter school at Veszprem, the University at Pees, which had close contacts with Bologna and was a center of Italian humnist influence, the short-lived university at Buda, and the Academia Istropolitana, founded by Matthias Corvinus in Bratislava in 1465 at which, in addition to humanism the influence of the "devotio moderna" was evident during its existence which lasted until 1493. Indeed, one of the noteworthy features of both the city schools founded in Slovakia during the decades prior to the inauguration of the Reformation and of the university training received at foreign or domestic universities, was the influence of Renaissance humanism. While Italian humanist influence predominated at Pees and in the court of Corvinus, the humanism which radiated from the Academia Istropolitana and Cracow, and whose influence was also evident in the court of Louis II and Mary, exhibited many of the particular concerns of the ''northern'' humanists for whom Desiderius Erasmus was a paradigmatic model. 13 This increase in the number of schools and the spread of humanist educational methods and concerns was not only a manifestation of a growing interest in and concern for education, especially among the urban population and the higher nobility, but also, together with the closure of domestic universities, helped to SLOVAKIA 15 prepare the way for the Reformation and the educational reforms which it effected throughout Slovakia. THE REFORMATION AND EDUCATION In Slovakia a substantial transformation in both the number and the quality of schools occurred during the sixteenth century. After the invasion of Hungary by the Turks in the 1520' s, the subsequent tripartition of the country and the spread of the Reformation, the number, structure, curriculum and administration of the schools changed considerably. There is historical evidence for the existence of schools in at least fifty places in Slovakia before 1520. The majority of these were founded during the fifteenth century. To these were added, between 1520 and the end of the century, at least eighty-three schools, the majority of which, sixty-three, were established after 1550. Of these less than ten, including the academy founded by Mikulas Olah at Trnava after 1543, were Catholic. Over one hundred of these schools, reformed or newly founded, were Protestant, and most of these were Lutheran. They were supported by city or town councils or established by individual nobles who had converted to Lutheranism either in their primary residences or in one of the towns or villages under their jurisdiction. Almost all of the royal free cities and many of the mining cities had schools while nearly fifty additional towns and villages also had regularly established schools, some supported or aided by local noble families. The 11leshazy, Thurzo, Revay, Balasa, Radvan and Mariassi families all established or supported Evangelical schools and school masters. 14 The level of instruction in these Protestant schools in Slovakia differed according to the size of the school, the financial support provided, and the training and experience of the teachers. While some of them only offered rudimentary instruction in Latin or in German or Slovak, others, like the humanist school in Bardejov during the rectorate of Leonard Stockel, attained an international reputation. By the end of the sixteenth century at least sixteen of the city and eight of the noble schools can be classified as gymnasiums or higher Latin schools while by 1640 nearly 70 Protestant schools in Hungary can be considered to have achieved that status. 15 The records of these schools, as well as of many of the 16 SLOVAKIA schools in the smaller towns and some of the villages, had received some university training abroad . Large numbers of students from Hungary, including Slovaks as well as Germans and Magyars, attended universities in Germany. Of the one thousand students from Hungary who matriculated at the university of Wittenberg during the sixteenth century, 360 were from Slovakia. 16 The school established by Gregor Hovrath-Stansic, who had attended Strasbourg, in his castle at Strazky was one of the more important noble schools for Slovaks and became one of the citadels of Lutheran orthodoxy in Slovakia. Unfortunately, no school order or plan of studies has yet been located for any of the castle or village schools. However, the scanty documentary evidence available does seem to indicate that their school masters were influenced by the same pedagogical concerns and followed the approach of their colleagues in the evangelical humanist schools established in the cities of Upper Hungary. The cities were the first centers of the Reformation in Slovakia. In them its course and the changes it wrought, particularly in the area of education, can be most readily identified and documented . The texts of several Protestant school orders and disciplinary regulations have been preserved. They reflect the strong influence of the educational program of the Lutheran reformation and especially of Melanchthon, Sturm and Trotzendorf upon the pedagogues in Slovakia. While the oldest preserved school order is Matthias Freundt's 1566 verbatim copy of the Zweibruecken-Neuberg order used in Banska Bystrica, the most systematic and extensive is the one prepared by John Mylius from Jihlava for the city school in Levoca in 1589. As had John Haunold, who compiled in 1587 a school order for Banska Stiavnica, Mylius used as his model the order prepared by Peter Vincentius from Wroclaw (Breslau) which was itself based on one prepared by the latter's mentor, Valentin Trotzendorf for Goldberg. Among the disciplinary regulations preserved the oldest is that prepared by Leonard Stockel for Bardejov. It was based upon the Eisleben order compiled by Johann Agricola and Herman Tulich, reflecting the three-class model recommended by Melanchthon in his instructions for the Saxon visitation of 1528. Stockel' s regulations were also adapted for use in Kezmarok and Presov. 1 7 SLOVAKIA 17 The pedagogical influence of these and other German school orders upon those in Slovakia clearly indicates that by the second half of the sixteenth century the theology of the Lutheran Reformation and Evangelical humanist pedagogy was well grounded in Slovakia . While the three class or division model recommended by Melanchthon was initially followed, by the end of the sixteenth century, under the influence of Strum's Strasbourg school order, the number of class divisions had increased, first to five and then, in the larger schools, to nine or even ten as formal classes in Greek, theology and philosophy were added to the curriculum in order to prepare graduates to assume immediately positions as teachers and pastors. The two major goals of education were piety, the inculcation of pure Protestant doctrine and practice, and eloquence, the '' artes dicendi, scribendi, et lendi, '' the art of speaking, writing and reading Latin. As Leonard Stockel wrote in his Leges Scholae Bartphensis in 1540, "Because everything ought to be carried on in the name of God, especially among God's children, since apart from this nothing can prosper, the first concern of a teacher ought to be the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom." 18 Thus, the schools devoted as much attention to the moral and religious formation of their students as they did to instruction in language. However, since "grammar was the doorway to all knowledge" the curricula of these Latin schools was organized grammatically, that is following the accepted humanist pedagogical methods which were intended to lead the students, by precept, example, and imitation, from the rudiments of reading and writing through grammar and rhetoric to the knowledge of dialectic and, finally, theology. This confessionalization of education in Slovakia was accompanied by a laicization of the supervision and administration of the schools. Even before the new school orders were drawn up, the influence of the Reformation was manifested in the transformation of the older parish and cloister trivial schools into town or city schools supported and directly administered by laymen. Starting during the second quarter of the sixteenth century, the responsibility for financing and supervising the schools was exercised either by city or town councils or by individual nobles. These laymen claimed the right to appoint the rector and to supervise his activities, as well as those of any private teachers; they approved the school 18 SLOVAKIA orders and disciplinary regulations; they assessed and provided for the material needs of the school and its personnel; and they appointed or served as school visitors or examiners. 19 Thus, by the end of the sixteenth century the schools of Slovakia had school orders based upon those utilized by Lutheran schools or territories in Germany, they were administered and supported by Lutheran councils or nobles, and they employed Lutheran teachers who used both classic humanist and Lutheran texts or materials which they themselves had written. Not that this transformation had come easily. After mid-century, the Lutherans of Slovakia were challenged not only by post-Tridentine Catholicism and the entry of the Jesuits into Slovakia, but also by the spread of Reformed doctrines, especially those of Bullinger and the Second Helvetic Confession. Mikulas Olah, the Primate of Hungary, a learned humanist, and an industrious administrator, realized that the Reformation was becoming a popular movement in Slovakia. He was convinced that the defense of the Roman Catholic faith was possible only if it adopted and adapted the methods of education effectively employed by the Evangelicals. He therefore set out to increase the discipline and moral character of priests and to improve their education by strengthening existing schools and establishing new ones. In Trnava, to which the Archbishop Paul Varadi had transferred his episcopal court in 1543 after the fall of Buda and Esztergom to the Turks, Olah began his work of reorganization of Catholic education. 2° In 1554, with the agreement of the city council, he combined the administration of the local city school and the chapter school which had come with the episcopal bureaucracy to Trnava and prepared for it a plan of studies in the decree Concerning the reform of the Trnava School. " This situation lasted only several years and in 1558 Olah placed the school completely under the administration of the chapter . Thus while the administrator of the school was the canonical lector, the actual educational director of the six-class school was the sub-rector who was empowerd to appoint two teachers, one who spoke Slovak, the other German, and to engage a cantor for instruction in music . The Emperor and Hungarian King, Ferdinand I, not only provided materially for the well-being of the school by granting it ec11 SLOVAKIA 19 clesiastical benefices, he also approved the request of Olah and Diego Laynez Lainer, the general superior of the Jesuit order, to found a Jesuit school in Trnava which was opened in 1561. However, this Jesuit academy lasted only six years and foundered as a result of the plague, fire, and the opposition of the local magistrates and pastor. Some of the community transferred their activities to Sala nad Vahom where they established a three-class Latin School. While other Catholic schools existed in Komarno, Nove Zamky, Zvolen and in Bratislava, the majority of the schools in Slovakia were and remained Protestant until the seventeenth century. The revival of post-Tridentine Catholicism was not the only challenge which confronted the Protestant schools. Within the Lutheran communities of eastern Slovakia confessional controversies raged for the last two decades of the century which were a manifestation of the influence of Reformed theology to which the majority of Magyar Protestants adhered. These debates focused on the acceptance of the Book of Concord as the norm of Lutheran teaching and, therefore, also a struggle for the control of the schools and for education. During these confessional controversies Slovaks, among them Severinus Sculteti and Elias Lani, who had received almost all of their education in Slovakia, began to emerge as major theological and ecclesiastical leaders within the Lutheran movement in Slovakia. This growing influence of Slovaks can also be seen in the elections of seniors at the synods of Zilina (1610) and Spisske Podhradie (1614), which established legally recognized ecclesiastical seniorats for the Lutherans in Slovakia.21 By the dawn of the seventeenth century Slovaks comprised the majority of the membership of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia and an increasing proportion of the pastors and teachers were of Slovak origin. These would be joined, especially after the battle of White Mountain of 1620, by a significant number of emigres from the Czech lands who sought refuge in Hungary, among them the hymnodist Juraj Tranovsky, and the noted educator Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius), whose pansophic philosophy and pedagogical ideas had considerable impact in middle Europe. This influx of emigres enriched the life of the schools and the Protestant communities in Slovakia and, at the same time, created 20 SLOVAKIA some difficulties for them since it contributed to and accentuated already existing confessional disputes or tensions. Especially significant for the Slovak-speaking Lutherans was the increasing availability of publications in Czech or Slovakicized Czech which served their worship and devotional needs . In addition to the translation of Luther' s Small Catechism, published in Bardejov in 1581, and the catechism of Jan Pruno-Frastacky (1583) and Daniel Pribis (1634), the devotional life of Slovak-speaking Lutherans was enriched by the hymn collection of Juraj Tranovsky, published in Levoca in 1636. Together with the translation of the Bible produced by the Unitas Fratrum in Moravia at the end of the sixteenth century, the so-called "Kralice Bible," these publications served the private and public worship and devotional needs of Slovak-speaking Lutherans. 22 While Protestant schools continued to be established or improved during the first half of the seventeenth century, they were confronted with significant challenges which increased substantially after mid-century despite the provisions of the Peace of Linz of 1645 which guaranteed religious freedom in Hungary. The level of instruction in many of the schools was quite high. The rectors and teachers often received their university training abroad . This brought them into contact with the prevailing academic and cultural currents of thought . Some were also quite accomplished and widely recognized scholars. Among these were Elias Ladiver, Izak Caban, Jan Duchon and Jan Bayer to mention but a few .23 The number of scholarly and culturally significant works published in Hungary or abroad by the teachers active in Slovakia also grew substantially during the seventeenth century. From presses in Levoca and Bardejov came several editions of works by Comenius including his Janua Linguae Latinae, an innovative, illustrated textbook for learning Latin. 24 However, the Lutherans lacked a university of their own in Slovakia and the quality of their schools was still quite diverse and dependent both on the financial commitment of their patrons and the training and experience of their rectors. 25 To be sure, attempts were made by the Lutherans in Slovakia to resolve their internal difficulties. During the 1550' s and 1560's proposals were made to establish a unified school order but, aside from the approval of texts, little was accomplished . Moreover, after the Synod of Zilina in 1610, despite the support of Juraj Thurzo SLOVAKIA 21 and Gaspar Illeshazy, the Lutherans were unable to establish their own academy or university during the first half of the seventeenth century. During the second half of the century, the Latin school in Presov was reorganized as a college according to the suggestion of Jan Bayer while other schools added additional advanced courses in both philosophy and theology. Despite these and other modifications to the curricula of the Lutheran schools, including the gradual acceptance of some of the pedagogical principles of Comenius, they continued to lose ground to the forces of the Counter-Reformation in Slovakia. 26 During the first half of the sevententh century the work anticipated by Mikulas Olah was carred on by his even more remarkable successor, the Hungarian Jesuit Peter Pazmany . He emerged as a major figure in the years following the Peace of Vienna in 1606 which granted Protestants religious toleration in Hungary. Pazmany was untiring in his opposition to the Reformation movement . His energy, combined with intellectual acuity and powerful connections, brought about the re-introduction of the Jesuit order into Hungary, despite the opposition of many of the nobility and cities. In 1615 Pazmany re-established the Jesuit academy or college in the Dominican cloister in Trnava as a three-class school. After receiving a dispensation which released him from his order, Pazmany became Archbishop and in this capacity set about establishing a Catholic university in Hungary . In 1635 he received approval to found a university in Trnava which would have, as one of its chief functions, combatting the spread of Protestantism and the fostering of Catholic doctrine and practice. The school was open to students of all faiths and instruction was without charge . It was organized according to the Jesuit program of education set down in the Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Jesu issued by the general superior of the order, Claudius Aquaviva, in 1599. That this educational model was congruent with the program of studies advocated by the Evangelical Sturm in Strasbourg is understandable . The "Ratio" was based upon the educational ideas and programs of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, who had been a contemporary of Sturm at Louvain and Paris. 27 The Jesuit system of education, as established by the " Ratio, " SLOVAKIA 22 was divided into two categories: the studia inferiora or lower school, which corresponded to the grammar or Latin schools of the cities, and the studia superiora" or higher studies, which was equivalent to university training. While the lower schools, which were open to all, were divided into five classes or grades which took between five and seven years to complete, the upper division or university level was divided into two levels, the general philosophical or liberal arts program and finally, the highest level, the study of theology . While the philosophy program lasted three years, those who wished to study theology completed at least four years of study and then, if a doctorate in theology was desired, an additional two years. The goal of this Jesuit educational system was piety and eloquence, the same as it had been for the Evangelical humanists of the sixteenth century. It was designed to achieve specific religious purposes and to serve as an agency for Catholic Reformation and to counter the spread of the Protestant Reformation. However, unlike other traditional universities, the Jesuit school at Trnava did not have a faculty of medicine or of law. The same program of studies was followed by Benedikt Kisdy, Bishop of Eger, who in 1657 organized a studium generale or university in Kosice .28 While these higher educational institutions were in the hands of the Jesuits, the Piarists were active, especially after the midseventeenth century, in establishing lower or basic schools which they founded or established in formerly Lutheran schools whose patrons had converted to Catholicism, or which were taken from the non-Catholics by force. The members of these orders proved to be effective educators and even adopted many of the same methods and materials which had been employed by the Protestants in their schools. The influence and excellence of the Jesuit and Piarist schools combined, after mid-century, with open persecution and military force, to bring about a substantial decline in the number of Lutheran schools in Slovakia . In addition, the re-conversion of many of the higher nobility to Catholicism, the rebellions of Thokoly and Rakoci, the Wesselenyi conspiracy and the growing power of the Habsburgs, who successfully campaigned against the Turks following the second siege of Vienna in 1683, together combined to create both the Habsburgs 11 11 II II 11 SLOVAKIA 23 alliance with the Counter-Reformation and the peculiar Catholic Baroque culture in southeast central Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This effective alliance substantially reduced the number of Evangelicals in Hungary and led to a decline in the number and quality of the Lutheran schools in Slovakia. According to Jan Rezik, from the more than seventy Protestant schools in Hungary which could be considered gymnasiums in 1640, only 10 possessed that character at the dawn of the eighteenth century. Many of the former Evangelical city schools were taken from the Lutherans or lost their gymnasia! character and became grammar schools. Even though fewer in number and much constrained, Lutheran schools continued to function in Slovakia and to provide Slovaks with training both in the classical languages and in Lutheran doctrine and to prepare their students for university study, most often at universities in Germany or elsewhere in western and northern Europe. This meant that the graduates of these schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, like their sixteenth and seventeenth century predecessors, would become well acquainted with the broad intellectual currents of the day including the Enlightenment principles which fostered the national awakening of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. On the other hand, although they were co-creators of the peculiar Baroque culture of the Austrian Habsburg lands, the Catholic schools also actively cultivated the use of the Slovak language as part of the program of education and thereby also contributed to the eventual codification of Slovak as a literary language and the creation of a Slovak intelligentsia. Thus, Lutheran and Catholic schools made it possible for a broad cross-section of the population, including many ethnic Slovaks, to gain an education and enter public life. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries these schools were among the chief agencies which aided the social and cultural advancement of the Slovaks . Although the development of Protestant and Catholic popular education in Slovakia during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries helped to create a Slovak intelligentsia and thereby laid the foundations for the Slovak cultural and literary revival of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it also created substan- 24 SLOVAKIA tial problems for the subsequent history of the Slovaks. The Slovak intelligentsia and the population were divided into two, often very hostile groups, Protestants and Catholics. Their education, historical development, traditions, and even their cultural awareness and perceptions of Slovak history were quite different. These differences would be manifested in the history of the Slovaks and Slovakia. The continuing heritage of the educational reform of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and the broader cultural and social changes these effected were evident not only during the period of the national cultural revival, but also in the subsequent attempts to foster an ethnic solidarity and a common political consciousness among the Slovaks in the struggle to define and create a Slovak nation and state. FOOTNOTES 1 [udovft Holotfk and Jan Tibensky, Dejiny 5/ovenska I (Bratislava, 1961), pp. 380-392, 456-478; Pavo! Mazak, Mikulas Gasparfk, Pavo! Petrus and Milan Pisut. Dejiny slovenskej literatun; 2 (Bratislava, 1984), pp. 9-86; Jan Hucko, Socialne zlozenie a povod slovenskej obrodenskej inteligencie (Bratislava, 1974). 2 Contemporary scholars are debating whether or not Reformation schools were successful , a debate which focuses on th e question of whether or not an improvement in individual and/or public morality is the best standard by which the success or failure of the Reformation is to be ascertained. Some, like Gerald Strauss, conclude that the Reformation schools fai led because they did not effect a fundamental improvement in or transformation of the moral lives of their gradu ates. Others, however, question the use of the hermeneutical principle of moral transformation as a sta ndard for judging the success of the Reformation as a historical, ecclesiastical and theological movement . They argue that observable changes in theological formu lations, liturgical practices, ecclesiastical institutions and cu ltural development are more effective means to evaluate the impact of the Reformation. See especially Gerald Strauss, Luther's House of Leaming. Indoctrination of the Young in the Gennan Reformation (Baltimore, 1976); James M. Kittelson, " Successes and Failures of the German Reformation: The Report from Strasbourg," Arch iv fiir Refonna tionsgeschichte 73 (1982) and also his " The Confessional Age: The Late Reformation in Germany " pages 361-381 in Reformation Europe: A Guide to Research edited by Steven Ozment (St. Louis, 1982); Leif Crane (Ed.), University and Reformation: Lectures from the University of Copen hagen Symposium (Leiden, 1981). Also very useful is the older work of Georg Mertz, Das Schulwesen der deu tschen Reformation im 16. Jahrhundert (Heidelberg, 1902), and of Friedrich Paulson, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts SLOVAKIA 25 auf den deutschen Schulen und Universitiiten vom Ausgang des Mittelalters bis zur Gegenwart (Leipzig, 1919). 3 For a brief discussion of contemporary research questions see James D. Tracy, " Humanism and the Reformation," pages 33-57 in Reformation Europe: a Guide to Research. A very useful collection of essays on the various aspects of Humanism is Renaissance Humanism: Foundations, Forms and Legacy, 3 volumes, Edited by Albert Rabil, Jr. (Philadelphia, 1988). See also Humanizmus a renesancia na Slovensku v. 15. - 16. storoci edited by tudovft Holoti'.k and Anton Vantuch (Bratislava, 1967) which contains several excellent essays touching on humanism and education in Slovakia. 4 The role of printing in the spread of the Reformation is another topic of great interest to contemporary Reformation historians. See especially Elizabeth L. Eisenstein , The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe (New York, 1983); Miriam Usher Chrisman, Lay Culture and the Culture of the Learned: Books, Men and Ideas in Strasbourg, 1480-1599 (New Haven, 1982); Richard Crofts, "Books, Reform and the Reformation," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 71 (1980) : 21-35; Richard Cole, "The Reformation in Print: German Pamphlets and Propaganda," Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte 66 (1975): 93-102; and Louise W. Holborn, " Printing and the Growth of a Protestant Movement in Germany from 1517 to 1524," Church History 11 (1942): 123-137. s See especially Heinz Scheible, "Melanchthons Beziehungen zum DonauKarpaten-Rum bis 1546," pages 36-67 in Luther und Siebenbiirgen, Siebenbiirgisches Archiv 19, edited by George and Renate Weber (Koln, 1985); William Toth, " Highlights of the Hungarian Reformation," Church History 9 (1940):141-156, and also his "Luther's Frontier in Hungary," pages 75-91 in Reformation Studies, Essays in Honor of Roland H. Bainton, edited by Franklin H. Littel (Richmond, 1972); R.J. W. Evangs, "Calvinism in East Central Europe, Hungary and Her Neighbors," pages 167-196 in International Calvinism, 1541-1717, edited by Menna Prestwich (Oxford, 1985); and William Hammer, "Latin Instruction in the Schools of Transylvania from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century," The Phoenix 8 (1954):92-108. 6 The literature on education in Hungary as a whole and on Slovakia in particular owes a great deal to several older works including the compilation of material gathered during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Jan Rezik and Samuel Matthaeides, Gymnaziolfgia, Dejiny Gymnazii na Slovensku, edited by Vladislav Ruzicka (Bratislava, 1971). Also extremely useful is Vilmos Frankl (Fraknoi), A hazai es kiilfoldi iskolazas a XVI szazadban (Budapest, 1873) . A recent general survey was published by Josef Matej el al. Dejiny Ceskej a Slovenskej Pedagogiky (Bratislava, 1976). For the era of the Reformation and CounterReformation the following three works are indispensible: Peter Vajcik, Skolstvo, studijne a skolske poriadky na Slovensku v XVI storoci (Bratislava, 1955); Istvan Meszaros, XVI. szazadi varosi iskolaink es a "studia humanitatis ", Humanizmus es Reformaci6, 11 (Budapest, 1981); and Vladislav Ruzicka, Skolstvo na Slovensku v obdobf neskoreho feudalizmu (Bratislava, 1974) which draws much from Rezik's 26 SLOVAKIA Gym naziol6gia but also provides many extensive and useful annotations. For individual schools especially helpful are : Janos Breznyik, A Se/mecbanya agost. hitv. evang. egyhaz es lyzeum tiirtenete (Selmecbanyan, 1883); Jan Gallo, Dejiny strednych skol v Gemeri do polovici 19. storocia (Martin, 1977); Jozsef Hi:irk, Az eperjesi ev. ker. collegium tiirtenete (Kassa, 1896); Pavo! Krizko, Kremnicke skolstvo v rokoch 1527-1 674 (Bratislava, 1975); Johann Liptak, Geschichte des evangelischen Lyzeums A. B. in Kesmark, 400 Jahre (Kezmarok, 1933); and Jan Mikles, " Dejiny skolstva v Banskej Bystrici mestska latinska skola" Jednotna skola 10 (1955):308-343 . See also his " Obrazky z dejfn skolstva na pociatku reformacie v Banskej Bystrici . Dokumenty k dejinam mestskej skoly v Banskej Bystrici v 16. storoci" pp. 53-84 and " Vyznam pokrokovej tradicie bystrickych skolskych zakonov z roku 1617 a ich suvislost' s komenskeho ucebnicami v Kremnici av Banskej Bystrici" pp . 85-106 in Sbom{k vyssej pedagogickej skoly v Banskej Bystrici (Banska Bystrica, 1958). 7 8 For a concise review of the evidence concerning education in Slovakia during the high middle ages see Pavol Krizko, Kremn icke skolstvo v rokoch 1526-1674. (Bratislava, 1975), pp. 10-18. Julius Sopko, " O skolstve a vzdelanosti na Slovensku v stredoveku " Historicky casopis 36 (1968) :175-197. 9 Peter Vajcik, " Nizsie skolstvo na Slovensku v 15.-16. storocf," in Holotik and Vantuch, pp. 118-127 and Matej, pp . 51-53. 10 See Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp . 7-13. 11 Ivan Chalupecky, "Vzdelanost' a Kultura spisskych miest a mesteciek v 15.-18. storoff ' Historicky casopis 35 (1987) :427-435. 12 See especially the following articles in Holotik and Vantuch: Branislav Varsik, "Slovensko a eur6pska vzdelanost' v 15.-16. storocf'', pp . 128-135; Frantisek Kavda, " Slovensti studenti na prazske universite v 15. a 16. stoletf" , pp. 137-146; Endre Kovacs, " Vzt'ahy krakovskej univerzity k Slovensku za renesancie", pp. 147-161; Pavel Horvath, "Studenti zo Slovenska na krakovskej univerzite v 15. av prvej polovici 16. storocia, " pp. 162-172; and Matus Kucera, "Studenti zo Slovenska na viedenskej univerzite d o r. 1530," pp . 173-188. 13 Tibor Kard os, " Devotio Moderna na Academii Istropolitane, " pages 25-39 in Holotik and Vantuch . Adalbert Hudak, " Der Hofprediger Johannes Henckel und seine Beziehungen zu Erasmus von Rotterdam, " Ki rch e im Osten 2 (1959):106-133; Gustav Bauch, " Dr. Johann Henckel, der Hofprediger der Ki:inigin Maria von Ungarn," Ungarische Revue 4 (1884) :559-627; Jan Kvacala, "Kralovna Maria a jej ucast v dejoch reformacie" Viera a veda 1 (1930):10-22, 59-72, 97-105 . 14 Vajcik, Skolstvo pp . 10-24; Rezik and Matthaeides; Ruzicka, pp. 34-71. 15 See Ruzicka, Rezik and Matthaeides, and Frankl. The statistics are to be considered minimum figures since they only take into account schools fo r which written evidence currently exists. SLOVAKIA 16 27 Geza Szabo, Geschichte des Ungarischen Coetus and der Universitiit Wittenberg, 155-1613 (Halle, 1941). Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 59-135; Ruzicka, pp. 72-123. See also Friedrich Paulsen, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts I, 3rd Ed . (Berlin and Leipzig, 1919) for a general introduction to school reforms in the German states during the era of the Reformation. 18 Vajcik, Skolstvo, p. 61. 19 Vajcik, Skolstvo, pp. 15-24. 20 Trnavska Univerzita v slovenskych dejinach . Edited by Viliam Cicaj and Vladimir Matula (Bratislava, 1987). 21 David P . Daniel, "The Acceptance of the Formula of Concord in Slovakia,' Archive fiir Reformationsgeschichte 70 (1979):160-277 . 22 David P. Daniel, " The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia , 28 (1978-1979) :49-65. 23 For brief biographical sketches see Slovensky Biograficky Slovn{k vols . 1-3 (Martin, 1986-1989). 24 In 1643 Valentine Brewer printed his first edition of the Janua Linguae Latinae. It was quickly followed by printings in 1644, 48, 49 and again in 1655. See Jan Caplovic, Bibliografia Tlacf vydanych na Slovensku do roku 1700. I (Martin, 1972), nos . 896, 906, 938, 957, 958, 1012. 25 Presovske kolegium v s/ovenskych dejinach, edited by Imrich Sedlak (Kosice, 1967). 26 Frantisek Bokes, "Rozvoj vyssieho skolstva na Slovensku v 17.-19. storoci," in Presovske kolegium , p. 13. 2 7 Ruzicka, p . 126. 2 8 Ruzicka, pp. 125-169. 17  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Impact of the Protestant Reformation on Education in Slovakia Description An account of the resource David P. Daniel Slovakia, Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90 pp. 9-27 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Daniel, David P., 1940-2020 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-90 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/37c3d0b4b904f6008dc60d3f8a957baa.pdf 984ee428331824dc82654ac63902b1b1 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - -- - - -- 24 The Inflectional Morphology of Standard Slovak: A Descriptive Analysis John Michael Koch i k , Ph.D. Research on this topic grew out of a desire to present Standard Slovak anew in a particularly modern linguistic form. The work was performed and completed at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of the late Doctor Charles E. Bidwell, Professor of Linguistics and Slavic Linguistics. The aim of this work is to give English-speakers interested in the Slovak language a concise, consistent, and structurally-oriented description in the analysts of Standard Slovak inflectional morphology. The theoretical approach is primarily that of American structural descriptivism ( in this case neo-Bloomfieldian). The study commences with a general introduction in which a definition of the variety of Slovak analyzed, the approximate number of contemporaneous speakers, and its linguistic locale are provided. A brief history of the language from earliest to modern times is presented, listing some of the outstanding proponents of the modern literary form and contributors to its development. Previous structural treatments of the language are outlined, implemented by the author's original treatments projected into the sections on morphophonemics and on the verb, with certain original features produced in the methods of noun classification, special-type classification of many adjectives, the illustration of similarities among some of the noun, pronoun and adjective endings, the arrangements of paradigms to illustrate identical endings, the use of synoptic tables to exhibit the endings, and the analysis of the comparative formant into two morphemes. The symbols and conventions, the phonemic notation, the primary �SLOVAKIA 25 sources consulted, the acknowledgments as well as the abbreviations utilized in the work complete section one. Section two lists the phonemes of the language: the vowels and the consonants, and adds a paragraph on the primary and secondary stresses in the language. Section three treats morphophonemics, both automatic and non-automatic (here an original treatment, as stated above). Under automatic morphophonemics are presented: voicing assimilation, simplification of double consonants, simplification of consonant clusters, sibilant assimilation, and the sequence of (j) plus (i) plus a vowel [other than (i) ] . Under non-automatic morphophonemics are these: the classification of consonantal stems as "hard" and "soft", the morphophonemic length correspondences of vowels, the alternation of vowel and zero, the "Rhythmic Law" concerning vowel length, the intercalation of -jbefore verbal suffixes, and the substitutive softening of certain consonants , and the dental/ palatal changes. Section four begins the morphology ( that is, the inflection of endings). The noun is treated first. Nouns are divided into various classes, principally feminine, neuter and masculine. These in turn are divided into subclasses according to their inflectional peculiarities. Feminine nouns have the subclasses: zena (hard stem), ulica-dlan (soft stem), kost' and pani. Neuter nouns have subclasses exemplified by the words: mesto (hard stem), plece (soft stem), vysvedcenie, and dievca. Masculine nouns are subclassified according to the sample words: chlap (hard stem animate), dub (hard stem inanimate), priatel' (soft stem animate), mec (soft stem inanimate), ujko (masculine o-noun), and the mixed declension: sluha. Next follow the mixed mesto/ kost' (oko, ucho) nouns, the mixed neuter noun di et'a, and the mixed noun/ adjective declensions exemplified by ujcirui and mufti. A synoptic table of nountype endings is included. Section five consists of the adjectives: novy (hard declension), cudzi (soft declension) , substantivized adjectives, short-form adjectives, special adjectives: possessives from nouns like bratov, and pronominal possessives like m6j, and jeden. A synoptic table of adjective-type endings is incorporated. Finally, the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs is treated. �26 SLOVAKIA Section six comprises the personal pronouns and the interrogative/ relative pronouns. Section seven presents the cardinal (plus the compound) and the collective numerals. Section eight describes the verb. Its introduction defines the verb in this study. Given next are the endings of the finite forms. The formants are presented in this order: the imperative, the gerund and present active participle, the infinitive, the l-forms, the past active participle, the past passive participle and the verbal noun. The verb is classified according to the thematic vowel in the present- and the infinitive-stems. All verbs are subdivided into Class I which has the same thematic vowel in all forms, and Class II which has in most cases different thematic vowels in the present- and the infinitive-stems and in all cases thematic zero in present-stem forms other than first singular to second plural. Within Class I there are two subclasses: the a-type with thematic a (volat', vracat', citat') and the ie 1-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e (rozumiet', mudriet'). Class II contains the following subtypes with the combination of thematic vowels in the present- and infinitivestem: ei2-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e in the infinitive stem and the present tense (except 3 pl.), (triet', mliet'), ie/0- (niest', minut'), ie/ a- (brat', hnat'); e/ 0- (bit', priat', zat', kradnut'), e/a- (hrabat', cesat', pracovat', klat'); i-type with thematic i in the infinitive stem and present tense (except 3 pl.), (hovorit', kupit'); i / e( vidiet'), i / a- (lezat', spat', stat'); and the special e/ ie-verb chciet'. Base suffixes are provided as the next feature. Then, presented are the alternations in the base which include the base-final consonant change, substitutive softening alternations, change in the infinitive formant, alternation of the root-final nasal consonant with the vowel in a certain verb-type, root alternations including one vowel alternating with another vowel, simple root-vowel lengthening in a certain verb-type, the alternation of a vowel and zero, and certain irregularities in verb-types. �SLOVAKIA 27 Aspect derivation exemplified by perfectivization and imperfectivization follow next. Perfectivization is described according to the technique of prefixation, the addition of certain suffixes, and suppletion. Imperfectivization methods are explained, followed by the characterization of frequentative verbs. The section on the verb is concluded with the verbal constructions in which are listed and clarified: the future of imperfective verbs; the l-form constructions which embrace the simple past, the pluperfect, the conditional, the conditional past, and the negation of the l-form constructions; the passive constructions; and, the word-order of elements in verbal constructions. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartek Henrich. 1944. Spravna vyslcnmost' slovenska. Bratislava-Turc. Sv. Martin, Jan Horacek. 1956. Slovensky pravopis. Gilnzburg/Donau, G. Jantsch. Belie, Jaromir, et al. 1964. Slovenstina. Praha, SPN. Bidwell, Charles E. 1958. "The Morphophonemics of Polish". General Linguistics 2. 71-99. 1959. "The Serbo-Croatian Comparative". La,i,guage 35. 259-63. 1960. "The Polish Verb". General Linguistics 4. 771964. "The Serbo-Croatian Verb". Language 4. 532-50. 1969a. Outline of Slovenian Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969b. A Morpho-Syntactic Characterization of the Modern Slavic Languages. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969c. The Structure of Russian in Outline. Pittsburgh. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1970. Outline of Bielorussian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971a. Outline of Ukrainian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971b. Outline of Czech Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1965. Outline of Polish Nominal Morphology. Pittsburgh, Unpublished pre-print, Univ. of Pittsburgh. Czambel, Samo. 1919. Rukovi:it' spisovnej reci slovenskej. (3d ed.). Turc. Sv. Martin. 1'.>urovic, ~ubomir. 1964. Paradigmatika spisovnej rustiny. Bratislava, SPN. Dvonc, Ladislav. 1955. Rytmicky zakon v spisovnej slovencine. Bratislava, SAV. Ga§parikova, Z. and A. Kami§. 1967. Slovensko-cesky slovni k. Praha, SPN. Habov§tiak, A. 1965. Oravske narecia. Bratislava, SAV. �28 SLOVAKIA Hodge, C. T. 1945. Spoken Serbo-Croatian. Madison, Linguistic Society of America. Horecky, Jan. 1964. Morfematicka struktura slovenciny. Bratislava, SAV. Isacenko, Aleksandr V. 1964. "The Morphology of the Slovak Verb". Travaux linguistiques de Prague. 1. 183-201. 1965. Grammaticeskij stroj russkogo jazyka v sopostavlenii s slovackim. I. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1968. Spektograficka analyza slovenskych hlasok. Bratislava, SAV. Jakobson, Roman. 1931. "Z fonologie spisovne sloven~tiny". Slovens/ca miscellanea. 155-63. 1962. " Phonemic Notes on Standard Slovak". Roman Jakobson 1896- Selected Writings. The Hague, Mouton. 1. 221-30. Kotek, Ludvik (ed.). 1968. Dejiny ceskoslovenska v datech. (1st ed.) Praha, Svoboda. Kucera, Henry. 1961. The Phonology of Czech. The Hague, Mouton. Kurylowicz, J. 1962. "Personal and Animate Genders in Slavic". Lingua 11. 249-56. Machek, Vaclav. 1957. Etymologicky slovnik jaZ1/ka ceskeho a slovenskeho. Praha, CSAV. Miko, Franmek. 1962. Rod, cisla a pad podstatnych mien. Bratislava, SAV. Necas, J. and M. Kopecky. 1964. Slovensko-cesky, cesko-slovensk11 slovnik rozdilnych vyrazu. Praha, SPN. Novak, I.:udovit. 1934. Fonol6gia a studium slovenciny. Turc. Sv. Martin, Matica slovenska. Ondrus, Pavel. 1964. Morfol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Orlovsky, J. and L. Arany. 1946. Gramatika jaZ11ka slovenskeho. Bratislava-Nitra, Pravda. Pauliny, Eugen. 1963. Kratka gramatika slovenska. Bratislava, SPN. 1968. Fonol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Pauliny, E.; Stolz, J.; Ruzicka, J. 1963. Slovenska gramatika. (4th ed.) Martin, Osveta. Peciar, Stefan (ed.) 1964. Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu. (5th ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1959-1968. Slovnik slovenskeho jazyka. 1-6. Bratislava, SAV. Ruzicka, Jozef (ed.). 1966. Morfol6gia slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Simko, Jan. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky slovnik. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SPN. Smejkalova, J ., et al. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky a slovensko-anglicky vreckovy slovnik. Bratislava, SPN. Stanislav, Jan. 1953. Slovenska vyslovnost'. Martin, Osveta. 1967. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka. 1-3. (2d rev. ed.) Bratislava, SAV. Stole, Jozef (ed.). 1968. Atlas slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Trubetzkoj, N. S. 1937. "Gedanken Uber die Slowakische Deklination". Readings in Linguistics. 2.96-103. Vilikovska, J .; Vilikovsky, J.; Simko, J. 1966. Slovensko-anglicky slovnik. (3d ed.) Bratislava, Obzor. Zauner, Alfonz. 1966. Prakticka prirucka slovenskeho pravopisu. Banska Bystrica, Obzor. � SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - -- - - -- 24 The Inflectional Morphology of Standard Slovak: A Descriptive Analysis John Michael Koch i k , Ph.D. Research on this topic grew out of a desire to present Standard Slovak anew in a particularly modern linguistic form. The work was performed and completed at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of the late Doctor Charles E. Bidwell, Professor of Linguistics and Slavic Linguistics. The aim of this work is to give English-speakers interested in the Slovak language a concise, consistent, and structurally-oriented description in the analysts of Standard Slovak inflectional morphology. The theoretical approach is primarily that of American structural descriptivism ( in this case neo-Bloomfieldian). The study commences with a general introduction in which a definition of the variety of Slovak analyzed, the approximate number of contemporaneous speakers, and its linguistic locale are provided. A brief history of the language from earliest to modern times is presented, listing some of the outstanding proponents of the modern literary form and contributors to its development. Previous structural treatments of the language are outlined, implemented by the author's original treatments projected into the sections on morphophonemics and on the verb, with certain original features produced in the methods of noun classification, special-type classification of many adjectives, the illustration of similarities among some of the noun, pronoun and adjective endings, the arrangements of paradigms to illustrate identical endings, the use of synoptic tables to exhibit the endings, and the analysis of the comparative formant into two morphemes. The symbols and conventions, the phonemic notation, the primary �SLOVAKIA 25 sources consulted, the acknowledgments as well as the abbreviations utilized in the work complete section one. Section two lists the phonemes of the language: the vowels and the consonants, and adds a paragraph on the primary and secondary stresses in the language. Section three treats morphophonemics, both automatic and non-automatic (here an original treatment, as stated above). Under automatic morphophonemics are presented: voicing assimilation, simplification of double consonants, simplification of consonant clusters, sibilant assimilation, and the sequence of (j) plus (i) plus a vowel [other than (i) ] . Under non-automatic morphophonemics are these: the classification of consonantal stems as "hard" and "soft", the morphophonemic length correspondences of vowels, the alternation of vowel and zero, the "Rhythmic Law" concerning vowel length, the intercalation of -jbefore verbal suffixes, and the substitutive softening of certain consonants , and the dental/ palatal changes. Section four begins the morphology ( that is, the inflection of endings). The noun is treated first. Nouns are divided into various classes, principally feminine, neuter and masculine. These in turn are divided into subclasses according to their inflectional peculiarities. Feminine nouns have the subclasses: zena (hard stem), ulica-dlan (soft stem), kost' and pani. Neuter nouns have subclasses exemplified by the words: mesto (hard stem), plece (soft stem), vysvedcenie, and dievca. Masculine nouns are subclassified according to the sample words: chlap (hard stem animate), dub (hard stem inanimate), priatel' (soft stem animate), mec (soft stem inanimate), ujko (masculine o-noun), and the mixed declension: sluha. Next follow the mixed mesto/ kost' (oko, ucho) nouns, the mixed neuter noun di et'a, and the mixed noun/ adjective declensions exemplified by ujcirui and mufti. A synoptic table of nountype endings is included. Section five consists of the adjectives: novy (hard declension), cudzi (soft declension) , substantivized adjectives, short-form adjectives, special adjectives: possessives from nouns like bratov, and pronominal possessives like m6j, and jeden. A synoptic table of adjective-type endings is incorporated. Finally, the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs is treated. �26 SLOVAKIA Section six comprises the personal pronouns and the interrogative/ relative pronouns. Section seven presents the cardinal (plus the compound) and the collective numerals. Section eight describes the verb. Its introduction defines the verb in this study. Given next are the endings of the finite forms. The formants are presented in this order: the imperative, the gerund and present active participle, the infinitive, the l-forms, the past active participle, the past passive participle and the verbal noun. The verb is classified according to the thematic vowel in the present- and the infinitive-stems. All verbs are subdivided into Class I which has the same thematic vowel in all forms, and Class II which has in most cases different thematic vowels in the present- and the infinitive-stems and in all cases thematic zero in present-stem forms other than first singular to second plural. Within Class I there are two subclasses: the a-type with thematic a (volat', vracat', citat') and the ie 1-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e (rozumiet', mudriet'). Class II contains the following subtypes with the combination of thematic vowels in the present- and infinitivestem: ei2-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e in the infinitive stem and the present tense (except 3 pl.), (triet', mliet'), ie/0- (niest', minut'), ie/ a- (brat', hnat'); e/ 0- (bit', priat', zat', kradnut'), e/a- (hrabat', cesat', pracovat', klat'); i-type with thematic i in the infinitive stem and present tense (except 3 pl.), (hovorit', kupit'); i / e( vidiet'), i / a- (lezat', spat', stat'); and the special e/ ie-verb chciet'. Base suffixes are provided as the next feature. Then, presented are the alternations in the base which include the base-final consonant change, substitutive softening alternations, change in the infinitive formant, alternation of the root-final nasal consonant with the vowel in a certain verb-type, root alternations including one vowel alternating with another vowel, simple root-vowel lengthening in a certain verb-type, the alternation of a vowel and zero, and certain irregularities in verb-types. �SLOVAKIA 27 Aspect derivation exemplified by perfectivization and imperfectivization follow next. Perfectivization is described according to the technique of prefixation, the addition of certain suffixes, and suppletion. Imperfectivization methods are explained, followed by the characterization of frequentative verbs. The section on the verb is concluded with the verbal constructions in which are listed and clarified: the future of imperfective verbs; the l-form constructions which embrace the simple past, the pluperfect, the conditional, the conditional past, and the negation of the l-form constructions; the passive constructions; and, the word-order of elements in verbal constructions. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartek Henrich. 1944. Spravna vyslcnmost' slovenska. Bratislava-Turc. Sv. Martin, Jan Horacek. 1956. Slovensky pravopis. Gilnzburg/Donau, G. Jantsch. Belie, Jaromir, et al. 1964. Slovenstina. Praha, SPN. Bidwell, Charles E. 1958. "The Morphophonemics of Polish". General Linguistics 2. 71-99. 1959. "The Serbo-Croatian Comparative". La,i,guage 35. 259-63. 1960. "The Polish Verb". General Linguistics 4. 771964. "The Serbo-Croatian Verb". Language 4. 532-50. 1969a. Outline of Slovenian Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969b. A Morpho-Syntactic Characterization of the Modern Slavic Languages. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969c. The Structure of Russian in Outline. Pittsburgh. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1970. Outline of Bielorussian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971a. Outline of Ukrainian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971b. Outline of Czech Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1965. Outline of Polish Nominal Morphology. Pittsburgh, Unpublished pre-print, Univ. of Pittsburgh. Czambel, Samo. 1919. Rukovi:it' spisovnej reci slovenskej. (3d ed.). Turc. Sv. Martin. 1'.>urovic, ~ubomir. 1964. Paradigmatika spisovnej rustiny. Bratislava, SPN. Dvonc, Ladislav. 1955. Rytmicky zakon v spisovnej slovencine. Bratislava, SAV. Ga§parikova, Z. and A. Kami§. 1967. Slovensko-cesky slovni k. Praha, SPN. Habov§tiak, A. 1965. Oravske narecia. Bratislava, SAV. �28 SLOVAKIA Hodge, C. T. 1945. Spoken Serbo-Croatian. Madison, Linguistic Society of America. Horecky, Jan. 1964. Morfematicka struktura slovenciny. Bratislava, SAV. Isacenko, Aleksandr V. 1964. "The Morphology of the Slovak Verb". Travaux linguistiques de Prague. 1. 183-201. 1965. Grammaticeskij stroj russkogo jazyka v sopostavlenii s slovackim. I. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1968. Spektograficka analyza slovenskych hlasok. Bratislava, SAV. Jakobson, Roman. 1931. "Z fonologie spisovne sloven~tiny". Slovens/ca miscellanea. 155-63. 1962. " Phonemic Notes on Standard Slovak". Roman Jakobson 1896- Selected Writings. The Hague, Mouton. 1. 221-30. Kotek, Ludvik (ed.). 1968. Dejiny ceskoslovenska v datech. (1st ed.) Praha, Svoboda. Kucera, Henry. 1961. The Phonology of Czech. The Hague, Mouton. Kurylowicz, J. 1962. "Personal and Animate Genders in Slavic". Lingua 11. 249-56. Machek, Vaclav. 1957. Etymologicky slovnik jaZ1/ka ceskeho a slovenskeho. Praha, CSAV. Miko, Franmek. 1962. Rod, cisla a pad podstatnych mien. Bratislava, SAV. Necas, J. and M. Kopecky. 1964. Slovensko-cesky, cesko-slovensk11 slovnik rozdilnych vyrazu. Praha, SPN. Novak, I.:udovit. 1934. Fonol6gia a studium slovenciny. Turc. Sv. Martin, Matica slovenska. Ondrus, Pavel. 1964. Morfol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Orlovsky, J. and L. Arany. 1946. Gramatika jaZ11ka slovenskeho. Bratislava-Nitra, Pravda. Pauliny, Eugen. 1963. Kratka gramatika slovenska. Bratislava, SPN. 1968. Fonol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Pauliny, E.; Stolz, J.; Ruzicka, J. 1963. Slovenska gramatika. (4th ed.) Martin, Osveta. Peciar, Stefan (ed.) 1964. Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu. (5th ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1959-1968. Slovnik slovenskeho jazyka. 1-6. Bratislava, SAV. Ruzicka, Jozef (ed.). 1966. Morfol6gia slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Simko, Jan. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky slovnik. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SPN. Smejkalova, J ., et al. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky a slovensko-anglicky vreckovy slovnik. Bratislava, SPN. Stanislav, Jan. 1953. Slovenska vyslovnost'. Martin, Osveta. 1967. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka. 1-3. (2d rev. ed.) Bratislava, SAV. Stole, Jozef (ed.). 1968. Atlas slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Trubetzkoj, N. S. 1937. "Gedanken Uber die Slowakische Deklination". Readings in Linguistics. 2.96-103. Vilikovska, J .; Vilikovsky, J.; Simko, J. 1966. Slovensko-anglicky slovnik. (3d ed.) Bratislava, Obzor. Zauner, Alfonz. 1966. Prakticka prirucka slovenskeho pravopisu. Banska Bystrica, Obzor. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1973, Vol. 23 Description An account of the resource Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - -- - - -- 24 The Inflectional Morphology of Standard Slovak: A Descriptive Analysis John Michael Koch i k , Ph.D. Research on this topic grew out of a desire to present Standard Slovak anew in a particularly modern linguistic form. The work was performed and completed at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of the late Doctor Charles E. Bidwell, Professor of Linguistics and Slavic Linguistics. The aim of this work is to give English-speakers interested in the Slovak language a concise, consistent, and structurally-oriented description in the analysts of Standard Slovak inflectional morphology. The theoretical approach is primarily that of American structural descriptivism ( in this case neo-Bloomfieldian). The study commences with a general introduction in which a definition of the variety of Slovak analyzed, the approximate number of contemporaneous speakers, and its linguistic locale are provided. A brief history of the language from earliest to modern times is presented, listing some of the outstanding proponents of the modern literary form and contributors to its development. Previous structural treatments of the language are outlined, implemented by the author's original treatments projected into the sections on morphophonemics and on the verb, with certain original features produced in the methods of noun classification, special-type classification of many adjectives, the illustration of similarities among some of the noun, pronoun and adjective endings, the arrangements of paradigms to illustrate identical endings, the use of synoptic tables to exhibit the endings, and the analysis of the comparative formant into two morphemes. The symbols and conventions, the phonemic notation, the primary SLOVAKIA 25 sources consulted, the acknowledgments as well as the abbreviations utilized in the work complete section one. Section two lists the phonemes of the language: the vowels and the consonants, and adds a paragraph on the primary and secondary stresses in the language. Section three treats morphophonemics, both automatic and non-automatic (here an original treatment, as stated above). Under automatic morphophonemics are presented: voicing assimilation, simplification of double consonants, simplification of consonant clusters, sibilant assimilation, and the sequence of (j) plus (i) plus a vowel [other than (i) ] . Under non-automatic morphophonemics are these: the classification of consonantal stems as "hard" and "soft", the morphophonemic length correspondences of vowels, the alternation of vowel and zero, the "Rhythmic Law" concerning vowel length, the intercalation of -jbefore verbal suffixes, and the substitutive softening of certain consonants , and the dental/ palatal changes. Section four begins the morphology ( that is, the inflection of endings). The noun is treated first. Nouns are divided into various classes, principally feminine, neuter and masculine. These in turn are divided into subclasses according to their inflectional peculiarities. Feminine nouns have the subclasses: zena (hard stem), ulica-dlan (soft stem), kost' and pani. Neuter nouns have subclasses exemplified by the words: mesto (hard stem), plece (soft stem), vysvedcenie, and dievca. Masculine nouns are subclassified according to the sample words: chlap (hard stem animate), dub (hard stem inanimate), priatel' (soft stem animate), mec (soft stem inanimate), ujko (masculine o-noun), and the mixed declension: sluha. Next follow the mixed mesto/ kost' (oko, ucho) nouns, the mixed neuter noun di et'a, and the mixed noun/ adjective declensions exemplified by ujcirui and mufti. A synoptic table of nountype endings is included. Section five consists of the adjectives: novy (hard declension), cudzi (soft declension) , substantivized adjectives, short-form adjectives, special adjectives: possessives from nouns like bratov, and pronominal possessives like m6j, and jeden. A synoptic table of adjective-type endings is incorporated. Finally, the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs is treated. 26 SLOVAKIA Section six comprises the personal pronouns and the interrogative/ relative pronouns. Section seven presents the cardinal (plus the compound) and the collective numerals. Section eight describes the verb. Its introduction defines the verb in this study. Given next are the endings of the finite forms. The formants are presented in this order: the imperative, the gerund and present active participle, the infinitive, the l-forms, the past active participle, the past passive participle and the verbal noun. The verb is classified according to the thematic vowel in the present- and the infinitive-stems. All verbs are subdivided into Class I which has the same thematic vowel in all forms, and Class II which has in most cases different thematic vowels in the present- and the infinitive-stems and in all cases thematic zero in present-stem forms other than first singular to second plural. Within Class I there are two subclasses: the a-type with thematic a (volat', vracat', citat') and the ie 1-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e (rozumiet', mudriet'). Class II contains the following subtypes with the combination of thematic vowels in the present- and infinitivestem: ei2-type with thematic ie or its shortened variant e in the infinitive stem and the present tense (except 3 pl.), (triet', mliet'), ie/0- (niest', minut'), ie/ a- (brat', hnat'); e/ 0- (bit', priat', zat', kradnut'), e/a- (hrabat', cesat', pracovat', klat'); i-type with thematic i in the infinitive stem and present tense (except 3 pl.), (hovorit', kupit'); i / e( vidiet'), i / a- (lezat', spat', stat'); and the special e/ ie-verb chciet'. Base suffixes are provided as the next feature. Then, presented are the alternations in the base which include the base-final consonant change, substitutive softening alternations, change in the infinitive formant, alternation of the root-final nasal consonant with the vowel in a certain verb-type, root alternations including one vowel alternating with another vowel, simple root-vowel lengthening in a certain verb-type, the alternation of a vowel and zero, and certain irregularities in verb-types. SLOVAKIA 27 Aspect derivation exemplified by perfectivization and imperfectivization follow next. Perfectivization is described according to the technique of prefixation, the addition of certain suffixes, and suppletion. Imperfectivization methods are explained, followed by the characterization of frequentative verbs. The section on the verb is concluded with the verbal constructions in which are listed and clarified: the future of imperfective verbs; the l-form constructions which embrace the simple past, the pluperfect, the conditional, the conditional past, and the negation of the l-form constructions; the passive constructions; and, the word-order of elements in verbal constructions. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartek Henrich. 1944. Spravna vyslcnmost' slovenska. Bratislava-Turc. Sv. Martin, Jan Horacek. 1956. Slovensky pravopis. Gilnzburg/Donau, G. Jantsch. Belie, Jaromir, et al. 1964. Slovenstina. Praha, SPN. Bidwell, Charles E. 1958. "The Morphophonemics of Polish". General Linguistics 2. 71-99. 1959. "The Serbo-Croatian Comparative". La,i,guage 35. 259-63. 1960. "The Polish Verb". General Linguistics 4. 771964. "The Serbo-Croatian Verb". Language 4. 532-50. 1969a. Outline of Slovenian Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969b. A Morpho-Syntactic Characterization of the Modern Slavic Languages. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1969c. The Structure of Russian in Outline. Pittsburgh. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1970. Outline of Bielorussian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971a. Outline of Ukrainian Morphology. (2d ed.) Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1971b. Outline of Czech Morphology. Pittsburgh, University Center for International Studies, Univ. of Pittsburgh. 1965. Outline of Polish Nominal Morphology. Pittsburgh, Unpublished pre-print, Univ. of Pittsburgh. Czambel, Samo. 1919. Rukovi:it' spisovnej reci slovenskej. (3d ed.). Turc. Sv. Martin. 1'.>urovic, ~ubomir. 1964. Paradigmatika spisovnej rustiny. Bratislava, SPN. Dvonc, Ladislav. 1955. Rytmicky zakon v spisovnej slovencine. Bratislava, SAV. Ga§parikova, Z. and A. Kami§. 1967. Slovensko-cesky slovni k. Praha, SPN. Habov§tiak, A. 1965. Oravske narecia. Bratislava, SAV. 28 SLOVAKIA Hodge, C. T. 1945. Spoken Serbo-Croatian. Madison, Linguistic Society of America. Horecky, Jan. 1964. Morfematicka struktura slovenciny. Bratislava, SAV. Isacenko, Aleksandr V. 1964. "The Morphology of the Slovak Verb". Travaux linguistiques de Prague. 1. 183-201. 1965. Grammaticeskij stroj russkogo jazyka v sopostavlenii s slovackim. I. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1968. Spektograficka analyza slovenskych hlasok. Bratislava, SAV. Jakobson, Roman. 1931. "Z fonologie spisovne sloven~tiny". Slovens/ca miscellanea. 155-63. 1962. " Phonemic Notes on Standard Slovak". Roman Jakobson 1896- Selected Writings. The Hague, Mouton. 1. 221-30. Kotek, Ludvik (ed.). 1968. Dejiny ceskoslovenska v datech. (1st ed.) Praha, Svoboda. Kucera, Henry. 1961. The Phonology of Czech. The Hague, Mouton. Kurylowicz, J. 1962. "Personal and Animate Genders in Slavic". Lingua 11. 249-56. Machek, Vaclav. 1957. Etymologicky slovnik jaZ1/ka ceskeho a slovenskeho. Praha, CSAV. Miko, Franmek. 1962. Rod, cisla a pad podstatnych mien. Bratislava, SAV. Necas, J. and M. Kopecky. 1964. Slovensko-cesky, cesko-slovensk11 slovnik rozdilnych vyrazu. Praha, SPN. Novak, I.:udovit. 1934. Fonol6gia a studium slovenciny. Turc. Sv. Martin, Matica slovenska. Ondrus, Pavel. 1964. Morfol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Orlovsky, J. and L. Arany. 1946. Gramatika jaZ11ka slovenskeho. Bratislava-Nitra, Pravda. Pauliny, Eugen. 1963. Kratka gramatika slovenska. Bratislava, SPN. 1968. Fonol6gia spisovnej slovenciny. Bratislava, SPN. Pauliny, E.; Stolz, J.; Ruzicka, J. 1963. Slovenska gramatika. (4th ed.) Martin, Osveta. Peciar, Stefan (ed.) 1964. Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu. (5th ed.) Bratislava, SAV. 1959-1968. Slovnik slovenskeho jazyka. 1-6. Bratislava, SAV. Ruzicka, Jozef (ed.). 1966. Morfol6gia slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Simko, Jan. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky slovnik. (2d ed.) Bratislava, SPN. Smejkalova, J ., et al. 1968. Anglicko-slovensky a slovensko-anglicky vreckovy slovnik. Bratislava, SPN. Stanislav, Jan. 1953. Slovenska vyslovnost'. Martin, Osveta. 1967. Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka. 1-3. (2d rev. ed.) Bratislava, SAV. Stole, Jozef (ed.). 1968. Atlas slovenskeho jazyka. Bratislava, SAV. Trubetzkoj, N. S. 1937. "Gedanken Uber die Slowakische Deklination". Readings in Linguistics. 2.96-103. Vilikovska, J .; Vilikovsky, J.; Simko, J. 1966. Slovensko-anglicky slovnik. (3d ed.) Bratislava, Obzor. Zauner, Alfonz. 1966. Prakticka prirucka slovenskeho pravopisu. Banska Bystrica, Obzor.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Inflectional Morphology of Standard Slovak: A Descriptive Analysis Description An account of the resource John Michael Kochik, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973 pp. 24-28 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kochik, John Michael Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/9d27e4c968c910c638982af71ec340fe.pdf a82a5dc86909659fac1e351a8a65c7e2 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 51 The Influence of Juraj Tranovsky's Cithara Sanctorum in Slovakia Jaroslav J. Vajda If not a landmark, Juraj Tranovsky's hymnal and prayerbook, Cithara Sanctorum, Pfsne duchovnf stare i nave (The Lyre of the Saints, Spiritual Songs Old and New, 1636), is at least a high point in Slovakia's devotional literature, especially when one includes with it Tranovsky's collection of formal liturgical prayers, Phiala Odoramentorum , Modlitby kfest'anske (A Vial of Fragrances, Christian Prayers , 1635) . Having been reprinted in more than 150 editions at home and abroad since its publication in Levoca in 1636 , the Cithara Sanctorum ranks high in popularity, usage and influence, being probably the most reprinted literary work produced in Slovakia. Our interest is in the place and impact of this book, affectionately known by Tranovsky's Latin name as the Tranoscius, in Slovak devotional literature. The Cithara, like other influential books, is the result of events and forces operating in the 16th and 17th centuries in Central Europe. Juraj Tranovsky was born on March 27, 1592 in the city of Tesfn in Silesia, of Polish parents of the Lutheran faith. 1 His earliest schooling was in a Latin grammar school in Tesfn , from which at the age of 12 he was sent to the German school in Hubin in Lower Lusatia, and from there to a humanist academy in Kolberg, Pomerania, two years later. At the age of 16 he matriculated at the University of Wittenberg, made famous by Luther and his successors. For two years young Tranovsky tutored a family at Trebon castle in southern Bohemia; he taught one year in Prague , and then accepted a position as rector of a school in Holesov, in eastern Moravia. The first traces of his poetic talents appeared in a Latin poem he wrote on the Nativity for St. Nicholas' Church in Prague , at the age of 20. In 1615 he married Anna Polan , with whom he had nine children, five sons and four daughters. Upon his ordina- �52 SLOVAKIA tio n into th e Lutheran mini stry he wa s called to be rector of the school in V alasske M ez irici, n ear H olesov in Moravia. When the local p as tor died , Tra n ovsky was called to take his place, and thu s began hi s 10-year p astor a te in M ezirici . Imm edia tely upo n his assumption of pa ri sh duties , T ran ovsk y embarked on a produ ctive p astoral a nd lite rary career. H e rebuilt the local lite rary socie ty, whi ch also included a choir , wrote a commentary and se ries of se rm o n s o n the Book of R evela tion , and wo rked on a Czech tran sla tion of the Au gsburg Confession of 1530 , a m aj or production which was pu blished in 162 0 . 2 The publication o f T ra n ovsky's tra n sla tion of thi s fo und a ti on al Lutheran symbol coincided with the defeat of the Protesta nts at the Ba ttle of White M ounta in , which effectively ended the free course of P rotestantism in Au stri a. Thou sand s of Luther a n s a nd Bohemi an Brethren fl ed before the wave of victo riou s Catholi c forces ea stward , in to Moravia, then into Slovakia a nd Hun gary, findin g re fu ge for a numbe r of years in central and eastern Slovakia . Amon g those caught in this refugee tide we re Tra novsky , hi s famil y, a nd hi s congregation in M eziri ci. The Lutheran cluster fl ed fro m pl ace to pl ace, u sually seekin g a nd findin g refuge a m o n g Hun ga ri a n Luthe ran n obility and gentry fi ghtin g a rearguard action . In the three years from 162 1 to 1624, Tran ovsky lost three children and was bri efl y imprisoned . F orced to leave M o ravia o n orders of Fe rdin a nd II , T ranovsky fl ed to Bielsko near T esfn , where he found employm ent as court preach er with hi s future p a tro n , Baron J an Szunyogh. T his reprieve la sted two years . In 1627 , with but ten year s of hi s life before him , h e took refu ge fro m furth e r per secutio n in the castles of Buda tfn a nd O rava, wh ere h e also se rved as court preache r for G abriel Illeshazy. Ju st as Luther ' s W artburg refu ge permitted him to transla te the Bible, T ranovsky's castle exil e resulted in th e produ ctio n of a L a tin h ymn collectio n e ntitl ed Odarum sacrarum sive H ym norum . .. libri tres (Three Books of Sac red Odes o r H ymn s, 1629) . By 1632 Tra n ovsky h ad assum ed the pastorate of the church in Liptovsky Sv . Mikul as , whi ch h e se rved until his death five year s la ter. A s if co n sciou s of a n early d emise, Tra novsky wo rked assi du ou sly to fini sh hi s collectio n of fo rm al liturgical p raye rs, the Phiala Odoram entorum , w hi ch a ppeared a year befo re the publi cation of hi s monumental work , the h ymnal Cithara Sanctorum in 1636 , both printed in L evoca. �SLOVAKIA 53 Tranovsky's brief but productive life cam e to an end on M ay 29 , 163 7 at the age of 45, but the results of his work continue to exe rt their influence to this day. Jozef Min arik has pointed out that the Cithara Sanctorum served in the past as a textbook of versification and prosody, and also as a " well spring of na tional consciou sn ess," besides being the '' first step in the creation of national mu sic.'' 3 Its primary impact , however , was and has rem a ined upo n the spiritual life of Slovak Christians. I emphasize Slovak Christians without regard to d enomin ation, for Tranovsky's work was ecumenical in nature and left its mark on Roman Catholic worship life as well. The Cithara was published in Levoca by V avrinec Brewer in 1636 as the answer to a growing need since the battle a t White M ounta in had stopped the production and shipment of C zech hymnals into Slovakia. It and its co mpa nion, the Phiala, were born of necessity . Slovak Lutherans, who comprised some 80 % of the Slovak popula tion a hund red years after the R eform ation ,4 did not have to p rodu ce their own devotional mate rials , since they understood the Czech language and could u se the hymn als of the Bohemian Brethren and C zech Lutheran s, eve n thou gh their theology was not totally in agreem ent with the Hu ssites and Calvinists. In the early R eformati on years , befo re th e edu cation of the laity becam e widespread , the local pastors were in co ntrol of the worship m aterials and u sed loose sheets of pa per to rep roduce the hymns which they considered appropriate for their congregational worship , the hymns being lined out for the congregation by the cantor or choir director. In thi s way a sizable repertory of hymns was developed in local co ngregations, resultin g in m an y ha ndwritten hymn accompanim en t edi tion s, or partitury, as each large Lutheran center p roduced or ad a pted its own . Al so b y this rote system of learnin g, the faithful (prima rily illiterate) acquired a growing devotional treasure, for the hymns were form s of praye r serving the C hri stian s as inspiration , com fo rt , and chall en ge, as did -the P salms of D avid. Those who we re •still illitera te could a m ass a litera ry and d evotional treasu re in a lan gu age they could unders tand , and thus their faith need s were supplied until the Slovak Lutherans could fo rm all y print p rayer books and hymn als of their ow n. T he hym ns we re not u sed alo ne, of cou rse, and we mu st pa use to mention the impo rtance of Luther ' s Sm all Ca techism in the spiritual and devotional life of the Lutheran laity. All children we re required to m emorize this brief exposition of the chief ar ticles of the C hristian faith , �54 SLOVAKIA and it became for many a daily review and anchoring of their faith as they repeated its simple explanations in their morning and evening devotions. In fact, the first printed collections of domestically composed Slovak hymns were appended to translations or reprintings of Luther 's Small Catechism. Thus , the only extant sizeable collection of hymns prior to Tranovsky' s hymnal is that of Daniel Pribis, a contemporary of Tranovsky, who collected and published 116 hymns in 1635, a year before the Cithara appeared. 5 Pribis's hymns did not come out as a separate book, as did Tranovsky's , but as an appendage to a revised translation of Luther's Catechism. This trilogy of books has been the foundation of Lutheran piety since the early years of the Reformation: the Bible , the Catechism, and the hymnal with its prayers. There would have been no such hymnal as the Tranoscius, or later the Catholic hymnal, had it not been for the Reformation and its universal impact on education, worship, and literature; or at least if the Reformation we know had not occurred, there would have had to develop a similar movement toward use of vernacular tongues . But even the Lutheran Reformation did not originate the basic conditions for use of the vernacular in the church and eventually in educational and professional areas. The first step in the eventual production of devotional literature in Slovakia was the introduction of the vernacular among the Slavs in the 9th century. For that major historical contribution, credit must be given to the patron saints of all the Slavs, the Macedonian missionary brothers, Cyril and Methodius, whose invention of the Slavonic alphabet and their translation of the scriptures into a language understandable to the Slavs, as well as their use of the vernacular in the liturgy, were all basic essentials in the ultimate production of vernacular devotional literature . 6 The n ext decisive development was the Hussite reform movement in Bohemia, challenging the dominance of Latin in the Western Church, and capturing the support of the populace by not only appealing to their nationalistic loyalties over against the Roman curia, but by proclaiming the Gospel in the language of the people and giving the faithful hymns to sing in their own tongue . The Reform movement would have died without the subsequent successful Reformation of Martin Luther, who like his Slavic forerunners, insisted on the vernacular in his Deutsche Messe, translated the Scrip- �SLOVAKIA 55 tures into German to make them accessible to the people, and then sang the Reformation into the hearts of the people with his hymns, many of which were set to popular tunes. A century later, Juraj Tranovsky found himself heir of Cyril and Method, Hus, and Luther. He provided the church with devotional literature that answered the needs of the people so well that when the Counter-Reformation set about reclaiming its huge losses, it resorted to the same means . It also used the vernacular and produced a counterpart to the Cithara Sanctorum in the Cantus Catholici, Pisne katholicke latinske a slovenske (Catholic Songs, Latin and Slovak Catholic Songs, 1655) . 7 We can say that the Cantus validated the ecumenical nature of the Cithara and of Pribis's collection by including one-fourth of the hymns in the Cithara and one-third of those in the Pribis collection. The favor was then returned by adding to the Cithara some songs from the Cantus, especially in the edition of 1674, which also carried more native songs of Slovak origin. Finally , the two hymnals had more than a hundred hymns in common. 8 What was the Cithara Sanctorum that made it influential for so many generations of Slovaks, Lutheran and Catholic? It was a product of extraordinary skill and devotion . Tranovsky came well-prepared to the task by both education, native ability, and experience. The quality of his original hymns and translations marks him as a trend-setter and standard-maker for other hymnwriters and compilers of hymnals . His revisions and selections of extant hymns demonstrate his critical ability, and his scholarly approach provides us with the first hymnal that attempts to document the sources of the hymns - except his own , which modesty caused him to offer anonymously in many instances. 9 The very size and quality of the h ymnal advances it decades beyond the normal d evelopment of hymnody. Tranovsky's approach being ecumenical and objective, he included representatives of the earliest church hymnody from the Latin a nd Greek, the contributions of Gregory the Great, the classic h ymns of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and the prayers of a similar common heritage from David through Augustine to Gregory. The 414-hymn Cithara was organized systematically according to the church year and the elements of the " Mass. " Tranovsky suppl ied the church with introits , antiphons, Kyries, Credos , Glorias , and doxologies, as well as hymns for the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, �56 SLOVAKIA for co nfession and a bsolution , fo r fest ival s and regular Sunday s of the church year , and fo r variou s spiritu al and temporal need s - in short , an all-purpose, free-s tandin g h ymnal that provided a core of essential worship m aterial s for congregational u se, as contrasted with Pribis's collection of 116 h ymn s designated for u se in schools. In the Cithara Tranovsky drew upon fo ur sources. C omprising onehalf of th e content s, 206 h ymn s are fro m tran sm oravian hymn od y, derived m ostl y from old Czech Lutheran h ymnals by Kunvald sky (1576) and Zavo rka ( 1602). Two-thirds of th ese Tra novsky left almost intact; the rem a ining third he edi ted m ore or less thorou ghly, in som e cases leavin g onl y the openin g line untouched . F rom these sources he also included m elodies. A rich heritage of hi storic Czech K yries and C redos is preserved in th e C ith ara . The second source of h ymns fo r the Cithara was German hymnody . A la rge repertory of class ic R eform ation h ymn s has been saved fo r posteri ty in the C ith ara since they no lon ger a ppear in G erm an hym nals , nor a re they still sun g. The first edition of the Cithara offered 74 tran slati ons of G erm an hymn s, 58 of them by Tranovsky. The third source, dom esti c h ymn od y by Slovak authors in strongly Slovaki zed C zech , was weakl y represented in the C ithara, numberin g only 33. Earlier , Pribis h ad gathered 68 , most of which found their way into later editi on s of the Cith ara . Tranovsky's own contribution to the hymnal was substantial . Some 161 of the 4 14 hymn s have been traced to him , numberin g 93 original composition s, 10 tran slati on s from the L atin , and 58 from the G erm an . This porti on of th e h ymn al alone is large r than m an y h ymn als of th at d ay. Tranovsky regarded hymn s as a fo rm of p rayer . In hi s int rodu ction ot th e Cithara , he said , " H e who sin gs prays twice." T he prima ry purpose of h ymn ody was to glorify G od . ext it had a d idacti c pu r: pose , to establish and nurtu re fa ith . For this reason T ranovsky u sed simple and direct la ngu age and thu s his hymn als were adopted by the people as ex pressions of their fa ith in fa miliar term s, thou gh he employed polished poeti c skill s and a wide variety of forms. T he Phial a Odoramen toru m , the prayer po rtion of Tranovsky's work , provided th e church wi th litu rgical p raye rs as well as prayers th at co uld d oubl e as hom e devotional praye rs, for u se at mornin g and evenin g services and devotions , prayers for u se with the C atechism , fo r regular di vin e services, a nd for festivals of the church years. There were �SLOVAKIA 57 prayers for all so rts and condition s of m en , penitential p salm s, a nd collects. It was a liturgicall y constru cted instrument , refl ectin g the tradition al skeleton of the m ass, as Luther 's M esse did . Th e Phiala served its readers for several editio ns of the Cithara . It was reprinted in 1685 , th en again in the cen ten a ry editio n of 1736 . It was twi ce reprinted in the late 1890's, and in 1898 was tran slated into P olish , but it was replaced in m ost edition s of th e Cith ara by the prayers of K aspa r Neum a nn transla ted fro m the G erm an . In the end , the Phiala p rov ided a m odel for subsequ ent liturgical p rayer books a nd agendas, su ch as H rabovsky's, Krm a n 's, J a kobei's, d own to B raxatori s's. L ater editors of th e Tran osciu s exp a nded the conten ts of th e h ymn al with tra n sla ti o n s of later G erma n h ym nwrite rs, su ch as P a ul G er ha rd , Benj amin Schmolck , and with original hymn s. D efiniti ve edition s were those produ ced by D a ni el Sin a piu s-H o rcicka ( 1684) a nd Sa muel Hru skovic ( 1745), kn own as th e "second Tra n ovsky." H owever , T ran ovsky's influ en ce o n th e church of hi s d ay a nd of subsequ ent generatio ns mu st n ot be rest ri cted to the liturgical and devot ion al resources he provided for the church in the Cithara. His tran sla tion of the Au gsburg C o nfess io n a nd his in sisten ce on doctrin al con fo rmi ty to th e Scriptures a nd the Lutheran Co nfessio n s did as mu ch as a n y oth e r effort to preserve orth od oxy in Slovakia. In thi s respect h e deserved to b e called the " Lu ther of Slovakia." 10 Especiall y hi s C ithara stood as a bulwark of o rthodoxy fo r som e two centuri es again st th e influ en ces of Piet ism and R atio n ali sm whi ch res ul ted in th e p u b lication of the Zpevnfk of 1842 and nu m erou s oth er attempts to d ilu te the doctrin al integrity of Lu theran hymn od y in Slovaki a. C hi efl y two edito rs of the C ith ara, Sa mu el Hru skovic ( 1745) and J an Mocko ( 1895), re-established th e doctrin al norms whi ch had suffered at the h ands of revisio nists of in terve nin g editi o n s.11 As m ent ioned earli er, Tranovsky' s Cith ara was welcomed en thu sias ticall y by Slovak Lu th eran s, a nd its a utho r was adopted as th eir coun trym a n , even th ou gh h e was a P ole by birth a nd li ved m os t of hi s life in Silesia a nd Morav ia. Tranovsky has been faulted for writing in Czech , rather tha n in Slovak . Bu t th at was th e result of th e h istorical co nd itio n s of hi s tim e, a nd h e was sim ply followin g th e practice prevale n t in th e L u theran chu rch , where th e K ralice Bible was the a u thorized ve rsio n of the Luthera n s fo r m a n y years. H oweve r , both P r ibi s's coll ect ion and the Can tus Ca th olici of 1655 were closer to the langu age �58 SLOVAKIA of the people than Tranovsky's Cithara, chiefly because they both adopted many hymns from the folk tradition and were written in a strongly Slovakized Czech. Later editions o f the Cithara incorporated hymns from the Cantus, and subsequ ent editors of the Cithara more and more Slovakized the Czech-language h ymns . Eventually, in this century, Slovak-lan guage suppleme nts were added to the Lutheran h ymnals in Slovakia, and now the entire collection of hymns selected for the newest edition , slated for publication in 1984 , is totally translated into Slovak. In the process of doing so, some of the qualities of the original hymns and tran slations will be lost , just as they are when American and English hymnodists update the King James language of classic English h y mns . Like the Bible, the Tranoscius has continued to exert an influence on Slovak devotional life , congregational a nd private, Lutheran and Catholic. This is shown, for example, in the poet Ivan Krasko 's d escription of his aged mother and h e r piety in his famous poem Vesper dominicae ( 1909) . 12 The Cithara continues to b e a living spiritual force for Slovaks and their descendants. 13 NOTES ' Older biographical sources give April 9, 159 1 as Tranovsky's birthdate , following th e Juli an calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, the date is March 27, 1592. J an Durovic explains the discrepancy in his Zivotopisjuraja Tranovsk eho (Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas: Tranoscius , 1942), p. 8; see also Jozef Minarik , ed. , Slovenska renesan cna lutn a: Antol6gia zo slovenskej renesancnej poezie (Bratislava: Tatran, 1982), p . 344. ' The Prologus in apocalipsin Divijohannis Apostoli, t.j. Wyklad na zgeweni Swateho J ana Aposstola .. . , thou gh written in 1617 , was not published at the tim e . The manusc ript was tran scribed by M a tej Spratek in 1701 and again by K . Bujok in 1821 ; see Durovic, pp. 89-93 . The Augustana Confessio rursus in Sla vicum versa et m eliorata (The Augsburg C onfession) was published under the C zech title Konfessy Augsspursk a, bud'to W yznanj Wjry swa re ewangelistske .. . in Olomouc, 1620. This is th e di stin cti ve confession of Lutherans since 1530 , to which all churches and pastors mu st subsc ribe as th e tru e and fai thful exposition of doctrin e . 3 M inarik , " Hl'ad ani e pram ei\a zivej vod y ," op . cit ., p . 15 . P eter Brock also emph asizes th at th e Z p evnfk of 1842 helped the Slovaks of the 19th ce ntury keep their na ti on al iden ti ty , in Th e Slovak N ation al Awak ening (Uni vers it y of To ronto Press , 1976) , pp . 76-77 , note 20. 4 David P . D a n iel has an excellent summ ary in En glish of thi s pe riod : " The P rates- �SLOVAKIA 5 ' ' ' ' ' 0 '' " " 59 ta nt R eformati on in Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia, XXVIII ( 1978-79) , 49-65. See also Daniel, The Historiograph y of th e R eformation in Slovakia (No. 10 , Sixtee nth Century Bibliography Seri es, St. Louis: Center for Reform at ion R esearch , 1977 ), 50 pp . D an iel Pribi s, Pisne du ch ovnf, in K atechismus D . H . Luth era z nemeckeho jazyku na slovensk y preloien y od trech superattendencu v roku 16 12 (Levoca, 1634) . For a description , see Minarik, pp. 44-47 and 33 1, who says it is written in " mimoriadne silne slovakizovanymjazykom " (p. 47), i.e. in strongly Slovakized Czech. The word slovensky did not always mean th e Slovak language in the modern sense, though it plainly identified th e people a nd the location. Lutherans have valued the legacy of Cyril and M ethod as much as the R oman Catholics, who regard them as saints . Pavel Safarik, in his definiti ve history of th e Slavs in German in 1823, gives the M acedonian brothers their due, as did J an Kollar , a not her Slovak gia nt , in his schola rl y and poetic works, as well as in all 11 -s tanza h ymns dedica ted to th e memory of Cyril and Method , Pam atajm ei, kfest'ane, No . 32 4 in the Zpevnfk and No . 128 in the Supplement (Pridavok) of the Tran oscius ( 197 1 editions). Ackn owledgm ent of the Saints ' use of the vernacul ar in worship is also mad e in the Latin prolog to th e Catholic hym nal published in 1655. See below and note 7 fo r this Catholic hym nal. Cantus ca th olici was collec ted by the J esu it Benedikt Szolozi ( 1609- 1656) a nd publi shed in Levoca, then reprinted in 1700 in Trnava; see also Mina rik , p. 5 1. H ere too slovenske does not mean the pure Slovak language, thou gh th e Czech is here ve ry strongly Slovakized . Mina rik , p. 51. Therefore schola rs' interpretations and attributions of authorship , whether original or as a translation , do not entirely agree ; e.g. Minarik' s numbers (p. 47) are slightly different from mine given below. D a niel , "Protestant R eformation ," op. cit. , pp. 52-54, has a summ a ry of some of the doctrinal differen ces amo ng Lutherans conce rnin g the Kniha svorn osti (Book of Concord) . The Zpevnfk of 1842, though undertaken with the in tenti on of culling the best hymns from the C ith ara and add ing more hymns from contemporary hymn writers , as well as fillin g in gaps with conce rn s of the 19th ce ntury, aroused the suspi cions a nd resentment of those who found a deliberate toning down of the supernatural, th e miraculous, and otherworldly elements of the C ithara. In many cases·of abbreviated hymns , th e typical 17th ce ntury look heave n wa rd is deleted , the human nat ure of C hrist is stressed above the divin e, and the termino logy of th e J ena University gradua tes replaced that of the ea rli er co nservati ve (and orthodox) Wittenberg schola rs. Some of the Zpevnfk 's positive elements, such as hymns of social conce rn , have been retained in the for m of a suppl ement in the 1971 edition , with some previously om itted classic hymns from the C ith ara . Ivan Krasko, Nox et solitudo (M artin, 1909; rpt. Basn e , M a rtin 1948), pp . 40-41. M y translation into English is give n in An Anthology of Slovak Literature , compiled by Andrew C incura (Ri verside, 19 76), pp . 2 1-22 . Both of my grandmothers were R oman Catholi c, and my mother 's mother , though �60 SLOVAKIA she remained a Catholic all her life, daily used the Cithara for her private devotions and knew ma ny of the hym ns b y heart. In my own pastoral experience, I have tended m a n y a n elderl y Slovak parishioner with little more than a grammar sc hool edu cati on , but whose daily companion , the Tranoscius, had become threadbare from constant use. Also, it was a m oving ex perience on m y last visit to Slova ki a to attend church in Liptovsky Mikulas, where Tranovsky served and died , and to worship with the congregation wh ich dates back to Tra novsky' s tim e. The faithful gathered 15 minutes to a half hour befo re the service began, a nd the members cond ucted an impromptu hymn sing, one beginning a hymn and the others pickin g it up from memory . Th roughout the worship se rvi ces, ma ny did not need to open their hym nals. The nex t evenin g I sat at the table with a pastor and his wife in Bratislava and two laym en in their mid-thirties , beginning the meal with the trad itional mealtime h ymn , and closing the evenin g with a classic h ym n from the first edition of the C ithara . Similar scenes occur among contemporary Slovak Catholics whose hymns remain a livin g part of th eir heritage. Presented in Panel 99, " Devotional Literature in Seventee nth Century Slova ki a ," at the AAASS conve nti on in Washington, D .C. on 17 October 1982. � SLOVAKIA 51 The Influence of Juraj Tranovsky's Cithara Sanctorum in Slovakia Jaroslav J. Vajda If not a landmark, Juraj Tranovsky's hymnal and prayerbook, Cithara Sanctorum, Pfsne duchovnf stare i nave (The Lyre of the Saints, Spiritual Songs Old and New, 1636), is at least a high point in Slovakia's devotional literature, especially when one includes with it Tranovsky's collection of formal liturgical prayers, Phiala Odoramentorum , Modlitby kfest'anske (A Vial of Fragrances, Christian Prayers , 1635) . Having been reprinted in more than 150 editions at home and abroad since its publication in Levoca in 1636 , the Cithara Sanctorum ranks high in popularity, usage and influence, being probably the most reprinted literary work produced in Slovakia. Our interest is in the place and impact of this book, affectionately known by Tranovsky's Latin name as the Tranoscius, in Slovak devotional literature. The Cithara, like other influential books, is the result of events and forces operating in the 16th and 17th centuries in Central Europe. Juraj Tranovsky was born on March 27, 1592 in the city of Tesfn in Silesia, of Polish parents of the Lutheran faith. 1 His earliest schooling was in a Latin grammar school in Tesfn , from which at the age of 12 he was sent to the German school in Hubin in Lower Lusatia, and from there to a humanist academy in Kolberg, Pomerania, two years later. At the age of 16 he matriculated at the University of Wittenberg, made famous by Luther and his successors. For two years young Tranovsky tutored a family at Trebon castle in southern Bohemia; he taught one year in Prague , and then accepted a position as rector of a school in Holesov, in eastern Moravia. The first traces of his poetic talents appeared in a Latin poem he wrote on the Nativity for St. Nicholas' Church in Prague , at the age of 20. In 1615 he married Anna Polan , with whom he had nine children, five sons and four daughters. Upon his ordina- �52 SLOVAKIA tio n into th e Lutheran mini stry he wa s called to be rector of the school in V alasske M ez irici, n ear H olesov in Moravia. When the local p as tor died , Tra n ovsky was called to take his place, and thu s began hi s 10-year p astor a te in M ezirici . Imm edia tely upo n his assumption of pa ri sh duties , T ran ovsk y embarked on a produ ctive p astoral a nd lite rary career. H e rebuilt the local lite rary socie ty, whi ch also included a choir , wrote a commentary and se ries of se rm o n s o n the Book of R evela tion , and wo rked on a Czech tran sla tion of the Au gsburg Confession of 1530 , a m aj or production which was pu blished in 162 0 . 2 The publication o f T ra n ovsky's tra n sla tion of thi s fo und a ti on al Lutheran symbol coincided with the defeat of the Protesta nts at the Ba ttle of White M ounta in , which effectively ended the free course of P rotestantism in Au stri a. Thou sand s of Luther a n s a nd Bohemi an Brethren fl ed before the wave of victo riou s Catholi c forces ea stward , in to Moravia, then into Slovakia a nd Hun gary, findin g re fu ge for a numbe r of years in central and eastern Slovakia . Amon g those caught in this refugee tide we re Tra novsky , hi s famil y, a nd hi s congregation in M eziri ci. The Lutheran cluster fl ed fro m pl ace to pl ace, u sually seekin g a nd findin g refuge a m o n g Hun ga ri a n Luthe ran n obility and gentry fi ghtin g a rearguard action . In the three years from 162 1 to 1624, Tran ovsky lost three children and was bri efl y imprisoned . F orced to leave M o ravia o n orders of Fe rdin a nd II , T ranovsky fl ed to Bielsko near T esfn , where he found employm ent as court preach er with hi s future p a tro n , Baron J an Szunyogh. T his reprieve la sted two years . In 1627 , with but ten year s of hi s life before him , h e took refu ge fro m furth e r per secutio n in the castles of Buda tfn a nd O rava, wh ere h e also se rved as court preache r for G abriel Illeshazy. Ju st as Luther ' s W artburg refu ge permitted him to transla te the Bible, T ranovsky's castle exil e resulted in th e produ ctio n of a L a tin h ymn collectio n e ntitl ed Odarum sacrarum sive H ym norum . .. libri tres (Three Books of Sac red Odes o r H ymn s, 1629) . By 1632 Tra n ovsky h ad assum ed the pastorate of the church in Liptovsky Sv . Mikul as , whi ch h e se rved until his death five year s la ter. A s if co n sciou s of a n early d emise, Tra novsky wo rked assi du ou sly to fini sh hi s collectio n of fo rm al liturgical p raye rs, the Phiala Odoram entorum , w hi ch a ppeared a year befo re the publi cation of hi s monumental work , the h ymnal Cithara Sanctorum in 1636 , both printed in L evoca. �SLOVAKIA 53 Tranovsky's brief but productive life cam e to an end on M ay 29 , 163 7 at the age of 45, but the results of his work continue to exe rt their influence to this day. Jozef Min arik has pointed out that the Cithara Sanctorum served in the past as a textbook of versification and prosody, and also as a " well spring of na tional consciou sn ess," besides being the '' first step in the creation of national mu sic.'' 3 Its primary impact , however , was and has rem a ined upo n the spiritual life of Slovak Christians. I emphasize Slovak Christians without regard to d enomin ation, for Tranovsky's work was ecumenical in nature and left its mark on Roman Catholic worship life as well. The Cithara was published in Levoca by V avrinec Brewer in 1636 as the answer to a growing need since the battle a t White M ounta in had stopped the production and shipment of C zech hymnals into Slovakia. It and its co mpa nion, the Phiala, were born of necessity . Slovak Lutherans, who comprised some 80 % of the Slovak popula tion a hund red years after the R eform ation ,4 did not have to p rodu ce their own devotional mate rials , since they understood the Czech language and could u se the hymn als of the Bohemian Brethren and C zech Lutheran s, eve n thou gh their theology was not totally in agreem ent with the Hu ssites and Calvinists. In the early R eformati on years , befo re th e edu cation of the laity becam e widespread , the local pastors were in co ntrol of the worship m aterials and u sed loose sheets of pa per to rep roduce the hymns which they considered appropriate for their congregational worship , the hymns being lined out for the congregation by the cantor or choir director. In thi s way a sizable repertory of hymns was developed in local co ngregations, resultin g in m an y ha ndwritten hymn accompanim en t edi tion s, or partitury, as each large Lutheran center p roduced or ad a pted its own . Al so b y this rote system of learnin g, the faithful (prima rily illiterate) acquired a growing devotional treasure, for the hymns were form s of praye r serving the C hri stian s as inspiration , com fo rt , and chall en ge, as did -the P salms of D avid. Those who we re •still illitera te could a m ass a litera ry and d evotional treasu re in a lan gu age they could unders tand , and thus their faith need s were supplied until the Slovak Lutherans could fo rm all y print p rayer books and hymn als of their ow n. T he hym ns we re not u sed alo ne, of cou rse, and we mu st pa use to mention the impo rtance of Luther ' s Sm all Ca techism in the spiritual and devotional life of the Lutheran laity. All children we re required to m emorize this brief exposition of the chief ar ticles of the C hristian faith , �54 SLOVAKIA and it became for many a daily review and anchoring of their faith as they repeated its simple explanations in their morning and evening devotions. In fact, the first printed collections of domestically composed Slovak hymns were appended to translations or reprintings of Luther 's Small Catechism. Thus , the only extant sizeable collection of hymns prior to Tranovsky' s hymnal is that of Daniel Pribis, a contemporary of Tranovsky, who collected and published 116 hymns in 1635, a year before the Cithara appeared. 5 Pribis's hymns did not come out as a separate book, as did Tranovsky's , but as an appendage to a revised translation of Luther's Catechism. This trilogy of books has been the foundation of Lutheran piety since the early years of the Reformation: the Bible , the Catechism, and the hymnal with its prayers. There would have been no such hymnal as the Tranoscius, or later the Catholic hymnal, had it not been for the Reformation and its universal impact on education, worship, and literature; or at least if the Reformation we know had not occurred, there would have had to develop a similar movement toward use of vernacular tongues . But even the Lutheran Reformation did not originate the basic conditions for use of the vernacular in the church and eventually in educational and professional areas. The first step in the eventual production of devotional literature in Slovakia was the introduction of the vernacular among the Slavs in the 9th century. For that major historical contribution, credit must be given to the patron saints of all the Slavs, the Macedonian missionary brothers, Cyril and Methodius, whose invention of the Slavonic alphabet and their translation of the scriptures into a language understandable to the Slavs, as well as their use of the vernacular in the liturgy, were all basic essentials in the ultimate production of vernacular devotional literature . 6 The n ext decisive development was the Hussite reform movement in Bohemia, challenging the dominance of Latin in the Western Church, and capturing the support of the populace by not only appealing to their nationalistic loyalties over against the Roman curia, but by proclaiming the Gospel in the language of the people and giving the faithful hymns to sing in their own tongue . The Reform movement would have died without the subsequent successful Reformation of Martin Luther, who like his Slavic forerunners, insisted on the vernacular in his Deutsche Messe, translated the Scrip- �SLOVAKIA 55 tures into German to make them accessible to the people, and then sang the Reformation into the hearts of the people with his hymns, many of which were set to popular tunes. A century later, Juraj Tranovsky found himself heir of Cyril and Method, Hus, and Luther. He provided the church with devotional literature that answered the needs of the people so well that when the Counter-Reformation set about reclaiming its huge losses, it resorted to the same means . It also used the vernacular and produced a counterpart to the Cithara Sanctorum in the Cantus Catholici, Pisne katholicke latinske a slovenske (Catholic Songs, Latin and Slovak Catholic Songs, 1655) . 7 We can say that the Cantus validated the ecumenical nature of the Cithara and of Pribis's collection by including one-fourth of the hymns in the Cithara and one-third of those in the Pribis collection. The favor was then returned by adding to the Cithara some songs from the Cantus, especially in the edition of 1674, which also carried more native songs of Slovak origin. Finally , the two hymnals had more than a hundred hymns in common. 8 What was the Cithara Sanctorum that made it influential for so many generations of Slovaks, Lutheran and Catholic? It was a product of extraordinary skill and devotion . Tranovsky came well-prepared to the task by both education, native ability, and experience. The quality of his original hymns and translations marks him as a trend-setter and standard-maker for other hymnwriters and compilers of hymnals . His revisions and selections of extant hymns demonstrate his critical ability, and his scholarly approach provides us with the first hymnal that attempts to document the sources of the hymns - except his own , which modesty caused him to offer anonymously in many instances. 9 The very size and quality of the h ymnal advances it decades beyond the normal d evelopment of hymnody. Tranovsky's approach being ecumenical and objective, he included representatives of the earliest church hymnody from the Latin a nd Greek, the contributions of Gregory the Great, the classic h ymns of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and the prayers of a similar common heritage from David through Augustine to Gregory. The 414-hymn Cithara was organized systematically according to the church year and the elements of the " Mass. " Tranovsky suppl ied the church with introits , antiphons, Kyries, Credos , Glorias , and doxologies, as well as hymns for the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, �56 SLOVAKIA for co nfession and a bsolution , fo r fest ival s and regular Sunday s of the church year , and fo r variou s spiritu al and temporal need s - in short , an all-purpose, free-s tandin g h ymnal that provided a core of essential worship m aterial s for congregational u se, as contrasted with Pribis's collection of 116 h ymn s designated for u se in schools. In the Cithara Tranovsky drew upon fo ur sources. C omprising onehalf of th e content s, 206 h ymn s are fro m tran sm oravian hymn od y, derived m ostl y from old Czech Lutheran h ymnals by Kunvald sky (1576) and Zavo rka ( 1602). Two-thirds of th ese Tra novsky left almost intact; the rem a ining third he edi ted m ore or less thorou ghly, in som e cases leavin g onl y the openin g line untouched . F rom these sources he also included m elodies. A rich heritage of hi storic Czech K yries and C redos is preserved in th e C ith ara . The second source of h ymns fo r the Cithara was German hymnody . A la rge repertory of class ic R eform ation h ymn s has been saved fo r posteri ty in the C ith ara since they no lon ger a ppear in G erm an hym nals , nor a re they still sun g. The first edition of the Cithara offered 74 tran slati ons of G erm an hymn s, 58 of them by Tranovsky. The third source, dom esti c h ymn od y by Slovak authors in strongly Slovaki zed C zech , was weakl y represented in the C ithara, numberin g only 33. Earlier , Pribis h ad gathered 68 , most of which found their way into later editi on s of the Cith ara . Tranovsky's own contribution to the hymnal was substantial . Some 161 of the 4 14 hymn s have been traced to him , numberin g 93 original composition s, 10 tran slati on s from the L atin , and 58 from the G erm an . This porti on of th e h ymn al alone is large r than m an y h ymn als of th at d ay. Tranovsky regarded hymn s as a fo rm of p rayer . In hi s int rodu ction ot th e Cithara , he said , " H e who sin gs prays twice." T he prima ry purpose of h ymn ody was to glorify G od . ext it had a d idacti c pu r: pose , to establish and nurtu re fa ith . For this reason T ranovsky u sed simple and direct la ngu age and thu s his hymn als were adopted by the people as ex pressions of their fa ith in fa miliar term s, thou gh he employed polished poeti c skill s and a wide variety of forms. T he Phial a Odoramen toru m , the prayer po rtion of Tranovsky's work , provided th e church wi th litu rgical p raye rs as well as prayers th at co uld d oubl e as hom e devotional praye rs, for u se at mornin g and evenin g services and devotions , prayers for u se with the C atechism , fo r regular di vin e services, a nd for festivals of the church years. There were �SLOVAKIA 57 prayers for all so rts and condition s of m en , penitential p salm s, a nd collects. It was a liturgicall y constru cted instrument , refl ectin g the tradition al skeleton of the m ass, as Luther 's M esse did . Th e Phiala served its readers for several editio ns of the Cithara . It was reprinted in 1685 , th en again in the cen ten a ry editio n of 1736 . It was twi ce reprinted in the late 1890's, and in 1898 was tran slated into P olish , but it was replaced in m ost edition s of th e Cith ara by the prayers of K aspa r Neum a nn transla ted fro m the G erm an . In the end , the Phiala p rov ided a m odel for subsequ ent liturgical p rayer books a nd agendas, su ch as H rabovsky's, Krm a n 's, J a kobei's, d own to B raxatori s's. L ater editors of th e Tran osciu s exp a nded the conten ts of th e h ymn al with tra n sla ti o n s of later G erma n h ym nwrite rs, su ch as P a ul G er ha rd , Benj amin Schmolck , and with original hymn s. D efiniti ve edition s were those produ ced by D a ni el Sin a piu s-H o rcicka ( 1684) a nd Sa muel Hru skovic ( 1745), kn own as th e "second Tra n ovsky." H owever , T ran ovsky's influ en ce o n th e church of hi s d ay a nd of subsequ ent generatio ns mu st n ot be rest ri cted to the liturgical and devot ion al resources he provided for the church in the Cithara. His tran sla tion of the Au gsburg C o nfess io n a nd his in sisten ce on doctrin al con fo rmi ty to th e Scriptures a nd the Lutheran Co nfessio n s did as mu ch as a n y oth e r effort to preserve orth od oxy in Slovakia. In thi s respect h e deserved to b e called the " Lu ther of Slovakia." 10 Especiall y hi s C ithara stood as a bulwark of o rthodoxy fo r som e two centuri es again st th e influ en ces of Piet ism and R atio n ali sm whi ch res ul ted in th e p u b lication of the Zpevnfk of 1842 and nu m erou s oth er attempts to d ilu te the doctrin al integrity of Lu theran hymn od y in Slovaki a. C hi efl y two edito rs of the C ith ara, Sa mu el Hru skovic ( 1745) and J an Mocko ( 1895), re-established th e doctrin al norms whi ch had suffered at the h ands of revisio nists of in terve nin g editi o n s.11 As m ent ioned earli er, Tranovsky' s Cith ara was welcomed en thu sias ticall y by Slovak Lu th eran s, a nd its a utho r was adopted as th eir coun trym a n , even th ou gh h e was a P ole by birth a nd li ved m os t of hi s life in Silesia a nd Morav ia. Tranovsky has been faulted for writing in Czech , rather tha n in Slovak . Bu t th at was th e result of th e h istorical co nd itio n s of hi s tim e, a nd h e was sim ply followin g th e practice prevale n t in th e L u theran chu rch , where th e K ralice Bible was the a u thorized ve rsio n of the Luthera n s fo r m a n y years. H oweve r , both P r ibi s's coll ect ion and the Can tus Ca th olici of 1655 were closer to the langu age �58 SLOVAKIA of the people than Tranovsky's Cithara, chiefly because they both adopted many hymns from the folk tradition and were written in a strongly Slovakized Czech. Later editions o f the Cithara incorporated hymns from the Cantus, and subsequ ent editors of the Cithara more and more Slovakized the Czech-language h ymns . Eventually, in this century, Slovak-lan guage suppleme nts were added to the Lutheran h ymnals in Slovakia, and now the entire collection of hymns selected for the newest edition , slated for publication in 1984 , is totally translated into Slovak. In the process of doing so, some of the qualities of the original hymns and tran slations will be lost , just as they are when American and English hymnodists update the King James language of classic English h y mns . Like the Bible, the Tranoscius has continued to exert an influence on Slovak devotional life , congregational a nd private, Lutheran and Catholic. This is shown, for example, in the poet Ivan Krasko 's d escription of his aged mother and h e r piety in his famous poem Vesper dominicae ( 1909) . 12 The Cithara continues to b e a living spiritual force for Slovaks and their descendants. 13 NOTES ' Older biographical sources give April 9, 159 1 as Tranovsky's birthdate , following th e Juli an calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, the date is March 27, 1592. J an Durovic explains the discrepancy in his Zivotopisjuraja Tranovsk eho (Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas: Tranoscius , 1942), p. 8; see also Jozef Minarik , ed. , Slovenska renesan cna lutn a: Antol6gia zo slovenskej renesancnej poezie (Bratislava: Tatran, 1982), p . 344. ' The Prologus in apocalipsin Divijohannis Apostoli, t.j. Wyklad na zgeweni Swateho J ana Aposstola .. . , thou gh written in 1617 , was not published at the tim e . The manusc ript was tran scribed by M a tej Spratek in 1701 and again by K . Bujok in 1821 ; see Durovic, pp. 89-93 . The Augustana Confessio rursus in Sla vicum versa et m eliorata (The Augsburg C onfession) was published under the C zech title Konfessy Augsspursk a, bud'to W yznanj Wjry swa re ewangelistske .. . in Olomouc, 1620. This is th e di stin cti ve confession of Lutherans since 1530 , to which all churches and pastors mu st subsc ribe as th e tru e and fai thful exposition of doctrin e . 3 M inarik , " Hl'ad ani e pram ei\a zivej vod y ," op . cit ., p . 15 . P eter Brock also emph asizes th at th e Z p evnfk of 1842 helped the Slovaks of the 19th ce ntury keep their na ti on al iden ti ty , in Th e Slovak N ation al Awak ening (Uni vers it y of To ronto Press , 1976) , pp . 76-77 , note 20. 4 David P . D a n iel has an excellent summ ary in En glish of thi s pe riod : " The P rates- �SLOVAKIA 5 ' ' ' ' ' 0 '' " " 59 ta nt R eformati on in Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia, XXVIII ( 1978-79) , 49-65. See also Daniel, The Historiograph y of th e R eformation in Slovakia (No. 10 , Sixtee nth Century Bibliography Seri es, St. Louis: Center for Reform at ion R esearch , 1977 ), 50 pp . D an iel Pribi s, Pisne du ch ovnf, in K atechismus D . H . Luth era z nemeckeho jazyku na slovensk y preloien y od trech superattendencu v roku 16 12 (Levoca, 1634) . For a description , see Minarik, pp. 44-47 and 33 1, who says it is written in " mimoriadne silne slovakizovanymjazykom " (p. 47), i.e. in strongly Slovakized Czech. The word slovensky did not always mean th e Slovak language in the modern sense, though it plainly identified th e people a nd the location. Lutherans have valued the legacy of Cyril and M ethod as much as the R oman Catholics, who regard them as saints . Pavel Safarik, in his definiti ve history of th e Slavs in German in 1823, gives the M acedonian brothers their due, as did J an Kollar , a not her Slovak gia nt , in his schola rl y and poetic works, as well as in all 11 -s tanza h ymns dedica ted to th e memory of Cyril and Method , Pam atajm ei, kfest'ane, No . 32 4 in the Zpevnfk and No . 128 in the Supplement (Pridavok) of the Tran oscius ( 197 1 editions). Ackn owledgm ent of the Saints ' use of the vernacul ar in worship is also mad e in the Latin prolog to th e Catholic hym nal published in 1655. See below and note 7 fo r this Catholic hym nal. Cantus ca th olici was collec ted by the J esu it Benedikt Szolozi ( 1609- 1656) a nd publi shed in Levoca, then reprinted in 1700 in Trnava; see also Mina rik , p. 5 1. H ere too slovenske does not mean the pure Slovak language, thou gh th e Czech is here ve ry strongly Slovakized . Mina rik , p. 51. Therefore schola rs' interpretations and attributions of authorship , whether original or as a translation , do not entirely agree ; e.g. Minarik' s numbers (p. 47) are slightly different from mine given below. D a niel , "Protestant R eformation ," op. cit. , pp. 52-54, has a summ a ry of some of the doctrinal differen ces amo ng Lutherans conce rnin g the Kniha svorn osti (Book of Concord) . The Zpevnfk of 1842, though undertaken with the in tenti on of culling the best hymns from the C ith ara and add ing more hymns from contemporary hymn writers , as well as fillin g in gaps with conce rn s of the 19th ce ntury, aroused the suspi cions a nd resentment of those who found a deliberate toning down of the supernatural, th e miraculous, and otherworldly elements of the C ithara. In many cases·of abbreviated hymns , th e typical 17th ce ntury look heave n wa rd is deleted , the human nat ure of C hrist is stressed above the divin e, and the termino logy of th e J ena University gradua tes replaced that of the ea rli er co nservati ve (and orthodox) Wittenberg schola rs. Some of the Zpevnfk 's positive elements, such as hymns of social conce rn , have been retained in the for m of a suppl ement in the 1971 edition , with some previously om itted classic hymns from the C ith ara . Ivan Krasko, Nox et solitudo (M artin, 1909; rpt. Basn e , M a rtin 1948), pp . 40-41. M y translation into English is give n in An Anthology of Slovak Literature , compiled by Andrew C incura (Ri verside, 19 76), pp . 2 1-22 . Both of my grandmothers were R oman Catholi c, and my mother 's mother , though �60 SLOVAKIA she remained a Catholic all her life, daily used the Cithara for her private devotions and knew ma ny of the hym ns b y heart. In my own pastoral experience, I have tended m a n y a n elderl y Slovak parishioner with little more than a grammar sc hool edu cati on , but whose daily companion , the Tranoscius, had become threadbare from constant use. Also, it was a m oving ex perience on m y last visit to Slova ki a to attend church in Liptovsky Mikulas, where Tranovsky served and died , and to worship with the congregation wh ich dates back to Tra novsky' s tim e. The faithful gathered 15 minutes to a half hour befo re the service began, a nd the members cond ucted an impromptu hymn sing, one beginning a hymn and the others pickin g it up from memory . Th roughout the worship se rvi ces, ma ny did not need to open their hym nals. The nex t evenin g I sat at the table with a pastor and his wife in Bratislava and two laym en in their mid-thirties , beginning the meal with the trad itional mealtime h ymn , and closing the evenin g with a classic h ym n from the first edition of the C ithara . Similar scenes occur among contemporary Slovak Catholics whose hymns remain a livin g part of th eir heritage. Presented in Panel 99, " Devotional Literature in Seventee nth Century Slova ki a ," at the AAASS conve nti on in Washington, D .C. on 17 October 1982. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 51 The Influence of Juraj Tranovsky's Cithara Sanctorum in Slovakia Jaroslav J. Vajda If not a landmark, Juraj Tranovsky's hymnal and prayerbook, Cithara Sanctorum, Pfsne duchovnf stare i nave (The Lyre of the Saints, Spiritual Songs Old and New, 1636), is at least a high point in Slovakia's devotional literature, especially when one includes with it Tranovsky's collection of formal liturgical prayers, Phiala Odoramentorum , Modlitby kfest'anske (A Vial of Fragrances, Christian Prayers , 1635) . Having been reprinted in more than 150 editions at home and abroad since its publication in Levoca in 1636 , the Cithara Sanctorum ranks high in popularity, usage and influence, being probably the most reprinted literary work produced in Slovakia. Our interest is in the place and impact of this book, affectionately known by Tranovsky's Latin name as the Tranoscius, in Slovak devotional literature. The Cithara, like other influential books, is the result of events and forces operating in the 16th and 17th centuries in Central Europe. Juraj Tranovsky was born on March 27, 1592 in the city of Tesfn in Silesia, of Polish parents of the Lutheran faith. 1 His earliest schooling was in a Latin grammar school in Tesfn , from which at the age of 12 he was sent to the German school in Hubin in Lower Lusatia, and from there to a humanist academy in Kolberg, Pomerania, two years later. At the age of 16 he matriculated at the University of Wittenberg, made famous by Luther and his successors. For two years young Tranovsky tutored a family at Trebon castle in southern Bohemia; he taught one year in Prague , and then accepted a position as rector of a school in Holesov, in eastern Moravia. The first traces of his poetic talents appeared in a Latin poem he wrote on the Nativity for St. Nicholas' Church in Prague , at the age of 20. In 1615 he married Anna Polan , with whom he had nine children, five sons and four daughters. Upon his ordina- 52 SLOVAKIA tio n into th e Lutheran mini stry he wa s called to be rector of the school in V alasske M ez irici, n ear H olesov in Moravia. When the local p as tor died , Tra n ovsky was called to take his place, and thu s began hi s 10-year p astor a te in M ezirici . Imm edia tely upo n his assumption of pa ri sh duties , T ran ovsk y embarked on a produ ctive p astoral a nd lite rary career. H e rebuilt the local lite rary socie ty, whi ch also included a choir , wrote a commentary and se ries of se rm o n s o n the Book of R evela tion , and wo rked on a Czech tran sla tion of the Au gsburg Confession of 1530 , a m aj or production which was pu blished in 162 0 . 2 The publication o f T ra n ovsky's tra n sla tion of thi s fo und a ti on al Lutheran symbol coincided with the defeat of the Protesta nts at the Ba ttle of White M ounta in , which effectively ended the free course of P rotestantism in Au stri a. Thou sand s of Luther a n s a nd Bohemi an Brethren fl ed before the wave of victo riou s Catholi c forces ea stward , in to Moravia, then into Slovakia a nd Hun gary, findin g re fu ge for a numbe r of years in central and eastern Slovakia . Amon g those caught in this refugee tide we re Tra novsky , hi s famil y, a nd hi s congregation in M eziri ci. The Lutheran cluster fl ed fro m pl ace to pl ace, u sually seekin g a nd findin g refuge a m o n g Hun ga ri a n Luthe ran n obility and gentry fi ghtin g a rearguard action . In the three years from 162 1 to 1624, Tran ovsky lost three children and was bri efl y imprisoned . F orced to leave M o ravia o n orders of Fe rdin a nd II , T ranovsky fl ed to Bielsko near T esfn , where he found employm ent as court preach er with hi s future p a tro n , Baron J an Szunyogh. T his reprieve la sted two years . In 1627 , with but ten year s of hi s life before him , h e took refu ge fro m furth e r per secutio n in the castles of Buda tfn a nd O rava, wh ere h e also se rved as court preache r for G abriel Illeshazy. Ju st as Luther ' s W artburg refu ge permitted him to transla te the Bible, T ranovsky's castle exil e resulted in th e produ ctio n of a L a tin h ymn collectio n e ntitl ed Odarum sacrarum sive H ym norum . .. libri tres (Three Books of Sac red Odes o r H ymn s, 1629) . By 1632 Tra n ovsky h ad assum ed the pastorate of the church in Liptovsky Sv . Mikul as , whi ch h e se rved until his death five year s la ter. A s if co n sciou s of a n early d emise, Tra novsky wo rked assi du ou sly to fini sh hi s collectio n of fo rm al liturgical p raye rs, the Phiala Odoram entorum , w hi ch a ppeared a year befo re the publi cation of hi s monumental work , the h ymnal Cithara Sanctorum in 1636 , both printed in L evoca. SLOVAKIA 53 Tranovsky's brief but productive life cam e to an end on M ay 29 , 163 7 at the age of 45, but the results of his work continue to exe rt their influence to this day. Jozef Min arik has pointed out that the Cithara Sanctorum served in the past as a textbook of versification and prosody, and also as a " well spring of na tional consciou sn ess," besides being the '' first step in the creation of national mu sic.'' 3 Its primary impact , however , was and has rem a ined upo n the spiritual life of Slovak Christians. I emphasize Slovak Christians without regard to d enomin ation, for Tranovsky's work was ecumenical in nature and left its mark on Roman Catholic worship life as well. The Cithara was published in Levoca by V avrinec Brewer in 1636 as the answer to a growing need since the battle a t White M ounta in had stopped the production and shipment of C zech hymnals into Slovakia. It and its co mpa nion, the Phiala, were born of necessity . Slovak Lutherans, who comprised some 80 % of the Slovak popula tion a hund red years after the R eform ation ,4 did not have to p rodu ce their own devotional mate rials , since they understood the Czech language and could u se the hymn als of the Bohemian Brethren and C zech Lutheran s, eve n thou gh their theology was not totally in agreem ent with the Hu ssites and Calvinists. In the early R eformati on years , befo re th e edu cation of the laity becam e widespread , the local pastors were in co ntrol of the worship m aterials and u sed loose sheets of pa per to rep roduce the hymns which they considered appropriate for their congregational worship , the hymns being lined out for the congregation by the cantor or choir director. In thi s way a sizable repertory of hymns was developed in local co ngregations, resultin g in m an y ha ndwritten hymn accompanim en t edi tion s, or partitury, as each large Lutheran center p roduced or ad a pted its own . Al so b y this rote system of learnin g, the faithful (prima rily illiterate) acquired a growing devotional treasure, for the hymns were form s of praye r serving the C hri stian s as inspiration , com fo rt , and chall en ge, as did -the P salms of D avid. Those who we re •still illitera te could a m ass a litera ry and d evotional treasu re in a lan gu age they could unders tand , and thus their faith need s were supplied until the Slovak Lutherans could fo rm all y print p rayer books and hymn als of their ow n. T he hym ns we re not u sed alo ne, of cou rse, and we mu st pa use to mention the impo rtance of Luther ' s Sm all Ca techism in the spiritual and devotional life of the Lutheran laity. All children we re required to m emorize this brief exposition of the chief ar ticles of the C hristian faith , 54 SLOVAKIA and it became for many a daily review and anchoring of their faith as they repeated its simple explanations in their morning and evening devotions. In fact, the first printed collections of domestically composed Slovak hymns were appended to translations or reprintings of Luther 's Small Catechism. Thus , the only extant sizeable collection of hymns prior to Tranovsky' s hymnal is that of Daniel Pribis, a contemporary of Tranovsky, who collected and published 116 hymns in 1635, a year before the Cithara appeared. 5 Pribis's hymns did not come out as a separate book, as did Tranovsky's , but as an appendage to a revised translation of Luther's Catechism. This trilogy of books has been the foundation of Lutheran piety since the early years of the Reformation: the Bible , the Catechism, and the hymnal with its prayers. There would have been no such hymnal as the Tranoscius, or later the Catholic hymnal, had it not been for the Reformation and its universal impact on education, worship, and literature; or at least if the Reformation we know had not occurred, there would have had to develop a similar movement toward use of vernacular tongues . But even the Lutheran Reformation did not originate the basic conditions for use of the vernacular in the church and eventually in educational and professional areas. The first step in the eventual production of devotional literature in Slovakia was the introduction of the vernacular among the Slavs in the 9th century. For that major historical contribution, credit must be given to the patron saints of all the Slavs, the Macedonian missionary brothers, Cyril and Methodius, whose invention of the Slavonic alphabet and their translation of the scriptures into a language understandable to the Slavs, as well as their use of the vernacular in the liturgy, were all basic essentials in the ultimate production of vernacular devotional literature . 6 The n ext decisive development was the Hussite reform movement in Bohemia, challenging the dominance of Latin in the Western Church, and capturing the support of the populace by not only appealing to their nationalistic loyalties over against the Roman curia, but by proclaiming the Gospel in the language of the people and giving the faithful hymns to sing in their own tongue . The Reform movement would have died without the subsequent successful Reformation of Martin Luther, who like his Slavic forerunners, insisted on the vernacular in his Deutsche Messe, translated the Scrip- SLOVAKIA 55 tures into German to make them accessible to the people, and then sang the Reformation into the hearts of the people with his hymns, many of which were set to popular tunes. A century later, Juraj Tranovsky found himself heir of Cyril and Method, Hus, and Luther. He provided the church with devotional literature that answered the needs of the people so well that when the Counter-Reformation set about reclaiming its huge losses, it resorted to the same means . It also used the vernacular and produced a counterpart to the Cithara Sanctorum in the Cantus Catholici, Pisne katholicke latinske a slovenske (Catholic Songs, Latin and Slovak Catholic Songs, 1655) . 7 We can say that the Cantus validated the ecumenical nature of the Cithara and of Pribis's collection by including one-fourth of the hymns in the Cithara and one-third of those in the Pribis collection. The favor was then returned by adding to the Cithara some songs from the Cantus, especially in the edition of 1674, which also carried more native songs of Slovak origin. Finally , the two hymnals had more than a hundred hymns in common. 8 What was the Cithara Sanctorum that made it influential for so many generations of Slovaks, Lutheran and Catholic? It was a product of extraordinary skill and devotion . Tranovsky came well-prepared to the task by both education, native ability, and experience. The quality of his original hymns and translations marks him as a trend-setter and standard-maker for other hymnwriters and compilers of hymnals . His revisions and selections of extant hymns demonstrate his critical ability, and his scholarly approach provides us with the first hymnal that attempts to document the sources of the hymns - except his own , which modesty caused him to offer anonymously in many instances. 9 The very size and quality of the h ymnal advances it decades beyond the normal d evelopment of hymnody. Tranovsky's approach being ecumenical and objective, he included representatives of the earliest church hymnody from the Latin a nd Greek, the contributions of Gregory the Great, the classic h ymns of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and the prayers of a similar common heritage from David through Augustine to Gregory. The 414-hymn Cithara was organized systematically according to the church year and the elements of the " Mass. " Tranovsky suppl ied the church with introits , antiphons, Kyries, Credos , Glorias , and doxologies, as well as hymns for the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, 56 SLOVAKIA for co nfession and a bsolution , fo r fest ival s and regular Sunday s of the church year , and fo r variou s spiritu al and temporal need s - in short , an all-purpose, free-s tandin g h ymnal that provided a core of essential worship m aterial s for congregational u se, as contrasted with Pribis's collection of 116 h ymn s designated for u se in schools. In the Cithara Tranovsky drew upon fo ur sources. C omprising onehalf of th e content s, 206 h ymn s are fro m tran sm oravian hymn od y, derived m ostl y from old Czech Lutheran h ymnals by Kunvald sky (1576) and Zavo rka ( 1602). Two-thirds of th ese Tra novsky left almost intact; the rem a ining third he edi ted m ore or less thorou ghly, in som e cases leavin g onl y the openin g line untouched . F rom these sources he also included m elodies. A rich heritage of hi storic Czech K yries and C redos is preserved in th e C ith ara . The second source of h ymns fo r the Cithara was German hymnody . A la rge repertory of class ic R eform ation h ymn s has been saved fo r posteri ty in the C ith ara since they no lon ger a ppear in G erm an hym nals , nor a re they still sun g. The first edition of the Cithara offered 74 tran slati ons of G erm an hymn s, 58 of them by Tranovsky. The third source, dom esti c h ymn od y by Slovak authors in strongly Slovaki zed C zech , was weakl y represented in the C ithara, numberin g only 33. Earlier , Pribis h ad gathered 68 , most of which found their way into later editi on s of the Cith ara . Tranovsky's own contribution to the hymnal was substantial . Some 161 of the 4 14 hymn s have been traced to him , numberin g 93 original composition s, 10 tran slati on s from the L atin , and 58 from the G erm an . This porti on of th e h ymn al alone is large r than m an y h ymn als of th at d ay. Tranovsky regarded hymn s as a fo rm of p rayer . In hi s int rodu ction ot th e Cithara , he said , " H e who sin gs prays twice." T he prima ry purpose of h ymn ody was to glorify G od . ext it had a d idacti c pu r: pose , to establish and nurtu re fa ith . For this reason T ranovsky u sed simple and direct la ngu age and thu s his hymn als were adopted by the people as ex pressions of their fa ith in fa miliar term s, thou gh he employed polished poeti c skill s and a wide variety of forms. T he Phial a Odoramen toru m , the prayer po rtion of Tranovsky's work , provided th e church wi th litu rgical p raye rs as well as prayers th at co uld d oubl e as hom e devotional praye rs, for u se at mornin g and evenin g services and devotions , prayers for u se with the C atechism , fo r regular di vin e services, a nd for festivals of the church years. There were SLOVAKIA 57 prayers for all so rts and condition s of m en , penitential p salm s, a nd collects. It was a liturgicall y constru cted instrument , refl ectin g the tradition al skeleton of the m ass, as Luther 's M esse did . Th e Phiala served its readers for several editio ns of the Cithara . It was reprinted in 1685 , th en again in the cen ten a ry editio n of 1736 . It was twi ce reprinted in the late 1890's, and in 1898 was tran slated into P olish , but it was replaced in m ost edition s of th e Cith ara by the prayers of K aspa r Neum a nn transla ted fro m the G erm an . In the end , the Phiala p rov ided a m odel for subsequ ent liturgical p rayer books a nd agendas, su ch as H rabovsky's, Krm a n 's, J a kobei's, d own to B raxatori s's. L ater editors of th e Tran osciu s exp a nded the conten ts of th e h ymn al with tra n sla ti o n s of later G erma n h ym nwrite rs, su ch as P a ul G er ha rd , Benj amin Schmolck , and with original hymn s. D efiniti ve edition s were those produ ced by D a ni el Sin a piu s-H o rcicka ( 1684) a nd Sa muel Hru skovic ( 1745), kn own as th e "second Tra n ovsky." H owever , T ran ovsky's influ en ce o n th e church of hi s d ay a nd of subsequ ent generatio ns mu st n ot be rest ri cted to the liturgical and devot ion al resources he provided for the church in the Cithara. His tran sla tion of the Au gsburg C o nfess io n a nd his in sisten ce on doctrin al con fo rmi ty to th e Scriptures a nd the Lutheran Co nfessio n s did as mu ch as a n y oth e r effort to preserve orth od oxy in Slovakia. In thi s respect h e deserved to b e called the " Lu ther of Slovakia." 10 Especiall y hi s C ithara stood as a bulwark of o rthodoxy fo r som e two centuri es again st th e influ en ces of Piet ism and R atio n ali sm whi ch res ul ted in th e p u b lication of the Zpevnfk of 1842 and nu m erou s oth er attempts to d ilu te the doctrin al integrity of Lu theran hymn od y in Slovaki a. C hi efl y two edito rs of the C ith ara, Sa mu el Hru skovic ( 1745) and J an Mocko ( 1895), re-established th e doctrin al norms whi ch had suffered at the h ands of revisio nists of in terve nin g editi o n s.11 As m ent ioned earli er, Tranovsky' s Cith ara was welcomed en thu sias ticall y by Slovak Lu th eran s, a nd its a utho r was adopted as th eir coun trym a n , even th ou gh h e was a P ole by birth a nd li ved m os t of hi s life in Silesia a nd Morav ia. Tranovsky has been faulted for writing in Czech , rather tha n in Slovak . Bu t th at was th e result of th e h istorical co nd itio n s of hi s tim e, a nd h e was sim ply followin g th e practice prevale n t in th e L u theran chu rch , where th e K ralice Bible was the a u thorized ve rsio n of the Luthera n s fo r m a n y years. H oweve r , both P r ibi s's coll ect ion and the Can tus Ca th olici of 1655 were closer to the langu age 58 SLOVAKIA of the people than Tranovsky's Cithara, chiefly because they both adopted many hymns from the folk tradition and were written in a strongly Slovakized Czech. Later editions o f the Cithara incorporated hymns from the Cantus, and subsequ ent editors of the Cithara more and more Slovakized the Czech-language h ymns . Eventually, in this century, Slovak-lan guage suppleme nts were added to the Lutheran h ymnals in Slovakia, and now the entire collection of hymns selected for the newest edition , slated for publication in 1984 , is totally translated into Slovak. In the process of doing so, some of the qualities of the original hymns and tran slations will be lost , just as they are when American and English hymnodists update the King James language of classic English h y mns . Like the Bible, the Tranoscius has continued to exert an influence on Slovak devotional life , congregational a nd private, Lutheran and Catholic. This is shown, for example, in the poet Ivan Krasko 's d escription of his aged mother and h e r piety in his famous poem Vesper dominicae ( 1909) . 12 The Cithara continues to b e a living spiritual force for Slovaks and their descendants. 13 NOTES ' Older biographical sources give April 9, 159 1 as Tranovsky's birthdate , following th e Juli an calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, the date is March 27, 1592. J an Durovic explains the discrepancy in his Zivotopisjuraja Tranovsk eho (Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas: Tranoscius , 1942), p. 8; see also Jozef Minarik , ed. , Slovenska renesan cna lutn a: Antol6gia zo slovenskej renesancnej poezie (Bratislava: Tatran, 1982), p . 344. ' The Prologus in apocalipsin Divijohannis Apostoli, t.j. Wyklad na zgeweni Swateho J ana Aposstola .. . , thou gh written in 1617 , was not published at the tim e . The manusc ript was tran scribed by M a tej Spratek in 1701 and again by K . Bujok in 1821 ; see Durovic, pp. 89-93 . The Augustana Confessio rursus in Sla vicum versa et m eliorata (The Augsburg C onfession) was published under the C zech title Konfessy Augsspursk a, bud'to W yznanj Wjry swa re ewangelistske .. . in Olomouc, 1620. This is th e di stin cti ve confession of Lutherans since 1530 , to which all churches and pastors mu st subsc ribe as th e tru e and fai thful exposition of doctrin e . 3 M inarik , " Hl'ad ani e pram ei\a zivej vod y ," op . cit ., p . 15 . P eter Brock also emph asizes th at th e Z p evnfk of 1842 helped the Slovaks of the 19th ce ntury keep their na ti on al iden ti ty , in Th e Slovak N ation al Awak ening (Uni vers it y of To ronto Press , 1976) , pp . 76-77 , note 20. 4 David P . D a n iel has an excellent summ ary in En glish of thi s pe riod : " The P rates- SLOVAKIA 5 ' ' ' ' ' 0 '' " " 59 ta nt R eformati on in Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia, XXVIII ( 1978-79) , 49-65. See also Daniel, The Historiograph y of th e R eformation in Slovakia (No. 10 , Sixtee nth Century Bibliography Seri es, St. Louis: Center for Reform at ion R esearch , 1977 ), 50 pp . D an iel Pribi s, Pisne du ch ovnf, in K atechismus D . H . Luth era z nemeckeho jazyku na slovensk y preloien y od trech superattendencu v roku 16 12 (Levoca, 1634) . For a description , see Minarik, pp. 44-47 and 33 1, who says it is written in " mimoriadne silne slovakizovanymjazykom " (p. 47), i.e. in strongly Slovakized Czech. The word slovensky did not always mean th e Slovak language in the modern sense, though it plainly identified th e people a nd the location. Lutherans have valued the legacy of Cyril and M ethod as much as the R oman Catholics, who regard them as saints . Pavel Safarik, in his definiti ve history of th e Slavs in German in 1823, gives the M acedonian brothers their due, as did J an Kollar , a not her Slovak gia nt , in his schola rl y and poetic works, as well as in all 11 -s tanza h ymns dedica ted to th e memory of Cyril and Method , Pam atajm ei, kfest'ane, No . 32 4 in the Zpevnfk and No . 128 in the Supplement (Pridavok) of the Tran oscius ( 197 1 editions). Ackn owledgm ent of the Saints ' use of the vernacul ar in worship is also mad e in the Latin prolog to th e Catholic hym nal published in 1655. See below and note 7 fo r this Catholic hym nal. Cantus ca th olici was collec ted by the J esu it Benedikt Szolozi ( 1609- 1656) a nd publi shed in Levoca, then reprinted in 1700 in Trnava; see also Mina rik , p. 5 1. H ere too slovenske does not mean the pure Slovak language, thou gh th e Czech is here ve ry strongly Slovakized . Mina rik , p. 51. Therefore schola rs' interpretations and attributions of authorship , whether original or as a translation , do not entirely agree ; e.g. Minarik' s numbers (p. 47) are slightly different from mine given below. D a niel , "Protestant R eformation ," op. cit. , pp. 52-54, has a summ a ry of some of the doctrinal differen ces amo ng Lutherans conce rnin g the Kniha svorn osti (Book of Concord) . The Zpevnfk of 1842, though undertaken with the in tenti on of culling the best hymns from the C ith ara and add ing more hymns from contemporary hymn writers , as well as fillin g in gaps with conce rn s of the 19th ce ntury, aroused the suspi cions a nd resentment of those who found a deliberate toning down of the supernatural, th e miraculous, and otherworldly elements of the C ithara. In many cases·of abbreviated hymns , th e typical 17th ce ntury look heave n wa rd is deleted , the human nat ure of C hrist is stressed above the divin e, and the termino logy of th e J ena University gradua tes replaced that of the ea rli er co nservati ve (and orthodox) Wittenberg schola rs. Some of the Zpevnfk 's positive elements, such as hymns of social conce rn , have been retained in the for m of a suppl ement in the 1971 edition , with some previously om itted classic hymns from the C ith ara . Ivan Krasko, Nox et solitudo (M artin, 1909; rpt. Basn e , M a rtin 1948), pp . 40-41. M y translation into English is give n in An Anthology of Slovak Literature , compiled by Andrew C incura (Ri verside, 19 76), pp . 2 1-22 . Both of my grandmothers were R oman Catholi c, and my mother 's mother , though 60 SLOVAKIA she remained a Catholic all her life, daily used the Cithara for her private devotions and knew ma ny of the hym ns b y heart. In my own pastoral experience, I have tended m a n y a n elderl y Slovak parishioner with little more than a grammar sc hool edu cati on , but whose daily companion , the Tranoscius, had become threadbare from constant use. Also, it was a m oving ex perience on m y last visit to Slova ki a to attend church in Liptovsky Mikulas, where Tranovsky served and died , and to worship with the congregation wh ich dates back to Tra novsky' s tim e. The faithful gathered 15 minutes to a half hour befo re the service began, a nd the members cond ucted an impromptu hymn sing, one beginning a hymn and the others pickin g it up from memory . Th roughout the worship se rvi ces, ma ny did not need to open their hym nals. The nex t evenin g I sat at the table with a pastor and his wife in Bratislava and two laym en in their mid-thirties , beginning the meal with the trad itional mealtime h ymn , and closing the evenin g with a classic h ym n from the first edition of the C ithara . Similar scenes occur among contemporary Slovak Catholics whose hymns remain a livin g part of th eir heritage. Presented in Panel 99, " Devotional Literature in Seventee nth Century Slova ki a ," at the AAASS conve nti on in Washington, D .C. on 17 October 1982.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Influence of Juraj Tranovský's Cithara Sanctorum in Slovakia Description An account of the resource Jaroslav J. Vajda Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 51-60 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Vajda, Jaroslav J., 1919-2008 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/73f1cba28d10c7548fc3abdd7abba16e.pdf e7c785da5610033cef20d5b3ecab1907 PDF Text Text SLOV AKIA-2015 35 THE JOURNEY OFFOUR SLOVAK CATHOLIC BISHOPS TO THE USA IN 1926 1 Stefan Kucik In 1926, the 28 th International Eucharistic Congress took place in the United States of America. This "country of unlimited possibilities" was generally expected to prepare a Congress that would surpass all previous International Eucharistic Congresses, both in terms of the number of participants and its grandiosity. The Congress itself was expected to become a forum to manifest the strength of American Catholicism. For Slovak-American Catholics, however, the forthcoming Congress had a significant added value. The four new Slovak Catholics bishops were to participate in it. While many authors have dealt with various aspects of the lives and activities of Slovak Catholic bishops in the interwar period, no one has yet provided us with a detailed account on their journey to the USA in 1926. This article will try to fill this gap. At the time of the International Eucharistic Congress in Chicago, there were six Catholic bishops in Slovakia: Marian Blaha of Banska Bystrica, Jan Vojtassak of Spis, and Karol Kmet'ko of Nitra (all ordained on February 13, I 921 ); Jozef Carsky of Kos ice and Pavo I Jantausch of Trnava (both ordained on June 14, 1925); and Michal Bubnic of Roziiava (ordained on December 8, 1925). However, only four of them finally departed for America: Blaha, Vojtassak, Jantausch and Carsky. The number of Slovak Catholic bishops who were to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago initially fluctuated . On April 8, 1926, the Ministry with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic in Prague that all Slovak bishops would make the trip to the USA. 2 On April 14, 1926, the American Catholic 1 This is an English and slightly modified and updated version of my previous article entitled "Cesta slovenskych katolickych biskupov do slovenskej Ameriky v roku 1926," in Duchovny pastier, 93 (Nos. 1-2, 2012), 21-31 . 2 Archiv Ministerstva zahranicnich veci Ceske republiky, Prague, Czech Republic (hereinafter AMZV CR), fond (hereinafter f.) Ill . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, inventory �36 SLOV AKIA-2015 weekly Jednota published an article in which it announced the arrival of bishops Vojtassak, Kmet'ko, Blaha, Jantausch and, perhaps, Carsky as well, while bishop Bubnic was likely to stay at home due to his illness. 3 On May 16, 1926, the Bratislava daily Slowik men4 tioned five bishops, leaving Marian Blaha in Slovakia. The final decision on the number of bishops,who were to attend the Eucharistic Congress was made by the Bishop 's Conference only a few days before their planned departure. The Conference decided that the bishops of Nitra and Roziiava would remain at home. 5 The reason was the wish of the Papal Nuncio in Prague to have some representatives of the Slovak episcopate at his disposal. This was a time of tense negotiations with Czechoslovakia after the so-called "Marmaggi Affair." The Nuncio wanted Czech and Slovak bishops to submit a memorandum to Czechoslovak officials on the eve of Jan Hus Day (July 6). As a matter of fact, the memorandum was prepared by the Vatican's State Secretary in Rome and it demanded that the Czechoslovak government and President Masaryk refrain from participating in the Hus celebrations and from insulting Czechoslovakia's Catholics.6 Another reason for a part of the Slovak episcopate 's remaining at home was the preparation of an important law on 7 clergy salaries in Czechoslovakia. For the Slovak Catholic bishops it was the first, as well as the last, trip to America. Their requests for issuing or extending passports to the USA were met with no major obstructions, 8 even though in the case of bishop Blaha, as he said himself, the authorities exnumber (hereinafter i. no.) 22, folder (hereinafter fold .) 650. Letter of the Ministry of the Czechoslovak Republic (hereinafter CSR) with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 8, 1926. 3 Jednota (Middletown, PA), April 14, 1926, 4. 4 Slovak (Bratislava), May 16, 1926, 3. 5 Slovak, June I, 1926, I. 6Emilia Hrabovec, "Sviita stolica a slovenski biskupi v medzivojnovom obdobi," in Duchovny pastier, 93 (Nos. 1-2, 2012), 8. 7 Slovak, June I, 1926, I. The law was passed on June 25, 1926 . Zakon kongruovy c. 122/ 1926 Sb. z. an. zakon ze dne 25. cervna 1926 o uprave platu duchovenstva cirkvi a naboienskych spolecnosti statem uznanych, pfip. recipovanych [online]. Available at: http ://spcp.prf.cuni .cz/lex/ 122-26.htm. 8 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 650. Letter of the Ministry of the CSR with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry ofForeign Affairs of the CS R in Prague, April 8, 1926. �SLOV AKIA-2015 37 pressed "a strange sort of caution. " 9 Thus, the situation of 1923, when the Czechoslovak authorities refused to issue a passport to bishop Vojtassak for his intended journey to America, was not repeated. 10 In 1926 there were 228 Slovak Catholic parishes with 236 priests in the USA. 11 Therefore, the Slovak bishops intended to not only attend the Eucharistic Congress, but also to make a pastoral journey among Slovak Catholics in America. It was supposed to strengthen their Catholic identity which was threatened by the secularization influences of the American environment and the propaganda of the Czechoslovak Church 12 supported by the Czechoslovak government, as well as to raise some funds for Catholic institutions in Slovakia. 13 Czechoslovak representative offices in the USA, however, began to collect information on the plans of Slovak-American autonomists, largely consisting of the Catholic element, to make use of the presence of the Slovak Catholic bishops for their political goals. Indeed, Slovak bishops travelled to America at a time when the idea of Slovak autonomy on the basis of the Pittsburgh Agreement was supported by most American Slovaks, represented by the Slovak League of America (hereinafter SLA). Information on the intended political actions of SlovakAmerican autonomists on the occasion of the Slovak bishops ' visit raised fears in the offices of Czechoslovak representatives in the USA. Therefore, the anti-autonomist circles in America sought to 9 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 19 I 8- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Report of the Presidium of the Ministry of the CSR with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, May 17, 1926. 10 For more on Jan Vojtassak's case, see Stefan Kucik, "The Struggle for the Hearts and Minds of American Slovaks: Bishop Jan Vojtassak's Aborted Journey to the USA in 1923," in Slovakia 41 (Nos. 76-77, 2013), 7-36. 11 Jednota : Kato/icky kalendar na obycajny rok 1927 (Middletown, PA), 161-72. 12 The Czechoslovak Church (after 1971 the Czechoslovak Hussite Church) is a Christian Church which separated from the Roman Catholic Church after World War I (January 8, 1920) in the former Czechoslovakia. Originally a Czech national church, its activities are now almost entirely limited to today's Czech and Slovak Republics. One such church existed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1926 and 1967. See Joseph P. Budd, "We do Know English: Philadelphia' s Czechoslovak Presbyterian Church of Jan Hus, 1926-1967," M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, 2009. I am grateful to M. Mark Stolarik for this citation. There may have been other such Czechoslovak churches in the USA, but so far no-one has studied them. 13 Hrabovec, 8. �38 SLOV AKIA-2015 blunt the political edge of these actions. For instance, the Rev. Jozef Murgas of Wilkes-Barre, PA, promised Milan Getting, the Czechoslovak consul in Pittsburgh, to question Slovak priests at their upcoming conference in eastern Pennsylvania whether they were interested in politics or in religion. According to Murgas, the Czech bishops travelling to the Eucharistic Congress allegedly called upon the Slovak bishops to represent themselves in the USA as Czechoslovak bishops. Reportedly, bishop Jan Vojtassak: replied on behalf of the Slovak episcopate that they would go to America as Slovak bishops. 14 Of greater concern to the Slovak-American "Czechoslovak" camp was the fact that the president of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, Andrej Hlinka himself, was also going to attend the Eucharistic Congress. Besides his trip to the Congress, Hlinka planned to use his stay in the USA to agitate for Slovak autonomy, fundraising and internationalization of the Slovak cause. 15 He also intended to settle personal disputes among Slovak-American Catholics. 16 On the initiative of the Czechoslovak consul in Pittsburgh, the Rev. Murgas decided to organize in his parish in Wilkes-Barre on June 27, 1926 a Cyrilo-Methodian ceremony on the occasion of the consecration of the new local school. He invited the whole Czech and Ruthenian episcopates, as well as the Slovak bishops Marian Blaha and Jozef Carsky. The ceremony was also to be held to commemorate the Order of the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, of which Rev. Murgas was a co-founder. The preparations were made in such a manner that Andrej Hlinka would not be present. Moreover, the occasion was to become a place where the Czech and Slovak bishops could demonstrate "Czechoslovak" solidarity. The organizers invited the Czechoslovak ambassador in Washington as well. 17 14 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 650. Letter of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Pra~ue, Marc5120, 1926. 5 AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Letter of the Ministry of the CSR with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 30, 1926. 16 S!owik, May 23, 1926, 1. 17 AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 650. Letter of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, March 20, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 650 . Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs �SLOVAKIA-2015 39 However, Getting and Murgas were disappointed. Even Murgas' personal intercession with bishop Carsky immediately upon the arrival of Slovak bishops in New York ended in vain. 18 Bishop Blaha gave priority to attendance at the Slovak Day in St. Louis, Missouri on June 27, I 926 19 and bishop Carsky went to Cudahy, Wisconsin, to administer the sacrament of confirmation. 20 On the other hand, the Slovak bishops did visit the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in WilkesBarre on different occasions, bishop Carsky even twice.21 The four Slovak bishops set out on their journey to the USA on May 31, 192622 and arrived in New York City on the steamship Aquitania on June 11, 1926. When they docked, they were welcomed by Slovak-American priests, representatives of Slovak-American organizations and newspapers, a representative of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, J. Lavicka, and other individuals. Accompanied by several dozen cars, the bishops were driven to the Slovak st Church of St. John Nepomucene at the comer 66 th Street and 1 Avenue. Its pastor since 1916 was the Rev. Stefan Krasul'a. After a short prayer in the church, there was a banquet in the Commodore Hotel, hosted by Slovak priests in honor of the Slovak bishops. The banquet was chaired by Msgr. Viktor B lahunka of Chicago (originally from Lucky near Ruzomberok). 23 He also headed the committee 24 charged with the care of the Slovak bishops while in America. of the CSR in Prague, April 15, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651 . Letter of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 15, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 22, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, June 11 , 1926. 18 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, June 11 , 1926. 19 Jednota , July 7, 1926, I. 20 Jednota , July 14, 1926, I. 21 Jednota , August 11 , 1926, I. 22 Slowik, June 1, 1926, I. 23 Jednota , June 16, 1926, 1; Slowik, July 2, 1926, 3. 24 Archiv Spolku sv. Vojtecha, Tmava, Slovak Republic (hereinafter ASSV), fascicle (hereinafter fasc .) 336/5b. Program navstevy osv. biskupov zo Slovenska v Pittsburghu a na okolici od 6. do 16. jula 1926. �40 SLOV AKIA-2015 After greetings and words of welcome, bishop Marian Blaha addressed the audience. He said that they had arrived in America to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. However, the second very important goal of their journey was to visit and strengthen the faith of Slovak-American Catholics. He expressed pleasure at the fact that the Slovak Catholics in America had preserved both their faith and their Slovak language. Bishop Blaha informed the audience that they had brought a gift to the Slovak-American Catholics - the modem Slovak translation of the Bible. He did not forget to remark that the main credit for publishing it belonged to Andrej Hlinka, who was also present at the banquet. 25 In 1926 the first translation of the Bible into modem Slovak was completed. It was published by the Society of St. Adalbert (Spolok sv. Vojtecha) in Tmava. The preparatory phase had lasted for more than four decades. It was published between the years 1913 and 1926, with a long break due to World War I. The translation consisted of ten chapters: two for the New and eight for the Old Testament. After the whole first translation of the Bible appeared, Narodnie noviny in Turciansky Svaty Martin published a review (copied by other Slovak newspapers as well) that only the revision of the translation, done by the Rev. Frantisek R. Osvald, took a full eight years.26 After the Great War, the large amount of money needed by the Society of St. Adalbert to publish the Slovak translation of the bible was hard to raise in Slovakia. In 1920 generous gifts from America began to flow into Slovakia. Especially generous were the donations given by the Slovak bishops Karol Kmet'ko, Marian Blaha and Jan Vojtassak and Andrej Hlinka (100,000 crowns each). All this money was put into the shares of the Society of St. Adalbert for publishing purposes. In the critical situation (in 1923), the Society sent a threemember delegation, led by its director Jan Postenyi-Kysucky, to the USA. Within two and half months, the delegation visited more than one hundred Slovak-American parishes. At the very first meeting with the Slovak-American editors and the presidents of Slovak25 Jednota, June I 6, 1926, I. Jan Debnar, "Hist6ria prekladu a vydania prveho svatovojtesskeho Svateho pisma," in O prekladoch Biblie do slovenciny a do inych slovanskych j azykov, Jan Dorul'a, ed. (Bratislava: Slavisticky kabinet SA V, 1997), 247, 276-278 ; Jednota, June 16, 1926, 5. 26 �SLOVAKIA-2015 41 American Catholic organizations in Pittsburgh, $1,072 was collected and 2,156 new members joined the Society (the membership fee was $4 but twenty-five founding members contributed $100 each, while the American-Slovak millionaire Michal Bosak gave $600). 27 In 1926, the Society of St. Adalbert also sent its delegation to the USA. It consisted of the director Jan Postenyi, Alexander Sindelar, Stefan Zlatos and Robert Pobozny .28 The proposition to send a delegation to the USA during the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago was made by director Jan Postenyi at the meeting of the executive board in April of 1926. As a matter of fact, the Society issued the Slovak edition of the Bible at its own expense of 800,000 crowns. If the Society was not to fall into new debt (in Slovakia an expected interest in the Slovak bible failed to materialize), it had to turn to the SlovakAmerican Catholics. Moreover, the Slovak Catholic Federation in America still held 116,000 crowns belonging to the Society of St. Adalbert, which could be claimed only in person. 29 In the USA, the delegates sold 3,800 copies of the bible for $10 .00 each . At the same time, 1,500 new members joined the Society.30 The center of the mission of the Society of St. Adalbert in the USA was its own branch in Youngstown, Ohio, which since 1922 had been administered by the Rev . Stefan Kocis.31 Eventually, American Slovaks bought 6,800 copies of the Slovak bible.32 Bishop Marian Blaha's remarks on Andrej Hlinka's contribution to the publishing of the Slovak Bible were justified. Indeed, it is often referred to as the Hlinka translation or the Hlinka and Donoval translation, because both Andrej Hlinka and Jan Donoval greatly contributed to this work. It is shocking how little attention has been given to these two priests and their role in the translation of the bible and to their contribution to the development of Slovak spiritual, linguistic and national enlightenment. Andrej Hlinka also played a major role in publishing the bible by the Society of St. Adalbert, which 27 Debnar, 282. Jan Postenyi, Dejiny Spo/ku sv. Vojte cha (Tmava: Spolok sv. Vojtecha, 1930), 79. 29 ASSV. Zapisnica zo zasadnutia vyboru Spolku sv. Vojtecha konaneho 26. aprila r. 1926 . 30 Debnar, 283. 31 Postenyi, 80. 32 Debnar, 283 . 28 �42 SLOV AKIA-2015 he led as its president from November 14, 1920, together with director Jan Postenyi and secretary Juraj Hoda! (since 1923). 33 After attending the welcoming and gala dinner in the Commodore Hotel in New York City, the Slovak bishops went their own ways: Jan Vojtassak proceeded to Rev. Anton Gracik's St. Stephen's parish in Newark, New Jersey Pavol Jantausch joined Rev. Jan Kubasek at his Holy Trinity parish in Yonkers, New York; Jozef Carsky went to administer the sacrament of confirmation (we do not know to which parish) and Marian Blaha remained at Rev. Stefan Krasul'a's . h .34 pans On Sunday, June 13 , 1926, the four Slovak bishops attended a reception for the papal nuncio to the Eucharistic Congress, Giovanni Vincenzo Cardinal Bonzano, in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. In the evening of the same day, the Slovak bishops were guests at a banquet hosted in their honor by the Rev. Stefan Krasul'a. 35 The next day the Slovak bishops attended the first graduation ceremony at Danville Academy for Girls, founded by the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Danville, Pennsylvania. 36 The order is the first and only Slovak religious order founded in honor of the Apostles of the Slavs. It was established on September 11, 1909 by four Slovak-American Roman-Catholic priests: Matus Jankola, Andrej Pavco, Alexander Dianiska and Jozef Murgas. The idea of a high school for Slovak girls originated in 1922, the same year as when the Slovak Benedictines in the USA decided to establish a high school for boys in Cleveland, Ohio. In the school year 1925-26, the girl's high school already had all four grades. Therefore, the Sisters asked the state authorities for accreditation. The latter was granted to the school on June 10, 1926. 37 So only four days later the first graduation ceremony of the first ten students was held in the presence of five bishops, three monsignors, fifty-one priests and a large number of spectators. 38 33 Jbid. , 280-28 I. Slowi k, July 2, 1926, 3. 35 Ibid. 36 Jednota, June 23 , 1926, 1-2. 37 Frantisek Hrusovsky, Slovenske rehole v Amerike (Cleveland, OH.: Slovensky ustav pri Opatstve sv. Andreja-Svorada, 1955), 186-7, 202-03 . 38 "Prva Katolicka Slovenska Vyss ia Dievcenska Skola," in Pamatnica slovenskeho dna newyorkskych a new j erseyskych Slowikov: 5. jula, 1926. J. C. Sciranka, ed. (New York City: Vybor slovenskeho dila, s. d.), no pagination. 34 �SLOVAKIA-2015 43 On the same day, accompanied by Philip R. McDevitt, Bishop of Harrisburg, the Slovak bishops moved on to the Jednota Estates of the First Catholic Slovak Union in Middletown, Pennsylvania.39 The First Catholic Slovak Union, a fraternal-benefit society, was founded in Cleveland in 1890 by the Reverend Stefan Furdek. On April 30, 1926, it had 629 active branches with 55 ,091 members . Established in 1906 to organize the youth, its Youth Division (Mladenecke oddelenie) had 446 active branches with 35,535 members . Altogether, the FCSU had 1,075 branches with 90,626 members . In 1926, the market value of the FCSU 's assets was $5,012,880.53 and its Youth Division 's assets totaled $157,202 .96, for a grand total of $5,170,083.65. It was the largest and strongest Slovak Catholic fraternal benefit society in the world. It also cared for orphaned children of its deceased members in an orphanage established in 1906 (opened in 1914) to this end in Middletown .40 Its editorial offices and printery were also located there.4 1 The next day, bishop Jozef Carsky left the group and went to administer the sacrament of confirmation to parishes in Houtzdale and Windburn, Pennsylvania. On June 16, 1926, the bishops left for Harrisburg, from whence they continued to 42 the Eucharistic Congress. In Chicago the bishops were officially welcomed by representatives of Slovak-American Catholic societies. Before the formal opening of the Congress, the Slovak bishops received visits by their countrymen and toured the city. In the Slovak Catholic parishes, they celebrated masses and held missionary sermons. The latter were purely apolitical. Only bishop Vojtassak complained in one of them that he could not come to America sooner, because in 1923 the Czechoslo43 vak authorities refused to issue him a passport. The Eucharistic Congress opened in the morning of June 20, 1926 with the reading of a papal bull and lasted until June 24, 1926 . 39 Jednota, June 23 , 1926, I . 4-0Pamdtnik rimsko-katolickych slovenskych osad v zapad. Pennsylvanii vydany vyborom slovenskeho dna z prileiitosti navstevy osv. biskupov zo Slovenska: v stredu dna 7. Ju/a 1926 (Pittsburgh, Pa.: Vybor slovenskeho dna, s. d.), 122-3. 41 Jednota, June 23, 1926, 2. 42 /bid. 43 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Chicago on the political activities of the People' s Party leaders in the Chicago district. Attachment of the letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CS R in Prague, July 30, 1926. �44 SLOV AKIA-2015 It was hosted by George Cardinal Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago. The Holy See was represented by the papal nuncio Giovanni Vincenzo Cardinal Bonzano. The Congress took place in the local churches and auditoriums and in the recently opened Soldier Field Stadium. 44 On the last day of the Congress there was a pilgrimage to the city of Mundelein, Illinois, forty miles north of Chicago. The Congress was attended by representatives from all continents and thus it manifested the universality of the Catholic Church. In addition, it was the greatest pilgrimage in American history. The Chicago Daily News reported that the final mass in Mundelein was attended by an estimated half a million to a million of the faithful. 45 In addition, the Daily News reported interesting details on the pilgrimage to Mundelein, such as the consumption of ten tons of hot dogs by the pilgrims and the crush of passengers on the trains, which began running at two-minute intervals from 4 a.m. that day. It also rained, which then turned into hail, and the Daily News boasted that it managed to print photographs from Mundelein in its papers and got them on the street within two hours, thanks to swift delivery by airplane. 46 The choir during the opening of the mass consisted of 60,000 children. The Fox Film Corporation, which created a 96-minute film of the Congress (it premiered in New York on November 8, 1926), refused to accept any remuneration for its participation. An estimated 100,000 Slovaks attended the Eucharistic Congress (approximately sixty from Slovakia, including the bishops).47 The latter actively participated in the Congress by celebrating masses and delivering sermons. 48 Even though American newspapers did not pay any attention to the Slovak pilgrims at the Eucharistic Congress, 44 Soldier Field Stadium in Chicago serves as a memorial to American soldiers who died in past wars. It was designed in 1919 and opened on October 9, 1924 on the 53 rd anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire as Municipal Grant Park Stadium, changing its name to Soldier Field on November 11 , 1925. Its design is modeled on the Greco-Roman architectural tradition, with Doric columns rising above the entrance. After subsequent reconstructions, the modem grandstands diminish the impression of these columns. 45 The Chicago Daily News, June 24, 1926, I [online] . Available at: http ://encyclo£edia.chicagohistory.org/pages/ 11319.htm1. 6 Eucharistic Congress, Chicago Daily News, 1926 [online]. Available at: http: //enc clopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/ I 1319 .html. 4 Jednota. Kato/icky kalendar na obycajny rok 192 7, 43-44. 48 Slovak, July 8, 1926, 3. 1 �SLOV AKIA-2015 45 in the program of church services, published in all newspapers by the organizational board of the Congress, the Slovaks were listed as a separate group. 49 After the Eucharistic Congress, the Slovak Catholic bishops stayed in the USA until August 4, 1926. In the meantime, they visited all the major and several minor Slovak Catholic parishes. They held missionary services and sermons and administered the sacrament of confirmation. They also attended Slovak Days, gatherings and meetings.50 On July 1, 1926, they were hosted by Michal Bosak in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 51 In their speeches, the Slovak bishops avoided political issues. The representatives of Slovak-American autonomists (Ivan Bielek, President of the Slovak League of America, Jozef Husek, editor of Jednota and others), however, made use of the Slovak Days for agitation for Slovak autonomy. The Slovak bishops were very popular with the people. 52 For instance, the Jednota and Slowik newspapers reported an estimated 75,000 to 80,000 people at the 3rd Slovak Day in Pittsburgh on July 7, 1926. 53 On July 28, 1926, the weekly Jednota published an appeal by bishop Jozef Carsky, to Slovak-American Catholics from eastern Slovakia. The bishop stressed the importance of the Society of St. Adalbert in Trnava, which, however, still had very few members in the east. He decided, therefore, to appeal to their countrymen in America to pay the membership fees in the Society of St. Adalbert for them . Bishop Carsky also made an appeal to the Slovak49 AMZV CR, f. Ill . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Chicago on the political activities of the People 's Party leaders in the Chicago district. Attachment of the letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. Interestingly enough, June Granatir Alexander, in her Ethnic Pride, American Patriotism: Slovaks and Other New Immigrants in the Jnterwar Era (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004), fails to mention Slovak participation in the Eucharistic Congress. 50 Pauco, 209. 51 ASSV, fasc. 338/2. Jozef J. Dulik, Na pamiatku Vecierka usporiadaneho na pocest' osvietenych panov Biskupov zo Slovenska Micha/om Bosakom 1-ho ju/a 1926 v Scranton, Pa. The brochure reads that the bishops were treated to caviar, green turtle soup, cuts of Virginia ham, filet of beef, vanilla ice-cream and other specialties. 52 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, October 5, 1926. 53 Jednota, July 14, 1926, 2; Slovak, August 4, 1926, 5. �46 SLOVAKIA-2015 American priests to raise public awareness of this issue or to set aside one Sunday for fundraising to create a branch of the Society of St. Adalbert in Kos ice.54 All four Slovak bishops made a similar speech on July 29, 1926. In their address, the bishops, as the protectors of the Society of St. Adalbert, stressed its importance for all Slovaks. They thanked Slovak-American Catholics for their support of the Society in the past and invited them to become members, to purchase its books, especially the bible, as well as to register their countrymen in Slovakia as its members. 55 On July 30, 1926, the Slovak bishops paid an official visit to the Czechoslovak legation in Washington. Since ambassador Zdenek Fierlinger had departed, they were received by proxy. At the embassy , the bishops expressed great satisfaction with the Slovak colony in the USA and noted that everywhere they had gained an impression of real national awareness and reliability. At the same time, they expressed the belief that, in terms of loyalty to Czechoslovakia, factual judgment refined by the school of life, acumen, as well as inborn skepticism, protected American Slovaks from excesses. 56 The Slovak bishops also visited the papal nuncio to the United States. 57 Before departure, the Slovak bishops addressed to SlovakAmerican Catholics a farewell letter in which they thanked them for their receptions and hospitality. They expressed admiration for what Slovak Catholics in America had achieved in a relatively short period of time, despite various difficulties. The proverbial Slovak tenaciousness in the national and religious fields had transformed itself into Slovak churches, schools and fraternal-benefit-societies and halls. The bishops wished the Slovak Catholics in America a good life with no obstacles in the future .58 On August 3, 1926, there was a farewell banquet for the bishops in the Astoria Hotel in New York City. The representative of the 54 Jednota , July 28, 1926, 4. 55 Jednota , August 11 , 1926, I. 56 ' AMZV CR , f. III. sekce MZV 191 8- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. 57 Pietro Fumasoni Biondi (1872- 1960) - papal legate in the USA from December 14, 1922 to March 16, 1933. 58Jednota , July 28, 1926, 4. �SLOVAKIA-2015 47 Czechoslovak legation in Washington, J. Lavicka (otherwise the Czechoslovak Consul General in New York), also came to officially say farewell to the bishops. The main theme of the bishops' final speeches was an appeal to American Slovaks to save their youth because thus they would save the nation.59 The Slovak bishops left America on the steamship Aquitania on August 4, 1926.60 Therefore, it is apparent that the four Slovak Catholic bishops used their trip to the 28 th International Eucharistic Congress in Chicago for a pastoral journey among Slovak Catholics in America. During their almost two-month stay in the USA (June I I- August 4, 1926), they visited many Slovak-American Catholic parishes. To visit all of them was physically impossible, because within one day they would have had to visit more than four. For the SlovakAmerican Catholics the Slovak bishops' journey had a certain specificity . Many of them, especially Catholic priests, had had a personal experience with the chauvinism of the Hungarian Catholic hierarchy, which was in many cases the main reason for their departure oversees. That is why they welcomed the Slovak bishops after the creation of Czechoslovakia. As to Andrej Hlinka's agitation tour, he and the bishops, except for the latter' s reception in New York City, never appeared together. After the Eucharistic Congress they parted ways. However, the bishops' presence in America, even if apolitical, significantly increased interest among American Slovaks in Andrej Hlinka's lectures. The authority of the Slovak bishops helped Hlinka in another respect as well. His lecture tour in the USA occurred in the atmosphere of numerous minor personal arguments in the Slovak Catholic community. The presence of the Slovak bishops helped to overcome these aversions and staved off the danger of public controversy.61 On the 59 Pauco, 209; AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. 60 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. 61 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, October 5, 1926. For a detailed account on A. Hlinka's journey to the USA in 1926, see my "Andrej Hlinka' s Journey to the USA in 1926," in Slovakia, 40 (Nos. 74-75 , 2010), 32-46. �48 SLOV AKIA-2015 other hand, the Slovak-American autonomists did not hesitate to make use of the presence of the bishops to agitate for Slovak autonomy. The Slovak bishops often expressed their surprise at and admiration for what they saw in the centers of Slovak Catholic life in America. At the graduation ceremony in Danville, Pennsylvania, bishop Blaha rejoiced at the fact that there was a Slovak girls' high school so far from home. 62 Similarly, on the farm of the FCSU in Middletown, he admired what the society had achieved and said that in Slovakia something similar would not be possible.63 Finally, at the Slovak Day in Pittsburgh he said that, on the basis of what he had seen and experienced in Slovak America, American Slovaks would nationally and culturally survive in the USA for another hundred years.64 The Slovak bishops used their trip to America to advertise the Society of St. Adalbert and its newly-released Slovak edition of the bible. The success of this mission was more than clear and for the Society of St. Adalbert it meant a high return on its investment in publishing the Slovak bible. Part of the Slovak bishops' goals, as well as that of Andrej Hlinka, in the USA was fund-raising. For the bishops it was organized by a committee headed by Monsignor Viktor Blahunka. 65 As early as in April of 1926, Karol Kmet'ko, bishop of Nitra, turned to the Slovak-American Catholics and asked them for funds for the Society of the Divine Word. 66 According to the report of the Czechoslovak consulate in Pittsburgh, the FCSU's head office gave each of the bishops during their journey to the USA $1,000. 67 Unfortunately, we do not know how much money the Slovak bishops raised in America. Despite the fact that, according to the reports of the Czech62Jednota, June 23 , 1926, 2. Jednota, June 23 , 1926, I. 64 Jednota, July 14, 1926, 1. 65ASSV, fasc. 336/5b. Program navstevy osv. biskupov zo Slovenska v Pittsburghu a na okolici od 6. do 16. jula 1926. 66 AMZV CR , f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 650. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prafue, April 15, 1926. 1 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, October 5, 1926. 63 �SLOV AKIA-2015 49 oslovak consulate in Pittsburgh, the committees of festivals on the occasion of the visit of the Slovak Catholic bishops at some places showed a financial deficit, 68 the amount the bishops raised must have been relatively large. This is suggested by the letter of Andrej Hlinka to Jan Postenyi upon their return from America: "As you know, I have returned with fame, pennants and rings- but not many dollars . Business is business and I am not very good at it. I am a great idealist and our masters, the bishops, skimmed off the cream." 69 68 /bid. ASSV, fasc. 156112b. Letter of A. Hlinka to J. Postenyi, November 3, 1926. 69 � SLOV AKIA-2015 35 THE JOURNEY OFFOUR SLOVAK CATHOLIC BISHOPS TO THE USA IN 1926 1 Stefan Kucik In 1926, the 28 th International Eucharistic Congress took place in the United States of America. This "country of unlimited possibilities" was generally expected to prepare a Congress that would surpass all previous International Eucharistic Congresses, both in terms of the number of participants and its grandiosity. The Congress itself was expected to become a forum to manifest the strength of American Catholicism. For Slovak-American Catholics, however, the forthcoming Congress had a significant added value. The four new Slovak Catholics bishops were to participate in it. While many authors have dealt with various aspects of the lives and activities of Slovak Catholic bishops in the interwar period, no one has yet provided us with a detailed account on their journey to the USA in 1926. This article will try to fill this gap. At the time of the International Eucharistic Congress in Chicago, there were six Catholic bishops in Slovakia: Marian Blaha of Banska Bystrica, Jan Vojtassak of Spis, and Karol Kmet'ko of Nitra (all ordained on February 13, I 921 ); Jozef Carsky of Kos ice and Pavo I Jantausch of Trnava (both ordained on June 14, 1925); and Michal Bubnic of Roziiava (ordained on December 8, 1925). However, only four of them finally departed for America: Blaha, Vojtassak, Jantausch and Carsky. The number of Slovak Catholic bishops who were to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago initially fluctuated . On April 8, 1926, the Ministry with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic in Prague that all Slovak bishops would make the trip to the USA. 2 On April 14, 1926, the American Catholic 1 This is an English and slightly modified and updated version of my previous article entitled "Cesta slovenskych katolickych biskupov do slovenskej Ameriky v roku 1926," in Duchovny pastier, 93 (Nos. 1-2, 2012), 21-31 . 2 Archiv Ministerstva zahranicnich veci Ceske republiky, Prague, Czech Republic (hereinafter AMZV CR), fond (hereinafter f.) Ill . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, inventory �36 SLOV AKIA-2015 weekly Jednota published an article in which it announced the arrival of bishops Vojtassak, Kmet'ko, Blaha, Jantausch and, perhaps, Carsky as well, while bishop Bubnic was likely to stay at home due to his illness. 3 On May 16, 1926, the Bratislava daily Slowik men4 tioned five bishops, leaving Marian Blaha in Slovakia. The final decision on the number of bishops,who were to attend the Eucharistic Congress was made by the Bishop 's Conference only a few days before their planned departure. The Conference decided that the bishops of Nitra and Roziiava would remain at home. 5 The reason was the wish of the Papal Nuncio in Prague to have some representatives of the Slovak episcopate at his disposal. This was a time of tense negotiations with Czechoslovakia after the so-called "Marmaggi Affair." The Nuncio wanted Czech and Slovak bishops to submit a memorandum to Czechoslovak officials on the eve of Jan Hus Day (July 6). As a matter of fact, the memorandum was prepared by the Vatican's State Secretary in Rome and it demanded that the Czechoslovak government and President Masaryk refrain from participating in the Hus celebrations and from insulting Czechoslovakia's Catholics.6 Another reason for a part of the Slovak episcopate 's remaining at home was the preparation of an important law on 7 clergy salaries in Czechoslovakia. For the Slovak Catholic bishops it was the first, as well as the last, trip to America. Their requests for issuing or extending passports to the USA were met with no major obstructions, 8 even though in the case of bishop Blaha, as he said himself, the authorities exnumber (hereinafter i. no.) 22, folder (hereinafter fold .) 650. Letter of the Ministry of the Czechoslovak Republic (hereinafter CSR) with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 8, 1926. 3 Jednota (Middletown, PA), April 14, 1926, 4. 4 Slovak (Bratislava), May 16, 1926, 3. 5 Slovak, June I, 1926, I. 6Emilia Hrabovec, "Sviita stolica a slovenski biskupi v medzivojnovom obdobi," in Duchovny pastier, 93 (Nos. 1-2, 2012), 8. 7 Slovak, June I, 1926, I. The law was passed on June 25, 1926 . Zakon kongruovy c. 122/ 1926 Sb. z. an. zakon ze dne 25. cervna 1926 o uprave platu duchovenstva cirkvi a naboienskych spolecnosti statem uznanych, pfip. recipovanych [online]. Available at: http ://spcp.prf.cuni .cz/lex/ 122-26.htm. 8 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 650. Letter of the Ministry of the CSR with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry ofForeign Affairs of the CS R in Prague, April 8, 1926. �SLOV AKIA-2015 37 pressed "a strange sort of caution. " 9 Thus, the situation of 1923, when the Czechoslovak authorities refused to issue a passport to bishop Vojtassak for his intended journey to America, was not repeated. 10 In 1926 there were 228 Slovak Catholic parishes with 236 priests in the USA. 11 Therefore, the Slovak bishops intended to not only attend the Eucharistic Congress, but also to make a pastoral journey among Slovak Catholics in America. It was supposed to strengthen their Catholic identity which was threatened by the secularization influences of the American environment and the propaganda of the Czechoslovak Church 12 supported by the Czechoslovak government, as well as to raise some funds for Catholic institutions in Slovakia. 13 Czechoslovak representative offices in the USA, however, began to collect information on the plans of Slovak-American autonomists, largely consisting of the Catholic element, to make use of the presence of the Slovak Catholic bishops for their political goals. Indeed, Slovak bishops travelled to America at a time when the idea of Slovak autonomy on the basis of the Pittsburgh Agreement was supported by most American Slovaks, represented by the Slovak League of America (hereinafter SLA). Information on the intended political actions of SlovakAmerican autonomists on the occasion of the Slovak bishops ' visit raised fears in the offices of Czechoslovak representatives in the USA. Therefore, the anti-autonomist circles in America sought to 9 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 19 I 8- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Report of the Presidium of the Ministry of the CSR with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, May 17, 1926. 10 For more on Jan Vojtassak's case, see Stefan Kucik, "The Struggle for the Hearts and Minds of American Slovaks: Bishop Jan Vojtassak's Aborted Journey to the USA in 1923," in Slovakia 41 (Nos. 76-77, 2013), 7-36. 11 Jednota : Kato/icky kalendar na obycajny rok 1927 (Middletown, PA), 161-72. 12 The Czechoslovak Church (after 1971 the Czechoslovak Hussite Church) is a Christian Church which separated from the Roman Catholic Church after World War I (January 8, 1920) in the former Czechoslovakia. Originally a Czech national church, its activities are now almost entirely limited to today's Czech and Slovak Republics. One such church existed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1926 and 1967. See Joseph P. Budd, "We do Know English: Philadelphia' s Czechoslovak Presbyterian Church of Jan Hus, 1926-1967," M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, 2009. I am grateful to M. Mark Stolarik for this citation. There may have been other such Czechoslovak churches in the USA, but so far no-one has studied them. 13 Hrabovec, 8. �38 SLOV AKIA-2015 blunt the political edge of these actions. For instance, the Rev. Jozef Murgas of Wilkes-Barre, PA, promised Milan Getting, the Czechoslovak consul in Pittsburgh, to question Slovak priests at their upcoming conference in eastern Pennsylvania whether they were interested in politics or in religion. According to Murgas, the Czech bishops travelling to the Eucharistic Congress allegedly called upon the Slovak bishops to represent themselves in the USA as Czechoslovak bishops. Reportedly, bishop Jan Vojtassak: replied on behalf of the Slovak episcopate that they would go to America as Slovak bishops. 14 Of greater concern to the Slovak-American "Czechoslovak" camp was the fact that the president of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, Andrej Hlinka himself, was also going to attend the Eucharistic Congress. Besides his trip to the Congress, Hlinka planned to use his stay in the USA to agitate for Slovak autonomy, fundraising and internationalization of the Slovak cause. 15 He also intended to settle personal disputes among Slovak-American Catholics. 16 On the initiative of the Czechoslovak consul in Pittsburgh, the Rev. Murgas decided to organize in his parish in Wilkes-Barre on June 27, 1926 a Cyrilo-Methodian ceremony on the occasion of the consecration of the new local school. He invited the whole Czech and Ruthenian episcopates, as well as the Slovak bishops Marian Blaha and Jozef Carsky. The ceremony was also to be held to commemorate the Order of the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, of which Rev. Murgas was a co-founder. The preparations were made in such a manner that Andrej Hlinka would not be present. Moreover, the occasion was to become a place where the Czech and Slovak bishops could demonstrate "Czechoslovak" solidarity. The organizers invited the Czechoslovak ambassador in Washington as well. 17 14 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 650. Letter of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Pra~ue, Marc5120, 1926. 5 AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Letter of the Ministry of the CSR with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 30, 1926. 16 S!owik, May 23, 1926, 1. 17 AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 650. Letter of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, March 20, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 650 . Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs �SLOVAKIA-2015 39 However, Getting and Murgas were disappointed. Even Murgas' personal intercession with bishop Carsky immediately upon the arrival of Slovak bishops in New York ended in vain. 18 Bishop Blaha gave priority to attendance at the Slovak Day in St. Louis, Missouri on June 27, I 926 19 and bishop Carsky went to Cudahy, Wisconsin, to administer the sacrament of confirmation. 20 On the other hand, the Slovak bishops did visit the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in WilkesBarre on different occasions, bishop Carsky even twice.21 The four Slovak bishops set out on their journey to the USA on May 31, 192622 and arrived in New York City on the steamship Aquitania on June 11, 1926. When they docked, they were welcomed by Slovak-American priests, representatives of Slovak-American organizations and newspapers, a representative of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, J. Lavicka, and other individuals. Accompanied by several dozen cars, the bishops were driven to the Slovak st Church of St. John Nepomucene at the comer 66 th Street and 1 Avenue. Its pastor since 1916 was the Rev. Stefan Krasul'a. After a short prayer in the church, there was a banquet in the Commodore Hotel, hosted by Slovak priests in honor of the Slovak bishops. The banquet was chaired by Msgr. Viktor B lahunka of Chicago (originally from Lucky near Ruzomberok). 23 He also headed the committee 24 charged with the care of the Slovak bishops while in America. of the CSR in Prague, April 15, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651 . Letter of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 15, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 22, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, June 11 , 1926. 18 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, June 11 , 1926. 19 Jednota , July 7, 1926, I. 20 Jednota , July 14, 1926, I. 21 Jednota , August 11 , 1926, I. 22 Slowik, June 1, 1926, I. 23 Jednota , June 16, 1926, 1; Slowik, July 2, 1926, 3. 24 Archiv Spolku sv. Vojtecha, Tmava, Slovak Republic (hereinafter ASSV), fascicle (hereinafter fasc .) 336/5b. Program navstevy osv. biskupov zo Slovenska v Pittsburghu a na okolici od 6. do 16. jula 1926. �40 SLOV AKIA-2015 After greetings and words of welcome, bishop Marian Blaha addressed the audience. He said that they had arrived in America to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. However, the second very important goal of their journey was to visit and strengthen the faith of Slovak-American Catholics. He expressed pleasure at the fact that the Slovak Catholics in America had preserved both their faith and their Slovak language. Bishop Blaha informed the audience that they had brought a gift to the Slovak-American Catholics - the modem Slovak translation of the Bible. He did not forget to remark that the main credit for publishing it belonged to Andrej Hlinka, who was also present at the banquet. 25 In 1926 the first translation of the Bible into modem Slovak was completed. It was published by the Society of St. Adalbert (Spolok sv. Vojtecha) in Tmava. The preparatory phase had lasted for more than four decades. It was published between the years 1913 and 1926, with a long break due to World War I. The translation consisted of ten chapters: two for the New and eight for the Old Testament. After the whole first translation of the Bible appeared, Narodnie noviny in Turciansky Svaty Martin published a review (copied by other Slovak newspapers as well) that only the revision of the translation, done by the Rev. Frantisek R. Osvald, took a full eight years.26 After the Great War, the large amount of money needed by the Society of St. Adalbert to publish the Slovak translation of the bible was hard to raise in Slovakia. In 1920 generous gifts from America began to flow into Slovakia. Especially generous were the donations given by the Slovak bishops Karol Kmet'ko, Marian Blaha and Jan Vojtassak and Andrej Hlinka (100,000 crowns each). All this money was put into the shares of the Society of St. Adalbert for publishing purposes. In the critical situation (in 1923), the Society sent a threemember delegation, led by its director Jan Postenyi-Kysucky, to the USA. Within two and half months, the delegation visited more than one hundred Slovak-American parishes. At the very first meeting with the Slovak-American editors and the presidents of Slovak25 Jednota, June I 6, 1926, I. Jan Debnar, "Hist6ria prekladu a vydania prveho svatovojtesskeho Svateho pisma," in O prekladoch Biblie do slovenciny a do inych slovanskych j azykov, Jan Dorul'a, ed. (Bratislava: Slavisticky kabinet SA V, 1997), 247, 276-278 ; Jednota, June 16, 1926, 5. 26 �SLOVAKIA-2015 41 American Catholic organizations in Pittsburgh, $1,072 was collected and 2,156 new members joined the Society (the membership fee was $4 but twenty-five founding members contributed $100 each, while the American-Slovak millionaire Michal Bosak gave $600). 27 In 1926, the Society of St. Adalbert also sent its delegation to the USA. It consisted of the director Jan Postenyi, Alexander Sindelar, Stefan Zlatos and Robert Pobozny .28 The proposition to send a delegation to the USA during the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago was made by director Jan Postenyi at the meeting of the executive board in April of 1926. As a matter of fact, the Society issued the Slovak edition of the Bible at its own expense of 800,000 crowns. If the Society was not to fall into new debt (in Slovakia an expected interest in the Slovak bible failed to materialize), it had to turn to the SlovakAmerican Catholics. Moreover, the Slovak Catholic Federation in America still held 116,000 crowns belonging to the Society of St. Adalbert, which could be claimed only in person. 29 In the USA, the delegates sold 3,800 copies of the bible for $10 .00 each . At the same time, 1,500 new members joined the Society.30 The center of the mission of the Society of St. Adalbert in the USA was its own branch in Youngstown, Ohio, which since 1922 had been administered by the Rev . Stefan Kocis.31 Eventually, American Slovaks bought 6,800 copies of the Slovak bible.32 Bishop Marian Blaha's remarks on Andrej Hlinka's contribution to the publishing of the Slovak Bible were justified. Indeed, it is often referred to as the Hlinka translation or the Hlinka and Donoval translation, because both Andrej Hlinka and Jan Donoval greatly contributed to this work. It is shocking how little attention has been given to these two priests and their role in the translation of the bible and to their contribution to the development of Slovak spiritual, linguistic and national enlightenment. Andrej Hlinka also played a major role in publishing the bible by the Society of St. Adalbert, which 27 Debnar, 282. Jan Postenyi, Dejiny Spo/ku sv. Vojte cha (Tmava: Spolok sv. Vojtecha, 1930), 79. 29 ASSV. Zapisnica zo zasadnutia vyboru Spolku sv. Vojtecha konaneho 26. aprila r. 1926 . 30 Debnar, 283. 31 Postenyi, 80. 32 Debnar, 283 . 28 �42 SLOV AKIA-2015 he led as its president from November 14, 1920, together with director Jan Postenyi and secretary Juraj Hoda! (since 1923). 33 After attending the welcoming and gala dinner in the Commodore Hotel in New York City, the Slovak bishops went their own ways: Jan Vojtassak proceeded to Rev. Anton Gracik's St. Stephen's parish in Newark, New Jersey Pavol Jantausch joined Rev. Jan Kubasek at his Holy Trinity parish in Yonkers, New York; Jozef Carsky went to administer the sacrament of confirmation (we do not know to which parish) and Marian Blaha remained at Rev. Stefan Krasul'a's . h .34 pans On Sunday, June 13 , 1926, the four Slovak bishops attended a reception for the papal nuncio to the Eucharistic Congress, Giovanni Vincenzo Cardinal Bonzano, in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. In the evening of the same day, the Slovak bishops were guests at a banquet hosted in their honor by the Rev. Stefan Krasul'a. 35 The next day the Slovak bishops attended the first graduation ceremony at Danville Academy for Girls, founded by the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Danville, Pennsylvania. 36 The order is the first and only Slovak religious order founded in honor of the Apostles of the Slavs. It was established on September 11, 1909 by four Slovak-American Roman-Catholic priests: Matus Jankola, Andrej Pavco, Alexander Dianiska and Jozef Murgas. The idea of a high school for Slovak girls originated in 1922, the same year as when the Slovak Benedictines in the USA decided to establish a high school for boys in Cleveland, Ohio. In the school year 1925-26, the girl's high school already had all four grades. Therefore, the Sisters asked the state authorities for accreditation. The latter was granted to the school on June 10, 1926. 37 So only four days later the first graduation ceremony of the first ten students was held in the presence of five bishops, three monsignors, fifty-one priests and a large number of spectators. 38 33 Jbid. , 280-28 I. Slowi k, July 2, 1926, 3. 35 Ibid. 36 Jednota, June 23 , 1926, 1-2. 37 Frantisek Hrusovsky, Slovenske rehole v Amerike (Cleveland, OH.: Slovensky ustav pri Opatstve sv. Andreja-Svorada, 1955), 186-7, 202-03 . 38 "Prva Katolicka Slovenska Vyss ia Dievcenska Skola," in Pamatnica slovenskeho dna newyorkskych a new j erseyskych Slowikov: 5. jula, 1926. J. C. Sciranka, ed. (New York City: Vybor slovenskeho dila, s. d.), no pagination. 34 �SLOVAKIA-2015 43 On the same day, accompanied by Philip R. McDevitt, Bishop of Harrisburg, the Slovak bishops moved on to the Jednota Estates of the First Catholic Slovak Union in Middletown, Pennsylvania.39 The First Catholic Slovak Union, a fraternal-benefit society, was founded in Cleveland in 1890 by the Reverend Stefan Furdek. On April 30, 1926, it had 629 active branches with 55 ,091 members . Established in 1906 to organize the youth, its Youth Division (Mladenecke oddelenie) had 446 active branches with 35,535 members . Altogether, the FCSU had 1,075 branches with 90,626 members . In 1926, the market value of the FCSU 's assets was $5,012,880.53 and its Youth Division 's assets totaled $157,202 .96, for a grand total of $5,170,083.65. It was the largest and strongest Slovak Catholic fraternal benefit society in the world. It also cared for orphaned children of its deceased members in an orphanage established in 1906 (opened in 1914) to this end in Middletown .40 Its editorial offices and printery were also located there.4 1 The next day, bishop Jozef Carsky left the group and went to administer the sacrament of confirmation to parishes in Houtzdale and Windburn, Pennsylvania. On June 16, 1926, the bishops left for Harrisburg, from whence they continued to 42 the Eucharistic Congress. In Chicago the bishops were officially welcomed by representatives of Slovak-American Catholic societies. Before the formal opening of the Congress, the Slovak bishops received visits by their countrymen and toured the city. In the Slovak Catholic parishes, they celebrated masses and held missionary sermons. The latter were purely apolitical. Only bishop Vojtassak complained in one of them that he could not come to America sooner, because in 1923 the Czechoslo43 vak authorities refused to issue him a passport. The Eucharistic Congress opened in the morning of June 20, 1926 with the reading of a papal bull and lasted until June 24, 1926 . 39 Jednota, June 23 , 1926, I . 4-0Pamdtnik rimsko-katolickych slovenskych osad v zapad. Pennsylvanii vydany vyborom slovenskeho dna z prileiitosti navstevy osv. biskupov zo Slovenska: v stredu dna 7. Ju/a 1926 (Pittsburgh, Pa.: Vybor slovenskeho dna, s. d.), 122-3. 41 Jednota, June 23, 1926, 2. 42 /bid. 43 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Chicago on the political activities of the People' s Party leaders in the Chicago district. Attachment of the letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CS R in Prague, July 30, 1926. �44 SLOV AKIA-2015 It was hosted by George Cardinal Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago. The Holy See was represented by the papal nuncio Giovanni Vincenzo Cardinal Bonzano. The Congress took place in the local churches and auditoriums and in the recently opened Soldier Field Stadium. 44 On the last day of the Congress there was a pilgrimage to the city of Mundelein, Illinois, forty miles north of Chicago. The Congress was attended by representatives from all continents and thus it manifested the universality of the Catholic Church. In addition, it was the greatest pilgrimage in American history. The Chicago Daily News reported that the final mass in Mundelein was attended by an estimated half a million to a million of the faithful. 45 In addition, the Daily News reported interesting details on the pilgrimage to Mundelein, such as the consumption of ten tons of hot dogs by the pilgrims and the crush of passengers on the trains, which began running at two-minute intervals from 4 a.m. that day. It also rained, which then turned into hail, and the Daily News boasted that it managed to print photographs from Mundelein in its papers and got them on the street within two hours, thanks to swift delivery by airplane. 46 The choir during the opening of the mass consisted of 60,000 children. The Fox Film Corporation, which created a 96-minute film of the Congress (it premiered in New York on November 8, 1926), refused to accept any remuneration for its participation. An estimated 100,000 Slovaks attended the Eucharistic Congress (approximately sixty from Slovakia, including the bishops).47 The latter actively participated in the Congress by celebrating masses and delivering sermons. 48 Even though American newspapers did not pay any attention to the Slovak pilgrims at the Eucharistic Congress, 44 Soldier Field Stadium in Chicago serves as a memorial to American soldiers who died in past wars. It was designed in 1919 and opened on October 9, 1924 on the 53 rd anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire as Municipal Grant Park Stadium, changing its name to Soldier Field on November 11 , 1925. Its design is modeled on the Greco-Roman architectural tradition, with Doric columns rising above the entrance. After subsequent reconstructions, the modem grandstands diminish the impression of these columns. 45 The Chicago Daily News, June 24, 1926, I [online] . Available at: http ://encyclo£edia.chicagohistory.org/pages/ 11319.htm1. 6 Eucharistic Congress, Chicago Daily News, 1926 [online]. Available at: http: //enc clopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/ I 1319 .html. 4 Jednota. Kato/icky kalendar na obycajny rok 192 7, 43-44. 48 Slovak, July 8, 1926, 3. 1 �SLOV AKIA-2015 45 in the program of church services, published in all newspapers by the organizational board of the Congress, the Slovaks were listed as a separate group. 49 After the Eucharistic Congress, the Slovak Catholic bishops stayed in the USA until August 4, 1926. In the meantime, they visited all the major and several minor Slovak Catholic parishes. They held missionary services and sermons and administered the sacrament of confirmation. They also attended Slovak Days, gatherings and meetings.50 On July 1, 1926, they were hosted by Michal Bosak in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 51 In their speeches, the Slovak bishops avoided political issues. The representatives of Slovak-American autonomists (Ivan Bielek, President of the Slovak League of America, Jozef Husek, editor of Jednota and others), however, made use of the Slovak Days for agitation for Slovak autonomy. The Slovak bishops were very popular with the people. 52 For instance, the Jednota and Slowik newspapers reported an estimated 75,000 to 80,000 people at the 3rd Slovak Day in Pittsburgh on July 7, 1926. 53 On July 28, 1926, the weekly Jednota published an appeal by bishop Jozef Carsky, to Slovak-American Catholics from eastern Slovakia. The bishop stressed the importance of the Society of St. Adalbert in Trnava, which, however, still had very few members in the east. He decided, therefore, to appeal to their countrymen in America to pay the membership fees in the Society of St. Adalbert for them . Bishop Carsky also made an appeal to the Slovak49 AMZV CR, f. Ill . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Chicago on the political activities of the People 's Party leaders in the Chicago district. Attachment of the letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. Interestingly enough, June Granatir Alexander, in her Ethnic Pride, American Patriotism: Slovaks and Other New Immigrants in the Jnterwar Era (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004), fails to mention Slovak participation in the Eucharistic Congress. 50 Pauco, 209. 51 ASSV, fasc. 338/2. Jozef J. Dulik, Na pamiatku Vecierka usporiadaneho na pocest' osvietenych panov Biskupov zo Slovenska Micha/om Bosakom 1-ho ju/a 1926 v Scranton, Pa. The brochure reads that the bishops were treated to caviar, green turtle soup, cuts of Virginia ham, filet of beef, vanilla ice-cream and other specialties. 52 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, October 5, 1926. 53 Jednota, July 14, 1926, 2; Slovak, August 4, 1926, 5. �46 SLOVAKIA-2015 American priests to raise public awareness of this issue or to set aside one Sunday for fundraising to create a branch of the Society of St. Adalbert in Kos ice.54 All four Slovak bishops made a similar speech on July 29, 1926. In their address, the bishops, as the protectors of the Society of St. Adalbert, stressed its importance for all Slovaks. They thanked Slovak-American Catholics for their support of the Society in the past and invited them to become members, to purchase its books, especially the bible, as well as to register their countrymen in Slovakia as its members. 55 On July 30, 1926, the Slovak bishops paid an official visit to the Czechoslovak legation in Washington. Since ambassador Zdenek Fierlinger had departed, they were received by proxy. At the embassy , the bishops expressed great satisfaction with the Slovak colony in the USA and noted that everywhere they had gained an impression of real national awareness and reliability. At the same time, they expressed the belief that, in terms of loyalty to Czechoslovakia, factual judgment refined by the school of life, acumen, as well as inborn skepticism, protected American Slovaks from excesses. 56 The Slovak bishops also visited the papal nuncio to the United States. 57 Before departure, the Slovak bishops addressed to SlovakAmerican Catholics a farewell letter in which they thanked them for their receptions and hospitality. They expressed admiration for what Slovak Catholics in America had achieved in a relatively short period of time, despite various difficulties. The proverbial Slovak tenaciousness in the national and religious fields had transformed itself into Slovak churches, schools and fraternal-benefit-societies and halls. The bishops wished the Slovak Catholics in America a good life with no obstacles in the future .58 On August 3, 1926, there was a farewell banquet for the bishops in the Astoria Hotel in New York City. The representative of the 54 Jednota , July 28, 1926, 4. 55 Jednota , August 11 , 1926, I. 56 ' AMZV CR , f. III. sekce MZV 191 8- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. 57 Pietro Fumasoni Biondi (1872- 1960) - papal legate in the USA from December 14, 1922 to March 16, 1933. 58Jednota , July 28, 1926, 4. �SLOVAKIA-2015 47 Czechoslovak legation in Washington, J. Lavicka (otherwise the Czechoslovak Consul General in New York), also came to officially say farewell to the bishops. The main theme of the bishops' final speeches was an appeal to American Slovaks to save their youth because thus they would save the nation.59 The Slovak bishops left America on the steamship Aquitania on August 4, 1926.60 Therefore, it is apparent that the four Slovak Catholic bishops used their trip to the 28 th International Eucharistic Congress in Chicago for a pastoral journey among Slovak Catholics in America. During their almost two-month stay in the USA (June I I- August 4, 1926), they visited many Slovak-American Catholic parishes. To visit all of them was physically impossible, because within one day they would have had to visit more than four. For the SlovakAmerican Catholics the Slovak bishops' journey had a certain specificity . Many of them, especially Catholic priests, had had a personal experience with the chauvinism of the Hungarian Catholic hierarchy, which was in many cases the main reason for their departure oversees. That is why they welcomed the Slovak bishops after the creation of Czechoslovakia. As to Andrej Hlinka's agitation tour, he and the bishops, except for the latter' s reception in New York City, never appeared together. After the Eucharistic Congress they parted ways. However, the bishops' presence in America, even if apolitical, significantly increased interest among American Slovaks in Andrej Hlinka's lectures. The authority of the Slovak bishops helped Hlinka in another respect as well. His lecture tour in the USA occurred in the atmosphere of numerous minor personal arguments in the Slovak Catholic community. The presence of the Slovak bishops helped to overcome these aversions and staved off the danger of public controversy.61 On the 59 Pauco, 209; AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. 60 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. 61 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, October 5, 1926. For a detailed account on A. Hlinka's journey to the USA in 1926, see my "Andrej Hlinka' s Journey to the USA in 1926," in Slovakia, 40 (Nos. 74-75 , 2010), 32-46. �48 SLOV AKIA-2015 other hand, the Slovak-American autonomists did not hesitate to make use of the presence of the bishops to agitate for Slovak autonomy. The Slovak bishops often expressed their surprise at and admiration for what they saw in the centers of Slovak Catholic life in America. At the graduation ceremony in Danville, Pennsylvania, bishop Blaha rejoiced at the fact that there was a Slovak girls' high school so far from home. 62 Similarly, on the farm of the FCSU in Middletown, he admired what the society had achieved and said that in Slovakia something similar would not be possible.63 Finally, at the Slovak Day in Pittsburgh he said that, on the basis of what he had seen and experienced in Slovak America, American Slovaks would nationally and culturally survive in the USA for another hundred years.64 The Slovak bishops used their trip to America to advertise the Society of St. Adalbert and its newly-released Slovak edition of the bible. The success of this mission was more than clear and for the Society of St. Adalbert it meant a high return on its investment in publishing the Slovak bible. Part of the Slovak bishops' goals, as well as that of Andrej Hlinka, in the USA was fund-raising. For the bishops it was organized by a committee headed by Monsignor Viktor Blahunka. 65 As early as in April of 1926, Karol Kmet'ko, bishop of Nitra, turned to the Slovak-American Catholics and asked them for funds for the Society of the Divine Word. 66 According to the report of the Czechoslovak consulate in Pittsburgh, the FCSU's head office gave each of the bishops during their journey to the USA $1,000. 67 Unfortunately, we do not know how much money the Slovak bishops raised in America. Despite the fact that, according to the reports of the Czech62Jednota, June 23 , 1926, 2. Jednota, June 23 , 1926, I. 64 Jednota, July 14, 1926, 1. 65ASSV, fasc. 336/5b. Program navstevy osv. biskupov zo Slovenska v Pittsburghu a na okolici od 6. do 16. jula 1926. 66 AMZV CR , f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 650. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prafue, April 15, 1926. 1 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, October 5, 1926. 63 �SLOV AKIA-2015 49 oslovak consulate in Pittsburgh, the committees of festivals on the occasion of the visit of the Slovak Catholic bishops at some places showed a financial deficit, 68 the amount the bishops raised must have been relatively large. This is suggested by the letter of Andrej Hlinka to Jan Postenyi upon their return from America: "As you know, I have returned with fame, pennants and rings- but not many dollars . Business is business and I am not very good at it. I am a great idealist and our masters, the bishops, skimmed off the cream." 69 68 /bid. ASSV, fasc. 156112b. Letter of A. Hlinka to J. Postenyi, November 3, 1926. 69 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2015, Vol. 42 Description An account of the resource Vol. 42 (No. 78-79), 2015. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOV AKIA-2015 35 THE JOURNEY OFFOUR SLOVAK CATHOLIC BISHOPS TO THE USA IN 1926 1 Stefan Kucik In 1926, the 28 th International Eucharistic Congress took place in the United States of America. This "country of unlimited possibilities" was generally expected to prepare a Congress that would surpass all previous International Eucharistic Congresses, both in terms of the number of participants and its grandiosity. The Congress itself was expected to become a forum to manifest the strength of American Catholicism. For Slovak-American Catholics, however, the forthcoming Congress had a significant added value. The four new Slovak Catholics bishops were to participate in it. While many authors have dealt with various aspects of the lives and activities of Slovak Catholic bishops in the interwar period, no one has yet provided us with a detailed account on their journey to the USA in 1926. This article will try to fill this gap. At the time of the International Eucharistic Congress in Chicago, there were six Catholic bishops in Slovakia: Marian Blaha of Banska Bystrica, Jan Vojtassak of Spis, and Karol Kmet'ko of Nitra (all ordained on February 13, I 921 ); Jozef Carsky of Kos ice and Pavo I Jantausch of Trnava (both ordained on June 14, 1925); and Michal Bubnic of Roziiava (ordained on December 8, 1925). However, only four of them finally departed for America: Blaha, Vojtassak, Jantausch and Carsky. The number of Slovak Catholic bishops who were to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago initially fluctuated . On April 8, 1926, the Ministry with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic in Prague that all Slovak bishops would make the trip to the USA. 2 On April 14, 1926, the American Catholic 1 This is an English and slightly modified and updated version of my previous article entitled "Cesta slovenskych katolickych biskupov do slovenskej Ameriky v roku 1926," in Duchovny pastier, 93 (Nos. 1-2, 2012), 21-31 . 2 Archiv Ministerstva zahranicnich veci Ceske republiky, Prague, Czech Republic (hereinafter AMZV CR), fond (hereinafter f.) Ill . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, inventory 36 SLOV AKIA-2015 weekly Jednota published an article in which it announced the arrival of bishops Vojtassak, Kmet'ko, Blaha, Jantausch and, perhaps, Carsky as well, while bishop Bubnic was likely to stay at home due to his illness. 3 On May 16, 1926, the Bratislava daily Slowik men4 tioned five bishops, leaving Marian Blaha in Slovakia. The final decision on the number of bishops,who were to attend the Eucharistic Congress was made by the Bishop 's Conference only a few days before their planned departure. The Conference decided that the bishops of Nitra and Roziiava would remain at home. 5 The reason was the wish of the Papal Nuncio in Prague to have some representatives of the Slovak episcopate at his disposal. This was a time of tense negotiations with Czechoslovakia after the so-called "Marmaggi Affair." The Nuncio wanted Czech and Slovak bishops to submit a memorandum to Czechoslovak officials on the eve of Jan Hus Day (July 6). As a matter of fact, the memorandum was prepared by the Vatican's State Secretary in Rome and it demanded that the Czechoslovak government and President Masaryk refrain from participating in the Hus celebrations and from insulting Czechoslovakia's Catholics.6 Another reason for a part of the Slovak episcopate 's remaining at home was the preparation of an important law on 7 clergy salaries in Czechoslovakia. For the Slovak Catholic bishops it was the first, as well as the last, trip to America. Their requests for issuing or extending passports to the USA were met with no major obstructions, 8 even though in the case of bishop Blaha, as he said himself, the authorities exnumber (hereinafter i. no.) 22, folder (hereinafter fold .) 650. Letter of the Ministry of the Czechoslovak Republic (hereinafter CSR) with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 8, 1926. 3 Jednota (Middletown, PA), April 14, 1926, 4. 4 Slovak (Bratislava), May 16, 1926, 3. 5 Slovak, June I, 1926, I. 6Emilia Hrabovec, "Sviita stolica a slovenski biskupi v medzivojnovom obdobi," in Duchovny pastier, 93 (Nos. 1-2, 2012), 8. 7 Slovak, June I, 1926, I. The law was passed on June 25, 1926 . Zakon kongruovy c. 122/ 1926 Sb. z. an. zakon ze dne 25. cervna 1926 o uprave platu duchovenstva cirkvi a naboienskych spolecnosti statem uznanych, pfip. recipovanych [online]. Available at: http ://spcp.prf.cuni .cz/lex/ 122-26.htm. 8 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 650. Letter of the Ministry of the CSR with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry ofForeign Affairs of the CS R in Prague, April 8, 1926. SLOV AKIA-2015 37 pressed "a strange sort of caution. " 9 Thus, the situation of 1923, when the Czechoslovak authorities refused to issue a passport to bishop Vojtassak for his intended journey to America, was not repeated. 10 In 1926 there were 228 Slovak Catholic parishes with 236 priests in the USA. 11 Therefore, the Slovak bishops intended to not only attend the Eucharistic Congress, but also to make a pastoral journey among Slovak Catholics in America. It was supposed to strengthen their Catholic identity which was threatened by the secularization influences of the American environment and the propaganda of the Czechoslovak Church 12 supported by the Czechoslovak government, as well as to raise some funds for Catholic institutions in Slovakia. 13 Czechoslovak representative offices in the USA, however, began to collect information on the plans of Slovak-American autonomists, largely consisting of the Catholic element, to make use of the presence of the Slovak Catholic bishops for their political goals. Indeed, Slovak bishops travelled to America at a time when the idea of Slovak autonomy on the basis of the Pittsburgh Agreement was supported by most American Slovaks, represented by the Slovak League of America (hereinafter SLA). Information on the intended political actions of SlovakAmerican autonomists on the occasion of the Slovak bishops ' visit raised fears in the offices of Czechoslovak representatives in the USA. Therefore, the anti-autonomist circles in America sought to 9 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 19 I 8- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Report of the Presidium of the Ministry of the CSR with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, May 17, 1926. 10 For more on Jan Vojtassak's case, see Stefan Kucik, "The Struggle for the Hearts and Minds of American Slovaks: Bishop Jan Vojtassak's Aborted Journey to the USA in 1923," in Slovakia 41 (Nos. 76-77, 2013), 7-36. 11 Jednota : Kato/icky kalendar na obycajny rok 1927 (Middletown, PA), 161-72. 12 The Czechoslovak Church (after 1971 the Czechoslovak Hussite Church) is a Christian Church which separated from the Roman Catholic Church after World War I (January 8, 1920) in the former Czechoslovakia. Originally a Czech national church, its activities are now almost entirely limited to today's Czech and Slovak Republics. One such church existed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1926 and 1967. See Joseph P. Budd, "We do Know English: Philadelphia' s Czechoslovak Presbyterian Church of Jan Hus, 1926-1967," M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, 2009. I am grateful to M. Mark Stolarik for this citation. There may have been other such Czechoslovak churches in the USA, but so far no-one has studied them. 13 Hrabovec, 8. 38 SLOV AKIA-2015 blunt the political edge of these actions. For instance, the Rev. Jozef Murgas of Wilkes-Barre, PA, promised Milan Getting, the Czechoslovak consul in Pittsburgh, to question Slovak priests at their upcoming conference in eastern Pennsylvania whether they were interested in politics or in religion. According to Murgas, the Czech bishops travelling to the Eucharistic Congress allegedly called upon the Slovak bishops to represent themselves in the USA as Czechoslovak bishops. Reportedly, bishop Jan Vojtassak: replied on behalf of the Slovak episcopate that they would go to America as Slovak bishops. 14 Of greater concern to the Slovak-American "Czechoslovak" camp was the fact that the president of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, Andrej Hlinka himself, was also going to attend the Eucharistic Congress. Besides his trip to the Congress, Hlinka planned to use his stay in the USA to agitate for Slovak autonomy, fundraising and internationalization of the Slovak cause. 15 He also intended to settle personal disputes among Slovak-American Catholics. 16 On the initiative of the Czechoslovak consul in Pittsburgh, the Rev. Murgas decided to organize in his parish in Wilkes-Barre on June 27, 1926 a Cyrilo-Methodian ceremony on the occasion of the consecration of the new local school. He invited the whole Czech and Ruthenian episcopates, as well as the Slovak bishops Marian Blaha and Jozef Carsky. The ceremony was also to be held to commemorate the Order of the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, of which Rev. Murgas was a co-founder. The preparations were made in such a manner that Andrej Hlinka would not be present. Moreover, the occasion was to become a place where the Czech and Slovak bishops could demonstrate "Czechoslovak" solidarity. The organizers invited the Czechoslovak ambassador in Washington as well. 17 14 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 650. Letter of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Pra~ue, Marc5120, 1926. 5 AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Letter of the Ministry of the CSR with Full Powers for the Administration of Slovakia in Bratislava to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 30, 1926. 16 S!owik, May 23, 1926, 1. 17 AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 650. Letter of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, March 20, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 650 . Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs SLOVAKIA-2015 39 However, Getting and Murgas were disappointed. Even Murgas' personal intercession with bishop Carsky immediately upon the arrival of Slovak bishops in New York ended in vain. 18 Bishop Blaha gave priority to attendance at the Slovak Day in St. Louis, Missouri on June 27, I 926 19 and bishop Carsky went to Cudahy, Wisconsin, to administer the sacrament of confirmation. 20 On the other hand, the Slovak bishops did visit the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in WilkesBarre on different occasions, bishop Carsky even twice.21 The four Slovak bishops set out on their journey to the USA on May 31, 192622 and arrived in New York City on the steamship Aquitania on June 11, 1926. When they docked, they were welcomed by Slovak-American priests, representatives of Slovak-American organizations and newspapers, a representative of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, J. Lavicka, and other individuals. Accompanied by several dozen cars, the bishops were driven to the Slovak st Church of St. John Nepomucene at the comer 66 th Street and 1 Avenue. Its pastor since 1916 was the Rev. Stefan Krasul'a. After a short prayer in the church, there was a banquet in the Commodore Hotel, hosted by Slovak priests in honor of the Slovak bishops. The banquet was chaired by Msgr. Viktor B lahunka of Chicago (originally from Lucky near Ruzomberok). 23 He also headed the committee 24 charged with the care of the Slovak bishops while in America. of the CSR in Prague, April 15, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651 . Letter of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 15, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, April 22, 1926; AMZV CR, f. III . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, June 11 , 1926. 18 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, June 11 , 1926. 19 Jednota , July 7, 1926, I. 20 Jednota , July 14, 1926, I. 21 Jednota , August 11 , 1926, I. 22 Slowik, June 1, 1926, I. 23 Jednota , June 16, 1926, 1; Slowik, July 2, 1926, 3. 24 Archiv Spolku sv. Vojtecha, Tmava, Slovak Republic (hereinafter ASSV), fascicle (hereinafter fasc .) 336/5b. Program navstevy osv. biskupov zo Slovenska v Pittsburghu a na okolici od 6. do 16. jula 1926. 40 SLOV AKIA-2015 After greetings and words of welcome, bishop Marian Blaha addressed the audience. He said that they had arrived in America to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. However, the second very important goal of their journey was to visit and strengthen the faith of Slovak-American Catholics. He expressed pleasure at the fact that the Slovak Catholics in America had preserved both their faith and their Slovak language. Bishop Blaha informed the audience that they had brought a gift to the Slovak-American Catholics - the modem Slovak translation of the Bible. He did not forget to remark that the main credit for publishing it belonged to Andrej Hlinka, who was also present at the banquet. 25 In 1926 the first translation of the Bible into modem Slovak was completed. It was published by the Society of St. Adalbert (Spolok sv. Vojtecha) in Tmava. The preparatory phase had lasted for more than four decades. It was published between the years 1913 and 1926, with a long break due to World War I. The translation consisted of ten chapters: two for the New and eight for the Old Testament. After the whole first translation of the Bible appeared, Narodnie noviny in Turciansky Svaty Martin published a review (copied by other Slovak newspapers as well) that only the revision of the translation, done by the Rev. Frantisek R. Osvald, took a full eight years.26 After the Great War, the large amount of money needed by the Society of St. Adalbert to publish the Slovak translation of the bible was hard to raise in Slovakia. In 1920 generous gifts from America began to flow into Slovakia. Especially generous were the donations given by the Slovak bishops Karol Kmet'ko, Marian Blaha and Jan Vojtassak and Andrej Hlinka (100,000 crowns each). All this money was put into the shares of the Society of St. Adalbert for publishing purposes. In the critical situation (in 1923), the Society sent a threemember delegation, led by its director Jan Postenyi-Kysucky, to the USA. Within two and half months, the delegation visited more than one hundred Slovak-American parishes. At the very first meeting with the Slovak-American editors and the presidents of Slovak25 Jednota, June I 6, 1926, I. Jan Debnar, "Hist6ria prekladu a vydania prveho svatovojtesskeho Svateho pisma," in O prekladoch Biblie do slovenciny a do inych slovanskych j azykov, Jan Dorul'a, ed. (Bratislava: Slavisticky kabinet SA V, 1997), 247, 276-278 ; Jednota, June 16, 1926, 5. 26 SLOVAKIA-2015 41 American Catholic organizations in Pittsburgh, $1,072 was collected and 2,156 new members joined the Society (the membership fee was $4 but twenty-five founding members contributed $100 each, while the American-Slovak millionaire Michal Bosak gave $600). 27 In 1926, the Society of St. Adalbert also sent its delegation to the USA. It consisted of the director Jan Postenyi, Alexander Sindelar, Stefan Zlatos and Robert Pobozny .28 The proposition to send a delegation to the USA during the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago was made by director Jan Postenyi at the meeting of the executive board in April of 1926. As a matter of fact, the Society issued the Slovak edition of the Bible at its own expense of 800,000 crowns. If the Society was not to fall into new debt (in Slovakia an expected interest in the Slovak bible failed to materialize), it had to turn to the SlovakAmerican Catholics. Moreover, the Slovak Catholic Federation in America still held 116,000 crowns belonging to the Society of St. Adalbert, which could be claimed only in person. 29 In the USA, the delegates sold 3,800 copies of the bible for $10 .00 each . At the same time, 1,500 new members joined the Society.30 The center of the mission of the Society of St. Adalbert in the USA was its own branch in Youngstown, Ohio, which since 1922 had been administered by the Rev . Stefan Kocis.31 Eventually, American Slovaks bought 6,800 copies of the Slovak bible.32 Bishop Marian Blaha's remarks on Andrej Hlinka's contribution to the publishing of the Slovak Bible were justified. Indeed, it is often referred to as the Hlinka translation or the Hlinka and Donoval translation, because both Andrej Hlinka and Jan Donoval greatly contributed to this work. It is shocking how little attention has been given to these two priests and their role in the translation of the bible and to their contribution to the development of Slovak spiritual, linguistic and national enlightenment. Andrej Hlinka also played a major role in publishing the bible by the Society of St. Adalbert, which 27 Debnar, 282. Jan Postenyi, Dejiny Spo/ku sv. Vojte cha (Tmava: Spolok sv. Vojtecha, 1930), 79. 29 ASSV. Zapisnica zo zasadnutia vyboru Spolku sv. Vojtecha konaneho 26. aprila r. 1926 . 30 Debnar, 283. 31 Postenyi, 80. 32 Debnar, 283 . 28 42 SLOV AKIA-2015 he led as its president from November 14, 1920, together with director Jan Postenyi and secretary Juraj Hoda! (since 1923). 33 After attending the welcoming and gala dinner in the Commodore Hotel in New York City, the Slovak bishops went their own ways: Jan Vojtassak proceeded to Rev. Anton Gracik's St. Stephen's parish in Newark, New Jersey Pavol Jantausch joined Rev. Jan Kubasek at his Holy Trinity parish in Yonkers, New York; Jozef Carsky went to administer the sacrament of confirmation (we do not know to which parish) and Marian Blaha remained at Rev. Stefan Krasul'a's . h .34 pans On Sunday, June 13 , 1926, the four Slovak bishops attended a reception for the papal nuncio to the Eucharistic Congress, Giovanni Vincenzo Cardinal Bonzano, in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. In the evening of the same day, the Slovak bishops were guests at a banquet hosted in their honor by the Rev. Stefan Krasul'a. 35 The next day the Slovak bishops attended the first graduation ceremony at Danville Academy for Girls, founded by the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Danville, Pennsylvania. 36 The order is the first and only Slovak religious order founded in honor of the Apostles of the Slavs. It was established on September 11, 1909 by four Slovak-American Roman-Catholic priests: Matus Jankola, Andrej Pavco, Alexander Dianiska and Jozef Murgas. The idea of a high school for Slovak girls originated in 1922, the same year as when the Slovak Benedictines in the USA decided to establish a high school for boys in Cleveland, Ohio. In the school year 1925-26, the girl's high school already had all four grades. Therefore, the Sisters asked the state authorities for accreditation. The latter was granted to the school on June 10, 1926. 37 So only four days later the first graduation ceremony of the first ten students was held in the presence of five bishops, three monsignors, fifty-one priests and a large number of spectators. 38 33 Jbid. , 280-28 I. Slowi k, July 2, 1926, 3. 35 Ibid. 36 Jednota, June 23 , 1926, 1-2. 37 Frantisek Hrusovsky, Slovenske rehole v Amerike (Cleveland, OH.: Slovensky ustav pri Opatstve sv. Andreja-Svorada, 1955), 186-7, 202-03 . 38 "Prva Katolicka Slovenska Vyss ia Dievcenska Skola," in Pamatnica slovenskeho dna newyorkskych a new j erseyskych Slowikov: 5. jula, 1926. J. C. Sciranka, ed. (New York City: Vybor slovenskeho dila, s. d.), no pagination. 34 SLOVAKIA-2015 43 On the same day, accompanied by Philip R. McDevitt, Bishop of Harrisburg, the Slovak bishops moved on to the Jednota Estates of the First Catholic Slovak Union in Middletown, Pennsylvania.39 The First Catholic Slovak Union, a fraternal-benefit society, was founded in Cleveland in 1890 by the Reverend Stefan Furdek. On April 30, 1926, it had 629 active branches with 55 ,091 members . Established in 1906 to organize the youth, its Youth Division (Mladenecke oddelenie) had 446 active branches with 35,535 members . Altogether, the FCSU had 1,075 branches with 90,626 members . In 1926, the market value of the FCSU 's assets was $5,012,880.53 and its Youth Division 's assets totaled $157,202 .96, for a grand total of $5,170,083.65. It was the largest and strongest Slovak Catholic fraternal benefit society in the world. It also cared for orphaned children of its deceased members in an orphanage established in 1906 (opened in 1914) to this end in Middletown .40 Its editorial offices and printery were also located there.4 1 The next day, bishop Jozef Carsky left the group and went to administer the sacrament of confirmation to parishes in Houtzdale and Windburn, Pennsylvania. On June 16, 1926, the bishops left for Harrisburg, from whence they continued to 42 the Eucharistic Congress. In Chicago the bishops were officially welcomed by representatives of Slovak-American Catholic societies. Before the formal opening of the Congress, the Slovak bishops received visits by their countrymen and toured the city. In the Slovak Catholic parishes, they celebrated masses and held missionary sermons. The latter were purely apolitical. Only bishop Vojtassak complained in one of them that he could not come to America sooner, because in 1923 the Czechoslo43 vak authorities refused to issue him a passport. The Eucharistic Congress opened in the morning of June 20, 1926 with the reading of a papal bull and lasted until June 24, 1926 . 39 Jednota, June 23 , 1926, I . 4-0Pamdtnik rimsko-katolickych slovenskych osad v zapad. Pennsylvanii vydany vyborom slovenskeho dna z prileiitosti navstevy osv. biskupov zo Slovenska: v stredu dna 7. Ju/a 1926 (Pittsburgh, Pa.: Vybor slovenskeho dna, s. d.), 122-3. 41 Jednota, June 23, 1926, 2. 42 /bid. 43 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Chicago on the political activities of the People' s Party leaders in the Chicago district. Attachment of the letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CS R in Prague, July 30, 1926. 44 SLOV AKIA-2015 It was hosted by George Cardinal Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago. The Holy See was represented by the papal nuncio Giovanni Vincenzo Cardinal Bonzano. The Congress took place in the local churches and auditoriums and in the recently opened Soldier Field Stadium. 44 On the last day of the Congress there was a pilgrimage to the city of Mundelein, Illinois, forty miles north of Chicago. The Congress was attended by representatives from all continents and thus it manifested the universality of the Catholic Church. In addition, it was the greatest pilgrimage in American history. The Chicago Daily News reported that the final mass in Mundelein was attended by an estimated half a million to a million of the faithful. 45 In addition, the Daily News reported interesting details on the pilgrimage to Mundelein, such as the consumption of ten tons of hot dogs by the pilgrims and the crush of passengers on the trains, which began running at two-minute intervals from 4 a.m. that day. It also rained, which then turned into hail, and the Daily News boasted that it managed to print photographs from Mundelein in its papers and got them on the street within two hours, thanks to swift delivery by airplane. 46 The choir during the opening of the mass consisted of 60,000 children. The Fox Film Corporation, which created a 96-minute film of the Congress (it premiered in New York on November 8, 1926), refused to accept any remuneration for its participation. An estimated 100,000 Slovaks attended the Eucharistic Congress (approximately sixty from Slovakia, including the bishops).47 The latter actively participated in the Congress by celebrating masses and delivering sermons. 48 Even though American newspapers did not pay any attention to the Slovak pilgrims at the Eucharistic Congress, 44 Soldier Field Stadium in Chicago serves as a memorial to American soldiers who died in past wars. It was designed in 1919 and opened on October 9, 1924 on the 53 rd anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire as Municipal Grant Park Stadium, changing its name to Soldier Field on November 11 , 1925. Its design is modeled on the Greco-Roman architectural tradition, with Doric columns rising above the entrance. After subsequent reconstructions, the modem grandstands diminish the impression of these columns. 45 The Chicago Daily News, June 24, 1926, I [online] . Available at: http ://encyclo£edia.chicagohistory.org/pages/ 11319.htm1. 6 Eucharistic Congress, Chicago Daily News, 1926 [online]. Available at: http: //enc clopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/ I 1319 .html. 4 Jednota. Kato/icky kalendar na obycajny rok 192 7, 43-44. 48 Slovak, July 8, 1926, 3. 1 SLOV AKIA-2015 45 in the program of church services, published in all newspapers by the organizational board of the Congress, the Slovaks were listed as a separate group. 49 After the Eucharistic Congress, the Slovak Catholic bishops stayed in the USA until August 4, 1926. In the meantime, they visited all the major and several minor Slovak Catholic parishes. They held missionary services and sermons and administered the sacrament of confirmation. They also attended Slovak Days, gatherings and meetings.50 On July 1, 1926, they were hosted by Michal Bosak in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 51 In their speeches, the Slovak bishops avoided political issues. The representatives of Slovak-American autonomists (Ivan Bielek, President of the Slovak League of America, Jozef Husek, editor of Jednota and others), however, made use of the Slovak Days for agitation for Slovak autonomy. The Slovak bishops were very popular with the people. 52 For instance, the Jednota and Slowik newspapers reported an estimated 75,000 to 80,000 people at the 3rd Slovak Day in Pittsburgh on July 7, 1926. 53 On July 28, 1926, the weekly Jednota published an appeal by bishop Jozef Carsky, to Slovak-American Catholics from eastern Slovakia. The bishop stressed the importance of the Society of St. Adalbert in Trnava, which, however, still had very few members in the east. He decided, therefore, to appeal to their countrymen in America to pay the membership fees in the Society of St. Adalbert for them . Bishop Carsky also made an appeal to the Slovak49 AMZV CR, f. Ill . sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Chicago on the political activities of the People 's Party leaders in the Chicago district. Attachment of the letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. Interestingly enough, June Granatir Alexander, in her Ethnic Pride, American Patriotism: Slovaks and Other New Immigrants in the Jnterwar Era (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004), fails to mention Slovak participation in the Eucharistic Congress. 50 Pauco, 209. 51 ASSV, fasc. 338/2. Jozef J. Dulik, Na pamiatku Vecierka usporiadaneho na pocest' osvietenych panov Biskupov zo Slovenska Micha/om Bosakom 1-ho ju/a 1926 v Scranton, Pa. The brochure reads that the bishops were treated to caviar, green turtle soup, cuts of Virginia ham, filet of beef, vanilla ice-cream and other specialties. 52 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, October 5, 1926. 53 Jednota, July 14, 1926, 2; Slovak, August 4, 1926, 5. 46 SLOVAKIA-2015 American priests to raise public awareness of this issue or to set aside one Sunday for fundraising to create a branch of the Society of St. Adalbert in Kos ice.54 All four Slovak bishops made a similar speech on July 29, 1926. In their address, the bishops, as the protectors of the Society of St. Adalbert, stressed its importance for all Slovaks. They thanked Slovak-American Catholics for their support of the Society in the past and invited them to become members, to purchase its books, especially the bible, as well as to register their countrymen in Slovakia as its members. 55 On July 30, 1926, the Slovak bishops paid an official visit to the Czechoslovak legation in Washington. Since ambassador Zdenek Fierlinger had departed, they were received by proxy. At the embassy , the bishops expressed great satisfaction with the Slovak colony in the USA and noted that everywhere they had gained an impression of real national awareness and reliability. At the same time, they expressed the belief that, in terms of loyalty to Czechoslovakia, factual judgment refined by the school of life, acumen, as well as inborn skepticism, protected American Slovaks from excesses. 56 The Slovak bishops also visited the papal nuncio to the United States. 57 Before departure, the Slovak bishops addressed to SlovakAmerican Catholics a farewell letter in which they thanked them for their receptions and hospitality. They expressed admiration for what Slovak Catholics in America had achieved in a relatively short period of time, despite various difficulties. The proverbial Slovak tenaciousness in the national and religious fields had transformed itself into Slovak churches, schools and fraternal-benefit-societies and halls. The bishops wished the Slovak Catholics in America a good life with no obstacles in the future .58 On August 3, 1926, there was a farewell banquet for the bishops in the Astoria Hotel in New York City. The representative of the 54 Jednota , July 28, 1926, 4. 55 Jednota , August 11 , 1926, I. 56 ' AMZV CR , f. III. sekce MZV 191 8- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. 57 Pietro Fumasoni Biondi (1872- 1960) - papal legate in the USA from December 14, 1922 to March 16, 1933. 58Jednota , July 28, 1926, 4. SLOVAKIA-2015 47 Czechoslovak legation in Washington, J. Lavicka (otherwise the Czechoslovak Consul General in New York), also came to officially say farewell to the bishops. The main theme of the bishops' final speeches was an appeal to American Slovaks to save their youth because thus they would save the nation.59 The Slovak bishops left America on the steamship Aquitania on August 4, 1926.60 Therefore, it is apparent that the four Slovak Catholic bishops used their trip to the 28 th International Eucharistic Congress in Chicago for a pastoral journey among Slovak Catholics in America. During their almost two-month stay in the USA (June I I- August 4, 1926), they visited many Slovak-American Catholic parishes. To visit all of them was physically impossible, because within one day they would have had to visit more than four. For the SlovakAmerican Catholics the Slovak bishops' journey had a certain specificity . Many of them, especially Catholic priests, had had a personal experience with the chauvinism of the Hungarian Catholic hierarchy, which was in many cases the main reason for their departure oversees. That is why they welcomed the Slovak bishops after the creation of Czechoslovakia. As to Andrej Hlinka's agitation tour, he and the bishops, except for the latter' s reception in New York City, never appeared together. After the Eucharistic Congress they parted ways. However, the bishops' presence in America, even if apolitical, significantly increased interest among American Slovaks in Andrej Hlinka's lectures. The authority of the Slovak bishops helped Hlinka in another respect as well. His lecture tour in the USA occurred in the atmosphere of numerous minor personal arguments in the Slovak Catholic community. The presence of the Slovak bishops helped to overcome these aversions and staved off the danger of public controversy.61 On the 59 Pauco, 209; AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. 60 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 651. Letter of the Czechoslovak Legation in Washington, DC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, July 30, 1926. 61 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, October 5, 1926. For a detailed account on A. Hlinka's journey to the USA in 1926, see my "Andrej Hlinka' s Journey to the USA in 1926," in Slovakia, 40 (Nos. 74-75 , 2010), 32-46. 48 SLOV AKIA-2015 other hand, the Slovak-American autonomists did not hesitate to make use of the presence of the bishops to agitate for Slovak autonomy. The Slovak bishops often expressed their surprise at and admiration for what they saw in the centers of Slovak Catholic life in America. At the graduation ceremony in Danville, Pennsylvania, bishop Blaha rejoiced at the fact that there was a Slovak girls' high school so far from home. 62 Similarly, on the farm of the FCSU in Middletown, he admired what the society had achieved and said that in Slovakia something similar would not be possible.63 Finally, at the Slovak Day in Pittsburgh he said that, on the basis of what he had seen and experienced in Slovak America, American Slovaks would nationally and culturally survive in the USA for another hundred years.64 The Slovak bishops used their trip to America to advertise the Society of St. Adalbert and its newly-released Slovak edition of the bible. The success of this mission was more than clear and for the Society of St. Adalbert it meant a high return on its investment in publishing the Slovak bible. Part of the Slovak bishops' goals, as well as that of Andrej Hlinka, in the USA was fund-raising. For the bishops it was organized by a committee headed by Monsignor Viktor Blahunka. 65 As early as in April of 1926, Karol Kmet'ko, bishop of Nitra, turned to the Slovak-American Catholics and asked them for funds for the Society of the Divine Word. 66 According to the report of the Czechoslovak consulate in Pittsburgh, the FCSU's head office gave each of the bishops during their journey to the USA $1,000. 67 Unfortunately, we do not know how much money the Slovak bishops raised in America. Despite the fact that, according to the reports of the Czech62Jednota, June 23 , 1926, 2. Jednota, June 23 , 1926, I. 64 Jednota, July 14, 1926, 1. 65ASSV, fasc. 336/5b. Program navstevy osv. biskupov zo Slovenska v Pittsburghu a na okolici od 6. do 16. jula 1926. 66 AMZV CR , f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold . 650. Report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prafue, April 15, 1926. 1 AMZV CR, f. III. sekce MZV 1918- 1939, i. no. 22, fold. 651. Situation report of the Consulate of the CSR in Pittsburgh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CSR in Prague, October 5, 1926. 63 SLOV AKIA-2015 49 oslovak consulate in Pittsburgh, the committees of festivals on the occasion of the visit of the Slovak Catholic bishops at some places showed a financial deficit, 68 the amount the bishops raised must have been relatively large. This is suggested by the letter of Andrej Hlinka to Jan Postenyi upon their return from America: "As you know, I have returned with fame, pennants and rings- but not many dollars . Business is business and I am not very good at it. I am a great idealist and our masters, the bishops, skimmed off the cream." 69 68 /bid. ASSV, fasc. 156112b. Letter of A. Hlinka to J. Postenyi, November 3, 1926. 69  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Journey of Four Slovak Catholic Bishops to the USA in 1926 Description An account of the resource Štefan Kucík Slovakia, Vol. 42 (No. 78-79), 2015 pp. 35-49 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kucík, Štefan, 1979- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/3f7cde734c4e9ab1df2a2651ae221f64.pdf 23139c4596bc2840efc71bd5bc848244 PDF Text Text 50 SLOVAKIA The Kremlin and The Slovak National Uprising August-October, 1944 MICHAEL KRAUS Copyright © 1991, Michael Kraus In contrast to the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the quasi-independent Slovak state had become a brewing ground for anti-German resistance by the spring of 1944. 1 The main organization of the underground, the Slovak National Council (SNR), brought together a loose coalition of Communists, Socialists, and Liberal-Democratic opponents of the pro-German government headed by Monsignor Jozef Tiso. Encouraged by the advance of the Red Army, which by early April had reached the Carpathians, the prewar Czechoslovak-Soviet boundary, the SNR agreed on plans at the end of June, for an uprising involving the defection of sizeable units of the Slovak army to the Allies. According to these preparations, the insurrection would begin either if the Germans attempted to occupy Slovakia (as they had not yet done) or if the action could be coordinated with the advance of the Red Army. In the latter (and much preferable) case, the conspirators hoped that the collapse of the pro-German authority - in conjunction with the army's defection - would open Slovakia to a lightning strike of Soviet forces. Colonel Jan Golian, a high-ranking officer in the Slovak army, who enjoyed the backing of the Edvard Benes government in London, was entrusted with the military leadership of the revolt. 2 From the very outset, the insurrection plans were beset by problems. For one, the underground lacked the commitment of a sufficient number of military commanders to assure the success of �SLOVAKIA 51 the revolt inside the Slovak army. Nor was there a full appreciation for the military-logistical obstacles that lay in the path of the Red Army, namely the Carpathian Mountains. Moreover, mutual distrust among the political actors planning the insurgency complicated the preparations. Even more importantly, the conspirators lacked any direct means of communication with Moscow. Slovak Communists were unable to establish a two-way radio communication with the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), whose most senior members resided in the Soviet Union. As a result, in what was surely one of the more bizzare operations of the war, the insurgents attempted until August to coordinate the preparations for the uprising with the Soviet military via the Benes government in London. Benes, on the other hand, though he maintained contact with Golian through a short wave transmitter, was not fully versed in the composition of the SNR, the political arm of the conspiracy. In addition to Benes-loyalists, the SNR activists included the leaders of the Slovak Communist Party (KSS) Karol Smidke and Gustav Husak. Smidke had been sent back to Slovakia by the Comintern in June 1943 in order to resurrect the battered ranks of the KSS. The trials and then triumphs of Husak' s political career still lay ahead of him: Communist prisons in the 1950's, and the country's leadership in the 1970's and the 1980's . In mid-1944, these men hoped to exploit the revolt for purposes of their own. Negotiations between Benes and Moscow concerning military aid to Slovakia had been under way since the fall of 1943. Throughout these talks, the Soviets seemed receptive to Czechoslovak proposals and agreed to provide the necessary training and equipment for special Czechoslovak units that were to be deployed in the event of an anti-German insurrection in Slovakia. As early as November 1943 Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed London that the Soviets had promised to provide equipment for 50,000 men and to airlift into Slovakia units of the Czechoslovak armed forces organized on Soviet soil. Moscow also agreed to supplement these forces with Soviet paratroopers. 3 Negotiations about military assistance intensified especially after the official visit by Benes to Moscow in December 1943 dur- �52 SLOVAKIA ing which the Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship Mutual Assistance, and Postwar Cooperation was signed. 4 Thus, when Slovak requests for military supplies reached London in early summer 1944, Benes felt confident enough to reassure the rebels of "the certainty that at the given time, you shall get the weapons. " 5 To his surprise, however, enquiries in Moscow proposing the coordination of the revolt with Soviet actions on the war front met with evasive replies. NKVD General G.S. Zhukov, who supervised the foreign military units in the USSR, explained in late July that his government could not specify a date for a joint action in Slovakia. He advised Benes, unhelpfully, that the Slovak insurrectionists should take into account the "strategic situation as it will develop at a given time." Similarly, Moscow temporized on an urgent request from the Czech leader to supply the already promised arms to the Slovak loyalists. 6 But Moscow's picture of the Slovak situation improved considerably in early August when a small Slovak mission, seeking to coordinate the revolt with the Soviet advance, reached the Soviet Union . Though ostensibly the delegation came from the SNR, the plenipotentiaries represented, in fact, three different political groups: Slovak Communists, Benes-loyalists, and the Slovak Ministry of Defense. Certainly the most intriguing offer came in the form of a memorandum from Slovakia's Minister of Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos. He proposed to establish a military dictatorship in Slovakia, "cancel" the war against Russia and the Allies, declare war against Hungary, and in exchange for some degree of Slovak independence align Slovak internal politics '' in accordance with Soviet interest. " 7 Strangely enough, Catlos, who furnished the plane for the mission to Moscow, had been unaware of the SNR conspiracy from whose ranks the other emissaries came. Of special interest to Moscow were reports brought by Smidke that informed the Soviet General Staff of the disposition and the equipment of the Slovak forces as well as of the plans of the SNR. On a separate note, a memorandum prepared by Husak assessed the situation in terms highly favorable for the party's cause. "It is clear," he wrote, "that when the war ends, there will be only one party with a crushing Communist majority." Speaking on behalf of the KSS leadership, Husak claimed that if a free election �SLOVAKIA 53 were held in the summer of 1944, at least seventy percent of the Slovaks would vote for the region's incorporation into the Soviet Union, while twenty percent at most would want Slovakia to reunite with the Czechs. "We want to be a part of the USSR," declared Husak. "Why seek salvation with Benes, when Stalin has a proven recipe," asked the future leader of Czechoslovakia. If the country had to be reconstituted, submitted Husak, then as a "socialist federation of nations." 8 Given that no evidence supports Husak' s contentions concerning Slovak public opinion, his views shed more light on the attitudes of the KSS leadership than on anything else (when the Soviets searched for a successor to Dubcek in 1968, the file from 1944 could hardly do any harm to Husak' s candidacy). In fact, as late as December 1944, the underground leaders of the KSS evidently required tutoring by Georgi Dimitrov, the Comintern' s ex-chief, then serving as the head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, that "the detachment of the Slovaks from the Czechs is not at present in the interest'' of Moscow. ''We should restrain those people in Slovakia who want to rush things too much where Soviet power is concerned," Dimitrov advised. "Do not raise the question of Sovietization of Czechoslovakia now," he counselled. 9 Smidke was debriefed on August 5 by General Lev Mekhlis, the political commissar of the Fourth Ukrainian Front, and then met with other Soviet military and political representatives, including Dimitrov. Stalin received a report on the Smidke mission on August 10. Smidke's information gave the Soviet General Staff - to quote Sergei Shtemenko, the Chief of its Operation Department - "a complete picture of the situation in Slovakia." 10 The Soviets seemed interested in the Catlos offer, at least for a while. That would help to account for the fact that despite the urgent call from Slovakia for the coordination of military planning, the Soviets attempted to hide the Slovak mission from both the Benes government and the KSC Politburo . So it was not until August 27 that Smidke reported to the Czechoslovak embassy, where he met with Benes' representatives. 11 In any event, Benes had been informed independently that a Catlos representative had gone to Russia. Intimations of Soviet contacts with Catlos alarmed the Czech leader. During his �54 SLOVAKIA December 1943 visit to the Soviet Union Benes told Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov that Catlos was among the traitors who "must hang ." In that spirit, the President in August 1944 instructed the Czechoslovak Ambassador in Moscow, Zdenek Fierlinger, to advise the Soviet government that direct or indirect negotiations with the "Slovak quisling rabble" can take place only through the offices of the Czechoslovak government. Any other conduct, warned Benes, might violate Soviet-Czechoslovak agreements and would put the West on notice that "our Soviet policy has failed." In September, when the uprising was already under way, Moscow replied lamely that the talks with the Catlos emissaries were conducted by the CPSU. "The Soviet government," read the reply, "had nothing to do with it. " In the meantime, however, the Soviets gave no indication of their plans to the insurgents or to Benes. 12 But on a separate level, Soviet-led actions influenced the outbreak of the uprising in late August . Radio dispatches from Soviet or Soviet-led partisan groups operating in Slovakia since July highlighted the favorable conditions for partisan warfare. By early August the partisans established contacts with both the KSS and the SNR and radioed the headquarters in Kiev that "plans for action against the Germans are ready . . . the leaders of the Slovak army request a signal for a joint action ... " 13 Nikita Khrushchev, under whose authority the Kiev partisan center fuctioned, passed the information on to Stalin in mid-August. Meanwhile, additional partisan groups and supplies were being airdropped and the partisan "fever" was rapidly catching on in Slovakia. There was the danger, however, that the rapid spread of sabotage activities would provoke the German occupation of Slovakia and thereby trigger the insurgency prematurely. Precisely for that reason, Husak intervened with the main partisan group on August 21, but his efforts came to naught, for the partisans respected only orders from the Kiev command. 14 In the following week the partisan acts of sabotage finally brought on German military intervention and, in turn, a premature outbreak of the insurgency on August 29. Though Soviet moves surrounding the Slovak revolt are something of a jigsaw puzzle, the following facts are beyond doubt. Moscow had known in advance, from both Benes and the SNR, �SLOVAKIA 55 of the preparations under way in Slovakia. In order of the revolt to begin under the most propitious circumstances, a coordination with Soviet military plans was essential. The Soviets, however, made no effort in this direction. The SNR mission, whose return within a week or so had been anxiously expected by the insurgents, spent five weeks in the Soviet Union, coming back only a week after the uprising began. 15 Nor do the orders issued to the Red Army - poised North and East, twenty five to forty miles, from the borders - indicate that Stalin wished the revolt to succeed. On August 25, Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed the Russian military command that Slovakia might be occupied in a matter of days by the Germans . 16 On the following day, on August 26, Stalin rescinded the original plan for an offensive operation in the East which was to commence two days later, and ordered the 4th Ukrainian Front to go into a "defensive" mode .17 Its advance was not resumed until seven weeks later. North of the border, the First Ukrainian Front, to which Czechoslovak military units were attached, went into action only on September 8. On that day the Soviets also replaced General Jan Kratochvil, the Benes-appointed commander of the Czechoslovak Corps in the Soviet Union, with Ludvik Svoboda, whom they and the KSC Politburo had groomed for the post all along. But it took a full month and enormous casualties before the troops made their way through the mountain passes. And it took just as long for the Sovietorganized airdrop of a Czechoslovak paratrooper brigade, allegedly on account of poor weather conditions . The transfer of the paratrooper brigade did not begin until the night of September 25-26. And the same reason was given for the six-week long delay in the transfer of Benes' representatives from Moscow to Slovakia. 18 But inclement weather conditions did not prevent the more immediate Soviet dispatch to Slovakia of Smidke, and of two KSC Politburo members, Rudolf Shinsky and Jan Sverma, nor can they account for Moscow's orders giving priority to Soviet-led partisans over the insurgents in the limited weapons aid supplied. Smidke returned to Slovakia on September 4; the KSC Politburo members, Sverma and Shinsky, arrived on September 28, while the Benes government representatives got there only on October 6-7. 19 Finally, �56 SLOVAKIA the Soviets effectively frustrated Benes' attempts to obtain Western assistance. In July and August the British told Benes that, though military supplies were available, the airlift was contingent on Soviet permission because Slovakia belonged to the Soviet sphere of war operations. Before the uprising the Soviets assured Benes that ample aid was forthcoming, but when urgent requests for weapons aid from Slovakia in September prompted Benes to turn to the British again, Moscow ignored the Foreign Office enquiries regarding Soviet intentions.20 The uprising collapsed on October 28, after two months of bitter fighting. What, then, were the Kremlin's objectives? Stalin's aims in Slovakia have to be viewed in the broader context of Soviet priorities and military capabilities. As seen from Moscow in the summer of 1944, Slovakia represented only one operation in a war that stretched Soviet armies over a thousand mile front from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. Several war developments overshadowed the military-political significance of the Slovak operation. In the two weeks between August 23 and September 8, Romania and Bulgaria switched sides in the war to join the Allies, and Finland capitulated. The rush of the events in the Balkans evidently led the Soviet command to contemplate a thrust into Hungary, bordering on southern Slovakia. John Erickson's exhaustive survey of Soviet war strategy characterizes the Romanian defection of August 23 as "one of the decisive days of the entire war. " 21 Though he implies that the Soviet General Staff orders to the 4th Ukrainian Front "not to embark on any offensive operations" were related to the RomanianHungarian operations, he does not explain how .22 Erickson concludes that the Soviet command, "to the degree that it was actually culpable, made Slovakia the victim of its inflexibility. " 23 Hence, as cynical as Stalin's orders to the Fourth Ukrainian Front (to go on the "defensive") may appear at a first glance, they may have been related to the projected move into Hungary, a far more valuable prize militarily than Slovakia. At any rate, the costs of mounting a surprise attack through the treacherous passes of the Carpathian mountains must have seemed excessive to Stalin in relation to the small military gains and uncertain political rewards of the Slovak operation. What the well-meaning Benes could not know was that the �SLOVAKIA 57 Soviet General Staff had been highly suspicious of any "military putsch" in Slovakia under the auspices of the London government. According to later revelations by Shtemenko, the Soviet command had also lacked the conviction that the revolt against the Germans would succeed on military grounds. There was yet another reason for the Soviet refusal to provide Benes with a timetable: "It looked like an attempt to feel out the plans of the Soviet Supreme Command," notes Shtemenko. 24 Clearly Stalin was not keen on bolstering the Benes-loyalists, whom Shtemenko even years later characterized as "bourgeois military putschists. '' Nor did the Soviet leader make a habit of supporting zealous Communist radicals of Husak's variety. Unwittingly, Klement Gottwald, the Moscow-based leader of the KSC, might have sealed the fate of the uprising when in the first days of September he informed Molotov of the political character of the uprising's revolutionary Council and drew an analogy with Tito's Yugoslavia. 25 Over the previous year Stalin had had ample difficulties with Tito, whose political independence grew commensurately with the success of his resistance movement. All things considered, Stalin preferred to let the Red Army do the job of driving the Germans out of Slovakia, while the Soviet-led partisans continued to stir up trouble in the enemy's rear. At the same time, Moscow could hardly afford to do nothing for the Slovaks. On the one hand the Russians had been promising military assistance to Benes for months, and on those grounds discouraged Western aid to Slovakia. On the other hand, Stalin could no longer ignore the adverse Western reaction to the JulyAugust failure of Soviet assistance to the Warsaw Uprising. The mixture of these motives was evident in the way Moscow handled the Slovak insurgency. While the Soviets went through the motions of assisting the Slovak rebels, they did not take decisive measures to tilt the balance in favor of the insurgents. Different participants in the Slovak events were bound to draw different lessons from the experience. The uprising spelled the de facto end of the Tiso regime and, for the remainder of the year, Slovakia turned into a war zone . For a significant segment of the Slovak population the uprising marked a proud chapter in what was one of the largest European acts of resistance against Hitler . �58 SLOVAKIA Equally important, representatives of Slovak resistance secured for themselves a voice in the London-Moscow dialogue about the postwar order. As far as the KSC leadership was concerned, the prominent role played by Slovak Communists in the insurgency created high expectations regarding the party's postwar influence in the region. In addition, the uprising provided some valuable experience with national committees, organized by party activists in many communities over the two month period. But the party leadership also sustained an important loss: Sverma, the second in command after Gottwald, and one of Dimitrov' s adjutants, died in the Slovak mountains at the end of 1944. By contrast, for Benes and his supporters the lessons were all negative. To begin with, the uprising demonstrated the powerlessness of the London-based groups to shape the events in the distant heartland of the continent. Second, the abundant evidence of Soviet misbehavior cast a long shadow over the nature of the Soviet-Czechoslovak alliance. In addition to the incidents cited earlier, London discovered that Soviet partisans in Slovakia were far from bipartisan in political matters, clearly abetting the Communist cause. Third, Communist influence in the political headquarters of the uprising seemed to substantiate the party's claim to political leadership in the postwar period. But equally telling blows to the Benes circle came with the realization that Western military assistance to Czechoslovakia depended on Soviet good will. The inaction of the Americans and the British in August-October convinced Benes that the Allies had agreed at Teheran on military and, by extension, on political spheres of influence, assigning Czechoslovakia to the Soviet sphere. In his Memoirs Benes wrote of the Teheran Conference : ''The division of the war zones in Germany and Central Europe was decided between the West and East at this time. Poland and Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Hungary and Yugoslavia were placed in the Soviet zone. Nobody told us at the time either officially or unofficially. We only learned about it indirectly, much later, at the time of the Slovak uprising . " 26 This conclusion - along with the loss of faith in Soviet commitments - significantly affected the perceptions of the representatives of democratic resistance concerning Czechoslovakia' s place in the international order. As a result, the �SLOVAKIA 59 London-based moderates after October 1944 were far more impressed by the weakness of their bargaining position - a weakness only accentuated by the weighty presence of the Red Army on Czechoslovak territory - vis-a-vis the Gottwald-led contingent of the KSC. These factors and perceptions made themselves felt in the ensuing negotiations between the two factions of the political exiles concerning the postwar political system. When the revolt was crushed at the end of October, Fierlinger reported to London the view of the Soviet General Staff that " the uprising fulfilled its political and military task by creating chaos in the German ranks and by depriving Germans of important communication centers . " 27 And that is perhaps the best summary of Soviet objectives . FOOTNOTES 1 Preparation of this article for publication was facilitated by a grant from The Ada Howe Kent Foundation. It is based on my The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and the Second World War: The Foundations of Communist Rule, Ph .D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1986. For the background on the Slovak rebellion see Anna Josko, " The Slovak Resistance Movement, " in Victor Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948 (Princeton 1973), pp . 362-383; Jozef Jablonicky, Z ilegality do povstania, (Bratislava, 1969); other Jablonicky contributions appearing in samizdat, Bratislava a vznik Slovenskeho narodneho povstania; 0 vzniku SNR a vojenskeho ustredia; and Zlyhanie Malarovej armady v Karpatoch (Prague, 1978-79); and Zbornfk Slovenskeho narodneho povstania (Toronto, 1975), esp. Miroslav Licko, " K otazke spojeneckej pomoci v Slovenskom narodnom povstanf." 3 Dokumen ty a materialy k dejinam ceskoslovensko-sovetskych vztahit (Prague, 1984), vol. IV, part 2, p . 24 . 2 4 5 6 For evidence of Soviet support for Benes's requests, see ibid., 22-24, 34-35, 45-46. Vilem Precan, ed., Slovenske narodne povstanie-Dokumenty (Bratislava, 1965) (hereafter SNP), p . 244. fbid. , p. 250 7 For the text of the Catlos memorandum, see SNP, pp . 262-63; fo r an analysis, see Miroslav Licko, "Catlosov plan - politicka naivita, alebo strategicka iniciativa" Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (57, 1978), pp . 69-84. 8 Husak's report, " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," was publish ed by Vilem Precan for the first time in Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (58, 1979), pp. 367-382. �SLOVAKIA 60 9 For an incomplete record of these talks see Vaclav Kral, Osvobozenf Czeskoslovenska (Prague, 1975), pp. 177-78; Miroslav Boucek, Miloslav Klimes; Marta Vartikova, Program Revoluce (Prague, 1975), pp . 234-35. 10 S.M. Shtemenko, Generalnf stab za valky (Prague, 1974), p . 297. 11 For a report on the meeting prepared for Benes see SNP, p .329 and ff; for a commentary by one of the participants, see Prokop Drtina, Ceskoslovensko muj osud (Toronto, 1982), Vol I, part II, pp . 631-642. 12 For the briefing of Stalin see Andrei Grechko, Cherez Karpaty, (Moscow, 1970), p . 60; for speculations on why the Russians kept Smidke from reaching both the KSC Politburo and Pika see E. Fris, "Moskovsky pobyt K. Smidkeho v August 1944," P'ffspevky k dejinam KSC, vol. 4, (3, June 1964), pp. 439-444, and Vilem Precan, Svedectvf, XV, (58, 1979), pp . 365-366; for Benes's comments see SNP, p.324. 13 14 SNP, p . 302 Khrushchev's cable to Stalin in SNP, pp. 294-5; for Husak's meeting with Soviet partisans see Za narodnf osvobozenf,za novou republiku (Prague, 1982), p . 32. 15 Gustav Husak, Svedectvo o Slovenskom narodnom povstanf (Bratislava, 1974), p. 212. 16 SNP, p. 329 17 Shtemenko, p. 298. 18 SNP, p . 562. SNP, pp. 562-63; for evidence that weather conditions were not an issue see Drtina, op. cit., pp . 661-62. 19 °For evidence that the British made their assistance plans contingent on Soviet 2 approval, see SNP, p. 251. In early August Fierlinger cabled Benes that Moscow was prepared to provide weapons aid to Slovakia "anytime"; see, SNP, p . 288. For a summary report by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defense on the negotiations with the British and the Russians for military assistance see Ibid. , pp . 867-875. 21 John Erickson, The Road to Berlin (Boulder, 1983), p .360. 22 Ibid., p. 293. 24 Ibid. , p. 307. But, because his account relies on discredited sources, Erickson's analysis of the political background of the Slovak uprising, including the Smidke mission to Moscow, is sadly misinformed. 24 Shtemenko, op, cit. , pp. 286-91,295. Milos Klimes, et.al .. .. , Cesta ke kvetnu: Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku, vol. I, p . 203-206. 26 Pameti (Prague, 1947), p . 375 . And on the following page (p. 376), Benes equates the military with the political sheres of influence. 25 27 SNP, p. 776. � 50 SLOVAKIA The Kremlin and The Slovak National Uprising August-October, 1944 MICHAEL KRAUS Copyright © 1991, Michael Kraus In contrast to the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the quasi-independent Slovak state had become a brewing ground for anti-German resistance by the spring of 1944. 1 The main organization of the underground, the Slovak National Council (SNR), brought together a loose coalition of Communists, Socialists, and Liberal-Democratic opponents of the pro-German government headed by Monsignor Jozef Tiso. Encouraged by the advance of the Red Army, which by early April had reached the Carpathians, the prewar Czechoslovak-Soviet boundary, the SNR agreed on plans at the end of June, for an uprising involving the defection of sizeable units of the Slovak army to the Allies. According to these preparations, the insurrection would begin either if the Germans attempted to occupy Slovakia (as they had not yet done) or if the action could be coordinated with the advance of the Red Army. In the latter (and much preferable) case, the conspirators hoped that the collapse of the pro-German authority - in conjunction with the army's defection - would open Slovakia to a lightning strike of Soviet forces. Colonel Jan Golian, a high-ranking officer in the Slovak army, who enjoyed the backing of the Edvard Benes government in London, was entrusted with the military leadership of the revolt. 2 From the very outset, the insurrection plans were beset by problems. For one, the underground lacked the commitment of a sufficient number of military commanders to assure the success of �SLOVAKIA 51 the revolt inside the Slovak army. Nor was there a full appreciation for the military-logistical obstacles that lay in the path of the Red Army, namely the Carpathian Mountains. Moreover, mutual distrust among the political actors planning the insurgency complicated the preparations. Even more importantly, the conspirators lacked any direct means of communication with Moscow. Slovak Communists were unable to establish a two-way radio communication with the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), whose most senior members resided in the Soviet Union. As a result, in what was surely one of the more bizzare operations of the war, the insurgents attempted until August to coordinate the preparations for the uprising with the Soviet military via the Benes government in London. Benes, on the other hand, though he maintained contact with Golian through a short wave transmitter, was not fully versed in the composition of the SNR, the political arm of the conspiracy. In addition to Benes-loyalists, the SNR activists included the leaders of the Slovak Communist Party (KSS) Karol Smidke and Gustav Husak. Smidke had been sent back to Slovakia by the Comintern in June 1943 in order to resurrect the battered ranks of the KSS. The trials and then triumphs of Husak' s political career still lay ahead of him: Communist prisons in the 1950's, and the country's leadership in the 1970's and the 1980's . In mid-1944, these men hoped to exploit the revolt for purposes of their own. Negotiations between Benes and Moscow concerning military aid to Slovakia had been under way since the fall of 1943. Throughout these talks, the Soviets seemed receptive to Czechoslovak proposals and agreed to provide the necessary training and equipment for special Czechoslovak units that were to be deployed in the event of an anti-German insurrection in Slovakia. As early as November 1943 Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed London that the Soviets had promised to provide equipment for 50,000 men and to airlift into Slovakia units of the Czechoslovak armed forces organized on Soviet soil. Moscow also agreed to supplement these forces with Soviet paratroopers. 3 Negotiations about military assistance intensified especially after the official visit by Benes to Moscow in December 1943 dur- �52 SLOVAKIA ing which the Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship Mutual Assistance, and Postwar Cooperation was signed. 4 Thus, when Slovak requests for military supplies reached London in early summer 1944, Benes felt confident enough to reassure the rebels of "the certainty that at the given time, you shall get the weapons. " 5 To his surprise, however, enquiries in Moscow proposing the coordination of the revolt with Soviet actions on the war front met with evasive replies. NKVD General G.S. Zhukov, who supervised the foreign military units in the USSR, explained in late July that his government could not specify a date for a joint action in Slovakia. He advised Benes, unhelpfully, that the Slovak insurrectionists should take into account the "strategic situation as it will develop at a given time." Similarly, Moscow temporized on an urgent request from the Czech leader to supply the already promised arms to the Slovak loyalists. 6 But Moscow's picture of the Slovak situation improved considerably in early August when a small Slovak mission, seeking to coordinate the revolt with the Soviet advance, reached the Soviet Union . Though ostensibly the delegation came from the SNR, the plenipotentiaries represented, in fact, three different political groups: Slovak Communists, Benes-loyalists, and the Slovak Ministry of Defense. Certainly the most intriguing offer came in the form of a memorandum from Slovakia's Minister of Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos. He proposed to establish a military dictatorship in Slovakia, "cancel" the war against Russia and the Allies, declare war against Hungary, and in exchange for some degree of Slovak independence align Slovak internal politics '' in accordance with Soviet interest. " 7 Strangely enough, Catlos, who furnished the plane for the mission to Moscow, had been unaware of the SNR conspiracy from whose ranks the other emissaries came. Of special interest to Moscow were reports brought by Smidke that informed the Soviet General Staff of the disposition and the equipment of the Slovak forces as well as of the plans of the SNR. On a separate note, a memorandum prepared by Husak assessed the situation in terms highly favorable for the party's cause. "It is clear," he wrote, "that when the war ends, there will be only one party with a crushing Communist majority." Speaking on behalf of the KSS leadership, Husak claimed that if a free election �SLOVAKIA 53 were held in the summer of 1944, at least seventy percent of the Slovaks would vote for the region's incorporation into the Soviet Union, while twenty percent at most would want Slovakia to reunite with the Czechs. "We want to be a part of the USSR," declared Husak. "Why seek salvation with Benes, when Stalin has a proven recipe," asked the future leader of Czechoslovakia. If the country had to be reconstituted, submitted Husak, then as a "socialist federation of nations." 8 Given that no evidence supports Husak' s contentions concerning Slovak public opinion, his views shed more light on the attitudes of the KSS leadership than on anything else (when the Soviets searched for a successor to Dubcek in 1968, the file from 1944 could hardly do any harm to Husak' s candidacy). In fact, as late as December 1944, the underground leaders of the KSS evidently required tutoring by Georgi Dimitrov, the Comintern' s ex-chief, then serving as the head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, that "the detachment of the Slovaks from the Czechs is not at present in the interest'' of Moscow. ''We should restrain those people in Slovakia who want to rush things too much where Soviet power is concerned," Dimitrov advised. "Do not raise the question of Sovietization of Czechoslovakia now," he counselled. 9 Smidke was debriefed on August 5 by General Lev Mekhlis, the political commissar of the Fourth Ukrainian Front, and then met with other Soviet military and political representatives, including Dimitrov. Stalin received a report on the Smidke mission on August 10. Smidke's information gave the Soviet General Staff - to quote Sergei Shtemenko, the Chief of its Operation Department - "a complete picture of the situation in Slovakia." 10 The Soviets seemed interested in the Catlos offer, at least for a while. That would help to account for the fact that despite the urgent call from Slovakia for the coordination of military planning, the Soviets attempted to hide the Slovak mission from both the Benes government and the KSC Politburo . So it was not until August 27 that Smidke reported to the Czechoslovak embassy, where he met with Benes' representatives. 11 In any event, Benes had been informed independently that a Catlos representative had gone to Russia. Intimations of Soviet contacts with Catlos alarmed the Czech leader. During his �54 SLOVAKIA December 1943 visit to the Soviet Union Benes told Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov that Catlos was among the traitors who "must hang ." In that spirit, the President in August 1944 instructed the Czechoslovak Ambassador in Moscow, Zdenek Fierlinger, to advise the Soviet government that direct or indirect negotiations with the "Slovak quisling rabble" can take place only through the offices of the Czechoslovak government. Any other conduct, warned Benes, might violate Soviet-Czechoslovak agreements and would put the West on notice that "our Soviet policy has failed." In September, when the uprising was already under way, Moscow replied lamely that the talks with the Catlos emissaries were conducted by the CPSU. "The Soviet government," read the reply, "had nothing to do with it. " In the meantime, however, the Soviets gave no indication of their plans to the insurgents or to Benes. 12 But on a separate level, Soviet-led actions influenced the outbreak of the uprising in late August . Radio dispatches from Soviet or Soviet-led partisan groups operating in Slovakia since July highlighted the favorable conditions for partisan warfare. By early August the partisans established contacts with both the KSS and the SNR and radioed the headquarters in Kiev that "plans for action against the Germans are ready . . . the leaders of the Slovak army request a signal for a joint action ... " 13 Nikita Khrushchev, under whose authority the Kiev partisan center fuctioned, passed the information on to Stalin in mid-August. Meanwhile, additional partisan groups and supplies were being airdropped and the partisan "fever" was rapidly catching on in Slovakia. There was the danger, however, that the rapid spread of sabotage activities would provoke the German occupation of Slovakia and thereby trigger the insurgency prematurely. Precisely for that reason, Husak intervened with the main partisan group on August 21, but his efforts came to naught, for the partisans respected only orders from the Kiev command. 14 In the following week the partisan acts of sabotage finally brought on German military intervention and, in turn, a premature outbreak of the insurgency on August 29. Though Soviet moves surrounding the Slovak revolt are something of a jigsaw puzzle, the following facts are beyond doubt. Moscow had known in advance, from both Benes and the SNR, �SLOVAKIA 55 of the preparations under way in Slovakia. In order of the revolt to begin under the most propitious circumstances, a coordination with Soviet military plans was essential. The Soviets, however, made no effort in this direction. The SNR mission, whose return within a week or so had been anxiously expected by the insurgents, spent five weeks in the Soviet Union, coming back only a week after the uprising began. 15 Nor do the orders issued to the Red Army - poised North and East, twenty five to forty miles, from the borders - indicate that Stalin wished the revolt to succeed. On August 25, Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed the Russian military command that Slovakia might be occupied in a matter of days by the Germans . 16 On the following day, on August 26, Stalin rescinded the original plan for an offensive operation in the East which was to commence two days later, and ordered the 4th Ukrainian Front to go into a "defensive" mode .17 Its advance was not resumed until seven weeks later. North of the border, the First Ukrainian Front, to which Czechoslovak military units were attached, went into action only on September 8. On that day the Soviets also replaced General Jan Kratochvil, the Benes-appointed commander of the Czechoslovak Corps in the Soviet Union, with Ludvik Svoboda, whom they and the KSC Politburo had groomed for the post all along. But it took a full month and enormous casualties before the troops made their way through the mountain passes. And it took just as long for the Sovietorganized airdrop of a Czechoslovak paratrooper brigade, allegedly on account of poor weather conditions . The transfer of the paratrooper brigade did not begin until the night of September 25-26. And the same reason was given for the six-week long delay in the transfer of Benes' representatives from Moscow to Slovakia. 18 But inclement weather conditions did not prevent the more immediate Soviet dispatch to Slovakia of Smidke, and of two KSC Politburo members, Rudolf Shinsky and Jan Sverma, nor can they account for Moscow's orders giving priority to Soviet-led partisans over the insurgents in the limited weapons aid supplied. Smidke returned to Slovakia on September 4; the KSC Politburo members, Sverma and Shinsky, arrived on September 28, while the Benes government representatives got there only on October 6-7. 19 Finally, �56 SLOVAKIA the Soviets effectively frustrated Benes' attempts to obtain Western assistance. In July and August the British told Benes that, though military supplies were available, the airlift was contingent on Soviet permission because Slovakia belonged to the Soviet sphere of war operations. Before the uprising the Soviets assured Benes that ample aid was forthcoming, but when urgent requests for weapons aid from Slovakia in September prompted Benes to turn to the British again, Moscow ignored the Foreign Office enquiries regarding Soviet intentions.20 The uprising collapsed on October 28, after two months of bitter fighting. What, then, were the Kremlin's objectives? Stalin's aims in Slovakia have to be viewed in the broader context of Soviet priorities and military capabilities. As seen from Moscow in the summer of 1944, Slovakia represented only one operation in a war that stretched Soviet armies over a thousand mile front from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. Several war developments overshadowed the military-political significance of the Slovak operation. In the two weeks between August 23 and September 8, Romania and Bulgaria switched sides in the war to join the Allies, and Finland capitulated. The rush of the events in the Balkans evidently led the Soviet command to contemplate a thrust into Hungary, bordering on southern Slovakia. John Erickson's exhaustive survey of Soviet war strategy characterizes the Romanian defection of August 23 as "one of the decisive days of the entire war. " 21 Though he implies that the Soviet General Staff orders to the 4th Ukrainian Front "not to embark on any offensive operations" were related to the RomanianHungarian operations, he does not explain how .22 Erickson concludes that the Soviet command, "to the degree that it was actually culpable, made Slovakia the victim of its inflexibility. " 23 Hence, as cynical as Stalin's orders to the Fourth Ukrainian Front (to go on the "defensive") may appear at a first glance, they may have been related to the projected move into Hungary, a far more valuable prize militarily than Slovakia. At any rate, the costs of mounting a surprise attack through the treacherous passes of the Carpathian mountains must have seemed excessive to Stalin in relation to the small military gains and uncertain political rewards of the Slovak operation. What the well-meaning Benes could not know was that the �SLOVAKIA 57 Soviet General Staff had been highly suspicious of any "military putsch" in Slovakia under the auspices of the London government. According to later revelations by Shtemenko, the Soviet command had also lacked the conviction that the revolt against the Germans would succeed on military grounds. There was yet another reason for the Soviet refusal to provide Benes with a timetable: "It looked like an attempt to feel out the plans of the Soviet Supreme Command," notes Shtemenko. 24 Clearly Stalin was not keen on bolstering the Benes-loyalists, whom Shtemenko even years later characterized as "bourgeois military putschists. '' Nor did the Soviet leader make a habit of supporting zealous Communist radicals of Husak's variety. Unwittingly, Klement Gottwald, the Moscow-based leader of the KSC, might have sealed the fate of the uprising when in the first days of September he informed Molotov of the political character of the uprising's revolutionary Council and drew an analogy with Tito's Yugoslavia. 25 Over the previous year Stalin had had ample difficulties with Tito, whose political independence grew commensurately with the success of his resistance movement. All things considered, Stalin preferred to let the Red Army do the job of driving the Germans out of Slovakia, while the Soviet-led partisans continued to stir up trouble in the enemy's rear. At the same time, Moscow could hardly afford to do nothing for the Slovaks. On the one hand the Russians had been promising military assistance to Benes for months, and on those grounds discouraged Western aid to Slovakia. On the other hand, Stalin could no longer ignore the adverse Western reaction to the JulyAugust failure of Soviet assistance to the Warsaw Uprising. The mixture of these motives was evident in the way Moscow handled the Slovak insurgency. While the Soviets went through the motions of assisting the Slovak rebels, they did not take decisive measures to tilt the balance in favor of the insurgents. Different participants in the Slovak events were bound to draw different lessons from the experience. The uprising spelled the de facto end of the Tiso regime and, for the remainder of the year, Slovakia turned into a war zone . For a significant segment of the Slovak population the uprising marked a proud chapter in what was one of the largest European acts of resistance against Hitler . �58 SLOVAKIA Equally important, representatives of Slovak resistance secured for themselves a voice in the London-Moscow dialogue about the postwar order. As far as the KSC leadership was concerned, the prominent role played by Slovak Communists in the insurgency created high expectations regarding the party's postwar influence in the region. In addition, the uprising provided some valuable experience with national committees, organized by party activists in many communities over the two month period. But the party leadership also sustained an important loss: Sverma, the second in command after Gottwald, and one of Dimitrov' s adjutants, died in the Slovak mountains at the end of 1944. By contrast, for Benes and his supporters the lessons were all negative. To begin with, the uprising demonstrated the powerlessness of the London-based groups to shape the events in the distant heartland of the continent. Second, the abundant evidence of Soviet misbehavior cast a long shadow over the nature of the Soviet-Czechoslovak alliance. In addition to the incidents cited earlier, London discovered that Soviet partisans in Slovakia were far from bipartisan in political matters, clearly abetting the Communist cause. Third, Communist influence in the political headquarters of the uprising seemed to substantiate the party's claim to political leadership in the postwar period. But equally telling blows to the Benes circle came with the realization that Western military assistance to Czechoslovakia depended on Soviet good will. The inaction of the Americans and the British in August-October convinced Benes that the Allies had agreed at Teheran on military and, by extension, on political spheres of influence, assigning Czechoslovakia to the Soviet sphere. In his Memoirs Benes wrote of the Teheran Conference : ''The division of the war zones in Germany and Central Europe was decided between the West and East at this time. Poland and Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Hungary and Yugoslavia were placed in the Soviet zone. Nobody told us at the time either officially or unofficially. We only learned about it indirectly, much later, at the time of the Slovak uprising . " 26 This conclusion - along with the loss of faith in Soviet commitments - significantly affected the perceptions of the representatives of democratic resistance concerning Czechoslovakia' s place in the international order. As a result, the �SLOVAKIA 59 London-based moderates after October 1944 were far more impressed by the weakness of their bargaining position - a weakness only accentuated by the weighty presence of the Red Army on Czechoslovak territory - vis-a-vis the Gottwald-led contingent of the KSC. These factors and perceptions made themselves felt in the ensuing negotiations between the two factions of the political exiles concerning the postwar political system. When the revolt was crushed at the end of October, Fierlinger reported to London the view of the Soviet General Staff that " the uprising fulfilled its political and military task by creating chaos in the German ranks and by depriving Germans of important communication centers . " 27 And that is perhaps the best summary of Soviet objectives . FOOTNOTES 1 Preparation of this article for publication was facilitated by a grant from The Ada Howe Kent Foundation. It is based on my The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and the Second World War: The Foundations of Communist Rule, Ph .D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1986. For the background on the Slovak rebellion see Anna Josko, " The Slovak Resistance Movement, " in Victor Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948 (Princeton 1973), pp . 362-383; Jozef Jablonicky, Z ilegality do povstania, (Bratislava, 1969); other Jablonicky contributions appearing in samizdat, Bratislava a vznik Slovenskeho narodneho povstania; 0 vzniku SNR a vojenskeho ustredia; and Zlyhanie Malarovej armady v Karpatoch (Prague, 1978-79); and Zbornfk Slovenskeho narodneho povstania (Toronto, 1975), esp. Miroslav Licko, " K otazke spojeneckej pomoci v Slovenskom narodnom povstanf." 3 Dokumen ty a materialy k dejinam ceskoslovensko-sovetskych vztahit (Prague, 1984), vol. IV, part 2, p . 24 . 2 4 5 6 For evidence of Soviet support for Benes's requests, see ibid., 22-24, 34-35, 45-46. Vilem Precan, ed., Slovenske narodne povstanie-Dokumenty (Bratislava, 1965) (hereafter SNP), p . 244. fbid. , p. 250 7 For the text of the Catlos memorandum, see SNP, pp . 262-63; fo r an analysis, see Miroslav Licko, "Catlosov plan - politicka naivita, alebo strategicka iniciativa" Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (57, 1978), pp . 69-84. 8 Husak's report, " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," was publish ed by Vilem Precan for the first time in Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (58, 1979), pp. 367-382. �SLOVAKIA 60 9 For an incomplete record of these talks see Vaclav Kral, Osvobozenf Czeskoslovenska (Prague, 1975), pp. 177-78; Miroslav Boucek, Miloslav Klimes; Marta Vartikova, Program Revoluce (Prague, 1975), pp . 234-35. 10 S.M. Shtemenko, Generalnf stab za valky (Prague, 1974), p . 297. 11 For a report on the meeting prepared for Benes see SNP, p .329 and ff; for a commentary by one of the participants, see Prokop Drtina, Ceskoslovensko muj osud (Toronto, 1982), Vol I, part II, pp . 631-642. 12 For the briefing of Stalin see Andrei Grechko, Cherez Karpaty, (Moscow, 1970), p . 60; for speculations on why the Russians kept Smidke from reaching both the KSC Politburo and Pika see E. Fris, "Moskovsky pobyt K. Smidkeho v August 1944," P'ffspevky k dejinam KSC, vol. 4, (3, June 1964), pp. 439-444, and Vilem Precan, Svedectvf, XV, (58, 1979), pp . 365-366; for Benes's comments see SNP, p.324. 13 14 SNP, p . 302 Khrushchev's cable to Stalin in SNP, pp. 294-5; for Husak's meeting with Soviet partisans see Za narodnf osvobozenf,za novou republiku (Prague, 1982), p . 32. 15 Gustav Husak, Svedectvo o Slovenskom narodnom povstanf (Bratislava, 1974), p. 212. 16 SNP, p. 329 17 Shtemenko, p. 298. 18 SNP, p . 562. SNP, pp. 562-63; for evidence that weather conditions were not an issue see Drtina, op. cit., pp . 661-62. 19 °For evidence that the British made their assistance plans contingent on Soviet 2 approval, see SNP, p. 251. In early August Fierlinger cabled Benes that Moscow was prepared to provide weapons aid to Slovakia "anytime"; see, SNP, p . 288. For a summary report by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defense on the negotiations with the British and the Russians for military assistance see Ibid. , pp . 867-875. 21 John Erickson, The Road to Berlin (Boulder, 1983), p .360. 22 Ibid., p. 293. 24 Ibid. , p. 307. But, because his account relies on discredited sources, Erickson's analysis of the political background of the Slovak uprising, including the Smidke mission to Moscow, is sadly misinformed. 24 Shtemenko, op, cit. , pp. 286-91,295. Milos Klimes, et.al .. .. , Cesta ke kvetnu: Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku, vol. I, p . 203-206. 26 Pameti (Prague, 1947), p . 375 . And on the following page (p. 376), Benes equates the military with the political sheres of influence. 25 27 SNP, p. 776. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1989-90, Vol. 34 Description An account of the resource Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-90 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 50 SLOVAKIA The Kremlin and The Slovak National Uprising August-October, 1944 MICHAEL KRAUS Copyright © 1991, Michael Kraus In contrast to the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the quasi-independent Slovak state had become a brewing ground for anti-German resistance by the spring of 1944. 1 The main organization of the underground, the Slovak National Council (SNR), brought together a loose coalition of Communists, Socialists, and Liberal-Democratic opponents of the pro-German government headed by Monsignor Jozef Tiso. Encouraged by the advance of the Red Army, which by early April had reached the Carpathians, the prewar Czechoslovak-Soviet boundary, the SNR agreed on plans at the end of June, for an uprising involving the defection of sizeable units of the Slovak army to the Allies. According to these preparations, the insurrection would begin either if the Germans attempted to occupy Slovakia (as they had not yet done) or if the action could be coordinated with the advance of the Red Army. In the latter (and much preferable) case, the conspirators hoped that the collapse of the pro-German authority - in conjunction with the army's defection - would open Slovakia to a lightning strike of Soviet forces. Colonel Jan Golian, a high-ranking officer in the Slovak army, who enjoyed the backing of the Edvard Benes government in London, was entrusted with the military leadership of the revolt. 2 From the very outset, the insurrection plans were beset by problems. For one, the underground lacked the commitment of a sufficient number of military commanders to assure the success of SLOVAKIA 51 the revolt inside the Slovak army. Nor was there a full appreciation for the military-logistical obstacles that lay in the path of the Red Army, namely the Carpathian Mountains. Moreover, mutual distrust among the political actors planning the insurgency complicated the preparations. Even more importantly, the conspirators lacked any direct means of communication with Moscow. Slovak Communists were unable to establish a two-way radio communication with the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), whose most senior members resided in the Soviet Union. As a result, in what was surely one of the more bizzare operations of the war, the insurgents attempted until August to coordinate the preparations for the uprising with the Soviet military via the Benes government in London. Benes, on the other hand, though he maintained contact with Golian through a short wave transmitter, was not fully versed in the composition of the SNR, the political arm of the conspiracy. In addition to Benes-loyalists, the SNR activists included the leaders of the Slovak Communist Party (KSS) Karol Smidke and Gustav Husak. Smidke had been sent back to Slovakia by the Comintern in June 1943 in order to resurrect the battered ranks of the KSS. The trials and then triumphs of Husak' s political career still lay ahead of him: Communist prisons in the 1950's, and the country's leadership in the 1970's and the 1980's . In mid-1944, these men hoped to exploit the revolt for purposes of their own. Negotiations between Benes and Moscow concerning military aid to Slovakia had been under way since the fall of 1943. Throughout these talks, the Soviets seemed receptive to Czechoslovak proposals and agreed to provide the necessary training and equipment for special Czechoslovak units that were to be deployed in the event of an anti-German insurrection in Slovakia. As early as November 1943 Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed London that the Soviets had promised to provide equipment for 50,000 men and to airlift into Slovakia units of the Czechoslovak armed forces organized on Soviet soil. Moscow also agreed to supplement these forces with Soviet paratroopers. 3 Negotiations about military assistance intensified especially after the official visit by Benes to Moscow in December 1943 dur- 52 SLOVAKIA ing which the Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship Mutual Assistance, and Postwar Cooperation was signed. 4 Thus, when Slovak requests for military supplies reached London in early summer 1944, Benes felt confident enough to reassure the rebels of "the certainty that at the given time, you shall get the weapons. " 5 To his surprise, however, enquiries in Moscow proposing the coordination of the revolt with Soviet actions on the war front met with evasive replies. NKVD General G.S. Zhukov, who supervised the foreign military units in the USSR, explained in late July that his government could not specify a date for a joint action in Slovakia. He advised Benes, unhelpfully, that the Slovak insurrectionists should take into account the "strategic situation as it will develop at a given time." Similarly, Moscow temporized on an urgent request from the Czech leader to supply the already promised arms to the Slovak loyalists. 6 But Moscow's picture of the Slovak situation improved considerably in early August when a small Slovak mission, seeking to coordinate the revolt with the Soviet advance, reached the Soviet Union . Though ostensibly the delegation came from the SNR, the plenipotentiaries represented, in fact, three different political groups: Slovak Communists, Benes-loyalists, and the Slovak Ministry of Defense. Certainly the most intriguing offer came in the form of a memorandum from Slovakia's Minister of Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos. He proposed to establish a military dictatorship in Slovakia, "cancel" the war against Russia and the Allies, declare war against Hungary, and in exchange for some degree of Slovak independence align Slovak internal politics '' in accordance with Soviet interest. " 7 Strangely enough, Catlos, who furnished the plane for the mission to Moscow, had been unaware of the SNR conspiracy from whose ranks the other emissaries came. Of special interest to Moscow were reports brought by Smidke that informed the Soviet General Staff of the disposition and the equipment of the Slovak forces as well as of the plans of the SNR. On a separate note, a memorandum prepared by Husak assessed the situation in terms highly favorable for the party's cause. "It is clear," he wrote, "that when the war ends, there will be only one party with a crushing Communist majority." Speaking on behalf of the KSS leadership, Husak claimed that if a free election SLOVAKIA 53 were held in the summer of 1944, at least seventy percent of the Slovaks would vote for the region's incorporation into the Soviet Union, while twenty percent at most would want Slovakia to reunite with the Czechs. "We want to be a part of the USSR," declared Husak. "Why seek salvation with Benes, when Stalin has a proven recipe," asked the future leader of Czechoslovakia. If the country had to be reconstituted, submitted Husak, then as a "socialist federation of nations." 8 Given that no evidence supports Husak' s contentions concerning Slovak public opinion, his views shed more light on the attitudes of the KSS leadership than on anything else (when the Soviets searched for a successor to Dubcek in 1968, the file from 1944 could hardly do any harm to Husak' s candidacy). In fact, as late as December 1944, the underground leaders of the KSS evidently required tutoring by Georgi Dimitrov, the Comintern' s ex-chief, then serving as the head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, that "the detachment of the Slovaks from the Czechs is not at present in the interest'' of Moscow. ''We should restrain those people in Slovakia who want to rush things too much where Soviet power is concerned," Dimitrov advised. "Do not raise the question of Sovietization of Czechoslovakia now," he counselled. 9 Smidke was debriefed on August 5 by General Lev Mekhlis, the political commissar of the Fourth Ukrainian Front, and then met with other Soviet military and political representatives, including Dimitrov. Stalin received a report on the Smidke mission on August 10. Smidke's information gave the Soviet General Staff - to quote Sergei Shtemenko, the Chief of its Operation Department - "a complete picture of the situation in Slovakia." 10 The Soviets seemed interested in the Catlos offer, at least for a while. That would help to account for the fact that despite the urgent call from Slovakia for the coordination of military planning, the Soviets attempted to hide the Slovak mission from both the Benes government and the KSC Politburo . So it was not until August 27 that Smidke reported to the Czechoslovak embassy, where he met with Benes' representatives. 11 In any event, Benes had been informed independently that a Catlos representative had gone to Russia. Intimations of Soviet contacts with Catlos alarmed the Czech leader. During his 54 SLOVAKIA December 1943 visit to the Soviet Union Benes told Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov that Catlos was among the traitors who "must hang ." In that spirit, the President in August 1944 instructed the Czechoslovak Ambassador in Moscow, Zdenek Fierlinger, to advise the Soviet government that direct or indirect negotiations with the "Slovak quisling rabble" can take place only through the offices of the Czechoslovak government. Any other conduct, warned Benes, might violate Soviet-Czechoslovak agreements and would put the West on notice that "our Soviet policy has failed." In September, when the uprising was already under way, Moscow replied lamely that the talks with the Catlos emissaries were conducted by the CPSU. "The Soviet government," read the reply, "had nothing to do with it. " In the meantime, however, the Soviets gave no indication of their plans to the insurgents or to Benes. 12 But on a separate level, Soviet-led actions influenced the outbreak of the uprising in late August . Radio dispatches from Soviet or Soviet-led partisan groups operating in Slovakia since July highlighted the favorable conditions for partisan warfare. By early August the partisans established contacts with both the KSS and the SNR and radioed the headquarters in Kiev that "plans for action against the Germans are ready . . . the leaders of the Slovak army request a signal for a joint action ... " 13 Nikita Khrushchev, under whose authority the Kiev partisan center fuctioned, passed the information on to Stalin in mid-August. Meanwhile, additional partisan groups and supplies were being airdropped and the partisan "fever" was rapidly catching on in Slovakia. There was the danger, however, that the rapid spread of sabotage activities would provoke the German occupation of Slovakia and thereby trigger the insurgency prematurely. Precisely for that reason, Husak intervened with the main partisan group on August 21, but his efforts came to naught, for the partisans respected only orders from the Kiev command. 14 In the following week the partisan acts of sabotage finally brought on German military intervention and, in turn, a premature outbreak of the insurgency on August 29. Though Soviet moves surrounding the Slovak revolt are something of a jigsaw puzzle, the following facts are beyond doubt. Moscow had known in advance, from both Benes and the SNR, SLOVAKIA 55 of the preparations under way in Slovakia. In order of the revolt to begin under the most propitious circumstances, a coordination with Soviet military plans was essential. The Soviets, however, made no effort in this direction. The SNR mission, whose return within a week or so had been anxiously expected by the insurgents, spent five weeks in the Soviet Union, coming back only a week after the uprising began. 15 Nor do the orders issued to the Red Army - poised North and East, twenty five to forty miles, from the borders - indicate that Stalin wished the revolt to succeed. On August 25, Colonel Heliodor Pika, the head of the Czechoslovak military mission in the Soviet Union and a Benes loyalist, informed the Russian military command that Slovakia might be occupied in a matter of days by the Germans . 16 On the following day, on August 26, Stalin rescinded the original plan for an offensive operation in the East which was to commence two days later, and ordered the 4th Ukrainian Front to go into a "defensive" mode .17 Its advance was not resumed until seven weeks later. North of the border, the First Ukrainian Front, to which Czechoslovak military units were attached, went into action only on September 8. On that day the Soviets also replaced General Jan Kratochvil, the Benes-appointed commander of the Czechoslovak Corps in the Soviet Union, with Ludvik Svoboda, whom they and the KSC Politburo had groomed for the post all along. But it took a full month and enormous casualties before the troops made their way through the mountain passes. And it took just as long for the Sovietorganized airdrop of a Czechoslovak paratrooper brigade, allegedly on account of poor weather conditions . The transfer of the paratrooper brigade did not begin until the night of September 25-26. And the same reason was given for the six-week long delay in the transfer of Benes' representatives from Moscow to Slovakia. 18 But inclement weather conditions did not prevent the more immediate Soviet dispatch to Slovakia of Smidke, and of two KSC Politburo members, Rudolf Shinsky and Jan Sverma, nor can they account for Moscow's orders giving priority to Soviet-led partisans over the insurgents in the limited weapons aid supplied. Smidke returned to Slovakia on September 4; the KSC Politburo members, Sverma and Shinsky, arrived on September 28, while the Benes government representatives got there only on October 6-7. 19 Finally, 56 SLOVAKIA the Soviets effectively frustrated Benes' attempts to obtain Western assistance. In July and August the British told Benes that, though military supplies were available, the airlift was contingent on Soviet permission because Slovakia belonged to the Soviet sphere of war operations. Before the uprising the Soviets assured Benes that ample aid was forthcoming, but when urgent requests for weapons aid from Slovakia in September prompted Benes to turn to the British again, Moscow ignored the Foreign Office enquiries regarding Soviet intentions.20 The uprising collapsed on October 28, after two months of bitter fighting. What, then, were the Kremlin's objectives? Stalin's aims in Slovakia have to be viewed in the broader context of Soviet priorities and military capabilities. As seen from Moscow in the summer of 1944, Slovakia represented only one operation in a war that stretched Soviet armies over a thousand mile front from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. Several war developments overshadowed the military-political significance of the Slovak operation. In the two weeks between August 23 and September 8, Romania and Bulgaria switched sides in the war to join the Allies, and Finland capitulated. The rush of the events in the Balkans evidently led the Soviet command to contemplate a thrust into Hungary, bordering on southern Slovakia. John Erickson's exhaustive survey of Soviet war strategy characterizes the Romanian defection of August 23 as "one of the decisive days of the entire war. " 21 Though he implies that the Soviet General Staff orders to the 4th Ukrainian Front "not to embark on any offensive operations" were related to the RomanianHungarian operations, he does not explain how .22 Erickson concludes that the Soviet command, "to the degree that it was actually culpable, made Slovakia the victim of its inflexibility. " 23 Hence, as cynical as Stalin's orders to the Fourth Ukrainian Front (to go on the "defensive") may appear at a first glance, they may have been related to the projected move into Hungary, a far more valuable prize militarily than Slovakia. At any rate, the costs of mounting a surprise attack through the treacherous passes of the Carpathian mountains must have seemed excessive to Stalin in relation to the small military gains and uncertain political rewards of the Slovak operation. What the well-meaning Benes could not know was that the SLOVAKIA 57 Soviet General Staff had been highly suspicious of any "military putsch" in Slovakia under the auspices of the London government. According to later revelations by Shtemenko, the Soviet command had also lacked the conviction that the revolt against the Germans would succeed on military grounds. There was yet another reason for the Soviet refusal to provide Benes with a timetable: "It looked like an attempt to feel out the plans of the Soviet Supreme Command," notes Shtemenko. 24 Clearly Stalin was not keen on bolstering the Benes-loyalists, whom Shtemenko even years later characterized as "bourgeois military putschists. '' Nor did the Soviet leader make a habit of supporting zealous Communist radicals of Husak's variety. Unwittingly, Klement Gottwald, the Moscow-based leader of the KSC, might have sealed the fate of the uprising when in the first days of September he informed Molotov of the political character of the uprising's revolutionary Council and drew an analogy with Tito's Yugoslavia. 25 Over the previous year Stalin had had ample difficulties with Tito, whose political independence grew commensurately with the success of his resistance movement. All things considered, Stalin preferred to let the Red Army do the job of driving the Germans out of Slovakia, while the Soviet-led partisans continued to stir up trouble in the enemy's rear. At the same time, Moscow could hardly afford to do nothing for the Slovaks. On the one hand the Russians had been promising military assistance to Benes for months, and on those grounds discouraged Western aid to Slovakia. On the other hand, Stalin could no longer ignore the adverse Western reaction to the JulyAugust failure of Soviet assistance to the Warsaw Uprising. The mixture of these motives was evident in the way Moscow handled the Slovak insurgency. While the Soviets went through the motions of assisting the Slovak rebels, they did not take decisive measures to tilt the balance in favor of the insurgents. Different participants in the Slovak events were bound to draw different lessons from the experience. The uprising spelled the de facto end of the Tiso regime and, for the remainder of the year, Slovakia turned into a war zone . For a significant segment of the Slovak population the uprising marked a proud chapter in what was one of the largest European acts of resistance against Hitler . 58 SLOVAKIA Equally important, representatives of Slovak resistance secured for themselves a voice in the London-Moscow dialogue about the postwar order. As far as the KSC leadership was concerned, the prominent role played by Slovak Communists in the insurgency created high expectations regarding the party's postwar influence in the region. In addition, the uprising provided some valuable experience with national committees, organized by party activists in many communities over the two month period. But the party leadership also sustained an important loss: Sverma, the second in command after Gottwald, and one of Dimitrov' s adjutants, died in the Slovak mountains at the end of 1944. By contrast, for Benes and his supporters the lessons were all negative. To begin with, the uprising demonstrated the powerlessness of the London-based groups to shape the events in the distant heartland of the continent. Second, the abundant evidence of Soviet misbehavior cast a long shadow over the nature of the Soviet-Czechoslovak alliance. In addition to the incidents cited earlier, London discovered that Soviet partisans in Slovakia were far from bipartisan in political matters, clearly abetting the Communist cause. Third, Communist influence in the political headquarters of the uprising seemed to substantiate the party's claim to political leadership in the postwar period. But equally telling blows to the Benes circle came with the realization that Western military assistance to Czechoslovakia depended on Soviet good will. The inaction of the Americans and the British in August-October convinced Benes that the Allies had agreed at Teheran on military and, by extension, on political spheres of influence, assigning Czechoslovakia to the Soviet sphere. In his Memoirs Benes wrote of the Teheran Conference : ''The division of the war zones in Germany and Central Europe was decided between the West and East at this time. Poland and Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Hungary and Yugoslavia were placed in the Soviet zone. Nobody told us at the time either officially or unofficially. We only learned about it indirectly, much later, at the time of the Slovak uprising . " 26 This conclusion - along with the loss of faith in Soviet commitments - significantly affected the perceptions of the representatives of democratic resistance concerning Czechoslovakia' s place in the international order. As a result, the SLOVAKIA 59 London-based moderates after October 1944 were far more impressed by the weakness of their bargaining position - a weakness only accentuated by the weighty presence of the Red Army on Czechoslovak territory - vis-a-vis the Gottwald-led contingent of the KSC. These factors and perceptions made themselves felt in the ensuing negotiations between the two factions of the political exiles concerning the postwar political system. When the revolt was crushed at the end of October, Fierlinger reported to London the view of the Soviet General Staff that " the uprising fulfilled its political and military task by creating chaos in the German ranks and by depriving Germans of important communication centers . " 27 And that is perhaps the best summary of Soviet objectives . FOOTNOTES 1 Preparation of this article for publication was facilitated by a grant from The Ada Howe Kent Foundation. It is based on my The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and the Second World War: The Foundations of Communist Rule, Ph .D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1986. For the background on the Slovak rebellion see Anna Josko, " The Slovak Resistance Movement, " in Victor Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948 (Princeton 1973), pp . 362-383; Jozef Jablonicky, Z ilegality do povstania, (Bratislava, 1969); other Jablonicky contributions appearing in samizdat, Bratislava a vznik Slovenskeho narodneho povstania; 0 vzniku SNR a vojenskeho ustredia; and Zlyhanie Malarovej armady v Karpatoch (Prague, 1978-79); and Zbornfk Slovenskeho narodneho povstania (Toronto, 1975), esp. Miroslav Licko, " K otazke spojeneckej pomoci v Slovenskom narodnom povstanf." 3 Dokumen ty a materialy k dejinam ceskoslovensko-sovetskych vztahit (Prague, 1984), vol. IV, part 2, p . 24 . 2 4 5 6 For evidence of Soviet support for Benes's requests, see ibid., 22-24, 34-35, 45-46. Vilem Precan, ed., Slovenske narodne povstanie-Dokumenty (Bratislava, 1965) (hereafter SNP), p . 244. fbid. , p. 250 7 For the text of the Catlos memorandum, see SNP, pp . 262-63; fo r an analysis, see Miroslav Licko, "Catlosov plan - politicka naivita, alebo strategicka iniciativa" Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (57, 1978), pp . 69-84. 8 Husak's report, " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," was publish ed by Vilem Precan for the first time in Svedectv{ (Paris), XV, (58, 1979), pp. 367-382. SLOVAKIA 60 9 For an incomplete record of these talks see Vaclav Kral, Osvobozenf Czeskoslovenska (Prague, 1975), pp. 177-78; Miroslav Boucek, Miloslav Klimes; Marta Vartikova, Program Revoluce (Prague, 1975), pp . 234-35. 10 S.M. Shtemenko, Generalnf stab za valky (Prague, 1974), p . 297. 11 For a report on the meeting prepared for Benes see SNP, p .329 and ff; for a commentary by one of the participants, see Prokop Drtina, Ceskoslovensko muj osud (Toronto, 1982), Vol I, part II, pp . 631-642. 12 For the briefing of Stalin see Andrei Grechko, Cherez Karpaty, (Moscow, 1970), p . 60; for speculations on why the Russians kept Smidke from reaching both the KSC Politburo and Pika see E. Fris, "Moskovsky pobyt K. Smidkeho v August 1944," P'ffspevky k dejinam KSC, vol. 4, (3, June 1964), pp. 439-444, and Vilem Precan, Svedectvf, XV, (58, 1979), pp . 365-366; for Benes's comments see SNP, p.324. 13 14 SNP, p . 302 Khrushchev's cable to Stalin in SNP, pp. 294-5; for Husak's meeting with Soviet partisans see Za narodnf osvobozenf,za novou republiku (Prague, 1982), p . 32. 15 Gustav Husak, Svedectvo o Slovenskom narodnom povstanf (Bratislava, 1974), p. 212. 16 SNP, p. 329 17 Shtemenko, p. 298. 18 SNP, p . 562. SNP, pp. 562-63; for evidence that weather conditions were not an issue see Drtina, op. cit., pp . 661-62. 19 °For evidence that the British made their assistance plans contingent on Soviet 2 approval, see SNP, p. 251. In early August Fierlinger cabled Benes that Moscow was prepared to provide weapons aid to Slovakia "anytime"; see, SNP, p . 288. For a summary report by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defense on the negotiations with the British and the Russians for military assistance see Ibid. , pp . 867-875. 21 John Erickson, The Road to Berlin (Boulder, 1983), p .360. 22 Ibid., p. 293. 24 Ibid. , p. 307. But, because his account relies on discredited sources, Erickson's analysis of the political background of the Slovak uprising, including the Smidke mission to Moscow, is sadly misinformed. 24 Shtemenko, op, cit. , pp. 286-91,295. Milos Klimes, et.al .. .. , Cesta ke kvetnu: Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku, vol. I, p . 203-206. 26 Pameti (Prague, 1947), p . 375 . And on the following page (p. 376), Benes equates the military with the political sheres of influence. 25 27 SNP, p. 776.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Kremlin and The Slovak National Uprising, August-October, 1944 Description An account of the resource Michael Kraus Slovakia, Vol. 34 (No. 62-63), 1989-90 pp. 50-60 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kraus, Michael, 1949- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-90 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0fcff6a2fbe2355dbb865f74581341f3.pdf d7a5df4e425f7e69a3af05a8c8c03079 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 55 THE KREMLIN HAS SHOWN ITS HAND Joseph Cieker It seems that the politicians, who have led and are still leading the destinies of the present time, have been charmed by some kind of enchantresses. They are unable to free themselves from the snares which had been placed for them by Communism. Nay, it would rather seem that the more it appears that they are getting free of them, the more they are really being entangled by them. Not th-at Communism has changed its content and its substance. Its substance and its goal is always the same. Only the strategy and tactics of Communism change. If leading political factors had actually devoted themselves responsibly and directly to the study of Communism, they would have undoubtedly found ,a definite course of action against it. The fact is that they have not. They rather concerned tJhemselves with its strategy and tactics. And the latter governed to a great extent their policies and diplomacy. Thus we were witnesses of the strategic and tactical squables, which perhaps, at times, led to temporary results, but in substance did not contribute to the solution of world Communism, which as a phenomenon simply will not be disputed or debated away and thereby even less to be minimized. Every strategic and tactical move of Communism is reacted to with more or less success, but the burden of the problem remains unchanged on the lives of nations. In fact the burden becomes greater with time. If these so-called victories of international non-Communist politics really were equal to the criteria which had been brought forth in connection with the various diplomatic reactions to the strategic and tactical undertakings of the Red Kremlin, then the power of international Communism would already have been broken. The fact that this power has not been broken is evidence of the fact that the victories were merely of a peripheral significance, and as such were frequently noted as brilliant actions of experimental patrols. We still have not sunk our teeth into the reality and substance of international Communism and into the body of the international policy of the Soviet Union. �56 SLOVAKIA Communism certainly is not a secret organization. Neither is the politics of the .Soviet Union. Entire libraries could be filled with literature about what Communism is, what it wants, and just how it aims to attain its ultimate goat However, even if this literature did not exist, we have before us the work of 40 years of international Communism and of the international politics of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, despite all this, leading politicians and diplomats of the West - with a few exceptions have yet to prove that they are seriously concerned about what Communism writes, talks, and does. As if all this were some sort of witchcraft. Beginning with Lenin and ending with Khrusohchev the basic principles of Communism have been clearly stated to the whole world. Leading figures of Communism have sworn time and again that they shall never abandon their goal no matter what the cost. They announced this by means of all possible forms. But it seems that the world deliberately closed its ears, so that it would not have to hear and then believe, and finally so that it would not have to proceed to serious and principal decisions. As an explanation Jet it suffice now to quote in this connection a part of a statement of a Soviet intellectual, the rector of the political School of Lenin Dmytryj Manuilsky, made twenty-eight years ago. During the past three decades many substantial changes have taken place in the Europe and world structure. During this time, international Communism has made far-reaching steps in its march to its ultimate goal. In 1931, Manuilsky, lecturing to the undergraduates of Moscow's Lenin School, said: War to the hilt between Communism and Capitalism is inevitable. Today, of course , we are not strong enough to attack. Our time will come in 20 or 30 years. The bourgeoisie will have to be lulled to sleep first. So we shall begin by launching the most spectacular peace movement in history. We shall make resounding declarations for the benefit of peace, friendship , and mutual international symphaties. The capitalist countries, stupid and decadent, will be overjoyed to cooperate in their own destruction . They wi II leap at another chance to be our friend s. As soon as their guard is down and they are drunk with gullibil ity, · we shall leap on them and smash them with our fists. Nikita Khruschchev, the most experienced coexisten- �SLOVAKIA 57 tialist - noticing in 1955 that his speeches and recommendations in regard to coexistence are being explained altogether unilaterally by non-Communists for their own benefit and as a guarantee of permanent comfort, hurried to make the following clear: "It is true that we are adherents of coexistence, but at the same time we are also adherents of the expansion of Communism over the entire world. We are faced with the reality of the existence of two different systems in the world. You , the Capitalists, insist that you shall go your own way. Y o\! will do that until the day you realize that this has led you into a blind alley out of which there is no exit. Since you stubbornly hold to the idea that your system is not ancient and decadent enough, and since you think that you can compete with us, well, we have nothing against this. Time will prove who was right." Communism has placed its cards on the table to be seen by all in the game. It has shoved them under the very noses of its fellow players. For long decades it has never changed its game. It keeps on hammering the same tune all the time: we shall destroy you! But the nonCommunist world keeps whistling its own tune as it enters the blind alley from which there will be no way out as Nikita Khruschchev so clearly pointed out. The nonCommunist world apparently still does not have sufficient proof of what Communism really is and what it aims to attain. Stubbornly it keeps on asking the Kremlin to say it again. And then once again. After so many encores, the non-Communist world still is looking for some kind of a change of heart of the Kremlin. P erhaps, it thinks, after all these smiles there will follow a r evision of the entire Communist program. And who can say definitely that a palace r evolution in the Kremlin, or a quarrel between members of the Politbureau, or the fall of a Soviet Marshal, or a quarrel between Peking and Moscow, will not force a change of the ultimate goal? Wishful, useless thinking! All the questions which the non-Communist world has put and will put to the Kremlin have already been answered. At least the principal questions have been clearly answered. The others, the answers to peripheral questions, do not matter, because the problem posed by international Communism cannot be solved by them. � SLOVAKIA 55 THE KREMLIN HAS SHOWN ITS HAND Joseph Cieker It seems that the politicians, who have led and are still leading the destinies of the present time, have been charmed by some kind of enchantresses. They are unable to free themselves from the snares which had been placed for them by Communism. Nay, it would rather seem that the more it appears that they are getting free of them, the more they are really being entangled by them. Not th-at Communism has changed its content and its substance. Its substance and its goal is always the same. Only the strategy and tactics of Communism change. If leading political factors had actually devoted themselves responsibly and directly to the study of Communism, they would have undoubtedly found ,a definite course of action against it. The fact is that they have not. They rather concerned tJhemselves with its strategy and tactics. And the latter governed to a great extent their policies and diplomacy. Thus we were witnesses of the strategic and tactical squables, which perhaps, at times, led to temporary results, but in substance did not contribute to the solution of world Communism, which as a phenomenon simply will not be disputed or debated away and thereby even less to be minimized. Every strategic and tactical move of Communism is reacted to with more or less success, but the burden of the problem remains unchanged on the lives of nations. In fact the burden becomes greater with time. If these so-called victories of international non-Communist politics really were equal to the criteria which had been brought forth in connection with the various diplomatic reactions to the strategic and tactical undertakings of the Red Kremlin, then the power of international Communism would already have been broken. The fact that this power has not been broken is evidence of the fact that the victories were merely of a peripheral significance, and as such were frequently noted as brilliant actions of experimental patrols. We still have not sunk our teeth into the reality and substance of international Communism and into the body of the international policy of the Soviet Union. �56 SLOVAKIA Communism certainly is not a secret organization. Neither is the politics of the .Soviet Union. Entire libraries could be filled with literature about what Communism is, what it wants, and just how it aims to attain its ultimate goat However, even if this literature did not exist, we have before us the work of 40 years of international Communism and of the international politics of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, despite all this, leading politicians and diplomats of the West - with a few exceptions have yet to prove that they are seriously concerned about what Communism writes, talks, and does. As if all this were some sort of witchcraft. Beginning with Lenin and ending with Khrusohchev the basic principles of Communism have been clearly stated to the whole world. Leading figures of Communism have sworn time and again that they shall never abandon their goal no matter what the cost. They announced this by means of all possible forms. But it seems that the world deliberately closed its ears, so that it would not have to hear and then believe, and finally so that it would not have to proceed to serious and principal decisions. As an explanation Jet it suffice now to quote in this connection a part of a statement of a Soviet intellectual, the rector of the political School of Lenin Dmytryj Manuilsky, made twenty-eight years ago. During the past three decades many substantial changes have taken place in the Europe and world structure. During this time, international Communism has made far-reaching steps in its march to its ultimate goal. In 1931, Manuilsky, lecturing to the undergraduates of Moscow's Lenin School, said: War to the hilt between Communism and Capitalism is inevitable. Today, of course , we are not strong enough to attack. Our time will come in 20 or 30 years. The bourgeoisie will have to be lulled to sleep first. So we shall begin by launching the most spectacular peace movement in history. We shall make resounding declarations for the benefit of peace, friendship , and mutual international symphaties. The capitalist countries, stupid and decadent, will be overjoyed to cooperate in their own destruction . They wi II leap at another chance to be our friend s. As soon as their guard is down and they are drunk with gullibil ity, · we shall leap on them and smash them with our fists. Nikita Khruschchev, the most experienced coexisten- �SLOVAKIA 57 tialist - noticing in 1955 that his speeches and recommendations in regard to coexistence are being explained altogether unilaterally by non-Communists for their own benefit and as a guarantee of permanent comfort, hurried to make the following clear: "It is true that we are adherents of coexistence, but at the same time we are also adherents of the expansion of Communism over the entire world. We are faced with the reality of the existence of two different systems in the world. You , the Capitalists, insist that you shall go your own way. Y o\! will do that until the day you realize that this has led you into a blind alley out of which there is no exit. Since you stubbornly hold to the idea that your system is not ancient and decadent enough, and since you think that you can compete with us, well, we have nothing against this. Time will prove who was right." Communism has placed its cards on the table to be seen by all in the game. It has shoved them under the very noses of its fellow players. For long decades it has never changed its game. It keeps on hammering the same tune all the time: we shall destroy you! But the nonCommunist world keeps whistling its own tune as it enters the blind alley from which there will be no way out as Nikita Khruschchev so clearly pointed out. The nonCommunist world apparently still does not have sufficient proof of what Communism really is and what it aims to attain. Stubbornly it keeps on asking the Kremlin to say it again. And then once again. After so many encores, the non-Communist world still is looking for some kind of a change of heart of the Kremlin. P erhaps, it thinks, after all these smiles there will follow a r evision of the entire Communist program. And who can say definitely that a palace r evolution in the Kremlin, or a quarrel between members of the Politbureau, or the fall of a Soviet Marshal, or a quarrel between Peking and Moscow, will not force a change of the ultimate goal? Wishful, useless thinking! All the questions which the non-Communist world has put and will put to the Kremlin have already been answered. At least the principal questions have been clearly answered. The others, the answers to peripheral questions, do not matter, because the problem posed by international Communism cannot be solved by them. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1959, Vol. 9 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 4 [sic] (No. 29), March 1959.</li> <li>Issue 5 [sic] (No. 30), June-December 1959.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1959 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 55 THE KREMLIN HAS SHOWN ITS HAND Joseph Cieker It seems that the politicians, who have led and are still leading the destinies of the present time, have been charmed by some kind of enchantresses. They are unable to free themselves from the snares which had been placed for them by Communism. Nay, it would rather seem that the more it appears that they are getting free of them, the more they are really being entangled by them. Not th-at Communism has changed its content and its substance. Its substance and its goal is always the same. Only the strategy and tactics of Communism change. If leading political factors had actually devoted themselves responsibly and directly to the study of Communism, they would have undoubtedly found ,a definite course of action against it. The fact is that they have not. They rather concerned tJhemselves with its strategy and tactics. And the latter governed to a great extent their policies and diplomacy. Thus we were witnesses of the strategic and tactical squables, which perhaps, at times, led to temporary results, but in substance did not contribute to the solution of world Communism, which as a phenomenon simply will not be disputed or debated away and thereby even less to be minimized. Every strategic and tactical move of Communism is reacted to with more or less success, but the burden of the problem remains unchanged on the lives of nations. In fact the burden becomes greater with time. If these so-called victories of international non-Communist politics really were equal to the criteria which had been brought forth in connection with the various diplomatic reactions to the strategic and tactical undertakings of the Red Kremlin, then the power of international Communism would already have been broken. The fact that this power has not been broken is evidence of the fact that the victories were merely of a peripheral significance, and as such were frequently noted as brilliant actions of experimental patrols. We still have not sunk our teeth into the reality and substance of international Communism and into the body of the international policy of the Soviet Union. 56 SLOVAKIA Communism certainly is not a secret organization. Neither is the politics of the .Soviet Union. Entire libraries could be filled with literature about what Communism is, what it wants, and just how it aims to attain its ultimate goat However, even if this literature did not exist, we have before us the work of 40 years of international Communism and of the international politics of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, despite all this, leading politicians and diplomats of the West - with a few exceptions have yet to prove that they are seriously concerned about what Communism writes, talks, and does. As if all this were some sort of witchcraft. Beginning with Lenin and ending with Khrusohchev the basic principles of Communism have been clearly stated to the whole world. Leading figures of Communism have sworn time and again that they shall never abandon their goal no matter what the cost. They announced this by means of all possible forms. But it seems that the world deliberately closed its ears, so that it would not have to hear and then believe, and finally so that it would not have to proceed to serious and principal decisions. As an explanation Jet it suffice now to quote in this connection a part of a statement of a Soviet intellectual, the rector of the political School of Lenin Dmytryj Manuilsky, made twenty-eight years ago. During the past three decades many substantial changes have taken place in the Europe and world structure. During this time, international Communism has made far-reaching steps in its march to its ultimate goal. In 1931, Manuilsky, lecturing to the undergraduates of Moscow's Lenin School, said: War to the hilt between Communism and Capitalism is inevitable. Today, of course , we are not strong enough to attack. Our time will come in 20 or 30 years. The bourgeoisie will have to be lulled to sleep first. So we shall begin by launching the most spectacular peace movement in history. We shall make resounding declarations for the benefit of peace, friendship , and mutual international symphaties. The capitalist countries, stupid and decadent, will be overjoyed to cooperate in their own destruction . They wi II leap at another chance to be our friend s. As soon as their guard is down and they are drunk with gullibil ity, · we shall leap on them and smash them with our fists. Nikita Khruschchev, the most experienced coexisten- SLOVAKIA 57 tialist - noticing in 1955 that his speeches and recommendations in regard to coexistence are being explained altogether unilaterally by non-Communists for their own benefit and as a guarantee of permanent comfort, hurried to make the following clear: "It is true that we are adherents of coexistence, but at the same time we are also adherents of the expansion of Communism over the entire world. We are faced with the reality of the existence of two different systems in the world. You , the Capitalists, insist that you shall go your own way. Y o\! will do that until the day you realize that this has led you into a blind alley out of which there is no exit. Since you stubbornly hold to the idea that your system is not ancient and decadent enough, and since you think that you can compete with us, well, we have nothing against this. Time will prove who was right." Communism has placed its cards on the table to be seen by all in the game. It has shoved them under the very noses of its fellow players. For long decades it has never changed its game. It keeps on hammering the same tune all the time: we shall destroy you! But the nonCommunist world keeps whistling its own tune as it enters the blind alley from which there will be no way out as Nikita Khruschchev so clearly pointed out. The nonCommunist world apparently still does not have sufficient proof of what Communism really is and what it aims to attain. Stubbornly it keeps on asking the Kremlin to say it again. And then once again. After so many encores, the non-Communist world still is looking for some kind of a change of heart of the Kremlin. P erhaps, it thinks, after all these smiles there will follow a r evision of the entire Communist program. And who can say definitely that a palace r evolution in the Kremlin, or a quarrel between members of the Politbureau, or the fall of a Soviet Marshal, or a quarrel between Peking and Moscow, will not force a change of the ultimate goal? Wishful, useless thinking! All the questions which the non-Communist world has put and will put to the Kremlin have already been answered. At least the principal questions have been clearly answered. The others, the answers to peripheral questions, do not matter, because the problem posed by international Communism cannot be solved by them.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Kremlin Has Shown Its Hand Description An account of the resource Joseph Cieker Slovakia, Vol. 9, No. 5 (30), June-December 1959 pp. 55-57 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cieker, Jozef, 1907-1969 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June-December 1959 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/86105fcfd848c81a6136d0b1137c17a0.pdf 8dc77e7bcb31d72620384fbf3335910d PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 2!l '.r.HE LANGUAGE OF STS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS P.A. H'ROBAK In what language did the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, speak to the ancestors of the Slovaks? Undoubtedly in a la,nguaige understandable to the Slovaks. '17he saintly brothera - set by Emperor Michael of Byzantium (Constantinople) in response to a request by Rastislav, ruler of the Greater Moravian ffimpire - came to the land of the Slovaks in 863 - 1,100 years aigo - to complete the work of converting his people to Christianity which was initiated earlier by missionaries who knew little or nothing aibout the language of the people of Great Moravia. It is well to remember that Cyril and Methodius did no Jtjissionary wpnk in the land settled by the Czeeihs, a part of Bohemia (the land of the Boii), because during the lifetime of the saintly brothers that territory was not identical with the territory (Slovensko) occupied by the Slovaks. The Czech country (Cechy, Cesko), first ruled by Prince Bof-i.voj, was conquered by Svatopluk only after the death of St. Methodius (1). The homeland of the ancient Czechs was ecclesiastically under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Regensburg, while the homelamd of the Slovaks was not. A Christian church already existed in Nitra, Slovakia, in 833, while Christianity was still very weak in the Czech country: Bofivoj's wife, St. Ludmila, and his grandson, St. Wenceslaus (Wenzel), were both murdered by their relatives . .St. Methodius of Nitra was already ain archbishop in 873 (2), while the first Czech bishopric was established in Prague in 973. According to Dobrovsky, "Slovakia was really Great Moravia" (3); and Skultety, Hrusovsky, Stanislav and Dekan (!Slovak :philologists and historians) agree with Jozef Safarik that Slovakia was the core of the Great Moravia Empire <4). Historical evidences prove conclusively that Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored in the homeland of the ancient Slovaks jjrom 863 to 8815 ( 5 ). Jozef Dobrovsky (1753-1829), the eminent Czech Slavist, divided the lang1Ua;ges of the Slovanic (Slavic) peoples �SLOVAKIA 30 into two groups: 1. Eastern and southern ; 2. western a,nd northern (6). Dobrovsk y's classifica tion was supported by V. F. Durych, a Czech, Bartolom ew Kopitar (1780-1844), a Slovene, and Paul J. Safarik (1795-1861), a Slovak. Dobrovsky's classifica tion of the Slovanic language, however, did not hold for long, because his choice of distinguis hing character istics was not comprehe nsive enough and his classifica tion did not include all the Slovanic tongues (iBulgarian, Ukrainian , Polabian, for example) - m. Alexande r Vostokov (1781-1864), a Russian philologist, came out with a more natural classifica tion of the Slovanic language s, which he based on the territorie s occupied or inhabited by the Slovaruk nations. He divided the languages into three groups: 1. Southern (Old Slovanic, Bulgaria,n, Srbo-Cro atian, and Slovene); 3. Western (Slovak and Czech, Lusatian- Ser.bian, and Polish with Kashubia n) - (8). Vostokov 's classifica tion was generally adopted after it gained the support of Vatroslav Jagic (1838-1923), the Slovene who is regarded as the greatest Slavist of the prewar era, (9) and Lulbor Niederle (18615-1944), the eminent Czech writer of antiquitie s (10). Now, into what classifica tion shall we place the language in which Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s preached the gospel of Christ to the ancestors of the Slovruks? We know that they came from the territory of Byzantiu m (Constantinople), but their native Salonica (Solun) was influence d by the gigantic waves of the Balkan Slavs. Emperor Michael sent them to the ancient homeland of the .Slovaks, because both could speak the la,nguge of the people there very fluently ("Va bo jesta Solunjani na, da Solunjane v'si cisto slovjen'sk y besjedujo nt" (11). Franc Miklosie (1813-1891), the Slovene philologist, advanced and defended the so-called •~Pannoniain Theory," that is, that the language of ancient manuscri pts of the time of Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s was the language of the Slavs of Pannonia (modern Hungary ) and, therefore , maintaine d that the language was old Slovenia,n (12). A. Leskien, a German, studied the question and concluded, on philological •g rounds, that the language was really old Bulgarian (13). �31 SLOVAKIA Vatroslav Jagic proved scientifically that the language used ·b y the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, was of south-Macedonian origin, the language used by the Slavs of the Salon.i!ka area. This view supported by the very words used by Emperor Michael when he told Cyril and '.Methodius to go to the land of Rastislav, "because both of you are natives of Salon.i!ka, and all Salonikans speaks in pure Slovak" (Iebo vy oba st,e Soluncania, a Soluncania vsetci cisto slovensky beseduju) - CN) . After on exhaustive study of both modern and old Bulgarian, Paul J . Safarik, eminent Slovak scholar cxf Slavistics, convinced him self of the Macedonian origin of Old Slovak which was used by Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the land cxf Rastislav ( 15) • .,tiJD J:UiffL:'JVH:Ul\ffiC0~. :J,Jb-aJUtMraUUl llill1' lfliYK 3. JfflJhm"l'~ 'i1 / ~ 3J!llllln'dbll7M1Dll ~--s IIIfurrruflixffit -::iµ llfflib~ JDK7MJ1J3 dfi, I F~ iffin<itK7..r.1m,m_p IlhPJ. jif{thlhrlJ,p ilfuJK :J~qJbK·BUbrhb!IDDtti jJ:I llIIMnJ,m iJh'r?DffKµ. GLAGOLICA - the most ancient language of Slovak literature The ancient Slovak manuscripts are all ecclesiastical in content. The two generally considered to be the most complete, linguistically purest and oldest, are the Old Slovak versions of the four Gospel referred to as "Codex Zographensis" and "Codex Marianus," which Jagic translated �32 SLOVAKIA into Cyrillic characters from the original Glagolitic (16). The Glagolitic alphabet was invented by St. Cyril (862) after he and his brother, Methodius, had accepted Ra.stislav's invitation to preach the Word of God to his people - the ancient Slovaks of Great Moravia - in a languaige they could understand <17). It was gradually superseded by the clearer Cyrillic, which was invented by the disciples of Cyril and Metlhodius. The majority of the Old Slovak manuscripts are in the Glagolitic script, only the •~Sava Gospels" and "Codex Suprasili~nsis" being originally in Cyrillic <18 >. Old Slov:ak was used for the same purposes as Latin was m Western Europe and Greek in Eastern Europe. The rut il/1 mw® l!i aJ ff 1& . .... ' ' :.,AJ0~~r.A ti Hi ._ P./1 JE4•Jt '"" rA ~w,rny• --. N r nA c-rro @t,ti:\Wf• .. ~ I\ I.IA~ '-;- . f "I:!' Y W f.A ( "r I~ H t:I : /4' 1.• ~t,.)K~ATHWA("H-.n~ C -royc H •C (\' A ,. r..&.-\A\'t'~- R'/1\ 4' e H &A·0& ·1.c½ \" b~~t' KHA~WA nCt\ltl I 6 Iii CT . I,. I( ~NH Ml..• Hr. rA" Nt\ni\l,.NH WA(~0 CYRI LICA - wh i ch developed from the Glagolica �SLOVAKIA 33 language of the aincient Slovaks of the Great Moravian Empire became ooe of the liturgical languages df that time ( the others were Greek and La.tin) ; it had the approval of the Catholic Church of Rome. It .b ecame a language of literature with all the attributes which a literary language could attain at that time; it was, in fact, the third international language of Europe which was used by a large part of the western and southern 'Slovanic peoples. Later, when it was no ionger used in the homeland of the Slovaks, it was spread and preserved, partially tranformed, as the literary medium of the southern and eastern Slovan<ic nations (19). The most importMlt mementos or souvenirs from Old Slovak literature, cultivated by the Slovaks during the Cyrilo-Methodius era, are: 1. The ''Kijevske Iisty" (Kijev letters) from the tenth · century (remains of a Missal according to the Latin rite) ; 2. the "Prai.ske zlomky" (Prague Fragments) from the eleventh century (remains of a Missal accordiing to the Greek, that is, the Eastern rite); 3. ''Zivot Konstan.tinov" (The Life of Constantine) ; the oldest manuscript is a Russian copy from the fifteenth century; 4. "tivot Mefud.01V" (The Life of Methodi,us) ; the oldest is the Russian copy from the twelfth century; 5. "Legenda o sv. Vaclavovi" (The Legend of St. Wenceslaus) - the oldest is the Croatian-Glagofitic copy from the 14th century; 6. "Homilie Gregora. Vel1keho" (The Homilies of Gregory; The Great) - the oldest is the Russian copy £rom the 13th century; 7. "Kazeii pred spoved'ou" (Lnstruction Before Confession) - preserved in the "Frizinske pamiatky" (The Freisingen Souvenirs>, Vol. 2, from the 10th century; 8. Pr:ayers for various occasions (20) . The .Slovaks, rightly proud of their Cyrilo.JMethodius heritage, are determined to let the world know it in 1963, when, wherever they are, they will solemnly commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the advent of the saintly brothers, Cyril and Methodius, to the homeland of their forefathers, the Great Moravian Empire of the Slovak sovereigns Rastislav, Svatopluk rund Mojmir. REFERENCES 1. J . Drrugos-Al:zbetincan. Kde posobili sv. Cyril a Metod? - JiEDNIOTA, Middle town , Pa., 1963 , p . 46. Kalendar �SLOVAKIA 34 2, Dr. Frant. Hrusovsky : Slovenski Vladari, 0brana Press, Scranton, J>a., 1948, p. 208. 3. Joseph M. Kirschbaum : Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of <Central Europe, Robert Speller & !Sons, New Yol'k, 1960, p. 18. 4. Pavel Jozef !:§afarik: Slovanake staroiltnos tl, Praigue, 1837, pp. 794-95. 5. Fr. Hrusovsky : Slovenske dejiny, Matica Slovenaka, Turc. sv. !Martin, 1940, pp. 32-46; Gil1bert L. Oddo: Slovakia And Its People, Robert Speller & Sons, Ne1W York, 1960, PP. 12-26; Joseph M. Kirsch,baum , op. cit., pp. 14-23; Jozef ~kultety: Nehailte l!.ud Moj! l'Ilure. sv. Martin, 1928, pp. 2-20 (transl. by 0 . D. Koref.f: Sketches From Slovak History, Jednota Printery, Middletmvn , Pa., 1930, pp. 10-39). 6. Josef Dobrovsky : lnstltutione s linguae slavicae dialecti veteris, 1822. 7. Fr. Jemelk.a: Putnik cyrllometod ejaky, Trnava, Slovakia, Aug.-Sept. 1947, pp. 137-138. 8. ,.bidem. 9. Vatroslav Jagic: Archlv fUr Slavlache Philologie, 1875-1920. 10. LU!bor Niederle, Slovanake Staro!ltnoa tl, 1902. 11. Jeme1ka: op , cit. 12. IR. G. A. De Bray: Gulde to the Slavonic Languages, London, and New York, 1951, p. 1. 13. A. Leskien: Handbuch der altbulgaris chen (altkirchen -slavischen ) Sprache, Heidel1b erg, 1919, p. XX!I. 14. Jemelka : op. cit.; Dr.Eugen Pa.uliny: Dejlny Splaovnej Slovenclny , ISlovenska Akademia Vied a Umeni, Bratislava, 1948, in which we read (,p. 17): "The !irst literary languaJge of our forefathers , rwhich can be regarded as a national literary language, was Old Slovak ("staroslov enclna"), which had its origin in the Macedonian dialect (ISou:th Slovanic) used in the area of Thessaloni ca ()Solun). In the oldest .Slovanic sources this langua,ge is called "Jenzyk alovenakyi, " and in the Latin sources of that time "lingua sclavinisca , sclavinlca, sclavina." 15. :Pavel Jozef $airarik: op. cit.; R. G. A. De Bray; op_ cit., p. 194. 16. IR.G.A. De Bray: op. cit., p. 1. 17. !Rev. Cyril J . Potocek : Saints Cyril and Methodius, New York, 1941, pp. 64, 124-127; Dr. John Rekem: The Origin and Development of the Slovak Language, SLOVtAK'IA, Middletown , Pa., Vol. lll, .March-Jun e, 1962, p, 2; Jan Stanislav: Kultura atarych Slovakov, Bratislava, 1944; Kalendar Jednota, 1915, !Middletow n, Pa., p, 140. 18. iR.G.IA.. De Bray: op, cit. p. 1; Kalendar Jednota, op. cit., p. 141. 19. Eugen Pauliny: op_ cit., p. 17. 20. Rev. Jan PoruJbaky: K Stemu Vyrociu Literarnej Slovenciny , !Scranton, Pa., 1944-, pp. 50-64; A. V. Isacenko : Jazyk a povod Frizlnskych pamiatok, Bratislava, 1943 - used by Eugen Pauliny, ,who reproduces several reconstruct ed texts and tra.n-slations in 01). cit., pp. 19..;!1. � SLOVAKIA 2!l '.r.HE LANGUAGE OF STS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS P.A. H'ROBAK In what language did the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, speak to the ancestors of the Slovaks? Undoubtedly in a la,nguaige understandable to the Slovaks. '17he saintly brothera - set by Emperor Michael of Byzantium (Constantinople) in response to a request by Rastislav, ruler of the Greater Moravian ffimpire - came to the land of the Slovaks in 863 - 1,100 years aigo - to complete the work of converting his people to Christianity which was initiated earlier by missionaries who knew little or nothing aibout the language of the people of Great Moravia. It is well to remember that Cyril and Methodius did no Jtjissionary wpnk in the land settled by the Czeeihs, a part of Bohemia (the land of the Boii), because during the lifetime of the saintly brothers that territory was not identical with the territory (Slovensko) occupied by the Slovaks. The Czech country (Cechy, Cesko), first ruled by Prince Bof-i.voj, was conquered by Svatopluk only after the death of St. Methodius (1). The homeland of the ancient Czechs was ecclesiastically under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Regensburg, while the homelamd of the Slovaks was not. A Christian church already existed in Nitra, Slovakia, in 833, while Christianity was still very weak in the Czech country: Bofivoj's wife, St. Ludmila, and his grandson, St. Wenceslaus (Wenzel), were both murdered by their relatives . .St. Methodius of Nitra was already ain archbishop in 873 (2), while the first Czech bishopric was established in Prague in 973. According to Dobrovsky, "Slovakia was really Great Moravia" (3); and Skultety, Hrusovsky, Stanislav and Dekan (!Slovak :philologists and historians) agree with Jozef Safarik that Slovakia was the core of the Great Moravia Empire <4). Historical evidences prove conclusively that Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored in the homeland of the ancient Slovaks jjrom 863 to 8815 ( 5 ). Jozef Dobrovsky (1753-1829), the eminent Czech Slavist, divided the lang1Ua;ges of the Slovanic (Slavic) peoples �SLOVAKIA 30 into two groups: 1. Eastern and southern ; 2. western a,nd northern (6). Dobrovsk y's classifica tion was supported by V. F. Durych, a Czech, Bartolom ew Kopitar (1780-1844), a Slovene, and Paul J. Safarik (1795-1861), a Slovak. Dobrovsky's classifica tion of the Slovanic language, however, did not hold for long, because his choice of distinguis hing character istics was not comprehe nsive enough and his classifica tion did not include all the Slovanic tongues (iBulgarian, Ukrainian , Polabian, for example) - m. Alexande r Vostokov (1781-1864), a Russian philologist, came out with a more natural classifica tion of the Slovanic language s, which he based on the territorie s occupied or inhabited by the Slovaruk nations. He divided the languages into three groups: 1. Southern (Old Slovanic, Bulgaria,n, Srbo-Cro atian, and Slovene); 3. Western (Slovak and Czech, Lusatian- Ser.bian, and Polish with Kashubia n) - (8). Vostokov 's classifica tion was generally adopted after it gained the support of Vatroslav Jagic (1838-1923), the Slovene who is regarded as the greatest Slavist of the prewar era, (9) and Lulbor Niederle (18615-1944), the eminent Czech writer of antiquitie s (10). Now, into what classifica tion shall we place the language in which Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s preached the gospel of Christ to the ancestors of the Slovruks? We know that they came from the territory of Byzantiu m (Constantinople), but their native Salonica (Solun) was influence d by the gigantic waves of the Balkan Slavs. Emperor Michael sent them to the ancient homeland of the .Slovaks, because both could speak the la,nguge of the people there very fluently ("Va bo jesta Solunjani na, da Solunjane v'si cisto slovjen'sk y besjedujo nt" (11). Franc Miklosie (1813-1891), the Slovene philologist, advanced and defended the so-called •~Pannoniain Theory," that is, that the language of ancient manuscri pts of the time of Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s was the language of the Slavs of Pannonia (modern Hungary ) and, therefore , maintaine d that the language was old Slovenia,n (12). A. Leskien, a German, studied the question and concluded, on philological •g rounds, that the language was really old Bulgarian (13). �31 SLOVAKIA Vatroslav Jagic proved scientifically that the language used ·b y the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, was of south-Macedonian origin, the language used by the Slavs of the Salon.i!ka area. This view supported by the very words used by Emperor Michael when he told Cyril and '.Methodius to go to the land of Rastislav, "because both of you are natives of Salon.i!ka, and all Salonikans speaks in pure Slovak" (Iebo vy oba st,e Soluncania, a Soluncania vsetci cisto slovensky beseduju) - CN) . After on exhaustive study of both modern and old Bulgarian, Paul J . Safarik, eminent Slovak scholar cxf Slavistics, convinced him self of the Macedonian origin of Old Slovak which was used by Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the land cxf Rastislav ( 15) • .,tiJD J:UiffL:'JVH:Ul\ffiC0~. :J,Jb-aJUtMraUUl llill1' lfliYK 3. JfflJhm"l'~ 'i1 / ~ 3J!llllln'dbll7M1Dll ~--s IIIfurrruflixffit -::iµ llfflib~ JDK7MJ1J3 dfi, I F~ iffin<itK7..r.1m,m_p IlhPJ. jif{thlhrlJ,p ilfuJK :J~qJbK·BUbrhb!IDDtti jJ:I llIIMnJ,m iJh'r?DffKµ. GLAGOLICA - the most ancient language of Slovak literature The ancient Slovak manuscripts are all ecclesiastical in content. The two generally considered to be the most complete, linguistically purest and oldest, are the Old Slovak versions of the four Gospel referred to as "Codex Zographensis" and "Codex Marianus," which Jagic translated �32 SLOVAKIA into Cyrillic characters from the original Glagolitic (16). The Glagolitic alphabet was invented by St. Cyril (862) after he and his brother, Methodius, had accepted Ra.stislav's invitation to preach the Word of God to his people - the ancient Slovaks of Great Moravia - in a languaige they could understand <17). It was gradually superseded by the clearer Cyrillic, which was invented by the disciples of Cyril and Metlhodius. The majority of the Old Slovak manuscripts are in the Glagolitic script, only the •~Sava Gospels" and "Codex Suprasili~nsis" being originally in Cyrillic <18 >. Old Slov:ak was used for the same purposes as Latin was m Western Europe and Greek in Eastern Europe. The rut il/1 mw® l!i aJ ff 1& . .... ' ' :.,AJ0~~r.A ti Hi ._ P./1 JE4•Jt '"" rA ~w,rny• --. N r nA c-rro @t,ti:\Wf• .. ~ I\ I.IA~ '-;- . f "I:!' Y W f.A ( "r I~ H t:I : /4' 1.• ~t,.)K~ATHWA("H-.n~ C -royc H •C (\' A ,. r..&.-\A\'t'~- R'/1\ 4' e H &A·0& ·1.c½ \" b~~t' KHA~WA nCt\ltl I 6 Iii CT . I,. I( ~NH Ml..• Hr. rA" Nt\ni\l,.NH WA(~0 CYRI LICA - wh i ch developed from the Glagolica �SLOVAKIA 33 language of the aincient Slovaks of the Great Moravian Empire became ooe of the liturgical languages df that time ( the others were Greek and La.tin) ; it had the approval of the Catholic Church of Rome. It .b ecame a language of literature with all the attributes which a literary language could attain at that time; it was, in fact, the third international language of Europe which was used by a large part of the western and southern 'Slovanic peoples. Later, when it was no ionger used in the homeland of the Slovaks, it was spread and preserved, partially tranformed, as the literary medium of the southern and eastern Slovan<ic nations (19). The most importMlt mementos or souvenirs from Old Slovak literature, cultivated by the Slovaks during the Cyrilo-Methodius era, are: 1. The ''Kijevske Iisty" (Kijev letters) from the tenth · century (remains of a Missal according to the Latin rite) ; 2. the "Prai.ske zlomky" (Prague Fragments) from the eleventh century (remains of a Missal accordiing to the Greek, that is, the Eastern rite); 3. ''Zivot Konstan.tinov" (The Life of Constantine) ; the oldest manuscript is a Russian copy from the fifteenth century; 4. "tivot Mefud.01V" (The Life of Methodi,us) ; the oldest is the Russian copy from the twelfth century; 5. "Legenda o sv. Vaclavovi" (The Legend of St. Wenceslaus) - the oldest is the Croatian-Glagofitic copy from the 14th century; 6. "Homilie Gregora. Vel1keho" (The Homilies of Gregory; The Great) - the oldest is the Russian copy £rom the 13th century; 7. "Kazeii pred spoved'ou" (Lnstruction Before Confession) - preserved in the "Frizinske pamiatky" (The Freisingen Souvenirs>, Vol. 2, from the 10th century; 8. Pr:ayers for various occasions (20) . The .Slovaks, rightly proud of their Cyrilo.JMethodius heritage, are determined to let the world know it in 1963, when, wherever they are, they will solemnly commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the advent of the saintly brothers, Cyril and Methodius, to the homeland of their forefathers, the Great Moravian Empire of the Slovak sovereigns Rastislav, Svatopluk rund Mojmir. REFERENCES 1. J . Drrugos-Al:zbetincan. Kde posobili sv. Cyril a Metod? - JiEDNIOTA, Middle town , Pa., 1963 , p . 46. Kalendar �SLOVAKIA 34 2, Dr. Frant. Hrusovsky : Slovenski Vladari, 0brana Press, Scranton, J>a., 1948, p. 208. 3. Joseph M. Kirschbaum : Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of <Central Europe, Robert Speller & !Sons, New Yol'k, 1960, p. 18. 4. Pavel Jozef !:§afarik: Slovanake staroiltnos tl, Praigue, 1837, pp. 794-95. 5. Fr. Hrusovsky : Slovenske dejiny, Matica Slovenaka, Turc. sv. !Martin, 1940, pp. 32-46; Gil1bert L. Oddo: Slovakia And Its People, Robert Speller & Sons, Ne1W York, 1960, PP. 12-26; Joseph M. Kirsch,baum , op. cit., pp. 14-23; Jozef ~kultety: Nehailte l!.ud Moj! l'Ilure. sv. Martin, 1928, pp. 2-20 (transl. by 0 . D. Koref.f: Sketches From Slovak History, Jednota Printery, Middletmvn , Pa., 1930, pp. 10-39). 6. Josef Dobrovsky : lnstltutione s linguae slavicae dialecti veteris, 1822. 7. Fr. Jemelk.a: Putnik cyrllometod ejaky, Trnava, Slovakia, Aug.-Sept. 1947, pp. 137-138. 8. ,.bidem. 9. Vatroslav Jagic: Archlv fUr Slavlache Philologie, 1875-1920. 10. LU!bor Niederle, Slovanake Staro!ltnoa tl, 1902. 11. Jeme1ka: op , cit. 12. IR. G. A. De Bray: Gulde to the Slavonic Languages, London, and New York, 1951, p. 1. 13. A. Leskien: Handbuch der altbulgaris chen (altkirchen -slavischen ) Sprache, Heidel1b erg, 1919, p. XX!I. 14. Jemelka : op. cit.; Dr.Eugen Pa.uliny: Dejlny Splaovnej Slovenclny , ISlovenska Akademia Vied a Umeni, Bratislava, 1948, in which we read (,p. 17): "The !irst literary languaJge of our forefathers , rwhich can be regarded as a national literary language, was Old Slovak ("staroslov enclna"), which had its origin in the Macedonian dialect (ISou:th Slovanic) used in the area of Thessaloni ca ()Solun). In the oldest .Slovanic sources this langua,ge is called "Jenzyk alovenakyi, " and in the Latin sources of that time "lingua sclavinisca , sclavinlca, sclavina." 15. :Pavel Jozef $airarik: op. cit.; R. G. A. De Bray; op_ cit., p. 194. 16. IR.G.A. De Bray: op. cit., p. 1. 17. !Rev. Cyril J . Potocek : Saints Cyril and Methodius, New York, 1941, pp. 64, 124-127; Dr. John Rekem: The Origin and Development of the Slovak Language, SLOVtAK'IA, Middletown , Pa., Vol. lll, .March-Jun e, 1962, p, 2; Jan Stanislav: Kultura atarych Slovakov, Bratislava, 1944; Kalendar Jednota, 1915, !Middletow n, Pa., p, 140. 18. iR.G.IA.. De Bray: op, cit. p. 1; Kalendar Jednota, op. cit., p. 141. 19. Eugen Pauliny: op_ cit., p. 17. 20. Rev. Jan PoruJbaky: K Stemu Vyrociu Literarnej Slovenciny , !Scranton, Pa., 1944-, pp. 50-64; A. V. Isacenko : Jazyk a povod Frizlnskych pamiatok, Bratislava, 1943 - used by Eugen Pauliny, ,who reproduces several reconstruct ed texts and tra.n-slations in 01). cit., pp. 19..;!1. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 2!l '.r.HE LANGUAGE OF STS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS P.A. H'ROBAK In what language did the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, speak to the ancestors of the Slovaks? Undoubtedly in a la,nguaige understandable to the Slovaks. '17he saintly brothera - set by Emperor Michael of Byzantium (Constantinople) in response to a request by Rastislav, ruler of the Greater Moravian ffimpire - came to the land of the Slovaks in 863 - 1,100 years aigo - to complete the work of converting his people to Christianity which was initiated earlier by missionaries who knew little or nothing aibout the language of the people of Great Moravia. It is well to remember that Cyril and Methodius did no Jtjissionary wpnk in the land settled by the Czeeihs, a part of Bohemia (the land of the Boii), because during the lifetime of the saintly brothers that territory was not identical with the territory (Slovensko) occupied by the Slovaks. The Czech country (Cechy, Cesko), first ruled by Prince Bof-i.voj, was conquered by Svatopluk only after the death of St. Methodius (1). The homeland of the ancient Czechs was ecclesiastically under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Regensburg, while the homelamd of the Slovaks was not. A Christian church already existed in Nitra, Slovakia, in 833, while Christianity was still very weak in the Czech country: Bofivoj's wife, St. Ludmila, and his grandson, St. Wenceslaus (Wenzel), were both murdered by their relatives . .St. Methodius of Nitra was already ain archbishop in 873 (2), while the first Czech bishopric was established in Prague in 973. According to Dobrovsky, "Slovakia was really Great Moravia" (3); and Skultety, Hrusovsky, Stanislav and Dekan (!Slovak :philologists and historians) agree with Jozef Safarik that Slovakia was the core of the Great Moravia Empire <4). Historical evidences prove conclusively that Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored in the homeland of the ancient Slovaks jjrom 863 to 8815 ( 5 ). Jozef Dobrovsky (1753-1829), the eminent Czech Slavist, divided the lang1Ua;ges of the Slovanic (Slavic) peoples SLOVAKIA 30 into two groups: 1. Eastern and southern ; 2. western a,nd northern (6). Dobrovsk y's classifica tion was supported by V. F. Durych, a Czech, Bartolom ew Kopitar (1780-1844), a Slovene, and Paul J. Safarik (1795-1861), a Slovak. Dobrovsky's classifica tion of the Slovanic language, however, did not hold for long, because his choice of distinguis hing character istics was not comprehe nsive enough and his classifica tion did not include all the Slovanic tongues (iBulgarian, Ukrainian , Polabian, for example) - m. Alexande r Vostokov (1781-1864), a Russian philologist, came out with a more natural classifica tion of the Slovanic language s, which he based on the territorie s occupied or inhabited by the Slovaruk nations. He divided the languages into three groups: 1. Southern (Old Slovanic, Bulgaria,n, Srbo-Cro atian, and Slovene); 3. Western (Slovak and Czech, Lusatian- Ser.bian, and Polish with Kashubia n) - (8). Vostokov 's classifica tion was generally adopted after it gained the support of Vatroslav Jagic (1838-1923), the Slovene who is regarded as the greatest Slavist of the prewar era, (9) and Lulbor Niederle (18615-1944), the eminent Czech writer of antiquitie s (10). Now, into what classifica tion shall we place the language in which Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s preached the gospel of Christ to the ancestors of the Slovruks? We know that they came from the territory of Byzantiu m (Constantinople), but their native Salonica (Solun) was influence d by the gigantic waves of the Balkan Slavs. Emperor Michael sent them to the ancient homeland of the .Slovaks, because both could speak the la,nguge of the people there very fluently ("Va bo jesta Solunjani na, da Solunjane v'si cisto slovjen'sk y besjedujo nt" (11). Franc Miklosie (1813-1891), the Slovene philologist, advanced and defended the so-called •~Pannoniain Theory," that is, that the language of ancient manuscri pts of the time of Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s was the language of the Slavs of Pannonia (modern Hungary ) and, therefore , maintaine d that the language was old Slovenia,n (12). A. Leskien, a German, studied the question and concluded, on philological •g rounds, that the language was really old Bulgarian (13). 31 SLOVAKIA Vatroslav Jagic proved scientifically that the language used ·b y the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, was of south-Macedonian origin, the language used by the Slavs of the Salon.i!ka area. This view supported by the very words used by Emperor Michael when he told Cyril and '.Methodius to go to the land of Rastislav, "because both of you are natives of Salon.i!ka, and all Salonikans speaks in pure Slovak" (Iebo vy oba st,e Soluncania, a Soluncania vsetci cisto slovensky beseduju) - CN) . After on exhaustive study of both modern and old Bulgarian, Paul J . Safarik, eminent Slovak scholar cxf Slavistics, convinced him self of the Macedonian origin of Old Slovak which was used by Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the land cxf Rastislav ( 15) • .,tiJD J:UiffL:'JVH:Ul\ffiC0~. :J,Jb-aJUtMraUUl llill1' lfliYK 3. JfflJhm"l'~ 'i1 / ~ 3J!llllln'dbll7M1Dll ~--s IIIfurrruflixffit -::iµ llfflib~ JDK7MJ1J3 dfi, I F~ iffin<itK7..r.1m,m_p IlhPJ. jif{thlhrlJ,p ilfuJK :J~qJbK·BUbrhb!IDDtti jJ:I llIIMnJ,m iJh'r?DffKµ. GLAGOLICA - the most ancient language of Slovak literature The ancient Slovak manuscripts are all ecclesiastical in content. The two generally considered to be the most complete, linguistically purest and oldest, are the Old Slovak versions of the four Gospel referred to as "Codex Zographensis" and "Codex Marianus," which Jagic translated 32 SLOVAKIA into Cyrillic characters from the original Glagolitic (16). The Glagolitic alphabet was invented by St. Cyril (862) after he and his brother, Methodius, had accepted Ra.stislav's invitation to preach the Word of God to his people - the ancient Slovaks of Great Moravia - in a languaige they could understand <17). It was gradually superseded by the clearer Cyrillic, which was invented by the disciples of Cyril and Metlhodius. The majority of the Old Slovak manuscripts are in the Glagolitic script, only the •~Sava Gospels" and "Codex Suprasili~nsis" being originally in Cyrillic <18 >. Old Slov:ak was used for the same purposes as Latin was m Western Europe and Greek in Eastern Europe. The rut il/1 mw® l!i aJ ff 1& . .... ' ' :.,AJ0~~r.A ti Hi ._ P./1 JE4•Jt '"" rA ~w,rny• --. N r nA c-rro @t,ti:\Wf• .. ~ I\ I.IA~ '-;- . f "I:!' Y W f.A ( "r I~ H t:I : /4' 1.• ~t,.)K~ATHWA("H-.n~ C -royc H •C (\' A ,. r..&.-\A\'t'~- R'/1\ 4' e H &A·0& ·1.c½ \" b~~t' KHA~WA nCt\ltl I 6 Iii CT . I,. I( ~NH Ml..• Hr. rA" Nt\ni\l,.NH WA(~0 CYRI LICA - wh i ch developed from the Glagolica SLOVAKIA 33 language of the aincient Slovaks of the Great Moravian Empire became ooe of the liturgical languages df that time ( the others were Greek and La.tin) ; it had the approval of the Catholic Church of Rome. It .b ecame a language of literature with all the attributes which a literary language could attain at that time; it was, in fact, the third international language of Europe which was used by a large part of the western and southern 'Slovanic peoples. Later, when it was no ionger used in the homeland of the Slovaks, it was spread and preserved, partially tranformed, as the literary medium of the southern and eastern Slovan<ic nations (19). The most importMlt mementos or souvenirs from Old Slovak literature, cultivated by the Slovaks during the Cyrilo-Methodius era, are: 1. The ''Kijevske Iisty" (Kijev letters) from the tenth · century (remains of a Missal according to the Latin rite) ; 2. the "Prai.ske zlomky" (Prague Fragments) from the eleventh century (remains of a Missal accordiing to the Greek, that is, the Eastern rite); 3. ''Zivot Konstan.tinov" (The Life of Constantine) ; the oldest manuscript is a Russian copy from the fifteenth century; 4. "tivot Mefud.01V" (The Life of Methodi,us) ; the oldest is the Russian copy from the twelfth century; 5. "Legenda o sv. Vaclavovi" (The Legend of St. Wenceslaus) - the oldest is the Croatian-Glagofitic copy from the 14th century; 6. "Homilie Gregora. Vel1keho" (The Homilies of Gregory; The Great) - the oldest is the Russian copy £rom the 13th century; 7. "Kazeii pred spoved'ou" (Lnstruction Before Confession) - preserved in the "Frizinske pamiatky" (The Freisingen Souvenirs>, Vol. 2, from the 10th century; 8. Pr:ayers for various occasions (20) . The .Slovaks, rightly proud of their Cyrilo.JMethodius heritage, are determined to let the world know it in 1963, when, wherever they are, they will solemnly commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the advent of the saintly brothers, Cyril and Methodius, to the homeland of their forefathers, the Great Moravian Empire of the Slovak sovereigns Rastislav, Svatopluk rund Mojmir. REFERENCES 1. J . Drrugos-Al:zbetincan. Kde posobili sv. Cyril a Metod? - JiEDNIOTA, Middle town , Pa., 1963 , p . 46. Kalendar SLOVAKIA 34 2, Dr. Frant. Hrusovsky : Slovenski Vladari, 0brana Press, Scranton, J>a., 1948, p. 208. 3. Joseph M. Kirschbaum : Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of <Central Europe, Robert Speller & !Sons, New Yol'k, 1960, p. 18. 4. Pavel Jozef !:§afarik: Slovanake staroiltnos tl, Praigue, 1837, pp. 794-95. 5. Fr. Hrusovsky : Slovenske dejiny, Matica Slovenaka, Turc. sv. !Martin, 1940, pp. 32-46; Gil1bert L. Oddo: Slovakia And Its People, Robert Speller & Sons, Ne1W York, 1960, PP. 12-26; Joseph M. Kirsch,baum , op. cit., pp. 14-23; Jozef ~kultety: Nehailte l!.ud Moj! l'Ilure. sv. Martin, 1928, pp. 2-20 (transl. by 0 . D. Koref.f: Sketches From Slovak History, Jednota Printery, Middletmvn , Pa., 1930, pp. 10-39). 6. Josef Dobrovsky : lnstltutione s linguae slavicae dialecti veteris, 1822. 7. Fr. Jemelk.a: Putnik cyrllometod ejaky, Trnava, Slovakia, Aug.-Sept. 1947, pp. 137-138. 8. ,.bidem. 9. Vatroslav Jagic: Archlv fUr Slavlache Philologie, 1875-1920. 10. LU!bor Niederle, Slovanake Staro!ltnoa tl, 1902. 11. Jeme1ka: op , cit. 12. IR. G. A. De Bray: Gulde to the Slavonic Languages, London, and New York, 1951, p. 1. 13. A. Leskien: Handbuch der altbulgaris chen (altkirchen -slavischen ) Sprache, Heidel1b erg, 1919, p. XX!I. 14. Jemelka : op. cit.; Dr.Eugen Pa.uliny: Dejlny Splaovnej Slovenclny , ISlovenska Akademia Vied a Umeni, Bratislava, 1948, in which we read (,p. 17): "The !irst literary languaJge of our forefathers , rwhich can be regarded as a national literary language, was Old Slovak ("staroslov enclna"), which had its origin in the Macedonian dialect (ISou:th Slovanic) used in the area of Thessaloni ca ()Solun). In the oldest .Slovanic sources this langua,ge is called "Jenzyk alovenakyi, " and in the Latin sources of that time "lingua sclavinisca , sclavinlca, sclavina." 15. :Pavel Jozef $airarik: op. cit.; R. G. A. De Bray; op_ cit., p. 194. 16. IR.G.A. De Bray: op. cit., p. 1. 17. !Rev. Cyril J . Potocek : Saints Cyril and Methodius, New York, 1941, pp. 64, 124-127; Dr. John Rekem: The Origin and Development of the Slovak Language, SLOVtAK'IA, Middletown , Pa., Vol. lll, .March-Jun e, 1962, p, 2; Jan Stanislav: Kultura atarych Slovakov, Bratislava, 1944; Kalendar Jednota, 1915, !Middletow n, Pa., p, 140. 18. iR.G.IA.. De Bray: op, cit. p. 1; Kalendar Jednota, op. cit., p. 141. 19. Eugen Pauliny: op_ cit., p. 17. 20. Rev. Jan PoruJbaky: K Stemu Vyrociu Literarnej Slovenciny , !Scranton, Pa., 1944-, pp. 50-64; A. V. Isacenko : Jazyk a povod Frizlnskych pamiatok, Bratislava, 1943 - used by Eugen Pauliny, ,who reproduces several reconstruct ed texts and tra.n-slations in 01). cit., pp. 19..;!1.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Language of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Description An account of the resource P. A. Hrobák Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 29-34 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2c7203cd9c73f297254992ac57ba7ddf.pdf 6f6fec972c221a50376932ac111481cd PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA THE LEGACY OF THE GREAT MORAVIAN STATE OF OUR ANCESTORS: THE SLOVANIC CIIUOOH AND SLOVANIC LITERATURE JOSEPH SKULTETY In 862, (i. e., 1101 years ago) there came to Emperor Mic:hael in Constantinople messengers fi'om the region of the Middle Danube, the Germano-Slovanic frontier, and said to him: "By the grace of God we are in good health, and there come to us Christian teachers from Italy, Greece and Germany, teaching us various things. But we are Sloveni .•. " The words "but we are Sloveni" were meant to convey the thought that they desire to have teachers in the ChrisDr. Joseph Skultety's book "Nehante l!.ud M6j" (Do Not Slander My .People) was pulblished in 1928. iln it the aiuthor successfully refuted three prevalent fallacies, all of ;which tended to vilify the Slovak people and distort Slovak history. Professor Sku1tety's book was translated into English by Cl. D. Koretf and published by the F'irst Catholic Slovak Union, Middletown, Pa., in 1930, under the title of "Sketches From ·S lovak History." The first chapter, relating to Great Moravia and the Slovak Apostles ,SIS. Cyril and Method•i us, caretully and thoroughly corrected to correspond with the Slovak original, is presented here. - P. A. Hrobak tian doctrine "who would teach us in our own language, a language intelligible to us," and they added: "Send us such, 0 Lord." 'I\hey were the messengers from our Slovak ancestors, from their ruler Rastislav. The words they addressed to Emperor Micihael are quoted in the biography ("Zitie") "By of Apostle Methodius, and the opening sentence histothis the grace of God we are in good heallth" gives ric document a coloring of antiquity. It proves that Slovaks said this in Corurtantinople. 1 At that time, 862, there already stood in our Nitra a Christian church for more than thirty years, the first in the whole of ibhe western Slovanic world. But since then Rastislav had bad experiences. The missionaries cam~ mainly from the Germans, our western neighbors, a,n d the worst of it was not that his nation did not understand �36 SLOVAKIA them and thus Christianity only slowly took root: Rastislav dreaded most that the Germans would want to subjugate politica'1ly whomever they converted to Christ.2 For that reason he asked for teachers from the East and sent his messenger to Constantinople. From thence he obtained extraordinary, great men - real apostles - in the persons of the brothers Constantine and Methodius. They founded in Rastislav's nation the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature. And from the Slovanic worship and Slovanic literature, thus founded, a great thing emanated for the Slovanic peoples .. . Great conf1.11Sion arose among the Slavists over the question what kind of Slovans (Slavs) had constituted Rastislav's and Sviitopluk's Great Moravia, although Dobrovsky, the founder of · Slovanic philology, as early as in 1825 categorically stated that the real Great Moravia was the present-day Slovakia, 3 and Safarik in his "Slovanske Starozitnosti," in 1837, placed the Sfovaks, in the second half of the ninth century, · not only between . the Ca11pathian Mountains and the Danube, (as far as Mt. Matra and Vacov) and along the Morava River, but also on the other bank of the Danube, all the way up to Blatno. 4 This was appropria,tely. elucidated by V. Jagic who gave direction · to the fourth generation of Slavists. In his great work on the origin of the Church Slovanic language,5 expounding the ethnographic character of ancient Moravia, the Moravia of Rastislav and Svatopluk, J agic wrote: "In her language Moravia is even today Czech only in her western half - her eastern half is connected with the Slovaks, and these Slovaks even now are living in northwestern Hungary . . . In ancient Moravia, if her frontiers extended to the Danube, they must have spoken a language in the ninth century which was in its su1bstantial outlines identical with the present-day Slovak language (as in Moravia and Upper Hungary). This Slovak language could them have been more widespread even in Moravia than it is today, and in Hungary could have extended as far as the Danube." In his article on Slovanic languages,6 Jagic called the present-day Slovak dialects the real descendants of · the �SLOVAKIA 37 language of ancient Moravia. To his explanation we can add the evidence we have in the name "Rastislav'. That name - that beloved name - puts a special Slovak stamp on Great Moravia. As we know from Slovanic grammars, there are two groups of words which the Slovaks have in common with the South-Slavs, but not with the Czech and Poles, to whom as western Slovans they otherwise belong linguistically. To one of these two groups (raz = to the Czech roz; razga = to the Czech rozha; razen = to the Czech rozen; raky1a = to the Czech rokyta; razst.ep, raztoka, and others) belongs also the word rasf (in t:Jhe Czech rosti) and words derived from it. Together with the Czechs and the Poles, the Russians also use "o". Now, in contemporaneous or old records in general, the name Rastislav is Rastislav everywhere, and only exceptionally, by some error, Rostislav; in contemporaneous records, in German annals, he is called consistently Rastic (an abbreviated form of the name). That means the German neighbors heard that name witll an "a,,, and sounding thus, it proves that either in Moravia, in all of Moravia, a language was spoken whose phonetics was like the phonetics of the language beneath the Tatra Mountains, that is, present-day language of central Slovakia, or else the princely family, who reared Rastiislav, sprang from Slovaks, who settled on this side of the Morava River. But even so, if Ra•s tislav was a native of this side of the Morava river, they still would have called him tlheir own way Rostislav on the other, the western side. And that they did not call him thus, that the name "Rastislav,, resounded even in Western Moravia, that is ,proved by the form "Rastic" preserved in a11 the contemporaneous German records. 7 The country of Rastislav, even in the extreme West, was Slovak. 8 In the southeast, as we already know from Safarik,9 and as topographic names indicate, Sloyak settlements extended to Mt. Matra. In :the East they originally reached probably to the river Topfa, whose name comes from the Slovenes (Sloveni), the ancestors of the present..day Bulgarians. But if these people from the territory of the Tisa crossed beyond the lower Danube in the seventh �38 SLOVAKIA century, the Slovak "Sloveni" expanded in the East even beyond the Topfa river. Here and in the territory beyond Uzhorod, occupied by Russians since the twelfth century, the names of settlements are in significant number of Slovak origin. And from Mt. iMatra to Vacov, bey<»).d the Danube from Budin up to Vysehrad and Ostrihom, there also are ancient Slovak settlements. 10 Indeed, Slovak settlements could have extended even farther South, all the way to Blatno. Pdbina, driven from Nitra, even though enjoying Gemian favor, hardly could have become a ruler here as a foreigner. Apostle Metihodius, appointed by Rome, was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia since 873, from which we ~n also judge that beyond the De.nube, in Pannonia, there lived the same kind of people as above the Danube, beneath the Carpathians and along the Morava River. Even Sa!fari:k called attention to the names of prominent people who were present in 850 at the blessing of Pribina's church at Blatno Castle. Jagic explained those names of the "Pannonian Sloveni" and arrived at the conclusion that from among fifteen almost half were western Slovanic. Now, if these names were western Slovanic, then they were Slovak - no other western Slovans could have lived near Blatno. The State of our Slovak ancestors, which already in Mojmir's days up to 846 had been built wisely and cou~ageously, was already a power in Rastislav's time. The Germans were then pushing down the Danube, as they never did afterwards, and Great Moravia, the young Slovanic State, heroically barred their way. True enough, their aggression only increased thereby. King Louis, called the German, a grandson of Charlema;gne, in 855, immediately after his accession, invaded Moravia with a great military force in order to rid himself of a danger which was growing there for his realm. But 'here the very resistance was so great that Louis - as a contemporaneous record mentions - decided rather to leave his opponent in peace than to expose his whole army to a catastrophe. He did not dare to attack the firm position of Rastislav and merely devastated the neighborhood. The attack of the Moravians on the German encampments was repulsed, but the departure of the Germans resembled a flight. Rastislav pursued Louis, the German, �SLOVAKIA 39 invaded his territory and devastated it far and wide. Liberated Moravia - says Safarik attained complete independence and became the 1baven of refuge of all Slovans whQ were either discontented with or oppressed by the Franks (Germans), and even of the Germans themselves who had come into some conflict with the government of King Louis. His sons, too, Karlmann and Louis, Junior, looked to Rastislav for support in quarrels with their father. In the annals of the Fuld Monastery of 869, there is a record which mentions Rastislav's castle, in all probability Devin, as "the mighty fortress with which not even one of the most ancient ca,n compa:re." 11 And under Svatopluk, after Rastislav, Great Moravia represented a still greater military power. The defeat of the Gel'!IIlans in 870, beneath Devin, was horrible. 'Ilheir great airmy perished in the battle; very few saved themselves by flight. There were very few families in Bavaria, Austria and Carinthia (Corutania., who did not mourn the loss of some of their members. Ka.rrlmann quickly ordered the gathering of all the captured Moravians, whom he kept in various places of his country so that he could exehange them for his own men who were held prisoners by Svaitopluk. Well, he got only one half-dead man back, the renowned hero Ratbod. Any German who had not fled from the battlefield remained there dead. This battle has been compared with that which the Roman gei,.eraJ V arus lost in the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 A. D., and Svatopluk was compared with the German Armin (Herman). But we also have Palacky's version of that battle. With keen perception, Palacky stated that in history there is also difference between these two battles. The first was described for us by Tacitus, about the other we know ft-om the chronicle of the monk of Fuld. 12 Later is his reign Svatopluk completely stopped the flood of Germans down the Danube towards the East. In German annals a record is preserved stating that when he went against Arnulf in 884, his army was seen in one place to pass all day, from morning until evening. Svitopluk already then had extended his sovereignty to the North over the Czech land, where the first ·historic Czech �40 SLOVAKIA prince, Bofivoj, ruled, and over the Polish Slovans along the Upper Vistula (Visla); in the South his sovereignty extended even farther, fwr beyond the frontiers of Slovak territory. It seemed then that the Slovanic people would unite under his rule. I shall not quote Saifarik, Palacky or any other Slovanic historian; it will suffice to cite from Pauler as to the past. In his book "A magyar nemmt tortenet.e s:rent lstvanig," awarded the Grand Prize of the Magyar Academy in 1900, Pauler says: "'In Atelkuz the Magyars were much nearer to their present homeland than they had been in Lebedia. From Seret, from Baku to Mairosvasarhelyi the distance is only some twenty geographic miles. And here - certainly by way of the most natural road through the valley of the Dniester, tJhen up the Stryj, through Verek Pass - they could look into the land extending from the Carpathians to the South where just then great battles were raging. The Slovans living along the Morava River, on the left bank of the Danube, under powerful ·a nd courageous rulers, had fo:nned a country worthy of consideration. They began to be baptized already in the first half of the ninth century, but in reality they were confirmed in the Ohristian faith only by Constantine, the philosopher, and his brother Methodius from the year 863. "From the very beginning of the ninth century, from the time of Charlemagne, there were, so to say, continuous wars between the Slovans and the reahn of the Franks, from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic, now here, now there. The Slovans had penetrated wedge-like deeper and deeper between the Germanic tribes since the sixth century, and the reaction of the Franks was forcefµL In the ninth century the Germans, attacking everywhere, endeavored to make vassals of their Slovanic neighbors alon,g the Saale River, as well as on the frontiers of the Czech Mountains, or beyond the Danube. With the Siovans a!bove the Middle Danube, Svatopluk founded such a realm to which the Czech land in Bohemia, the countries around the sources of the Vistula, and in the South, besides the valleys of the Morava, Vah and Nitra. - that nucleus of the realm were subjected, and his power extended from the River �SLOVAKIA 41 Hron over the whole territory between the Danu:be and the Tisa Rivers, down to Sriem and up to the Ca,rpathians ... "Eastern FTankland, that conglomeration of Saxons, Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians, was ruled since 887 by the handsome and brave Arnulf, the illegitimate son of Karlmann and the girandson of Louis the German, who but a few years previously - in 883 and 884 - as prince of Carinthia had felt the weight of Svatopluk's power and had helplessly looked on as he (Svatopluk) bad cruelly and mercilessly raivaged Pannonia, and even now, as king, he did not know what to do with him. "In July, 892, Arnulf took to the sword and with an army of Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians and attacked Moravia. The Magyar horde, which was just then passing through, joined him ( - hired by Arnulf ! - note of this author) and ravaged Svatopluk's country for four weeks; but then the Germans and Ma.rgyars turned homeward (with bleeding heads - note of this author) and Svatopluk's power, not even shaken, remained as it had been heretofore" .13 In German chronicles and in contemporaneous annals, Svatopluk is called the ",powerful," the "dread of his neighbors," "the wisest," "the most deceitful," man of his nation; "a wolf," and "a blood-thh'sty malcontent." The calumnies of enemies, of course, are not to be taken Hterally. To his German neighbors Svatopluk was "a wolf," and "blood-thirsty," because the wounds caused by his sword hurt. But those were wounds which they sustained mostly when they ventured where they had no dght to go. And then history judges differently than contemporaries do. I could cite from the excellent work of Alfons Huber, 14 an Austro-German, quotations similar to those in the Magyar book of Pauler a:Qout the deeds of the nation of Mojmir, Rastislav and Svatopluk in the second half of t:he ninth century. To found such a state, a Slovanic State on the Middle Danube ast that time - in the second half of the ninth century - certainly was a great accomplishment; history wil!l never cease speaking of it. Indeed, there were indications that a center was originating ·h ere around which a significant part of the Slovans would unite. But a young �42 SLOVAKIA state, in order to become firm, to consolidate, needs favorable circumstances. History deduces even the beginnings of Rome had favorable and fortunate conditions. Our Slovak ancestors, at the end of tile ninth century, were not so fortunate. The Germanic world still lived in a condition of ferment - to have it as a neigU11bor was not good. It would yield, retreat, only under duress, as during the· lifetime of Svatopluk. After Svatoplu:k's death, the nomadic Magyars came to be another neighbor on the other side of the Danube and to tlle Tisa River. Under such circumstances, aflter the first weakening caused by some internal, domestic strife, a young organization is apt to fare ba~y. The trou:ble here was the disunity of the sons of Svatopluk, which was flamed by their German neighbors, and Great Moravia perished. 'Dhe Magyars came to the Danube in 896, two years after Svatopluk's death, and Mojmir II, Svatopluk's successor, in 900 still petitioned for and obtained from Rome two bishops and one archbishop, thus he was still organizing the Church. In 902, with his sword he still proved to his Trans-Danubian neighbors that he was a son of Svatopluk.15 Not long rufterwards, however, he was no more. It is not even known what became of him whither he went. Great Moravia perished. 16 The state of affairs on the Middle Danube in the ninth century is explained in Anton Budilovic's book, published in 1'886, on the occasion of the millenial memorial of the death of Met!hodius: "'l'he Huns and the Avars cleaned the lands of the Middle Danube considerably of the Thraco-Illyrian, Celto--Roman and Germanic nations, but, under the successors of Charlemagne, German colonization again turned to these blessed lands and . covered with its net not only Upper but also Lower Pannonia and the western aft-valleys of Moravia. The antlike activity of the German colonist there was supported by the quite mature politicail and ecclesiastical organization of the Germany of that time. Supporting the German colonist on the one side was the German soldier, margrave, duke, the king, the emperor; on the other side, the German priest, monk, bishop, arch!bishop. What could the Slovans of these lands, divided into branches, scattered, not united by anything, put up against such forces? The federative union of two or three �SLOVAKIA 43 tribes, the muscular force of the homeguards, 1:Jhe accidenta:l geniality of the chief and the eµthusiam of national hatred, aroused by violence? This could onJy be temporary . . . A lasting and successful struggle is only possible where there exists a certain balance of forces and equality of weapons, bow against bow, system against system, fore~ ful, profound ideas against other ideas. Can there be any talk of balance of forces of one or two Slovanic nations with the whole German race, of an alliance of a few patriarchal tribes with a great and organized empire? Could even the most genial leaders of the western Slovanic peoples at that time repel the onslaught of a whole system of cultural ideas in which were also included the heritage of the ancient world and the refreshing Cll'ITent of Christianity? . . . The best answer to these questions is presented by the fate of the Baltic Slavs. There they lacked neither ta:lented military leaders, nor a fiery hatred of the Germans, nonetheless these Slavs perished and their lands became the center of the later renovated empire of the Hohenstaufens." The closing words of Budilovic are that the same fate would have overtaiken the Slovans of Great Moravia had not their Rastislav, aroused by a penetrating foresight, obtained such apostles as were the brothers of Salonica (Solun), Cyril and Methodius. 17 Yes, as already mentioned, the state of affairs was difficult for our Slovak ancestors. Nonetheless, their State creation lasted almost one hundred years, and from the very beginning inscribed itself appropriately into history. Palacky, in his "Dejiny" (!history) presents the foundations which Rastislav and Svatopluk built with their nation as the nucleus around which all the Slovanic tribes would have been attracted gradually; from it they would have received Christianity; if not new political constitutions, at least a national and new European culture, arts and industry, unity of language, an alphabet and literature. As under the influence of Rome, the monarchy of the Franks matured in the West, similarly a great Slovanic empire would have grown up with the help of the spirit of Byzantium, and Eastern Europe of a thousand years ago would have assumed a shape different from that which it in reality assumed. 18 �44 SLOVAKIA Palacky spoke as if carried away in a rhetorical rapture; but it can be stated even with the coolest mind that great things were lost with the collapse of Great !Moravia. ~en at that, the Slovanic Ohurch,founded for our Slovak ancestors, with the Slovanic alphabet and Slovanic literature, became the foundation on which the great race of Slovanic peoples developed. When especially in the West only three, or really only two languages (Greek and Latin) were considered feasible for Christian ecclesiastic life, the Holy Scriptures and worshi,p, the brothers Cyril and Methodius began their mission with the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Slovanic language. At the end of the seventies of the nineteenth century, when, as a result of the Russo-Turkish war, the Balkan Slovans were rid of the hard fate of five hundred years duration, and among all the Slovans flowed especially cordial feelings, the Russian literary historian Alexander Pypin called attention to the Pan-Slovanic significance of what the great apostles Cyril and Methodius had accomplished among our Slovak ancestors. And he added that their work is an heritage and an ideal of Slovanic unification 19 True enoug,ll, the neighboring Germans at once raised on alarm that Constantine :md Methodius were installing Slovanic worship and translating the Holy Scriptures in Rastislav's land. Our apostles deemed it necessary for that reason to journey to Rome as early as 867. There they submitted their cause in such a manner that Pope Adrian solemnly blessed the Slovanic books. Before the coming to Moravia of the brothers, only · Constatine had been ordained to priesthood; the Pope ordered also Methodius and their Slovak disciples, whom they had brought along to Rome, to be ordained, and in the leading cathedrals of Rome they sang the liturgy in the Slovanic language. It became necessary for the apostles to remain a longer time in Rome. Constantine, physicaUy frail, became ill, joined a monastic order and assumed the name Cyril. While going about as missionary among the Kaza.rs near the Black Sea, Cyril had uncovered in Kherson the remains of St. Olemenrt, who had died a martyr, and these restored remains he now brought to Rome. Thus it hap- �SLOVAKIA 45 pened, that when he died . on February 14, 869, he was buried in the church of that same St. Clement. The dying Cyril touchingly implored his ·b rother to persevere in the important Slovak mission. Methodius, of course, persevered with the greatest zeal. From 873 he was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia. When the German bishop did not cease inciting against the Slovanic worship, it again became necessary to journey to Rome in 880. And in this trial too, he was victorious. Pope John VIII, wrote in a Bull sent to Svatopluk ("glorioso principi ~fentopulcho"): "The Slovank script, whldh the late phi~osopher Constantine devised, that in it may duly resound the praise of God, is lawfully confirmed; and we decree that in that language the glory and the acts of · our Lord p1rist be related. For not only in three, but in all languages are we exhorted by the holy author (King David) to praise the Lord . . . The apostles too, permeated with the Holy Ghost, spoke in all languages about the greatness of God . . . He who created the three · principal languages Hebrew, Greek, and Latin - created also the others to His honor and glory ...." What great events! Thus is documented that in the Church the Slovanic language was placed in the same rank with Greek and Latin. Already in the ninth century! ... And all this emanated from our Slovak ancestors! As long as there will be souls capable of becoming enthused for sublime things, so long will the memory of the Slovanic apostles Cyril and Methodius remain ~evered, and there will be always found people who will know that the Slovanic Church had been instituted for our Slovak ancestors, and that it all emanated from the mind of their great ruler [Rastislav. The Slovak State of the ninth century did not survive, it perished in maelstrom of the world, but the Slovanic world has a great heritage from it. With the development of science, particularly Slovanic philology, this event of world history will become more lucid :with every passing year. When the work of the Slovanic apostles and the struggle of Great Moravia with the Germanic world will be recalled, talk of C~atho-Damtbian and Pannonian Slovans will cease, and the Sloveni-Slovaks will be definitely mentioned. When it is already so clear �46 SLOVAKIA that in the ninth century the inhabitants of present-day Moravia were only Slova.ks, the nation of Rastislav and Svatopluk will not be called "Moravians and Slovaks" (as in the "Slovanske Staro'Litnosti" of Sa.fa.rik), but consistent. ly and definitely "Slovaks." The ,b iographies ("Zitia") of our apostles, which remained in the Church-iSlovanic language will cease to be called "Pannonian" legends when it will be esta·b lished that the great missionaries whom Rastislav had appointed were only in Pannonia on their journey to Rome, after an activity of four years in Moravia and Slovakia; then again Methodius 1Was there alone, before he could get home, to Devin or Nitra, on his return journey from Rome. (Thus in 867, when stopping above Blatno, to visit Kocel', it was surely only because he was the son of Pribina, formerly of Nitra.) Then will also cease the confusing of our county with the Czech land since the Czechs participated in the formation of the Slovanic Church and literature only after .t he baiptism of Borivoj. Not even the legend that Methodius converted the Bulgarian (Czar) Boris to Christ .b y painting for him a ,picture of the Last Judgment will mislead us any longer; of the two brothers :&om Salonica neither the one, nor the other, labored among any other Slovamic nations. They labored only among the Sloveni-Slovaks. Their teaching reached the Bulgars only through their disciples :£rom Great Moravia after Methodius was no longer among the living. Most recently, this matter was excellently illuminated by the Russian emigrant, the Slovanic philologist Valerij Pogorielov of the university of Bratislava, in his study "About the na.ti.onaJ.ity of the apostles of Slavdom."20 The Slovanic script - as devised by apostle Constantine-C yril after he and his brother Methodius already had the authority for the mission to Rastislarv's nation, and the grammar of this script founded in the Church-Slova nic books - is such an accomplishme nt that Cyril is being admired as a linguistic phenomenom. Nonetheless, recently in science both brothers were generally considered native Greeks. Silenced were also the doubters, into whose heads could not penetrate the fact ,t hat one who was not born a Slovan could hardly grasp in such a manner and sense the charac- �SLOVAKIA 47 ter of the Slovanic language, as we see in the work of St. Cyril. What did Pogorielov do? He began to examine the Slovanic translations of the Holy Scriptures made from the Greek to check whether the brothers from Salonica were as expert i? Greek as they had been in the Slovanic lenguage. He found that in the Church-Slovanic Bible texts there were errors which could not have been made by a translat.or whose mother-language had been Greek. Pogorielov came to the conclusion that the holy brothers from Salonica (Solun) could not have been Greeks - they were Slovans. At the same time he very aptly notes that, allowing such a solution of the question, we will also comprehend that energy, that zeal and self-sacrifice which they displayed in the services of the Slovanic cause. We will understand their impartiality in the dispute between Byzantium and Rome. Would real Greeks have gone to Rome to seek protection for their Slovanic activity? It is a:lso interesting how Pogorielov explains the relation of the Sloveni-Slovaks to the work of the holy apostles. When after the death of Methodius the Slovanic church books were taken from Moravia to Bulgaria, they proved to be altogether intelligible there. The Bulgarian literati began to correct the language of the books, e.g., instead of nedag (at present nedu.h) they put bolezn; instead o(f prositi they wrote moliti; instead of nvot - zizn; instead of otrok - sluga; instead of godina - cas, etc. That is, in the Church texts the Slovaks words (Slovak in the present-day sense) were replaced by Bulgarian words. And Pogorielov does not stop there, but goes farther. He explains how western Slovanic or Slovaik words had gotten into the work of the natives of Salonica that is, South Slovans. Goraoo, one of the first disciples of Cyril and Methodius was considered a SloV3Jk already by Safarik. In regard to Gorazd, Pogorielov· quotes the words21 with which the dying Methodius (in 885) appointed him his successor to the seat of the archbishopric: "This is a free man of your country22 ," that is Gorazd, "a man of your own country," was not a Southern Slovan, as had been the apostles them- �48 SLOVAKIA selves, the brothers from Salonica, but a western Slovan, that is, a son of the country - as Pogorielov says emphatically - where Methodius himself had worked and preached and of which he was archbishop. The Slovakisms in the Slovanic text of the Holy Scriptures are the work of Gorazd ; "to his pen also belongs the translation of all the works from Latin into the Slovanic lan:g:uage." Pogorielov calls St. Gorazd the third apostle of the Slovanic peoples. Referring also to the great Slavist Jagic, who ex;plained in 1900 and in 1913 that in ancient Moravia in the ninth century "substantially the same language was spoken as is today's Slovak," Pogorielov agrees that "it was the Slovaik language, and the country was Slovakia, and this means that St. Gorazd really was a man of the Slovak country - that he was a Slovak23 • In the introduction to his study, written and published in Bratisla,va, Pogorielov remarks that the holy Slovak apostles, Cyril and Methodius, used to walk in this vicinity, therefore, the words of the great ·b ard of the Slovanic world, Jan Kollar, can be rightfully repeated. "Stand still, foot! Sacred are the places wherever thou waJkest !" 24• To which I add: Aye, aye, Devin ! ! ! ... About a person wh·o accomplished great things during his lifetime, people say after his death: •~He died, but his memory shall remain." Greater Moravia has also passed away, has :perished, but her legacy is such that she will be remembered. "Here took place in the ninth century," says a Russian historian, "events not only of Pan-Slovanic, but ailso, it can be said, of universal significance : an important attempt at a political unification of the Slovans the Great Moravian political union - famed itself by the most memorable, infinitely fertile activity of the Slovanic Apostles in Moravia. Here were laid the foundations for the national church and national Slovanic Christian education, here were formed the plans and the direction of the entire future of the whole subsequent historic development of the Slova.nic world, it.s world role and its relation to Romano-Oennanic Europe, to the West, and to the Asiatic guestion. The Christianization of the masses of people and their manner of life, bringing them to the Eastern Church, the foundation of Church-Slovanic litera,- �SLOVAKIA 49 ture and education in the Slovanic South, among the Bulgars and the Serbs, and in the East among the Russians, and partly also among the other western Slovans, was only the continuation of that work which Cyril and Methodius had initiated and which could survive, alas, only a short time in the Middle Danubian countries. From here, from Great Moravia, flowed a copious stream of Slovanic Church literature and Slovanic ritual, of a common Church language and together with it also of national consciousness in all directions - to the ·v arious kin: to the North to the Poles; to the West to the Czechs; to the South to the Slovenes, the Serbo-Croats, and Bulgars (to the latter directly through the disciples of Methodius, who had been expelled from Moravia after his death); and lastly to the East, to Russia . . ." 25 "The fruits of the independent spiritual development, based on a national Church and literature, founded by the Slovanic apostles" - further says Constantine Grot "took root in the Slovanic South and East, where there was not such a ha.rd national struggle as on the Middle Danube." And he calls attention to the fact that it w~s at that time that the Germanic world returned with elemental force to these lands, which its tri·b es had occupied once before, and for that reason it was much harder for the Carpatho-Danubian Slovans to maintain themselves against such pressure. And just then the Magyars also arrived . . . Indeed, even during the life of Svatopluk, soon after the death of Methodius (885), the Slovanic Church had gone over from us to the South~lovans, thence to the Eastern (IS lovans) and there helped to create the great Russian nation out of the many tribes. ""The legacy of the brothers of .Salonica" - as correctly e:,cpressed by Daniel Laucek - "prepared among the Russians national unity by means of Church unity." 26 The Czech ruler, Prince Borivoj, was baptized by Methedius at the court of Svatopluk; with Boriivoj's successors Slovanic literature took root in the Czech country and also got to the Poles; but here too like with the Slovaks and Czechs, 'because they were neighbors of the German world, the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature did not sumve among the ·P oles. It is true, in the Church terminology of us all, Slovaks, Czechs, and Poles, to this �50 SLOVAKIA day traces of the language have been presented (for instance even the most important word uHospodin" ), the language which the holy apostles Cyril and Methodius had introduced into our ecclesiastic life. And it is worth mentioning, that of all the Slovans, the teachings of the 'Slovan apostles did not reach - neither during their lifetime, nor later through their disciples - a single tribe of the Baltic and Polabian Slovans, and of all the Slovans just these latter perished in the religious a;nd existential struggle which they waged with the Germans. When Emperor Michael in Constantin ople had learned from the Slovak delegation what was at stake, what kind of aipostles R!astislav desired, he at once decided to entrust this task to Constantin e, the philosopher , who had rlistingttished himself in rupostolic wor.k before, at first alone and later with his brother Methodius. The messengers said to the Emperor: "We are Sloveni -," i. e., they desired teachers of the Christian faith whom they could understand. The brothers Constantin e and Methodius, as natives of Salonica (Thessalon ica) where suited even language-wise for the mission among the Slovans: they knew Slovanic. ·Emperor Michael, having summoned them, told the brothers: "You are from Salonica, and all Salonicans spewk pure Slovruk ("'sloviensky) 27 • The brothers, however, did not want to go empty-hand ed to Rastislav's nation, and Constantine, having learned fr()lffi the messengers that the Sloveni-Slovaiks did not ha,ve their own script, in the first ·p lace contemplat ed over a suitable script. In the words of the legend, God revealed the Slovanic script to the meditating, contemplat ing, worried and praying Constantine. Such a tradition maJkes him so much dearer to us. And indeed it is such an achievemen t that we can be proud of it. Constantin e proceeded from the Greek script, but Slovanic sounds, especially in the ninth century, greatly varied with the Greek, therefore new letters, new characters were needed. And Constantin e placed it on such a basis that the more lndo-Europ ean linguistics develops, the more admira:ble becomes his creation28 • Even today, if doubt arises in any Slovanic language over the correct spelling of some word, informatio n is sought in Cyril's orthograiph y. And even in this respect �SLOVAKIA 51 can we Slovaks ha,ve the great satisfaction that, without our Rastislav, he (Cyril) would not have had the opportunity to assert his phenomenal talent. Had not the Slovak messengers come to Constantinople, what more could have Constantine accomplished there? At first he had been used in Constantinople to bring to reason the iconoclasts, then to convert to Christ the Mohamedan Sara,zens and the pagan Khruzars: had not the Slovak messengers appeared there, Constantine, in all likelihood, would have continued in that activity, or he would have remained in the monastery into which he had retired for a life of tranquility. People of phenomenal mental gifts need a field for their activity. Our Rastislaiv will also be remembered in the world-historic work of Cyril. In 1886, when the Slovanic peoples celebraited the millenium of the death of Methodius, a Russian historian asked: "What was the Slovanic world prior to Cyril and Methodius?" and answered: "Scattered over the vast spaces of middle Europe, Russia and the Balkan Peninsular among foreign and hostile nations, although a race gifted by nature with beautiful spiritual endowments, the Slovan r ace represented a torn, disjointed mass of different tribes without any consciousness of racial relationship . . ." The brothers from Salonica appear on the stage of Slovanic history in the middle of the ninth century, "strong in spirit and profoundly permeated with the consciousness of their sacred calling, namely, to furnish the Slovans with Christian enlightenment," and in a comparatively short time thereafter there is an entirely difforent life among the Slovans29 • The Russian philologist Alexej Sachmatov explained that the Russian race in the ninth century was disintegrating into a multitude of tribes. The tribes among themselves remained in substance closely related, but lived separately; for that reason they differed in morals and in customs and had their individual dialects. Had they lived longer without any connecting mediums, complete individualization would have sprung up among them and a multitude of conflicting dialects would have developed. But owing to the events of the tenth centucy an organization of state was created among the Russian tribes which united them in a political, �52 SLOVAKIA cultural and religious unit. In the eleventh century the body of the state, created by Vladimir and his descendants, became stabilized: it consisted of all Russian lands with the exception of Galicia and Polocko, which were differently situated geographically. In the twelfth century the dialects of these latter already had their typical peculiarities30 • Thus, Sachmatov attributed to the unifying ,p ower of the state this great thing that a great nation was created out of Russian tribes. J agic, of course, also acknowledged the importance of the political factor in the creation of linguistic unity, but, not agreeing completely with Sachmatov's explanation, he wrote that "in Russia, in the securance and preservation of unity, the main credit belongs not so much to its political power as to the great cultural and linguistic unifying effect of the Church and the uniform Church-Slovanic Ianguage" 31 • In his great work of 1900 and 1913 Jagic also mentioned Ulfilas, who translated the Holy Scriptures into the language of the Goths already in the fourth century. True enough, that W'.as five hundred yea/I'S earlier; and yet - says Jagic -what a difference there is between Ulfilas and the Slovanic apostles! The work of Ulfilas was for a narrow circle, the Goths alone, with whom it also went into emincition; the work of Cyril and Methodius extended from Moravia and Pannonia, "from the heart of western Slovanic peoples," first to the South, to the Croatians and Serbs, thence to the Bulgarians, and afterwards the Slovanic Church brought also the great Russian nation into the fold of Christianity. The work of Ulfilas perished; in the language ~ suiting from the work of the Slovanic apostles over one hundred million people serve God32 • 1 At this point, I cannot refrain f_r:om mentioning two more names. When our apostles journeyed to Rome in 867, they sojourned in Blatno, in the residential ca.stle in '1.'lransDanubia, where Pribina's son Kocer ruled. Pribina had caused the already mentioned church in Nitra to be built-the first Christian church in the whole western Slovanic world; but to unite a nation and fonn a country, a state, was only possible by dissolving the power of the tribal rulers. Mojmir I , predecessor of Ra.stislav, drove Pdbina out of Nitra for that �SLOVAKIA 53 reason. Pribina procured a fief in Tranus-Danubia from Louis the German and selected a residence in the castle above Blatno (Mosaburg), and there he <:qntinued in what he had initiated in Nitra - the building of churches. That country had more such churches from that era. His son and successor, Kocer, continued in this spirit: he built churches and spread Christianity. Nonetheless, Kocef was somewhat in a quandary when the missionaries from the court of Devin came une~ectedly to him. The rulers of Devin had greatly wronged his father! What were people from there looking for in Blatno? But the apostles Constantine and Metbodius needed only t.o show him the Slovanic script and the Slovanic books, and tbey were dear and welcome t.o Kocef. He felt great joy. He became very fond of Slovanic books, studied from them, and appointed fifty disciples to the apostles. He entertained the distinguished guests for some time and then escorted them with great honor on :their journey to Venetia, that is to Rome. But let us not forget even Zemezizeii. The journey to Rome of the apostle Methodius in 880, so important as far as the substance of the matter is concerned, is given a national coloring in the person of Methodius's escort, the Slovak Zemezizeii. On the basis of what he found about him in historical sources, Jan Holly, in his epic (Svatopluk), placed Zemezizen as one of his important characters. In council Zemezizen distinguishes himself with a penetrating mind and determination, in battles the earth seems to shake wherever he appears. Thus the poet, but we imagine that in reality he was an extraordinary man. To all appearances, Zemezizeii is still his pagan name; he was very likely baptized an adult and therefore could journey, as his ruler's confidant on such an important mission to Rome, to the pope, with apostle Methodius, that educated, refined Byzantian ! He is also mentioned in the ipope's letter, even though it was found difficult in Rome to pronounce his name. (The letter has: Semisisnus, or rather the dative form Semisisno.) REFERENCE NOTES 1. 'The Life on Oonsta.ntme (lat:er Cyril) ("Zltie Konstantfna") and the Lite of Methodius ("z.ttie !Metoda") are preserved in the Old·SloTIU1ic Church la.nguage. Apos~ Methodius surnved his brother Cyril �54 SLOVAKIA b7 sixteen yea.re. In Slavl!stic science The Life of Constantine is considered the work of Met,hodiu,s, and The Life of Mebhodius the work of one ot their SloV'81k disciples. The sentence "By bhe grace of God we 8Are in good health" in the speech of the messenger,a to Constallltinople is very interesting. On meeting one another Slovaks bhus speak a;bout heaMih. Neibher a ~rman, nor any person of the ot•h er western nations would say it in this way. In the Liife of Methodius (Chaa>t. V) it is tra.n.& l:ated into Latin: "bene vale mus" - we aire well." In the Magyar language "hogy szolgal az egesueg ?" and similar expressions are from the Slovak language. 2 Today the Gel"ma,n,s themselves admit much of tbhait nature. " .. . . mit dem deutchen Priester kam auch der deutche Colonl,st .. . so da.sz von nun a.n Chrlrstlamlsierung und Germa.nisierung Hand lin Hand gerum" (cf. Karl Schober: Die Deutchen in Nieder und Ober-Oesterreich, Sal?Jburg, Steyermark, Kii.rn,then und Krain, iP- 15) . 3. " . . . die heutige Sl1>wakey in Oberungern ist das elgentllche Gross•Mahren ... " - he w.l"ote in a letter (in 1&25) to J. S. Bandrtke (Corresponde111Ce of Joseph Dobrovsky, •N, p. 163). 4. Slovanske Staroiltnostl, pp. 794, 7!Y.i, 822. 5. En~ehungsgeachichte der klrchenalavischen Sprache, Ber 1 in, 1913, p. 19 (First edition VleDIIla, 1900). 6. Die slawischen, Sprachen (Die Kult11,r der Gegeuwart, I. IX 1908, Berlin und LeLl)21g). 7. For instance, in &55: "R~ Hlu!lovlcus in Sclavo Marahenses contra Raallizen duoem eorem s,l,bi rebellantem parum IJI"OSpere ducto exercitu"-i( Ruodolfua Fu Idens, p. 369). Ibidem, p. 370: "Quo per fugam lapso et ad Raatizen se conferente.'' - In 869 " ... in illam ineffabllem Rastizl munltdonem et omnl_bus antiqulssimls dlssimilem ... " (Annalea Fuldenses, Pertz, I, 381.) In 870 " .. . ZuentJJ,baJJ.d, nepos Rastizi ... " (Annales Fuldenses, 882.) 8. Svii.toplu,k's predecessor is called Rastic ia.lso ·b y the Slovak monk Chrabr, and about him wie know that he wrote during the time "when there still lived people wlho had SEEN the apostles Cyril and Method ius." 9. Slovanske Starofitnostl , p . 804 . 10. Vacov, Budin, Vysehrad, Osrtrlhom, are Slovak, western Slovanlc names, a,s iare Devin, Ba,zin, -Budatfn. Beyond Budin was TeUn (as in the Czech 1land)-'the Ger-mans living there since the thirteenth century call it Tetlng, just as Bazin ia ito them Bosling, Hodonflll-Goding, in Lower AulStrla Modlin-Modllmg, a.nd many ,others. Vacov i,s derived from the same proper name as in the Czeoh land Is Va.c; Ostrihom is what in the Czech land ds Stfehom (the "o" in Its prefix has the saime origin oo in Oriava, or Im. the Zvolen Ortuty, and the ~arls Ordzovany ) ... We must deduce the close rel11.tionshlp ·b etween the Czeohs and the Slovakls by such ,topographic nMnes, but not by a "cultural union," of which there could have been ·b ut very little lbetween us owing to our separated states and dltter81lt geog:raJJ)hical locatrl.on. Let u,s but examine our culture-words, Wlhwt dissimilarity they present to us. The Slovaks call ink "atrament," the Czeohs "inkoust;" or, what is "t!abak" (tobacco) to the Czechs is "dohan" to the Slovaks. (This means that -smok!:ng reached the Slovaks, a.s It did the Yugoslovan-s, 'by way of the Orient, throug,h the Turu; .to bhe Czechs and the Germans, however, i t came from America via. Spain). 'J1he Slovak names of places (Kaza, Ka.zinec, Tetin, Bwbisar-in Zem-pliin-Pra:ha (In Novohrad) contra.vert �SLOVAKIA 55 also the inventions ot Kosma& in regard to the daughters of K:rok, Ka2a, Teta, Li,bus,a, and about the founding of Prague (Praha). 11. " ... in .fil.la.m ineftabilem Rastizi munitionem et omnibus antiquissimis di1JBimilam ... " 1·2. J.<iramtdsek Palacky: •D ejiny naroda ceskeho, I, 11876, p. 147. We •Slovaiks, however, caai supplement even Pa.lacky's statement; we have a. poetic na:rra.tion of tlhe g,reat battle beneath Devin. Jan Holly's great epic .p oem in 12 cantos, named after its prinoipa.1 hero "Svii.• topluk," presents it. As Tacitus's descri,p tion •there, so Jaai Holly's description here :118 gTand. (Talk-en from history the work of such a poet as is Jan Holly ha,s aaso its historic value.) 13. IP- 26, etc. 14. Geschichte Osten-elchs, I. 16. Acording ,t o all, though sparse reports, Moj,mir <b~me the heir not on[y o! his father'<S realm, bull a1so of his a:bHLties a,s a &ta.te:sman. However . . . for the successor of Svii.topluk even that fact was fatai that he calIIle after such a predecessor ... (V. Novotn:9': Ce-ek6 Dejiny, p. 421.) 16. Mention of the battle of Bratislava in 907-wihich the Bavaria.n,s together with Mojmir LI are supposed to have lost a.gadnst the Magyars -appeared only in ~e sixteen-till oentu,ry with Avenitinus and bas been reoe;n,tly !!"ejected even by Magyar historiaai,s. In ipresent da.ys, after the World War, a. r6CO!I"d was foUllld among German -s ouroes, con.fir-m ing the ,statements of Ave.ntinus, but it will hardily throw more light on the subject. Mter 907, more than one hundred years ·pa.s&ed 8llld still the Ma,g:y<a!rs did not appear on this (Uhe Slovak) side of the Da.nulbe. Not until after 1025, after the death of iBoleslav .t he Brave of Poland, that is, tow,a,rd11 the end of the reign of St. Stephen, they bega,n gra.dua,Hyand only gradually-to ~pa,nd a.nd settle dO'W'Il. Konrad Schti.nema.nn (Die Deutschen In Ungarn bis zum 12. Jahrhundert, Berll!Il u . Le1pzig, 1923) also states that the Magyar-s occupied Pan.nonia only slow,l y and gradually so that Uhe Ge:r,ma,ns who ha.d lived there had opportunity to wi-th<Lraw without haste to :their fO'I"Iller settle• ments. - About this question it is neccessary to have constantly in mind tha.t the Ma.gya.rs ca.me ,t o ,tjhe Danube as nomads, a.nd a nomad, if he ·tasrries anywhere, •m ust not stir up his closest neighbors against ·himself. (By compa!I"ison, I do not wwnt to offend the Magyars by the sdmile, 1but ,t he Gyipsies, living on the outskirts of our towns and vil•1 ages ,say even today: uNo 001e streals <:lose by.") Besides, the Magyars came here-as we wllll see faTther on-while in flight. They came with a !frightful ,experience. y.rhile they had wandered from Atelkuz beyond the Dainube, thked by the Greek Emperor agai,nst the Bulgars, the neighboring Pechenegs a.tta.okied their defenseless settlements in Aitelku2: and 'killed <tlheir children, women, and aged. After their return from the Danube, terrified ·b y the dreadful happenings at Atelkuz, they pa.eked whatever :they sti-11 could a.nd took to flight tn a westerly direction. They stopped only when they reached the territoo-y between the Tisa. BIIld the Middle Dwnube, in Pa.nmonia. After sudh an experi• ence ,t hey could venture trom the Danube, from Pannonda, on predatory expeditio.n-s Jnto Italy and Germany, but with theiT moat :proximate neighbors they VeTY likely endeavored to Uve in peace. AJbout their 'kind of lite, we have the mown remonstrance of tftle Germ81Il bishops in 900 which contailns grave accusations against the Slova.ns (probably of Pam-nonia), that they a,ssl1Sted the Maigyars. As a. matter of fact, the �56 SLOVAKIA Magyars, w~o ha.d come trom the eastern s,teppes scarcely ha,d 8/IlY great desire to venture across, to the lett bank of the Danube. The nomaJd avoids mounta.iais. He needs to see far, fair all around himself, and in the mountains, whether on the rigM or on the left, in front or behind, there is always a possibility of danger. For that reason it is not vecy lpr()baible thait the Magyars, after :tlheir airrival on the Datnulbe -as eaJ1ly as 907 - would have ventured into a grea,t action agalnist Mojmir II. They begaJR-a.s now even Magyair history admits- ,t o occupy the territories on the left ban,k of the Danube gra.dually, in the eleventh century, toward,s ,t he end o! the reign of St. Stephen. 17. Metodievskij jubilejnyj sbornik, Varsava, 18S5, p. 79, etc. 18. Dejiny narodu ceak~ho, I, 1876, p . 223. 19. A. N. Py,pin: lstorija siavianskich literatur, I, rp. 35. 20. "O n.arodnoati apoitolov Slavianswa, in Bratislava, a publication of Sal.arik's Learned Society, No. 2, 1927 . .21. Zitie av. Metoda, Chapter XVII. 22. "Se ~ t vasej~ zemlj~ -s vobod ,m ~i ... " (Zitie av. Metoda, Chapt. XWI.) 23. In confirmation Pogorielov further shows how in· the CyrilloMethodic text the negative "no" (NIE) and its opposite "yes" (A(,,'0) is expressed. T~e Czechs '88.Y ANO; 1lhe Poles TAK; the Russians and BulglllI'B DA; the Serbs and Croats JEST; only the Slovak language has the ,same word we read in the Gospel of Matthew V, 37: " b~di ~ slovo va§e ej, ej i nl ni. Or (Mat. XXI, 16) when the Pharisees &1sked Chrfst: Slysisi Ii ~to sii glago!:j~t. Jlsu,s ze ~ im: ej. (In the Kralice Bible thf,s reads: jiate, Jiate nikoli, nikoli; and the second: oviem. ln Slova,k, in ,t he Tr.nava edition of Richard Osvald: ano, ano, nle, nie, and in chapter XXl--<>viem. Instea.d of ,t he full sounding "HEJ," the Slovam..ic Church text has "EJ''---ithere being no letter "h" in the Cyrilllc's sor1a>t, It is true 1'n the 9th century the Slovakia still pronou.nced "G" instead of the pre• sent-day "H." But ,then, this attimna.tive word could o:nly begin mith the vowel "E," otherwise Gora.zd would ha.ve scarcely omitte'Cl its "G." ln behalf or the Slovak ca.use it is advisa,ble to add that in the Old-Sllovanic Bible tert this "EJ" (HEJ) is such a mark, such a charac,t eristic of present-day central SlovaJc, as is the letter "A" in the name of our Rastisla.v. And thus the one and the other is a.n hi'9toruc document about the Slova.ks-about the nationality of Great Moravia. Tha.t is, in ,t he 9'tlh century, aind in all of present-day Moraivia a.n.d In all of wesrern Slovakia substantially the ,same la.nguage wae spoken as we have it today along the Middle Vall, lower Orava, near Turiec, Hron, l1>el', a,nd in Upper Nitra. (Against such documents, it wm not be possible to risk the opinion thait "the core of the alovalk dta.lectical region is not the central group, ·b ut the western." (M. W. in his note on "Stare Slovensko, ,p . 284). 24. "Stoj. ndho ! Posvatna. mis ta jsou, kamkoll kralis ! " 25. K. J. Grot: Karpato-dunajakija zemli v sudbach slavianatva, 1905, p . 18. 26. D. ,z. Lautek: Sv. Cyril a Method, apoitolovla alovanakf, 18&6, p. 70. - See also V. Jaglc: Archlv fur alaviache Phllologie, XX, p. 27. 27. "Vy bo jesta Sol-un•lantna, da Solunia.ne vsi ~f.sto aiovenaky be- sMujit." - Zitle Metoda, Chapter V. 28. "Die Gros,ze des Werkes ha.t ma.n frllber lraum recht e~flnden konnen, aber gerade in der heutigen Sprachwissenscha.ft . . . musz �SLOVAKIA 57 der Grammati:ker Konsita.nUn Bewu~derung erregen." - A. Leskien : Grammatik der altbulgari&chen (altkirchen-slavischen) Sprache, Heidelberg, 1919, p. XXI. 29. Konsta,ntl.n Grot: Metodijevskij jubilejnij sborntk, Varsa.va, 1885, p , 5. 30. Russkij filologiceskij Viestnik, 1894, 3, p. 1. 31. Archiv fur slavische Philologre, XX, p . 28 32. Entstehungsgeschichtle der kirchenslavischen Sprache, 1913, pp. 2, 3. SS. CYRIL AN.D METHODIU'S � SLOVAKIA THE LEGACY OF THE GREAT MORAVIAN STATE OF OUR ANCESTORS: THE SLOVANIC CIIUOOH AND SLOVANIC LITERATURE JOSEPH SKULTETY In 862, (i. e., 1101 years ago) there came to Emperor Mic:hael in Constantinople messengers fi'om the region of the Middle Danube, the Germano-Slovanic frontier, and said to him: "By the grace of God we are in good health, and there come to us Christian teachers from Italy, Greece and Germany, teaching us various things. But we are Sloveni .•. " The words "but we are Sloveni" were meant to convey the thought that they desire to have teachers in the ChrisDr. Joseph Skultety's book "Nehante l!.ud M6j" (Do Not Slander My .People) was pulblished in 1928. iln it the aiuthor successfully refuted three prevalent fallacies, all of ;which tended to vilify the Slovak people and distort Slovak history. Professor Sku1tety's book was translated into English by Cl. D. Koretf and published by the F'irst Catholic Slovak Union, Middletown, Pa., in 1930, under the title of "Sketches From ·S lovak History." The first chapter, relating to Great Moravia and the Slovak Apostles ,SIS. Cyril and Method•i us, caretully and thoroughly corrected to correspond with the Slovak original, is presented here. - P. A. Hrobak tian doctrine "who would teach us in our own language, a language intelligible to us," and they added: "Send us such, 0 Lord." 'I\hey were the messengers from our Slovak ancestors, from their ruler Rastislav. The words they addressed to Emperor Micihael are quoted in the biography ("Zitie") "By of Apostle Methodius, and the opening sentence histothis the grace of God we are in good heallth" gives ric document a coloring of antiquity. It proves that Slovaks said this in Corurtantinople. 1 At that time, 862, there already stood in our Nitra a Christian church for more than thirty years, the first in the whole of ibhe western Slovanic world. But since then Rastislav had bad experiences. The missionaries cam~ mainly from the Germans, our western neighbors, a,n d the worst of it was not that his nation did not understand �36 SLOVAKIA them and thus Christianity only slowly took root: Rastislav dreaded most that the Germans would want to subjugate politica'1ly whomever they converted to Christ.2 For that reason he asked for teachers from the East and sent his messenger to Constantinople. From thence he obtained extraordinary, great men - real apostles - in the persons of the brothers Constantine and Methodius. They founded in Rastislav's nation the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature. And from the Slovanic worship and Slovanic literature, thus founded, a great thing emanated for the Slovanic peoples .. . Great conf1.11Sion arose among the Slavists over the question what kind of Slovans (Slavs) had constituted Rastislav's and Sviitopluk's Great Moravia, although Dobrovsky, the founder of · Slovanic philology, as early as in 1825 categorically stated that the real Great Moravia was the present-day Slovakia, 3 and Safarik in his "Slovanske Starozitnosti," in 1837, placed the Sfovaks, in the second half of the ninth century, · not only between . the Ca11pathian Mountains and the Danube, (as far as Mt. Matra and Vacov) and along the Morava River, but also on the other bank of the Danube, all the way up to Blatno. 4 This was appropria,tely. elucidated by V. Jagic who gave direction · to the fourth generation of Slavists. In his great work on the origin of the Church Slovanic language,5 expounding the ethnographic character of ancient Moravia, the Moravia of Rastislav and Svatopluk, J agic wrote: "In her language Moravia is even today Czech only in her western half - her eastern half is connected with the Slovaks, and these Slovaks even now are living in northwestern Hungary . . . In ancient Moravia, if her frontiers extended to the Danube, they must have spoken a language in the ninth century which was in its su1bstantial outlines identical with the present-day Slovak language (as in Moravia and Upper Hungary). This Slovak language could them have been more widespread even in Moravia than it is today, and in Hungary could have extended as far as the Danube." In his article on Slovanic languages,6 Jagic called the present-day Slovak dialects the real descendants of · the �SLOVAKIA 37 language of ancient Moravia. To his explanation we can add the evidence we have in the name "Rastislav'. That name - that beloved name - puts a special Slovak stamp on Great Moravia. As we know from Slovanic grammars, there are two groups of words which the Slovaks have in common with the South-Slavs, but not with the Czech and Poles, to whom as western Slovans they otherwise belong linguistically. To one of these two groups (raz = to the Czech roz; razga = to the Czech rozha; razen = to the Czech rozen; raky1a = to the Czech rokyta; razst.ep, raztoka, and others) belongs also the word rasf (in t:Jhe Czech rosti) and words derived from it. Together with the Czechs and the Poles, the Russians also use "o". Now, in contemporaneous or old records in general, the name Rastislav is Rastislav everywhere, and only exceptionally, by some error, Rostislav; in contemporaneous records, in German annals, he is called consistently Rastic (an abbreviated form of the name). That means the German neighbors heard that name witll an "a,,, and sounding thus, it proves that either in Moravia, in all of Moravia, a language was spoken whose phonetics was like the phonetics of the language beneath the Tatra Mountains, that is, present-day language of central Slovakia, or else the princely family, who reared Rastiislav, sprang from Slovaks, who settled on this side of the Morava River. But even so, if Ra•s tislav was a native of this side of the Morava river, they still would have called him tlheir own way Rostislav on the other, the western side. And that they did not call him thus, that the name "Rastislav,, resounded even in Western Moravia, that is ,proved by the form "Rastic" preserved in a11 the contemporaneous German records. 7 The country of Rastislav, even in the extreme West, was Slovak. 8 In the southeast, as we already know from Safarik,9 and as topographic names indicate, Sloyak settlements extended to Mt. Matra. In :the East they originally reached probably to the river Topfa, whose name comes from the Slovenes (Sloveni), the ancestors of the present..day Bulgarians. But if these people from the territory of the Tisa crossed beyond the lower Danube in the seventh �38 SLOVAKIA century, the Slovak "Sloveni" expanded in the East even beyond the Topfa river. Here and in the territory beyond Uzhorod, occupied by Russians since the twelfth century, the names of settlements are in significant number of Slovak origin. And from Mt. iMatra to Vacov, bey<»).d the Danube from Budin up to Vysehrad and Ostrihom, there also are ancient Slovak settlements. 10 Indeed, Slovak settlements could have extended even farther South, all the way to Blatno. Pdbina, driven from Nitra, even though enjoying Gemian favor, hardly could have become a ruler here as a foreigner. Apostle Metihodius, appointed by Rome, was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia since 873, from which we ~n also judge that beyond the De.nube, in Pannonia, there lived the same kind of people as above the Danube, beneath the Carpathians and along the Morava River. Even Sa!fari:k called attention to the names of prominent people who were present in 850 at the blessing of Pribina's church at Blatno Castle. Jagic explained those names of the "Pannonian Sloveni" and arrived at the conclusion that from among fifteen almost half were western Slovanic. Now, if these names were western Slovanic, then they were Slovak - no other western Slovans could have lived near Blatno. The State of our Slovak ancestors, which already in Mojmir's days up to 846 had been built wisely and cou~ageously, was already a power in Rastislav's time. The Germans were then pushing down the Danube, as they never did afterwards, and Great Moravia, the young Slovanic State, heroically barred their way. True enough, their aggression only increased thereby. King Louis, called the German, a grandson of Charlema;gne, in 855, immediately after his accession, invaded Moravia with a great military force in order to rid himself of a danger which was growing there for his realm. But 'here the very resistance was so great that Louis - as a contemporaneous record mentions - decided rather to leave his opponent in peace than to expose his whole army to a catastrophe. He did not dare to attack the firm position of Rastislav and merely devastated the neighborhood. The attack of the Moravians on the German encampments was repulsed, but the departure of the Germans resembled a flight. Rastislav pursued Louis, the German, �SLOVAKIA 39 invaded his territory and devastated it far and wide. Liberated Moravia - says Safarik attained complete independence and became the 1baven of refuge of all Slovans whQ were either discontented with or oppressed by the Franks (Germans), and even of the Germans themselves who had come into some conflict with the government of King Louis. His sons, too, Karlmann and Louis, Junior, looked to Rastislav for support in quarrels with their father. In the annals of the Fuld Monastery of 869, there is a record which mentions Rastislav's castle, in all probability Devin, as "the mighty fortress with which not even one of the most ancient ca,n compa:re." 11 And under Svatopluk, after Rastislav, Great Moravia represented a still greater military power. The defeat of the Gel'!IIlans in 870, beneath Devin, was horrible. 'Ilheir great airmy perished in the battle; very few saved themselves by flight. There were very few families in Bavaria, Austria and Carinthia (Corutania., who did not mourn the loss of some of their members. Ka.rrlmann quickly ordered the gathering of all the captured Moravians, whom he kept in various places of his country so that he could exehange them for his own men who were held prisoners by Svaitopluk. Well, he got only one half-dead man back, the renowned hero Ratbod. Any German who had not fled from the battlefield remained there dead. This battle has been compared with that which the Roman gei,.eraJ V arus lost in the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 A. D., and Svatopluk was compared with the German Armin (Herman). But we also have Palacky's version of that battle. With keen perception, Palacky stated that in history there is also difference between these two battles. The first was described for us by Tacitus, about the other we know ft-om the chronicle of the monk of Fuld. 12 Later is his reign Svatopluk completely stopped the flood of Germans down the Danube towards the East. In German annals a record is preserved stating that when he went against Arnulf in 884, his army was seen in one place to pass all day, from morning until evening. Svitopluk already then had extended his sovereignty to the North over the Czech land, where the first ·historic Czech �40 SLOVAKIA prince, Bofivoj, ruled, and over the Polish Slovans along the Upper Vistula (Visla); in the South his sovereignty extended even farther, fwr beyond the frontiers of Slovak territory. It seemed then that the Slovanic people would unite under his rule. I shall not quote Saifarik, Palacky or any other Slovanic historian; it will suffice to cite from Pauler as to the past. In his book "A magyar nemmt tortenet.e s:rent lstvanig," awarded the Grand Prize of the Magyar Academy in 1900, Pauler says: "'In Atelkuz the Magyars were much nearer to their present homeland than they had been in Lebedia. From Seret, from Baku to Mairosvasarhelyi the distance is only some twenty geographic miles. And here - certainly by way of the most natural road through the valley of the Dniester, tJhen up the Stryj, through Verek Pass - they could look into the land extending from the Carpathians to the South where just then great battles were raging. The Slovans living along the Morava River, on the left bank of the Danube, under powerful ·a nd courageous rulers, had fo:nned a country worthy of consideration. They began to be baptized already in the first half of the ninth century, but in reality they were confirmed in the Ohristian faith only by Constantine, the philosopher, and his brother Methodius from the year 863. "From the very beginning of the ninth century, from the time of Charlemagne, there were, so to say, continuous wars between the Slovans and the reahn of the Franks, from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic, now here, now there. The Slovans had penetrated wedge-like deeper and deeper between the Germanic tribes since the sixth century, and the reaction of the Franks was forcefµL In the ninth century the Germans, attacking everywhere, endeavored to make vassals of their Slovanic neighbors alon,g the Saale River, as well as on the frontiers of the Czech Mountains, or beyond the Danube. With the Siovans a!bove the Middle Danube, Svatopluk founded such a realm to which the Czech land in Bohemia, the countries around the sources of the Vistula, and in the South, besides the valleys of the Morava, Vah and Nitra. - that nucleus of the realm were subjected, and his power extended from the River �SLOVAKIA 41 Hron over the whole territory between the Danu:be and the Tisa Rivers, down to Sriem and up to the Ca,rpathians ... "Eastern FTankland, that conglomeration of Saxons, Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians, was ruled since 887 by the handsome and brave Arnulf, the illegitimate son of Karlmann and the girandson of Louis the German, who but a few years previously - in 883 and 884 - as prince of Carinthia had felt the weight of Svatopluk's power and had helplessly looked on as he (Svatopluk) bad cruelly and mercilessly raivaged Pannonia, and even now, as king, he did not know what to do with him. "In July, 892, Arnulf took to the sword and with an army of Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians and attacked Moravia. The Magyar horde, which was just then passing through, joined him ( - hired by Arnulf ! - note of this author) and ravaged Svatopluk's country for four weeks; but then the Germans and Ma.rgyars turned homeward (with bleeding heads - note of this author) and Svatopluk's power, not even shaken, remained as it had been heretofore" .13 In German chronicles and in contemporaneous annals, Svatopluk is called the ",powerful," the "dread of his neighbors," "the wisest," "the most deceitful," man of his nation; "a wolf," and "a blood-thh'sty malcontent." The calumnies of enemies, of course, are not to be taken Hterally. To his German neighbors Svatopluk was "a wolf," and "blood-thirsty," because the wounds caused by his sword hurt. But those were wounds which they sustained mostly when they ventured where they had no dght to go. And then history judges differently than contemporaries do. I could cite from the excellent work of Alfons Huber, 14 an Austro-German, quotations similar to those in the Magyar book of Pauler a:Qout the deeds of the nation of Mojmir, Rastislav and Svatopluk in the second half of t:he ninth century. To found such a state, a Slovanic State on the Middle Danube ast that time - in the second half of the ninth century - certainly was a great accomplishment; history wil!l never cease speaking of it. Indeed, there were indications that a center was originating ·h ere around which a significant part of the Slovans would unite. But a young �42 SLOVAKIA state, in order to become firm, to consolidate, needs favorable circumstances. History deduces even the beginnings of Rome had favorable and fortunate conditions. Our Slovak ancestors, at the end of tile ninth century, were not so fortunate. The Germanic world still lived in a condition of ferment - to have it as a neigU11bor was not good. It would yield, retreat, only under duress, as during the· lifetime of Svatopluk. After Svatoplu:k's death, the nomadic Magyars came to be another neighbor on the other side of the Danube and to tlle Tisa River. Under such circumstances, aflter the first weakening caused by some internal, domestic strife, a young organization is apt to fare ba~y. The trou:ble here was the disunity of the sons of Svatopluk, which was flamed by their German neighbors, and Great Moravia perished. 'Dhe Magyars came to the Danube in 896, two years after Svatopluk's death, and Mojmir II, Svatopluk's successor, in 900 still petitioned for and obtained from Rome two bishops and one archbishop, thus he was still organizing the Church. In 902, with his sword he still proved to his Trans-Danubian neighbors that he was a son of Svatopluk.15 Not long rufterwards, however, he was no more. It is not even known what became of him whither he went. Great Moravia perished. 16 The state of affairs on the Middle Danube in the ninth century is explained in Anton Budilovic's book, published in 1'886, on the occasion of the millenial memorial of the death of Met!hodius: "'l'he Huns and the Avars cleaned the lands of the Middle Danube considerably of the Thraco-Illyrian, Celto--Roman and Germanic nations, but, under the successors of Charlemagne, German colonization again turned to these blessed lands and . covered with its net not only Upper but also Lower Pannonia and the western aft-valleys of Moravia. The antlike activity of the German colonist there was supported by the quite mature politicail and ecclesiastical organization of the Germany of that time. Supporting the German colonist on the one side was the German soldier, margrave, duke, the king, the emperor; on the other side, the German priest, monk, bishop, arch!bishop. What could the Slovans of these lands, divided into branches, scattered, not united by anything, put up against such forces? The federative union of two or three �SLOVAKIA 43 tribes, the muscular force of the homeguards, 1:Jhe accidenta:l geniality of the chief and the eµthusiam of national hatred, aroused by violence? This could onJy be temporary . . . A lasting and successful struggle is only possible where there exists a certain balance of forces and equality of weapons, bow against bow, system against system, fore~ ful, profound ideas against other ideas. Can there be any talk of balance of forces of one or two Slovanic nations with the whole German race, of an alliance of a few patriarchal tribes with a great and organized empire? Could even the most genial leaders of the western Slovanic peoples at that time repel the onslaught of a whole system of cultural ideas in which were also included the heritage of the ancient world and the refreshing Cll'ITent of Christianity? . . . The best answer to these questions is presented by the fate of the Baltic Slavs. There they lacked neither ta:lented military leaders, nor a fiery hatred of the Germans, nonetheless these Slavs perished and their lands became the center of the later renovated empire of the Hohenstaufens." The closing words of Budilovic are that the same fate would have overtaiken the Slovans of Great Moravia had not their Rastislav, aroused by a penetrating foresight, obtained such apostles as were the brothers of Salonica (Solun), Cyril and Methodius. 17 Yes, as already mentioned, the state of affairs was difficult for our Slovak ancestors. Nonetheless, their State creation lasted almost one hundred years, and from the very beginning inscribed itself appropriately into history. Palacky, in his "Dejiny" (!history) presents the foundations which Rastislav and Svatopluk built with their nation as the nucleus around which all the Slovanic tribes would have been attracted gradually; from it they would have received Christianity; if not new political constitutions, at least a national and new European culture, arts and industry, unity of language, an alphabet and literature. As under the influence of Rome, the monarchy of the Franks matured in the West, similarly a great Slovanic empire would have grown up with the help of the spirit of Byzantium, and Eastern Europe of a thousand years ago would have assumed a shape different from that which it in reality assumed. 18 �44 SLOVAKIA Palacky spoke as if carried away in a rhetorical rapture; but it can be stated even with the coolest mind that great things were lost with the collapse of Great !Moravia. ~en at that, the Slovanic Ohurch,founded for our Slovak ancestors, with the Slovanic alphabet and Slovanic literature, became the foundation on which the great race of Slovanic peoples developed. When especially in the West only three, or really only two languages (Greek and Latin) were considered feasible for Christian ecclesiastic life, the Holy Scriptures and worshi,p, the brothers Cyril and Methodius began their mission with the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Slovanic language. At the end of the seventies of the nineteenth century, when, as a result of the Russo-Turkish war, the Balkan Slovans were rid of the hard fate of five hundred years duration, and among all the Slovans flowed especially cordial feelings, the Russian literary historian Alexander Pypin called attention to the Pan-Slovanic significance of what the great apostles Cyril and Methodius had accomplished among our Slovak ancestors. And he added that their work is an heritage and an ideal of Slovanic unification 19 True enoug,ll, the neighboring Germans at once raised on alarm that Constantine :md Methodius were installing Slovanic worship and translating the Holy Scriptures in Rastislav's land. Our apostles deemed it necessary for that reason to journey to Rome as early as 867. There they submitted their cause in such a manner that Pope Adrian solemnly blessed the Slovanic books. Before the coming to Moravia of the brothers, only · Constatine had been ordained to priesthood; the Pope ordered also Methodius and their Slovak disciples, whom they had brought along to Rome, to be ordained, and in the leading cathedrals of Rome they sang the liturgy in the Slovanic language. It became necessary for the apostles to remain a longer time in Rome. Constantine, physicaUy frail, became ill, joined a monastic order and assumed the name Cyril. While going about as missionary among the Kaza.rs near the Black Sea, Cyril had uncovered in Kherson the remains of St. Olemenrt, who had died a martyr, and these restored remains he now brought to Rome. Thus it hap- �SLOVAKIA 45 pened, that when he died . on February 14, 869, he was buried in the church of that same St. Clement. The dying Cyril touchingly implored his ·b rother to persevere in the important Slovak mission. Methodius, of course, persevered with the greatest zeal. From 873 he was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia. When the German bishop did not cease inciting against the Slovanic worship, it again became necessary to journey to Rome in 880. And in this trial too, he was victorious. Pope John VIII, wrote in a Bull sent to Svatopluk ("glorioso principi ~fentopulcho"): "The Slovank script, whldh the late phi~osopher Constantine devised, that in it may duly resound the praise of God, is lawfully confirmed; and we decree that in that language the glory and the acts of · our Lord p1rist be related. For not only in three, but in all languages are we exhorted by the holy author (King David) to praise the Lord . . . The apostles too, permeated with the Holy Ghost, spoke in all languages about the greatness of God . . . He who created the three · principal languages Hebrew, Greek, and Latin - created also the others to His honor and glory ...." What great events! Thus is documented that in the Church the Slovanic language was placed in the same rank with Greek and Latin. Already in the ninth century! ... And all this emanated from our Slovak ancestors! As long as there will be souls capable of becoming enthused for sublime things, so long will the memory of the Slovanic apostles Cyril and Methodius remain ~evered, and there will be always found people who will know that the Slovanic Church had been instituted for our Slovak ancestors, and that it all emanated from the mind of their great ruler [Rastislav. The Slovak State of the ninth century did not survive, it perished in maelstrom of the world, but the Slovanic world has a great heritage from it. With the development of science, particularly Slovanic philology, this event of world history will become more lucid :with every passing year. When the work of the Slovanic apostles and the struggle of Great Moravia with the Germanic world will be recalled, talk of C~atho-Damtbian and Pannonian Slovans will cease, and the Sloveni-Slovaks will be definitely mentioned. When it is already so clear �46 SLOVAKIA that in the ninth century the inhabitants of present-day Moravia were only Slova.ks, the nation of Rastislav and Svatopluk will not be called "Moravians and Slovaks" (as in the "Slovanske Staro'Litnosti" of Sa.fa.rik), but consistent. ly and definitely "Slovaks." The ,b iographies ("Zitia") of our apostles, which remained in the Church-iSlovanic language will cease to be called "Pannonian" legends when it will be esta·b lished that the great missionaries whom Rastislav had appointed were only in Pannonia on their journey to Rome, after an activity of four years in Moravia and Slovakia; then again Methodius 1Was there alone, before he could get home, to Devin or Nitra, on his return journey from Rome. (Thus in 867, when stopping above Blatno, to visit Kocel', it was surely only because he was the son of Pribina, formerly of Nitra.) Then will also cease the confusing of our county with the Czech land since the Czechs participated in the formation of the Slovanic Church and literature only after .t he baiptism of Borivoj. Not even the legend that Methodius converted the Bulgarian (Czar) Boris to Christ .b y painting for him a ,picture of the Last Judgment will mislead us any longer; of the two brothers :&om Salonica neither the one, nor the other, labored among any other Slovamic nations. They labored only among the Sloveni-Slovaks. Their teaching reached the Bulgars only through their disciples :£rom Great Moravia after Methodius was no longer among the living. Most recently, this matter was excellently illuminated by the Russian emigrant, the Slovanic philologist Valerij Pogorielov of the university of Bratislava, in his study "About the na.ti.onaJ.ity of the apostles of Slavdom."20 The Slovanic script - as devised by apostle Constantine-C yril after he and his brother Methodius already had the authority for the mission to Rastislarv's nation, and the grammar of this script founded in the Church-Slova nic books - is such an accomplishme nt that Cyril is being admired as a linguistic phenomenom. Nonetheless, recently in science both brothers were generally considered native Greeks. Silenced were also the doubters, into whose heads could not penetrate the fact ,t hat one who was not born a Slovan could hardly grasp in such a manner and sense the charac- �SLOVAKIA 47 ter of the Slovanic language, as we see in the work of St. Cyril. What did Pogorielov do? He began to examine the Slovanic translations of the Holy Scriptures made from the Greek to check whether the brothers from Salonica were as expert i? Greek as they had been in the Slovanic lenguage. He found that in the Church-Slovanic Bible texts there were errors which could not have been made by a translat.or whose mother-language had been Greek. Pogorielov came to the conclusion that the holy brothers from Salonica (Solun) could not have been Greeks - they were Slovans. At the same time he very aptly notes that, allowing such a solution of the question, we will also comprehend that energy, that zeal and self-sacrifice which they displayed in the services of the Slovanic cause. We will understand their impartiality in the dispute between Byzantium and Rome. Would real Greeks have gone to Rome to seek protection for their Slovanic activity? It is a:lso interesting how Pogorielov explains the relation of the Sloveni-Slovaks to the work of the holy apostles. When after the death of Methodius the Slovanic church books were taken from Moravia to Bulgaria, they proved to be altogether intelligible there. The Bulgarian literati began to correct the language of the books, e.g., instead of nedag (at present nedu.h) they put bolezn; instead o(f prositi they wrote moliti; instead of nvot - zizn; instead of otrok - sluga; instead of godina - cas, etc. That is, in the Church texts the Slovaks words (Slovak in the present-day sense) were replaced by Bulgarian words. And Pogorielov does not stop there, but goes farther. He explains how western Slovanic or Slovaik words had gotten into the work of the natives of Salonica that is, South Slovans. Goraoo, one of the first disciples of Cyril and Methodius was considered a SloV3Jk already by Safarik. In regard to Gorazd, Pogorielov· quotes the words21 with which the dying Methodius (in 885) appointed him his successor to the seat of the archbishopric: "This is a free man of your country22 ," that is Gorazd, "a man of your own country," was not a Southern Slovan, as had been the apostles them- �48 SLOVAKIA selves, the brothers from Salonica, but a western Slovan, that is, a son of the country - as Pogorielov says emphatically - where Methodius himself had worked and preached and of which he was archbishop. The Slovakisms in the Slovanic text of the Holy Scriptures are the work of Gorazd ; "to his pen also belongs the translation of all the works from Latin into the Slovanic lan:g:uage." Pogorielov calls St. Gorazd the third apostle of the Slovanic peoples. Referring also to the great Slavist Jagic, who ex;plained in 1900 and in 1913 that in ancient Moravia in the ninth century "substantially the same language was spoken as is today's Slovak," Pogorielov agrees that "it was the Slovaik language, and the country was Slovakia, and this means that St. Gorazd really was a man of the Slovak country - that he was a Slovak23 • In the introduction to his study, written and published in Bratisla,va, Pogorielov remarks that the holy Slovak apostles, Cyril and Methodius, used to walk in this vicinity, therefore, the words of the great ·b ard of the Slovanic world, Jan Kollar, can be rightfully repeated. "Stand still, foot! Sacred are the places wherever thou waJkest !" 24• To which I add: Aye, aye, Devin ! ! ! ... About a person wh·o accomplished great things during his lifetime, people say after his death: •~He died, but his memory shall remain." Greater Moravia has also passed away, has :perished, but her legacy is such that she will be remembered. "Here took place in the ninth century," says a Russian historian, "events not only of Pan-Slovanic, but ailso, it can be said, of universal significance : an important attempt at a political unification of the Slovans the Great Moravian political union - famed itself by the most memorable, infinitely fertile activity of the Slovanic Apostles in Moravia. Here were laid the foundations for the national church and national Slovanic Christian education, here were formed the plans and the direction of the entire future of the whole subsequent historic development of the Slova.nic world, it.s world role and its relation to Romano-Oennanic Europe, to the West, and to the Asiatic guestion. The Christianization of the masses of people and their manner of life, bringing them to the Eastern Church, the foundation of Church-Slovanic litera,- �SLOVAKIA 49 ture and education in the Slovanic South, among the Bulgars and the Serbs, and in the East among the Russians, and partly also among the other western Slovans, was only the continuation of that work which Cyril and Methodius had initiated and which could survive, alas, only a short time in the Middle Danubian countries. From here, from Great Moravia, flowed a copious stream of Slovanic Church literature and Slovanic ritual, of a common Church language and together with it also of national consciousness in all directions - to the ·v arious kin: to the North to the Poles; to the West to the Czechs; to the South to the Slovenes, the Serbo-Croats, and Bulgars (to the latter directly through the disciples of Methodius, who had been expelled from Moravia after his death); and lastly to the East, to Russia . . ." 25 "The fruits of the independent spiritual development, based on a national Church and literature, founded by the Slovanic apostles" - further says Constantine Grot "took root in the Slovanic South and East, where there was not such a ha.rd national struggle as on the Middle Danube." And he calls attention to the fact that it w~s at that time that the Germanic world returned with elemental force to these lands, which its tri·b es had occupied once before, and for that reason it was much harder for the Carpatho-Danubian Slovans to maintain themselves against such pressure. And just then the Magyars also arrived . . . Indeed, even during the life of Svatopluk, soon after the death of Methodius (885), the Slovanic Church had gone over from us to the South~lovans, thence to the Eastern (IS lovans) and there helped to create the great Russian nation out of the many tribes. ""The legacy of the brothers of .Salonica" - as correctly e:,cpressed by Daniel Laucek - "prepared among the Russians national unity by means of Church unity." 26 The Czech ruler, Prince Borivoj, was baptized by Methedius at the court of Svatopluk; with Boriivoj's successors Slovanic literature took root in the Czech country and also got to the Poles; but here too like with the Slovaks and Czechs, 'because they were neighbors of the German world, the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature did not sumve among the ·P oles. It is true, in the Church terminology of us all, Slovaks, Czechs, and Poles, to this �50 SLOVAKIA day traces of the language have been presented (for instance even the most important word uHospodin" ), the language which the holy apostles Cyril and Methodius had introduced into our ecclesiastic life. And it is worth mentioning, that of all the Slovans, the teachings of the 'Slovan apostles did not reach - neither during their lifetime, nor later through their disciples - a single tribe of the Baltic and Polabian Slovans, and of all the Slovans just these latter perished in the religious a;nd existential struggle which they waged with the Germans. When Emperor Michael in Constantin ople had learned from the Slovak delegation what was at stake, what kind of aipostles R!astislav desired, he at once decided to entrust this task to Constantin e, the philosopher , who had rlistingttished himself in rupostolic wor.k before, at first alone and later with his brother Methodius. The messengers said to the Emperor: "We are Sloveni -," i. e., they desired teachers of the Christian faith whom they could understand. The brothers Constantin e and Methodius, as natives of Salonica (Thessalon ica) where suited even language-wise for the mission among the Slovans: they knew Slovanic. ·Emperor Michael, having summoned them, told the brothers: "You are from Salonica, and all Salonicans spewk pure Slovruk ("'sloviensky) 27 • The brothers, however, did not want to go empty-hand ed to Rastislav's nation, and Constantine, having learned fr()lffi the messengers that the Sloveni-Slovaiks did not ha,ve their own script, in the first ·p lace contemplat ed over a suitable script. In the words of the legend, God revealed the Slovanic script to the meditating, contemplat ing, worried and praying Constantine. Such a tradition maJkes him so much dearer to us. And indeed it is such an achievemen t that we can be proud of it. Constantin e proceeded from the Greek script, but Slovanic sounds, especially in the ninth century, greatly varied with the Greek, therefore new letters, new characters were needed. And Constantin e placed it on such a basis that the more lndo-Europ ean linguistics develops, the more admira:ble becomes his creation28 • Even today, if doubt arises in any Slovanic language over the correct spelling of some word, informatio n is sought in Cyril's orthograiph y. And even in this respect �SLOVAKIA 51 can we Slovaks ha,ve the great satisfaction that, without our Rastislav, he (Cyril) would not have had the opportunity to assert his phenomenal talent. Had not the Slovak messengers come to Constantinople, what more could have Constantine accomplished there? At first he had been used in Constantinople to bring to reason the iconoclasts, then to convert to Christ the Mohamedan Sara,zens and the pagan Khruzars: had not the Slovak messengers appeared there, Constantine, in all likelihood, would have continued in that activity, or he would have remained in the monastery into which he had retired for a life of tranquility. People of phenomenal mental gifts need a field for their activity. Our Rastislaiv will also be remembered in the world-historic work of Cyril. In 1886, when the Slovanic peoples celebraited the millenium of the death of Methodius, a Russian historian asked: "What was the Slovanic world prior to Cyril and Methodius?" and answered: "Scattered over the vast spaces of middle Europe, Russia and the Balkan Peninsular among foreign and hostile nations, although a race gifted by nature with beautiful spiritual endowments, the Slovan r ace represented a torn, disjointed mass of different tribes without any consciousness of racial relationship . . ." The brothers from Salonica appear on the stage of Slovanic history in the middle of the ninth century, "strong in spirit and profoundly permeated with the consciousness of their sacred calling, namely, to furnish the Slovans with Christian enlightenment," and in a comparatively short time thereafter there is an entirely difforent life among the Slovans29 • The Russian philologist Alexej Sachmatov explained that the Russian race in the ninth century was disintegrating into a multitude of tribes. The tribes among themselves remained in substance closely related, but lived separately; for that reason they differed in morals and in customs and had their individual dialects. Had they lived longer without any connecting mediums, complete individualization would have sprung up among them and a multitude of conflicting dialects would have developed. But owing to the events of the tenth centucy an organization of state was created among the Russian tribes which united them in a political, �52 SLOVAKIA cultural and religious unit. In the eleventh century the body of the state, created by Vladimir and his descendants, became stabilized: it consisted of all Russian lands with the exception of Galicia and Polocko, which were differently situated geographically. In the twelfth century the dialects of these latter already had their typical peculiarities30 • Thus, Sachmatov attributed to the unifying ,p ower of the state this great thing that a great nation was created out of Russian tribes. J agic, of course, also acknowledged the importance of the political factor in the creation of linguistic unity, but, not agreeing completely with Sachmatov's explanation, he wrote that "in Russia, in the securance and preservation of unity, the main credit belongs not so much to its political power as to the great cultural and linguistic unifying effect of the Church and the uniform Church-Slovanic Ianguage" 31 • In his great work of 1900 and 1913 Jagic also mentioned Ulfilas, who translated the Holy Scriptures into the language of the Goths already in the fourth century. True enough, that W'.as five hundred yea/I'S earlier; and yet - says Jagic -what a difference there is between Ulfilas and the Slovanic apostles! The work of Ulfilas was for a narrow circle, the Goths alone, with whom it also went into emincition; the work of Cyril and Methodius extended from Moravia and Pannonia, "from the heart of western Slovanic peoples," first to the South, to the Croatians and Serbs, thence to the Bulgarians, and afterwards the Slovanic Church brought also the great Russian nation into the fold of Christianity. The work of Ulfilas perished; in the language ~ suiting from the work of the Slovanic apostles over one hundred million people serve God32 • 1 At this point, I cannot refrain f_r:om mentioning two more names. When our apostles journeyed to Rome in 867, they sojourned in Blatno, in the residential ca.stle in '1.'lransDanubia, where Pribina's son Kocer ruled. Pribina had caused the already mentioned church in Nitra to be built-the first Christian church in the whole western Slovanic world; but to unite a nation and fonn a country, a state, was only possible by dissolving the power of the tribal rulers. Mojmir I , predecessor of Ra.stislav, drove Pdbina out of Nitra for that �SLOVAKIA 53 reason. Pribina procured a fief in Tranus-Danubia from Louis the German and selected a residence in the castle above Blatno (Mosaburg), and there he <:qntinued in what he had initiated in Nitra - the building of churches. That country had more such churches from that era. His son and successor, Kocer, continued in this spirit: he built churches and spread Christianity. Nonetheless, Kocef was somewhat in a quandary when the missionaries from the court of Devin came une~ectedly to him. The rulers of Devin had greatly wronged his father! What were people from there looking for in Blatno? But the apostles Constantine and Metbodius needed only t.o show him the Slovanic script and the Slovanic books, and tbey were dear and welcome t.o Kocef. He felt great joy. He became very fond of Slovanic books, studied from them, and appointed fifty disciples to the apostles. He entertained the distinguished guests for some time and then escorted them with great honor on :their journey to Venetia, that is to Rome. But let us not forget even Zemezizeii. The journey to Rome of the apostle Methodius in 880, so important as far as the substance of the matter is concerned, is given a national coloring in the person of Methodius's escort, the Slovak Zemezizeii. On the basis of what he found about him in historical sources, Jan Holly, in his epic (Svatopluk), placed Zemezizen as one of his important characters. In council Zemezizen distinguishes himself with a penetrating mind and determination, in battles the earth seems to shake wherever he appears. Thus the poet, but we imagine that in reality he was an extraordinary man. To all appearances, Zemezizeii is still his pagan name; he was very likely baptized an adult and therefore could journey, as his ruler's confidant on such an important mission to Rome, to the pope, with apostle Methodius, that educated, refined Byzantian ! He is also mentioned in the ipope's letter, even though it was found difficult in Rome to pronounce his name. (The letter has: Semisisnus, or rather the dative form Semisisno.) REFERENCE NOTES 1. 'The Life on Oonsta.ntme (lat:er Cyril) ("Zltie Konstantfna") and the Lite of Methodius ("z.ttie !Metoda") are preserved in the Old·SloTIU1ic Church la.nguage. Apos~ Methodius surnved his brother Cyril �54 SLOVAKIA b7 sixteen yea.re. In Slavl!stic science The Life of Constantine is considered the work of Met,hodiu,s, and The Life of Mebhodius the work of one ot their SloV'81k disciples. The sentence "By bhe grace of God we 8Are in good health" in the speech of the messenger,a to Constallltinople is very interesting. On meeting one another Slovaks bhus speak a;bout heaMih. Neibher a ~rman, nor any person of the ot•h er western nations would say it in this way. In the Liife of Methodius (Chaa>t. V) it is tra.n.& l:ated into Latin: "bene vale mus" - we aire well." In the Magyar language "hogy szolgal az egesueg ?" and similar expressions are from the Slovak language. 2 Today the Gel"ma,n,s themselves admit much of tbhait nature. " .. . . mit dem deutchen Priester kam auch der deutche Colonl,st .. . so da.sz von nun a.n Chrlrstlamlsierung und Germa.nisierung Hand lin Hand gerum" (cf. Karl Schober: Die Deutchen in Nieder und Ober-Oesterreich, Sal?Jburg, Steyermark, Kii.rn,then und Krain, iP- 15) . 3. " . . . die heutige Sl1>wakey in Oberungern ist das elgentllche Gross•Mahren ... " - he w.l"ote in a letter (in 1&25) to J. S. Bandrtke (Corresponde111Ce of Joseph Dobrovsky, •N, p. 163). 4. Slovanske Staroiltnostl, pp. 794, 7!Y.i, 822. 5. En~ehungsgeachichte der klrchenalavischen Sprache, Ber 1 in, 1913, p. 19 (First edition VleDIIla, 1900). 6. Die slawischen, Sprachen (Die Kult11,r der Gegeuwart, I. IX 1908, Berlin und LeLl)21g). 7. For instance, in &55: "R~ Hlu!lovlcus in Sclavo Marahenses contra Raallizen duoem eorem s,l,bi rebellantem parum IJI"OSpere ducto exercitu"-i( Ruodolfua Fu Idens, p. 369). Ibidem, p. 370: "Quo per fugam lapso et ad Raatizen se conferente.'' - In 869 " ... in illam ineffabllem Rastizl munltdonem et omnl_bus antiqulssimls dlssimilem ... " (Annalea Fuldenses, Pertz, I, 381.) In 870 " .. . ZuentJJ,baJJ.d, nepos Rastizi ... " (Annales Fuldenses, 882.) 8. Svii.toplu,k's predecessor is called Rastic ia.lso ·b y the Slovak monk Chrabr, and about him wie know that he wrote during the time "when there still lived people wlho had SEEN the apostles Cyril and Method ius." 9. Slovanske Starofitnostl , p . 804 . 10. Vacov, Budin, Vysehrad, Osrtrlhom, are Slovak, western Slovanlc names, a,s iare Devin, Ba,zin, -Budatfn. Beyond Budin was TeUn (as in the Czech 1land)-'the Ger-mans living there since the thirteenth century call it Tetlng, just as Bazin ia ito them Bosling, Hodonflll-Goding, in Lower AulStrla Modlin-Modllmg, a.nd many ,others. Vacov i,s derived from the same proper name as in the Czeoh land Is Va.c; Ostrihom is what in the Czech land ds Stfehom (the "o" in Its prefix has the saime origin oo in Oriava, or Im. the Zvolen Ortuty, and the ~arls Ordzovany ) ... We must deduce the close rel11.tionshlp ·b etween the Czeohs and the Slovakls by such ,topographic nMnes, but not by a "cultural union," of which there could have been ·b ut very little lbetween us owing to our separated states and dltter81lt geog:raJJ)hical locatrl.on. Let u,s but examine our culture-words, Wlhwt dissimilarity they present to us. The Slovaks call ink "atrament," the Czeohs "inkoust;" or, what is "t!abak" (tobacco) to the Czechs is "dohan" to the Slovaks. (This means that -smok!:ng reached the Slovaks, a.s It did the Yugoslovan-s, 'by way of the Orient, throug,h the Turu; .to bhe Czechs and the Germans, however, i t came from America via. Spain). 'J1he Slovak names of places (Kaza, Ka.zinec, Tetin, Bwbisar-in Zem-pliin-Pra:ha (In Novohrad) contra.vert �SLOVAKIA 55 also the inventions ot Kosma& in regard to the daughters of K:rok, Ka2a, Teta, Li,bus,a, and about the founding of Prague (Praha). 11. " ... in .fil.la.m ineftabilem Rastizi munitionem et omnibus antiquissimis di1JBimilam ... " 1·2. J.<iramtdsek Palacky: •D ejiny naroda ceskeho, I, 11876, p. 147. We •Slovaiks, however, caai supplement even Pa.lacky's statement; we have a. poetic na:rra.tion of tlhe g,reat battle beneath Devin. Jan Holly's great epic .p oem in 12 cantos, named after its prinoipa.1 hero "Svii.• topluk," presents it. As Tacitus's descri,p tion •there, so Jaai Holly's description here :118 gTand. (Talk-en from history the work of such a poet as is Jan Holly ha,s aaso its historic value.) 13. IP- 26, etc. 14. Geschichte Osten-elchs, I. 16. Acording ,t o all, though sparse reports, Moj,mir <b~me the heir not on[y o! his father'<S realm, bull a1so of his a:bHLties a,s a &ta.te:sman. However . . . for the successor of Svii.topluk even that fact was fatai that he calIIle after such a predecessor ... (V. Novotn:9': Ce-ek6 Dejiny, p. 421.) 16. Mention of the battle of Bratislava in 907-wihich the Bavaria.n,s together with Mojmir LI are supposed to have lost a.gadnst the Magyars -appeared only in ~e sixteen-till oentu,ry with Avenitinus and bas been reoe;n,tly !!"ejected even by Magyar historiaai,s. In ipresent da.ys, after the World War, a. r6CO!I"d was foUllld among German -s ouroes, con.fir-m ing the ,statements of Ave.ntinus, but it will hardily throw more light on the subject. Mter 907, more than one hundred years ·pa.s&ed 8llld still the Ma,g:y<a!rs did not appear on this (Uhe Slovak) side of the Da.nulbe. Not until after 1025, after the death of iBoleslav .t he Brave of Poland, that is, tow,a,rd11 the end of the reign of St. Stephen, they bega,n gra.dua,Hyand only gradually-to ~pa,nd a.nd settle dO'W'Il. Konrad Schti.nema.nn (Die Deutschen In Ungarn bis zum 12. Jahrhundert, Berll!Il u . Le1pzig, 1923) also states that the Magyar-s occupied Pan.nonia only slow,l y and gradually so that Uhe Ge:r,ma,ns who ha.d lived there had opportunity to wi-th<Lraw without haste to :their fO'I"Iller settle• ments. - About this question it is neccessary to have constantly in mind tha.t the Ma.gya.rs ca.me ,t o ,tjhe Danube as nomads, a.nd a nomad, if he ·tasrries anywhere, •m ust not stir up his closest neighbors against ·himself. (By compa!I"ison, I do not wwnt to offend the Magyars by the sdmile, 1but ,t he Gyipsies, living on the outskirts of our towns and vil•1 ages ,say even today: uNo 001e streals <:lose by.") Besides, the Magyars came here-as we wllll see faTther on-while in flight. They came with a !frightful ,experience. y.rhile they had wandered from Atelkuz beyond the Dainube, thked by the Greek Emperor agai,nst the Bulgars, the neighboring Pechenegs a.tta.okied their defenseless settlements in Aitelku2: and 'killed <tlheir children, women, and aged. After their return from the Danube, terrified ·b y the dreadful happenings at Atelkuz, they pa.eked whatever :they sti-11 could a.nd took to flight tn a westerly direction. They stopped only when they reached the territoo-y between the Tisa. BIIld the Middle Dwnube, in Pa.nmonia. After sudh an experi• ence ,t hey could venture trom the Danube, from Pannonda, on predatory expeditio.n-s Jnto Italy and Germany, but with theiT moat :proximate neighbors they VeTY likely endeavored to Uve in peace. AJbout their 'kind of lite, we have the mown remonstrance of tftle Germ81Il bishops in 900 which contailns grave accusations against the Slova.ns (probably of Pam-nonia), that they a,ssl1Sted the Maigyars. As a. matter of fact, the �56 SLOVAKIA Magyars, w~o ha.d come trom the eastern s,teppes scarcely ha,d 8/IlY great desire to venture across, to the lett bank of the Danube. The nomaJd avoids mounta.iais. He needs to see far, fair all around himself, and in the mountains, whether on the rigM or on the left, in front or behind, there is always a possibility of danger. For that reason it is not vecy lpr()baible thait the Magyars, after :tlheir airrival on the Datnulbe -as eaJ1ly as 907 - would have ventured into a grea,t action agalnist Mojmir II. They begaJR-a.s now even Magyair history admits- ,t o occupy the territories on the left ban,k of the Danube gra.dually, in the eleventh century, toward,s ,t he end o! the reign of St. Stephen. 17. Metodievskij jubilejnyj sbornik, Varsava, 18S5, p. 79, etc. 18. Dejiny narodu ceak~ho, I, 1876, p . 223. 19. A. N. Py,pin: lstorija siavianskich literatur, I, rp. 35. 20. "O n.arodnoati apoitolov Slavianswa, in Bratislava, a publication of Sal.arik's Learned Society, No. 2, 1927 . .21. Zitie av. Metoda, Chapter XVII. 22. "Se ~ t vasej~ zemlj~ -s vobod ,m ~i ... " (Zitie av. Metoda, Chapt. XWI.) 23. In confirmation Pogorielov further shows how in· the CyrilloMethodic text the negative "no" (NIE) and its opposite "yes" (A(,,'0) is expressed. T~e Czechs '88.Y ANO; 1lhe Poles TAK; the Russians and BulglllI'B DA; the Serbs and Croats JEST; only the Slovak language has the ,same word we read in the Gospel of Matthew V, 37: " b~di ~ slovo va§e ej, ej i nl ni. Or (Mat. XXI, 16) when the Pharisees &1sked Chrfst: Slysisi Ii ~to sii glago!:j~t. Jlsu,s ze ~ im: ej. (In the Kralice Bible thf,s reads: jiate, Jiate nikoli, nikoli; and the second: oviem. ln Slova,k, in ,t he Tr.nava edition of Richard Osvald: ano, ano, nle, nie, and in chapter XXl--<>viem. Instea.d of ,t he full sounding "HEJ," the Slovam..ic Church text has "EJ''---ithere being no letter "h" in the Cyrilllc's sor1a>t, It is true 1'n the 9th century the Slovakia still pronou.nced "G" instead of the pre• sent-day "H." But ,then, this attimna.tive word could o:nly begin mith the vowel "E," otherwise Gora.zd would ha.ve scarcely omitte'Cl its "G." ln behalf or the Slovak ca.use it is advisa,ble to add that in the Old-Sllovanic Bible tert this "EJ" (HEJ) is such a mark, such a charac,t eristic of present-day central SlovaJc, as is the letter "A" in the name of our Rastisla.v. And thus the one and the other is a.n hi'9toruc document about the Slova.ks-about the nationality of Great Moravia. Tha.t is, in ,t he 9'tlh century, aind in all of present-day Moraivia a.n.d In all of wesrern Slovakia substantially the ,same la.nguage wae spoken as we have it today along the Middle Vall, lower Orava, near Turiec, Hron, l1>el', a,nd in Upper Nitra. (Against such documents, it wm not be possible to risk the opinion thait "the core of the alovalk dta.lectical region is not the central group, ·b ut the western." (M. W. in his note on "Stare Slovensko, ,p . 284). 24. "Stoj. ndho ! Posvatna. mis ta jsou, kamkoll kralis ! " 25. K. J. Grot: Karpato-dunajakija zemli v sudbach slavianatva, 1905, p . 18. 26. D. ,z. Lautek: Sv. Cyril a Method, apoitolovla alovanakf, 18&6, p. 70. - See also V. Jaglc: Archlv fur alaviache Phllologie, XX, p. 27. 27. "Vy bo jesta Sol-un•lantna, da Solunia.ne vsi ~f.sto aiovenaky be- sMujit." - Zitle Metoda, Chapter V. 28. "Die Gros,ze des Werkes ha.t ma.n frllber lraum recht e~flnden konnen, aber gerade in der heutigen Sprachwissenscha.ft . . . musz �SLOVAKIA 57 der Grammati:ker Konsita.nUn Bewu~derung erregen." - A. Leskien : Grammatik der altbulgari&chen (altkirchen-slavischen) Sprache, Heidelberg, 1919, p. XXI. 29. Konsta,ntl.n Grot: Metodijevskij jubilejnij sborntk, Varsa.va, 1885, p , 5. 30. Russkij filologiceskij Viestnik, 1894, 3, p. 1. 31. Archiv fur slavische Philologre, XX, p . 28 32. Entstehungsgeschichtle der kirchenslavischen Sprache, 1913, pp. 2, 3. SS. CYRIL AN.D METHODIU'S � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA THE LEGACY OF THE GREAT MORAVIAN STATE OF OUR ANCESTORS: THE SLOVANIC CIIUOOH AND SLOVANIC LITERATURE JOSEPH SKULTETY In 862, (i. e., 1101 years ago) there came to Emperor Mic:hael in Constantinople messengers fi'om the region of the Middle Danube, the Germano-Slovanic frontier, and said to him: "By the grace of God we are in good health, and there come to us Christian teachers from Italy, Greece and Germany, teaching us various things. But we are Sloveni .•. " The words "but we are Sloveni" were meant to convey the thought that they desire to have teachers in the ChrisDr. Joseph Skultety's book "Nehante l!.ud M6j" (Do Not Slander My .People) was pulblished in 1928. iln it the aiuthor successfully refuted three prevalent fallacies, all of ;which tended to vilify the Slovak people and distort Slovak history. Professor Sku1tety's book was translated into English by Cl. D. Koretf and published by the F'irst Catholic Slovak Union, Middletown, Pa., in 1930, under the title of "Sketches From ·S lovak History." The first chapter, relating to Great Moravia and the Slovak Apostles ,SIS. Cyril and Method•i us, caretully and thoroughly corrected to correspond with the Slovak original, is presented here. - P. A. Hrobak tian doctrine "who would teach us in our own language, a language intelligible to us," and they added: "Send us such, 0 Lord." 'I\hey were the messengers from our Slovak ancestors, from their ruler Rastislav. The words they addressed to Emperor Micihael are quoted in the biography ("Zitie") "By of Apostle Methodius, and the opening sentence histothis the grace of God we are in good heallth" gives ric document a coloring of antiquity. It proves that Slovaks said this in Corurtantinople. 1 At that time, 862, there already stood in our Nitra a Christian church for more than thirty years, the first in the whole of ibhe western Slovanic world. But since then Rastislav had bad experiences. The missionaries cam~ mainly from the Germans, our western neighbors, a,n d the worst of it was not that his nation did not understand 36 SLOVAKIA them and thus Christianity only slowly took root: Rastislav dreaded most that the Germans would want to subjugate politica'1ly whomever they converted to Christ.2 For that reason he asked for teachers from the East and sent his messenger to Constantinople. From thence he obtained extraordinary, great men - real apostles - in the persons of the brothers Constantine and Methodius. They founded in Rastislav's nation the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature. And from the Slovanic worship and Slovanic literature, thus founded, a great thing emanated for the Slovanic peoples .. . Great conf1.11Sion arose among the Slavists over the question what kind of Slovans (Slavs) had constituted Rastislav's and Sviitopluk's Great Moravia, although Dobrovsky, the founder of · Slovanic philology, as early as in 1825 categorically stated that the real Great Moravia was the present-day Slovakia, 3 and Safarik in his "Slovanske Starozitnosti," in 1837, placed the Sfovaks, in the second half of the ninth century, · not only between . the Ca11pathian Mountains and the Danube, (as far as Mt. Matra and Vacov) and along the Morava River, but also on the other bank of the Danube, all the way up to Blatno. 4 This was appropria,tely. elucidated by V. Jagic who gave direction · to the fourth generation of Slavists. In his great work on the origin of the Church Slovanic language,5 expounding the ethnographic character of ancient Moravia, the Moravia of Rastislav and Svatopluk, J agic wrote: "In her language Moravia is even today Czech only in her western half - her eastern half is connected with the Slovaks, and these Slovaks even now are living in northwestern Hungary . . . In ancient Moravia, if her frontiers extended to the Danube, they must have spoken a language in the ninth century which was in its su1bstantial outlines identical with the present-day Slovak language (as in Moravia and Upper Hungary). This Slovak language could them have been more widespread even in Moravia than it is today, and in Hungary could have extended as far as the Danube." In his article on Slovanic languages,6 Jagic called the present-day Slovak dialects the real descendants of · the SLOVAKIA 37 language of ancient Moravia. To his explanation we can add the evidence we have in the name "Rastislav'. That name - that beloved name - puts a special Slovak stamp on Great Moravia. As we know from Slovanic grammars, there are two groups of words which the Slovaks have in common with the South-Slavs, but not with the Czech and Poles, to whom as western Slovans they otherwise belong linguistically. To one of these two groups (raz = to the Czech roz; razga = to the Czech rozha; razen = to the Czech rozen; raky1a = to the Czech rokyta; razst.ep, raztoka, and others) belongs also the word rasf (in t:Jhe Czech rosti) and words derived from it. Together with the Czechs and the Poles, the Russians also use "o". Now, in contemporaneous or old records in general, the name Rastislav is Rastislav everywhere, and only exceptionally, by some error, Rostislav; in contemporaneous records, in German annals, he is called consistently Rastic (an abbreviated form of the name). That means the German neighbors heard that name witll an "a,,, and sounding thus, it proves that either in Moravia, in all of Moravia, a language was spoken whose phonetics was like the phonetics of the language beneath the Tatra Mountains, that is, present-day language of central Slovakia, or else the princely family, who reared Rastiislav, sprang from Slovaks, who settled on this side of the Morava River. But even so, if Ra•s tislav was a native of this side of the Morava river, they still would have called him tlheir own way Rostislav on the other, the western side. And that they did not call him thus, that the name "Rastislav,, resounded even in Western Moravia, that is ,proved by the form "Rastic" preserved in a11 the contemporaneous German records. 7 The country of Rastislav, even in the extreme West, was Slovak. 8 In the southeast, as we already know from Safarik,9 and as topographic names indicate, Sloyak settlements extended to Mt. Matra. In :the East they originally reached probably to the river Topfa, whose name comes from the Slovenes (Sloveni), the ancestors of the present..day Bulgarians. But if these people from the territory of the Tisa crossed beyond the lower Danube in the seventh 38 SLOVAKIA century, the Slovak "Sloveni" expanded in the East even beyond the Topfa river. Here and in the territory beyond Uzhorod, occupied by Russians since the twelfth century, the names of settlements are in significant number of Slovak origin. And from Mt. iMatra to Vacov, bey<»).d the Danube from Budin up to Vysehrad and Ostrihom, there also are ancient Slovak settlements. 10 Indeed, Slovak settlements could have extended even farther South, all the way to Blatno. Pdbina, driven from Nitra, even though enjoying Gemian favor, hardly could have become a ruler here as a foreigner. Apostle Metihodius, appointed by Rome, was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia since 873, from which we ~n also judge that beyond the De.nube, in Pannonia, there lived the same kind of people as above the Danube, beneath the Carpathians and along the Morava River. Even Sa!fari:k called attention to the names of prominent people who were present in 850 at the blessing of Pribina's church at Blatno Castle. Jagic explained those names of the "Pannonian Sloveni" and arrived at the conclusion that from among fifteen almost half were western Slovanic. Now, if these names were western Slovanic, then they were Slovak - no other western Slovans could have lived near Blatno. The State of our Slovak ancestors, which already in Mojmir's days up to 846 had been built wisely and cou~ageously, was already a power in Rastislav's time. The Germans were then pushing down the Danube, as they never did afterwards, and Great Moravia, the young Slovanic State, heroically barred their way. True enough, their aggression only increased thereby. King Louis, called the German, a grandson of Charlema;gne, in 855, immediately after his accession, invaded Moravia with a great military force in order to rid himself of a danger which was growing there for his realm. But 'here the very resistance was so great that Louis - as a contemporaneous record mentions - decided rather to leave his opponent in peace than to expose his whole army to a catastrophe. He did not dare to attack the firm position of Rastislav and merely devastated the neighborhood. The attack of the Moravians on the German encampments was repulsed, but the departure of the Germans resembled a flight. Rastislav pursued Louis, the German, SLOVAKIA 39 invaded his territory and devastated it far and wide. Liberated Moravia - says Safarik attained complete independence and became the 1baven of refuge of all Slovans whQ were either discontented with or oppressed by the Franks (Germans), and even of the Germans themselves who had come into some conflict with the government of King Louis. His sons, too, Karlmann and Louis, Junior, looked to Rastislav for support in quarrels with their father. In the annals of the Fuld Monastery of 869, there is a record which mentions Rastislav's castle, in all probability Devin, as "the mighty fortress with which not even one of the most ancient ca,n compa:re." 11 And under Svatopluk, after Rastislav, Great Moravia represented a still greater military power. The defeat of the Gel'!IIlans in 870, beneath Devin, was horrible. 'Ilheir great airmy perished in the battle; very few saved themselves by flight. There were very few families in Bavaria, Austria and Carinthia (Corutania., who did not mourn the loss of some of their members. Ka.rrlmann quickly ordered the gathering of all the captured Moravians, whom he kept in various places of his country so that he could exehange them for his own men who were held prisoners by Svaitopluk. Well, he got only one half-dead man back, the renowned hero Ratbod. Any German who had not fled from the battlefield remained there dead. This battle has been compared with that which the Roman gei,.eraJ V arus lost in the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 A. D., and Svatopluk was compared with the German Armin (Herman). But we also have Palacky's version of that battle. With keen perception, Palacky stated that in history there is also difference between these two battles. The first was described for us by Tacitus, about the other we know ft-om the chronicle of the monk of Fuld. 12 Later is his reign Svatopluk completely stopped the flood of Germans down the Danube towards the East. In German annals a record is preserved stating that when he went against Arnulf in 884, his army was seen in one place to pass all day, from morning until evening. Svitopluk already then had extended his sovereignty to the North over the Czech land, where the first ·historic Czech 40 SLOVAKIA prince, Bofivoj, ruled, and over the Polish Slovans along the Upper Vistula (Visla); in the South his sovereignty extended even farther, fwr beyond the frontiers of Slovak territory. It seemed then that the Slovanic people would unite under his rule. I shall not quote Saifarik, Palacky or any other Slovanic historian; it will suffice to cite from Pauler as to the past. In his book "A magyar nemmt tortenet.e s:rent lstvanig," awarded the Grand Prize of the Magyar Academy in 1900, Pauler says: "'In Atelkuz the Magyars were much nearer to their present homeland than they had been in Lebedia. From Seret, from Baku to Mairosvasarhelyi the distance is only some twenty geographic miles. And here - certainly by way of the most natural road through the valley of the Dniester, tJhen up the Stryj, through Verek Pass - they could look into the land extending from the Carpathians to the South where just then great battles were raging. The Slovans living along the Morava River, on the left bank of the Danube, under powerful ·a nd courageous rulers, had fo:nned a country worthy of consideration. They began to be baptized already in the first half of the ninth century, but in reality they were confirmed in the Ohristian faith only by Constantine, the philosopher, and his brother Methodius from the year 863. "From the very beginning of the ninth century, from the time of Charlemagne, there were, so to say, continuous wars between the Slovans and the reahn of the Franks, from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic, now here, now there. The Slovans had penetrated wedge-like deeper and deeper between the Germanic tribes since the sixth century, and the reaction of the Franks was forcefµL In the ninth century the Germans, attacking everywhere, endeavored to make vassals of their Slovanic neighbors alon,g the Saale River, as well as on the frontiers of the Czech Mountains, or beyond the Danube. With the Siovans a!bove the Middle Danube, Svatopluk founded such a realm to which the Czech land in Bohemia, the countries around the sources of the Vistula, and in the South, besides the valleys of the Morava, Vah and Nitra. - that nucleus of the realm were subjected, and his power extended from the River SLOVAKIA 41 Hron over the whole territory between the Danu:be and the Tisa Rivers, down to Sriem and up to the Ca,rpathians ... "Eastern FTankland, that conglomeration of Saxons, Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians, was ruled since 887 by the handsome and brave Arnulf, the illegitimate son of Karlmann and the girandson of Louis the German, who but a few years previously - in 883 and 884 - as prince of Carinthia had felt the weight of Svatopluk's power and had helplessly looked on as he (Svatopluk) bad cruelly and mercilessly raivaged Pannonia, and even now, as king, he did not know what to do with him. "In July, 892, Arnulf took to the sword and with an army of Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians and attacked Moravia. The Magyar horde, which was just then passing through, joined him ( - hired by Arnulf ! - note of this author) and ravaged Svatopluk's country for four weeks; but then the Germans and Ma.rgyars turned homeward (with bleeding heads - note of this author) and Svatopluk's power, not even shaken, remained as it had been heretofore" .13 In German chronicles and in contemporaneous annals, Svatopluk is called the ",powerful," the "dread of his neighbors," "the wisest," "the most deceitful," man of his nation; "a wolf," and "a blood-thh'sty malcontent." The calumnies of enemies, of course, are not to be taken Hterally. To his German neighbors Svatopluk was "a wolf," and "blood-thirsty," because the wounds caused by his sword hurt. But those were wounds which they sustained mostly when they ventured where they had no dght to go. And then history judges differently than contemporaries do. I could cite from the excellent work of Alfons Huber, 14 an Austro-German, quotations similar to those in the Magyar book of Pauler a:Qout the deeds of the nation of Mojmir, Rastislav and Svatopluk in the second half of t:he ninth century. To found such a state, a Slovanic State on the Middle Danube ast that time - in the second half of the ninth century - certainly was a great accomplishment; history wil!l never cease speaking of it. Indeed, there were indications that a center was originating ·h ere around which a significant part of the Slovans would unite. But a young 42 SLOVAKIA state, in order to become firm, to consolidate, needs favorable circumstances. History deduces even the beginnings of Rome had favorable and fortunate conditions. Our Slovak ancestors, at the end of tile ninth century, were not so fortunate. The Germanic world still lived in a condition of ferment - to have it as a neigU11bor was not good. It would yield, retreat, only under duress, as during the· lifetime of Svatopluk. After Svatoplu:k's death, the nomadic Magyars came to be another neighbor on the other side of the Danube and to tlle Tisa River. Under such circumstances, aflter the first weakening caused by some internal, domestic strife, a young organization is apt to fare ba~y. The trou:ble here was the disunity of the sons of Svatopluk, which was flamed by their German neighbors, and Great Moravia perished. 'Dhe Magyars came to the Danube in 896, two years after Svatopluk's death, and Mojmir II, Svatopluk's successor, in 900 still petitioned for and obtained from Rome two bishops and one archbishop, thus he was still organizing the Church. In 902, with his sword he still proved to his Trans-Danubian neighbors that he was a son of Svatopluk.15 Not long rufterwards, however, he was no more. It is not even known what became of him whither he went. Great Moravia perished. 16 The state of affairs on the Middle Danube in the ninth century is explained in Anton Budilovic's book, published in 1'886, on the occasion of the millenial memorial of the death of Met!hodius: "'l'he Huns and the Avars cleaned the lands of the Middle Danube considerably of the Thraco-Illyrian, Celto--Roman and Germanic nations, but, under the successors of Charlemagne, German colonization again turned to these blessed lands and . covered with its net not only Upper but also Lower Pannonia and the western aft-valleys of Moravia. The antlike activity of the German colonist there was supported by the quite mature politicail and ecclesiastical organization of the Germany of that time. Supporting the German colonist on the one side was the German soldier, margrave, duke, the king, the emperor; on the other side, the German priest, monk, bishop, arch!bishop. What could the Slovans of these lands, divided into branches, scattered, not united by anything, put up against such forces? The federative union of two or three SLOVAKIA 43 tribes, the muscular force of the homeguards, 1:Jhe accidenta:l geniality of the chief and the eµthusiam of national hatred, aroused by violence? This could onJy be temporary . . . A lasting and successful struggle is only possible where there exists a certain balance of forces and equality of weapons, bow against bow, system against system, fore~ ful, profound ideas against other ideas. Can there be any talk of balance of forces of one or two Slovanic nations with the whole German race, of an alliance of a few patriarchal tribes with a great and organized empire? Could even the most genial leaders of the western Slovanic peoples at that time repel the onslaught of a whole system of cultural ideas in which were also included the heritage of the ancient world and the refreshing Cll'ITent of Christianity? . . . The best answer to these questions is presented by the fate of the Baltic Slavs. There they lacked neither ta:lented military leaders, nor a fiery hatred of the Germans, nonetheless these Slavs perished and their lands became the center of the later renovated empire of the Hohenstaufens." The closing words of Budilovic are that the same fate would have overtaiken the Slovans of Great Moravia had not their Rastislav, aroused by a penetrating foresight, obtained such apostles as were the brothers of Salonica (Solun), Cyril and Methodius. 17 Yes, as already mentioned, the state of affairs was difficult for our Slovak ancestors. Nonetheless, their State creation lasted almost one hundred years, and from the very beginning inscribed itself appropriately into history. Palacky, in his "Dejiny" (!history) presents the foundations which Rastislav and Svatopluk built with their nation as the nucleus around which all the Slovanic tribes would have been attracted gradually; from it they would have received Christianity; if not new political constitutions, at least a national and new European culture, arts and industry, unity of language, an alphabet and literature. As under the influence of Rome, the monarchy of the Franks matured in the West, similarly a great Slovanic empire would have grown up with the help of the spirit of Byzantium, and Eastern Europe of a thousand years ago would have assumed a shape different from that which it in reality assumed. 18 44 SLOVAKIA Palacky spoke as if carried away in a rhetorical rapture; but it can be stated even with the coolest mind that great things were lost with the collapse of Great !Moravia. ~en at that, the Slovanic Ohurch,founded for our Slovak ancestors, with the Slovanic alphabet and Slovanic literature, became the foundation on which the great race of Slovanic peoples developed. When especially in the West only three, or really only two languages (Greek and Latin) were considered feasible for Christian ecclesiastic life, the Holy Scriptures and worshi,p, the brothers Cyril and Methodius began their mission with the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Slovanic language. At the end of the seventies of the nineteenth century, when, as a result of the Russo-Turkish war, the Balkan Slovans were rid of the hard fate of five hundred years duration, and among all the Slovans flowed especially cordial feelings, the Russian literary historian Alexander Pypin called attention to the Pan-Slovanic significance of what the great apostles Cyril and Methodius had accomplished among our Slovak ancestors. And he added that their work is an heritage and an ideal of Slovanic unification 19 True enoug,ll, the neighboring Germans at once raised on alarm that Constantine :md Methodius were installing Slovanic worship and translating the Holy Scriptures in Rastislav's land. Our apostles deemed it necessary for that reason to journey to Rome as early as 867. There they submitted their cause in such a manner that Pope Adrian solemnly blessed the Slovanic books. Before the coming to Moravia of the brothers, only · Constatine had been ordained to priesthood; the Pope ordered also Methodius and their Slovak disciples, whom they had brought along to Rome, to be ordained, and in the leading cathedrals of Rome they sang the liturgy in the Slovanic language. It became necessary for the apostles to remain a longer time in Rome. Constantine, physicaUy frail, became ill, joined a monastic order and assumed the name Cyril. While going about as missionary among the Kaza.rs near the Black Sea, Cyril had uncovered in Kherson the remains of St. Olemenrt, who had died a martyr, and these restored remains he now brought to Rome. Thus it hap- SLOVAKIA 45 pened, that when he died . on February 14, 869, he was buried in the church of that same St. Clement. The dying Cyril touchingly implored his ·b rother to persevere in the important Slovak mission. Methodius, of course, persevered with the greatest zeal. From 873 he was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia. When the German bishop did not cease inciting against the Slovanic worship, it again became necessary to journey to Rome in 880. And in this trial too, he was victorious. Pope John VIII, wrote in a Bull sent to Svatopluk ("glorioso principi ~fentopulcho"): "The Slovank script, whldh the late phi~osopher Constantine devised, that in it may duly resound the praise of God, is lawfully confirmed; and we decree that in that language the glory and the acts of · our Lord p1rist be related. For not only in three, but in all languages are we exhorted by the holy author (King David) to praise the Lord . . . The apostles too, permeated with the Holy Ghost, spoke in all languages about the greatness of God . . . He who created the three · principal languages Hebrew, Greek, and Latin - created also the others to His honor and glory ...." What great events! Thus is documented that in the Church the Slovanic language was placed in the same rank with Greek and Latin. Already in the ninth century! ... And all this emanated from our Slovak ancestors! As long as there will be souls capable of becoming enthused for sublime things, so long will the memory of the Slovanic apostles Cyril and Methodius remain ~evered, and there will be always found people who will know that the Slovanic Church had been instituted for our Slovak ancestors, and that it all emanated from the mind of their great ruler [Rastislav. The Slovak State of the ninth century did not survive, it perished in maelstrom of the world, but the Slovanic world has a great heritage from it. With the development of science, particularly Slovanic philology, this event of world history will become more lucid :with every passing year. When the work of the Slovanic apostles and the struggle of Great Moravia with the Germanic world will be recalled, talk of C~atho-Damtbian and Pannonian Slovans will cease, and the Sloveni-Slovaks will be definitely mentioned. When it is already so clear 46 SLOVAKIA that in the ninth century the inhabitants of present-day Moravia were only Slova.ks, the nation of Rastislav and Svatopluk will not be called "Moravians and Slovaks" (as in the "Slovanske Staro'Litnosti" of Sa.fa.rik), but consistent. ly and definitely "Slovaks." The ,b iographies ("Zitia") of our apostles, which remained in the Church-iSlovanic language will cease to be called "Pannonian" legends when it will be esta·b lished that the great missionaries whom Rastislav had appointed were only in Pannonia on their journey to Rome, after an activity of four years in Moravia and Slovakia; then again Methodius 1Was there alone, before he could get home, to Devin or Nitra, on his return journey from Rome. (Thus in 867, when stopping above Blatno, to visit Kocel', it was surely only because he was the son of Pribina, formerly of Nitra.) Then will also cease the confusing of our county with the Czech land since the Czechs participated in the formation of the Slovanic Church and literature only after .t he baiptism of Borivoj. Not even the legend that Methodius converted the Bulgarian (Czar) Boris to Christ .b y painting for him a ,picture of the Last Judgment will mislead us any longer; of the two brothers :&om Salonica neither the one, nor the other, labored among any other Slovamic nations. They labored only among the Sloveni-Slovaks. Their teaching reached the Bulgars only through their disciples :£rom Great Moravia after Methodius was no longer among the living. Most recently, this matter was excellently illuminated by the Russian emigrant, the Slovanic philologist Valerij Pogorielov of the university of Bratislava, in his study "About the na.ti.onaJ.ity of the apostles of Slavdom."20 The Slovanic script - as devised by apostle Constantine-C yril after he and his brother Methodius already had the authority for the mission to Rastislarv's nation, and the grammar of this script founded in the Church-Slova nic books - is such an accomplishme nt that Cyril is being admired as a linguistic phenomenom. Nonetheless, recently in science both brothers were generally considered native Greeks. Silenced were also the doubters, into whose heads could not penetrate the fact ,t hat one who was not born a Slovan could hardly grasp in such a manner and sense the charac- SLOVAKIA 47 ter of the Slovanic language, as we see in the work of St. Cyril. What did Pogorielov do? He began to examine the Slovanic translations of the Holy Scriptures made from the Greek to check whether the brothers from Salonica were as expert i? Greek as they had been in the Slovanic lenguage. He found that in the Church-Slovanic Bible texts there were errors which could not have been made by a translat.or whose mother-language had been Greek. Pogorielov came to the conclusion that the holy brothers from Salonica (Solun) could not have been Greeks - they were Slovans. At the same time he very aptly notes that, allowing such a solution of the question, we will also comprehend that energy, that zeal and self-sacrifice which they displayed in the services of the Slovanic cause. We will understand their impartiality in the dispute between Byzantium and Rome. Would real Greeks have gone to Rome to seek protection for their Slovanic activity? It is a:lso interesting how Pogorielov explains the relation of the Sloveni-Slovaks to the work of the holy apostles. When after the death of Methodius the Slovanic church books were taken from Moravia to Bulgaria, they proved to be altogether intelligible there. The Bulgarian literati began to correct the language of the books, e.g., instead of nedag (at present nedu.h) they put bolezn; instead o(f prositi they wrote moliti; instead of nvot - zizn; instead of otrok - sluga; instead of godina - cas, etc. That is, in the Church texts the Slovaks words (Slovak in the present-day sense) were replaced by Bulgarian words. And Pogorielov does not stop there, but goes farther. He explains how western Slovanic or Slovaik words had gotten into the work of the natives of Salonica that is, South Slovans. Goraoo, one of the first disciples of Cyril and Methodius was considered a SloV3Jk already by Safarik. In regard to Gorazd, Pogorielov· quotes the words21 with which the dying Methodius (in 885) appointed him his successor to the seat of the archbishopric: "This is a free man of your country22 ," that is Gorazd, "a man of your own country," was not a Southern Slovan, as had been the apostles them- 48 SLOVAKIA selves, the brothers from Salonica, but a western Slovan, that is, a son of the country - as Pogorielov says emphatically - where Methodius himself had worked and preached and of which he was archbishop. The Slovakisms in the Slovanic text of the Holy Scriptures are the work of Gorazd ; "to his pen also belongs the translation of all the works from Latin into the Slovanic lan:g:uage." Pogorielov calls St. Gorazd the third apostle of the Slovanic peoples. Referring also to the great Slavist Jagic, who ex;plained in 1900 and in 1913 that in ancient Moravia in the ninth century "substantially the same language was spoken as is today's Slovak," Pogorielov agrees that "it was the Slovaik language, and the country was Slovakia, and this means that St. Gorazd really was a man of the Slovak country - that he was a Slovak23 • In the introduction to his study, written and published in Bratisla,va, Pogorielov remarks that the holy Slovak apostles, Cyril and Methodius, used to walk in this vicinity, therefore, the words of the great ·b ard of the Slovanic world, Jan Kollar, can be rightfully repeated. "Stand still, foot! Sacred are the places wherever thou waJkest !" 24• To which I add: Aye, aye, Devin ! ! ! ... About a person wh·o accomplished great things during his lifetime, people say after his death: •~He died, but his memory shall remain." Greater Moravia has also passed away, has :perished, but her legacy is such that she will be remembered. "Here took place in the ninth century," says a Russian historian, "events not only of Pan-Slovanic, but ailso, it can be said, of universal significance : an important attempt at a political unification of the Slovans the Great Moravian political union - famed itself by the most memorable, infinitely fertile activity of the Slovanic Apostles in Moravia. Here were laid the foundations for the national church and national Slovanic Christian education, here were formed the plans and the direction of the entire future of the whole subsequent historic development of the Slova.nic world, it.s world role and its relation to Romano-Oennanic Europe, to the West, and to the Asiatic guestion. The Christianization of the masses of people and their manner of life, bringing them to the Eastern Church, the foundation of Church-Slovanic litera,- SLOVAKIA 49 ture and education in the Slovanic South, among the Bulgars and the Serbs, and in the East among the Russians, and partly also among the other western Slovans, was only the continuation of that work which Cyril and Methodius had initiated and which could survive, alas, only a short time in the Middle Danubian countries. From here, from Great Moravia, flowed a copious stream of Slovanic Church literature and Slovanic ritual, of a common Church language and together with it also of national consciousness in all directions - to the ·v arious kin: to the North to the Poles; to the West to the Czechs; to the South to the Slovenes, the Serbo-Croats, and Bulgars (to the latter directly through the disciples of Methodius, who had been expelled from Moravia after his death); and lastly to the East, to Russia . . ." 25 "The fruits of the independent spiritual development, based on a national Church and literature, founded by the Slovanic apostles" - further says Constantine Grot "took root in the Slovanic South and East, where there was not such a ha.rd national struggle as on the Middle Danube." And he calls attention to the fact that it w~s at that time that the Germanic world returned with elemental force to these lands, which its tri·b es had occupied once before, and for that reason it was much harder for the Carpatho-Danubian Slovans to maintain themselves against such pressure. And just then the Magyars also arrived . . . Indeed, even during the life of Svatopluk, soon after the death of Methodius (885), the Slovanic Church had gone over from us to the South~lovans, thence to the Eastern (IS lovans) and there helped to create the great Russian nation out of the many tribes. ""The legacy of the brothers of .Salonica" - as correctly e:,cpressed by Daniel Laucek - "prepared among the Russians national unity by means of Church unity." 26 The Czech ruler, Prince Borivoj, was baptized by Methedius at the court of Svatopluk; with Boriivoj's successors Slovanic literature took root in the Czech country and also got to the Poles; but here too like with the Slovaks and Czechs, 'because they were neighbors of the German world, the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature did not sumve among the ·P oles. It is true, in the Church terminology of us all, Slovaks, Czechs, and Poles, to this 50 SLOVAKIA day traces of the language have been presented (for instance even the most important word uHospodin" ), the language which the holy apostles Cyril and Methodius had introduced into our ecclesiastic life. And it is worth mentioning, that of all the Slovans, the teachings of the 'Slovan apostles did not reach - neither during their lifetime, nor later through their disciples - a single tribe of the Baltic and Polabian Slovans, and of all the Slovans just these latter perished in the religious a;nd existential struggle which they waged with the Germans. When Emperor Michael in Constantin ople had learned from the Slovak delegation what was at stake, what kind of aipostles R!astislav desired, he at once decided to entrust this task to Constantin e, the philosopher , who had rlistingttished himself in rupostolic wor.k before, at first alone and later with his brother Methodius. The messengers said to the Emperor: "We are Sloveni -," i. e., they desired teachers of the Christian faith whom they could understand. The brothers Constantin e and Methodius, as natives of Salonica (Thessalon ica) where suited even language-wise for the mission among the Slovans: they knew Slovanic. ·Emperor Michael, having summoned them, told the brothers: "You are from Salonica, and all Salonicans spewk pure Slovruk ("'sloviensky) 27 • The brothers, however, did not want to go empty-hand ed to Rastislav's nation, and Constantine, having learned fr()lffi the messengers that the Sloveni-Slovaiks did not ha,ve their own script, in the first ·p lace contemplat ed over a suitable script. In the words of the legend, God revealed the Slovanic script to the meditating, contemplat ing, worried and praying Constantine. Such a tradition maJkes him so much dearer to us. And indeed it is such an achievemen t that we can be proud of it. Constantin e proceeded from the Greek script, but Slovanic sounds, especially in the ninth century, greatly varied with the Greek, therefore new letters, new characters were needed. And Constantin e placed it on such a basis that the more lndo-Europ ean linguistics develops, the more admira:ble becomes his creation28 • Even today, if doubt arises in any Slovanic language over the correct spelling of some word, informatio n is sought in Cyril's orthograiph y. And even in this respect SLOVAKIA 51 can we Slovaks ha,ve the great satisfaction that, without our Rastislav, he (Cyril) would not have had the opportunity to assert his phenomenal talent. Had not the Slovak messengers come to Constantinople, what more could have Constantine accomplished there? At first he had been used in Constantinople to bring to reason the iconoclasts, then to convert to Christ the Mohamedan Sara,zens and the pagan Khruzars: had not the Slovak messengers appeared there, Constantine, in all likelihood, would have continued in that activity, or he would have remained in the monastery into which he had retired for a life of tranquility. People of phenomenal mental gifts need a field for their activity. Our Rastislaiv will also be remembered in the world-historic work of Cyril. In 1886, when the Slovanic peoples celebraited the millenium of the death of Methodius, a Russian historian asked: "What was the Slovanic world prior to Cyril and Methodius?" and answered: "Scattered over the vast spaces of middle Europe, Russia and the Balkan Peninsular among foreign and hostile nations, although a race gifted by nature with beautiful spiritual endowments, the Slovan r ace represented a torn, disjointed mass of different tribes without any consciousness of racial relationship . . ." The brothers from Salonica appear on the stage of Slovanic history in the middle of the ninth century, "strong in spirit and profoundly permeated with the consciousness of their sacred calling, namely, to furnish the Slovans with Christian enlightenment," and in a comparatively short time thereafter there is an entirely difforent life among the Slovans29 • The Russian philologist Alexej Sachmatov explained that the Russian race in the ninth century was disintegrating into a multitude of tribes. The tribes among themselves remained in substance closely related, but lived separately; for that reason they differed in morals and in customs and had their individual dialects. Had they lived longer without any connecting mediums, complete individualization would have sprung up among them and a multitude of conflicting dialects would have developed. But owing to the events of the tenth centucy an organization of state was created among the Russian tribes which united them in a political, 52 SLOVAKIA cultural and religious unit. In the eleventh century the body of the state, created by Vladimir and his descendants, became stabilized: it consisted of all Russian lands with the exception of Galicia and Polocko, which were differently situated geographically. In the twelfth century the dialects of these latter already had their typical peculiarities30 • Thus, Sachmatov attributed to the unifying ,p ower of the state this great thing that a great nation was created out of Russian tribes. J agic, of course, also acknowledged the importance of the political factor in the creation of linguistic unity, but, not agreeing completely with Sachmatov's explanation, he wrote that "in Russia, in the securance and preservation of unity, the main credit belongs not so much to its political power as to the great cultural and linguistic unifying effect of the Church and the uniform Church-Slovanic Ianguage" 31 • In his great work of 1900 and 1913 Jagic also mentioned Ulfilas, who translated the Holy Scriptures into the language of the Goths already in the fourth century. True enough, that W'.as five hundred yea/I'S earlier; and yet - says Jagic -what a difference there is between Ulfilas and the Slovanic apostles! The work of Ulfilas was for a narrow circle, the Goths alone, with whom it also went into emincition; the work of Cyril and Methodius extended from Moravia and Pannonia, "from the heart of western Slovanic peoples," first to the South, to the Croatians and Serbs, thence to the Bulgarians, and afterwards the Slovanic Church brought also the great Russian nation into the fold of Christianity. The work of Ulfilas perished; in the language ~ suiting from the work of the Slovanic apostles over one hundred million people serve God32 • 1 At this point, I cannot refrain f_r:om mentioning two more names. When our apostles journeyed to Rome in 867, they sojourned in Blatno, in the residential ca.stle in '1.'lransDanubia, where Pribina's son Kocer ruled. Pribina had caused the already mentioned church in Nitra to be built-the first Christian church in the whole western Slovanic world; but to unite a nation and fonn a country, a state, was only possible by dissolving the power of the tribal rulers. Mojmir I , predecessor of Ra.stislav, drove Pdbina out of Nitra for that SLOVAKIA 53 reason. Pribina procured a fief in Tranus-Danubia from Louis the German and selected a residence in the castle above Blatno (Mosaburg), and there he <:qntinued in what he had initiated in Nitra - the building of churches. That country had more such churches from that era. His son and successor, Kocer, continued in this spirit: he built churches and spread Christianity. Nonetheless, Kocef was somewhat in a quandary when the missionaries from the court of Devin came une~ectedly to him. The rulers of Devin had greatly wronged his father! What were people from there looking for in Blatno? But the apostles Constantine and Metbodius needed only t.o show him the Slovanic script and the Slovanic books, and tbey were dear and welcome t.o Kocef. He felt great joy. He became very fond of Slovanic books, studied from them, and appointed fifty disciples to the apostles. He entertained the distinguished guests for some time and then escorted them with great honor on :their journey to Venetia, that is to Rome. But let us not forget even Zemezizeii. The journey to Rome of the apostle Methodius in 880, so important as far as the substance of the matter is concerned, is given a national coloring in the person of Methodius's escort, the Slovak Zemezizeii. On the basis of what he found about him in historical sources, Jan Holly, in his epic (Svatopluk), placed Zemezizen as one of his important characters. In council Zemezizen distinguishes himself with a penetrating mind and determination, in battles the earth seems to shake wherever he appears. Thus the poet, but we imagine that in reality he was an extraordinary man. To all appearances, Zemezizeii is still his pagan name; he was very likely baptized an adult and therefore could journey, as his ruler's confidant on such an important mission to Rome, to the pope, with apostle Methodius, that educated, refined Byzantian ! He is also mentioned in the ipope's letter, even though it was found difficult in Rome to pronounce his name. (The letter has: Semisisnus, or rather the dative form Semisisno.) REFERENCE NOTES 1. 'The Life on Oonsta.ntme (lat:er Cyril) ("Zltie Konstantfna") and the Lite of Methodius ("z.ttie !Metoda") are preserved in the Old·SloTIU1ic Church la.nguage. Apos~ Methodius surnved his brother Cyril 54 SLOVAKIA b7 sixteen yea.re. In Slavl!stic science The Life of Constantine is considered the work of Met,hodiu,s, and The Life of Mebhodius the work of one ot their SloV'81k disciples. The sentence "By bhe grace of God we 8Are in good health" in the speech of the messenger,a to Constallltinople is very interesting. On meeting one another Slovaks bhus speak a;bout heaMih. Neibher a ~rman, nor any person of the ot•h er western nations would say it in this way. In the Liife of Methodius (Chaa>t. V) it is tra.n.& l:ated into Latin: "bene vale mus" - we aire well." In the Magyar language "hogy szolgal az egesueg ?" and similar expressions are from the Slovak language. 2 Today the Gel"ma,n,s themselves admit much of tbhait nature. " .. . . mit dem deutchen Priester kam auch der deutche Colonl,st .. . so da.sz von nun a.n Chrlrstlamlsierung und Germa.nisierung Hand lin Hand gerum" (cf. Karl Schober: Die Deutchen in Nieder und Ober-Oesterreich, Sal?Jburg, Steyermark, Kii.rn,then und Krain, iP- 15) . 3. " . . . die heutige Sl1>wakey in Oberungern ist das elgentllche Gross•Mahren ... " - he w.l"ote in a letter (in 1&25) to J. S. Bandrtke (Corresponde111Ce of Joseph Dobrovsky, •N, p. 163). 4. Slovanske Staroiltnostl, pp. 794, 7!Y.i, 822. 5. En~ehungsgeachichte der klrchenalavischen Sprache, Ber 1 in, 1913, p. 19 (First edition VleDIIla, 1900). 6. Die slawischen, Sprachen (Die Kult11,r der Gegeuwart, I. IX 1908, Berlin und LeLl)21g). 7. For instance, in &55: "R~ Hlu!lovlcus in Sclavo Marahenses contra Raallizen duoem eorem s,l,bi rebellantem parum IJI"OSpere ducto exercitu"-i( Ruodolfua Fu Idens, p. 369). Ibidem, p. 370: "Quo per fugam lapso et ad Raatizen se conferente.'' - In 869 " ... in illam ineffabllem Rastizl munltdonem et omnl_bus antiqulssimls dlssimilem ... " (Annalea Fuldenses, Pertz, I, 381.) In 870 " .. . ZuentJJ,baJJ.d, nepos Rastizi ... " (Annales Fuldenses, 882.) 8. Svii.toplu,k's predecessor is called Rastic ia.lso ·b y the Slovak monk Chrabr, and about him wie know that he wrote during the time "when there still lived people wlho had SEEN the apostles Cyril and Method ius." 9. Slovanske Starofitnostl , p . 804 . 10. Vacov, Budin, Vysehrad, Osrtrlhom, are Slovak, western Slovanlc names, a,s iare Devin, Ba,zin, -Budatfn. Beyond Budin was TeUn (as in the Czech 1land)-'the Ger-mans living there since the thirteenth century call it Tetlng, just as Bazin ia ito them Bosling, Hodonflll-Goding, in Lower AulStrla Modlin-Modllmg, a.nd many ,others. Vacov i,s derived from the same proper name as in the Czeoh land Is Va.c; Ostrihom is what in the Czech land ds Stfehom (the "o" in Its prefix has the saime origin oo in Oriava, or Im. the Zvolen Ortuty, and the ~arls Ordzovany ) ... We must deduce the close rel11.tionshlp ·b etween the Czeohs and the Slovakls by such ,topographic nMnes, but not by a "cultural union," of which there could have been ·b ut very little lbetween us owing to our separated states and dltter81lt geog:raJJ)hical locatrl.on. Let u,s but examine our culture-words, Wlhwt dissimilarity they present to us. The Slovaks call ink "atrament," the Czeohs "inkoust;" or, what is "t!abak" (tobacco) to the Czechs is "dohan" to the Slovaks. (This means that -smok!:ng reached the Slovaks, a.s It did the Yugoslovan-s, 'by way of the Orient, throug,h the Turu; .to bhe Czechs and the Germans, however, i t came from America via. Spain). 'J1he Slovak names of places (Kaza, Ka.zinec, Tetin, Bwbisar-in Zem-pliin-Pra:ha (In Novohrad) contra.vert SLOVAKIA 55 also the inventions ot Kosma& in regard to the daughters of K:rok, Ka2a, Teta, Li,bus,a, and about the founding of Prague (Praha). 11. " ... in .fil.la.m ineftabilem Rastizi munitionem et omnibus antiquissimis di1JBimilam ... " 1·2. J.<iramtdsek Palacky: •D ejiny naroda ceskeho, I, 11876, p. 147. We •Slovaiks, however, caai supplement even Pa.lacky's statement; we have a. poetic na:rra.tion of tlhe g,reat battle beneath Devin. Jan Holly's great epic .p oem in 12 cantos, named after its prinoipa.1 hero "Svii.• topluk," presents it. As Tacitus's descri,p tion •there, so Jaai Holly's description here :118 gTand. (Talk-en from history the work of such a poet as is Jan Holly ha,s aaso its historic value.) 13. IP- 26, etc. 14. Geschichte Osten-elchs, I. 16. Acording ,t o all, though sparse reports, Moj,mir <b~me the heir not on[y o! his father'<S realm, bull a1so of his a:bHLties a,s a &ta.te:sman. However . . . for the successor of Svii.topluk even that fact was fatai that he calIIle after such a predecessor ... (V. Novotn:9': Ce-ek6 Dejiny, p. 421.) 16. Mention of the battle of Bratislava in 907-wihich the Bavaria.n,s together with Mojmir LI are supposed to have lost a.gadnst the Magyars -appeared only in ~e sixteen-till oentu,ry with Avenitinus and bas been reoe;n,tly !!"ejected even by Magyar historiaai,s. In ipresent da.ys, after the World War, a. r6CO!I"d was foUllld among German -s ouroes, con.fir-m ing the ,statements of Ave.ntinus, but it will hardily throw more light on the subject. Mter 907, more than one hundred years ·pa.s&ed 8llld still the Ma,g:y<a!rs did not appear on this (Uhe Slovak) side of the Da.nulbe. Not until after 1025, after the death of iBoleslav .t he Brave of Poland, that is, tow,a,rd11 the end of the reign of St. Stephen, they bega,n gra.dua,Hyand only gradually-to ~pa,nd a.nd settle dO'W'Il. Konrad Schti.nema.nn (Die Deutschen In Ungarn bis zum 12. Jahrhundert, Berll!Il u . Le1pzig, 1923) also states that the Magyar-s occupied Pan.nonia only slow,l y and gradually so that Uhe Ge:r,ma,ns who ha.d lived there had opportunity to wi-th<Lraw without haste to :their fO'I"Iller settle• ments. - About this question it is neccessary to have constantly in mind tha.t the Ma.gya.rs ca.me ,t o ,tjhe Danube as nomads, a.nd a nomad, if he ·tasrries anywhere, •m ust not stir up his closest neighbors against ·himself. (By compa!I"ison, I do not wwnt to offend the Magyars by the sdmile, 1but ,t he Gyipsies, living on the outskirts of our towns and vil•1 ages ,say even today: uNo 001e streals <:lose by.") Besides, the Magyars came here-as we wllll see faTther on-while in flight. They came with a !frightful ,experience. y.rhile they had wandered from Atelkuz beyond the Dainube, thked by the Greek Emperor agai,nst the Bulgars, the neighboring Pechenegs a.tta.okied their defenseless settlements in Aitelku2: and 'killed <tlheir children, women, and aged. After their return from the Danube, terrified ·b y the dreadful happenings at Atelkuz, they pa.eked whatever :they sti-11 could a.nd took to flight tn a westerly direction. They stopped only when they reached the territoo-y between the Tisa. BIIld the Middle Dwnube, in Pa.nmonia. After sudh an experi• ence ,t hey could venture trom the Danube, from Pannonda, on predatory expeditio.n-s Jnto Italy and Germany, but with theiT moat :proximate neighbors they VeTY likely endeavored to Uve in peace. AJbout their 'kind of lite, we have the mown remonstrance of tftle Germ81Il bishops in 900 which contailns grave accusations against the Slova.ns (probably of Pam-nonia), that they a,ssl1Sted the Maigyars. As a. matter of fact, the 56 SLOVAKIA Magyars, w~o ha.d come trom the eastern s,teppes scarcely ha,d 8/IlY great desire to venture across, to the lett bank of the Danube. The nomaJd avoids mounta.iais. He needs to see far, fair all around himself, and in the mountains, whether on the rigM or on the left, in front or behind, there is always a possibility of danger. For that reason it is not vecy lpr()baible thait the Magyars, after :tlheir airrival on the Datnulbe -as eaJ1ly as 907 - would have ventured into a grea,t action agalnist Mojmir II. They begaJR-a.s now even Magyair history admits- ,t o occupy the territories on the left ban,k of the Danube gra.dually, in the eleventh century, toward,s ,t he end o! the reign of St. Stephen. 17. Metodievskij jubilejnyj sbornik, Varsava, 18S5, p. 79, etc. 18. Dejiny narodu ceak~ho, I, 1876, p . 223. 19. A. N. Py,pin: lstorija siavianskich literatur, I, rp. 35. 20. "O n.arodnoati apoitolov Slavianswa, in Bratislava, a publication of Sal.arik's Learned Society, No. 2, 1927 . .21. Zitie av. Metoda, Chapter XVII. 22. "Se ~ t vasej~ zemlj~ -s vobod ,m ~i ... " (Zitie av. Metoda, Chapt. XWI.) 23. In confirmation Pogorielov further shows how in· the CyrilloMethodic text the negative "no" (NIE) and its opposite "yes" (A(,,'0) is expressed. T~e Czechs '88.Y ANO; 1lhe Poles TAK; the Russians and BulglllI'B DA; the Serbs and Croats JEST; only the Slovak language has the ,same word we read in the Gospel of Matthew V, 37: " b~di ~ slovo va§e ej, ej i nl ni. Or (Mat. XXI, 16) when the Pharisees &1sked Chrfst: Slysisi Ii ~to sii glago!:j~t. Jlsu,s ze ~ im: ej. (In the Kralice Bible thf,s reads: jiate, Jiate nikoli, nikoli; and the second: oviem. ln Slova,k, in ,t he Tr.nava edition of Richard Osvald: ano, ano, nle, nie, and in chapter XXl--<>viem. Instea.d of ,t he full sounding "HEJ," the Slovam..ic Church text has "EJ''---ithere being no letter "h" in the Cyrilllc's sor1a>t, It is true 1'n the 9th century the Slovakia still pronou.nced "G" instead of the pre• sent-day "H." But ,then, this attimna.tive word could o:nly begin mith the vowel "E," otherwise Gora.zd would ha.ve scarcely omitte'Cl its "G." ln behalf or the Slovak ca.use it is advisa,ble to add that in the Old-Sllovanic Bible tert this "EJ" (HEJ) is such a mark, such a charac,t eristic of present-day central SlovaJc, as is the letter "A" in the name of our Rastisla.v. And thus the one and the other is a.n hi'9toruc document about the Slova.ks-about the nationality of Great Moravia. Tha.t is, in ,t he 9'tlh century, aind in all of present-day Moraivia a.n.d In all of wesrern Slovakia substantially the ,same la.nguage wae spoken as we have it today along the Middle Vall, lower Orava, near Turiec, Hron, l1>el', a,nd in Upper Nitra. (Against such documents, it wm not be possible to risk the opinion thait "the core of the alovalk dta.lectical region is not the central group, ·b ut the western." (M. W. in his note on "Stare Slovensko, ,p . 284). 24. "Stoj. ndho ! Posvatna. mis ta jsou, kamkoll kralis ! " 25. K. J. Grot: Karpato-dunajakija zemli v sudbach slavianatva, 1905, p . 18. 26. D. ,z. Lautek: Sv. Cyril a Method, apoitolovla alovanakf, 18&6, p. 70. - See also V. Jaglc: Archlv fur alaviache Phllologie, XX, p. 27. 27. "Vy bo jesta Sol-un•lantna, da Solunia.ne vsi ~f.sto aiovenaky be- sMujit." - Zitle Metoda, Chapter V. 28. "Die Gros,ze des Werkes ha.t ma.n frllber lraum recht e~flnden konnen, aber gerade in der heutigen Sprachwissenscha.ft . . . musz SLOVAKIA 57 der Grammati:ker Konsita.nUn Bewu~derung erregen." - A. Leskien : Grammatik der altbulgari&chen (altkirchen-slavischen) Sprache, Heidelberg, 1919, p. XXI. 29. Konsta,ntl.n Grot: Metodijevskij jubilejnij sborntk, Varsa.va, 1885, p , 5. 30. Russkij filologiceskij Viestnik, 1894, 3, p. 1. 31. Archiv fur slavische Philologre, XX, p . 28 32. Entstehungsgeschichtle der kirchenslavischen Sprache, 1913, pp. 2, 3. SS. CYRIL AN.D METHODIU'S  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Legacy of the Great Moravian State of Our Ancestors: The Slovanic Church and Slovanic Literature Description An account of the resource Joseph Škultéty Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 35-57 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Škultéty, Joseph Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c81966ab83aa490ff8e2044117e0e4b7.pdf 1c14a39865f9334c9f66438c5a8e0681 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 39 Collaboration and Coexistence: THE LETI'RICH "DEMOCRATS" AND COMMUNISTS P.A. Hrobak The Slovak Democratic Party did not exist in pre-war Slovakia, whereas the Slovak Communist Party did. The Democratic Party came into existence when the left-wing Agrarians decided to salvage their wealth and their political prestige at the expense of their own nation. They were well aware of the fact that they represented a negligible amount of the Slovak electorate in Slovakia and, hence, could never be elected as representatives of the political will of the Slovak nation in any free elections. The Communists in pre-war Slovakia were just about in the same fix; they did not have the backing of even 10 % of the electorate. But the Communists were in a more favorable position at the end of 1943, because it was quite evident at that time that the USSR would have a lot to say about the order that was to prevail in Czecho-Slovakia after the war. Dr. Edward Benes, the "resigned-and-stil'l president" of Czecho-Slovakia, had concluded the "Czechoslovak-Soviet Treaty" on December 12, 1943, which formally sold out that hapless country to the USSR. The Lettrich "Democrats" were fully aware of the situation at that time. The Lettrich "Democrats" could become a power in post-war Slovakia only with the help of the Communists, so they joined up with them to destroy the Republic of Slovakia and estaiblish a "new" Czecho-Slovakia - a "people's" democracy - subordinated to the USSR. They concluded several agreements with the Communists which are referred to writers from time to time. We produce them in toto here. The 1943 "Christmas" Agreement "The ideological tendencies in Slovakia - which even after October 6, 1938, continued on the principles of antiFascist democracy and to the present day have actively opposed the political, economic and cultural violation of the Slovak people and which today represent the actual think- �SLOVAKIA ing of all groups of the Slovak people - have decided to create a common political leadership which shall be the SLOVAK NATIONAL COUNCIL, the sole representative of the political will of the Slovak nation at home. "I. The Role and the Aims of the Slovak National Council are: . "1. Unitedly and centrally to wage the fight of the Slovak nation for the removal of the Nazi-German dictatorship, which is being enforced even by native usurpers of political power. "2. At the fi..rst opportune moment to seize all political, legislative, military, or administrative executive power in Slovakia and administer it according to the will of the people until such time as freely elected representatives of the people shall be able to take over all power. "3. As soon as possible after the seizure of power, the Slovak National Council shall see to it that the Slovak people of its own will shall freely designate its own representatives to whom the Slovak National Council shall surrender all power. "4. In its activity the Slovak National Council shall proceed in understanding with the Czecho-Slovak Government and the entire resistance movement abroad, whose work in the international and military fields it recognizes and supports. "II. The associated tendencies and groups of the Council have agreed on these principles: "1. It is our desire that the Slovak nation and the Czech nation, as the most related Slovanic nations, work out their future destiny in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, that is, in a joint State of the Slovaks and Czechs, and on a basis of equality. "2. We desire close collaboration with all Slovanic States and nations, especially with the Soviet Union in which we see the guarantee of a free life and general growth of small nations generally and of the Slovanic nations in particular . ., ~· , · "3. · ·The future Czecho-Slovak Republic shall conduct its foreign policy in the spirit of these principles and, there- �SLOVAKIA 41 fore in the field of foreign policy and in the military field shall rely on the USSR. "4. The internal order of the future Czecho-Slovak Repurblic shall be democratic, but all Fascist, racial, totalitarian tendencies, and all such as shall be in conflict with these principles, shall be eradicated. In this spirit the internal political government shall be firmly conducted, but, nevertheless, in a democratic manner. It is necessary to avoid the mistakes and errors of the past. "5. The concept of democracy must be carried over and intensified also in the economic and social fields, so that the distribution of the national income among all the inhabitants be as equal as possible and the life of every citizen be humanly dignified. "6. Culture, education and training must be conducted by these principles. Freedom of religious beliefs shall be preserved, but the influence of the churches on the tendency and the management of the State shall be excluded. "7. About the definite adjustment of these questions - and especially about the legal, constitutional adjustment of the relationship of the Slovak nation to the Czech nation - shall be decided, on the Slovak side, exclusively by freely (designated) representatives of the Slovak nation. "Bratislava, Christmas, 1943." T·h e Agreement of June 26, 1945 . "1. Neither party of the National Front has any other aims than a united, indivisible, democratic Czecho-Slovak Republic, built on the legally equal union of the Slovak and Czech nations and, in its foreign, Slovak and economic policies, depending on the Soviet Union, keeping brotherly contacts with all Slovanic States and nations, preserving the traditional friendly contacts with the western allies. "2. Both parties of the National Front - the Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Slovakia - are aware of the fact that to successfully perform the tasks of one class pr of one political party is not sufficient, but that harmonious cooperation of all working groups of the nation �42 SLOVAKIA is necessary, and that of both our political parties which represent the will of the nation. "3. It is our unalterable will to preserve and consolidate the National Front, which is built first of all on the collaboration of the Democratic Party with the Communist Party of Slovakia, so that it could fulfill its great task of consolidation and reconstruction. "In the spirit of fraternal friendship of the Czech and Slovak nations, we want to keep up the most friendly cooperation of the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party, federated in the Slovak National Front, with the political parties in the Czech lands, especially with the bloc of working people of the cities and their vicinities which forms the core of political representation of the Czech nation. "4. Just as we fought together during the national rebellion against the Gellman invaders and their Magyar helpers, so together we want to cleanse Slovakia of Nazi Germans, Fascist Magyars, to achieve the exchange of the remaining Magyar population for the Slovaks in Hungary and abroad and thus contribute to the fulfillment of the governmental program to build the Czecho-Slovak Republic as a State of the Czechs and the Slovaks. "5. By mutual collaboration we want to continue inexorably and uncompromisingly to expose and disarm all Fascist, collaborationist and exploitationary elements. "6. Just as we value highly respectable, conscientious and qualified citizens, even if they are not adherents of political parties, we shall just as certainly disarm characterless conjuncturalists, chameleons, opportunists, as well as the prejudiced, even if they should cloak themselves with adherence to some of our parties. "7. Between the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party there is complete agreement on the matter that local and district National Committees, just like economic, industrial, social, health, cultural and other institutions of a national character, shall not become the object of one of our political parties, but shall be so composed that they adequately represent all democratic and working groups of our citizenry. �SLOVAKIA 43 "8. The Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Slovakia are completely united in respecting and defending the right of religious confession, but also in the matter that Slovak citizens of whatever faith are equal citizens of our State. On the other hand, they expect that the churches shall not afford asylum to Fascist culprits and shall not become tools of any sort of political agitation. "9. The Democratic Party, just like the Communist Party of Slovakia, is striving for extensive social reforms to raise the living and cultural standard of the working people and, on the other hand, the Communist Party of Slovakia, just like the Democratic Party, resolutely respects private property of peasants, tradesmen, businessmen, small and medium entrepreneurs and officials. "10. Since there is agreement ,o n all vital questions between the Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Slovakia, both parties shall strive for the end that, in the spirit of the collacboration of the underground and the uprising, the methods of honorable, open, sincere and loyal collaboration, become domesticated in all organizations and groups of the party. "June 26, 1945. "For the Communist Party of Slovakia: Karol Schmidke, Dr. Gustav Husak, Laco Novomesky, Dr. E. Frisch, Karol Bacilek. "For the Democratic Party: Dr. Jozef Lettrich, Dr. Fedor Hodza, Dr. Matej Josko, Dr. Jozef Kysely, Milan Polak." It is obvious that the Lettrich "Democrats" collaborated with Communists and the USSR deliberately and willingly against the national interests of their own people. They wanted to coexist and co-govern with the Reds, but forgot that the Reds had other plans, their own plans, based on the Moscow blueprint or master plan. After the Reds and Moscow used them to attain their ends in Czecho-Slovakia, the Lettrich "Democrats" were relegated to the political rubbish heap. The Slovak people, whom they betrayed, want to keep them there. Why should our State Department, the �SLOVAKIA 44 U. S. Information Agency (Voice of America), the Free Europe Committee (Radio Free Europe) and other American institutions still try to salvage them? Why insist that such 0 political dupes" ( ?) represent the political will of the Slovak nation? They never did and never shall! • RECOMMENDED $3.00; SWVAK FOR (the set); "Hirdbak's "S'IJOVAK LffiSSONS" • • BOOKS: "The Slovaks" (Jwrchak BEGINNERS" (Books I-III) $1.50 Eniglish-,Sl{)IVa;k Dictionary" $4.00; (iHrolbak) $3.50 . • • • NATIONALIZATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY IN SLOVAKIA Andrej Gemersky When Edward Benes signed the governmental decree in 1945 to nationalize '.key (heavy) indrustry, the Communists in Slovakia and the Czech lands became the masters of the economic situation. By signing that decree Benes sealed the fate not only of heaJVy industry, Wihich thereto was owned for the most part rb y share-holders' associations, 1b ut also the industry which was owned by indirviduals. Benes's decree nationali0ed all industrial enterprises which employed: more than 50 persons. For the time bemg, therefore, enterprises with u:p to 50 emptoyees were not affeded by the decree. Bwt only for a short time. The Co1mmunists are rk nown for their consistent stand on a!bolishing all rprivaJte ownership. They ibelieve in the prinrciple that man s'hould not exiploit man, that man must not be ex!ploited 'by the bourgeois, the capitalists, who. according to the Communists are represented by private OIWltlers withO'llt regard to the iltind and ~tent of prirvate ownership. The Communists, therefore, once they were in key positliooo in SlovaJki1a , sought to nationalilze every private enter.prise, large and small. I had said that enterprises with up to 50 employees were not nationalized at the outset (1945). These the � SLOVAKIA 39 Collaboration and Coexistence: THE LETI'RICH "DEMOCRATS" AND COMMUNISTS P.A. Hrobak The Slovak Democratic Party did not exist in pre-war Slovakia, whereas the Slovak Communist Party did. The Democratic Party came into existence when the left-wing Agrarians decided to salvage their wealth and their political prestige at the expense of their own nation. They were well aware of the fact that they represented a negligible amount of the Slovak electorate in Slovakia and, hence, could never be elected as representatives of the political will of the Slovak nation in any free elections. The Communists in pre-war Slovakia were just about in the same fix; they did not have the backing of even 10 % of the electorate. But the Communists were in a more favorable position at the end of 1943, because it was quite evident at that time that the USSR would have a lot to say about the order that was to prevail in Czecho-Slovakia after the war. Dr. Edward Benes, the "resigned-and-stil'l president" of Czecho-Slovakia, had concluded the "Czechoslovak-Soviet Treaty" on December 12, 1943, which formally sold out that hapless country to the USSR. The Lettrich "Democrats" were fully aware of the situation at that time. The Lettrich "Democrats" could become a power in post-war Slovakia only with the help of the Communists, so they joined up with them to destroy the Republic of Slovakia and estaiblish a "new" Czecho-Slovakia - a "people's" democracy - subordinated to the USSR. They concluded several agreements with the Communists which are referred to writers from time to time. We produce them in toto here. The 1943 "Christmas" Agreement "The ideological tendencies in Slovakia - which even after October 6, 1938, continued on the principles of antiFascist democracy and to the present day have actively opposed the political, economic and cultural violation of the Slovak people and which today represent the actual think- �SLOVAKIA ing of all groups of the Slovak people - have decided to create a common political leadership which shall be the SLOVAK NATIONAL COUNCIL, the sole representative of the political will of the Slovak nation at home. "I. The Role and the Aims of the Slovak National Council are: . "1. Unitedly and centrally to wage the fight of the Slovak nation for the removal of the Nazi-German dictatorship, which is being enforced even by native usurpers of political power. "2. At the fi..rst opportune moment to seize all political, legislative, military, or administrative executive power in Slovakia and administer it according to the will of the people until such time as freely elected representatives of the people shall be able to take over all power. "3. As soon as possible after the seizure of power, the Slovak National Council shall see to it that the Slovak people of its own will shall freely designate its own representatives to whom the Slovak National Council shall surrender all power. "4. In its activity the Slovak National Council shall proceed in understanding with the Czecho-Slovak Government and the entire resistance movement abroad, whose work in the international and military fields it recognizes and supports. "II. The associated tendencies and groups of the Council have agreed on these principles: "1. It is our desire that the Slovak nation and the Czech nation, as the most related Slovanic nations, work out their future destiny in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, that is, in a joint State of the Slovaks and Czechs, and on a basis of equality. "2. We desire close collaboration with all Slovanic States and nations, especially with the Soviet Union in which we see the guarantee of a free life and general growth of small nations generally and of the Slovanic nations in particular . ., ~· , · "3. · ·The future Czecho-Slovak Republic shall conduct its foreign policy in the spirit of these principles and, there- �SLOVAKIA 41 fore in the field of foreign policy and in the military field shall rely on the USSR. "4. The internal order of the future Czecho-Slovak Repurblic shall be democratic, but all Fascist, racial, totalitarian tendencies, and all such as shall be in conflict with these principles, shall be eradicated. In this spirit the internal political government shall be firmly conducted, but, nevertheless, in a democratic manner. It is necessary to avoid the mistakes and errors of the past. "5. The concept of democracy must be carried over and intensified also in the economic and social fields, so that the distribution of the national income among all the inhabitants be as equal as possible and the life of every citizen be humanly dignified. "6. Culture, education and training must be conducted by these principles. Freedom of religious beliefs shall be preserved, but the influence of the churches on the tendency and the management of the State shall be excluded. "7. About the definite adjustment of these questions - and especially about the legal, constitutional adjustment of the relationship of the Slovak nation to the Czech nation - shall be decided, on the Slovak side, exclusively by freely (designated) representatives of the Slovak nation. "Bratislava, Christmas, 1943." T·h e Agreement of June 26, 1945 . "1. Neither party of the National Front has any other aims than a united, indivisible, democratic Czecho-Slovak Republic, built on the legally equal union of the Slovak and Czech nations and, in its foreign, Slovak and economic policies, depending on the Soviet Union, keeping brotherly contacts with all Slovanic States and nations, preserving the traditional friendly contacts with the western allies. "2. Both parties of the National Front - the Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Slovakia - are aware of the fact that to successfully perform the tasks of one class pr of one political party is not sufficient, but that harmonious cooperation of all working groups of the nation �42 SLOVAKIA is necessary, and that of both our political parties which represent the will of the nation. "3. It is our unalterable will to preserve and consolidate the National Front, which is built first of all on the collaboration of the Democratic Party with the Communist Party of Slovakia, so that it could fulfill its great task of consolidation and reconstruction. "In the spirit of fraternal friendship of the Czech and Slovak nations, we want to keep up the most friendly cooperation of the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party, federated in the Slovak National Front, with the political parties in the Czech lands, especially with the bloc of working people of the cities and their vicinities which forms the core of political representation of the Czech nation. "4. Just as we fought together during the national rebellion against the Gellman invaders and their Magyar helpers, so together we want to cleanse Slovakia of Nazi Germans, Fascist Magyars, to achieve the exchange of the remaining Magyar population for the Slovaks in Hungary and abroad and thus contribute to the fulfillment of the governmental program to build the Czecho-Slovak Republic as a State of the Czechs and the Slovaks. "5. By mutual collaboration we want to continue inexorably and uncompromisingly to expose and disarm all Fascist, collaborationist and exploitationary elements. "6. Just as we value highly respectable, conscientious and qualified citizens, even if they are not adherents of political parties, we shall just as certainly disarm characterless conjuncturalists, chameleons, opportunists, as well as the prejudiced, even if they should cloak themselves with adherence to some of our parties. "7. Between the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party there is complete agreement on the matter that local and district National Committees, just like economic, industrial, social, health, cultural and other institutions of a national character, shall not become the object of one of our political parties, but shall be so composed that they adequately represent all democratic and working groups of our citizenry. �SLOVAKIA 43 "8. The Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Slovakia are completely united in respecting and defending the right of religious confession, but also in the matter that Slovak citizens of whatever faith are equal citizens of our State. On the other hand, they expect that the churches shall not afford asylum to Fascist culprits and shall not become tools of any sort of political agitation. "9. The Democratic Party, just like the Communist Party of Slovakia, is striving for extensive social reforms to raise the living and cultural standard of the working people and, on the other hand, the Communist Party of Slovakia, just like the Democratic Party, resolutely respects private property of peasants, tradesmen, businessmen, small and medium entrepreneurs and officials. "10. Since there is agreement ,o n all vital questions between the Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Slovakia, both parties shall strive for the end that, in the spirit of the collacboration of the underground and the uprising, the methods of honorable, open, sincere and loyal collaboration, become domesticated in all organizations and groups of the party. "June 26, 1945. "For the Communist Party of Slovakia: Karol Schmidke, Dr. Gustav Husak, Laco Novomesky, Dr. E. Frisch, Karol Bacilek. "For the Democratic Party: Dr. Jozef Lettrich, Dr. Fedor Hodza, Dr. Matej Josko, Dr. Jozef Kysely, Milan Polak." It is obvious that the Lettrich "Democrats" collaborated with Communists and the USSR deliberately and willingly against the national interests of their own people. They wanted to coexist and co-govern with the Reds, but forgot that the Reds had other plans, their own plans, based on the Moscow blueprint or master plan. After the Reds and Moscow used them to attain their ends in Czecho-Slovakia, the Lettrich "Democrats" were relegated to the political rubbish heap. The Slovak people, whom they betrayed, want to keep them there. Why should our State Department, the �SLOVAKIA 44 U. S. Information Agency (Voice of America), the Free Europe Committee (Radio Free Europe) and other American institutions still try to salvage them? Why insist that such 0 political dupes" ( ?) represent the political will of the Slovak nation? They never did and never shall! • RECOMMENDED $3.00; SWVAK FOR (the set); "Hirdbak's "S'IJOVAK LffiSSONS" • • BOOKS: "The Slovaks" (Jwrchak BEGINNERS" (Books I-III) $1.50 Eniglish-,Sl{)IVa;k Dictionary" $4.00; (iHrolbak) $3.50 . • • • NATIONALIZATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY IN SLOVAKIA Andrej Gemersky When Edward Benes signed the governmental decree in 1945 to nationalize '.key (heavy) indrustry, the Communists in Slovakia and the Czech lands became the masters of the economic situation. By signing that decree Benes sealed the fate not only of heaJVy industry, Wihich thereto was owned for the most part rb y share-holders' associations, 1b ut also the industry which was owned by indirviduals. Benes's decree nationali0ed all industrial enterprises which employed: more than 50 persons. For the time bemg, therefore, enterprises with u:p to 50 emptoyees were not affeded by the decree. Bwt only for a short time. The Co1mmunists are rk nown for their consistent stand on a!bolishing all rprivaJte ownership. They ibelieve in the prinrciple that man s'hould not exiploit man, that man must not be ex!ploited 'by the bourgeois, the capitalists, who. according to the Communists are represented by private OIWltlers withO'llt regard to the iltind and ~tent of prirvate ownership. The Communists, therefore, once they were in key positliooo in SlovaJki1a , sought to nationalilze every private enter.prise, large and small. I had said that enterprises with up to 50 employees were not nationalized at the outset (1945). These the � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1954, Vol. 4 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 10), March 1954.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 11), June 1954.</li> <li>Issue 3-4 (No. 12-13), Sept.-Dec. 1954.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1954 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 39 Collaboration and Coexistence: THE LETI'RICH "DEMOCRATS" AND COMMUNISTS P.A. Hrobak The Slovak Democratic Party did not exist in pre-war Slovakia, whereas the Slovak Communist Party did. The Democratic Party came into existence when the left-wing Agrarians decided to salvage their wealth and their political prestige at the expense of their own nation. They were well aware of the fact that they represented a negligible amount of the Slovak electorate in Slovakia and, hence, could never be elected as representatives of the political will of the Slovak nation in any free elections. The Communists in pre-war Slovakia were just about in the same fix; they did not have the backing of even 10 % of the electorate. But the Communists were in a more favorable position at the end of 1943, because it was quite evident at that time that the USSR would have a lot to say about the order that was to prevail in Czecho-Slovakia after the war. Dr. Edward Benes, the "resigned-and-stil'l president" of Czecho-Slovakia, had concluded the "Czechoslovak-Soviet Treaty" on December 12, 1943, which formally sold out that hapless country to the USSR. The Lettrich "Democrats" were fully aware of the situation at that time. The Lettrich "Democrats" could become a power in post-war Slovakia only with the help of the Communists, so they joined up with them to destroy the Republic of Slovakia and estaiblish a "new" Czecho-Slovakia - a "people's" democracy - subordinated to the USSR. They concluded several agreements with the Communists which are referred to writers from time to time. We produce them in toto here. The 1943 "Christmas" Agreement "The ideological tendencies in Slovakia - which even after October 6, 1938, continued on the principles of antiFascist democracy and to the present day have actively opposed the political, economic and cultural violation of the Slovak people and which today represent the actual think- SLOVAKIA ing of all groups of the Slovak people - have decided to create a common political leadership which shall be the SLOVAK NATIONAL COUNCIL, the sole representative of the political will of the Slovak nation at home. "I. The Role and the Aims of the Slovak National Council are: . "1. Unitedly and centrally to wage the fight of the Slovak nation for the removal of the Nazi-German dictatorship, which is being enforced even by native usurpers of political power. "2. At the fi..rst opportune moment to seize all political, legislative, military, or administrative executive power in Slovakia and administer it according to the will of the people until such time as freely elected representatives of the people shall be able to take over all power. "3. As soon as possible after the seizure of power, the Slovak National Council shall see to it that the Slovak people of its own will shall freely designate its own representatives to whom the Slovak National Council shall surrender all power. "4. In its activity the Slovak National Council shall proceed in understanding with the Czecho-Slovak Government and the entire resistance movement abroad, whose work in the international and military fields it recognizes and supports. "II. The associated tendencies and groups of the Council have agreed on these principles: "1. It is our desire that the Slovak nation and the Czech nation, as the most related Slovanic nations, work out their future destiny in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, that is, in a joint State of the Slovaks and Czechs, and on a basis of equality. "2. We desire close collaboration with all Slovanic States and nations, especially with the Soviet Union in which we see the guarantee of a free life and general growth of small nations generally and of the Slovanic nations in particular . ., ~· , · "3. · ·The future Czecho-Slovak Republic shall conduct its foreign policy in the spirit of these principles and, there- SLOVAKIA 41 fore in the field of foreign policy and in the military field shall rely on the USSR. "4. The internal order of the future Czecho-Slovak Repurblic shall be democratic, but all Fascist, racial, totalitarian tendencies, and all such as shall be in conflict with these principles, shall be eradicated. In this spirit the internal political government shall be firmly conducted, but, nevertheless, in a democratic manner. It is necessary to avoid the mistakes and errors of the past. "5. The concept of democracy must be carried over and intensified also in the economic and social fields, so that the distribution of the national income among all the inhabitants be as equal as possible and the life of every citizen be humanly dignified. "6. Culture, education and training must be conducted by these principles. Freedom of religious beliefs shall be preserved, but the influence of the churches on the tendency and the management of the State shall be excluded. "7. About the definite adjustment of these questions - and especially about the legal, constitutional adjustment of the relationship of the Slovak nation to the Czech nation - shall be decided, on the Slovak side, exclusively by freely (designated) representatives of the Slovak nation. "Bratislava, Christmas, 1943." T·h e Agreement of June 26, 1945 . "1. Neither party of the National Front has any other aims than a united, indivisible, democratic Czecho-Slovak Republic, built on the legally equal union of the Slovak and Czech nations and, in its foreign, Slovak and economic policies, depending on the Soviet Union, keeping brotherly contacts with all Slovanic States and nations, preserving the traditional friendly contacts with the western allies. "2. Both parties of the National Front - the Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Slovakia - are aware of the fact that to successfully perform the tasks of one class pr of one political party is not sufficient, but that harmonious cooperation of all working groups of the nation 42 SLOVAKIA is necessary, and that of both our political parties which represent the will of the nation. "3. It is our unalterable will to preserve and consolidate the National Front, which is built first of all on the collaboration of the Democratic Party with the Communist Party of Slovakia, so that it could fulfill its great task of consolidation and reconstruction. "In the spirit of fraternal friendship of the Czech and Slovak nations, we want to keep up the most friendly cooperation of the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party, federated in the Slovak National Front, with the political parties in the Czech lands, especially with the bloc of working people of the cities and their vicinities which forms the core of political representation of the Czech nation. "4. Just as we fought together during the national rebellion against the Gellman invaders and their Magyar helpers, so together we want to cleanse Slovakia of Nazi Germans, Fascist Magyars, to achieve the exchange of the remaining Magyar population for the Slovaks in Hungary and abroad and thus contribute to the fulfillment of the governmental program to build the Czecho-Slovak Republic as a State of the Czechs and the Slovaks. "5. By mutual collaboration we want to continue inexorably and uncompromisingly to expose and disarm all Fascist, collaborationist and exploitationary elements. "6. Just as we value highly respectable, conscientious and qualified citizens, even if they are not adherents of political parties, we shall just as certainly disarm characterless conjuncturalists, chameleons, opportunists, as well as the prejudiced, even if they should cloak themselves with adherence to some of our parties. "7. Between the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party there is complete agreement on the matter that local and district National Committees, just like economic, industrial, social, health, cultural and other institutions of a national character, shall not become the object of one of our political parties, but shall be so composed that they adequately represent all democratic and working groups of our citizenry. SLOVAKIA 43 "8. The Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Slovakia are completely united in respecting and defending the right of religious confession, but also in the matter that Slovak citizens of whatever faith are equal citizens of our State. On the other hand, they expect that the churches shall not afford asylum to Fascist culprits and shall not become tools of any sort of political agitation. "9. The Democratic Party, just like the Communist Party of Slovakia, is striving for extensive social reforms to raise the living and cultural standard of the working people and, on the other hand, the Communist Party of Slovakia, just like the Democratic Party, resolutely respects private property of peasants, tradesmen, businessmen, small and medium entrepreneurs and officials. "10. Since there is agreement ,o n all vital questions between the Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Slovakia, both parties shall strive for the end that, in the spirit of the collacboration of the underground and the uprising, the methods of honorable, open, sincere and loyal collaboration, become domesticated in all organizations and groups of the party. "June 26, 1945. "For the Communist Party of Slovakia: Karol Schmidke, Dr. Gustav Husak, Laco Novomesky, Dr. E. Frisch, Karol Bacilek. "For the Democratic Party: Dr. Jozef Lettrich, Dr. Fedor Hodza, Dr. Matej Josko, Dr. Jozef Kysely, Milan Polak." It is obvious that the Lettrich "Democrats" collaborated with Communists and the USSR deliberately and willingly against the national interests of their own people. They wanted to coexist and co-govern with the Reds, but forgot that the Reds had other plans, their own plans, based on the Moscow blueprint or master plan. After the Reds and Moscow used them to attain their ends in Czecho-Slovakia, the Lettrich "Democrats" were relegated to the political rubbish heap. The Slovak people, whom they betrayed, want to keep them there. Why should our State Department, the SLOVAKIA 44 U. S. Information Agency (Voice of America), the Free Europe Committee (Radio Free Europe) and other American institutions still try to salvage them? Why insist that such 0 political dupes" ( ?) represent the political will of the Slovak nation? They never did and never shall! • RECOMMENDED $3.00; SWVAK FOR (the set); "Hirdbak's "S'IJOVAK LffiSSONS" • • BOOKS: "The Slovaks" (Jwrchak BEGINNERS" (Books I-III) $1.50 Eniglish-,Sl{)IVa;k Dictionary" $4.00; (iHrolbak) $3.50 . • • • NATIONALIZATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY IN SLOVAKIA Andrej Gemersky When Edward Benes signed the governmental decree in 1945 to nationalize '.key (heavy) indrustry, the Communists in Slovakia and the Czech lands became the masters of the economic situation. By signing that decree Benes sealed the fate not only of heaJVy industry, Wihich thereto was owned for the most part rb y share-holders' associations, 1b ut also the industry which was owned by indirviduals. Benes's decree nationali0ed all industrial enterprises which employed: more than 50 persons. For the time bemg, therefore, enterprises with u:p to 50 emptoyees were not affeded by the decree. Bwt only for a short time. The Co1mmunists are rk nown for their consistent stand on a!bolishing all rprivaJte ownership. They ibelieve in the prinrciple that man s'hould not exiploit man, that man must not be ex!ploited 'by the bourgeois, the capitalists, who. according to the Communists are represented by private OIWltlers withO'llt regard to the iltind and ~tent of prirvate ownership. The Communists, therefore, once they were in key positliooo in SlovaJki1a , sought to nationalilze every private enter.prise, large and small. I had said that enterprises with up to 50 employees were not nationalized at the outset (1945). These the  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Lettrich "Democrats" and Communists Description An account of the resource P. A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 4, No. 3-4 (12-13), Sept.-Dec. 1954 pp. 39-44 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Sept.-Dec. 1954 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6f50096647bd83ac201a87921054fd17.pdf 072cbb36f515d5c2bab1ba9c2a65b086 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 165 The Lyrical Prose of Vincent Sikula Peter Petro Of the three outstanding Slovak literary movements - romanticism, surrealism, and lyrical prose - only the last one is still with us, though echoes of the Romantic school can be found in both surrealist poetry and lyrical prose. It is not really surprising that the world knows little about Slovak romanticism; other romantic schools in more influential European literatures easily overshadow this late bloomer. As for surrealist poetry, though some information about it, together with a few translations, appeared recently, 1 they cannot communicate more than a flavor of the movement that would doubtless be more known had it not flourished during the war, when communication with the rest of the world was lessened. After the war, the movement was officially banned. Thus we are left with lyrical prose. Lyrical prose is sometimes identified with expressionism, but since the examples of expressionism offered by handbooks include Joyce ' s Finnegans Wake and Kafka's Trial, it seems there is a need to differentiate expressionism from lyrical prose, inasmuch as the works of Jozef Cfger Hronsky, Milo Urban, and Vincent Sikula - the major Slovak practitioners of this genre - have very little in common indeed with Joyce and Kafka . The difference would lie in the quintessential role that the village plays in the work of these Slovak authors . This is not merely a question of thematics: urban writers like Joyce and Kafka versus the Slovaks who write about the village. The difference lies rather in the world of the Slovak village and in the world view that the village inspires as the repository of traditional life long extinct in the more advanced western Europe . I think this was understood very clearly by J.C. Hronsky , when he said: " The Slovak village, despite all its simplicity, has its depth , and it is a more mysterious depth than anyone would guess judging by a superficial look. " i The village is closer to God than the city. N eed one say that thi s realization is by no means unique, that the traditional life has always been connected in literature with the country, that in fact we are dealing with an ancient topos found in the earliest �166 SLOVAKIA literature ? What is then the specificity of Slovak lyrical prose? Perhaps a brief look at the work of Vincent Sikula, the contemporary representative of the genre, might offer us the answer. Vincent Sikula, born in 1936 , is fully aware that representing the school of lyrical prose, and following such giants as Hronsky and Urban , placed him in an enviable , though necessarily responsible position. But he is a worthy disciple . Moreover, he does not lack a certain flair for self-promotion, so very important for an author from a little known literature. He even managed to provoke some interest in his biography , when he alluded, somewhat mysteriously , to his years spent in a monastery. This would explain, at least partially, his abiding interest in and constant reference to the Church . Thus, he puzzles and even infuriates those of his critics who are dependent on the official Marxist pseudo-religion and, consequently, hate Catholicism. This is not to say that he is clearly a religious author: we look in vain for the mysticism , that , for example , is such a prominent feature of Hronsky's prose . 3 This puzzlement is visible in the variety of critical responses to Sikula' s work that Pavol Stevcek divided into three groups : the critics who are enthusiastic about Sikula (Vincent Sabfk, Julius Noge, Ivan Sulfk) ; those with doubts about the author ' s method (Vladimir Mirnic, Bretislav Truhlar, Jan Stevcek); and those radically opposed to Sikula (as is Daniel Okali). ◄ It should be pointed out in all fairness that being opposed by Daniel Okali is highly desirable , since he suffers from a chronic case of Zhdanovism and is suspicious of anything that bears an unmistakable sign of originality. It seems that Sikula takes for granted the accomplishments of Hronsky and Urban, and does not try to duplicate their efforts. Rather, Sikula uses their work as a secure base on which to build his often precarious narrative structures that, as was the case with Hronsky, depend so heavily on the dialogue, and also on the lyricism of the first person narrator . Hronsky found out that "in the distant villages, far away from civilization, below gigantic forests, and under the huge cupola of the heavens, the world is peaceful, awesome, and silent. And this silence is the expression of a great divinity. Disturbances are always pitifully small and engineered by us , men . That is what I sensed out there, in the mountains .. . ' ' 5 However, Sikula ' s village is not so far away from civilization , as was Hronsky's. The fact that Sikula writes about the western Slovakian �SLOVAKIA 167 villages that are close to the c1t1es is perhaps a sign of encroaching modernization: his villagers have a lot of contact with the city and know more than Hronsky's. At the same time, Sikula preserves their natural, traditional frame of mind as if forgetting, or perhaps purposefully ignoring, their loss of innocence and their new-found knowledge . Thus, one of Sikula's early stories opens with a whimsical introduction where the narrator's loneliness is accentuated by the apparent emptiness of the village over which echoes the narrator's loud call: I shout across the village, and nobody answers . Only the road about which people sing meanders ahead of me like a girl ' s braid . I am shouting. When a man walks along the road, he often has to call out to the man walking ahead of him . Who could it be? Who could it be, walking ahead of me? If it is a man , he will have a match, if a girl, I shall see her home. It does not become one to walk alone, whether someone walks ahead of me or behind me. 6 In reading Sikula' s lyrical narration we are struck again and again by the apparent non sequiturs that somehow manage to coalesce into a meaningful narrative at the end of a particular section or story. This is even more striking in Sikula's dialogue, which throws light on how one and the same incident is perceived in two villages, recreating the peasant language: - Do you know they caught a spy in Brusky? - Nonsense! - They really did. - What ' s his name? - Mucka . - Mucka? - Come on! - I know a Mucka. - Me too . - Me too. - Me too. - Mucka worked for Ringos, didn't he? - Yes, for Ringos. - He worked for everyone! - Mucka must be an old man now . �SLOVAKIA 168 - He is . Who would have thought that about him, tell me! Mucka? A spy? You must be kidding! They say he had a gang too, would you believe that! He sent a note to Ringos . No kidding! Really! To Ringos? Mucka . A note? He sold the lumber. Lumber? A saw. To Ringos? You're kidding! They've got him. They don't. 7 In the village Brusky itself, the same event is discussed as a rumor about a shooting at Ringos' s farm. - Who was shooting? Ringos? -No . - And the police? - What would they do with him? - It was like this: Ringos's cow was bloated because he let her feed on fresh clover. - Ringos does not even own a cow. - Ringos? - Well, he does not. - Then you don't know him . - He used to own cows. - He used to. - Ringos founded a cooperative in Ostrica. - His cow was bloated and so he went to have a look at her at night. - He does not have a cow. As soon as he founded the co-op, he got rid of everything. - Good idea. �SLOVAKIA 169 - You're all so stupid! - Who told you? - He did . - Maybe he was dreaming. - How could he have been dreaming, if he walked along the courtyard and watched the cow? - He is all upset. - He had a stroke . - A heart attack! - Ringos? - Futka. - Then what are you babbling about? - Who knows if he had a stroke, when they found him in the vineyard? - Have they called the doctor? - They have. - What did he say? - Nothing. - A heart attack! - But they say that Mucka sent a note to somebody. - To Belus . - To Ringos . - To Futka. - I don't know what you're talking about. - He sent it to Futka. - To Belus . And so on. Where is the truth of the matter, of any matter? In Sikula, the truth does emerge at the end of the story, novel, or trilogy, but it is available only to the narrator and the reader following the sum total of experiences, hints , possibilities and events that are, as in the examples of Sikula's dialogue, open to doubts. Thus, Sikula often trivializes and relativizes events, leading us to the conclusion that they are not really important to him , suggesting, perhaps , that they should not be important to us either. He is much more interested in the lyrical quality of his narrative. And this would mean, in Sikula's case, the re-invention of the child's innocence, naivety, and simplicity. It would mean adopting a consciously nostalgic approach, presenting the world as seen through the eyes of a child , even when the narrator is obviously mature. Sikula's dialogues �170 SLOVAKIA are conversations overheard by a child who hears the sounds, understands the words , and yet lacks enough experience to enter fully into the significance of the overheard communication . Not so the reader. Consequently, we witness a tension between the world that, so to speak, does not make sense to the narrator, and the same world accessible to the reader. Reading Sikula means adjusting ourselves to both levels. For some, such adjustment is difficult, as it is for the critics who have doubts about Sikula. For others still, adjustment is out of the question. Daniel Okali cannot bear to see the mythologized Slovak National Uprising of 1944 distorted, as he would have it, by a child-like lyrical narrator. The legend of the Uprising has to be preserved. There must only be one official version, nothing more . To lyricize, that is to say, to relativize and trivialize this legend is a sacrilege to Okali. But this is exactly what Sikula has done with his trilogy Majstri (The Craftsmen, 1976), Muskat (The Geranium, 1977), and Vilma (1979) . Okali misses in the trilogy the expression of the '' historic-social dimension of Slovak fascism, the complex historic and artistic truth, its ideational-aesthetic presentation in its dialectic contradictions and nakedness.' ' 9 It is not easy to satisfy Okali. But Sikula seemed untouched by Okali's attack that came before the appearance of the last volume of the trilogy, Vilma. On the contrary, he dared to issue a new challenge to the likes of Okali, refusing to accept the official explanation of history as finite . Everything must be available to the lyrical narrator , everything can be endowed with new content, everything should be open for lyrical transformation. As he says in Vilma: Friends , history is written by the people! But of course! And who writes the books? If only the historians reminded us of it again! If only they reminded us of it more often! Historical fact is a bag which has to be filled! Who said that? I don't remember. Even so, historical fact is a bag that has to be filled and that's that! One has to save, save the bag! Even the bag, my friends! 10 And on the opening page of Vilma, Sikula, as if to underscore his contempt for dogmatic criticism , continues unruffied with his lyrical narrator: Oftentimes I don't even know why some people are angry with me. Maybe I do know, but I don't always admit it. People don't like to admit they have faults. I 'm like that too. �SLOVAKIA 171 M aybe I do m ake a mistake now and then, and maybe more than one. But who is without faults ? You tell me! When I look a t you som etimes, it seems to me that you are looking at m e too . But ifl turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e. Let's say I am still a little boy. For a short time I have even served as an altar boy . I know by heart the confiteor and suscipiat. But ifl put on the white shirt and robe which went so nicely with a white, red , or violet collar - and I used to be so proud, not realizing that I looked like an angel with tussled hair, at least I see myself like that now , although today I could hardly join my hands and piously lower m y eyes, and even if I could - as soon as I would appear in a clean and freshly ironed robe in front of the altar, no matter how pious m y expression , I guess the priest would get scared and the once sinful and now already devout little old ladies who never miss a single mass would perhaps run out of the church. You better not consider me an altar boy any more! But even so, I am still a little boy. W e have to play this little theatrical to the end. 11 Again the disjointed style with its seemingly irrelevant insertions and naive parenthetical comments , again the evocation of childhood . Once the reader accepts su ch a narrator , he has to put up with his point of view, that is , with the other level of the narrative introduced by the third paragraph: ''When I look at you sometimes, it seems to me that you are lookin g at me too. But if I turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e.'' Of course, this only seems irrelevant: the reader soon finds out that the statement is d esigned to make a tran siti on to the lyrical narrative and to a nchor it in the psychology characterized by a childlike wonder and circum scribed by the world of the vill age. T o a citified modern man , the villager is like a child. Sikula accepts this premise and peoples his works with childlike peasants, eccentrics , and even weird characters who all communicate naturally and easily with the lyrical n arrator. P erhaps the n arrator does not understand them , the same as he does not understand the events of the Upri sing that angered Okali . But he does convey to u s their essential quality , essential in the sense that it is raw, unprocessed , and reported �172 SLOVAKIA with the kind of objectivity accessible to a child or a villager who both perceive the world on a level that may seem superficial to a modem man, but which does not lack its depth, as Hronsky reminded us. When the peasants argue about what really happened in Brusky, when they try to find out whether Mucka is a spy, or whether Ringos suffered a stroke or a heart attack, the truth of the matter takes second place to the new happening that looms larger, namely to the conversation itself. The conversation is an event happening in the now immediately accessible to a peasant. It is something that he understands , it is the very stuff of life. The rumors about Mucka and Ringos belong to a bewitched circle outside their reach and control and are as unimportant to them as the past is to a child . It may be objected that Sikula distorts his peasants and gives us a false picture of the village, particularly if we bear in mind that he is writing about the western Slovakian village that, one has to stress, has never been isolated the way villages were (and some still are) in the upper Hron area, or in the Orava region. The answer to this is that he does distort , but that this very distortion is the main charm of his work . And Sikula is not alone. He is a part of a very wide movement indeed, a movement that includes the Russian derevenshchiki, or village writers, and many authors in other Slavic literatures. The movement, it seems, is Slavic literature's reaction to the modem uprootedness that followed the Second World War. The West has experienced uprootedness as well, but it was a process that started long ago and went on for centuries . Not so in the Slavic countries. A good case could be made to show how the sudden changes occasioned by the two wars, and eve n more by the coming of social engineering on a gigantic scale coupled with a war on traditional life with its faults and great virtues, led to the loss of values, bemoaned so often in the W est and East, and to the emptiness that. this nostalgic literary movement tries to fill. This wider perspective might help us to situate Vincent Sikula's work within the native Slovak literary tradition of lyrical prose, but also in the emerging trends appearing elsewhere in the Slavic literary world, wherein the village reappears forcefully in the guise of the national conscience, of the very soul of the nation, despite the sad fact that the traditional village and all that it implies has in the meantime been modernized and no longer exists. Thus, Sikula does not go wrong when he places the action of his �SLOVAKIA 17 3 work in villages that are so close to the cities. We may assume that they are modernized or citified to an extent that should make the planners and social engineers who would like to erase the difference between the village and the city feel proud. He does not go wrong , because it is not so much the village as the village m entality that he would like to preserve in his work. Sikula's village is no lon ger the mysterious site cut off from the corrupting influences of the city, a lost domain preserved and embedded in the crystal of fi ction , as it is in Hronsky . It survives in Sikula's work in the village m entality which he sees as a precious remnant of the traditional life , as a tonic against the ailment of modern uprootedness, and finally as the lyrical soul of a child in abiding wonderment, illuminating a world that has lost its soul. NOTES ' See my " Slovak Surrealist Poetry : The M ovement and Its Rediscove ry," Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. XX , No . 2 Gune 1978), pp . 237-244, a nd "Slovak Surrealist P arty," Prism Intern ational , Vol. XV , N os. 2 and 3 (Summer- Fall 1976), pp. 146-164 . ' Quoted in Alexander M atuska, J. C . Hronsky, rpt. in Osobnosti (Bratislava : Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), p. 435. ' Matuska, p. 448. • Pavo! Stevcek , Contemporary Slovak Literature, transl. Olga H orska (Bratislava: Obzor, 1980), p. 89 . ' Quoted in M a tu ska, p. 435. ' Vincent Sikula , " T ancuj ," in Maino si postavim bungalow (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1964), p. 49 . 7 V . Sikul a, Povetrie (Brat islava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968), pp. 169- 170. 'Ibid. , pp . 170-17 1. 9 Stevcek, p . 89. 10 V. Sikula , Vilma (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1979), p. 172. " Ibid ., p. 7. Presented in Panel 65, " The Vi llage in Slovak Li te rature," at the AAASS conventi on in Asilomar, Cali fornia on 21 September 1981. �� SLOVAKIA 165 The Lyrical Prose of Vincent Sikula Peter Petro Of the three outstanding Slovak literary movements - romanticism, surrealism, and lyrical prose - only the last one is still with us, though echoes of the Romantic school can be found in both surrealist poetry and lyrical prose. It is not really surprising that the world knows little about Slovak romanticism; other romantic schools in more influential European literatures easily overshadow this late bloomer. As for surrealist poetry, though some information about it, together with a few translations, appeared recently, 1 they cannot communicate more than a flavor of the movement that would doubtless be more known had it not flourished during the war, when communication with the rest of the world was lessened. After the war, the movement was officially banned. Thus we are left with lyrical prose. Lyrical prose is sometimes identified with expressionism, but since the examples of expressionism offered by handbooks include Joyce ' s Finnegans Wake and Kafka's Trial, it seems there is a need to differentiate expressionism from lyrical prose, inasmuch as the works of Jozef Cfger Hronsky, Milo Urban, and Vincent Sikula - the major Slovak practitioners of this genre - have very little in common indeed with Joyce and Kafka . The difference would lie in the quintessential role that the village plays in the work of these Slovak authors . This is not merely a question of thematics: urban writers like Joyce and Kafka versus the Slovaks who write about the village. The difference lies rather in the world of the Slovak village and in the world view that the village inspires as the repository of traditional life long extinct in the more advanced western Europe . I think this was understood very clearly by J.C. Hronsky , when he said: " The Slovak village, despite all its simplicity, has its depth , and it is a more mysterious depth than anyone would guess judging by a superficial look. " i The village is closer to God than the city. N eed one say that thi s realization is by no means unique, that the traditional life has always been connected in literature with the country, that in fact we are dealing with an ancient topos found in the earliest �166 SLOVAKIA literature ? What is then the specificity of Slovak lyrical prose? Perhaps a brief look at the work of Vincent Sikula, the contemporary representative of the genre, might offer us the answer. Vincent Sikula, born in 1936 , is fully aware that representing the school of lyrical prose, and following such giants as Hronsky and Urban , placed him in an enviable , though necessarily responsible position. But he is a worthy disciple . Moreover, he does not lack a certain flair for self-promotion, so very important for an author from a little known literature. He even managed to provoke some interest in his biography , when he alluded, somewhat mysteriously , to his years spent in a monastery. This would explain, at least partially, his abiding interest in and constant reference to the Church . Thus, he puzzles and even infuriates those of his critics who are dependent on the official Marxist pseudo-religion and, consequently, hate Catholicism. This is not to say that he is clearly a religious author: we look in vain for the mysticism , that , for example , is such a prominent feature of Hronsky's prose . 3 This puzzlement is visible in the variety of critical responses to Sikula' s work that Pavol Stevcek divided into three groups : the critics who are enthusiastic about Sikula (Vincent Sabfk, Julius Noge, Ivan Sulfk) ; those with doubts about the author ' s method (Vladimir Mirnic, Bretislav Truhlar, Jan Stevcek); and those radically opposed to Sikula (as is Daniel Okali). ◄ It should be pointed out in all fairness that being opposed by Daniel Okali is highly desirable , since he suffers from a chronic case of Zhdanovism and is suspicious of anything that bears an unmistakable sign of originality. It seems that Sikula takes for granted the accomplishments of Hronsky and Urban, and does not try to duplicate their efforts. Rather, Sikula uses their work as a secure base on which to build his often precarious narrative structures that, as was the case with Hronsky, depend so heavily on the dialogue, and also on the lyricism of the first person narrator . Hronsky found out that "in the distant villages, far away from civilization, below gigantic forests, and under the huge cupola of the heavens, the world is peaceful, awesome, and silent. And this silence is the expression of a great divinity. Disturbances are always pitifully small and engineered by us , men . That is what I sensed out there, in the mountains .. . ' ' 5 However, Sikula ' s village is not so far away from civilization , as was Hronsky's. The fact that Sikula writes about the western Slovakian �SLOVAKIA 167 villages that are close to the c1t1es is perhaps a sign of encroaching modernization: his villagers have a lot of contact with the city and know more than Hronsky's. At the same time, Sikula preserves their natural, traditional frame of mind as if forgetting, or perhaps purposefully ignoring, their loss of innocence and their new-found knowledge . Thus, one of Sikula's early stories opens with a whimsical introduction where the narrator's loneliness is accentuated by the apparent emptiness of the village over which echoes the narrator's loud call: I shout across the village, and nobody answers . Only the road about which people sing meanders ahead of me like a girl ' s braid . I am shouting. When a man walks along the road, he often has to call out to the man walking ahead of him . Who could it be? Who could it be, walking ahead of me? If it is a man , he will have a match, if a girl, I shall see her home. It does not become one to walk alone, whether someone walks ahead of me or behind me. 6 In reading Sikula' s lyrical narration we are struck again and again by the apparent non sequiturs that somehow manage to coalesce into a meaningful narrative at the end of a particular section or story. This is even more striking in Sikula's dialogue, which throws light on how one and the same incident is perceived in two villages, recreating the peasant language: - Do you know they caught a spy in Brusky? - Nonsense! - They really did. - What ' s his name? - Mucka . - Mucka? - Come on! - I know a Mucka. - Me too . - Me too. - Me too. - Mucka worked for Ringos, didn't he? - Yes, for Ringos. - He worked for everyone! - Mucka must be an old man now . �SLOVAKIA 168 - He is . Who would have thought that about him, tell me! Mucka? A spy? You must be kidding! They say he had a gang too, would you believe that! He sent a note to Ringos . No kidding! Really! To Ringos? Mucka . A note? He sold the lumber. Lumber? A saw. To Ringos? You're kidding! They've got him. They don't. 7 In the village Brusky itself, the same event is discussed as a rumor about a shooting at Ringos' s farm. - Who was shooting? Ringos? -No . - And the police? - What would they do with him? - It was like this: Ringos's cow was bloated because he let her feed on fresh clover. - Ringos does not even own a cow. - Ringos? - Well, he does not. - Then you don't know him . - He used to own cows. - He used to. - Ringos founded a cooperative in Ostrica. - His cow was bloated and so he went to have a look at her at night. - He does not have a cow. As soon as he founded the co-op, he got rid of everything. - Good idea. �SLOVAKIA 169 - You're all so stupid! - Who told you? - He did . - Maybe he was dreaming. - How could he have been dreaming, if he walked along the courtyard and watched the cow? - He is all upset. - He had a stroke . - A heart attack! - Ringos? - Futka. - Then what are you babbling about? - Who knows if he had a stroke, when they found him in the vineyard? - Have they called the doctor? - They have. - What did he say? - Nothing. - A heart attack! - But they say that Mucka sent a note to somebody. - To Belus . - To Ringos . - To Futka. - I don't know what you're talking about. - He sent it to Futka. - To Belus . And so on. Where is the truth of the matter, of any matter? In Sikula, the truth does emerge at the end of the story, novel, or trilogy, but it is available only to the narrator and the reader following the sum total of experiences, hints , possibilities and events that are, as in the examples of Sikula's dialogue, open to doubts. Thus, Sikula often trivializes and relativizes events, leading us to the conclusion that they are not really important to him , suggesting, perhaps , that they should not be important to us either. He is much more interested in the lyrical quality of his narrative. And this would mean, in Sikula's case, the re-invention of the child's innocence, naivety, and simplicity. It would mean adopting a consciously nostalgic approach, presenting the world as seen through the eyes of a child , even when the narrator is obviously mature. Sikula's dialogues �170 SLOVAKIA are conversations overheard by a child who hears the sounds, understands the words , and yet lacks enough experience to enter fully into the significance of the overheard communication . Not so the reader. Consequently, we witness a tension between the world that, so to speak, does not make sense to the narrator, and the same world accessible to the reader. Reading Sikula means adjusting ourselves to both levels. For some, such adjustment is difficult, as it is for the critics who have doubts about Sikula. For others still, adjustment is out of the question. Daniel Okali cannot bear to see the mythologized Slovak National Uprising of 1944 distorted, as he would have it, by a child-like lyrical narrator. The legend of the Uprising has to be preserved. There must only be one official version, nothing more . To lyricize, that is to say, to relativize and trivialize this legend is a sacrilege to Okali. But this is exactly what Sikula has done with his trilogy Majstri (The Craftsmen, 1976), Muskat (The Geranium, 1977), and Vilma (1979) . Okali misses in the trilogy the expression of the '' historic-social dimension of Slovak fascism, the complex historic and artistic truth, its ideational-aesthetic presentation in its dialectic contradictions and nakedness.' ' 9 It is not easy to satisfy Okali. But Sikula seemed untouched by Okali's attack that came before the appearance of the last volume of the trilogy, Vilma. On the contrary, he dared to issue a new challenge to the likes of Okali, refusing to accept the official explanation of history as finite . Everything must be available to the lyrical narrator , everything can be endowed with new content, everything should be open for lyrical transformation. As he says in Vilma: Friends , history is written by the people! But of course! And who writes the books? If only the historians reminded us of it again! If only they reminded us of it more often! Historical fact is a bag which has to be filled! Who said that? I don't remember. Even so, historical fact is a bag that has to be filled and that's that! One has to save, save the bag! Even the bag, my friends! 10 And on the opening page of Vilma, Sikula, as if to underscore his contempt for dogmatic criticism , continues unruffied with his lyrical narrator: Oftentimes I don't even know why some people are angry with me. Maybe I do know, but I don't always admit it. People don't like to admit they have faults. I 'm like that too. �SLOVAKIA 171 M aybe I do m ake a mistake now and then, and maybe more than one. But who is without faults ? You tell me! When I look a t you som etimes, it seems to me that you are looking at m e too . But ifl turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e. Let's say I am still a little boy. For a short time I have even served as an altar boy . I know by heart the confiteor and suscipiat. But ifl put on the white shirt and robe which went so nicely with a white, red , or violet collar - and I used to be so proud, not realizing that I looked like an angel with tussled hair, at least I see myself like that now , although today I could hardly join my hands and piously lower m y eyes, and even if I could - as soon as I would appear in a clean and freshly ironed robe in front of the altar, no matter how pious m y expression , I guess the priest would get scared and the once sinful and now already devout little old ladies who never miss a single mass would perhaps run out of the church. You better not consider me an altar boy any more! But even so, I am still a little boy. W e have to play this little theatrical to the end. 11 Again the disjointed style with its seemingly irrelevant insertions and naive parenthetical comments , again the evocation of childhood . Once the reader accepts su ch a narrator , he has to put up with his point of view, that is , with the other level of the narrative introduced by the third paragraph: ''When I look at you sometimes, it seems to me that you are lookin g at me too. But if I turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e.'' Of course, this only seems irrelevant: the reader soon finds out that the statement is d esigned to make a tran siti on to the lyrical narrative and to a nchor it in the psychology characterized by a childlike wonder and circum scribed by the world of the vill age. T o a citified modern man , the villager is like a child. Sikula accepts this premise and peoples his works with childlike peasants, eccentrics , and even weird characters who all communicate naturally and easily with the lyrical n arrator. P erhaps the n arrator does not understand them , the same as he does not understand the events of the Upri sing that angered Okali . But he does convey to u s their essential quality , essential in the sense that it is raw, unprocessed , and reported �172 SLOVAKIA with the kind of objectivity accessible to a child or a villager who both perceive the world on a level that may seem superficial to a modem man, but which does not lack its depth, as Hronsky reminded us. When the peasants argue about what really happened in Brusky, when they try to find out whether Mucka is a spy, or whether Ringos suffered a stroke or a heart attack, the truth of the matter takes second place to the new happening that looms larger, namely to the conversation itself. The conversation is an event happening in the now immediately accessible to a peasant. It is something that he understands , it is the very stuff of life. The rumors about Mucka and Ringos belong to a bewitched circle outside their reach and control and are as unimportant to them as the past is to a child . It may be objected that Sikula distorts his peasants and gives us a false picture of the village, particularly if we bear in mind that he is writing about the western Slovakian village that, one has to stress, has never been isolated the way villages were (and some still are) in the upper Hron area, or in the Orava region. The answer to this is that he does distort , but that this very distortion is the main charm of his work . And Sikula is not alone. He is a part of a very wide movement indeed, a movement that includes the Russian derevenshchiki, or village writers, and many authors in other Slavic literatures. The movement, it seems, is Slavic literature's reaction to the modem uprootedness that followed the Second World War. The West has experienced uprootedness as well, but it was a process that started long ago and went on for centuries . Not so in the Slavic countries. A good case could be made to show how the sudden changes occasioned by the two wars, and eve n more by the coming of social engineering on a gigantic scale coupled with a war on traditional life with its faults and great virtues, led to the loss of values, bemoaned so often in the W est and East, and to the emptiness that. this nostalgic literary movement tries to fill. This wider perspective might help us to situate Vincent Sikula's work within the native Slovak literary tradition of lyrical prose, but also in the emerging trends appearing elsewhere in the Slavic literary world, wherein the village reappears forcefully in the guise of the national conscience, of the very soul of the nation, despite the sad fact that the traditional village and all that it implies has in the meantime been modernized and no longer exists. Thus, Sikula does not go wrong when he places the action of his �SLOVAKIA 17 3 work in villages that are so close to the cities. We may assume that they are modernized or citified to an extent that should make the planners and social engineers who would like to erase the difference between the village and the city feel proud. He does not go wrong , because it is not so much the village as the village m entality that he would like to preserve in his work. Sikula's village is no lon ger the mysterious site cut off from the corrupting influences of the city, a lost domain preserved and embedded in the crystal of fi ction , as it is in Hronsky . It survives in Sikula's work in the village m entality which he sees as a precious remnant of the traditional life , as a tonic against the ailment of modern uprootedness, and finally as the lyrical soul of a child in abiding wonderment, illuminating a world that has lost its soul. NOTES ' See my " Slovak Surrealist Poetry : The M ovement and Its Rediscove ry," Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. XX , No . 2 Gune 1978), pp . 237-244, a nd "Slovak Surrealist P arty," Prism Intern ational , Vol. XV , N os. 2 and 3 (Summer- Fall 1976), pp. 146-164 . ' Quoted in Alexander M atuska, J. C . Hronsky, rpt. in Osobnosti (Bratislava : Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), p. 435. ' Matuska, p. 448. • Pavo! Stevcek , Contemporary Slovak Literature, transl. Olga H orska (Bratislava: Obzor, 1980), p. 89 . ' Quoted in M a tu ska, p. 435. ' Vincent Sikula , " T ancuj ," in Maino si postavim bungalow (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1964), p. 49 . 7 V . Sikul a, Povetrie (Brat islava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968), pp. 169- 170. 'Ibid. , pp . 170-17 1. 9 Stevcek, p . 89. 10 V. Sikula , Vilma (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1979), p. 172. " Ibid ., p. 7. Presented in Panel 65, " The Vi llage in Slovak Li te rature," at the AAASS conventi on in Asilomar, Cali fornia on 21 September 1981. �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 165 The Lyrical Prose of Vincent Sikula Peter Petro Of the three outstanding Slovak literary movements - romanticism, surrealism, and lyrical prose - only the last one is still with us, though echoes of the Romantic school can be found in both surrealist poetry and lyrical prose. It is not really surprising that the world knows little about Slovak romanticism; other romantic schools in more influential European literatures easily overshadow this late bloomer. As for surrealist poetry, though some information about it, together with a few translations, appeared recently, 1 they cannot communicate more than a flavor of the movement that would doubtless be more known had it not flourished during the war, when communication with the rest of the world was lessened. After the war, the movement was officially banned. Thus we are left with lyrical prose. Lyrical prose is sometimes identified with expressionism, but since the examples of expressionism offered by handbooks include Joyce ' s Finnegans Wake and Kafka's Trial, it seems there is a need to differentiate expressionism from lyrical prose, inasmuch as the works of Jozef Cfger Hronsky, Milo Urban, and Vincent Sikula - the major Slovak practitioners of this genre - have very little in common indeed with Joyce and Kafka . The difference would lie in the quintessential role that the village plays in the work of these Slovak authors . This is not merely a question of thematics: urban writers like Joyce and Kafka versus the Slovaks who write about the village. The difference lies rather in the world of the Slovak village and in the world view that the village inspires as the repository of traditional life long extinct in the more advanced western Europe . I think this was understood very clearly by J.C. Hronsky , when he said: " The Slovak village, despite all its simplicity, has its depth , and it is a more mysterious depth than anyone would guess judging by a superficial look. " i The village is closer to God than the city. N eed one say that thi s realization is by no means unique, that the traditional life has always been connected in literature with the country, that in fact we are dealing with an ancient topos found in the earliest 166 SLOVAKIA literature ? What is then the specificity of Slovak lyrical prose? Perhaps a brief look at the work of Vincent Sikula, the contemporary representative of the genre, might offer us the answer. Vincent Sikula, born in 1936 , is fully aware that representing the school of lyrical prose, and following such giants as Hronsky and Urban , placed him in an enviable , though necessarily responsible position. But he is a worthy disciple . Moreover, he does not lack a certain flair for self-promotion, so very important for an author from a little known literature. He even managed to provoke some interest in his biography , when he alluded, somewhat mysteriously , to his years spent in a monastery. This would explain, at least partially, his abiding interest in and constant reference to the Church . Thus, he puzzles and even infuriates those of his critics who are dependent on the official Marxist pseudo-religion and, consequently, hate Catholicism. This is not to say that he is clearly a religious author: we look in vain for the mysticism , that , for example , is such a prominent feature of Hronsky's prose . 3 This puzzlement is visible in the variety of critical responses to Sikula' s work that Pavol Stevcek divided into three groups : the critics who are enthusiastic about Sikula (Vincent Sabfk, Julius Noge, Ivan Sulfk) ; those with doubts about the author ' s method (Vladimir Mirnic, Bretislav Truhlar, Jan Stevcek); and those radically opposed to Sikula (as is Daniel Okali). ◄ It should be pointed out in all fairness that being opposed by Daniel Okali is highly desirable , since he suffers from a chronic case of Zhdanovism and is suspicious of anything that bears an unmistakable sign of originality. It seems that Sikula takes for granted the accomplishments of Hronsky and Urban, and does not try to duplicate their efforts. Rather, Sikula uses their work as a secure base on which to build his often precarious narrative structures that, as was the case with Hronsky, depend so heavily on the dialogue, and also on the lyricism of the first person narrator . Hronsky found out that "in the distant villages, far away from civilization, below gigantic forests, and under the huge cupola of the heavens, the world is peaceful, awesome, and silent. And this silence is the expression of a great divinity. Disturbances are always pitifully small and engineered by us , men . That is what I sensed out there, in the mountains .. . ' ' 5 However, Sikula ' s village is not so far away from civilization , as was Hronsky's. The fact that Sikula writes about the western Slovakian SLOVAKIA 167 villages that are close to the c1t1es is perhaps a sign of encroaching modernization: his villagers have a lot of contact with the city and know more than Hronsky's. At the same time, Sikula preserves their natural, traditional frame of mind as if forgetting, or perhaps purposefully ignoring, their loss of innocence and their new-found knowledge . Thus, one of Sikula's early stories opens with a whimsical introduction where the narrator's loneliness is accentuated by the apparent emptiness of the village over which echoes the narrator's loud call: I shout across the village, and nobody answers . Only the road about which people sing meanders ahead of me like a girl ' s braid . I am shouting. When a man walks along the road, he often has to call out to the man walking ahead of him . Who could it be? Who could it be, walking ahead of me? If it is a man , he will have a match, if a girl, I shall see her home. It does not become one to walk alone, whether someone walks ahead of me or behind me. 6 In reading Sikula' s lyrical narration we are struck again and again by the apparent non sequiturs that somehow manage to coalesce into a meaningful narrative at the end of a particular section or story. This is even more striking in Sikula's dialogue, which throws light on how one and the same incident is perceived in two villages, recreating the peasant language: - Do you know they caught a spy in Brusky? - Nonsense! - They really did. - What ' s his name? - Mucka . - Mucka? - Come on! - I know a Mucka. - Me too . - Me too. - Me too. - Mucka worked for Ringos, didn't he? - Yes, for Ringos. - He worked for everyone! - Mucka must be an old man now . SLOVAKIA 168 - He is . Who would have thought that about him, tell me! Mucka? A spy? You must be kidding! They say he had a gang too, would you believe that! He sent a note to Ringos . No kidding! Really! To Ringos? Mucka . A note? He sold the lumber. Lumber? A saw. To Ringos? You're kidding! They've got him. They don't. 7 In the village Brusky itself, the same event is discussed as a rumor about a shooting at Ringos' s farm. - Who was shooting? Ringos? -No . - And the police? - What would they do with him? - It was like this: Ringos's cow was bloated because he let her feed on fresh clover. - Ringos does not even own a cow. - Ringos? - Well, he does not. - Then you don't know him . - He used to own cows. - He used to. - Ringos founded a cooperative in Ostrica. - His cow was bloated and so he went to have a look at her at night. - He does not have a cow. As soon as he founded the co-op, he got rid of everything. - Good idea. SLOVAKIA 169 - You're all so stupid! - Who told you? - He did . - Maybe he was dreaming. - How could he have been dreaming, if he walked along the courtyard and watched the cow? - He is all upset. - He had a stroke . - A heart attack! - Ringos? - Futka. - Then what are you babbling about? - Who knows if he had a stroke, when they found him in the vineyard? - Have they called the doctor? - They have. - What did he say? - Nothing. - A heart attack! - But they say that Mucka sent a note to somebody. - To Belus . - To Ringos . - To Futka. - I don't know what you're talking about. - He sent it to Futka. - To Belus . And so on. Where is the truth of the matter, of any matter? In Sikula, the truth does emerge at the end of the story, novel, or trilogy, but it is available only to the narrator and the reader following the sum total of experiences, hints , possibilities and events that are, as in the examples of Sikula's dialogue, open to doubts. Thus, Sikula often trivializes and relativizes events, leading us to the conclusion that they are not really important to him , suggesting, perhaps , that they should not be important to us either. He is much more interested in the lyrical quality of his narrative. And this would mean, in Sikula's case, the re-invention of the child's innocence, naivety, and simplicity. It would mean adopting a consciously nostalgic approach, presenting the world as seen through the eyes of a child , even when the narrator is obviously mature. Sikula's dialogues 170 SLOVAKIA are conversations overheard by a child who hears the sounds, understands the words , and yet lacks enough experience to enter fully into the significance of the overheard communication . Not so the reader. Consequently, we witness a tension between the world that, so to speak, does not make sense to the narrator, and the same world accessible to the reader. Reading Sikula means adjusting ourselves to both levels. For some, such adjustment is difficult, as it is for the critics who have doubts about Sikula. For others still, adjustment is out of the question. Daniel Okali cannot bear to see the mythologized Slovak National Uprising of 1944 distorted, as he would have it, by a child-like lyrical narrator. The legend of the Uprising has to be preserved. There must only be one official version, nothing more . To lyricize, that is to say, to relativize and trivialize this legend is a sacrilege to Okali. But this is exactly what Sikula has done with his trilogy Majstri (The Craftsmen, 1976), Muskat (The Geranium, 1977), and Vilma (1979) . Okali misses in the trilogy the expression of the '' historic-social dimension of Slovak fascism, the complex historic and artistic truth, its ideational-aesthetic presentation in its dialectic contradictions and nakedness.' ' 9 It is not easy to satisfy Okali. But Sikula seemed untouched by Okali's attack that came before the appearance of the last volume of the trilogy, Vilma. On the contrary, he dared to issue a new challenge to the likes of Okali, refusing to accept the official explanation of history as finite . Everything must be available to the lyrical narrator , everything can be endowed with new content, everything should be open for lyrical transformation. As he says in Vilma: Friends , history is written by the people! But of course! And who writes the books? If only the historians reminded us of it again! If only they reminded us of it more often! Historical fact is a bag which has to be filled! Who said that? I don't remember. Even so, historical fact is a bag that has to be filled and that's that! One has to save, save the bag! Even the bag, my friends! 10 And on the opening page of Vilma, Sikula, as if to underscore his contempt for dogmatic criticism , continues unruffied with his lyrical narrator: Oftentimes I don't even know why some people are angry with me. Maybe I do know, but I don't always admit it. People don't like to admit they have faults. I 'm like that too. SLOVAKIA 171 M aybe I do m ake a mistake now and then, and maybe more than one. But who is without faults ? You tell me! When I look a t you som etimes, it seems to me that you are looking at m e too . But ifl turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e. Let's say I am still a little boy. For a short time I have even served as an altar boy . I know by heart the confiteor and suscipiat. But ifl put on the white shirt and robe which went so nicely with a white, red , or violet collar - and I used to be so proud, not realizing that I looked like an angel with tussled hair, at least I see myself like that now , although today I could hardly join my hands and piously lower m y eyes, and even if I could - as soon as I would appear in a clean and freshly ironed robe in front of the altar, no matter how pious m y expression , I guess the priest would get scared and the once sinful and now already devout little old ladies who never miss a single mass would perhaps run out of the church. You better not consider me an altar boy any more! But even so, I am still a little boy. W e have to play this little theatrical to the end. 11 Again the disjointed style with its seemingly irrelevant insertions and naive parenthetical comments , again the evocation of childhood . Once the reader accepts su ch a narrator , he has to put up with his point of view, that is , with the other level of the narrative introduced by the third paragraph: ''When I look at you sometimes, it seems to me that you are lookin g at me too. But if I turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e.'' Of course, this only seems irrelevant: the reader soon finds out that the statement is d esigned to make a tran siti on to the lyrical narrative and to a nchor it in the psychology characterized by a childlike wonder and circum scribed by the world of the vill age. T o a citified modern man , the villager is like a child. Sikula accepts this premise and peoples his works with childlike peasants, eccentrics , and even weird characters who all communicate naturally and easily with the lyrical n arrator. P erhaps the n arrator does not understand them , the same as he does not understand the events of the Upri sing that angered Okali . But he does convey to u s their essential quality , essential in the sense that it is raw, unprocessed , and reported 172 SLOVAKIA with the kind of objectivity accessible to a child or a villager who both perceive the world on a level that may seem superficial to a modem man, but which does not lack its depth, as Hronsky reminded us. When the peasants argue about what really happened in Brusky, when they try to find out whether Mucka is a spy, or whether Ringos suffered a stroke or a heart attack, the truth of the matter takes second place to the new happening that looms larger, namely to the conversation itself. The conversation is an event happening in the now immediately accessible to a peasant. It is something that he understands , it is the very stuff of life. The rumors about Mucka and Ringos belong to a bewitched circle outside their reach and control and are as unimportant to them as the past is to a child . It may be objected that Sikula distorts his peasants and gives us a false picture of the village, particularly if we bear in mind that he is writing about the western Slovakian village that, one has to stress, has never been isolated the way villages were (and some still are) in the upper Hron area, or in the Orava region. The answer to this is that he does distort , but that this very distortion is the main charm of his work . And Sikula is not alone. He is a part of a very wide movement indeed, a movement that includes the Russian derevenshchiki, or village writers, and many authors in other Slavic literatures. The movement, it seems, is Slavic literature's reaction to the modem uprootedness that followed the Second World War. The West has experienced uprootedness as well, but it was a process that started long ago and went on for centuries . Not so in the Slavic countries. A good case could be made to show how the sudden changes occasioned by the two wars, and eve n more by the coming of social engineering on a gigantic scale coupled with a war on traditional life with its faults and great virtues, led to the loss of values, bemoaned so often in the W est and East, and to the emptiness that. this nostalgic literary movement tries to fill. This wider perspective might help us to situate Vincent Sikula's work within the native Slovak literary tradition of lyrical prose, but also in the emerging trends appearing elsewhere in the Slavic literary world, wherein the village reappears forcefully in the guise of the national conscience, of the very soul of the nation, despite the sad fact that the traditional village and all that it implies has in the meantime been modernized and no longer exists. Thus, Sikula does not go wrong when he places the action of his SLOVAKIA 17 3 work in villages that are so close to the cities. We may assume that they are modernized or citified to an extent that should make the planners and social engineers who would like to erase the difference between the village and the city feel proud. He does not go wrong , because it is not so much the village as the village m entality that he would like to preserve in his work. Sikula's village is no lon ger the mysterious site cut off from the corrupting influences of the city, a lost domain preserved and embedded in the crystal of fi ction , as it is in Hronsky . It survives in Sikula's work in the village m entality which he sees as a precious remnant of the traditional life , as a tonic against the ailment of modern uprootedness, and finally as the lyrical soul of a child in abiding wonderment, illuminating a world that has lost its soul. NOTES ' See my " Slovak Surrealist Poetry : The M ovement and Its Rediscove ry," Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. XX , No . 2 Gune 1978), pp . 237-244, a nd "Slovak Surrealist P arty," Prism Intern ational , Vol. XV , N os. 2 and 3 (Summer- Fall 1976), pp. 146-164 . ' Quoted in Alexander M atuska, J. C . Hronsky, rpt. in Osobnosti (Bratislava : Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), p. 435. ' Matuska, p. 448. • Pavo! Stevcek , Contemporary Slovak Literature, transl. Olga H orska (Bratislava: Obzor, 1980), p. 89 . ' Quoted in M a tu ska, p. 435. ' Vincent Sikula , " T ancuj ," in Maino si postavim bungalow (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1964), p. 49 . 7 V . Sikul a, Povetrie (Brat islava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968), pp. 169- 170. 'Ibid. , pp . 170-17 1. 9 Stevcek, p . 89. 10 V. Sikula , Vilma (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1979), p. 172. " Ibid ., p. 7. Presented in Panel 65, " The Vi llage in Slovak Li te rature," at the AAASS conventi on in Asilomar, Cali fornia on 21 September 1981.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Lyrical Prose of Vincent Šikula Description An account of the resource Peter Petro Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 165-173 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Petro, Peter Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/059d24587795e9ea830314094d3a750e.pdf 443b160de78b9ea4fd8cd32ba2f3cf8c PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 107 The Man 'Who Made Good in America THOMAS BELL In the spring of 1910, three men were sitting in a grimy courtyard, talking. All were Slovak steelworkers, fair, solidly-built men in their late thirties. The oldest, Mike Dobrejcak, was wearing slippers and a long-sleeved undershirt; he had got out of bed only an hour or so before, and would soon be going off to a night ' s work in the blast furnaces . The others , his brother Joe and his best friend Steve Bodnar, were cleanfaced and clean-shirted, notice to all the small world of a steel town that they weren't working. Times were bad; not as bad as they had been during the panic three years before, but bad enough. The courtyard, its paving gritty with mill dust, was closed in by the brick row in which Mike lived, by the fire-escaped back of a Washington Street saloon , and by the board fence against which Bodnar had titled his chair. Two doors down the row several men were playing cards, their table an old box, and at the far end of the yard, in the comer formed by the communal outhouse and another fence, a loom had been set up and some women were weaving carpets from old rags . It was a fine May afternoon; the three men could feel the warmth of the smoke-hazed sun penetrating their clothes. The saloon-keeper' s hired girl, who had entertained them briefly by coming out on the fire escape above them to wash a window, had clambered back inside , taking her ankles with her, and now the men were talking, like a good many other people in Braddock, about Andy Toth. * * * On a bleak New Year's Eve many years before, about midway in time between the Braddock lockout with which Carnegie began his war on the steelworkers ' union , and the Homestead lockout with which he finished it in 1892, there had been serious trouble at the mill gate in Braddock . The workers had asked for New Year ' s Day off and the This short story was first printed in Mainstream (1947) and is reprinted by permission of Marie Be ll. �108 SLOVAKIA company had refused, whereupon the day men gathered before the gate and tried to keep the incoming night men from going to work. Foremen and mill cops intervened, and very shortly a small riot was raging up and down Thirteenth Street. When it was over there were a number of broken heads on both sides and one man, an Irish foreman, was dead. Andy Toth, a laborer in the blast furnaces who 'd just recently come to America, married and the father of two boys, was arrested and tried for murder. He admitted participating in the fighting but denied that he 'd struck the foreman. He was nevertheless convicted and sentenced to hang, a sentence that was later commuted to life imprisonment. Still protesting his innocence , he disappeared into the state penitentiary, and after a while people stopped talking about him; and after another while everybody except his family - and perhaps the family of the dead foreman - had forgotten him. Now people were talking about him again, for after all these years it turned out that he was just as innocent as he'd always claimed to be. It seemed that a man in the old country, convinced he was dying, had confessed to the crime for which another man had already spent nearly twenty years in prison. His name was Steve Toth but he was no relation. The name was a common one; toth was the Hungarian word for Slovak. Contrary to his expectations, the repentant Steve Toth didn 't die. Meanwhile, however, the village notar, perhaps wondering if Steve Toth had been in his right mind when he told his fantastic story, had written to Braddock; and after a suitable interval Andy Toth's sons, now grown men, journeyed to Europe. Assured that he was safe as long as he didn 't return to America, Steve Toth talked freely . He hadn 't meant to kill anyone , he said. Everyone was fighting, and that he rather than someone else had struck the fatal blow , that it had proved fatal at all, was pure chance. He'd left Braddock at once and returned to the old country . When he heard that the police, to whom one immigrant laborer named Toth was apparently as good as another, had arrested Andy Toth, he had been afraid to reveal the truth. But he was glad \ he said, to get it off his conscience at last. . _ What Andy Toth ' s sons felt or thought as they listened to him was not known. They returned to Braddock laden with affidavits and documents and set about getting their father out of jail. There was a picture of him in the newspapers on his release , a stout, white-haired, dazed looking man. He carried a rosary and he was quoted as saying that he 'd always known he would be freed some day �' SLOVAKIA 109 because he had prayed every night and his faith in God' s goodness had never wavered. Several priests took his words, his history, for a text the following Sunday . Andy Toth did not breathe the free air of America long; almost as soon as it could be arranged, he went back to the old country. He wife, who had taken in boarders to support herself and her family, had died while he was in prison. His sons were American citizens with wives and American-born children. Andy Toth went back to the old country - to die , he said ; a sentiment everyone understood and no one took literally. What made the First Ward gasp, however, was the report that the steel company , in an unprecedented manifestation of generosity and remorse, had given him a check equal to all the wages he would have earned if he'd been working in the mill during his long years in prison . * * * People never get tired to talking about money. '' How much do you think he got?'' Joe asked. " It should be easy to figure out," Mike replied . "Fourteen cents an hour, twelve hours a day, seven days a week. ' ' " For twenty years. " "Ah." ''That sounds like a lot of money. '' A breeze rustled the drying leaves of the Pentecostal linden branches nailed over Mike's doorway, as over most of the doorways in the row . In Twelfth Street, on the other side of the board fence, a huckster was crying his chant of potatoes, cabbages and onions , and small boys with nothing better to do were echoing him mockingly . " You know how to figure , Mike. See what it comes to. " Mike smiled tolerantly, not unwilling to show off his learning. "If you like." He leaned around the comer of the doorway and called into the kitchen where Mary was getting his supper and packing his lunch bucket. "Marchal See if you can find me a pencil and paper." She came to the door, a small, tired women in a soiled dress , a year-old baby in her arms. The baby was gnawing gummily on a piece of bacon rind hung from a string around its neck. '' What do you want with a pencil and paper?'' she asked . Like the men, she spoke in Slovak. "We want to find out how much money the company gave Andy Toth .'' " Ach, you men! You'd do better to start getting ready for work. " But she brought him what he wanted, a brown paper bag and a stubby pencil. �110 SLOVAKIA Mike flattened the bag on his knee and wet the pencil with his tongue. " Fourteen cents an hour, twelve hours a day." He put the figures down and multiplied carefully. " One dollar and sixty-eight cents. " ''I could have told you that, '' Bodnar said. "Seven days a week - " Another pause. " It comes to eleven dollars and seventy-six cents." " What about the long tum?" Joe asked. " That's twelve hours more every other week." " Yes, but how do we know the company figured in the long turns? " "If he ' d been working he would have had to put them in, like everybody else. And they say the company paid him just as though he'd been working. What do you think, Stefan?" Bodnar said it sounded reasonable to him. But that , he went on drily , made it also certain the company would think differently. " If you start figuring it so exactly you ' ll need a better man with figures than I, " Mike said. " What about the times they cut wages? " " And don't forget they weren 't paying any fourteen cents an hour in those days ," Bodnar said . " I went into the mill for seventy-five cents a day. " "And shutdowns and layoffs ," Joe agreed, nodding. " God knows we 've had more than enough of those in the last twenty years. ' ' Mike protested, ''The more you talk the harder you make it.'' They thought it over. One of the card players rose and crossed the yard to the outhouse , making some remark to the women at the loom as he passed and laughing as he shut himself inside . '' Let's keep it simple, '' Mike said. '' A straight twelve hours a day , seven days a week, with no wage cuts or layoffs .'' Bodnar grunted . " I'd like a job in a mill like that. Where is it? " " In heaven , maybe ," Joe suggested. Bodnar turned his face and spat. ' 'Or in hell .' ' " Be quiet, " Mike said, " or I'll be here all day. " He was putting down figures again. ''Fifty-two times eleven-seventy-six - '' He multiplied and added. ''It comes to six hund\ed eleven dollars and fiftytwo cents a year, " he announced . " That much? " · " In twenty years it should make a nice piece of money," Joe observed reflectively . "Now I know why bankers enjoy their work . " Mike was staring at the paper. " You put down some figures , add them up and there you are rich. '' �\ ' SLOVAKIA 111 " How much in twenty years?" Bodnar asked. " One minute. It comes to - " Again Mike 's pencil moved, while the others watched it, absorbed. '' Boie moj! '' " Well? Well? Don 't just sit there. Tell us. " " As God is my judge, it comes to twelve thousand , two hundred thirty dollars and forty cents exactly. ' ' They stared at him blankly. " How much did you say? " Mike repeated the figure. ''Twelve thousand!'' Mike nodded. " In one piece, cash money. " " Jeiis! Twelve thousand dollars! " "I don 't believe it. " " There are the figures. " The immensity of the sum overwhelmed them. Speechless they stared at the paper on Mike 's knee. ' 'Good God! ' ' Bodnar exclaimed. ' 'When I heard they were giving him some money I wished him joy of it. I didn 't think much about it. I supposed it would come to a few hundred dollars more or less , little enough for what he suffered. But twelve thousand dollars!'' " It's a lot of money, " Mike admitted. " It's a fortune! And for what?" Mike glanced at his friend. ' 'Do you begrudge him the money? ' ' Bodnar stared at the paper on Mike 's knee and then struck a match and re-lit his pipe, emotion making him suck on it with loud, smacking noises . ' 'If I do, then may God forgive me. But what I'm thinking is that I was working in the mill when they took him off to jail, and so were you for that matter , and we 're working still. And do we have any twelve thousand dollars to show for it? Twelve thousand dollars? Twelve thousand turds! '' " We didn 't sit in jail for twenty years ." '' Devil take me if I wouldn't be glad to sit in the strongest jail they have for that kind of money! " ''Twenty years in jail is a long time , Stefan. '' ' 'Twenty years in that God-damned mill is a long time too , my friend! ' ' "Yes. Yes , it is. " " And what have we to show for it? Who 's the better off today? Look at us !" He gestured abruptly, taking in themselves, the mean yard , the card player reappearing in the door of the outhouse , sliding his thumbs up and down under his suspenders. " I ask you , who 's the �SLOVAKIA 112 better off? Toth, gone back to the old country with a fortune in his pocket and the rest of his life to do as he likes, - or we, breaking our backs in the blast furnaces to keep body and soul together?'' Mike didn't reply. Joe shrugged slightly, one hand holding his pipe near his mouth, the other cupping an elbow. "Itell you, Mike, it starts a man thinking." "Yes." Mary called, "Mihal, it's getting late!" In some upstairs bedroom a melancholy boarder, far from home, was hunched over an accordian and singing about a girl whose lover from over the wooded mountains never came to see her anymore, though once they had made love every hour, every minute, every day of the week including Saturday: '' Za hory, lesy, mti milti, kde si .. . '' The mills and blast furnaces were a low rumble on the other side of the housetops , and of his song. ''Mihal!'' After a while he got slowly to his feet. ''Toth could make a pretty good speech when he gets back to his village," he said. Bodnar grunted, still seething. Joe looked up at his brother. "A speech?'' Mike nodded, and a far-away look came into his eyes and his voice took on the formal tone appropriate to oratory . ''I was thinking he could stand up before the people who had gathered to welcome him home and he could say to them, ' My friends, in my youth I went to America to make my fortune, as the saying is . I dreamt of some day returning here rich and famous. Money in my pocket, maybe even my picture in the papers. You all know what thoughts will come into a young man's head when he is going to America. So off I went and now I've come back, and here I am. Rich and famous.' ' ' Mike stood above them for a moment, a faint, twisted smile on his lips . " Rich and famous," he repeated quietly. Then he shook his head, as a man will when he finds something too much for him, and went inside to get ready for work. � SLOVAKIA 107 The Man 'Who Made Good in America THOMAS BELL In the spring of 1910, three men were sitting in a grimy courtyard, talking. All were Slovak steelworkers, fair, solidly-built men in their late thirties. The oldest, Mike Dobrejcak, was wearing slippers and a long-sleeved undershirt; he had got out of bed only an hour or so before, and would soon be going off to a night ' s work in the blast furnaces . The others , his brother Joe and his best friend Steve Bodnar, were cleanfaced and clean-shirted, notice to all the small world of a steel town that they weren't working. Times were bad; not as bad as they had been during the panic three years before, but bad enough. The courtyard, its paving gritty with mill dust, was closed in by the brick row in which Mike lived, by the fire-escaped back of a Washington Street saloon , and by the board fence against which Bodnar had titled his chair. Two doors down the row several men were playing cards, their table an old box, and at the far end of the yard, in the comer formed by the communal outhouse and another fence, a loom had been set up and some women were weaving carpets from old rags . It was a fine May afternoon; the three men could feel the warmth of the smoke-hazed sun penetrating their clothes. The saloon-keeper' s hired girl, who had entertained them briefly by coming out on the fire escape above them to wash a window, had clambered back inside , taking her ankles with her, and now the men were talking, like a good many other people in Braddock, about Andy Toth. * * * On a bleak New Year's Eve many years before, about midway in time between the Braddock lockout with which Carnegie began his war on the steelworkers ' union , and the Homestead lockout with which he finished it in 1892, there had been serious trouble at the mill gate in Braddock . The workers had asked for New Year ' s Day off and the This short story was first printed in Mainstream (1947) and is reprinted by permission of Marie Be ll. �108 SLOVAKIA company had refused, whereupon the day men gathered before the gate and tried to keep the incoming night men from going to work. Foremen and mill cops intervened, and very shortly a small riot was raging up and down Thirteenth Street. When it was over there were a number of broken heads on both sides and one man, an Irish foreman, was dead. Andy Toth, a laborer in the blast furnaces who 'd just recently come to America, married and the father of two boys, was arrested and tried for murder. He admitted participating in the fighting but denied that he 'd struck the foreman. He was nevertheless convicted and sentenced to hang, a sentence that was later commuted to life imprisonment. Still protesting his innocence , he disappeared into the state penitentiary, and after a while people stopped talking about him; and after another while everybody except his family - and perhaps the family of the dead foreman - had forgotten him. Now people were talking about him again, for after all these years it turned out that he was just as innocent as he'd always claimed to be. It seemed that a man in the old country, convinced he was dying, had confessed to the crime for which another man had already spent nearly twenty years in prison. His name was Steve Toth but he was no relation. The name was a common one; toth was the Hungarian word for Slovak. Contrary to his expectations, the repentant Steve Toth didn 't die. Meanwhile, however, the village notar, perhaps wondering if Steve Toth had been in his right mind when he told his fantastic story, had written to Braddock; and after a suitable interval Andy Toth's sons, now grown men, journeyed to Europe. Assured that he was safe as long as he didn 't return to America, Steve Toth talked freely . He hadn 't meant to kill anyone , he said. Everyone was fighting, and that he rather than someone else had struck the fatal blow , that it had proved fatal at all, was pure chance. He'd left Braddock at once and returned to the old country . When he heard that the police, to whom one immigrant laborer named Toth was apparently as good as another, had arrested Andy Toth, he had been afraid to reveal the truth. But he was glad \ he said, to get it off his conscience at last. . _ What Andy Toth ' s sons felt or thought as they listened to him was not known. They returned to Braddock laden with affidavits and documents and set about getting their father out of jail. There was a picture of him in the newspapers on his release , a stout, white-haired, dazed looking man. He carried a rosary and he was quoted as saying that he 'd always known he would be freed some day �' SLOVAKIA 109 because he had prayed every night and his faith in God' s goodness had never wavered. Several priests took his words, his history, for a text the following Sunday . Andy Toth did not breathe the free air of America long; almost as soon as it could be arranged, he went back to the old country. He wife, who had taken in boarders to support herself and her family, had died while he was in prison. His sons were American citizens with wives and American-born children. Andy Toth went back to the old country - to die , he said ; a sentiment everyone understood and no one took literally. What made the First Ward gasp, however, was the report that the steel company , in an unprecedented manifestation of generosity and remorse, had given him a check equal to all the wages he would have earned if he'd been working in the mill during his long years in prison . * * * People never get tired to talking about money. '' How much do you think he got?'' Joe asked. " It should be easy to figure out," Mike replied . "Fourteen cents an hour, twelve hours a day, seven days a week. ' ' " For twenty years. " "Ah." ''That sounds like a lot of money. '' A breeze rustled the drying leaves of the Pentecostal linden branches nailed over Mike's doorway, as over most of the doorways in the row . In Twelfth Street, on the other side of the board fence, a huckster was crying his chant of potatoes, cabbages and onions , and small boys with nothing better to do were echoing him mockingly . " You know how to figure , Mike. See what it comes to. " Mike smiled tolerantly, not unwilling to show off his learning. "If you like." He leaned around the comer of the doorway and called into the kitchen where Mary was getting his supper and packing his lunch bucket. "Marchal See if you can find me a pencil and paper." She came to the door, a small, tired women in a soiled dress , a year-old baby in her arms. The baby was gnawing gummily on a piece of bacon rind hung from a string around its neck. '' What do you want with a pencil and paper?'' she asked . Like the men, she spoke in Slovak. "We want to find out how much money the company gave Andy Toth .'' " Ach, you men! You'd do better to start getting ready for work. " But she brought him what he wanted, a brown paper bag and a stubby pencil. �110 SLOVAKIA Mike flattened the bag on his knee and wet the pencil with his tongue. " Fourteen cents an hour, twelve hours a day." He put the figures down and multiplied carefully. " One dollar and sixty-eight cents. " ''I could have told you that, '' Bodnar said. "Seven days a week - " Another pause. " It comes to eleven dollars and seventy-six cents." " What about the long tum?" Joe asked. " That's twelve hours more every other week." " Yes, but how do we know the company figured in the long turns? " "If he ' d been working he would have had to put them in, like everybody else. And they say the company paid him just as though he'd been working. What do you think, Stefan?" Bodnar said it sounded reasonable to him. But that , he went on drily , made it also certain the company would think differently. " If you start figuring it so exactly you ' ll need a better man with figures than I, " Mike said. " What about the times they cut wages? " " And don't forget they weren 't paying any fourteen cents an hour in those days ," Bodnar said . " I went into the mill for seventy-five cents a day. " "And shutdowns and layoffs ," Joe agreed, nodding. " God knows we 've had more than enough of those in the last twenty years. ' ' Mike protested, ''The more you talk the harder you make it.'' They thought it over. One of the card players rose and crossed the yard to the outhouse , making some remark to the women at the loom as he passed and laughing as he shut himself inside . '' Let's keep it simple, '' Mike said. '' A straight twelve hours a day , seven days a week, with no wage cuts or layoffs .'' Bodnar grunted . " I'd like a job in a mill like that. Where is it? " " In heaven , maybe ," Joe suggested. Bodnar turned his face and spat. ' 'Or in hell .' ' " Be quiet, " Mike said, " or I'll be here all day. " He was putting down figures again. ''Fifty-two times eleven-seventy-six - '' He multiplied and added. ''It comes to six hund\ed eleven dollars and fiftytwo cents a year, " he announced . " That much? " · " In twenty years it should make a nice piece of money," Joe observed reflectively . "Now I know why bankers enjoy their work . " Mike was staring at the paper. " You put down some figures , add them up and there you are rich. '' �\ ' SLOVAKIA 111 " How much in twenty years?" Bodnar asked. " One minute. It comes to - " Again Mike 's pencil moved, while the others watched it, absorbed. '' Boie moj! '' " Well? Well? Don 't just sit there. Tell us. " " As God is my judge, it comes to twelve thousand , two hundred thirty dollars and forty cents exactly. ' ' They stared at him blankly. " How much did you say? " Mike repeated the figure. ''Twelve thousand!'' Mike nodded. " In one piece, cash money. " " Jeiis! Twelve thousand dollars! " "I don 't believe it. " " There are the figures. " The immensity of the sum overwhelmed them. Speechless they stared at the paper on Mike 's knee. ' 'Good God! ' ' Bodnar exclaimed. ' 'When I heard they were giving him some money I wished him joy of it. I didn 't think much about it. I supposed it would come to a few hundred dollars more or less , little enough for what he suffered. But twelve thousand dollars!'' " It's a lot of money, " Mike admitted. " It's a fortune! And for what?" Mike glanced at his friend. ' 'Do you begrudge him the money? ' ' Bodnar stared at the paper on Mike 's knee and then struck a match and re-lit his pipe, emotion making him suck on it with loud, smacking noises . ' 'If I do, then may God forgive me. But what I'm thinking is that I was working in the mill when they took him off to jail, and so were you for that matter , and we 're working still. And do we have any twelve thousand dollars to show for it? Twelve thousand dollars? Twelve thousand turds! '' " We didn 't sit in jail for twenty years ." '' Devil take me if I wouldn't be glad to sit in the strongest jail they have for that kind of money! " ''Twenty years in jail is a long time , Stefan. '' ' 'Twenty years in that God-damned mill is a long time too , my friend! ' ' "Yes. Yes , it is. " " And what have we to show for it? Who 's the better off today? Look at us !" He gestured abruptly, taking in themselves, the mean yard , the card player reappearing in the door of the outhouse , sliding his thumbs up and down under his suspenders. " I ask you , who 's the �SLOVAKIA 112 better off? Toth, gone back to the old country with a fortune in his pocket and the rest of his life to do as he likes, - or we, breaking our backs in the blast furnaces to keep body and soul together?'' Mike didn't reply. Joe shrugged slightly, one hand holding his pipe near his mouth, the other cupping an elbow. "Itell you, Mike, it starts a man thinking." "Yes." Mary called, "Mihal, it's getting late!" In some upstairs bedroom a melancholy boarder, far from home, was hunched over an accordian and singing about a girl whose lover from over the wooded mountains never came to see her anymore, though once they had made love every hour, every minute, every day of the week including Saturday: '' Za hory, lesy, mti milti, kde si .. . '' The mills and blast furnaces were a low rumble on the other side of the housetops , and of his song. ''Mihal!'' After a while he got slowly to his feet. ''Toth could make a pretty good speech when he gets back to his village," he said. Bodnar grunted, still seething. Joe looked up at his brother. "A speech?'' Mike nodded, and a far-away look came into his eyes and his voice took on the formal tone appropriate to oratory . ''I was thinking he could stand up before the people who had gathered to welcome him home and he could say to them, ' My friends, in my youth I went to America to make my fortune, as the saying is . I dreamt of some day returning here rich and famous. Money in my pocket, maybe even my picture in the papers. You all know what thoughts will come into a young man's head when he is going to America. So off I went and now I've come back, and here I am. Rich and famous.' ' ' Mike stood above them for a moment, a faint, twisted smile on his lips . " Rich and famous," he repeated quietly. Then he shook his head, as a man will when he finds something too much for him, and went inside to get ready for work. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1978-79, Vol. 28 Description An account of the resource Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-79 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 107 The Man 'Who Made Good in America THOMAS BELL In the spring of 1910, three men were sitting in a grimy courtyard, talking. All were Slovak steelworkers, fair, solidly-built men in their late thirties. The oldest, Mike Dobrejcak, was wearing slippers and a long-sleeved undershirt; he had got out of bed only an hour or so before, and would soon be going off to a night ' s work in the blast furnaces . The others , his brother Joe and his best friend Steve Bodnar, were cleanfaced and clean-shirted, notice to all the small world of a steel town that they weren't working. Times were bad; not as bad as they had been during the panic three years before, but bad enough. The courtyard, its paving gritty with mill dust, was closed in by the brick row in which Mike lived, by the fire-escaped back of a Washington Street saloon , and by the board fence against which Bodnar had titled his chair. Two doors down the row several men were playing cards, their table an old box, and at the far end of the yard, in the comer formed by the communal outhouse and another fence, a loom had been set up and some women were weaving carpets from old rags . It was a fine May afternoon; the three men could feel the warmth of the smoke-hazed sun penetrating their clothes. The saloon-keeper' s hired girl, who had entertained them briefly by coming out on the fire escape above them to wash a window, had clambered back inside , taking her ankles with her, and now the men were talking, like a good many other people in Braddock, about Andy Toth. * * * On a bleak New Year's Eve many years before, about midway in time between the Braddock lockout with which Carnegie began his war on the steelworkers ' union , and the Homestead lockout with which he finished it in 1892, there had been serious trouble at the mill gate in Braddock . The workers had asked for New Year ' s Day off and the This short story was first printed in Mainstream (1947) and is reprinted by permission of Marie Be ll. 108 SLOVAKIA company had refused, whereupon the day men gathered before the gate and tried to keep the incoming night men from going to work. Foremen and mill cops intervened, and very shortly a small riot was raging up and down Thirteenth Street. When it was over there were a number of broken heads on both sides and one man, an Irish foreman, was dead. Andy Toth, a laborer in the blast furnaces who 'd just recently come to America, married and the father of two boys, was arrested and tried for murder. He admitted participating in the fighting but denied that he 'd struck the foreman. He was nevertheless convicted and sentenced to hang, a sentence that was later commuted to life imprisonment. Still protesting his innocence , he disappeared into the state penitentiary, and after a while people stopped talking about him; and after another while everybody except his family - and perhaps the family of the dead foreman - had forgotten him. Now people were talking about him again, for after all these years it turned out that he was just as innocent as he'd always claimed to be. It seemed that a man in the old country, convinced he was dying, had confessed to the crime for which another man had already spent nearly twenty years in prison. His name was Steve Toth but he was no relation. The name was a common one; toth was the Hungarian word for Slovak. Contrary to his expectations, the repentant Steve Toth didn 't die. Meanwhile, however, the village notar, perhaps wondering if Steve Toth had been in his right mind when he told his fantastic story, had written to Braddock; and after a suitable interval Andy Toth's sons, now grown men, journeyed to Europe. Assured that he was safe as long as he didn 't return to America, Steve Toth talked freely . He hadn 't meant to kill anyone , he said. Everyone was fighting, and that he rather than someone else had struck the fatal blow , that it had proved fatal at all, was pure chance. He'd left Braddock at once and returned to the old country . When he heard that the police, to whom one immigrant laborer named Toth was apparently as good as another, had arrested Andy Toth, he had been afraid to reveal the truth. But he was glad \ he said, to get it off his conscience at last. . _ What Andy Toth ' s sons felt or thought as they listened to him was not known. They returned to Braddock laden with affidavits and documents and set about getting their father out of jail. There was a picture of him in the newspapers on his release , a stout, white-haired, dazed looking man. He carried a rosary and he was quoted as saying that he 'd always known he would be freed some day ' SLOVAKIA 109 because he had prayed every night and his faith in God' s goodness had never wavered. Several priests took his words, his history, for a text the following Sunday . Andy Toth did not breathe the free air of America long; almost as soon as it could be arranged, he went back to the old country. He wife, who had taken in boarders to support herself and her family, had died while he was in prison. His sons were American citizens with wives and American-born children. Andy Toth went back to the old country - to die , he said ; a sentiment everyone understood and no one took literally. What made the First Ward gasp, however, was the report that the steel company , in an unprecedented manifestation of generosity and remorse, had given him a check equal to all the wages he would have earned if he'd been working in the mill during his long years in prison . * * * People never get tired to talking about money. '' How much do you think he got?'' Joe asked. " It should be easy to figure out," Mike replied . "Fourteen cents an hour, twelve hours a day, seven days a week. ' ' " For twenty years. " "Ah." ''That sounds like a lot of money. '' A breeze rustled the drying leaves of the Pentecostal linden branches nailed over Mike's doorway, as over most of the doorways in the row . In Twelfth Street, on the other side of the board fence, a huckster was crying his chant of potatoes, cabbages and onions , and small boys with nothing better to do were echoing him mockingly . " You know how to figure , Mike. See what it comes to. " Mike smiled tolerantly, not unwilling to show off his learning. "If you like." He leaned around the comer of the doorway and called into the kitchen where Mary was getting his supper and packing his lunch bucket. "Marchal See if you can find me a pencil and paper." She came to the door, a small, tired women in a soiled dress , a year-old baby in her arms. The baby was gnawing gummily on a piece of bacon rind hung from a string around its neck. '' What do you want with a pencil and paper?'' she asked . Like the men, she spoke in Slovak. "We want to find out how much money the company gave Andy Toth .'' " Ach, you men! You'd do better to start getting ready for work. " But she brought him what he wanted, a brown paper bag and a stubby pencil. 110 SLOVAKIA Mike flattened the bag on his knee and wet the pencil with his tongue. " Fourteen cents an hour, twelve hours a day." He put the figures down and multiplied carefully. " One dollar and sixty-eight cents. " ''I could have told you that, '' Bodnar said. "Seven days a week - " Another pause. " It comes to eleven dollars and seventy-six cents." " What about the long tum?" Joe asked. " That's twelve hours more every other week." " Yes, but how do we know the company figured in the long turns? " "If he ' d been working he would have had to put them in, like everybody else. And they say the company paid him just as though he'd been working. What do you think, Stefan?" Bodnar said it sounded reasonable to him. But that , he went on drily , made it also certain the company would think differently. " If you start figuring it so exactly you ' ll need a better man with figures than I, " Mike said. " What about the times they cut wages? " " And don't forget they weren 't paying any fourteen cents an hour in those days ," Bodnar said . " I went into the mill for seventy-five cents a day. " "And shutdowns and layoffs ," Joe agreed, nodding. " God knows we 've had more than enough of those in the last twenty years. ' ' Mike protested, ''The more you talk the harder you make it.'' They thought it over. One of the card players rose and crossed the yard to the outhouse , making some remark to the women at the loom as he passed and laughing as he shut himself inside . '' Let's keep it simple, '' Mike said. '' A straight twelve hours a day , seven days a week, with no wage cuts or layoffs .'' Bodnar grunted . " I'd like a job in a mill like that. Where is it? " " In heaven , maybe ," Joe suggested. Bodnar turned his face and spat. ' 'Or in hell .' ' " Be quiet, " Mike said, " or I'll be here all day. " He was putting down figures again. ''Fifty-two times eleven-seventy-six - '' He multiplied and added. ''It comes to six hund\ed eleven dollars and fiftytwo cents a year, " he announced . " That much? " · " In twenty years it should make a nice piece of money," Joe observed reflectively . "Now I know why bankers enjoy their work . " Mike was staring at the paper. " You put down some figures , add them up and there you are rich. '' \ ' SLOVAKIA 111 " How much in twenty years?" Bodnar asked. " One minute. It comes to - " Again Mike 's pencil moved, while the others watched it, absorbed. '' Boie moj! '' " Well? Well? Don 't just sit there. Tell us. " " As God is my judge, it comes to twelve thousand , two hundred thirty dollars and forty cents exactly. ' ' They stared at him blankly. " How much did you say? " Mike repeated the figure. ''Twelve thousand!'' Mike nodded. " In one piece, cash money. " " Jeiis! Twelve thousand dollars! " "I don 't believe it. " " There are the figures. " The immensity of the sum overwhelmed them. Speechless they stared at the paper on Mike 's knee. ' 'Good God! ' ' Bodnar exclaimed. ' 'When I heard they were giving him some money I wished him joy of it. I didn 't think much about it. I supposed it would come to a few hundred dollars more or less , little enough for what he suffered. But twelve thousand dollars!'' " It's a lot of money, " Mike admitted. " It's a fortune! And for what?" Mike glanced at his friend. ' 'Do you begrudge him the money? ' ' Bodnar stared at the paper on Mike 's knee and then struck a match and re-lit his pipe, emotion making him suck on it with loud, smacking noises . ' 'If I do, then may God forgive me. But what I'm thinking is that I was working in the mill when they took him off to jail, and so were you for that matter , and we 're working still. And do we have any twelve thousand dollars to show for it? Twelve thousand dollars? Twelve thousand turds! '' " We didn 't sit in jail for twenty years ." '' Devil take me if I wouldn't be glad to sit in the strongest jail they have for that kind of money! " ''Twenty years in jail is a long time , Stefan. '' ' 'Twenty years in that God-damned mill is a long time too , my friend! ' ' "Yes. Yes , it is. " " And what have we to show for it? Who 's the better off today? Look at us !" He gestured abruptly, taking in themselves, the mean yard , the card player reappearing in the door of the outhouse , sliding his thumbs up and down under his suspenders. " I ask you , who 's the SLOVAKIA 112 better off? Toth, gone back to the old country with a fortune in his pocket and the rest of his life to do as he likes, - or we, breaking our backs in the blast furnaces to keep body and soul together?'' Mike didn't reply. Joe shrugged slightly, one hand holding his pipe near his mouth, the other cupping an elbow. "Itell you, Mike, it starts a man thinking." "Yes." Mary called, "Mihal, it's getting late!" In some upstairs bedroom a melancholy boarder, far from home, was hunched over an accordian and singing about a girl whose lover from over the wooded mountains never came to see her anymore, though once they had made love every hour, every minute, every day of the week including Saturday: '' Za hory, lesy, mti milti, kde si .. . '' The mills and blast furnaces were a low rumble on the other side of the housetops , and of his song. ''Mihal!'' After a while he got slowly to his feet. ''Toth could make a pretty good speech when he gets back to his village," he said. Bodnar grunted, still seething. Joe looked up at his brother. "A speech?'' Mike nodded, and a far-away look came into his eyes and his voice took on the formal tone appropriate to oratory . ''I was thinking he could stand up before the people who had gathered to welcome him home and he could say to them, ' My friends, in my youth I went to America to make my fortune, as the saying is . I dreamt of some day returning here rich and famous. Money in my pocket, maybe even my picture in the papers. You all know what thoughts will come into a young man's head when he is going to America. So off I went and now I've come back, and here I am. Rich and famous.' ' ' Mike stood above them for a moment, a faint, twisted smile on his lips . " Rich and famous," he repeated quietly. Then he shook his head, as a man will when he finds something too much for him, and went inside to get ready for work.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Man Who Made Good in America Description An account of the resource Thomas Bell Slovakia, Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79 pp. 107-112 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bell, Thomas, 1903-1961 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-79 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/4bc69c29bb870a250fa1b6758b8d6a87.pdf 91d342c6840a65d6345652c59f188e97 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 9 The Lattimer Massacre and Its Sources GEORGE A. TURNER ''The affair at Hazleton yesterday is one of those terrible catastrophies the news of which simply stuns the community and paralyzes for a moment the power of thought." (1) The above editorial comment was a reaction to one of the worst acts of violence in the history of the American labor movement. The tragedy occurred at Laimer, a small coal mining patch, one and a half miles northeast of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh region of the anthracite coal fields on September 10, 1897. A group of nearly four hundred striking, unarmed, immigrant mine workers adhering to the control of their leaders, approached Lattimer to encourage the employees of Calvin Pardee & Company to join them in a work stoppage. They encountered Sheriff James Martin of Luzerne County and his posse of eighty-six deputies who viewed them as enemies of public order and the wellspring of lawlessness. When the marching laborers arrived at Lattimer in midafternoon, the Sheriff approached them, ordered them to halt, disperse, and return to their homes. Within a few minutes an altercation erupted between the Sheriff and some of the strikers at which point the deputies aimed their rifles and fired directly into the group of strikers. Instantly, their gunshots produced a carnage of blood and death among the immigrants - a massacre that left nineteen dead and thirty-eight wounded.(2) Peace officers were unscathed in their deadly assault on the defenseless workers who had been peacefully assembled on a public highway. This incident, lasting only a few minutes, became one of the most devastating acts of public authorities attacking, wounding and killing American laborers. The next day newspaper headlines depicted the killings as an atrocity. Regional papers denounced the shooting: "Yesterday's Butchery, A Mob of Heartless Deputies Fire Into a Throng of Miners and Accomplish Deadly Work" ;(3) "D of Blood at Lattimer" ;(4) "Strikers Shot in Cold Blood" ;(5) and "Looks Like Butchery" .(6) The account quickly spread beyond the anthracite region. Major metropolitan newspapers depicted the shooting in equally stark terms: ''The Killing of Miners at Lattimer Was Butchery'';(7) ''Mowed Down By Deputies" ;(8) "Laid Low By Bullets, the Men Fell Like Sheep Before the Murderous Winchesters of the Officials" ;(9) "Homestead Battle Thrown In The Shade" ;(10) and "Dead in Heaps, Deputies Fire on Miners at Lattimer, Penn ., Men Were Huddled Closely and Slaughter Was Terrific''. (11) The killing of the strikers by the Sheriff's deputies was a major national news story for several days prompting a �10 SLOVAKIA very basic question: Why did this senseless, violent act of shooting unarmed immigrant workers occur? To answer this inquiry requires an understanding of nativism found in the hard coal fields of Pennsylvania and an identification of those factors affecting the lives and working conditions of the immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. Slavic and Italian immigrants began arriving in the eight Pennsylvania counties comprising the anthracite region in the late 1870' s and early 1880 's with nearly all taking employment in mining and by the late 1890's outnumbered German and English-speaking workers .(12) The magnitude of this immigration flow from Poland, Austria-Hungary , Russia, and Italy was evident; in 1880 they totaled only 1,925 , in 1890 they were 32,007, and ten years later their numbe had more than doubled to 89,328. At the same time the foreign born from England , Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Germany decreased by 2.2 percent from 102,421 in 1880 to 100,269 in 1900; in particular, the demographic composition of this group in Luzerne County revealed a decline from ninety-four percent in 1880, to sixty-eight percent in 1890, and a further drop to forty-nine percent in 1900. These southern and eastern Europeans grew to an ever increasing percent of the foreignborn population in the anthracite coal fields: 1. 7 percent in 1880, 25 .2 percent in 1890 , and 46.1 percent in 1900.(13) Such a substantial and rapid growth of alien people created apprehension and anxieties leading to resentment and nativistic sentiments among the AngloSaxon population , their antipathy stemming from cultural differences and fear of economic competition for jobs. There was little to encourage the necessary processes for immigrants to be readily assimilated into the society. New arrivals had a distinctive culture, language , religion, and life style that were strikingly different , giving rise to suspicion and contempt from the native population and other established ethnic groups. Eastern and southern Europeans established numerous ethnic societies which perpetuated their pride , customs, and traditions . Since their religion was Catholic , they organized separate parishes along nationality lines thus sustaining ethnic identification. Marriage records reveal a consistent pattern of immigrants marrying only members of their own nationality. Divisions caused by factionalism in this polyglot society were difficult to bridge. Newspapers did not assume any responsibility for promoting harmony and assimilation among the diverse nationalities, and public schools did not lead in the task of Americanizing children of foreign cultures until the early 1900's . School attendance by immigrant children was minimal and those who did attend encountered language barriers. (14) Anglo-Saxons were finding it difficult to accept a pluralistic society in which they were becoming a numerical minority. This development fostered nativist sentiment , causing AngloSaxons to have ce rtain perceptions of the immigrants that inhibited �SLOVAKIA 11 assimilation of the aliens contributing to their separation and isolation in the society. Attitudes of non-acceptance found expression in opprobrious terms for the new arrivals: " Pollocks, " "Huns," and " Dagoes," all denoting inferiority and disdain. Polish, Italian, and Slavic celebrations for marriages and their baptismal customs were denigrated and viewed as outlandish. A common belief among the native population was that a '' ... Slav does not know how to enjoy himself save by getting drunk, he does not know how to show kindness to friends save by making them drink." (15) Stories circulated that these new aliens participated in wife-selling, practiced polyandry, and were responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime, (16) contributing to the viewpoint that they were '' ... much more dangerous to the body politic than the excluded Chinese; . . . do not hesitate to use dynamite if they desire to blow up the home of one whom they particularly hate."(17) Rejection of the new immigrants grew in part from a feeling on the part of Anglo-Saxons that they belonged to a superior and more progressive race of people. The way that immigrants lived reinforced feelings of superiority in nativist thinking. Due to economic factors, lack of acceptance, and the desire of ethnic groups to have their own neighborhoods, ghettoes emerged in different communities. Since houses in ghettoes were crowded and substandard, outsiders viewed living conditions as unpleasant , unattractive, offensive, and the area as a tough and brawlly place to live. "The Slavs are physically strong and can flourish in an environment that would be fatal to more sensitive organisms." (18) Supporting this dislike of southern and eastern Europeans, the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1895 passed a resolution calling upon Congress to enact legislation to restrict immigration. The resolution clearly reflected a protectionist attitude as seen in its opening statement: '' That we recognize in the constant influx of an ignorant and vicious class of immigrants a great and growing evil highly injurious to American workingmen and dangerous to American institutions." (19) Again, two years later legislators passed another similar resolution.(20) Native Americans and older immigrants from northern Europe came to the conclusion they were being invaded and overcome by hordes of undesirable people who would undermine their communities. Of equal importance and of more immediate concern was competition by Slavic and Italian immigrants for jobs and wages in the labor market. Nativist sentiment held that railroads and coal operators enticed immigrants to settle in the region in order to increase the supply of labor which, in turn, had the effect of keeping wage rates down. (21) This charge against railroad and coal operators, however, was not completely true. It was well known that contract miners, who were primarily Anglo-Saxons, had the best and highest paying positions outside the mine supervisory jobs. They were also employers and were '' ... themselves largely responsible for the employment of �12 SLOVAKIA the non-English speaking foreigners. Instead of employing English laborers at the regular wage week the miners would employ a big Slav or Hun cheaply, increasing his own pay check quite an amount. His boasting of the 'snap' caused others to do the same."(22) Job competition increased as immigrants took any kind of work they could find in and around the mines. No matter what employment they found their wages were four or five times higher than what they previously earned in the native land.(23) Anxious to find work, newcomers took the unskilled positions of slate pickers, door-boys and helpers, drivers , runners, and laborers, willing to endure dangerous work and inconveniences which older workers refused to accept. With the passage of time and experience they began to compete for the higher paying, skilled positions held by English-speaking and German coal workers. Established workers contended that since new immigrants were willing to accept lower wages and even wage cuts to get and hold jobs, they were undermining the standard of living and forcing many older laborers to forego mining in the mines and to leave the area to find new employment. Anglo-Saxon workers became bitter and antagonistic which impaired the development of any class solidarity among the anthracite workers.(24) This led to discriminatory and exclusionary practices toward eastern and southern Europeans. The history of the anthracite labor movement revealed that the Knights of Labor, dominated by Irish, and the Amalgamated Association of Miners and Mine Laborers, controlled by Americans, English, Welsh, and Germans, were ineffective in enrolling these workers into their ranks in the 1880's and 1890's. Leaders of organized labor vacillated, were ambivalent, and showed a lack of real interest in encouraging new immigrants to join the union movement. On certain occasions labor organizations even attacked Slavic groups for undermining the labor movement. Failure of the unions to bridge ethnic differences was a major factor in thwarting endeavors to establish successful collective bargaining with the region's coal operators and to gain better conditions of employment.(25) Whenever new immigrants supported organized labor, they generally joined locals organized along ethnic lines; this at first weakened the interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests and ideas between the AngloSaxons and the new immigrants.(26) When the United Mine Workers of America first appeared in the area in the early 1890's, it made little headway in recruiting the Slavic and Italian immigrants who were fast becoming the major segment of the anthracite labor force.(27) Finally, when U.M.W.A. became firmly established after 1900 and merged the 'old' and 'new' immigrants together, each local retained ethnic �SLOVAKIA 13 distinction , making the union an alliance of distrustful nationality groups .(28) Established miners, who supported organized labor and held the higher paying and more desirable jobs, sought to protect their positions and perpetuate their advantage. They were fearful that the new immigrants who entered the coal fields as unskilled laborers would in time acquire needed skills to pass into the ranks of skilled miners which had the highest pay scale ; older workers also believed that when new immigrants became employed in mines the accident rate increased due to their lack of mining experience and inability to communicate in English .(29) State mine inspector, James Roderick, of Luzerne and Carbon Counties supported this viewpoint and asserted in 1883 that the rate of accidents increased as the influx of new laborers grew, whereas the older miners were more careful in their work. (30) Therefore, AngloSaxon miners supported the enactment of the miners' examination law passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1889. The official title of the legislation, " An act for the examination of miners in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania and to prevent the employment of incompetent persons as miners in anthracite coal mines,'' aptly described its intent. The law created examination boards in various districts in the anthracite region consisting of skilled miners having at least five years of experience and appointed by the presiding judge in a county . It stipulated that no coal company could legally employ a person as a miner who did not have a certificate of competency issued by a miners' examination board ; in order for a person to receive a miner's certificate he had to provide evidence of having at least two years experience as a mine laborer in Pennsylvania.(31) In the legislative debate on this proposal, coal operators were accused of allowing incompetent people to work in mines , thus contributing to large numbers of fatalities and injuries. Many hoped that the new law would reduce the dangers of working in anthracite mines . Aside from viewing this act as a safety measure, there was a clear inference that the law would also help to check the influx and competition of labor from the new immigrants. Representative Caffery commenting on the proposed law declared that it could prevent '' ... incompetent men to come here from Europe, three or four of whom will be rushed into one chamber, thus dividing up the work.'' (32) Caffery's remark clearly made reference to the recent European influx into the anthracite region that had aroused resentments among older miners. In time it became apparent that expectations concerning the miner 's examination law would not be realized. Anglo-Saxon miners recognized that asking a few questions by miners ' examination boards could not really assure the competency of an applicant. In the examination of a non-English speaking person, the interpreter often aided and embellished the individual' s response. Furthermore, it �14 SLOVAKIA became a fact of life, due to fraud and corruption, that certificates became articles of merchandise.(33) From the time the law went into effect until 1897 there were several attempts to modify or even to repeal the statute . The law, rather than excluding unskilled laborers from becoming miners, had, in effect, due to the requirement of two years of mining experience in Pennsylvania, made ineligible the experienced miners who came from other parts of the country or Europe to secure jobs in the anthracite coal fields . These men were unwilling to work two years as a mine laborers in order to qualify for a miner's certificate. Instead, this simply assured that the new immigrants in time would move into the ranks of skilled miners - the higher-paying positions normally held by Anglo-Saxon workers. Representative Miller, whose district included Luzerne county, substantiated this point: ''Under the present act no one can receive a certificate as a miner until he has worked for two years as a miner's laborer. The result of that is just this: Only the least responsible class of workmen will come into the anthracite district at all; it excludes all of the better class of men. No one who is a practical miner from the bituminous region, or any other part of the State or the United States will come into the anthracite region and work for two years as a miner's laborer before he can obtain this certificate. '' (34) Admission that the law would stymie the settlement of new immigrants in the region was acknowledged by Representative Morahan in one of the attempts to revise the statute: ''It was brought about after the mining corporations had sent their agents over into Europe and brought over an element tended to restrict the production and elevation of wages. It was passed for the purpose of preventing the importation of pauper immigrants into the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania . . . "(35) Deficiencies in the miners' examination law prompted district one (anthracite region) of the United Mine Workers of America in its annual convention at Pottsvillle on October 16, 1896, to charge that the act was a farce. In a resolution calling for revision of the statute, the union wanted stiff penalties, imprisonment up to five years and fines of $100, for not adhering to the law; it also advocated that the state pay board members a set salary, abolishing the present procedure of having salaries based on fees collected from issuance of certificates. (36) These recommended changes reflected a view that corruption and failure to enforce the law had become commonplace among many of the miners' examination boards. John Fahy, president of district one, lobbied at the state capital in support of revisions to the law approved in 1897. One amendment increased penalties for violations, but no changes were made in the fee structure. A second amendment stipulated that each exaininee had to answer a minimum of twelve questions in English, which prohibited the use of interpreters and therefore discriminated against immigrants, who could not speak English.(37) The United Mine �SLOVAKIA 15 Worker's Journal lauded Fahy's lobbying activities and contribution in getting this legislature enacted. (38) After passage of these revisions to the law, the Miners' Examination Board in the Hazleton area placed a notice in the local newspaper to alert mine officials of its provisions. It noted that the law had been violated in the past but henceforth would be strictly enforced. The Board's warning reflected nativist sentiment: "As you, above all others, should know the necessity of having men who understand their work and the language which is the known language of this, our country, the Board would say do your duty and acquit yourselves like men and Americans.'' (39) Control of the miners' examination boards rested with English-speaking miners who were able to exercise certain prerogatives and institute various regulations to their advantage at the expense of the new immigrants.(40) Another piece of discriminating legislation with nativist prejudice, the Alien Tax Act, passed by large majorities in both houses, went into effect on July 1, 1897. The statue stipulated that any male alien age twenty-one and over employed in the state had to pay a three-cent tax on each day of employment which meant that most aliens employed as laborers in the Lehigh anthracite coal region suffered a two to three percent reduction in daily wages . Employers had to maintain employment records on aliens in their service and to collect the tax which reverted to the county treasury, half of which went to school districts and the other half to defray county operating expenses.(41) In the senate debate over the bill, the presence of new immigrants in the community gave rise to a concern that they were '' .. . a constant source of expense to us and . . . this is a very good way to get some money out of them to help pay the expenses of government.' ' (42) The act's preamble declared that aliens showed no allegiance to the state and did not financially support the maintenance of government. In addition, it described aliens as direct competitors to the state's laboring population. One passage stated they were '' ... brought into unjust competition with the tax-paying American laborers and greatly impair their welfare by depriving them of their employment and of preventing them from receiving fair compensation for their labor therefore." (43) Again, John Fahy, miners ' advocate at the state capital, wrote an article for the United Mine Workers Journal asserting: ''What a world of good this law would do the American citizens who try to earn their living in the coal mines, if the tax were one dollar per day.' ' (44) Nearly two months after the tax went into effect, the United States Circuit Court in Pittsburgh declared the law unconstitutional as a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. Judge Acheson in the court's decision acknowledged that the law discriminated against new immigrants: "Evidently the act is intended to hinder the employment of foreign born unnaturalized male persons over 21 years of age." (45) An obvious recourse for the alien to avoid this new tax, prior to its �16 SLOVAKIA being declared unconstitutional, was to become a naturalized citizen. Senator Flinn feared this possibility and could see little benefit from such a law unless to increase local revenues. It was his opinion that the legislation '' ... would have a tendency to drive this class of people into quicker citizenship." (46) Possibly anticipating this result, the Naturalization Court in Luzerne County a few days prior to the alien tax being voided instituted new rules to revise the process of naturalizing aliens. New procedures required an applicant to make formal application and declare his or her intention to become an American citizen at least thirty days prior to appearing in court, to be represented in the court proceedings by an attorney, and to produce a certificate of entry from the commissioner of immigration at the port of arrival. County officials had to publish in advance of the naturalization hearing the names of aliens seeking citizenship . Publicizing names of aliens petitioning to become citizens had the purpose of facilitating the process of weeding out undesirable applicants. Under the new rules five people could sign a petition remonstrating against an alien becoming a citizen thereby requiring a hearing to pass on their objections. In court, the alien had to demonstrate knowledge of the national and state constitutions and duties of citizens with responses in English.(47) Under these new procedures costs and amount of time required of the foreigner to become a citizen greatly increased. Previously, it had been perfunctory procedure since the immigrant only had to pay two dollars to secure naturalization papers. Now the costs rose to at least eight dollars for court and attorney fees.(48) When the individual lived some distance from the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, he had additional expenses for transportation and meals as well as losing a day of wages. Cumulatively, the costs for most aliens was equivalent to nearly two weeks of wages . A month later when implementation of these new naturalization rules became part of the court proceedings, half of the ninety-seven applicants, predominately Slavic, Polish, and Italian, were rejected in their quest for citizenship.(49) The new naturalization procedures confirmed the fact that the ease with which foreigners had in the past gained American citizenship would no longer be the rule. The new immigrants, who had become the dominant group among the mine workers, found themselves unaccepted due to nativistic attitudes, discriminatory laws, organized labor's lack of interest and view of them as an economic threat, and increased difficulty in acquiring citizenship. An added burden which all mine laborers faced was working conditions in the anthracite coal fields . The Pennsylvania Legislature in 1897 established a joint investigating committee of three representatives and two senators to examine and make a report concerning working conditions among those employed in the mining of anthracite coal. The committee held twenty-six meetings in the principal cities in the anthracite region and took testimony from 311 witnesses �SLOVAKIA 17 representing businessmen , directors of relief organizations, and different classes of people connected with mining. The committee released its findings to the public on June 14, 1897, containing valuable information affecting those employed in mining.(50) The committee cited a major problem in the anthracite coal economy as excessive production in relationship to market demands that made coal prices weak and unstable. This had a direct bearing on mine employees since coal operators would cut production , institute lay-offs , and reduce wages in order to prevent or minimize their losses, thus exacerbating the labor market which already suffered from an over supply of workers . Surplus labor was evident when comparing the number employed in the anthracite mines in 1892 with 1896 and the coal produced in those same two years. Between 1892 to 1896 there occurred a fifteen percent increase in the number employed , 130,197 to 149,670, while coal production only increased five percent, 45,738,374 to 48,074 ,350 tons.(51) Estimated production capacity of the region 's collieries in 1896 was ninety million tons; actual output only came to fifty-four percent of capability while the number of mine employees for that same year increased by 6,065 .(52) Because of surplus laborers and a weak coal market there was lack of employment in the mines in 1896 as the average number of days of employment in the Hazleton region was only 178 days or fifty-seven percent of full employment for a year, based on a six-day week for fifty-two weeks. (53) This same condition was still prevalent in the first seven months in 1897 in which the mines operated on an average of one or two days a week.(54) One mine owner succinctly described the situation: " We can't give them work enough even at ninety cents a day because of the ups and downs of the business. When things begin to improve, we must have enough on hand to satisfy the demand, and that means, when business slacks up, that many have to be idle ." (55) This practice of the coal operators cutting back production to maintain the price of coal in a depressed market had caused frequent interruptions in the mid 1890's that put the standard of living of the average mine laborer on a very low basis . The legislative report pointed out that starvation conditions existed among the miners with Hazleton and vicinity one of the five areas identified as having great destitution and want. The committee reported: ' 'The testimony shows conclusively that deplorable condition of affairs for a period covering about two years, and particularly since the first of January of the present year, since which time the men in and about the collieries have been employed not more than two or three three-fourths days per week , earning on an average $4 per week , upon which , in many instances, they were compelled to support large families , in some cases as high as eleven members, paying house rent and coal and the necessities of life, which to this committee seems an impossibility . In . .. mining centres there is at all times more or less destitution and want , in many instances occasioned by profligacy. �18 SLOVAKIA Matters throughout the anthracite region have been gradually growing worse, and never in the history of this section of our State has the condition of the men employed in and about the mines been so deplorable or of such long duration.'' (56) The wages of miners and laborers in the Lehigh anthracite region had a direct relationship to the selling price of coal. Since the collapse of the union after the strike in 1888, there was no union contract to govern working conditions and wages. Wages were pegged to the market price of coal at the tidewater in Elizabethport, New Jersey. This system known as the ' 'sliding scale'' came into effect in 1869 with the formula for determining wages established in 1875. Under this arrangement, if coal sold for $5 .00 a ton at Elizabethport, miners, who held the highest paying jobs, received eighty-seven cents for each car of coal produced which meant that on the average, skilled miners earned twenty-one cents an hour, or $12.60 a week for sixty hours of work. The highest paid class of laborers, if a ton of coal sold for the same price, earned $10.80 a week or fourteen percent less than the miners. Whenever the price of coal increased ten cents a ton, wages advanced one percent for each ten cent rise and conversely, whenever the price of coal declined ten cents a ton, wages decreased one percent for each ten cent reduction . (57) Mine employees saw several drawbacks to this method of determining wages. Lehigh coal operators, as opposed to the Wyoming and Schuylkill coal operators, were mainly independents; hence, they were more vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the freight rates in transporting their coal to the markets, which, in turn, had a direct bearing on establishing the price of coal. High transportation costs reduced the coal operator's ability to improve wages and, most importantly, forced an increase in coal prices that made coal produced in the Lehigh region less competitive in the market than that produced in the other two fields largely under the control of the railroads. Consequently, starting in 1892 the Lehigh coal operators, who produced only around sixteen percent of anthracite coal, agreed to sell part of their production to the railway coal companies at forty percent below the tidewater price in order to avoid excessive freight rates. A major portion of the coal production was sold in the interior at prices higher than at the tidewater. Finally, the 1875 price-wage formula did not reflect changes that had occurred in the coal market. Anthracite coal had been losing the industrial fuel market to the less expensive bituminous coal. This loss forced a readjustment in the coal trade as more and more anthracite had to be processed into smaller sizes to be sold for home heating purposes. Smaller sizes gradually became the major portion of the coal trade and this sold at lower prices, resulting in a reduction of the average price per ton of coal thus keeping wages down.(58) Besides irregular work and low wages the anthracite laborer had to contend with day-to-day conditions which were equally distressing. The �SLOVAKIA 19 company store had long been an issue in the mining communities and had an odious reputation. The fact that employees were under some form of compulsion to make their purchases at a company store at inflated prices was so repugnant that it caused considerable discord, dissension, and prolonged agitation. A congressional committee in 1889 investigating working conditions in the anthracite region reported some of the abuses connected with stores operated by coal companies which still persisted in the late 1890's. Prices were as much as thirty percent higher for the same items sold in independent stores. There was both direct and subtle pressure on employees to purchase groceries , clothing, and other items from the company store; workers feared losing their jobs or being moved to a lower paying position or to one that was more difficult because of dangerous or strenuous working conditions. "Some of the officials of the company, such as foremen, would state to their workmen, 'If you patronize me we will patronize you.' Well , that meant if there was a good job they would receive it if they traded in the company' s store ."(59) Reacting to these abuses, Pennsylvania in 1891 enacted a law prohibiting corporations engaged in mining and manufacturing from operating general supply stores . In an attempt to prevent evasion, the law explicitly made it illegal for a corporation to contract with an independent store to require its employees to purchase merchandise; also it prohibited any corporate officer or stockholder to operate a company store on the premises of the corporation. (60) Unfortunately, the legislation did not eliminate the many evils associated with the company stores. In the first place , unincorporated coal operators did not come under the law's jurisdiction. Secondly, there was a loophole in the law's language forbidding a corporation from requiring its employees to patronize a particular store by stating that employees " shall not be obliged" to deal with a designated store. In other words an employee of a corporation could not be compelled to shop at a particular store but he could voluntarily choose to buy his merchandise at that store. Realistically, as life existed in the mining communities with the ever-presence and dominance of the coal companies, many factors came into play that inevitably induced an employee to make a so-called voluntary decision to patronize a particular store. Thirdly, when individual coal operators sold their interests to a large corporation, they often retained the right to continue the operation of their store. In this arrangement, many times the corporation provided a service by deducting an employee's bill at the store from his monthly wages with a collection fee which varied from three to five percent of the bill. This system had a descriptive nickname of the "pluck-me-store." (61) It was in the Lehigh region, where a very large percent of the coal operators were independent and unincorporated, that the existence of company stores was one of the highest in the anthracite region ; two-thirds of the mine laborers worked at collieries �20 SLOVAKIA that operated company stores.(62) In some instances a coal company which operated a store would undersell its competitor by lowering prices for coal and then make up losses by compelling the employees to trade at the company store at exorbitant prices .(63) The store of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company reportedly had everything from a red herring to a furnace . A Polish employee of the company flatly stated: '' ... we are compelled to purchase whether we want to or not. " (64) Three English-speaking miners of the A. S. Van Wickle Company commented that they would not object to the company's store if it were not for the high prices. To illustrate their point, they cited three items priced in an independent store and the company store: dozen eggs for thirteen cents as opposed to twenty-three cents, pound of butter for eighteen cents as opposed to twenty-six cents, and tobacco for twenty-six cents as opposed to thirtyfour cents. (In computing these goods the average price increase over the independent store was forty-six percent.) They further asserted: ''These are but a few samples of the prices charged here, but we have no redress. If we do not deal in the store we are notified about it with a broad intimation that others would be glad to have our places and deal in the store ." (65) The two investigative reports documented abuses concerning the company store in the anthracite region in 1897 and drew attention to three pertinent facts: the company store did not operate to the benefit of the workmen; employees were subjected to intimidation when they failed to patronize company stores; profits were substantial. (66) The company store problem was a major concern of John Fahy who noted that the number was greater than when the legislation was passed in 1891 and coal operators continued to violate the law. Union members of the United Mine Workers of America agreed and passed a resolution condemning this kind of store : '' ... the company store is a great and burdensome evil; that the system is harsh and tyrannical, and its purposes to rob labor of the full use of that pittance, always too meager, which the mine worker now received for his toil . . . "(67) Another grievance of the workers closely related to the company store was the practice of having a company butcher make door to door sales to employees living in company houses. They objected to the butcher's high prices and his habit of leaving more meat than requested forcing the purchaser to pay for meat not wanted . (68) What they wanted was the. abolition of this solicitation. Dominance of the coal companies over their employees was felt in another way through the company doctor. Coal operators had a physician to administer to the health needs of workers. On the surface this service appeared to be a desirable fringe benefit. Not so in the eyes of the employees who had several objections. They felt that they should have the right to select their own doctor since many believed that the quality of medical help was below average. The fact that the doctor's �SLOVAKIA 21 allegiance rested with the company placed uncertainty on the doctorpatient relationship.(69) Aside from these reservations was the cost. Deduction from workers' paychecks funded the program; A. S. Van Wickle Company levied two cents a day on each employee while other companies charged each married man with a family seventy-five cents a month and single men fifty cents a month.(70) To many this outlay of money equaled a half-day of wages and was an unnecessary cost. At this time it was common practice for people to rely upon home remedies for curing illnesses rather than always going to a doctor. A custom among miners was to establish their own mutual medical aid organizations known as '' keg funds.'' Miners donated refunds received from turning in their empty powder kegs.(71) Another major factor explaining why workers opposed the company doctor scheme stemmed from a plethora of fraternal groups that provided insurance against sickness and death. In the Hazleton area there were around fifty such organizations with many established along ethnic lines. Working class membership in these societies was large. Dues entitled them to sick benefits that varied from four to six dollars a week for a period of three to six months. Average death benefits ranged from $50 to $125 with wives often receiving half the rate. (72) With these other arrangements, the company doctor plan offered few, if any , advantages to mine workers. Feelings of exploitation among the miners were particularly strong over the price of blasting powder and mining supplies and the coercion to purchase these items from the coal companies. Each of the collieries kept mining supplies for sale. Testimony before the United States Industrial Commission revealed: ''The coal operators will say that they do not compel miners to buy their supplies with that company. While this may be true in regard to oil in some places, yet they are compelled to buy their powder from these companies where they work, for they will tell you if you do not buy your powder there you can work where you buy it."(73) Along with this compulsion there was the high price for the powder. A keg of powder weighing twenty-five pounds sold for $2. 75 in the Lehigh region whereas in the Schuylkill region the same amount had sold for $1.50 since 1888.(74) A major demand of the strikers was to secure a price decrease for powder generally in the amount of seventy-five cents a keg. However, miners at Calvin Pardee & Company sought a more extensive price reduction for powder so that it would sell for $1.50 a keg.(75) Powder purchased from independent stores sold from $1.25 to $1.50 a keg and the wholesale cost of powder per keg delivered from the manufacturer ranged from 90 cents to $1.00.(76) It was obvious to the miners that the coal operators made substantial profits on the sale of powder with a mark-up of around two hundred percent. When comparing powder prices in the Schuylkill region with the Hazleton area in 1896, men believed they were overcharged by some $125,353.75 or a per capita of $217.50 which was �22 SLOVAKIA almost equivalent to one-third of their annual income.(77) This issue was particularly irritating to the miners and they felt that they were victims of extortion. Another vexing issue was the lack of compliance by coal companies to provisions of the state semi-monthly wage payment law passed in 1891 . The act stipulated that employers pay their employees in lawful money every two weeks.(78) With the exception of the Coxe mines, violation of the statute was widespread in the Hazleton area . (79) The state legislative investigating committee reported the act was '' ... virtually a dead letter in many instances. Operators disregard it and deem it an unjustifiable interference with their rights .'' (80) District One of the United Mine Workers of America in its 1896 annual convention adopted a resolution endorsing the semi-monthly wage payment law and invited members of the business community to cooperate with them in supporting this legislation. (81) Frequency of payment to workers was important to coal operators since it had a direct relationship to the maintenance of company stores. If workmen received their wages every two weeks or even weekly, they would be inclined to shop at independent stores which had lower prices. With monthly payments, employees found it convenient and, sometimes necessary , to depend on credit extended at the company stores.(82) These cumulative burdens of adverse working conditions, irregular and limited work, low wages, pressure to patronize the company's store and butcher, expense for a company doctor, high costs for blasting powder and mining supplies, and non-compliance with the semi-monthly pay law were hardships ever present to mine laborers and became issues in the strike. Of equal importance, immigrant workers found themselves having to cope with additional adversities such as nativistic attitudes that rejected their culture and impeded assimilation, economic discrimination in employment, passage of the alien tax law, and difficult and costly naturalization procedures. A wellspring of resentment and antagonism festered among the ranks of southern and eastern Europeans over conditions affecting their lives which stirred feelings of discontent and frustrations creating a serious strike situation. The spark which produced the Lattimer massacre first appeared to be nothing more than an isolated and minor labor dispute between District Superintendent Gomer Jones and some mule drivers at the Honey Brook colliery of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company; however, it became the catalyst leading to a series of crippling strikes in the Lehigh region. Gomer Jones , who had a reputation as a tyrannical mine boss, had recently been appointed superintendent of the Audenried district and assumed his new position with an eagerness to establish order and efficiency out of what he and the company considered to be a chaotic situation.(83) Jones stated in an interview that he perceived his superintendency: '' I came here a year ago. I came to restore discipline �SLOVAKIA 23 in the mines and to operate them in such a manner that the company could continue in business. The discipline was certainly lax. The men did about as they pleased. The two superintendents who were here then associated with the men, mixed with them, drank with them and were regarded as 'hail fellows well met' everywhere among the miners. Now I cannot do that. I'm not a drinking man, and I've never made it a practice to hobnob with the men. However, when I give orders I expect them to be obeyed and do not permit miners to do exactly as they please. " (84) He began to institute economics in the company's operations in order to achieve the lowest possible cost in mining. To carry out this resolve , he dismissed two easy-going foremen , about eighty other workers, and reduced daily wages for all classes of mine workers from three percent for carpenters to as much as twenty-five percent for stripping miners.(85) Another of Jones ' cost-saving proposals required all of the company mules to be stabled at Audenried. This measure required the mule drivers employed at Honey Brook to spend an extra hour in the morning and evening to pick up their mules and return them to the stables. For these two extra hours of work , Jones refused to grant any compensation to the mule drivers . Dissatisfaction over this arrangement provoked a strike among mule drivers , who were Slavic and Polish , on August 13 . The next day some workers took up positions along the road near the stable to insure that none of the mule teams was removed for work. Upon learning of this development , Jones went to the scene with club in hand with the intention of dispersing the disgruntled workers. Within minutes a boisterous dispute erupted and Jones, using his club, struck one worker. Some of Jones' assistants came to his rescue before the melee got completely out of control. (86) A consequence of the mule driver strike and the residue of dissatisfaction and discontent among the rest of the workers produced a general strike against the company on August 16. An assessment of the situation made by a local newspaper declared that coal companies " .. . import this cheap labor, drag them down with all sorts of hardships, and indignities and finally the bosses attempt to make records for money saving and thus increase their own salaries at the expense of the poor unfortunates who are under them. There is no need for white slavery, nor pauper wages ... pay them a living salary and treat them as human beings , and trouble of this kind will be unheard of.'' (87) That evening miners held a large meeting at McAdoo at which they formulated their grievances and demands to present to Elmer H. Lawall, General Superintendent of Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. They wanted restoration of the wage scale in effect prior to reductions imposed by Jones , an increase of ten percent in wages for all employees who worked underground, purchase of coal by workers for use in their homes reduced from $2.50 to $1.50 a ton, the right of each worker to select his own doctor, removal of Gomer Jones from his �24 SLOVAKIA position as district superintendent, and assurance that each person on strike would be reinstated.(88). Miners elected a strike committee representing different nationalities to present the issue to company officials. After meeting with Mr. Lawall on August 17, the committee decided to go to New York the next day to confer with Mr. Lawall and C. H. Warren, assistant to company President Maxwell. After returning from New York, the committee on August 19 met with the miners to report on negotiations, informing them that Mr. Warren had pledged that the company would pay the same rate of wages prevailing in the area and did not object to miners selecting their own doctor and making their own payments. There was no response to reducing the price of coal used by miners in their homes. With regard to the miners' objections concerning the conduct of Gomer Jones, the company refused to dismiss him but did promise to investigate his actions; this prompted an editorial comment in a Hazleton newspaper: ''The men are determined in their demands for justice, and if the Lehigh and WilkesBarre officials are wise they will speedily dismiss Superintendent Gomer Jones, for so long as he is retained in his present position, the trouble will not be adjusted. This man, with perhaps one exception, has imposed more hardships on the mines than any other living person who ever set foot on this soil. " (89) Upon hearing the company offer, which the miners described as one containing only promises rather than solutions to their grievances and demands, they voted to remain on strike . (90) Refusal to end the strike caused Mr. Lawall to hold another meeting with the strike committee. Three additional issues were introduced in the negotiations: employees need not live in company houses , men in the same grade of work receive the same pay, and employees be paid for all services rendered to the company - a direct reference to the mule drivers' complaint of having to spend two extra hours without pay to pick up and return their mules to the stables. After conferring with Lawall the strike committee called another meeting with workers on August 20. At this time the company informed the men that it had accepted the employees' position on the three additional points and that Lawall had personally promised to investigate fairly every grievance . Strikers believed that the injudicious activities of Jones would certainly be exposed and he would be dismissed. They learned that the mules were returned to Honey Brook, removing the issue of extra work without pay that had sparked the strike . In addition, two men dismissed by Jones were reinstated to their former positions. With such favorable news and expectation of Jones' replacement, the miners voted to end the week old strike and return to work on August 23.(91) The euphoria that prevailed among miners stemmed from their belief of success in exerting their interests against the coal company. This sense of accomplishment was further underscored by the fact they �SLOVAKIA 25 had been able to organize seven locals of the United Mine Workers of America comprising nearly a thousand men or about half of the company' s employees in the Audenried district. Establishing the union rested on the activities of John Fahy, United Mine Workers organizer, who took advantage of miners' discontent over their working conditions and lack of unionization. With the backing of a union and the promise of Lawall to investigate their differences with Jones , miners felt confident that they had won.(92) It appeared that labor unrest at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company was only an aberration and the outlook for labor peace quite good. Such optimism was short lived. The strike was a harbinger of labor agitation that soon engulfed the Lehigh mining region surrounding Hazleton. Within a week, on August 27, another strike initiated by immigrant workers broke out at the Coleraine and Milnesville collieries of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company. Some 1,500 strikers demanded reinstatement of the wage scale prior to the reduction made in February of 1897, which meant an average increase in wages from ten to fifteen percent in the daily rates. They wanted the new daily rates to be the following: stripping laborers, $1.20; first class laborers , $1.64; second class laborers, $1.50; outside laborers , from $1.00 to $1.20 ; breaker hands, men at $1.00 and boys at 90 cents; mule drivers, one mule at $1.50 ; two mules at $1.64; and three mules at $1.75; first class miners , $2.10; and second class miners, $1.93 . A few days later, August 31, some 2,000 employees of Lehigh and WilkesBarre Coal Company swelled the ranks of dissatisfied workers by walking off their jobs a second time after the elapse of two weeks when company officials had promised a settlement of their grievances in their first strike at the beginning of the month.(93) Chairman of the strikers ' negotiating committee charged that ' ' ... Messrs. Lawall and Warren, did not keep faith, and their refusal to make any concessions after their encouraging promises originally had served to work the men up to a high pitch. " (94) Work stoppages also began to spread to other coal operators: Lehigh Valley Coal Company, C. M. Dodson & Company, G. B. Markel & Company, Calvin Pardee & Company, A. Pardee & Company , New Ebervale Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, Arnold & Morgan Company , and Silver Brook Coal Company.(95) This general strike action at the end of August and the first of September erupted with the pressing demand for an increase in wages. Immigrant workers were the principal source of agitation over this issue. It was they who suffered loss of wages due to enactment of the alien tax law and who felt the effects of wage discrimination when they received less for the same job than the English-speaking worker. Miners in their class earned from $1.50 to $1.65 a day while an Englishspeaking miner earned $1.97 for the same position. Similar conditions existed for those who were employed as laborers; the percent of wage difference was even greater, $1.15 versus $1.50. Anglo-Saxon workers �26 SLOVAKIA did not support the strike and immigrants looked upon them as a favored class. Since Slavic and Italian workers outnumbered Englishspeaking workers by a three-to-one ratio, their dissatisfaction over wages and working conditions became the prevailing voice. (96) Demand for the same pay for the same job had the following local, editorial support: "Employees should receive the same compensation for the same kind and amount of work done whether they are Hungarians, Italians or any other nationality." (97) Strikers ' demands for improvement in their wages came in part from the fact that Lehigh coal operators paid lower wages than operators in the other two anthracite coal fields. (98) Although there existed an industry-wide formula for determining wages based on the tidewater price of coal, in actuality there was a divergence in the wage scale particularly among the unskilled in different coal companies, which contributed to labor unrest among workers when they learned their wages were lower than their counterparts in other mines. In protest, foreign workers began marching from one colliery to another, closing down operations and compelling other workers to join their ranks. With each passing day the situation became somewhat more tense. Area newspapers assessed conditions as serious with the distinct possibility of becoming quite dangerous since, ''Never in the history of the region was such a determined body of men seen together'' ;(99) it was feared that unless a settlement was reached, '' ... the whole Lehigh region will be plunged into one of the most threatening conditions ever experienced in the history of Pennsylvania coal mining." (100) Immigrant workers were the masters of the situation, dominating the strike activities; English-speaking workers, fewer in number receiving better wages, did not voluntarily support them and preferred to remain at work. Instead of a feeling of camaraderie and solidarity between these two groups there was distrust and suspicion.(101) An important break occurred in the strike action when A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company made a wage settlement with their employees at Milnesville and Coleraine collieries on September 3 and 4, respectively. The company's General Superintendent, James Roderick, fulfilled a promise to investigate wages paid at other area mines and, if his company's rates were lower, make appropriate advances. Advances did not completely equal the original demands of the workers: increases were around nine percent given primarily to the unskilled and semiskilled, jobs held mainly by the Slavic and Italian immigrants with no raise for skilled laborers, miners, jobs dominated by AngloSaxons.(102) With regard to the alien tax, which had recently been declared unconstitutional, the company promised to return the money at the next pay day. Concerning other issues of the company store and butcher, Roderick promised ''. . . there will positively be no compulsion for any man to deal with the company butcher and the company �SLOVAKIA 27 store, nor will any intimidation in this direction be permitted by any of the subordinates."(103) Following the lead of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company, officials at Coxe mines voluntarily increased wages ten cents a day to prevent their workers from going out on strike. (104) Settlement of the strike at A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company and increased pay by Coxe marked an important turning point in the labor unrest which had idled some twelve collieries due to the strikers' demonstrations. Success of these workers in improving their wages became a stimulus for hundreds of other workers to increase their determination to secure the same monetary gain. Higher wages granted by the two companies simply exacerbated the situation when other coal operators refused to match or make any improvement in wages. As long as this condition prevailed, chances of labor unrest becoming volatile heightened and the outcome became more uncertain . A week prior to the Lattimer killings, a Hazleton newspaper, realizing the nature of the situation, made the following appeal to coal operators: ''What the outcome of the uprising will be is simply conjecture, but one thing is certain, that the operators owe it to themselves as well as the community to bring about a speedy adjustment of the trouble. There is no good reason why the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. officials should not pay the same rate of wages as A. S. Van Wickle; they are in a position to do it and ought to. If there is to be an average rate of wages let all the operators join the combination and pay it. The obstinacy of either one company or the other, is simply injurious to the community, and for the benefit of all we suggest that the operators at least meet the men half-way, and the trouble will soon be a thing of the past. " (105) As each day passed without settlement, strikers continued marching from one coal mine to another seeking to induce other workers to join the strike; some responded willingly and others only after cajoling or intimidation. Their efforts were having success in disrupting the area's mining operations. Anxiety grew as the potential for serious trouble became likely with an apparent impasse emerging between strikers and operators who had refused to go along with the settlement made by A. S. Van Wickle and Coxe. Coal companies , holding the view that the situation had deteriorated and people had become terrorstricken by the strikers' protest, urged the sheriff to intervene in a manner that would terminate the strikers' activities. Sheriff James Martin, vacationing in Atlantic City, New Jersey , received a telegram on Saturday , September 4, from his deputy, Mr. George Wall, that Superintendent Lathrop of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company requested him to go to Hazleton to deal with the developing strike situation. Upon returning to Wilkes-Barre, the Sheriff held a Monday morning conference concerning the strike with Lathrop, Superintendent Steams of Cross Creek Coal Company, and Superintendent Lawall of Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company before �28 SLOVAKIA proceeding to Hazleton.(106) The Sheriff did not come to Hazleton at the request of any elected or appointed public official such as a magistrate, justice of peace, constable, or mayor, nor upon his arrival did he confer with any public official concerning the question of public order as related to the strikers' demonstrations. Instead, when he came to Hazleton, he met with Mr. Zerby, Assistant Superintendent of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and Mr. Platt, Superintendent of Calvin Pardee & Company store. Naturally, these two men held views concerning the strike that reflected their companies' vested interests and could possibly have misrepresented the degree of disruption. Apparently, Martin did not feel there was any advantage to investigating and reviewing developments with a variety of people having different perspectives in order to ascertain objectively sentiments and facts related to the strike. It was at this time that officials of Lehigh Valley Coal Company, Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, and Calvin Pardee & Company made it abundantly clear that they would hold Sheriff Martin personally responsible for any interference with their mining operations.(107) After conferring with Messrs. Zerby and Platt, Martin decided to organize a posse comitatus. A Sheriff's decision to create a posse must be based upon circumstances as defined in law in which a state of disorder exists, consisting of a riot or the threat of a riot in which life and property are in jeopardy. Again Martin's assessment that these conditions existed rested upon information given to him by representatives of coal companies. Following their recommendation, he appointed Thomas Hall, a prominent Hazleton businessman whose occupation involved selling blasting powder to coal companies, as his chief deputy.(108) In the Hazleton Machinery Supply Company Store, a concern involved in coal mining, eighty-seven men were sworn in as Sheriff's deputies and members of the posse with nearly all of them directly or indirectly earning their living from coal companies. This close connection of the deputies with the coal companies was apparent as some twenty-three were employees of Calvin Pardee & Company, including his own son and Augustus W. Drake, Pardee's General Superintendent; fourteen worked for the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and six were members of the coal and iron police. All but one deputy had surnames indicating Irish, English, or German heritage, the majority were members of prominent families and relatives of coal operators, many were young, several had attended college and were engineers or held managerial positions in coal companies. Others were businessmen and a few were laborers.(109) Superintendent Smith of G. B. Markle & Company, a coal operator, ordered rifles and shotguns and shipped them to a warehouse owned by A. Pardee & Company, another coal operator, where they were dispensed to the deputies under the direction of Mr. Platt.(110) Martin cautioned his deputies: " ... it was their duty to maintain the peace at all hazards, but under no cir- �SLOVAKIA 29 cumstances to shoot unless they were convinced either they or myself to be in danger.'' (111) Since the coal operators were responsible for requesting the Sheriff to come to Hazleton and to organize a posse, they also agreed to assume the costs for expenses incurred by the deputies. (112) Another service available to the Sheriff and his deputies was a special trolley car provided by Lehigh Traction Company upon the orders of Mr. Zerby so they could have unimpeded transportation to move about the coal fields.(113) While arrangements were under way in organizing the posse, Martin contacted Sheriffs Scott and Setzer of Schuylkill and Carbon Counties, respectively , since Lehigh coal fields encompassed parts of these counties. The main source of strike agitation came from men employed at collieries south of Hazleton in the area where Luzerne , Schuylkill , and Carbon Counties have a common boundary. After consulting with each other, the three law officers issued separate proclamations admonishing people '' . . . from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly, and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace .' ' (114) Included in the proclamation was the state riot act of 1860 describing illegal activities and penalties. Sheriff Martin 's decision to issue the proclamation made it appear that he felt conditions were turbulent, disorderly, and warranted the organization of a posse; yet on the same day he chose to spend a leisurely afternnoon attending the bicycle races at Hazleton.(115) The following morning, Tuesday, September 7, Sheriff Martin, upon learning that a group of strikers planned to shut down the Crystal Ridge Colliery , took a number of deputies to the site and prevented them from accomplishing their goal.(116) News of this intervention by the Sheriff either had not spread, or if it had, did not awe other strikers from descending on the New Ebervale Coal Company colliery and closing it down. Company superintendent, John Scott, describing the incident stated: '' ... the real leader appeared and said they intended to win the strike if they had to apply the torch to every town in the region ."(117) After closing the New Ebervale colliery, strikers marched over to the stripping area of Calvin Pardee & Company at Lattimer hoping to repeat their success earlier in the day. However, some of the Sheriff's deputies were already at Lattimer to prevent any disruption in the company 's operations . When the marchers appeared, the officers fired warning shots ito the air dispersing them and thwarting their objective.(118) The remaining days prior to the tragedy at Lattimer found Sheriff Martin and his deputies constantly transversing the coal fields from one colliery to another checking the strikers' movements . With each passing encounter the level of exasperation and tension between the law officers and immigrant workers on strike began to rise. A Hazleton newspaper again reflected a growing concern over the lack of a strike �30 SLOVAKIA settlement and a possible serious confrontation: ''The strike can be settled within twenty-four hours, and without bloodshed, if the operators will act fair and honest with their men. "(119) A day later the same editorial voice observed a growing seriousness in that the strikers '' ... are very much embittered against the deputies, and it is feared that both parties will engage in mortal combat." (120) A letter to the newspaper editor commenting on the strike stated it was '' ... causing a depression in business and fear in the hearts of the people of bloodshed . . . '' suggesting ' ' . . . the Ministerial Association take the matter in hand, call a meeting of all the clergy of the Protestant and Catholic churches, and together with the press and businessmen try and see if their influence could not be used to settle this grave matter between the operators and men."(121) John Fahy counseled the workers to obey the Sheriff's proclamations and to avoid provocations that could cause violence since the authorities had the ability to crush them. His interest was to temper the strikers' ardor and give it some meaningful direction.(122) Martin, apparently feeling some frustrations and reservations over his efforts to deal with strikers , told Frank Pardee, head of A. Pardee & Company, '' ... that while the strikers simply confined themselves to talking to the men quietly and persuading them to quit, it was none of my business and I had no right to interfere. "(123) Regardless of whatever doubts the Sheriff may have had, he knew perfectly well that he could not disregard the wishes of the coal operators. Starting on Thursday afternoon events began to cascade toward that fateful Friday. Employees of Calvin Pardee & Company at Harwood who were on strike felt that in order to win they had to shut down the company's operation at Lattimer which had failed earlier. News came to Harwood strikers that their fellow employees at Lattimer were anxious to join them if only they would march over to Lattimer; this appeal stimulated their determination.(124) The Harwood local of the United Mine Workers held a meeting on Thursday evening to make plans to march to Lattimer the next day. Joe Mahalko, president of the Harwood local of the United Mine Workers of America, cautioned his fellow workers to go without guns or any other kind of weapons, to harm no one nor to destroy any property, and to keep the peace. On the next day, Friday, September 10, around noon some two hundred and fifty strikers from the Harwood area, consisting almost exclusively of immigrant workers, started their ill-fated mission to get their counterparts to go on strike at Lattimer. As the march proceeded, some seventy-five to one hundred additional strikers joined the ranks. (125) When they reached the outskirts of West Hazleton on their route to Lattimer around two o 'clock, they were stopped by Evan Jones, Chief of Police of West Hazleton, who told them, "Go back out of this, you are in a dangerous place. If you have to go to Lattimer you must go another way."(126) At this point Sheriff Martin and his deputies �SLOVAKIA 31 arrived on the scene with the intention of stopping the marchers from proceeding to Lattimer. A confrontation occurred between the Sheriff, his deputies , and the strikers, in which one striker was arrested, another had his arm broken by a deputy, many had guns thrust in their faces , the American flag they were carrying was destroyed, and there was an exchange of blasphemous name calling.(127) Martin read his proclamation containing the riot act, ordered them to cease their march to Lattimer , and urged them to return to their homes, telling them that all of the marching from colliery to colliery to drive men from work was no way to get better wages.(128) He believed there would be serious trouble since some of the marchers had picked up stones and looked as if they intended to throw them at the law enforcement officials. However, this fear proved to be unfounded since they did not take such a provocative action. (129) Efforts to halt the march were futile considering the strikers ' determination to continue their trek to Lattimer, and Martin 's inability to communicate with them since he spoke only English and had no interpreter . After becoming exhausted from the episode , he simply gave up trying to stop them.(130) The strikers ' perception of this hostile encounter differed from the law officers ' version and hinted at forthcoming trouble . John Eagler, one of the leaders of the march and secretary of the United Mine Workers local at Harwood stated: " We were met by the deputies at West Hazleton who did not come like civilized beings , but broke through the ranks, crying, 'Stop , stop!' " (131) Joseph Mahalko declared : '' I told the Sheriff we had no stick big as my finger in the crowd. All Sheriff said was 'don't go any farther .' Sheriff said , 'You go back or I shoot you . ' " (132) Again John Eagler stated that the Sheriff only took a piece of paper from his pocket and did not read any proclamation as he claimed but had simply told them that it was against the law to march to Lattimer.(133) The strikers asserted they did not initiate any altercation with the law officers but were merely the victims of an unwarranted attempt to prohibit them from using the public highway. Something that proved to be far more serious was the ominous threats attributted to the Sheriff and his deputies against the strikers: "Go back and take care of yourself, for there will be big trouble today ." (134) " We 'll get even with the --- at Lattimer."(135) "We ' ll leave them go till we get to Lattimer ; then we ' ll shoot them. "(136) "I'd like to get a pop at the ---of b---. I'll bet I'll drop six. " (137) "I didn 't know what the h--- the Sheriff makes us walk around here so much without giving us a chance to shoot those men .'' (138) ' 'Everyone of the G-- d-- Hunks ought to be shot. " (139) Sheriff Martin , formerly a coal foreman at the Mill Creek colliery in Luzerne County, allegedly stated, " . . . a little cold lead is the only way to conquer the strikers."(140) The Sheriff's efforts and reported intimidations to terminate the strike rs ' march to Lattimer became nothing more than a futile gesture that only made them more resolute to continue their journey. Un- �32 SLOVAKIA daunted, the marchers following the advice of Chief Evan Jones took a route toward Lattimer along the outskirts of Hazleton on which they could proceed without further interference.(141) Sheriff Martin realizing his efforts had been to no avail quickly returned to Hazleton, summoned his entire force of deputies telling them to take their arms and board the trolley to Lattimer so they could prevent the marchers from stopping the Lattimer mining operations.(142) En route there was talk among the deputies '' . . . about shooting and each man seemed to be eager ... "(143) Since some of the deputies had served as coal and iron police, they " ... had had much trouble with the strikers on previous occasions and were said to be in a revengeful mood against them. "(144) Even Sheriff Martin admitted, " ... I have no doubt that some of the deputies were excited, and certainly the ride over the mountain in that crowded car was animating."(145) The Sheriff and his posse arrived at Lattimer a few minutes after three o'clock and stationed themselves along the right side of the road as it entered Lattimer from the south. He instructed his deputies " ... to keep cool and not get excited. "(146) However, before the strikers arrived, the deputies ordered a woman to go into her house on the likelihood that some shooting may occur.(147) Shortly after the deputies were in place , the strikers appeared coming up the public road in an orderly array toward the Lattimer breaker. (148) There was every reason to suspect that the deputies were fully aware that the miners were unarmed. As they approached the law officers who were standing parallel to the road, the Sheriff stepped out and walked toward the marchers with the intention of learning what they planned to do. Martin indicated that " ... if they are not going to do anything, I may let them go on, and we will go along with them.' ' (149) He ordered them to halt about forty or fifty yards from the armed deputies. The front of the column slowed as the Sheriff approached and asked them what they intended to do. The Sheriff reported they said, "We stop Lattimer Mines."(150) He then proceeded to read his proclamation in English, which many of them could not understand, while at the same time the rear of the column kept pushing forward. Within a few minutes a fracas broke out between the Sheriff and some twenty strikers at the side of the road when he attempted to seize and arrest one of the men.(151) At this point the deputies aimed and fired directly into the ranks of the strikers. The exploding crescendo of Winchesters created a bloody massacre with the sound of shrieks and moaning of the dying and wounded lying in agony. One newspaper described the scene: ''It was a human slaughter in which men were mowed down like grain stalks before a scythe, by the deadly bullets which stormed for fully two minutes. The blood of the dead and dying soaked the dusty road and flowed in streams through the ditch."(152) The murderous volley created a human carnage taking the lives of nineteen immigrants and leaving thrity-eight wounded; eleven men died at Lattimer with the �SLOVAKIA 33 remaining eight dying at the Hazleton Hospital. Dr. Keller, a physician at the hospital, stated that many of the victims were shot in the back.(153) What began a month earlier as a dispute between Gomer Jones and immigrant mule drivers grew into a serious strike finally ending as a sorrowful episode in American labor history. In the aftermath of this tragedy there were contradictory versions as to what actually happened. Sheriff Martin said the strikers were vicious, boisterous, a furious and desperate gang, fierce as wild beasts, threatening to physically harm or even kill him. He felt that they were bent on doing violence and had no intention of obeying his proclamation or the laws of Pennsylvania. Earlier at West Hazleton, Martin told the marchers that it was his duty to prevent them from interfering with the men who were working at the mines, and at Lattimer he went a step further to warn them that if they did not disperse there would be trouble.(154) When a Hungarian speaking in broken English told him, "Go to hell, you a---," (155) he sought to arrest the man who shouted the epithet. The men, excited, began assaulting him forcing him to draw his revolver in self defense and attempt to shoot an attacking man, but the gun failed to discharge. He claimed that two of his attackers had pistols and a third man with a knife sought to stab him. (156) In a letter written five weeks later explaining the event to Governor Hastings, Martin wrote the following description: "One high (sic) fellow gave me a blow on the cheek and knocked me on my knees. I would have been knocked down on my back, but the crowd was too close around me so that there was no room for me to get down, and while we were struggling I heard a shot followed closely by a second and then a number of shots together. Those who were attacking me were shot, and I was then unable to recover myself, and there is no doubt in my mind that if the deputies had not shot just when they did I would certainly have been killed. While I was struggling with part of the mob on one side of the road in the ditch where they had pushed me, the part on the other side of the road with a whoop and yell rushed on toward the deputies, who no doubt fearing that their lives were in danger and that I was to be killed, fired ... '' (157) On the day after the shooting, Martin gave several conflicting statements as to why the deputies shot the strikers. "I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers ... I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot if they must to protect their lives or to protect the property that they had been sent to guard from being demolished . . . I hated to give the command to shoot and was awfully sorry that I was compelled to do so. "(158) "I did not order the deputies to fire; someone else did that. I gave no order." (159) "The shooting commenced in a manner that baffles me completely when it comes to explaining."(160) A few days later in an interview Martin suggested that the cause of the shooting came from an impulse of his men to protect him: ''They saw me in the �34 SLOVAKIA midst of the strikers, with men aiming blows at me, and they supposed probably that my life was in danger."(161) The Sheriff's answers vacillated on how the shooting began, ranging from admitting that he gave the order to his deputies to fire their weapons to denying any knowledge of how the firing happened. Even among the deputies there was no satisfactory answer as to how the shooting commenced. The version of the confrontation by the strikers and bystanders differed from and challenged the assertions made by Sheriff Martin. According to the strikers, the Sheriff ordered them to halt and began to read his proclamation. The situation became disruptive when the Sheriff sought to arrest one of the marchers and get the others to disperse. One of the men told the Sheriff '' . . . we only want to move on peaceably ... "(162) Those in the rear of the column continued pressing forward and shouting '' go ahead,'' pushing the Sheriff and some of the men off to the side of the road. Whereupon, John Eagler reported that Martin flourished his revolver, '' ... grabbed one man by the arm, and, pointing the revolver at him, said, 'Did you tell them to go ahead?' The man said he had not spoken, and then the Sheriff grabbed another man and began to shove him about. 'You will say ''Go ahead," eh?' said the Sheriff, and at the same time he aimed the revolver squarely at the man's heart. The man naturally was frightened, and pushed the Sheriff's hand holding the revolver to one side. Whether or not the Sheriff considers that an attack or·not I don't know. I am positive that not a man hit the Sheriff."(163) An account from a bystander stated that Martin '' . . . became excited and ordered the deputies to shoot . . . " (164) A striker affirmed this point that the Sheriff gave the order to fire.(165) Another eye witness agreed that Martin's command was to fire but only a warning shot over the heads of the strikers.(166) Witnesses to the shooting pointed out there were no warning shots fired but told of excessive firing into the ranks of the strikers, deputies continuing to shoot after men ran for cover, and men shot down as far as 150 yards from where they were stopped by the Sheriff.(167) A Lattimer school teacher reported: "I saw men who had hidden behind trees and fences during the first fusillade leave their places of concealment only to be deliberately shot down."(168) The school house about three hundred yards distant from which the teacher saw the shooting was riddled with bullets. An area newspaper asserted: ''This would indicate that the strikers, fleeing by the shortest route to Hazleton across the hills, were shot at long after there was any danger to the deputies." (169) Strikers affirming this horror told of being targets as they ran for safety. A detached account by Henry Hoyt, United States Assistant Attorney General, based upon an investigation of the shooting made the following summation: ''It appeared that the strikers were unarmed; that small clubs which they had previously carried were thrown away on the march between West Hazleton and Lattimer; that they were peaceable and orderly in West �SLOVAKIA 35 Hazleton and Lattimer; were not riotous at West Hazleton or Lattimer, and at neither place made an assault upon the Sheriff or his deputies, or offered any violence or used threatening language to them."(170) Martin confirmed Hoyt's account by stating, in response to a reporter's question, that the strikers until the time of the shooting had not committed any overt act nor behaved otherwise than peaceably. (171) The Lattimer tragedy resulted from a multiplicity of interrelated sources. Existing in the anthracite region were nativistic sentiments encompassing an attitude of disdain for Slavic and Italian immigrants; Anglo-Saxons looked upon the strikers as unwelcomed strangers who were inferiors and who could not possibly conform to accepted standards in society. In an interview a federal treasury official, who was familiar with Hazleton, affirmed this idea with his romantic (and distorted) depiction of an idyllic and bucolic setting disrupted by the intrusion of alien people who fostered hatred: ''I think when all the facts come out in regard to the shooting it will be found that the officers who did the shooting have covered a revenge of years under the wings of the law. I remember when twelve or fifteen years ago, the section around Hazleton was settled by hard-working and honest Irishmen, Welshmen, Englishmen, Germans, and Americans. They worked in the mines and did well. Many of them owned their own homes - pretty little cottages on the hillside, surrounded by outhouses for cattle and chickens, etc., and happiness seemed to smile on all. There were no strikes and the morality of the neighborhood was good. Then began to come in the Hungarians and the Poles and the class of foreigners, by accepting smaller wages, ran the others out. I knew several Irishmen who vowed they would not leave, but went away to other States, in many instances having to sell their little homes to pay their debts and to get away on. This naturally caused a bitter feeling, a feeling which exists to this day, and one which caused many vows of revenge. The houses once the property of prosperous Irishmen and Americans are now in filthy condition, occupied by two and three families of Hungarians and Poles. Instead of clean beds there are bunks ranged along the walls and as many as four people slept in a small room. In that band of deputies which encountered the marching miners a few days ago are many men who remembered the change from the scenes of years ago. Their hearts have been full of revenge. When the opportunity presented itself they seized it, with the horrible result too well known. They shot to kill, because their relatives and friends had been made paupers by these people. I do not approve of the shooting, but I believe the facts will reveal what I have stated." (172) These immigrant strikers represented a class of people outside the local structure, posed an economic threat to the interests of coal operators, and replaced Anglo-Saxons as the dominant mine workers. In contrast, the Sheriff's posse consisted of a class of people that was �36 SLOVAKIA diametrically opposite in nationality, place in society , and occupation. This dissimilarity in turn tended to heighten emotional responses. The strike increased the stresses of nativism. Passions grew in both contending groups; as workers sought to shut down the mines , the Sheriff and his deputies, under the pressure of coal companies , tried to prevent them from accomplishing their objective. A feeling of anxiety and tension grew in the community as the chances of an ugly confrontation between strikers and law officers became likely. Undoubtedly , the Sheriff and his men fully sensed this but realized the ramifications if they failed to prevent the strikers from closing down the mining operations at Lattimer. If unsuccessful, the chances of protecting the remaining mines from being closed down by the strikers would be slight. Combined with this pressure were frustrations in trying to quell the strikers' activities , tension and fatigue over the incident at West Hazleton, malicious attitudes toward the immigrants who were also labor agitators, and a glandular excitement capable of generating panic from a large group about to undergo another encounter with strikers . A maturation process among Slavic and Italian immigrants in the anthracite coal fields reached fruition when the strike broke out in the Lehigh region in the late summer of 1897. Having become the dominant group among the mine workers in the late 1890's, they asserted themselves by conceiving and initiating the strike . This decision resulted from the frustrating working conditions and discriminatory practices emanating from nativistic actions which combined to impose hardships and an inferior status . The culmination of these factors was the wellspring for discontent and dissatisfaction. At this time the United Mine Workers of America lacked strength to represent and protect the anthracite mine workers ' interest effectively and , in addition , generally showed little interest in including the new immigrants in their ranks or purview. Consequently, the only recourse for the immigrant workers was to take matters into their own hands to seek redress for grievances. As the strike developed, it lacked coherent strategies since it was unorganized, leaderless , and did not have benefit of an effective union structure to provide direction, articulation, and ability to successfully negotiate with the coal operators. (173) This point of inadequate experience and unfamiliarity in labor affairs made the strikers vulnerable to violence . Therefore, on that Friday afternoon as the immigrant strikers marched into Lattimer imbued with a spirit to win their strike, they came face to face with Sheriff Martin and his deputies equally committed to stopping them. It was as if for a moment, the recent social and economic history of the area had been centripetally compressed into a time capsule only to be exploded by indigenous divergent and incompatible forces . Catapulted into a deadly collision were two different worlds in conflict. The result was-violence, perpetrated by public peace keepers who were the instruments of coal �SLOVAKIA 37 companies' strategy to break the strike . The effect was that Lattimer became the worst tragedy in American labor history in terms of the number of workers killed and wounded by public authorities, who were not provoked nor endangered and who attacked without warning unarmed strikers peacefully demonstrating on a public highway. FOOTNOTES (1) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 11, 1897. (2) Letter from Henry Hoyt, Assistant Attorney-General, to William Day, Secretary of State, April 8, 1898; in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, with the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 6, 1898 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1901), 82-87. Hoyt' s letter stemmed from an investigation made by the Department of Justice for the Department of State concerning a diplomatic protest from the Austria-Hungary government over several of its nationals killed and wounded at Lattimer. A great deal of confusion and inaccuracy existed in newspaper accounts as to the number of casualities from the shooting; reports varied from fourteen to as many as fifty people killed. Hoyt based his figures upon grand jury murder indictments against Sheriff Martin and his deputies who were brought to trial on February 1, 1898, in Luzerne County but were found not guilty by the jury. (3) Daily Standard (Hazleton), September 11, 1897. (4) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 11, 1897. (5) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (6) Daily Globe (South Bethlehem) , September 11, 1897. (7) St. Louis Post Dispatch, September 12, 1897. (8) San Francisco Chronicle, September 11, 1897. (9) Detroit Free Press, September 11, 1897. (10) Pittsburgh Dispatch, September 11, 1897. (11) Boston Daily Globe, September 11, 1897. (12) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 5, 1897. (13) Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers : A Study in Immigration (Philadelphia: J . B. Lippincott Company, 1904) , 51 & 58 ; Frank Julian Warne, "Some Industrial Effects of Slav Immigration," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904), 223-224. (14) Rowland Berthoff, "The Social Order of the Anthracite Region , 1825-1902," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LXXXIX (July 1965), 169-171; Charles B. Spahr, "America 's Working People," Outlook, Ll(Il (August 5, 1899) , 811. (15) Peter Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904) , 219. (16) Berthoff, 287; George 0 . Virtue, "The Anthracite Mine Laborers," Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor No. 13, (November, 1897) , 753. (17) Henry Edward Rood , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village ," Century Magazine, XXXIII, new series, (April, 1898), 811. (18) Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," 221. (19) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1895 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1895), 643. (20) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1897 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 546. �38 SLOVAKIA (21) Frank Julian Warne, " Organized Labor in the Anthracite Coal Fields," Outlook, LXXI (May 24 , 1902), 273 . '' . . . The operators used them (immigrants) originally to introduce low wages ... " Wilkes-Barre Record, August 8, 1897. The attitude that immigrants were responsible for undermining native labor interests was prevalent in newspaper editorials. Mauch Chunk Coal Gazette, September 25, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 8, 1897; Weekly Herald (Shenandoah), September 18, 1897; Sullivan Review, September 16, 1897 ; Detroit Free Press, September 12, 1897; Pittsburgh Post, September 15, 1897. (22) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. The laborer who assisted the contract miner was not employed by the coal operator but by the miner. Nearly eighty percent of the mine laborers in the Lehigh region worked under the contract system. Frank Julian Warne , " The Anthracite Coal Strike, " Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XVII (January, 1901), 32-33 . (23) Rood, 815. (24) Frank Julian Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," Annuals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XXI (January , 1903) , 23-24; Rood, 815; Virtue, 753 . (25) Victor R. Greene, The Slavic Community on Strike: Immigrant Labor in Pennsylvania Anthracite (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968), 86-87 ; Berthoff, 272-273 ; Virtue , 753 . (26) Spahr, 8ll ; Warne, " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," 31-32 ; Roberts, "The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities, " 218 . (27) Harold W. Aurand , From the Molly Maguires to the United Mine Workers: The Social Ecology of an Industrial Union, 1869-1897 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press , 1971) , 136. (28) Berthoff, 273 . (29) Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker, " 21; Berthoff, 268. (30) Alexander Trachtenberg, The History of Legislation for the Protection of Coal Miners in Pennsylvania, 1824-1915 (New York: International Publishers, 1942) , 134135. (31) Ibid., 135-136; Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88 . (32) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Sessions of 1889, Vol. I, Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1889) , 1529. (33) Virtue, 768; Greene, ll 7-ll8 ; Pottsville Republican, June 15, 1897 . (34) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1889, Vol. I, 1236. (35) Ibid. (36) United Mine Workers Journal, October 22, 1896, 1. (37) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1897, 289. (38) UMW Journal, August 12, 1897, 7. (39) Daily Standard, August 28, 1897. (40) Warne , Th e Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88. (41) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Ses sion of 1897, 135-136. The bill passed the House and Senate by votes of 126 to 12 and 28 to 3 respectively . Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 1069 & 2418 . There were attempts in the House to make the tax five cents a day. Ibid., 2418 (42) Ibid., 2292 . (43) Ibid., 2217 . �SLOVAKIA 39 (44) UMW Journal, July 1, 1897, 1. (45) Fraser v. McConway & Torley Co., 82 The Federal Reporter 259 (1897) . (46) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, 2217. (47) Wilkes-Barre Record, August 26 & 28, 1897. (48) Peter Roberts, Anthracite Coal Communities: A Study of the Demography, The Social, Educational and Moral Life of the Anthracite Region (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904), 44-45 . (49) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897. (50) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report on Conditions Existing Among the Miners and Those Employed in and About the Mines in the Anthracite Coal Regions ," Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Session Begun at Harrisburg, on the Fifth Day of January, 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1897), Il, 1824-1842. (51) R eports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), xvi-xvii . (52) Ibid., xvii; "Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (53) Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 170-172. (54) "The Association Letter," Anthracite Coal Operators Association, September, 1897, 2. (55) John Graham Brooks, " An Impression of the Anthracite Coal Troubles," Yale Review, VI (November, 1897), 307. (56) "Legislative Investigating Committee Report, " 1826. (57) Virtue, 756 . (58) Ibid., 757-58; "The Association Letter," 14-15; "The Marketing of Small Sizes of Anthracite," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (June, 1897), 490. (59) The Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1888-89, Vol. IV (Washington: U.S . Government Printing Office, 1889) , lxxix . (60) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1891), 256-57 . (61) Peter Roberts , Anthracite Coal Industry (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1901), 136. (62) Ibid., 138. (63) "Company Store Legislation," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (April, 1897) , 395. (64) Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897. (65) Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897. (66) Virtue, 760 ; " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (67) UMW Journal, January 14 , 1897, 5; Ibid., October 22, 1896, l; Wilkes-Barre Record, December 25, 1896; Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897 . Fahy launched a campaign in the anthracite region to secure public contributions to support the United Mine Workers of America lobbying activities to abolish the company store. The Pennsylvania Legislature, reflecting an increased awareness of labor interests, responded and passed a bill in July, 1897 , placing a ten percent tax upon the face value of all types of certificates or the equivalent issued in lieu of legal tender for employees' wages . This measure would have severely crippled the operation of company stores; however, Governor Hastings vetoed the legislation on the ground that it violated the state constitution. George Edward Reed, ed., Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. Xll, 4th ser., (Harrisburg: Wm . Stanley Ray State Printer, 1902), 150-54. �40 SLOVAKIA (68) Daily Standard, August 31 & September 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2 & 13, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike of May-October, 1902 by the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission (Washington : U.S . Government Printing Office , 1903), 144 . The above source contained information regarding the strikers' demands made to the G. B. Markle & Company in the 1897 strike. (69) Daily Standard, September 6 & 8, 1897; Spahr, 810 . (70) Ibid.; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897 ; The Reports of Committees of the Hous e ... Fiftieth Congress, lxxxi. (71) Berthoff, 286. If all the miners in the fifth district (Lehigh region) had turned in their empty powder kegs in 1896, they would have raised $10 ,028.30 . Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173. (72) Robe rts , Anthracite Coal Communities, 259, 262-263. (73) Report of the Industrial Commission of the Relations and Conditions of Capital and Labor in the Mining Industry Including Testimony, Review of Evidence, and Topical Digest, Vol. XIl (Washington : U.S. Government Printing Office , 1901), 142 . (74) Robe rts, Anthracite Coal Industry, 133-134. (75) Daily Standard, September 6, 8 & 9, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 7, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike, 144. (76) Daily Standard, September 9, 1897; Spahr, 810; Report of the Industrial Commission, 142. (77) Computation based on 5,754 miners and laborers in the fifth anthracite district and the use of 100,283 kegs of blasting powder. Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173 & 176. (78) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891, 96-97. (79) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. (80) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1830. (81) UMW Journal, Ocotber 22, 1896, 1. (82) Report of the Industrial Commission, 143. (83) UMW Journal, November 25, 1897, 2; Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (84) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 15, 1897. (85) Ibid.; Daily Standard, August 17, 1897. In the Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre newspapers there appeared an account of an interview with an unnamed individual defending Jones ' superintendency . Acknowledging that Jones may have made some mistakes, the source indicated that the workers' discontent really stemmed from the decisions made by the preceeding superintendent or from orders issued by higher company officials . ''He is charged with being a tyrant, and in reference to this it may be said that each foreman has full charge of all employees working under him . But Jones is among the first men about the works in the morning and among the last to leave at night, and because he attends strictly to business he is called a tyrant by men who want ten hours pay for less than ten hours of work.'' Wilkes-Barre Times, August 27, 1897. (86) Ibid., August 16, 1897. Gomer Jones was arrested later on a complaint by John Bodan on the charge of aggravated assault. Ibid., August 18, 1897. (87)lbid. , August 16, 1897 . (88) Ibid. , August 17, 1897 . (89) Ibid. , August 18, 1897. (90) Ibid. , August 20, 1897 . �SLOVAKIA 41 (91) Ibid. , August 21, 1897. (92) Ibid. (93) Ibid., August 28, 30 & September 1, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28, 1897. (94) Ibid., September 3, 1897. (95) Ibid., September 3 & 4, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, September 4, 6 & 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 3, 1897 . (96) Ibid. , August 28, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897. (97) Ibid. , August 30, 1897 . (98) Ibid., August 31, 1897. (99) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 3, 1897. (100) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. (101) Ibid, ; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & 30, 1897. (102) Ibid. , September 4 & 6, 1897. (103) Daily Standard, September 6, 1897. (104) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897. (105) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. A. S. Van Wickle Company operated independently of the other coal companies, provided their employees more work, and were regarded with greater esteem and confidence in the community. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 22, 1897 . (106) Letter from James Martin to Daniel H. Hastings, Governor of Pennsylvania, October 18, 1897 , Governor Hastings Papers, MG-145, Box 18, Division of Archives and Manuscripts of Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (107) Ibid. (108) R eco rd of the Times (Wilkes-Barre), March 4, 1898. (109) New York World, February 13, 1898; Dollar Weekly News-Dealer (Wilkes-Barre), September 18, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 23 , 1898 ; Pennsylvania, Department of State, Commission Bureau, "Policemen, 1889-1912," 346; Hazle Township and Hazleton City, "Real Estate Tax Assessment Books for 1896 and 1897 ,'' Office of the Board for the Assessment and Revision of Taxes , Luzerne County Courthouse, Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . (110) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898; Daily Standard, September 7, 1897. (111) Record of the Times, March 4, 1897. (112) Daily Standard, October 21, 1897. A review of the annual financial report of the Comptroller for Luzerne County revealed that there were no payments from county funds for the services of the deputies at Hazleton , supporting the conclusion that the coal operators paid the deputies' salaries. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 23, 1898. (113) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (114) Daily Standard, September 9, 1898. (115) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (116) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (118) Ibid. (119) Ibid. , September 9, 1897. (120) Ibid. , September 10, 1897 . (121) Ibid., September 9, 1897. �42 SLOVAKIA (122) Ibid., September 8, 1897; Hazleton Sentinel, September 3, 1897; Spahr, 808. (123) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (124) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (125) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (126) Record of the Times, February 11, 1898. (127) Ibid. , March 4, 1898. (128) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (129) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (130) Ibid. (131) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (132) Ibid. (133) Ibid. (134) Ibid., February 18, 1898. (135) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (136) Ibid., February 15, 1898. (137) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (138) Ibid., February 8, 1898. (139) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (140) New York World, September 12, 1898. "Whether deserved or not, Sheriff Martin, of Luzerne county, it is alleged, entertains an unquestionable hatred for the foreign element." Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (141) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (142) Ibid., September 11, 1897. (143) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 13, 1897. (144) Easton Free Press, September 13, 1897. (145) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (146) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (147) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (148) Record of the Times, February 28, 1898; Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (149) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (150) Ibid. (151) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (152) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (153) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898; Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia), September 11, 1897; Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (154) Ibid., September 11, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 11 , 1897; WilkesBarre Record, September 11, 1897 . (155) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (156) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (157) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897. (158) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (159) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897 . (160) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11 , 1897. �SLOVAKIA 43 (161) Pottsville Republican, September 14, 1897. (162) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (163) Evening Bulletin, September 13, 1897. (164) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (165) Record of the Times, February 22, 1897. (166) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (167) Record of the Times, February 11 & 15, 1898; Daily Standard, September 11, 1897; "Some of the guns were loaded with shells containing a lot of No.8 shot, which scattered with deadliest effect, and others had the plain bullets of heavy bore. The manner in which the victims were tom up looked as though they had been before gatling guns or on a field of where grape and canister were poured from cannon mouths." Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (168) Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (169) Wilkes-Barre Sunday Morning Leader, September 12, 1897. (170) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (171) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (172) New York Tribune, September 15, 1897. (173) Report of the Industrial Commission, 139-140; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & September 5, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. When news of the Lattimer shooting spread through the coal fields surrounding Hazleton, the scope of the strike immediately enlarged involving some 10,000 mine employees and idling nineteen of the thirty-three area collieries. Strikers were unwilling to return to work during the following week when funerals for victims were held; they further refused to end their work stoppage until the coal operators met their grievances, mainly an increase in wages. The strike began to wane on September 20 when the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company agreed to grant a ten percent wage increase to mine laborers, pay six to eight cents more per car of coal to miners, and seek solutions to workers' complaints. Only two companies, Lehigh Valley Coal Company and C. Pardee and Company, had not reached a settlement by the end of the second week after the Lattimer shooting but by the end of September they both made an agreement similar to the other coal operators which finally brought an end to the Lehigh coal strike of 1897. Pennsylvania, Official Documents of 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1899), ill, 124 Scranton Times, September 21, 1897; Daily Standard, September 21 & 24, 1897; UMW Journal, November 18, 1897, 3. �44 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre KON STANTIN CULEN A tragic event that occurred in September 1897 struck at the heart of Slovak American life with such telling impact that it served to solidify the Slovak immigrants in the United States into one unified body more effectively than had any previous experience in their new world. This event greatly furthered that awareness of a need for unity that began to crystallize under the pressures to which they had been subjected in their homeland Slovakia. In American history as well as in the record of early SlovakAmerican history this event is known as the Lattimer slaughter or the Lattimer massacre. The setting was the mining region around Hazleton, Pennsylvania. It was an area that had long seethed with the discontent and the restiveness of the men who were employed in the mines . Mine management groups had long bled their workers white, extracting the very marrow out of their bones . The companies paid out pauper wages, cheated the workmen on their weight checks, overcharged prices for foods and daily necessities that were sold through company stores. Scores of mining catastrophes underscored the obvious inadequacy of safety measures that existed to protect the men in their dangerous work in deep underground pits. Miners in Hazleton had declared a strike but nearby mines in neighboring communities continued to operate at practically full strength. Some casual talk was heard from time to time to the effect that the Hazleton operators were planning to bring in scabs in the near future. Union leaders realized that their Hazleton strike would lose all effectiveness unless the miners of the entire locality would join forces in one concerted resistance movement, supporting the Hazleton effort and pressing common demands for improved conditions and benefits. On September 10, 1897 a sizable group of Slovak and Polish miners who were on strike set out for the small mining settlement of Lattimer. In subsequent investigations during the trial they testified that they were on their way there because the Lattimer workers had sent them word that they decided to join the strike movement. The group of striking miners had hardly left Hazleton when Sheriff Martin with a company of about a hundred men from the supporting police force (so-called deputies) anticipated their movement and went An excerpt from Konstantin Culen's two-volume History of the Slovaks in America. (Bratislava, Slovenska Liga , 1942) vol. 1, Part XI , no . 5-9, pp. 162-176. Translated by Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. �SLOVAKIA 45 on ahead of them riding the trolley lines. On reaching Lattimer, he assigned his force of deputies to various positions and then he moved several paces forward, addressing the group marching in on foot, to read a restraining order that forbade any gathering or assemblage of persons by provision ordinance dealing with uprising and rebellion. During the reading of this ordinance, a few strikers came closer to the sheriff and there was some minor verbal exchange. The miners objected that they were not disturbers of the public peace or revolutionaries of any kind; they were simply orderly and law-abiding citizens peacefully going along their way . This reaction so exasperated the sheriff that he reached out and snatched away a small American flag that one of the men was carrying, tore it up, pulled out his revolver and began to shoot. After he had drawn his trigger five times, his sixth shot struck a miner in the chest and hurled him to the ground. After the sheriff's outburst of fire, there was the sound of volleys from the deputies. The unarmed miners turned and fled in panic, trying to find safety or protection of some kind. The brutal frontal attack lasted but a few moments but the deputies continued to fire upon the fleeing miners so that practically all of them were struck and wounded in flight.(1) The deputies who were charged with excitement by this time, further assaulted the bleeding victims by beating them and kicking them cruelly as they lay helpless on the ground. A shot or a volley of shots can seem to be an effective argument at a given moment but usually its effectiveness wears off after a brief time. And shots or salvos of shots fail to carry conviction. This was brought out in the Lattimer situation. The Slovak colony found itself in a state of shock, standing inconsolate beside the corpses of the fallen men. It was all too clear to these newcomers now - if it had not been clear to them before - that every Slovak had to be very realistically a brother to a fellow-Slovak, that every Slovak would have to be the most reliable standby and defense of a fellow-Slovak. Anything less than that would serve to reduce them to the debasing circumstance of being mere henchmen and convenient tools of foreign overlords and exploiters. This extravagant bloodletting and bizarre butchering under unprovoked and non-violent circumstances evoked considerable humane reaction in the American press. The attitudes of American journalists were not all of a kind. Some reporters and editors were incensed over the needless killings and brutality. Some wrote with a sense of relief that the incident involved only "Hunkies" - the generic designation that most newspapers used for every newcomer from Austria-Hungary. News of this lamentable event spread to all the Slovak settlers scattered throughout the United States and set off a degree of outrage and consternation that no other experience had yet caused in SlovakAmerican life. Those who had been faction-torn or at odds for whatever �46 SLOVAKIA reasons , were at once moved to conciliation and unity through their common grief at the graveside of the murdered men. Slovak Ame rican journalists who had been indulging personal and non-personal bouts of polemics in their papers left all that trivia now that a common cause evolved out of this catastrophe , and a vigorous new spirit infused their energies and talents. They reacted with a sense of unity and resolute will not only to moderate the mounting resentment and growing agitation that could have been fanned to unreasonable and uncontrollable proportions but to divert effort and attention to an altruistic purpose on behalf of aiding and befriending the widowed and orphaned survivors . Slovak American journalists also undertook a determined program to secure in the free world of America that measure of civic dignity and security that would make it impossible for such brutal disregard of the human right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ever to be repeated and condoned again . The press came out strongly with appeals for at least financial compensation to the bereaved widows and orphans and demanded that punitive justice be dealt the incriminated sheriff. The general feeling was that the just process of law and suitable sentencing should act as a deterrent to any possible repetition of the horrible incident. The whole body of Slovak immigrant life in America reacted with a corporate cry of pain and a strong appeal protesting the inhumanity of the Lattimer episode. New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, all made their voices heard as did lesser towns and even the lowly scattered hamlet settlements in America where Slovaks nursed the pain of this tragic hurt . Countless gatherings and demonstrations attracted thousands of Slovak laborers to review and assess the factors involved and the consequences of this catastrophe. Numberless formal discussions and rallies were climaxed with the drawing up of appropriate protest resolutions. All Slovak-American centers participated in drives to aid the victimized survivors of the callous murder, and there were also spirited fund-raising campaigns for legal expenses and court costs to bring Sheriff Martin to justice, for the prevailing view was that he should be made to pay for his crime, for his responsibility in leading and abetting reprehensible action . A committee for this express purpose was organized in Hazleton, holding itself charged to set in motion whatever action might be called for and to pursue the cause to its end. The September 16, 1897 issue (738) of the Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny appeared with a banner headline whose bold-faced lettering read: "Massacre of Slavs . In the freest country under the sun , people are shot at like dogs. Slavs are the victims of American savagery." Editor Pucher Ciernovodsky designated September 10 the bloody Friday of Slovak national life. His report seemed to be written with a pen dipped in blood. He denounced the attacking party and he did not spare the Slovaks themselves , finding them culpable of that lack of �SLOVAKIA 47 interest in public affairs that could have contributed significantly to the culmination of this public scandal. Some of Pucher Ciernovodsky' s thoughts were: ' 'The mountainsides of Hazleton are drenched with Slovak blood, and pitiable orphans and widows, fathers and mothers, brothers and friends raise eyes brimming with bitter tears to heaven pleading, 0 God , is there justice in this life? If there is justice on this earth of ours, did our blood truly deserve this spilling? Who in this world is committed to greater drudgery than we? Who in this world is engaged in a work that is more dangerous than ours? ' 'When we are driven to extremes of misery because hunger and want have sapped our strength and our bodies are bone-weary from overwork, and when our famished and shabbily clothed children ask for food that we cannot provide for them , and we go to discuss our problems and try to come together for deliberations in an effort to arrive at some reasonable solutions, how to go about unsnarling this sad fate that so embitters our lives - what kind of law is it, what kind of justice and fairness is it - or is it our miserable doom that we should be shot at like dogs? Ah, America, America ... ''It is indeed a curious America. When the Turks set upon the Armenians, every full-blooded American protested and vehemently shouted his willingness to join a fighting force to check the Turks. And yet here and now when it comes to bringing to justice those who similarly violated the rights of Slavs in America, they do all in their power to prevent the guilty from being brought to legitimate trial. Reams have been written and volumes have been mouthed condemning the cruelties of the Spanish in Cuba. There was universal recrimination against the injustices inflicted upon the oppressed Cubans, yet journalists have scant syllables of tenderness or sympathy for our people who were felled by wanton gunshot in a manner more senseless and inhuman than any attack of the Spanish upon the Cubans . The Cubans at least had defense weapons but our people were shot unarmed, shot like animals . ''This grieves us unspeakably. '' And, in the last analysis, who is most responsible for all this? "We ourselves must hold ourselves responsible. "A Slav does not support a fellow-Slav. We have no mutual bonds of unity, no fellowship at all, no commonly shared activities. We cultivate none. We fail to get along amicably. Instead, we seem to make sport of baiting one another, and we lack even that zest for life that long ago should have whipped us into a common front to denounce the maligning that the American press released against us and to protest the discrimination and injustice imposed upon foreigners by the threecent-tax. If other ethnic groups had not taken the initiative , we would have let them dance on our heads . �48 SLOVAKIA ' ' What can the American public think about such men? It would not be surprising if they rated us cowardly, worthless, less than the Indians, and so deserving a fate no better than that of the Indians. "We give too little consideration to matters like citizenship, legal rights and civil rights or public opinion. No wonder, then, that public opinion shows no concern about us, has no regard for us . ''If public opinion had any respect for us, then those deputies and the sheriff who were involved in the Lattimer affair would not have allowed themselves to perpetrate such an act of sheer barbarism. Whatever the circumstances, whether there was any excuse or not for a collective attack with Winchester rifles, at least this truth remains that if we were not a subservient people they would not have kept firing at our fleeing men from behind. "The catchword of people like our attackers, is "Shoot the Hungarian dog! ' ' Why? Because we do not make the effort to have our own recognized defense and defenders , our own qualified men who are in touch with the pulse of political life and current trends , men qualified to speak out on our behalf. We ourselves all too readily and regrettably belittle our own ; we tend to regard with disfavor and lack of recognition those of us who have gifts of leadership; we begrudge them opportunities , cut them down and deny them a chance to develop their potential. "In the end we suffer for it collectively. It is true that there are officials whose duty it is to defend our people because they were appointed and authorized to do so, and they are salaried to execute this office , but they seem to be wrapped in safe slumber. They are our Austro-Hungarian consuls. " Just what did these officials, these Austro-Hungarian consuls do for us in previous strike situations? Exactly nothing. " On the other hand , how did the Italian consuls react when their Italian countrymen were being lynched in New Orleans? The furor that was generated on that occasion almost incited a war with the United States, and an indemnity of five thousand dollars had to be paid for every victim. ' 'It is our reasoned judgment that the Hazleton bloodshed is far more criminal than was the New Orleans lynching and it is the patent duty of the Austro-Hungarian government to make honorable and serious intervention on our behalf. "Since those who were shot to death were citizens of the United States , we have no alternative but to organize our effort in order to bring the whole affair to an exhaustive investigation and to the due process of justice. The burden of responsibility in this matter rests primarily with our Slavic organizations which, in every respect, bear the characteristics of American organizational structure. And their responsibility for such action is all the more binding if any of their members happened to be among the victims, if they were members of �SLOVAKIA 49 the National Slovak Society, the First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota), the Greek Catholic society Sojedinenie, the Pennsylvania Slovak Union, Sojus, etc. Let these organizations set in motion the wheels that will bring about necessary lawsuits; let them underwrite out of their treasuries or raise funds in some way to cover related expenses, and let their united effort and combined strength prove that they truly have the good name and the best interests of all Slavic ethnics at heart. Let me presume to say that this Bartholomew night should serve as a Sturrnistic symbol effecting concerted and wholehearted cooperation. ''If this soul-shaking experience fails to jolt us out of our morbid lethargy, we ought to raise a memorial cross as a marker for our nation and our spirit of patriotism and declare that we buried it all on that bloody Friday in Hazleton.'' (2) Because of this massacre a violent disturbance broke out among the Slovak and Polish miners. Governor Hastings declared a state of emergency in Hazleton and dispatched 2,500 troops to move in and control the problem. Security measures that the governor ordered for the Hazleton area were very extensive and elaborate, involving the outlay of $475 ,000 - a very large sum in those days. The whole countryside seethed and repercussions were witnessed far and wide. The American press took sides with Sheriff Martin, generally arguing (as if it were a valid objection) that the slain men were not even American citizens. The press of the ethnic groups and those who supported the cause of the miners countered this attitude with the historically substantiated observation that neither were Pulaski, Kosciusko and some other heroes of the American War for Independence official citizens of the United States. They came to fight for freedom in a land that was alien to them because liberty and freedom are nowhere in the world foreign commodities to any human being. Freedom is the prerogative of every person and we are all entitled to our share of this gift. In the hour of our country's struggle for freedom, every able volunteer was welcome to share in the battle and in the pain to win it. Now that the fruits of liberty should be portioned out to all and denied to none in a free land, it is glibly said that freedom is our privilege - you are existentially in the land of liberty but you are not a free man. On September 11 the miners held an open air protest rally in Hazleton. Father Stas, pastor of St. John Nepomucene Roman Catholic church in Freeland, spoke on behalf of the Slovak minority. He spoke out strongly and fearlessly against a freedom that countenances the murder of defenseless people. Some of the other speakers on this occasion were Reverend R. Aust of Hazleton who represented the Poles, Reverend Gullovic, Reverend Hauser, attorney John Shea of Wilkes-Barre and J . Fahy, president of the United Mine Workers. A gathering of over 4,000 Slovak and Polish mine workers resolved to �50 SLOVAKIA defend their rights, determined to make Sheriff Martin stand trial for this wanton bloodletting. The victims of the disaster were buried on September 12 as huge throngs converged upon the area for the occasion. This Lattimer massacre affected much of America. On September 15, the Slovaks and the Poles of the New York region held a mass demonstration at which they made it clear that the issue at stake was in no way related to religious affiliation or nationality roots or fratemalism of one kind or another. Their main concern was the general welfare of the American working class and fundamental civil rights for all. They appealed for unanimity and single-mindedness of purpose among them all - the Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians and English. A resolution which they formulated on this occasion includes these sentiments: · 'Profoundly affected by the catastrophe that occurred in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in a free country, the republic of the United States of North America, where on September 10 eighteen men who were Slavs and Slovaks were shot to death and about forty others were wounded by a sheriff's posse as these men peaceably and with no ill intent went their way on a public street, aware of the provision of the Constitution of the United States which guarantees every citizen freedom of speech, freedom of opinion and belief, and the right of assemblage, all of which this country esteems and safeguards as sacred civil rights. ' ' Aware that the action of Sheriff Martin and his party was wholly unlawful and totally uncalled for - for it has been proved that the workmen who were en route to their predetermined destination had neither arms nor foul purpose, and he had not even tried to inform them of his rights and their duties - we, on this basis, as American citizens, as workingmen, as Slavs by accident of birth, do most emphatically denounce and condemn this criminal act. We express our profound sympathy to the bereaved families of the unfortunate victims even as we invoke the widely esteemed American regard for justice, urging that formal action be taken to bring to trial those who are considered blameworthy and to have them face their responsibility by due process of law and in this way to effect moral satisfaction to our nation and material compensation to the survivors of the victim families; ' 'We further resolve that to the full extent of our ability and means we will morally and materially offer our assistance to the unfortunately bereaved and we will exert all our power and prestige to have bloodthirsty criminals bear the just punishment which their conduct deserves; "We finally resolve that copies of this resolution be sent to the governor of the state of Pennsylvania and to the district attorney of Luzerne County, and that it be published in all newspapers; we also urge the editors of our Slovak publications to appeal to our people to �SLOVAKIA 51 support this action wholeheartedly with liberal contributions in an effort to redeem and justify the much maligned name and rights of the Slovaks who find it inevitable to undertake a distasteful reckoning with narrow-minded nativists." (3) A spirited call was made in the press for attendance at a protest gathering scheduled for September 20 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania "at which resolutions will be formulated denouncing the action of Sheriff Martin who is responsible for the shooting-death of so many blameless Slovaks . English, Slovak, Polish, Croatian and various other speakers will address those present." Protest and denunciation were voiced from all parts of the nation where there were fellow nationals of the slain miners . Dr. Theodorovic, who represented the office of the Austro-Hungarian consul, came to Hazleton for a personal assessment of the massacre and related factors. Slovak and Polish groups initiated drives throughout the United States in order to raise funds for promoting an equitable trial that would yield at least fair compensations where they were due, and just penalties for Sheriff Martin and his henchmen, all within the framework of jurisprudence and with a deterrent impact against similar injustice. One outcome of this effort was the organization of "the National Fair Trial and Beneficial Committee on Behalf of the Lattimer Victims. " This committee published a public statement and an appeal which was carried in all the current newspapers. It read in part: '' The underlings who are in the employ of corporations and share a thirst for liquidating their fellow-citizens are largely the lackeys and hacks of their bosses, all murderously eager to carry out every order from the top. The incident did not arise out of any disturbance of the peace by those guiltless men who were so brutally victimized; there was no intent to transgress law or ordinance; they carried no firearms , no clubs or flails. Workingmen were simply on a mission of their own, marching along the street to meet some fellow-workers from the same mining company in order to discuss a sharing of views and attitudes and to build moral support in a common cause. ''The Declaration of Independence in this land proclaims that all men are created free and equal. Somehow these hirelings felt that the life of an alien is not worth even as much as the life of a slave. Apparently they were led to believe that their killing of such people and under such circumstances would be universally approved by the press and by public opinion. '' It is well known that Americans endorse the principle of fair play. When poor workmen, unarmed victims, were so foully gunned down in cold blood, not only this land but all the civilized world was appalled by the atrocity. The Constitution of the United States provides for the right of peaceful assembly. Have these words meaning or force in the light of bullets and bayonets? We hold that every individual who participated in the shooting on that ill-fated day in Lattimer overstepped his rights �52 SLOVAKIA and violated the law. We hold that their act was nothing short of criminal, inhuman and unspeakable butchery. "We make this appeal and protest in the name of those who were wounded and as representatives of those who are the bereaved survivors in the families of the slain victims. Our committee has been organized in order to provide counsel and to call witnesses and to take care of whatever else may be necessary to bring Sheriff Martin and his deputies to face indictment and to stand trial according to the full force of our country's laws. ''We act on the principle that this struggle of ours is your struggle as well as ours and on the assumption that you are friends of the workingman who is often taken advantage of. If these people whom we desire to bring to an accounting are let go free and without making retribution for the killing of our countrymen, who knows what further fate can await us in the future? "Reverend Richard Aust, president; John Nemeth, treasurer; Loughran, secretary; Reverend John Stas, Salvator di Sandola, Nicholas Ballok, Matthews Long, John Kuntz, Charles Hauser, Edmund Lemhick, Reverend J. Formanek, Frank Kozlovski, George Kozarovich. '' Samuel Gompers, president of the Federation of Labor, visited the scene and made some observations about the cheap labor of the Poles, Slovaks and Italians whom the coal barons were importing into America in order to squeeze out the '' intelligent Irish and Welsh laborers.' ' Even before the sentencing, Gompers as president of the workers' union said, ''It is my opinion that the sheriff and his deputies will be acquitted in order to teach 'those foreigners' a lesson to behave differently in the future. ' 'Posterity will rate the Lattimer killings as nothing but massacre of a kind that has no equal in the history of civilized peoples, and the consciences of the perpetrators of this act will accuse and torment them to their last day. And even though monopolies and monopolists may succeed in achieving their victory, such slaughter must some day come to an end; truth will be victorious and all people will enjoy the fulness of their sacred rights - all people, whether they be of the common working class or the favored moneyed class of mine owners. "The laborers .of our country are moving toward better and stronger organization day by day, and the citizens at large are grasping a much better and a truer concept of the rights and obligations of individuals. When that day of ultimate realization does arrive, the account of the Lattimer murders will have been written in our history in letters of blood and this notorious crime will be looked upon as the most atrocious and vile offense of the nineteenth century.'' The trial of Sheriff Martin and his associates opened on February 1, 1898. The place of trial was the Luzerne County Court in WilkesBarre. Adherents of both the prosecution and the defense followed �SLOVAKIA 53 developments with undivided attention and intense feeling. Sheriff Martin had the support of all the major coal corporations , top officialdom and capitalism . The plaintiffs were backed by the laboring masses. In the process of jury se lection , Judge Staley Woodward saw to it that only American-born citizens were seated as jurors . There was never any doubt that the se lected jury panel was unanimous in its antipathy for foreigners . Judge Woodward ascertained from sworn testimony that the striking miners had created no public disorder or disturbance during their march , that they were completely unarmed, that Sheriff Martin had stopped them and insolently ordered them to turn back , that the miners were not incline d to obey but had objected that they had every right to use a public street. Further testimony indicated that the sheriff challenged the leader of the marching group, gave the order to fire and that he himself fired the first shot , striking the leader of the marching miners in the chest as additional volleys were turned upon the men who began to run for shelter . The City Trust Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia supplied bail for the indicted to the amount of $256 ,000 . The press seldom missed an opportunity to belittle the foreign element and to overstate their shortcomings and least desirable traits - almost as if bad traits and undesirable characteristics were exclusively theirs. The presiding judge at the trial was Judge Woodward. He was related to the owner of the mines where strikes were beginning to be staged. He was also a shareholder in these mines. There was not a single Slav among the twelve jurors, most of whom were farmers, men who could hardly have firsthand knowledge of mining conditions and the situations that had justified the strike movement. They were not at all familiar with such matters as fair working conditions, e quitable pay, safety m easures, etc. A writer in one of the current publications observed, ' 'These are the names of the men in whose hands rests the power of passing a verdict that will tell the world whether anyone in this civilized country - even if he be the highest official of a particular country - may or may not, without cause, slaughter peaceful workers . It is easy to tell from the listed names that to the very last man these jurors are all Americans. The question is: are their hearts filled with rank nativism and malicious ill-will against foreigners? If they are bigoted nativists, it is vain to expect a fair sentence.'' Early in the opening of the trial the court denied the motion of the state prosecutor that the jury go to the scene of the massacre for a kind of re-enactment of the events that occurred there . The last act of this bloody drama took place during the trial. As charge followed upon charge , the full impact of hate and prejudice �54 SLOVAKIA harbored against the Slavic immigrants came into clearer and surer light. One of the defendants boasted, "I did all right; I aimed at nine and brought down five of them ." Meanwhile the mutilated survivors of that bloody Friday - some without an arm or a leg -- were in full view of the court and the spectators gathered at the trial. Before the eyes of them all , Gregory Gasparik with bandages bound about his head in which a bullet was still lodged, in moderate tones testified against Sheriff Martin and his posse. People who lived near the scene of the crime also came in to testify, telling how they had seen the deputies beat the strikers who were already all bloodied and wounded with shots . The defendants produced about a hundred witnesses who charged that Poles and Huns had terrorized the whole area and that on this occasion they were actuallly marching with firearms. They supported Sheriff Martin as a law man who was doing his duty when he ordered his men to fire at the group . Sheriff Martin, on his part, denied all guilt in the matter and entered a plea of innocent . He claimed that after reading the injunction, he attempted to arrest the leader of the marchers but the striking men , misunderstanding his action and intent, set upon him and began to beat and kick him. At this point he called upon his men for help and when even that restraint was ineffective, he finally gave an order to fire because he feared that he might be killed. When blank shots did not quell the situation , then they began to shoot in earnest even if it meant to wound and kill. He claimed that when he first met the marchers, he asked where they were going and that they answered, ''To Lattimer in order to get the men out of work! " " I begged them and pleaded with them not to go any farther ," he stated. " I urged them to obey the law and to disperse. Someone from the back of the crowd loudly cried out the word to go on. The strikers began to jostle me about and to shout abuse at me. One drunken Hungarian even tried to throttle me so I arrested him. The crowd that surrounded me swelled bigger and bigger. I drew my revolver and aimed into the air because I did not want to hurt anyone . In that instant, Joseph Novotny punched me in the face and I fell to the ground as the mob began to howl, 'Kill the s.o.b. ! ' '' I tried to defend myself with my revolver but it wouldn't fire. The mob that was pressing upon me was armed with revolvers and knives. When I fell to my knees, the deputies began to fire and the crowd then started to fall back. But they did not disperse at once. At a distance of 500 to 600 feet, they stopped in a wooded place. I felt that they might return. My men began to shout to them to disperse . Afterwards I gave the order to look after the wounded and the killed.'' The strikers countered this desposition with the charge that the sheriff was the first to fire a shot. They maintained that no one struck �SLOVAKIA 55 him, no one kicked him nor was there any evidence on his clothing or his body that he had been subjected to rough treatment of any kind. No blanks were discharged and no man who was wounded or killed was struck by a frontal shot; all were shot from the back. The son of the mine owner, young Pardee, called out to the law men , "Boys, shoot down those Huns! " Further testimony indicated that the deputies were extremely harsh and unfeeling even toward the killed and the wounded , kicking them mercilessly. Sworn witnesses consistently testified that the miners had no arms of any kind . They carried no canes or sticks, no rocks or stones , much less firearms. Scores of witnesses corroborated this testimony . Andrew Siviar, one of the miners, testified that the workmen marched as members of the United Mine Workers of America and that they had no weapons and had planned no mischief or property destruction of any kind. John Milhala, secretary of the local union, testified that they had gone to the mayor of the city who assured them that they could go to Lattimer in orderly fashion , that the sheriff had no authority to stop or prevent them. Some striking testimony was presented by the local school teacher Charles Guscot. He was eyewitness to the entire episode. He attested to the opening of fire by Sheriff Martin and the inhumane shooting upon the men who helplessly tried to flee from the ruthless officers. Another teacher from a nearby school alleged that she personally saw one of the deputies pursuing a wounded and bloodied man and in horror witnessed how he shot him to death a few steps in front of her when the weakened man fell to the ground from exhaustion. Reverend Stafflet declared under sworn testimony that he was passing the scene in a trolley car and had seen no signs of provocation on the part of the miners . They conducted themselves becomingly and bothered nobody along the way. The daily papers reported that the courtroom was the scene of some most unusual proceedings. The firm that had provided the earlier funds for bail now again supplied further expense money in the amount of over $402 .00 . All the sworn testimony agreed on the fact that the miners had no weapons . As a matter of fact, they had reckoned with the possibility of being challenged on the way and had forbidden any man to carry arms. Not one of them carried even as much as a walking stick or ordinary cane. Among the witnesses one testified that when he decided to join the group, he went into the mountains and cut himself a staff - just in case - but the others prevailed upon him to throw it away. There was also testimony that the deputies had openly boasted in the town that they would kill "the dirty Huns" yet. One of them joked about the whole thing afterwards, commenting that if he had been �56 SLOVAKIA given a cent for every one that he shot, he would have had the price of a bee r because he himself hit five . The sheriff and all the indicted men appeared before the bench with an air of great self-confidence and assurance. Their backing firm had made an outlay of over $30,000 in legal fees, the judge undoubtedly lent them the weight of his favor and they knew beforehand that no kind of testimony could affect them adversely. Some of the leading American newspapers, including the New York World which was owned by Pulitzer , a Jew from Zemplin in Slovakia, slanted their reporting to discredit the miners. Maurice Engelman , who was also a witness, testified that back in town they laughingly told him to hide or he would be an easy target. John Petruska testified that he was present when the posse was choosing firearms and one of the deputies quipped, " We ' re on our way for a shooting in Lattimer!" Gaspar Wizneski testified that he himself saw the sheriff raise his revolver and fire into the crowd in front of him . '' Do you swear that you saw the sheriff kill one of the strikers?'' the attorney challenged him . '' I swear to it that I did! '' he answered in a clear and audible voice that carried throughout the electrified atmosphere of the courtroom. Martin McGahren and Scarlet, attorneys for the plaintiffs, did not lack incriminating evidence yet all the substance of the testimony did not seem to put the burden of guilt on the accused. The court demanded specific proof and specific charges identifying who killed whom . This could hardly be presented , given the circumstances of abrupt assault and the ensuing panic . Who could tell precisely whose bullet killed this victim or that one? And there was the persistent line of defense claiming that the sheriff acted in the discharge of his duty when he issued the order to fire on the crowd. The defense was called to investigate a hundred witnesses . It was a drawn out trial that finally ended on March 9, 1898 . The sentence that was pronounced was: "The accused are found not guilty. " The court ruled that they had the right to shoot, that they had a right to selfdefense. This verdict created a public scandal. Over 30 ,000 miners began to threaten to take to the streets again, to start another strike. But they were at a total disadvantage. Corporations had contributed several hundred thousands of dollars for this legal battle. How could that be matched by the trifling $5,930 that the impoverished and distracted miners were able to raise from their own resources? For long months, the prime topic of public interest and comment among the Slovaks was the Lattimer massacre. Dozens and dozens of articles, printed and spoken reactions of varying degrees of intensity, were devoted to this incredibly outrageous event and its disgraceful outcome . J. A. Feriencik vehemently and fearlessly criticized a court of �SLOVAKIA 57 justice that would condone such wanton killing and allow such an act to go unpunished, unatoned, because the lords and the mighty ones assented to it. In stark disbelief he wrote: ''They will kill, they will shoot, and grant you no mourning or tears of relief. And somehow they will make it all come out within the limits of the law. '' On the one hand we keep calling out 'Friends and countrymen of ours, come out here and settle here in America, in this famed free country. Apply for American citizenship, learn English, do your utmost to become worthy citizens of the United States, etc.' On the other hand, we urge our people back home to come over with their entire families, to establish themselves as family units and to adopt the American way of life and so gain the ' respect' of their American neighbors. '' And our people here credulously throng to the courts for naturalization forms, they register their desire to become American citizens, set themselves to studying English, the language of this country, adopt American usage and custom, and with all the ardor of their nature they cultivate a deep love for this new country of theirs. In many instances their devotion and loyalty outstrip the sentiments of some native American citizens. And the returns for this good will and generous effort? - Heartless murder! "Even as our people spare no pain in their sincere enthusiasm to evidence their devotion , patriotism and good will, their love for the land of their adoption, their respect for its laws, they are contemptuously referred to as scoundrel Huns and Hunkies. And what hate goes with the slogans: They pushed us out of our jobs; take it out on them! Give it to them! Let them know that we don't like them one bit! '' Some of it is even more foul than this but I must restrain myself or some of that biased American justice might just get me across the knuckles too. "So it is then. These are the facts: You, my people , bend your neck willingly . You do all that you can to prove your genuine devotion to this new land. And what do you get for it all? - Censure, unmitigated scorn, cold brutality. '' Blameless blood is needlessly shed within the scope of the law. It is all but a miracle that the presiding judge did not pin a medal of heroism on the lapel of the sheriff and proclaim him a deliverer of some kind. ''It is time for us to look about and assess what's around us and not just sound off about the freedom, the democracy and the brotherhood of these people. "At every step you come upon hate, you face contempt. Even a street urchin will let you know that you are repulsive to him. ' ' My people, does misery force you to flee from one country as you seek to save your life and avoid starvation, and do you eagerly turn to �58 SLOVAKIA this free America to settle here and earn your bread through hard work and long hours? You escape from misery at home and the threat of death by famine only to hurl yourself into the arms of death here. There you tried to save your life; here they snatch it from you. "Foul murder! '' Are we to be the door mat of murderers forever? Some drive us out of our birthplace and in exile others set upon us with the intent to kill. "Introduce a system of slavery. Buy white slaves, shackle them, treat them at will and you will have a fair picture of American freedom and democracy in action . A realistic picture. Is the world to consider these democratic and freedom-loving people? A murderer has never yet been taken for a champion of freedom , a humanitarian or a freedom-lover. The lurid blotch left by Slovak blood spilled in Pennsylvania will long witness your kind of benevolence, your warped philanthropia? '' Are we to tell the undisguised truth to all our people? Well, if you want them to shoot you here, then tell it. It appears that before long they will pass laws making it legal to shoot Slovaks in certain particular months and not to consider them game in others - just as they do for various animals. It seems to be moving in that direction. This very trial gives proof of such widely touted justice and equity. The capitalist triumphs in spite of his crime and his guilt. The wretched workman loses even though it is he who has been wronged. " My people, if you only had millions of dollars in your hands, they would surely have proved to you how they can adjust and modify twisted paragraphs. But without the almighty dollar ... if you are the unfortunate wretch, then suffer and be still. That is the kind of principle that guided the judge presiding at the trial of the Lattimer murderers .'' (4) The American-Slovak News further editorialized on the subject of the trial and its verdict: '' For those who participated in the Lattimer massacre - or putting it more aptly - for those who defended the bloody trade of the butchers thirsting for human blood at the scene of the Lattimer carnage, it would be rather unfair to designate the event as a drama. For them this classic drama reached its denouement with all the impact of a genuine comedy. Twelve confirmed foes of all that does not breathe the fanatic ideas of the Apaches declared that the butcher Sheriff Martin and his vultures only did their duty; they acted as honorable men when they killed off those hated Huns. ''They crucified truth! They grossly trampled upon the rights of the disadvantaged workman in this free country. Why? For no reason other than this fact that the slaughtered victims first saw the light of day in Hungary, in Russia, in Germany or in Italy.'' (5) �SLOVAKIA 59 Naturally such a foul crime of multiple homicide and utter ruthlessness could not have touched Slovak life without affecting it deeply. The Slovaks sensed that if they would truly avoid being so tom by factions and lack of unity, if they could somehow unite their thousands of workers with common purpose and a sense of solidarity, such a misfortune could never again be repeated. Gradually there evolved within them the consciousness that we are all at fault, all of us, for not claiming those rights to which we are entitled. And so we suffer punishment. Out of this painful and humiliating or humbling realization , even before the verdict was pronounced, there grew the first substantial endeavor of the Slovaks in this land to work in harmony and to achieve a common strength. Realization fortunately led to action. On October 17, 1897 representatives of the leading Slovak-American publications met in Cleveland in order to confer on definite practical steps toward cooperation and the pursuit of common goals. The conference of these journalists resolved to adopt measures related to basic issues in order to counteract the unwholesome attitudes and underserved attacks of certain American press agencies that treated the Slovak immigrant element as less than human . This Congress of Slavic Pressmen , which was organized by Fr. (Francis) Pucher , also sent expressions of condolence to the survivors of the Lattimer victims. This innocent Slovak blood that was shed then did not go wholly wasted. It tended to conciliate the Slovaks and to bring them together. And though this was an extravagantly harsh and costly lesson, it taught them that in their distant strange land they must renounce all petty conflicts and contentions, for in this new world their widely scattered strength will count only if they can bring themselves together and act as a corporate unit that has the general welfare at heart. Many families that had not bothered about joining a Slovak fraternal or beneficial organization now saw that membership in such a society could really mean much to them, especially in the event of an unfortunate or tragic occurrence. The blood that the Slovak miners shed for the general good was the first effective and lasting incentive that brought the Slovaks of America together into one unified and conscious body. One disappointment followed in the aftermath. Newspapers published the report that John Nemeth, chairman of the committee, was named consul just before the final settlement of all the misunderstandings; however, his appointment was conditioned on his withdrawal from the committee. The government of Austria-Hungary petitioned the government of the United States to allocate some compensation to the families of the Lattimer victims. The outcome is embodied in an official document of the Secretary of the Interior (78,999) which includes the following statement: �60 SLOVAKIA "The government of the United States does not recognize any obligation to provide compensation to our fellow-citizens or to the famili es of those who were killed in the clash between the mine workers and the police in the Hazleton-Lattimer area.'' From the blood of these martyrs there was a sprouting of the fragile and delicate flower of accord. Within a year the general tone of the Slovak press had changed from bitter acrimony and unprofitable controversy to understanding and kindlier feeling all around. Even in cases where everyone had believed that common ground could never be found among known antagonists, it had indeed been discovered that these individuals also had many mutually satisfying interests to share and promote and they could work together and get along satisfactorily in spite of their differences. From this point on, every other problem seemed to be of a trivial nature, insignificant trifles that caused minor rifts here and there but had no essential substance. The main drive was toward definite goals even though various and varied avenues led to the ultimate end. FOOTNOTES (1) In a newspaper report published by the Amerikansko Slovenske noviny right after the event, the following are listed as fatality victims in this unfortunate clash: 1) John Kosanec , 2) John Temoci , 3) Fr. Kedel, 4) John Ceka, 5) John Ceslak 6) George Versek, 7) Stephen Hornik , 8) George Kulik, 9) Fr. Ceka, 10) Stephen Ulrich, 11) Andrew Zesman, 12) John Ivanko. Later these names wer also added to the list: 13) John Futa , whose name is sometimes also given as Futas, 14) Stephen Jurek, 15) Michael Ceslak, 16) George Gasparek, 17) John Slebodnik , 18) John Banko, 19) Andrew Jurecek, 20) John Skrip. Since Sheriff Martin was indicted for the death of twenty-one victims , it is clear that this list is incomplete. Some of the men who had been seriously wounded in the incident later died in the hospital. An exact list with all names in their correct spelling is most likely available from the court records in Wilkes-Barre and probably from various English and Polish newspapers of that time. It was a common practice in those days to transmit news reports by telegraphic communication and so it is possible that some of the names were affected by transcription and could have been somewhat distorted. The following men were wounded in the encounter: Anthony Macuka, single , Polish; James Tomason , single, Polish; Francis Fetus, single, Slovak; John Penkames, married, Lithuanian; Joseph Macko, married, Slovak ; Andrew Josmont, married, Polish ; Martin Serfanek, single, Polish ; John Dolny , married , Slovak; John Krisak, single, Slovak ; John Presa, married, Slovak ; Andrew Majer , single, Slovak; John Padnok , married , Polish ; John Posca, married, Slovak ; George Gaspar, single, Slovak; Adolph Colak, married, Slovak ; Adam Lipianski , single, Polish; John Kulich, single, Polish , John Kontra, married , Slovak; Joseph Gasparik, married, Slovak; Thomas Paris , single, Polish ; Andrew Honas, married, Slovak; Andrew Orban, married , Polish; Gaspar Dula§, married , Slovak; Joseph Zapa, Slovak; Joseph Paulak, married , Polish; Matthew Chia, married , Polish; Clement Plotach, married, Polish; John Fora, single, Slovak; Stanislaus Kominski, married, Polish; Constantine Monsara , married , Polish , Bernard Rummal, single, Polish . In 1902 the convention of American Mine Workers adopted a resolution providing for the erection of a memorial to honor the fallen miners as pioneer heroes in the cause for �SLOVAKIA 61 social justice. Additional names of stricken men that make their appearance within the formal text of this resolution include the following: Clement Patek, John Foote, Sebastian Praztomski, Raphael Rezervicz, Albert Czaja, Stanley Rajoski, Andrew Goekers, Andrew Miczkowski, John Krop, Andrew Morrikoski, Adam Zrainski, Adalbert Zienka, Frank Chazesjewski, Steve Znoec, Andrew Jamee (Jurecek), Mike Coseak (Ceslak), George Kulek (Kulik). Some of the surnames were garbled to some extent; most likely they happened to be misread in the course of years that had passed since the massacre itself. (2) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny (American-Slovak News), September 16, 1897. (3) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny, 30. IX. 1897. (4) "Let Slovak Blood Call to God for Vengeance" American-Slovak News, 31. ill. 1898. (5) American-Slovak News. 5.Il. 1899. �62 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre and Trial HARRY B. SCHOOLEY III INTRODUCTION To have a clearer understanding of the trial at issue it is necessary to say that upon entering the court where the trial is in progress one is immediately impressed with the fact that the issue involved is as much a question of the relations of employer and employed as a question of the trial of Sheriff Martin and his deputies for murder, and, as has been invariably the case, the representatives of corporate power assume a hauteur and domineering attitude toward all. The counsel for the defense, former Attorney-General Palmer and Mr. Lenahan, as well as Sheriff Martin and the Deputies , assume an air of offended pride and indignation at being called to defend themselves against a charge of killing a score or more laborers, and think of it! Foreign laborers at that! So wrote Samuel Gompers in an article for the New York World of February 20, 1898. The shooting at Lattimer, Pennsylvania, had become labor's forgotten massacre. Twenty-four striking anthracite coal miners were killed when Luzerne County Sheriff James Martin ordered his deputies to fire into their ranks when their parade threatened the security of the community shortly after three o'clock on the hot afternoon of September 10, 1897. While at times a Sheriff has been punished for criminal neglect of his duty in not firing on a riotous mob, Sheriff Martin was proceeded against in the Lattimer trial because he and his deputies did so fire. The law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for whose supremacy they battled, was used to compass their destruction because they did so. Gompers was wrong. Lattimer was not a '' question of the relations of employer and employed." The lesson of the verdict in the Lattimer case is not that the rich are to be protected, but that the poor and defenseless shall have an absolute guarantee of all their individual rights, and that those who attempt to impair them by lawlessness must answer to the law as criminals. H.B.s.,m May, 1965 (Harry B. Schooley ill teaches at the Buffalo Seminary for girls in Buffalo, New York. A native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he wrote this paper while an undergraduate at Williams College in May, 1965.) �SLOVAKIA 63 Ariovistus Pardee, an ambitious engineering student with the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, was sent in May of 1833 to the Lehigh coal regions of Pennsylvania to survey a railroad line from the anthracite mines at Beaver Meadow to the Lehigh Canal at Mauch Chunk. Pardee 's success in the area led him to locating further lines in the region and he began his own mining operations in 1840.(1) In 1869 Pardee built the company towns of Lattimer and Harwood near Hazleton to house the miners working in his six mines. In 1892, following his father ' s death, Calvin Pardee took over the mines at Lattimer and Harwood. Feeling there would be less chance of a consolidation of the working men against his interests, Pardee mixed the foreign immigrant miners filling the houses at Lattimer largely with Italians and those at Harwood with Slovaks, Poles, and Lithuanians . Between 1875 and 1900 there were sporadic attempts on behalf of the Welsh, Irish, and German miners of the anthracite fields to organize for better working and wage conditions. A means for curbing any attempts to organize the miners was the introduction by the mine operators of large numbers of laborers from Austria-Hungary, Poland, Russia , and Italy who were content to work hard and long for low wages. This over supply of unorganized men literally depressed wages to a minimum through the ever-present competition.(2) By the late 1890's the mine patches of the Lehigh coal regions were largely populated by the new mixture of non-English speaking nationalities who with their cheaper immigrant labor replaced the old order of English , Welsh, and Irish miners. The new miners were largely Slovaks, Poles, Italians , Hungarians , and Lithuanians and were considered "foreigners" relegated by the social conditions to which they belonged - the unpainted company houses , shacks, and the dreaded company store. A racial and national prejudice predominated in the mine patches and the better educated, more intelligent of the foreigners met with each other and insisted that every good foreigner should get his "papers " as soon as possible so as to vote in the elections and prevent the '' white men ' ' from voting to pass a law that might drive them from the country. Many of the miners found themselves in great debt to the company store . In 1896 the Pennsylvania Legislature appointed a committee to investigate the company store system . An order for 50,000 copies of the committee report was canceled because, as American Federation of Labor Vice President J . P. McGuire stated in September of 1897 , ''of the disgrace which would fall upon the State were the truth made known of conditions existing in the Schuylkill region." (3) Conditions were the same in the Lehigh and Wyoming Valleys. Perhaps McGuire 's labor affiliations prejudiced him in the making of this statement, but the recent business depression had reduced the lot of the anthracite miner to a very poor one. The manager of one of the Hazleton collieries revealed that his payrolls for September 1, 1897, amounted to about $26,000, of which $18,000 was �64 SLOVAKIA deducted for living expenses (debts to the company store, rents for living in the company houses, fees deducted from pay for the company doctor, money deducted to pay the priest) leaving less than one-third the original amount to be divided among the miners. Discontent over small wages, idleness, and other alleged "wrongs" was seized upon by the new leadership composed of young, energetic and often violent labor organizers as a timely excuse for action. Their opportunity came in August of 1897. A strike broke out at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company 's Honeybrook Colliery near the new borough of McAdoo, when twenty driver boys were ordered to stable their mules after stopping work without extra pay. They refused and division superintendent Gomer Jones fired them. On Sunday, August 15, 2,500 Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company miners joined the strike. Newspapers feared that ''the Italians and Hungarians, who are very aggressive, cannot be controlled." (4) The Honeybrook strikers were led by a committee of grievances which met with general superintendent Elmer H. Lawall demanding an investigation of Gomer Jones to the effect that he reduced miners' wages and that the wages be restored to the original rates. Lawall promised an investigation of Jones if the miners returned to work; and a week after the first walk-out, work was resumed at Honeybrook.(5) On the same day (August 22) the Honeybrook miners returned to work, there arrived in the area from Philadelphia one John Fahy, selfappointed local president of the United Mine Workers of America. Meeting with Italian miners at Audenreid, Yorktown, and Beaver Brook, Fahy persuaded them to organize an Italian branch of the United Mine Workers.(6) Fahy's presence in the area on behalf of the union caused great concern among the mine operators as the miners became more aware of their plight and their demands became more intense. Fahy's word spread rapidly from operation to operation, and on August 26, Italian and Hungarian miners struck at the Van Wickle Coal Company collieries at Beaver Meadow and Coleraine. Two thousand miners moving overnight forced the workers from their shops at the Van Wickle breakers so as to stop all work. Their demands for higher wages were not considered serious as the strike was spontaneous and had no apparent intelligent leadership.(7) On August 27, the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville was idled by the strikers and a coal train was prevented from leaving the town. All Van Wickle operations were forced to shut down. The next day at a meeting of the strikers in Hazleton, a formal demand was presented to Van Wickle superintendent Roderick. Roderick claimed that the advanced scheduled wages (which would set a wage scale for the region) demanded by Fahy 's organizers would not be paid to the miners, although the average pay rates of the region would be paid. The speaker at a Coleraine meeting urged the strikers to resort to violence if the demands were not met. In answer armed members of the Coal and �SLOVAKIA 65 Iron Police were sent to guard the Van Wickle properties.(8) Saloons in Milnesville and Coleraine were closed and a state of ominous calm pervaded the Hazleton area. English-speaking miners were willing to return to work were it not for the threats made by the foreigners. The employees of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company anxiously watched the Van Wickle situation as there had been no action taken towards the promised investigation of Superintendent Jones.(9) Between August 30 and September 3 the strike spread rapidly. Roderick agreed to make wage concessions at the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville which immediately resumed work. If settlements were made at the other Van Wickle operations, then the Lehigh and WilkesBarre miners might never see Jones investigated at all. The miners at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre's Audenreid colliery struck and five hundred strong marched on the company's Yorktown colliery and washeries at Dodson, Beaver Brook, Star, Monarch, and Carson, driving off all the workmen.(10) The miners at the Van Wickle Coleraine colliery remained on strike. Assembling in McAdoo on September 2, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre strikers marched with an American flag to the Beaver Brook colliery forcing it to close. Those workers who refused to stop work were driven off. From Beaver Brook they marched to Yorktown (which had resumed work in spite of the march on that operation by the Audenreid strikers a day earlier) where colliery superintendent Hayes tried to reason with them, as the Yorktown workers had no grievance. Nevertheless, the Yorktown colliery closed. The march then turned towards Audenreid and the home of Gomer Jones. Following a thorough but futile search for Jones , the then two thousand marchers proceeded to the colliery at Silver Brook where the workers fled. At a meeting that evening in McAdoo, the members of the grievance committee advised against future marches, but Fahy's organizers insisted that the marches would continue daily until all the collieries were idle. Fahy, incidentally, was in Silver Brook that evening organizing a new chapter of the United Mine Workers. At Coleraine the Van Wickle strikers were quiet and Superintendent Roderick, in a bid to maintain good will between the company and the strikers, stated that none of the Coleraine workers participated in the march.(11) Later on the evening of September 2, the Coleraine strikers agreed to return to work if they would be protected from the mob. Roderick gladly granted protection. Mayor Altmiller of Hazleton issued orders to the police that if any attempt was made to organize a mob parade on September 3, the marchers were to be dispersed, and if the police were not strong enough the citizens should help them. The Lehigh Valley Coal Company closed its collieries at Jeansville and Hazleton No. 1 not because of grievances between the company and its employees, but because the mob of strikers had threatened the workers. The Lehigh Valley counseled all its workmen to obey the will of the mob.(12) By September 3 the strike had stopped all �66 SLOVAKIA mining operations except those of the New Ebervale Coal Company , Van Wickle 's Coleraine and Milnesville Collieries, and Pardee 's colliery at Lattimer. The weapons of the foreigners were the threat and the mob . With the march of September 2 and the probability of future marches , many mine owners feared for the safety of their property at the hands of the striking miners. The Luzerne County Sheriff's office in Wilkes-Barre, in response to the pleas of the operators for protection , sent an urgent telegram to Sheriff James R. Martin , vacationing in Atlantic City, requesting his immediate return. As soon as Sheriff Martin arrived in Wilkes-Barre on September 5, he telegraphed the sheriffs of Carbon and Schuylkill counties to meet him in Hazleton the next day. Before boarding the train to Hazleton, Martin announced that if he thought necessary , a proclamation would be issued calling on the strikers to refrain from all acts of violence and to permit all who so desired to return to their usual vocation as well as to cease marching. "The fact that men are compelled against their will to march along with an ignorant and sometimes infuriated mob causes some fear that other and more dangerous complications may arise ." (13) Following the Hazleton meeting on September 6, the three sheriffs simultaneously published a proclamation prohibiting mob parades and demonstrations , stating the following: . . . notice is given to all good citizens to refrain from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace . Notice is further given, that all such acts of disorder and lawlessness will be summarily repressed and punished in accordance with the laws of the land. - James Martin, High Sheriff of Luzerne County The proclamation was based on the Pennsylvania Riot Act of March 31, 1860 which forbade ''any persons riotously and tumultuously to assemble together to the disturbance of the public peace." (15) While the three sheriffs were meeting in Hazleton, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company granted the same advances as did the Van Wickle Coal Company at Milnesville and Coleraine.(16) That night Sheriff Martin in his Broad Street hotel room swore in 87 deputies, most of whom were members of the Coal and Iron Police from the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre and Lehigh Valley Coal companies , but some of whom were business and professional men of the Hazleton area .(17) For the next three days the Hazleton area remained in an uneasy calm as the sheriff and his deputies remained on call responding to separate incidents throughout the area. �SLOVAKIA 67 While Martin and his men remained in Hazleton, John Fahy was active at the Pardee colliery at Harwood. Enlisting the aid of the popular young Hungarian slate boss, John Eagler, Fahy was successful in organizing a new branch of the United Mine Workers. Fahy claimed the new union advocated peaceful arbitration of differences between the miners and the operators. Selecting Eagler as their first local secretary and Joseph Mehalto, another well-known Slav from nearby Crystal Ridge as president, the Harwood body immediately formulated a list of grievances - demanding a ten cent wage raise, a reduction of blasting powder from $2. 75 to $1.50, and no company butcher or company doctor - which they presented to the Pardee office in Hazleton on September 9.(18) While the Harwood strikers were presenting their grievances, a mob of "young Italians and Huns" descended on the New Ebervale Coal Company's colliery at Ebervale, driving off Superintendent John Scott and his employees in a shower of rocks and sticks.(19) With this outbreak of new violence, the Pardee Company refused to consider any grievances until all sections of the Harwood colliery were working. Meeting in the Harwood schoolhouse on the evening of September 9, the striking miners decided that in order to get the bargaining position they needed, the whole company must be shut down. This meant work must be stopped at Lattimer. Upon Mehalto's suggestion, the members resolved to send a committee of ten to Lattimer on the next day to persuade the colliery to close down. (20) On the morning of the tenth it was suggested that the strikers go along with the committee, and with Mehalto and Eagler at the head of a column of 250 to 300 men and boys, the strikers set out for Lattimer. With the American flag at the head of the procession, they marched through Crystal Ridge and Cranberry where they were joined by others until the ranks numbered about four hundred. On entering West Hazleton the strikers found their route blocked by Sheriff Martin and his deputies . Standing in front of his line of deputies, Martin ordered the strikers to stop and to disperse. The march pushed on, a scuffle resulted, two strikers were arrested, and the flag was taken from them. Following this encounter, the strikers moved off into a field by the side of the road and the sheriff and his deputies withdrew maintaining a careful eye on the marchers. Soon, however, the march was under way once more, the strikers still heading for Lattimer but skirting West Hazleton to the north. Martin and his deputies hurriedly boarded an open trolley car, provided for their use by the Lehigh Transit Company, and rode back into Hazleton and out the Lattimer line to Harleigh , where the road to Lattimer and the rail line converged and ran parallel for a short distance. At Harleigh the sheriff and his deputies again met the marching strikers, the trolley car keeping pace with the men on foot, grim silence between them while the police in their trolley sat holding their rifles . (21) The car arrived in Lattimer in time for Martin to �68 SLOVAKIA watch the movement of the march, and, from a high point at the town 's approach, the column could be observed moving toward the Pardee colliery No. 1. Again the deputies, about 150 in number, having been reinforced by numbers of the coal and iron police from Lattimer, lined up in a semi-circle across the road with Sheriff Martin standing several yards in front of them. The scene at West Hazleton a few hours earlier appeared about to be re-enacted. When the strikers reached the line of deputies Martin, proclamation in hand, stepped out to meet them: ''You must stop marching and disperse. This is contrary to the law and you are creating a disturbance. You must go back. I won't let you go on to the colliery.'' (22) Eagler argued that American citizens had the right to parade as long as they were not disturbing the peace. Martin read the Riot Act. Most of the marchers, not understanding English, pushed forward to find out what Martin was saying. In the crowd the sheriff was jostled. Thinking himself in danger, he tried to get back to his line of deputies, but was knocked to his knees. The strikers made way for him, and just as he emerged from their ranks, the cry was heard, ''Fire, fire on' em!'' The deputies fired into the unarmed mob. (23) Following a meeting with his lawyer on arriving back in WilkesBarre that evening, Sheriff Martin issued a statement of the Hazleton conditions and shooting: I was not there to interfere in the strike in any shape or manner, but was there for the mere purpose to prevent all violations of the law, and to restore peace and quiet. I beseeched and entreated the leaders to talk to their comrades and ask them to disperse and return to their homes, act in a peaceable way and desist from doing any sort of violence ... (at West Hazleton) the strikers began to crowd together, and to mutter and chatter in their own languages. The leaders urged them on and at the same time began to curse and swear at me, as well as openly defy me and my deputies . (at Lattimer) I ... rushed ahead of my deputies ... dashed in among the foreigners and boldly placed the leader under arrest. (the strikers) at once attacked me most viciously , striking and kicking me, knocking me down. I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers, as it might probably frighten them ... I fully realized that the foreigners were a desperate lot ... (I assumed) they were too excited to listen to reason and that myself and deputies would be killed ... if we did not defend ourselves. I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot, if they must, to protect their lives or to �SLOVAKIA 69 protect the property, that they had been sent to guard, from being demolished. I hated to give the command to shoot and was awful sorry that I was compelled to do so, but I was there to do my duty and I did it the best I knew how and as my conscience dictated, as the strikers were violating the laws of the Commonwealth and flatly refused to obey the proclamation that I had read to them. They, instead, insisted on doing violence and disobeying the laws.(24) In "doing violence and disobeying the laws" eighteen strikers were instantly killed while approximately twenty-four others were seriously wounded. Eagler and Mehalto escaped and their comrades fled in terror. One of the strikers, Martin Rosko, a Hungarian from Mt. Pleasant and wounded in the arm, gave the following account: We were going along the road to Lattimer and the deputies were lined across the road barring our progress. We tried to go through them and did not attempt to hit or molest them when they fired upon us. We ran but they kept on shooting while we ran. It (the massacre) is all their fault.(25) That evening three thousand Hazleton-area miners gathered at Hazleton's Donegal Hall for a meeting conducted by United Mine Workers' president John Fahy in which it was resolved "that we demand the prosecution of the sheriff and deputies of the crimes committed this tenth day of September."(26) At midnight Pennsylvania Governor Daniel Hastings notified Colonel C. B. Dougherty of the 9th Regiment that as there may be further disturbances and that the security of the community may be in danger, Dougherty was to take the regiment to Hazleton to maintain peace and order. (27) On September 11, Dougherty's regiment was joined by five regiments of the Third Brigade of the Pennsylvania National Guard under the leadership of General John P. Gobin. On the morning of September 11, John Nemeth, a leader of the strikers' general committee, went before Squire Gorman of Hazleton and had warrants sworn out for Sheriff Martin and 102 of his deputies. (28) When General Gobin heard of the warrants he issued an edict declaring that so long as the troops remain in the vicinity not a single deputy would be placed under arrest. Owing to the military authority, Sheriff Martin and the deputies were not arrested until ten days after the warrants were issued. Also on that morning a representative of the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Philadelphia arrived in Hazleton to investigate the murder of Hungarian nationals. (29) �70 SLOVAKIA In the meantime the strike continued. By September 14, seven thousand men had left their jobs, crippling the seven Hazleton area companies.(30) Out of sympathy for their murdered comrades from Harwood, 2,300 men left work at the Pardee operations at Lattimer. Visiting Hazleton from Philadelphia the next day, Calvin Pardee stated the following: My men were perfectly satisfied with the wages they were receiving, and would have continued work had they not been driven away by the mob . . . I have operated my collieries over twenty years on the sliding scale, the rate of wages being based on the price of coal at tide, and I will not change that method.(31) Sheriff Scott of Schuylkill County telegraphed to Governor Hastings an appeal for troops to maintain order should the strike spread to his county(32) as sporadic outbreaks of violence continued throughout the region with no apparent prospect of settlement in sight. John Fahy, in a somewhat curious statement to the press on September 18, claimed "The strike is not being conducted by the United Mine Workers." Speaking of his efforts to organize the miners, Fahy stated, "our objects are not to raise excitement and occasion violence but are arbitration, peace and conciliation. Our organization is not to encourage strikes but to prevent them." (33) Fahy expressed the hope that the strike would be settled more quickly if more men organized. If more men were organized in the manner in which the Harwood strikers were organized, the strike would be far from being settled. On September 19 following a Hazleton meeting, the owners of the mines at Lattimer, Beaver Meadow, Honeybrook, McAdoo, and Audenreid announced that they would open their mines on September 20, and if the men were not back at work, they would be discharged altogether. By September 20 all strikers but the employees of the Coxe Brothers Coal Company had returned to work.(34) That evening Fahy held a meeting at Donegal Hall whereat the miners resolved ''to demand that the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania immediately proceed against each corporation now conducting company stores."(35) On September 23, the employees of the Silver Brook collieries were told they were no longer subject to compulsory patronization of the company store and company butcher.(36) The operators gradually made concessions to prevent another such strike, and on September 29, General Gobin and his troops left Hazleton.(37) The anthracite strike of 1897 was virtually over. With peace returning to the Hazleton region, attention was turned to the fate of Sheriff Martin and his deputies. On September 20, Luzerne County District Attorney D.A. Fell and County Detective Isaac Eckert secured bench warrants from the Luzerne County Court of Oyer �SLOVAKIA 71 and Terminer for the arrest of Martin and 68 of his deputies, charging them with' 'the willful and malicious killing of twenty-four (six had died since the shooting) strikers near the village of Lattimer on September 10 last."(38) Bail was posted at $4,000 for homicide and $1,000 for felonious wounding and, through the maneuvring of Calvin Pardee, bond was furnished by the City Trust, Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia.(39) Seeing the opportunity to take up the cause, the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor meeting in Washington resolved on September 24, That we condemn most severely the wanton killing and wounding of the poor miners at Lattimer and will give our fullest help through the trade union and the American Federation of Labor to raise money for the legal prosecution and conviction of Sheriff Martin and his murderous minions, that through the courts of the land even-handed justice may be done to atone for those revolting murders.(40) A preliminary hearing was held in the Luzerne County Court House at Wilkes-Barre from September 21 to 27 wherein the grand jury came to the decision that Martin and his men had shown probable cause of a "wanton and unjustifiable" killing of the strikers.(41) The case of Commonwealth v. Martin was scheduled to begin on February 1, 1898. On February 4, 1898, an editorial in the Wilkes-Barre Record accurately predicted that the trial was expected to develop whether the sheriff and his posse were justified, under the circumstances, in resorting to the extreme measure they did, either for their own protection or to preserve law, order, and the public peace. The case was called on the morning of February 1, before Judge Stanley Woodward, presiding judge of Luzerne County. Sheriff Martin's defense counsel consisted of his personal lawyer, George S. Ferris, and the county's leading criminal lawyer, John T. Lenahan. Other attorneys for the defendants were Henry W. Palmer, George Troutman, C. W. Kline, George R. Urquhart and F. W. Wheaton. At the table for the prosecution sat the new District Attorney, T. R. Martin, who had only taken office a month earlier. With Martin were four other lawyers, who were secured by the strikers' prosecuting committee: John Garman, John McGahren, James Scarlett, and former secretary of the miners' prosecuting committee, J. F. Loughran. In addition to the deputies the court room was crowded with interested spectators including New York, Philadelphia, and nationally syndicated newspaper reporters, newspaper artists, representatives of the Royal Austro-Hungarian government which was planning to make a claim for indemnity for the deaths of the nationals should the sheriff be convicted, and the solicitor general of the United States, Luzerne County's own Henry M. Hoyt (Williams, 1849).(42) �72 SLOVAKIA For two tedious days the court was involved in selecting a jury. When the task had been completed, the twelve men who sat in the jury box were all native American citizens and were largely representative of the middle class skilled labor group.(43) Many of the jury men admitted in their examination by the counsels for defense and prosecution that although they had already formed an opinion, their verdict would not be so influenced. None of the jurors were foreign-born and counsel Loughran complained that the majority of them were ''in sympathy with the sheriff and his deputies." (44) The case for the Commonwealth was opened by McGahren, who claimed the shooting at Lattimer was a ''horrible massacre . '' In a highly emotional speech he told the courtroom how Sheriff Martin stood by proudly while his men brutally murdered the fleeing strikers. He even went so far as to claim the sheriff had emptied his pistol into the head of one of the march leaders. The Sheriff's actions at Lattimer were "a disgrace to civilization," he explained.(46) With this heated example of rhetoric, began the case for the prosecution which consumed nearly sixteen days of examination during which 103 witnesses testified. At the end of the first week of the trial on February 5, it developed that when the case had been continued from the November to the January term of court, bail for the defendants had not been renewed. District Attorney Martin immediately asked either that bail be posted or that the defendants be committed to jail. Judge Woodward replied he would not require the defendants to enter bail until Monday, February 7. Garman of the prosecution immediately pressed the court further to demand bail at once. Lenahan of the defense resented Garman's demands and charged, "You are a puppy! You have been a puppy all your life!" Garman's reply was apparently appropriate as he turned to Judge Woodward and said, "When the thing back of me shuts up, I will proceed." Lenahan replied, "That is only a part of the buffoonery of the Commonwealth.'' Garman turned to face him and raised his fist as if to strike. "If you touch me, I'll kill you!" By this time friends intervened and restrained the two attorneys until order was restored. Garman, eyeing Lenahan defiantly, replied, ''The buffoon has just ceased speaking." (4 7) This exchange of opinions on the floor of the courtroom did not change Woodward's mind and the bail was deferred. The exchange was, however, quickly picked up by the out-of-town reporters and reported in such a way that when court convened on February 7, Judge Woodward admonished the artists and reporters of some of the newspapers that if they continued to caricature the proceedings of the court or to misrepresent what developed, he would refuse them admission to the courtroom.(48) Woodward's admonishment of the reporters for their "yellow journalism" did not end the court's cause for concern. On the evening of February 14, the President of the American Federation of Labor, �SLOVAKIA 73 Samuel Gompers, arrived in Wilkes-Barre to write a special report on the trial for the New York World. The Wilkes-Barre Record was critical of the labor leader's being in Wilkes-Barre, claiming that Gompers would only report the trial from the point of view of the strikers, not from the objective viewpoint of whether Martin was justified in shooting.(49) The Record was not the only newspaper critical of Gompers ' being in Wilkes-Barre. The New York Evening Sun stated " Gompers is so dissatisfied with the way Judge Woodward is conducting the Lattimer trial that he refused to be presented to him. We can only congratulate his Honor on a fortunate escape." (50) In an article in the World on February 20, Gompers attacked Woodward's conduct of the trial, his rulings on evidence, and went so far as to attack him personally as a friend of the mine owners, as Woodward: married into a family of land holders of the district, who receive royalties upon every ton of coal mined. When a cessation of mining occurs from any cause Judge Woodward is to that extent a loser of part of his income. He is a member of the Westmoreland Club, of which the mine-owners are largely members and of which also a number of the so-called deputies are members.(Of the strikers Gompers wrote) They had previously decided and carried out their purpose , to be unarmed and unprotected except by the justice of their cause and the American flag in which they had absolute faith. It is sad to contemplate when workingmen of either American or foreign birth have their faith and confidence in the emblem of our country destroyed and perhaps sadder still is the possibility of losing faith in the justice of our courts. In conclusion Gompers made the Lattimer trial a trial in behalf of the eventual triumph of the working man: The workers of our country are organizing better and more thoroughly each day; we shall not only create a healthier public sentiment as to man 's rights and man's duties, but we shall largely constitute that public opinion. And , when that day comes , the crime of Lattimer will be a record-letter day in the annals of our history to which all will look back upon with horror as the monumental crime of the century. (51) Should Sheriff Martin be convicted of murder, labor would win a great victory in its struggle for recognition. While labor adopted Lattimer as its forgotten massacre , the prosecution rested on February �74 SLOVAKIA 21, having produced testimony in line with McGahren's opening. Ferris opened the case for the defense claiming that if a sheriff and his posse meet a riotous mob which resists them in such a way that their duty to uphold the law requires the use of firearms, then, "they do their duty. They do not violate, but obey the law.'' (52) Anarchy ruled the Hazleton area, Ferris explained, and Martin, in the company of good, lawabiding citizens - not bar room toughs and thugs - brought security to the region. On March 1, Sheriff Martin took the stand. He testified that when he met the strikers at Lattimer, he demanded to know where they were going and they all answered, "Lattimer to get out the men!" He also told the court that he had told them they were doing wrong and that he read the proclamation to them. He said he begged them to go no farther, but they pushed on and someone tried to grab him by the neck. I arrested him, when a big crowd pushed around me. I pulled out my revolver for protection and held it in the air, as I did not want to shoot. One of the mob tried to grab it, but failed, and in the struggle I and the crowd around me were pushed to one side of the road." (53) Martin testified one of the strikers gave him a terrific blow on the side of the head and that he tried to shoot that man, but his pistol would not go off. Then the firing began. After 111 witnesses had testified for the defense the Court adjourned on March 4.(54) The closing pleas to the jury began on March 7, with Scarlett opening for the prosecution: "Every effort has been made to have it tried fairly and nothing has been excluded and every bit of evidence has been admitted according to the rules of the court." (55) The final plea was made by former state Attorney-General Henry W. Palmer, on behalf of the defense, to an overcrowded court room. Palmer's closing has been praised as a masterpiece of eloquence and damned as a bigoted oration and foul utterance against the Slav immigrants. To the jury Palmer said the following: Condemn these men and go home to your neighbors and tell them, 'We convicted Sheriff Martin and his deputies for an error in judgment when they were standing between your homes and the horrors of mob rule.' Tell your wives and children that henceforth when the rioters are about to march and the right of men to work is in peril that there will be no Sheriff and deputies to keep the peace or defend your homes, because by your verdict you will have forbidden them to act, under penalty of death or infamous punishment. (56) Following Palmer's plea District Attorney Martin closed the case for the prosecution, and late on the afternoon of March 9, Judge Woodward delivered his charge to the jury. In an admirably clear, impartial, and ably written presentation of the law of riot and murder, �SLOVAKIA 75 Woodward charged that the sheriff had the right as the chief officer of the county to summon a posse to assist him in the preservation of order and in the prevention of riot. The public peace in Hazleton was threatened. Men were being driven from their jobs by the mob. The Sheriff saw the people were terrorized by the strikers. When they were at West Hazleton and at Lattimer, the strikers failed to obey the sheriff and insisted on pushing on. It was the duty of the crowd to obey his command and that disobedience of the sheriff was evidence of a riotous purpose. If you are satisfied, gentlemen, from the evidence that the purpose of the sheriff and of the posse was to preserve order and prevent a riot, then it would follow that their intent and object was not a criminal or unlawful one, and the rule of the law which makes the act of one the act of all has no application to the facts of this case. (57) At three minutes after ten on the morning of March 9, the jury arrived at its verdict. The sealed paper was handed up to the Judge, who examined it and returned it to the clerk. The clerk read: ''Gentlemen of the jury, harken unto your verdict as the Court hath recorded it. You find in the case wherein the Commonwealth is prosecutor and Sheriff Martin et. al., defendants, you find the defendants not guilty. So say you all?" (58) The verdict of acquittal was a just one under the law, yet, at the same time, it is possible that a terrible doubt exists that the slaughter at Lattimer was necessary or justifiable. Could the tragedy have been avoided? It is not clear that the miners should have been prevented from marching on the highway; it is not clear that they should have been denied the opportunity to show themselves within sight of the miners at work; it is not clear that the deputies should have fired as soon as they did. But, the law is for all men, and against all men who are not obedient to it. There is no question of the right of men to strike. The strike is often the only weapon. When the striker learns to keep within the law, to be fair to others, and to respect property rights, he will have made the greatest advances in the direction of public sympathy. The example of the Lattimer strikers was clear. Had a determined effort been made to keep within the law, to win the friendship of the people of the Hazleton region, the clash with Sheriff Martin and his deputies would have been avoided. The law is the defense of the individual and the salvation of the nation. Violence toward it cannot win. EPILOGUE In the course of researching the Commonwealth v. Martin Trial, it has been found that the Luzerne County Court records for that case are missing from their file at the Luzerne County Court House. Perhaps an �76 SLOVAKIA attorney borrowed them to study and never returned them ; or perhaps they were removed by intent considering the hard feelings exhibited by some members of the Hazleton mining community following the jury's verdict. The sleepy little mining patch of Lattimer today is much the same as it was sixty-eight years ago. The breakers are gone , the trolley tracks are gone , and the miners, whose families now occupy the same houses that witnessed the shooting, work at the near-by collieries in Harleigh and Jeddo . The excitement that brought the name Lattimer to the mind of most Americans in 1897 has been completely forgotten - even in Luzerne County. Should Lattimer be forgotten? Some say it should . But in today 's society when groups of American are banding together and marching, sometimes in defiance of the law, in causes they believe to be paramount, the tragedy of Lattimer could happen again. FOOTNOTES (1) John W . Jordan, Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography, vol. 7, (New York , 1916), 2350. (2) John Mitchell , Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903), 375. (3) Henry Edward Rood , " A Pennsylvania Colliery Village, " The Century Magazine, vol. 55, no . 6, (April, 1898), 814. (4) "2,500 Men cut at Hazleton ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. (5) " The Honey Brook Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 21, 1897 , 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 23, 1897, 8. (6) ''The Hazleton Strike,'' Wilk es-Barre Evening Leader, August 23 , 1897, 8. (7) " Two Thousand Foreigners Out, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 27, 1897, 1. (8) " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control ," Wilkes-Barre E vening Leader, August 28, 1897. 1. " Hazleton Strike Comes to a Demand ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 29, 1897, 1. (9) " The Anthracite Strike ," Wilkes -Barre E ve ning Leader, August 30, 1897, 1. (10) " Wild Excitement, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897, 1-2. (11) " Strike Situation at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (12) " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (13) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897 , 1. (14)/bid., 1. (15) " Labor Day Parade at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 7, 1897, 1. (16) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897, 1. (17) " Strikers Still Marching," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader. �SLOVAKIA 77 (18) Ibid., 2. (19)lbid., 2. (20) Ibid., 2. (21) Ibid., 2. (22) "Murdered in Cold Blood," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 11 , 1897, 1. (23) Ibid., 1. (24) Ibid., 1. (25) Ibid. , 1. (26) Ibid. , 1. (27) Ibid., 1. (28) "Sheriff Martin to be Arrested, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 12, 1897, 1. (29) Ibid., 1. (30) ''They Will Not Return to Work, '' Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 14, 1897, 1. (31) "Everything Quiet Along the Line, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (32) " Miners ' Strike is Spreading," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (33) " News from the Seat of War," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 18, 1897, 1. (34) " Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 21, 1897, 1. (35) " Many Strikers Return to Work, " Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897, 1. (36) "A Quiet Day at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. (37) " Troops Leave Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 29, 1897, 1. (38) " A Stampede to Return to Work," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 21 , 1897, 1. (39) " The Court Sits In Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. (40) " The Court Sits in Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattimer," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 24, 1897, 1. " The Sheriff Condemned," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 28, 1897, 1. (42) ''The Lattimer Cases,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897, 1. (43) "The Twelve Jurymen Selected, " Wilkes-Barre Record, February 3, 1898, 1. (44) " The Lattimer Cases," Wilkes-Barre Record, February 4, 1898, 1. (45) Henry W. Palmer, Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, Penna. , 1913) 64. (46) Ibid., 65. (47) ''Excitement In Court,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 7, 1898, 12. (48) '' Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6 . (49) '' Said the Sheriff Shot, '' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 16, 1898, 6. (50) "A Labor View of Judge Woodward ," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4. (51) "Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter," New York World, February 20, 1898, 20. (52) Palmer , 67. (53) George B. Kulp , Luzerne Legal Register Reports, vol. 9 (Wilkes-Barre, 1900), 81. (54) Palmer , 81. �78 SLOVAKIA (55) Ibid., ll0. (56) Ibid., 147. (57) From Judge Woodward ' s original hand-written charge to the jury as found in his personal scrapbook in the possession of his grand-daughter, Mrs . Bruce Payne of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (58) " The Deputies Are Not Guilty," Wilkes-Barre Times, March 9, 1898, 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Jordan, John W ., Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography vol. 7, (New York, 1916) . Kulp, George B., Luzerne Legal Register Reports vol. 9, (Wilkes-Barre, 1900) . Mitchell , John, Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903). Palmer, Henry W ., Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, 1913) . Rood, Henry Edward , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village," The Century Magazine, Vol. 55, no. 6, (1898). Newspaper Sources "A Labor View of Judge Woodward," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4 . '' Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter, " New York World, February 20 , 1898, 20. ''Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6. ''2,500 Men out at Hazleton, '' Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. " The Honey Brook Strike, " August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," August 21, 1897, 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," August 23, 1897, 8 . " Two Thousand Foreigners Out," August 27, 1897, 1. " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control," August 28, 1897, 1. " Hazleton Strike comes to a Demand ," August 29, 1897, 1. " The Anthracite Strike ," August 30, 1897, 1. " Wild Excitement" September 2, 1897, 1-2. " Strike Situation at Hazleton," September 3 , 1897, 1. " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," September 3, 1897, 1. " Sheriff Martin on the Ground, " September 6, 1897, 1. · 'Labor Day Parade at Hazleton,'' September 7, 1897, 1. "Strikers Still Marching, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 9, 1897, 2. "Murdered in Cold Blood," September 11, 1897, 1. " She riff Martin to be Arrested ," September 12, 1897, 1. " They Will Not Return to Work," September 14, 1897 , 1. · 'Eve rything Quiet along the Line ,' ' September 16, 1897, 1. " Mine rs ' Strike is Spreading, " September 17, 1897, 1. " News from the Seat of War," September 18, 1897, 1. " A Stampede to return to Work ," Septe mber 21, 1897, 1. "The Court sits in Judgment," Se ptember 22 , 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattime r," September 24 , 1897, 1. " She riff Condemned," September 28 , 1897, 1. ··A Quiet Day at Hazleton ,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. �SLOVAKIA 79 "Troops Leave Hazleton ," September 29, 1897, 1. "The Twelve Jurymen Selected," February 3, 1898, 1. "The Lattimer Cases," February 4, 1898, 1. "Excitement in Court," February 7, 1898 , 12. "Said the Sheriff Shot," February 16, 1898, 6. "Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897 , 1. "The Dep uties are Not Guilty," March 9, 1898, 1. Woodward, Stanley, the original hand-written charge to the jury as found in Judge Woodwa rd 's personal scrap book now in the possession of his granddaughter, Mrs. Bruce Payne of Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania. � SLOVAKIA 9 The Lattimer Massacre and Its Sources GEORGE A. TURNER ''The affair at Hazleton yesterday is one of those terrible catastrophies the news of which simply stuns the community and paralyzes for a moment the power of thought." (1) The above editorial comment was a reaction to one of the worst acts of violence in the history of the American labor movement. The tragedy occurred at Laimer, a small coal mining patch, one and a half miles northeast of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh region of the anthracite coal fields on September 10, 1897. A group of nearly four hundred striking, unarmed, immigrant mine workers adhering to the control of their leaders, approached Lattimer to encourage the employees of Calvin Pardee & Company to join them in a work stoppage. They encountered Sheriff James Martin of Luzerne County and his posse of eighty-six deputies who viewed them as enemies of public order and the wellspring of lawlessness. When the marching laborers arrived at Lattimer in midafternoon, the Sheriff approached them, ordered them to halt, disperse, and return to their homes. Within a few minutes an altercation erupted between the Sheriff and some of the strikers at which point the deputies aimed their rifles and fired directly into the group of strikers. Instantly, their gunshots produced a carnage of blood and death among the immigrants - a massacre that left nineteen dead and thirty-eight wounded.(2) Peace officers were unscathed in their deadly assault on the defenseless workers who had been peacefully assembled on a public highway. This incident, lasting only a few minutes, became one of the most devastating acts of public authorities attacking, wounding and killing American laborers. The next day newspaper headlines depicted the killings as an atrocity. Regional papers denounced the shooting: "Yesterday's Butchery, A Mob of Heartless Deputies Fire Into a Throng of Miners and Accomplish Deadly Work" ;(3) "D of Blood at Lattimer" ;(4) "Strikers Shot in Cold Blood" ;(5) and "Looks Like Butchery" .(6) The account quickly spread beyond the anthracite region. Major metropolitan newspapers depicted the shooting in equally stark terms: ''The Killing of Miners at Lattimer Was Butchery'';(7) ''Mowed Down By Deputies" ;(8) "Laid Low By Bullets, the Men Fell Like Sheep Before the Murderous Winchesters of the Officials" ;(9) "Homestead Battle Thrown In The Shade" ;(10) and "Dead in Heaps, Deputies Fire on Miners at Lattimer, Penn ., Men Were Huddled Closely and Slaughter Was Terrific''. (11) The killing of the strikers by the Sheriff's deputies was a major national news story for several days prompting a �10 SLOVAKIA very basic question: Why did this senseless, violent act of shooting unarmed immigrant workers occur? To answer this inquiry requires an understanding of nativism found in the hard coal fields of Pennsylvania and an identification of those factors affecting the lives and working conditions of the immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. Slavic and Italian immigrants began arriving in the eight Pennsylvania counties comprising the anthracite region in the late 1870' s and early 1880 's with nearly all taking employment in mining and by the late 1890's outnumbered German and English-speaking workers .(12) The magnitude of this immigration flow from Poland, Austria-Hungary , Russia, and Italy was evident; in 1880 they totaled only 1,925 , in 1890 they were 32,007, and ten years later their numbe had more than doubled to 89,328. At the same time the foreign born from England , Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Germany decreased by 2.2 percent from 102,421 in 1880 to 100,269 in 1900; in particular, the demographic composition of this group in Luzerne County revealed a decline from ninety-four percent in 1880, to sixty-eight percent in 1890, and a further drop to forty-nine percent in 1900. These southern and eastern Europeans grew to an ever increasing percent of the foreignborn population in the anthracite coal fields: 1. 7 percent in 1880, 25 .2 percent in 1890 , and 46.1 percent in 1900.(13) Such a substantial and rapid growth of alien people created apprehension and anxieties leading to resentment and nativistic sentiments among the AngloSaxon population , their antipathy stemming from cultural differences and fear of economic competition for jobs. There was little to encourage the necessary processes for immigrants to be readily assimilated into the society. New arrivals had a distinctive culture, language , religion, and life style that were strikingly different , giving rise to suspicion and contempt from the native population and other established ethnic groups. Eastern and southern Europeans established numerous ethnic societies which perpetuated their pride , customs, and traditions . Since their religion was Catholic , they organized separate parishes along nationality lines thus sustaining ethnic identification. Marriage records reveal a consistent pattern of immigrants marrying only members of their own nationality. Divisions caused by factionalism in this polyglot society were difficult to bridge. Newspapers did not assume any responsibility for promoting harmony and assimilation among the diverse nationalities, and public schools did not lead in the task of Americanizing children of foreign cultures until the early 1900's . School attendance by immigrant children was minimal and those who did attend encountered language barriers. (14) Anglo-Saxons were finding it difficult to accept a pluralistic society in which they were becoming a numerical minority. This development fostered nativist sentiment , causing AngloSaxons to have ce rtain perceptions of the immigrants that inhibited �SLOVAKIA 11 assimilation of the aliens contributing to their separation and isolation in the society. Attitudes of non-acceptance found expression in opprobrious terms for the new arrivals: " Pollocks, " "Huns," and " Dagoes," all denoting inferiority and disdain. Polish, Italian, and Slavic celebrations for marriages and their baptismal customs were denigrated and viewed as outlandish. A common belief among the native population was that a '' ... Slav does not know how to enjoy himself save by getting drunk, he does not know how to show kindness to friends save by making them drink." (15) Stories circulated that these new aliens participated in wife-selling, practiced polyandry, and were responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime, (16) contributing to the viewpoint that they were '' ... much more dangerous to the body politic than the excluded Chinese; . . . do not hesitate to use dynamite if they desire to blow up the home of one whom they particularly hate."(17) Rejection of the new immigrants grew in part from a feeling on the part of Anglo-Saxons that they belonged to a superior and more progressive race of people. The way that immigrants lived reinforced feelings of superiority in nativist thinking. Due to economic factors, lack of acceptance, and the desire of ethnic groups to have their own neighborhoods, ghettoes emerged in different communities. Since houses in ghettoes were crowded and substandard, outsiders viewed living conditions as unpleasant , unattractive, offensive, and the area as a tough and brawlly place to live. "The Slavs are physically strong and can flourish in an environment that would be fatal to more sensitive organisms." (18) Supporting this dislike of southern and eastern Europeans, the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1895 passed a resolution calling upon Congress to enact legislation to restrict immigration. The resolution clearly reflected a protectionist attitude as seen in its opening statement: '' That we recognize in the constant influx of an ignorant and vicious class of immigrants a great and growing evil highly injurious to American workingmen and dangerous to American institutions." (19) Again, two years later legislators passed another similar resolution.(20) Native Americans and older immigrants from northern Europe came to the conclusion they were being invaded and overcome by hordes of undesirable people who would undermine their communities. Of equal importance and of more immediate concern was competition by Slavic and Italian immigrants for jobs and wages in the labor market. Nativist sentiment held that railroads and coal operators enticed immigrants to settle in the region in order to increase the supply of labor which, in turn, had the effect of keeping wage rates down. (21) This charge against railroad and coal operators, however, was not completely true. It was well known that contract miners, who were primarily Anglo-Saxons, had the best and highest paying positions outside the mine supervisory jobs. They were also employers and were '' ... themselves largely responsible for the employment of �12 SLOVAKIA the non-English speaking foreigners. Instead of employing English laborers at the regular wage week the miners would employ a big Slav or Hun cheaply, increasing his own pay check quite an amount. His boasting of the 'snap' caused others to do the same."(22) Job competition increased as immigrants took any kind of work they could find in and around the mines. No matter what employment they found their wages were four or five times higher than what they previously earned in the native land.(23) Anxious to find work, newcomers took the unskilled positions of slate pickers, door-boys and helpers, drivers , runners, and laborers, willing to endure dangerous work and inconveniences which older workers refused to accept. With the passage of time and experience they began to compete for the higher paying, skilled positions held by English-speaking and German coal workers. Established workers contended that since new immigrants were willing to accept lower wages and even wage cuts to get and hold jobs, they were undermining the standard of living and forcing many older laborers to forego mining in the mines and to leave the area to find new employment. Anglo-Saxon workers became bitter and antagonistic which impaired the development of any class solidarity among the anthracite workers.(24) This led to discriminatory and exclusionary practices toward eastern and southern Europeans. The history of the anthracite labor movement revealed that the Knights of Labor, dominated by Irish, and the Amalgamated Association of Miners and Mine Laborers, controlled by Americans, English, Welsh, and Germans, were ineffective in enrolling these workers into their ranks in the 1880's and 1890's. Leaders of organized labor vacillated, were ambivalent, and showed a lack of real interest in encouraging new immigrants to join the union movement. On certain occasions labor organizations even attacked Slavic groups for undermining the labor movement. Failure of the unions to bridge ethnic differences was a major factor in thwarting endeavors to establish successful collective bargaining with the region's coal operators and to gain better conditions of employment.(25) Whenever new immigrants supported organized labor, they generally joined locals organized along ethnic lines; this at first weakened the interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests and ideas between the AngloSaxons and the new immigrants.(26) When the United Mine Workers of America first appeared in the area in the early 1890's, it made little headway in recruiting the Slavic and Italian immigrants who were fast becoming the major segment of the anthracite labor force.(27) Finally, when U.M.W.A. became firmly established after 1900 and merged the 'old' and 'new' immigrants together, each local retained ethnic �SLOVAKIA 13 distinction , making the union an alliance of distrustful nationality groups .(28) Established miners, who supported organized labor and held the higher paying and more desirable jobs, sought to protect their positions and perpetuate their advantage. They were fearful that the new immigrants who entered the coal fields as unskilled laborers would in time acquire needed skills to pass into the ranks of skilled miners which had the highest pay scale ; older workers also believed that when new immigrants became employed in mines the accident rate increased due to their lack of mining experience and inability to communicate in English .(29) State mine inspector, James Roderick, of Luzerne and Carbon Counties supported this viewpoint and asserted in 1883 that the rate of accidents increased as the influx of new laborers grew, whereas the older miners were more careful in their work. (30) Therefore, AngloSaxon miners supported the enactment of the miners' examination law passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1889. The official title of the legislation, " An act for the examination of miners in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania and to prevent the employment of incompetent persons as miners in anthracite coal mines,'' aptly described its intent. The law created examination boards in various districts in the anthracite region consisting of skilled miners having at least five years of experience and appointed by the presiding judge in a county . It stipulated that no coal company could legally employ a person as a miner who did not have a certificate of competency issued by a miners' examination board ; in order for a person to receive a miner's certificate he had to provide evidence of having at least two years experience as a mine laborer in Pennsylvania.(31) In the legislative debate on this proposal, coal operators were accused of allowing incompetent people to work in mines , thus contributing to large numbers of fatalities and injuries. Many hoped that the new law would reduce the dangers of working in anthracite mines . Aside from viewing this act as a safety measure, there was a clear inference that the law would also help to check the influx and competition of labor from the new immigrants. Representative Caffery commenting on the proposed law declared that it could prevent '' ... incompetent men to come here from Europe, three or four of whom will be rushed into one chamber, thus dividing up the work.'' (32) Caffery's remark clearly made reference to the recent European influx into the anthracite region that had aroused resentments among older miners. In time it became apparent that expectations concerning the miner 's examination law would not be realized. Anglo-Saxon miners recognized that asking a few questions by miners ' examination boards could not really assure the competency of an applicant. In the examination of a non-English speaking person, the interpreter often aided and embellished the individual' s response. Furthermore, it �14 SLOVAKIA became a fact of life, due to fraud and corruption, that certificates became articles of merchandise.(33) From the time the law went into effect until 1897 there were several attempts to modify or even to repeal the statute . The law, rather than excluding unskilled laborers from becoming miners, had, in effect, due to the requirement of two years of mining experience in Pennsylvania, made ineligible the experienced miners who came from other parts of the country or Europe to secure jobs in the anthracite coal fields . These men were unwilling to work two years as a mine laborers in order to qualify for a miner's certificate. Instead, this simply assured that the new immigrants in time would move into the ranks of skilled miners - the higher-paying positions normally held by Anglo-Saxon workers. Representative Miller, whose district included Luzerne county, substantiated this point: ''Under the present act no one can receive a certificate as a miner until he has worked for two years as a miner's laborer. The result of that is just this: Only the least responsible class of workmen will come into the anthracite district at all; it excludes all of the better class of men. No one who is a practical miner from the bituminous region, or any other part of the State or the United States will come into the anthracite region and work for two years as a miner's laborer before he can obtain this certificate. '' (34) Admission that the law would stymie the settlement of new immigrants in the region was acknowledged by Representative Morahan in one of the attempts to revise the statute: ''It was brought about after the mining corporations had sent their agents over into Europe and brought over an element tended to restrict the production and elevation of wages. It was passed for the purpose of preventing the importation of pauper immigrants into the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania . . . "(35) Deficiencies in the miners' examination law prompted district one (anthracite region) of the United Mine Workers of America in its annual convention at Pottsvillle on October 16, 1896, to charge that the act was a farce. In a resolution calling for revision of the statute, the union wanted stiff penalties, imprisonment up to five years and fines of $100, for not adhering to the law; it also advocated that the state pay board members a set salary, abolishing the present procedure of having salaries based on fees collected from issuance of certificates. (36) These recommended changes reflected a view that corruption and failure to enforce the law had become commonplace among many of the miners' examination boards. John Fahy, president of district one, lobbied at the state capital in support of revisions to the law approved in 1897. One amendment increased penalties for violations, but no changes were made in the fee structure. A second amendment stipulated that each exaininee had to answer a minimum of twelve questions in English, which prohibited the use of interpreters and therefore discriminated against immigrants, who could not speak English.(37) The United Mine �SLOVAKIA 15 Worker's Journal lauded Fahy's lobbying activities and contribution in getting this legislature enacted. (38) After passage of these revisions to the law, the Miners' Examination Board in the Hazleton area placed a notice in the local newspaper to alert mine officials of its provisions. It noted that the law had been violated in the past but henceforth would be strictly enforced. The Board's warning reflected nativist sentiment: "As you, above all others, should know the necessity of having men who understand their work and the language which is the known language of this, our country, the Board would say do your duty and acquit yourselves like men and Americans.'' (39) Control of the miners' examination boards rested with English-speaking miners who were able to exercise certain prerogatives and institute various regulations to their advantage at the expense of the new immigrants.(40) Another piece of discriminating legislation with nativist prejudice, the Alien Tax Act, passed by large majorities in both houses, went into effect on July 1, 1897. The statue stipulated that any male alien age twenty-one and over employed in the state had to pay a three-cent tax on each day of employment which meant that most aliens employed as laborers in the Lehigh anthracite coal region suffered a two to three percent reduction in daily wages . Employers had to maintain employment records on aliens in their service and to collect the tax which reverted to the county treasury, half of which went to school districts and the other half to defray county operating expenses.(41) In the senate debate over the bill, the presence of new immigrants in the community gave rise to a concern that they were '' .. . a constant source of expense to us and . . . this is a very good way to get some money out of them to help pay the expenses of government.' ' (42) The act's preamble declared that aliens showed no allegiance to the state and did not financially support the maintenance of government. In addition, it described aliens as direct competitors to the state's laboring population. One passage stated they were '' ... brought into unjust competition with the tax-paying American laborers and greatly impair their welfare by depriving them of their employment and of preventing them from receiving fair compensation for their labor therefore." (43) Again, John Fahy, miners ' advocate at the state capital, wrote an article for the United Mine Workers Journal asserting: ''What a world of good this law would do the American citizens who try to earn their living in the coal mines, if the tax were one dollar per day.' ' (44) Nearly two months after the tax went into effect, the United States Circuit Court in Pittsburgh declared the law unconstitutional as a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. Judge Acheson in the court's decision acknowledged that the law discriminated against new immigrants: "Evidently the act is intended to hinder the employment of foreign born unnaturalized male persons over 21 years of age." (45) An obvious recourse for the alien to avoid this new tax, prior to its �16 SLOVAKIA being declared unconstitutional, was to become a naturalized citizen. Senator Flinn feared this possibility and could see little benefit from such a law unless to increase local revenues. It was his opinion that the legislation '' ... would have a tendency to drive this class of people into quicker citizenship." (46) Possibly anticipating this result, the Naturalization Court in Luzerne County a few days prior to the alien tax being voided instituted new rules to revise the process of naturalizing aliens. New procedures required an applicant to make formal application and declare his or her intention to become an American citizen at least thirty days prior to appearing in court, to be represented in the court proceedings by an attorney, and to produce a certificate of entry from the commissioner of immigration at the port of arrival. County officials had to publish in advance of the naturalization hearing the names of aliens seeking citizenship . Publicizing names of aliens petitioning to become citizens had the purpose of facilitating the process of weeding out undesirable applicants. Under the new rules five people could sign a petition remonstrating against an alien becoming a citizen thereby requiring a hearing to pass on their objections. In court, the alien had to demonstrate knowledge of the national and state constitutions and duties of citizens with responses in English.(47) Under these new procedures costs and amount of time required of the foreigner to become a citizen greatly increased. Previously, it had been perfunctory procedure since the immigrant only had to pay two dollars to secure naturalization papers. Now the costs rose to at least eight dollars for court and attorney fees.(48) When the individual lived some distance from the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, he had additional expenses for transportation and meals as well as losing a day of wages. Cumulatively, the costs for most aliens was equivalent to nearly two weeks of wages . A month later when implementation of these new naturalization rules became part of the court proceedings, half of the ninety-seven applicants, predominately Slavic, Polish, and Italian, were rejected in their quest for citizenship.(49) The new naturalization procedures confirmed the fact that the ease with which foreigners had in the past gained American citizenship would no longer be the rule. The new immigrants, who had become the dominant group among the mine workers, found themselves unaccepted due to nativistic attitudes, discriminatory laws, organized labor's lack of interest and view of them as an economic threat, and increased difficulty in acquiring citizenship. An added burden which all mine laborers faced was working conditions in the anthracite coal fields . The Pennsylvania Legislature in 1897 established a joint investigating committee of three representatives and two senators to examine and make a report concerning working conditions among those employed in the mining of anthracite coal. The committee held twenty-six meetings in the principal cities in the anthracite region and took testimony from 311 witnesses �SLOVAKIA 17 representing businessmen , directors of relief organizations, and different classes of people connected with mining. The committee released its findings to the public on June 14, 1897, containing valuable information affecting those employed in mining.(50) The committee cited a major problem in the anthracite coal economy as excessive production in relationship to market demands that made coal prices weak and unstable. This had a direct bearing on mine employees since coal operators would cut production , institute lay-offs , and reduce wages in order to prevent or minimize their losses, thus exacerbating the labor market which already suffered from an over supply of workers . Surplus labor was evident when comparing the number employed in the anthracite mines in 1892 with 1896 and the coal produced in those same two years. Between 1892 to 1896 there occurred a fifteen percent increase in the number employed , 130,197 to 149,670, while coal production only increased five percent, 45,738,374 to 48,074 ,350 tons.(51) Estimated production capacity of the region 's collieries in 1896 was ninety million tons; actual output only came to fifty-four percent of capability while the number of mine employees for that same year increased by 6,065 .(52) Because of surplus laborers and a weak coal market there was lack of employment in the mines in 1896 as the average number of days of employment in the Hazleton region was only 178 days or fifty-seven percent of full employment for a year, based on a six-day week for fifty-two weeks. (53) This same condition was still prevalent in the first seven months in 1897 in which the mines operated on an average of one or two days a week.(54) One mine owner succinctly described the situation: " We can't give them work enough even at ninety cents a day because of the ups and downs of the business. When things begin to improve, we must have enough on hand to satisfy the demand, and that means, when business slacks up, that many have to be idle ." (55) This practice of the coal operators cutting back production to maintain the price of coal in a depressed market had caused frequent interruptions in the mid 1890's that put the standard of living of the average mine laborer on a very low basis . The legislative report pointed out that starvation conditions existed among the miners with Hazleton and vicinity one of the five areas identified as having great destitution and want. The committee reported: ' 'The testimony shows conclusively that deplorable condition of affairs for a period covering about two years, and particularly since the first of January of the present year, since which time the men in and about the collieries have been employed not more than two or three three-fourths days per week , earning on an average $4 per week , upon which , in many instances, they were compelled to support large families , in some cases as high as eleven members, paying house rent and coal and the necessities of life, which to this committee seems an impossibility . In . .. mining centres there is at all times more or less destitution and want , in many instances occasioned by profligacy. �18 SLOVAKIA Matters throughout the anthracite region have been gradually growing worse, and never in the history of this section of our State has the condition of the men employed in and about the mines been so deplorable or of such long duration.'' (56) The wages of miners and laborers in the Lehigh anthracite region had a direct relationship to the selling price of coal. Since the collapse of the union after the strike in 1888, there was no union contract to govern working conditions and wages. Wages were pegged to the market price of coal at the tidewater in Elizabethport, New Jersey. This system known as the ' 'sliding scale'' came into effect in 1869 with the formula for determining wages established in 1875. Under this arrangement, if coal sold for $5 .00 a ton at Elizabethport, miners, who held the highest paying jobs, received eighty-seven cents for each car of coal produced which meant that on the average, skilled miners earned twenty-one cents an hour, or $12.60 a week for sixty hours of work. The highest paid class of laborers, if a ton of coal sold for the same price, earned $10.80 a week or fourteen percent less than the miners. Whenever the price of coal increased ten cents a ton, wages advanced one percent for each ten cent rise and conversely, whenever the price of coal declined ten cents a ton, wages decreased one percent for each ten cent reduction . (57) Mine employees saw several drawbacks to this method of determining wages. Lehigh coal operators, as opposed to the Wyoming and Schuylkill coal operators, were mainly independents; hence, they were more vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the freight rates in transporting their coal to the markets, which, in turn, had a direct bearing on establishing the price of coal. High transportation costs reduced the coal operator's ability to improve wages and, most importantly, forced an increase in coal prices that made coal produced in the Lehigh region less competitive in the market than that produced in the other two fields largely under the control of the railroads. Consequently, starting in 1892 the Lehigh coal operators, who produced only around sixteen percent of anthracite coal, agreed to sell part of their production to the railway coal companies at forty percent below the tidewater price in order to avoid excessive freight rates. A major portion of the coal production was sold in the interior at prices higher than at the tidewater. Finally, the 1875 price-wage formula did not reflect changes that had occurred in the coal market. Anthracite coal had been losing the industrial fuel market to the less expensive bituminous coal. This loss forced a readjustment in the coal trade as more and more anthracite had to be processed into smaller sizes to be sold for home heating purposes. Smaller sizes gradually became the major portion of the coal trade and this sold at lower prices, resulting in a reduction of the average price per ton of coal thus keeping wages down.(58) Besides irregular work and low wages the anthracite laborer had to contend with day-to-day conditions which were equally distressing. The �SLOVAKIA 19 company store had long been an issue in the mining communities and had an odious reputation. The fact that employees were under some form of compulsion to make their purchases at a company store at inflated prices was so repugnant that it caused considerable discord, dissension, and prolonged agitation. A congressional committee in 1889 investigating working conditions in the anthracite region reported some of the abuses connected with stores operated by coal companies which still persisted in the late 1890's. Prices were as much as thirty percent higher for the same items sold in independent stores. There was both direct and subtle pressure on employees to purchase groceries , clothing, and other items from the company store; workers feared losing their jobs or being moved to a lower paying position or to one that was more difficult because of dangerous or strenuous working conditions. "Some of the officials of the company, such as foremen, would state to their workmen, 'If you patronize me we will patronize you.' Well , that meant if there was a good job they would receive it if they traded in the company' s store ."(59) Reacting to these abuses, Pennsylvania in 1891 enacted a law prohibiting corporations engaged in mining and manufacturing from operating general supply stores . In an attempt to prevent evasion, the law explicitly made it illegal for a corporation to contract with an independent store to require its employees to purchase merchandise; also it prohibited any corporate officer or stockholder to operate a company store on the premises of the corporation. (60) Unfortunately, the legislation did not eliminate the many evils associated with the company stores. In the first place , unincorporated coal operators did not come under the law's jurisdiction. Secondly, there was a loophole in the law's language forbidding a corporation from requiring its employees to patronize a particular store by stating that employees " shall not be obliged" to deal with a designated store. In other words an employee of a corporation could not be compelled to shop at a particular store but he could voluntarily choose to buy his merchandise at that store. Realistically, as life existed in the mining communities with the ever-presence and dominance of the coal companies, many factors came into play that inevitably induced an employee to make a so-called voluntary decision to patronize a particular store. Thirdly, when individual coal operators sold their interests to a large corporation, they often retained the right to continue the operation of their store. In this arrangement, many times the corporation provided a service by deducting an employee's bill at the store from his monthly wages with a collection fee which varied from three to five percent of the bill. This system had a descriptive nickname of the "pluck-me-store." (61) It was in the Lehigh region, where a very large percent of the coal operators were independent and unincorporated, that the existence of company stores was one of the highest in the anthracite region ; two-thirds of the mine laborers worked at collieries �20 SLOVAKIA that operated company stores.(62) In some instances a coal company which operated a store would undersell its competitor by lowering prices for coal and then make up losses by compelling the employees to trade at the company store at exorbitant prices .(63) The store of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company reportedly had everything from a red herring to a furnace . A Polish employee of the company flatly stated: '' ... we are compelled to purchase whether we want to or not. " (64) Three English-speaking miners of the A. S. Van Wickle Company commented that they would not object to the company's store if it were not for the high prices. To illustrate their point, they cited three items priced in an independent store and the company store: dozen eggs for thirteen cents as opposed to twenty-three cents, pound of butter for eighteen cents as opposed to twenty-six cents, and tobacco for twenty-six cents as opposed to thirtyfour cents. (In computing these goods the average price increase over the independent store was forty-six percent.) They further asserted: ''These are but a few samples of the prices charged here, but we have no redress. If we do not deal in the store we are notified about it with a broad intimation that others would be glad to have our places and deal in the store ." (65) The two investigative reports documented abuses concerning the company store in the anthracite region in 1897 and drew attention to three pertinent facts: the company store did not operate to the benefit of the workmen; employees were subjected to intimidation when they failed to patronize company stores; profits were substantial. (66) The company store problem was a major concern of John Fahy who noted that the number was greater than when the legislation was passed in 1891 and coal operators continued to violate the law. Union members of the United Mine Workers of America agreed and passed a resolution condemning this kind of store : '' ... the company store is a great and burdensome evil; that the system is harsh and tyrannical, and its purposes to rob labor of the full use of that pittance, always too meager, which the mine worker now received for his toil . . . "(67) Another grievance of the workers closely related to the company store was the practice of having a company butcher make door to door sales to employees living in company houses. They objected to the butcher's high prices and his habit of leaving more meat than requested forcing the purchaser to pay for meat not wanted . (68) What they wanted was the. abolition of this solicitation. Dominance of the coal companies over their employees was felt in another way through the company doctor. Coal operators had a physician to administer to the health needs of workers. On the surface this service appeared to be a desirable fringe benefit. Not so in the eyes of the employees who had several objections. They felt that they should have the right to select their own doctor since many believed that the quality of medical help was below average. The fact that the doctor's �SLOVAKIA 21 allegiance rested with the company placed uncertainty on the doctorpatient relationship.(69) Aside from these reservations was the cost. Deduction from workers' paychecks funded the program; A. S. Van Wickle Company levied two cents a day on each employee while other companies charged each married man with a family seventy-five cents a month and single men fifty cents a month.(70) To many this outlay of money equaled a half-day of wages and was an unnecessary cost. At this time it was common practice for people to rely upon home remedies for curing illnesses rather than always going to a doctor. A custom among miners was to establish their own mutual medical aid organizations known as '' keg funds.'' Miners donated refunds received from turning in their empty powder kegs.(71) Another major factor explaining why workers opposed the company doctor scheme stemmed from a plethora of fraternal groups that provided insurance against sickness and death. In the Hazleton area there were around fifty such organizations with many established along ethnic lines. Working class membership in these societies was large. Dues entitled them to sick benefits that varied from four to six dollars a week for a period of three to six months. Average death benefits ranged from $50 to $125 with wives often receiving half the rate. (72) With these other arrangements, the company doctor plan offered few, if any , advantages to mine workers. Feelings of exploitation among the miners were particularly strong over the price of blasting powder and mining supplies and the coercion to purchase these items from the coal companies. Each of the collieries kept mining supplies for sale. Testimony before the United States Industrial Commission revealed: ''The coal operators will say that they do not compel miners to buy their supplies with that company. While this may be true in regard to oil in some places, yet they are compelled to buy their powder from these companies where they work, for they will tell you if you do not buy your powder there you can work where you buy it."(73) Along with this compulsion there was the high price for the powder. A keg of powder weighing twenty-five pounds sold for $2. 75 in the Lehigh region whereas in the Schuylkill region the same amount had sold for $1.50 since 1888.(74) A major demand of the strikers was to secure a price decrease for powder generally in the amount of seventy-five cents a keg. However, miners at Calvin Pardee & Company sought a more extensive price reduction for powder so that it would sell for $1.50 a keg.(75) Powder purchased from independent stores sold from $1.25 to $1.50 a keg and the wholesale cost of powder per keg delivered from the manufacturer ranged from 90 cents to $1.00.(76) It was obvious to the miners that the coal operators made substantial profits on the sale of powder with a mark-up of around two hundred percent. When comparing powder prices in the Schuylkill region with the Hazleton area in 1896, men believed they were overcharged by some $125,353.75 or a per capita of $217.50 which was �22 SLOVAKIA almost equivalent to one-third of their annual income.(77) This issue was particularly irritating to the miners and they felt that they were victims of extortion. Another vexing issue was the lack of compliance by coal companies to provisions of the state semi-monthly wage payment law passed in 1891 . The act stipulated that employers pay their employees in lawful money every two weeks.(78) With the exception of the Coxe mines, violation of the statute was widespread in the Hazleton area . (79) The state legislative investigating committee reported the act was '' ... virtually a dead letter in many instances. Operators disregard it and deem it an unjustifiable interference with their rights .'' (80) District One of the United Mine Workers of America in its 1896 annual convention adopted a resolution endorsing the semi-monthly wage payment law and invited members of the business community to cooperate with them in supporting this legislation. (81) Frequency of payment to workers was important to coal operators since it had a direct relationship to the maintenance of company stores. If workmen received their wages every two weeks or even weekly, they would be inclined to shop at independent stores which had lower prices. With monthly payments, employees found it convenient and, sometimes necessary , to depend on credit extended at the company stores.(82) These cumulative burdens of adverse working conditions, irregular and limited work, low wages, pressure to patronize the company's store and butcher, expense for a company doctor, high costs for blasting powder and mining supplies, and non-compliance with the semi-monthly pay law were hardships ever present to mine laborers and became issues in the strike. Of equal importance, immigrant workers found themselves having to cope with additional adversities such as nativistic attitudes that rejected their culture and impeded assimilation, economic discrimination in employment, passage of the alien tax law, and difficult and costly naturalization procedures. A wellspring of resentment and antagonism festered among the ranks of southern and eastern Europeans over conditions affecting their lives which stirred feelings of discontent and frustrations creating a serious strike situation. The spark which produced the Lattimer massacre first appeared to be nothing more than an isolated and minor labor dispute between District Superintendent Gomer Jones and some mule drivers at the Honey Brook colliery of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company; however, it became the catalyst leading to a series of crippling strikes in the Lehigh region. Gomer Jones , who had a reputation as a tyrannical mine boss, had recently been appointed superintendent of the Audenried district and assumed his new position with an eagerness to establish order and efficiency out of what he and the company considered to be a chaotic situation.(83) Jones stated in an interview that he perceived his superintendency: '' I came here a year ago. I came to restore discipline �SLOVAKIA 23 in the mines and to operate them in such a manner that the company could continue in business. The discipline was certainly lax. The men did about as they pleased. The two superintendents who were here then associated with the men, mixed with them, drank with them and were regarded as 'hail fellows well met' everywhere among the miners. Now I cannot do that. I'm not a drinking man, and I've never made it a practice to hobnob with the men. However, when I give orders I expect them to be obeyed and do not permit miners to do exactly as they please. " (84) He began to institute economics in the company's operations in order to achieve the lowest possible cost in mining. To carry out this resolve , he dismissed two easy-going foremen , about eighty other workers, and reduced daily wages for all classes of mine workers from three percent for carpenters to as much as twenty-five percent for stripping miners.(85) Another of Jones ' cost-saving proposals required all of the company mules to be stabled at Audenried. This measure required the mule drivers employed at Honey Brook to spend an extra hour in the morning and evening to pick up their mules and return them to the stables. For these two extra hours of work , Jones refused to grant any compensation to the mule drivers . Dissatisfaction over this arrangement provoked a strike among mule drivers , who were Slavic and Polish , on August 13 . The next day some workers took up positions along the road near the stable to insure that none of the mule teams was removed for work. Upon learning of this development , Jones went to the scene with club in hand with the intention of dispersing the disgruntled workers. Within minutes a boisterous dispute erupted and Jones, using his club, struck one worker. Some of Jones' assistants came to his rescue before the melee got completely out of control. (86) A consequence of the mule driver strike and the residue of dissatisfaction and discontent among the rest of the workers produced a general strike against the company on August 16. An assessment of the situation made by a local newspaper declared that coal companies " .. . import this cheap labor, drag them down with all sorts of hardships, and indignities and finally the bosses attempt to make records for money saving and thus increase their own salaries at the expense of the poor unfortunates who are under them. There is no need for white slavery, nor pauper wages ... pay them a living salary and treat them as human beings , and trouble of this kind will be unheard of.'' (87) That evening miners held a large meeting at McAdoo at which they formulated their grievances and demands to present to Elmer H. Lawall, General Superintendent of Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. They wanted restoration of the wage scale in effect prior to reductions imposed by Jones , an increase of ten percent in wages for all employees who worked underground, purchase of coal by workers for use in their homes reduced from $2.50 to $1.50 a ton, the right of each worker to select his own doctor, removal of Gomer Jones from his �24 SLOVAKIA position as district superintendent, and assurance that each person on strike would be reinstated.(88). Miners elected a strike committee representing different nationalities to present the issue to company officials. After meeting with Mr. Lawall on August 17, the committee decided to go to New York the next day to confer with Mr. Lawall and C. H. Warren, assistant to company President Maxwell. After returning from New York, the committee on August 19 met with the miners to report on negotiations, informing them that Mr. Warren had pledged that the company would pay the same rate of wages prevailing in the area and did not object to miners selecting their own doctor and making their own payments. There was no response to reducing the price of coal used by miners in their homes. With regard to the miners' objections concerning the conduct of Gomer Jones, the company refused to dismiss him but did promise to investigate his actions; this prompted an editorial comment in a Hazleton newspaper: ''The men are determined in their demands for justice, and if the Lehigh and WilkesBarre officials are wise they will speedily dismiss Superintendent Gomer Jones, for so long as he is retained in his present position, the trouble will not be adjusted. This man, with perhaps one exception, has imposed more hardships on the mines than any other living person who ever set foot on this soil. " (89) Upon hearing the company offer, which the miners described as one containing only promises rather than solutions to their grievances and demands, they voted to remain on strike . (90) Refusal to end the strike caused Mr. Lawall to hold another meeting with the strike committee. Three additional issues were introduced in the negotiations: employees need not live in company houses , men in the same grade of work receive the same pay, and employees be paid for all services rendered to the company - a direct reference to the mule drivers' complaint of having to spend two extra hours without pay to pick up and return their mules to the stables. After conferring with Lawall the strike committee called another meeting with workers on August 20. At this time the company informed the men that it had accepted the employees' position on the three additional points and that Lawall had personally promised to investigate fairly every grievance . Strikers believed that the injudicious activities of Jones would certainly be exposed and he would be dismissed. They learned that the mules were returned to Honey Brook, removing the issue of extra work without pay that had sparked the strike . In addition, two men dismissed by Jones were reinstated to their former positions. With such favorable news and expectation of Jones' replacement, the miners voted to end the week old strike and return to work on August 23.(91) The euphoria that prevailed among miners stemmed from their belief of success in exerting their interests against the coal company. This sense of accomplishment was further underscored by the fact they �SLOVAKIA 25 had been able to organize seven locals of the United Mine Workers of America comprising nearly a thousand men or about half of the company' s employees in the Audenried district. Establishing the union rested on the activities of John Fahy, United Mine Workers organizer, who took advantage of miners' discontent over their working conditions and lack of unionization. With the backing of a union and the promise of Lawall to investigate their differences with Jones , miners felt confident that they had won.(92) It appeared that labor unrest at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company was only an aberration and the outlook for labor peace quite good. Such optimism was short lived. The strike was a harbinger of labor agitation that soon engulfed the Lehigh mining region surrounding Hazleton. Within a week, on August 27, another strike initiated by immigrant workers broke out at the Coleraine and Milnesville collieries of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company. Some 1,500 strikers demanded reinstatement of the wage scale prior to the reduction made in February of 1897, which meant an average increase in wages from ten to fifteen percent in the daily rates. They wanted the new daily rates to be the following: stripping laborers, $1.20; first class laborers , $1.64; second class laborers, $1.50; outside laborers , from $1.00 to $1.20 ; breaker hands, men at $1.00 and boys at 90 cents; mule drivers, one mule at $1.50 ; two mules at $1.64; and three mules at $1.75; first class miners , $2.10; and second class miners, $1.93 . A few days later, August 31, some 2,000 employees of Lehigh and WilkesBarre Coal Company swelled the ranks of dissatisfied workers by walking off their jobs a second time after the elapse of two weeks when company officials had promised a settlement of their grievances in their first strike at the beginning of the month.(93) Chairman of the strikers ' negotiating committee charged that ' ' ... Messrs. Lawall and Warren, did not keep faith, and their refusal to make any concessions after their encouraging promises originally had served to work the men up to a high pitch. " (94) Work stoppages also began to spread to other coal operators: Lehigh Valley Coal Company, C. M. Dodson & Company, G. B. Markel & Company, Calvin Pardee & Company, A. Pardee & Company , New Ebervale Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, Arnold & Morgan Company , and Silver Brook Coal Company.(95) This general strike action at the end of August and the first of September erupted with the pressing demand for an increase in wages. Immigrant workers were the principal source of agitation over this issue. It was they who suffered loss of wages due to enactment of the alien tax law and who felt the effects of wage discrimination when they received less for the same job than the English-speaking worker. Miners in their class earned from $1.50 to $1.65 a day while an Englishspeaking miner earned $1.97 for the same position. Similar conditions existed for those who were employed as laborers; the percent of wage difference was even greater, $1.15 versus $1.50. Anglo-Saxon workers �26 SLOVAKIA did not support the strike and immigrants looked upon them as a favored class. Since Slavic and Italian workers outnumbered Englishspeaking workers by a three-to-one ratio, their dissatisfaction over wages and working conditions became the prevailing voice. (96) Demand for the same pay for the same job had the following local, editorial support: "Employees should receive the same compensation for the same kind and amount of work done whether they are Hungarians, Italians or any other nationality." (97) Strikers ' demands for improvement in their wages came in part from the fact that Lehigh coal operators paid lower wages than operators in the other two anthracite coal fields. (98) Although there existed an industry-wide formula for determining wages based on the tidewater price of coal, in actuality there was a divergence in the wage scale particularly among the unskilled in different coal companies, which contributed to labor unrest among workers when they learned their wages were lower than their counterparts in other mines. In protest, foreign workers began marching from one colliery to another, closing down operations and compelling other workers to join their ranks. With each passing day the situation became somewhat more tense. Area newspapers assessed conditions as serious with the distinct possibility of becoming quite dangerous since, ''Never in the history of the region was such a determined body of men seen together'' ;(99) it was feared that unless a settlement was reached, '' ... the whole Lehigh region will be plunged into one of the most threatening conditions ever experienced in the history of Pennsylvania coal mining." (100) Immigrant workers were the masters of the situation, dominating the strike activities; English-speaking workers, fewer in number receiving better wages, did not voluntarily support them and preferred to remain at work. Instead of a feeling of camaraderie and solidarity between these two groups there was distrust and suspicion.(101) An important break occurred in the strike action when A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company made a wage settlement with their employees at Milnesville and Coleraine collieries on September 3 and 4, respectively. The company's General Superintendent, James Roderick, fulfilled a promise to investigate wages paid at other area mines and, if his company's rates were lower, make appropriate advances. Advances did not completely equal the original demands of the workers: increases were around nine percent given primarily to the unskilled and semiskilled, jobs held mainly by the Slavic and Italian immigrants with no raise for skilled laborers, miners, jobs dominated by AngloSaxons.(102) With regard to the alien tax, which had recently been declared unconstitutional, the company promised to return the money at the next pay day. Concerning other issues of the company store and butcher, Roderick promised ''. . . there will positively be no compulsion for any man to deal with the company butcher and the company �SLOVAKIA 27 store, nor will any intimidation in this direction be permitted by any of the subordinates."(103) Following the lead of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company, officials at Coxe mines voluntarily increased wages ten cents a day to prevent their workers from going out on strike. (104) Settlement of the strike at A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company and increased pay by Coxe marked an important turning point in the labor unrest which had idled some twelve collieries due to the strikers' demonstrations. Success of these workers in improving their wages became a stimulus for hundreds of other workers to increase their determination to secure the same monetary gain. Higher wages granted by the two companies simply exacerbated the situation when other coal operators refused to match or make any improvement in wages. As long as this condition prevailed, chances of labor unrest becoming volatile heightened and the outcome became more uncertain . A week prior to the Lattimer killings, a Hazleton newspaper, realizing the nature of the situation, made the following appeal to coal operators: ''What the outcome of the uprising will be is simply conjecture, but one thing is certain, that the operators owe it to themselves as well as the community to bring about a speedy adjustment of the trouble. There is no good reason why the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. officials should not pay the same rate of wages as A. S. Van Wickle; they are in a position to do it and ought to. If there is to be an average rate of wages let all the operators join the combination and pay it. The obstinacy of either one company or the other, is simply injurious to the community, and for the benefit of all we suggest that the operators at least meet the men half-way, and the trouble will soon be a thing of the past. " (105) As each day passed without settlement, strikers continued marching from one coal mine to another seeking to induce other workers to join the strike; some responded willingly and others only after cajoling or intimidation. Their efforts were having success in disrupting the area's mining operations. Anxiety grew as the potential for serious trouble became likely with an apparent impasse emerging between strikers and operators who had refused to go along with the settlement made by A. S. Van Wickle and Coxe. Coal companies , holding the view that the situation had deteriorated and people had become terrorstricken by the strikers' protest, urged the sheriff to intervene in a manner that would terminate the strikers' activities. Sheriff James Martin, vacationing in Atlantic City, New Jersey , received a telegram on Saturday , September 4, from his deputy, Mr. George Wall, that Superintendent Lathrop of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company requested him to go to Hazleton to deal with the developing strike situation. Upon returning to Wilkes-Barre, the Sheriff held a Monday morning conference concerning the strike with Lathrop, Superintendent Steams of Cross Creek Coal Company, and Superintendent Lawall of Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company before �28 SLOVAKIA proceeding to Hazleton.(106) The Sheriff did not come to Hazleton at the request of any elected or appointed public official such as a magistrate, justice of peace, constable, or mayor, nor upon his arrival did he confer with any public official concerning the question of public order as related to the strikers' demonstrations. Instead, when he came to Hazleton, he met with Mr. Zerby, Assistant Superintendent of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and Mr. Platt, Superintendent of Calvin Pardee & Company store. Naturally, these two men held views concerning the strike that reflected their companies' vested interests and could possibly have misrepresented the degree of disruption. Apparently, Martin did not feel there was any advantage to investigating and reviewing developments with a variety of people having different perspectives in order to ascertain objectively sentiments and facts related to the strike. It was at this time that officials of Lehigh Valley Coal Company, Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, and Calvin Pardee & Company made it abundantly clear that they would hold Sheriff Martin personally responsible for any interference with their mining operations.(107) After conferring with Messrs. Zerby and Platt, Martin decided to organize a posse comitatus. A Sheriff's decision to create a posse must be based upon circumstances as defined in law in which a state of disorder exists, consisting of a riot or the threat of a riot in which life and property are in jeopardy. Again Martin's assessment that these conditions existed rested upon information given to him by representatives of coal companies. Following their recommendation, he appointed Thomas Hall, a prominent Hazleton businessman whose occupation involved selling blasting powder to coal companies, as his chief deputy.(108) In the Hazleton Machinery Supply Company Store, a concern involved in coal mining, eighty-seven men were sworn in as Sheriff's deputies and members of the posse with nearly all of them directly or indirectly earning their living from coal companies. This close connection of the deputies with the coal companies was apparent as some twenty-three were employees of Calvin Pardee & Company, including his own son and Augustus W. Drake, Pardee's General Superintendent; fourteen worked for the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and six were members of the coal and iron police. All but one deputy had surnames indicating Irish, English, or German heritage, the majority were members of prominent families and relatives of coal operators, many were young, several had attended college and were engineers or held managerial positions in coal companies. Others were businessmen and a few were laborers.(109) Superintendent Smith of G. B. Markle & Company, a coal operator, ordered rifles and shotguns and shipped them to a warehouse owned by A. Pardee & Company, another coal operator, where they were dispensed to the deputies under the direction of Mr. Platt.(110) Martin cautioned his deputies: " ... it was their duty to maintain the peace at all hazards, but under no cir- �SLOVAKIA 29 cumstances to shoot unless they were convinced either they or myself to be in danger.'' (111) Since the coal operators were responsible for requesting the Sheriff to come to Hazleton and to organize a posse, they also agreed to assume the costs for expenses incurred by the deputies. (112) Another service available to the Sheriff and his deputies was a special trolley car provided by Lehigh Traction Company upon the orders of Mr. Zerby so they could have unimpeded transportation to move about the coal fields.(113) While arrangements were under way in organizing the posse, Martin contacted Sheriffs Scott and Setzer of Schuylkill and Carbon Counties, respectively , since Lehigh coal fields encompassed parts of these counties. The main source of strike agitation came from men employed at collieries south of Hazleton in the area where Luzerne , Schuylkill , and Carbon Counties have a common boundary. After consulting with each other, the three law officers issued separate proclamations admonishing people '' . . . from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly, and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace .' ' (114) Included in the proclamation was the state riot act of 1860 describing illegal activities and penalties. Sheriff Martin 's decision to issue the proclamation made it appear that he felt conditions were turbulent, disorderly, and warranted the organization of a posse; yet on the same day he chose to spend a leisurely afternnoon attending the bicycle races at Hazleton.(115) The following morning, Tuesday, September 7, Sheriff Martin, upon learning that a group of strikers planned to shut down the Crystal Ridge Colliery , took a number of deputies to the site and prevented them from accomplishing their goal.(116) News of this intervention by the Sheriff either had not spread, or if it had, did not awe other strikers from descending on the New Ebervale Coal Company colliery and closing it down. Company superintendent, John Scott, describing the incident stated: '' ... the real leader appeared and said they intended to win the strike if they had to apply the torch to every town in the region ."(117) After closing the New Ebervale colliery, strikers marched over to the stripping area of Calvin Pardee & Company at Lattimer hoping to repeat their success earlier in the day. However, some of the Sheriff's deputies were already at Lattimer to prevent any disruption in the company 's operations . When the marchers appeared, the officers fired warning shots ito the air dispersing them and thwarting their objective.(118) The remaining days prior to the tragedy at Lattimer found Sheriff Martin and his deputies constantly transversing the coal fields from one colliery to another checking the strikers' movements . With each passing encounter the level of exasperation and tension between the law officers and immigrant workers on strike began to rise. A Hazleton newspaper again reflected a growing concern over the lack of a strike �30 SLOVAKIA settlement and a possible serious confrontation: ''The strike can be settled within twenty-four hours, and without bloodshed, if the operators will act fair and honest with their men. "(119) A day later the same editorial voice observed a growing seriousness in that the strikers '' ... are very much embittered against the deputies, and it is feared that both parties will engage in mortal combat." (120) A letter to the newspaper editor commenting on the strike stated it was '' ... causing a depression in business and fear in the hearts of the people of bloodshed . . . '' suggesting ' ' . . . the Ministerial Association take the matter in hand, call a meeting of all the clergy of the Protestant and Catholic churches, and together with the press and businessmen try and see if their influence could not be used to settle this grave matter between the operators and men."(121) John Fahy counseled the workers to obey the Sheriff's proclamations and to avoid provocations that could cause violence since the authorities had the ability to crush them. His interest was to temper the strikers' ardor and give it some meaningful direction.(122) Martin, apparently feeling some frustrations and reservations over his efforts to deal with strikers , told Frank Pardee, head of A. Pardee & Company, '' ... that while the strikers simply confined themselves to talking to the men quietly and persuading them to quit, it was none of my business and I had no right to interfere. "(123) Regardless of whatever doubts the Sheriff may have had, he knew perfectly well that he could not disregard the wishes of the coal operators. Starting on Thursday afternoon events began to cascade toward that fateful Friday. Employees of Calvin Pardee & Company at Harwood who were on strike felt that in order to win they had to shut down the company's operation at Lattimer which had failed earlier. News came to Harwood strikers that their fellow employees at Lattimer were anxious to join them if only they would march over to Lattimer; this appeal stimulated their determination.(124) The Harwood local of the United Mine Workers held a meeting on Thursday evening to make plans to march to Lattimer the next day. Joe Mahalko, president of the Harwood local of the United Mine Workers of America, cautioned his fellow workers to go without guns or any other kind of weapons, to harm no one nor to destroy any property, and to keep the peace. On the next day, Friday, September 10, around noon some two hundred and fifty strikers from the Harwood area, consisting almost exclusively of immigrant workers, started their ill-fated mission to get their counterparts to go on strike at Lattimer. As the march proceeded, some seventy-five to one hundred additional strikers joined the ranks. (125) When they reached the outskirts of West Hazleton on their route to Lattimer around two o 'clock, they were stopped by Evan Jones, Chief of Police of West Hazleton, who told them, "Go back out of this, you are in a dangerous place. If you have to go to Lattimer you must go another way."(126) At this point Sheriff Martin and his deputies �SLOVAKIA 31 arrived on the scene with the intention of stopping the marchers from proceeding to Lattimer. A confrontation occurred between the Sheriff, his deputies , and the strikers, in which one striker was arrested, another had his arm broken by a deputy, many had guns thrust in their faces , the American flag they were carrying was destroyed, and there was an exchange of blasphemous name calling.(127) Martin read his proclamation containing the riot act, ordered them to cease their march to Lattimer , and urged them to return to their homes, telling them that all of the marching from colliery to colliery to drive men from work was no way to get better wages.(128) He believed there would be serious trouble since some of the marchers had picked up stones and looked as if they intended to throw them at the law enforcement officials. However, this fear proved to be unfounded since they did not take such a provocative action. (129) Efforts to halt the march were futile considering the strikers ' determination to continue their trek to Lattimer, and Martin 's inability to communicate with them since he spoke only English and had no interpreter . After becoming exhausted from the episode , he simply gave up trying to stop them.(130) The strikers ' perception of this hostile encounter differed from the law officers ' version and hinted at forthcoming trouble . John Eagler, one of the leaders of the march and secretary of the United Mine Workers local at Harwood stated: " We were met by the deputies at West Hazleton who did not come like civilized beings , but broke through the ranks, crying, 'Stop , stop!' " (131) Joseph Mahalko declared : '' I told the Sheriff we had no stick big as my finger in the crowd. All Sheriff said was 'don't go any farther .' Sheriff said , 'You go back or I shoot you . ' " (132) Again John Eagler stated that the Sheriff only took a piece of paper from his pocket and did not read any proclamation as he claimed but had simply told them that it was against the law to march to Lattimer.(133) The strikers asserted they did not initiate any altercation with the law officers but were merely the victims of an unwarranted attempt to prohibit them from using the public highway. Something that proved to be far more serious was the ominous threats attributted to the Sheriff and his deputies against the strikers: "Go back and take care of yourself, for there will be big trouble today ." (134) " We 'll get even with the --- at Lattimer."(135) "We ' ll leave them go till we get to Lattimer ; then we ' ll shoot them. "(136) "I'd like to get a pop at the ---of b---. I'll bet I'll drop six. " (137) "I didn 't know what the h--- the Sheriff makes us walk around here so much without giving us a chance to shoot those men .'' (138) ' 'Everyone of the G-- d-- Hunks ought to be shot. " (139) Sheriff Martin , formerly a coal foreman at the Mill Creek colliery in Luzerne County, allegedly stated, " . . . a little cold lead is the only way to conquer the strikers."(140) The Sheriff's efforts and reported intimidations to terminate the strike rs ' march to Lattimer became nothing more than a futile gesture that only made them more resolute to continue their journey. Un- �32 SLOVAKIA daunted, the marchers following the advice of Chief Evan Jones took a route toward Lattimer along the outskirts of Hazleton on which they could proceed without further interference.(141) Sheriff Martin realizing his efforts had been to no avail quickly returned to Hazleton, summoned his entire force of deputies telling them to take their arms and board the trolley to Lattimer so they could prevent the marchers from stopping the Lattimer mining operations.(142) En route there was talk among the deputies '' . . . about shooting and each man seemed to be eager ... "(143) Since some of the deputies had served as coal and iron police, they " ... had had much trouble with the strikers on previous occasions and were said to be in a revengeful mood against them. "(144) Even Sheriff Martin admitted, " ... I have no doubt that some of the deputies were excited, and certainly the ride over the mountain in that crowded car was animating."(145) The Sheriff and his posse arrived at Lattimer a few minutes after three o'clock and stationed themselves along the right side of the road as it entered Lattimer from the south. He instructed his deputies " ... to keep cool and not get excited. "(146) However, before the strikers arrived, the deputies ordered a woman to go into her house on the likelihood that some shooting may occur.(147) Shortly after the deputies were in place , the strikers appeared coming up the public road in an orderly array toward the Lattimer breaker. (148) There was every reason to suspect that the deputies were fully aware that the miners were unarmed. As they approached the law officers who were standing parallel to the road, the Sheriff stepped out and walked toward the marchers with the intention of learning what they planned to do. Martin indicated that " ... if they are not going to do anything, I may let them go on, and we will go along with them.' ' (149) He ordered them to halt about forty or fifty yards from the armed deputies. The front of the column slowed as the Sheriff approached and asked them what they intended to do. The Sheriff reported they said, "We stop Lattimer Mines."(150) He then proceeded to read his proclamation in English, which many of them could not understand, while at the same time the rear of the column kept pushing forward. Within a few minutes a fracas broke out between the Sheriff and some twenty strikers at the side of the road when he attempted to seize and arrest one of the men.(151) At this point the deputies aimed and fired directly into the ranks of the strikers. The exploding crescendo of Winchesters created a bloody massacre with the sound of shrieks and moaning of the dying and wounded lying in agony. One newspaper described the scene: ''It was a human slaughter in which men were mowed down like grain stalks before a scythe, by the deadly bullets which stormed for fully two minutes. The blood of the dead and dying soaked the dusty road and flowed in streams through the ditch."(152) The murderous volley created a human carnage taking the lives of nineteen immigrants and leaving thrity-eight wounded; eleven men died at Lattimer with the �SLOVAKIA 33 remaining eight dying at the Hazleton Hospital. Dr. Keller, a physician at the hospital, stated that many of the victims were shot in the back.(153) What began a month earlier as a dispute between Gomer Jones and immigrant mule drivers grew into a serious strike finally ending as a sorrowful episode in American labor history. In the aftermath of this tragedy there were contradictory versions as to what actually happened. Sheriff Martin said the strikers were vicious, boisterous, a furious and desperate gang, fierce as wild beasts, threatening to physically harm or even kill him. He felt that they were bent on doing violence and had no intention of obeying his proclamation or the laws of Pennsylvania. Earlier at West Hazleton, Martin told the marchers that it was his duty to prevent them from interfering with the men who were working at the mines, and at Lattimer he went a step further to warn them that if they did not disperse there would be trouble.(154) When a Hungarian speaking in broken English told him, "Go to hell, you a---," (155) he sought to arrest the man who shouted the epithet. The men, excited, began assaulting him forcing him to draw his revolver in self defense and attempt to shoot an attacking man, but the gun failed to discharge. He claimed that two of his attackers had pistols and a third man with a knife sought to stab him. (156) In a letter written five weeks later explaining the event to Governor Hastings, Martin wrote the following description: "One high (sic) fellow gave me a blow on the cheek and knocked me on my knees. I would have been knocked down on my back, but the crowd was too close around me so that there was no room for me to get down, and while we were struggling I heard a shot followed closely by a second and then a number of shots together. Those who were attacking me were shot, and I was then unable to recover myself, and there is no doubt in my mind that if the deputies had not shot just when they did I would certainly have been killed. While I was struggling with part of the mob on one side of the road in the ditch where they had pushed me, the part on the other side of the road with a whoop and yell rushed on toward the deputies, who no doubt fearing that their lives were in danger and that I was to be killed, fired ... '' (157) On the day after the shooting, Martin gave several conflicting statements as to why the deputies shot the strikers. "I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers ... I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot if they must to protect their lives or to protect the property that they had been sent to guard from being demolished . . . I hated to give the command to shoot and was awfully sorry that I was compelled to do so. "(158) "I did not order the deputies to fire; someone else did that. I gave no order." (159) "The shooting commenced in a manner that baffles me completely when it comes to explaining."(160) A few days later in an interview Martin suggested that the cause of the shooting came from an impulse of his men to protect him: ''They saw me in the �34 SLOVAKIA midst of the strikers, with men aiming blows at me, and they supposed probably that my life was in danger."(161) The Sheriff's answers vacillated on how the shooting began, ranging from admitting that he gave the order to his deputies to fire their weapons to denying any knowledge of how the firing happened. Even among the deputies there was no satisfactory answer as to how the shooting commenced. The version of the confrontation by the strikers and bystanders differed from and challenged the assertions made by Sheriff Martin. According to the strikers, the Sheriff ordered them to halt and began to read his proclamation. The situation became disruptive when the Sheriff sought to arrest one of the marchers and get the others to disperse. One of the men told the Sheriff '' . . . we only want to move on peaceably ... "(162) Those in the rear of the column continued pressing forward and shouting '' go ahead,'' pushing the Sheriff and some of the men off to the side of the road. Whereupon, John Eagler reported that Martin flourished his revolver, '' ... grabbed one man by the arm, and, pointing the revolver at him, said, 'Did you tell them to go ahead?' The man said he had not spoken, and then the Sheriff grabbed another man and began to shove him about. 'You will say ''Go ahead," eh?' said the Sheriff, and at the same time he aimed the revolver squarely at the man's heart. The man naturally was frightened, and pushed the Sheriff's hand holding the revolver to one side. Whether or not the Sheriff considers that an attack or·not I don't know. I am positive that not a man hit the Sheriff."(163) An account from a bystander stated that Martin '' . . . became excited and ordered the deputies to shoot . . . " (164) A striker affirmed this point that the Sheriff gave the order to fire.(165) Another eye witness agreed that Martin's command was to fire but only a warning shot over the heads of the strikers.(166) Witnesses to the shooting pointed out there were no warning shots fired but told of excessive firing into the ranks of the strikers, deputies continuing to shoot after men ran for cover, and men shot down as far as 150 yards from where they were stopped by the Sheriff.(167) A Lattimer school teacher reported: "I saw men who had hidden behind trees and fences during the first fusillade leave their places of concealment only to be deliberately shot down."(168) The school house about three hundred yards distant from which the teacher saw the shooting was riddled with bullets. An area newspaper asserted: ''This would indicate that the strikers, fleeing by the shortest route to Hazleton across the hills, were shot at long after there was any danger to the deputies." (169) Strikers affirming this horror told of being targets as they ran for safety. A detached account by Henry Hoyt, United States Assistant Attorney General, based upon an investigation of the shooting made the following summation: ''It appeared that the strikers were unarmed; that small clubs which they had previously carried were thrown away on the march between West Hazleton and Lattimer; that they were peaceable and orderly in West �SLOVAKIA 35 Hazleton and Lattimer; were not riotous at West Hazleton or Lattimer, and at neither place made an assault upon the Sheriff or his deputies, or offered any violence or used threatening language to them."(170) Martin confirmed Hoyt's account by stating, in response to a reporter's question, that the strikers until the time of the shooting had not committed any overt act nor behaved otherwise than peaceably. (171) The Lattimer tragedy resulted from a multiplicity of interrelated sources. Existing in the anthracite region were nativistic sentiments encompassing an attitude of disdain for Slavic and Italian immigrants; Anglo-Saxons looked upon the strikers as unwelcomed strangers who were inferiors and who could not possibly conform to accepted standards in society. In an interview a federal treasury official, who was familiar with Hazleton, affirmed this idea with his romantic (and distorted) depiction of an idyllic and bucolic setting disrupted by the intrusion of alien people who fostered hatred: ''I think when all the facts come out in regard to the shooting it will be found that the officers who did the shooting have covered a revenge of years under the wings of the law. I remember when twelve or fifteen years ago, the section around Hazleton was settled by hard-working and honest Irishmen, Welshmen, Englishmen, Germans, and Americans. They worked in the mines and did well. Many of them owned their own homes - pretty little cottages on the hillside, surrounded by outhouses for cattle and chickens, etc., and happiness seemed to smile on all. There were no strikes and the morality of the neighborhood was good. Then began to come in the Hungarians and the Poles and the class of foreigners, by accepting smaller wages, ran the others out. I knew several Irishmen who vowed they would not leave, but went away to other States, in many instances having to sell their little homes to pay their debts and to get away on. This naturally caused a bitter feeling, a feeling which exists to this day, and one which caused many vows of revenge. The houses once the property of prosperous Irishmen and Americans are now in filthy condition, occupied by two and three families of Hungarians and Poles. Instead of clean beds there are bunks ranged along the walls and as many as four people slept in a small room. In that band of deputies which encountered the marching miners a few days ago are many men who remembered the change from the scenes of years ago. Their hearts have been full of revenge. When the opportunity presented itself they seized it, with the horrible result too well known. They shot to kill, because their relatives and friends had been made paupers by these people. I do not approve of the shooting, but I believe the facts will reveal what I have stated." (172) These immigrant strikers represented a class of people outside the local structure, posed an economic threat to the interests of coal operators, and replaced Anglo-Saxons as the dominant mine workers. In contrast, the Sheriff's posse consisted of a class of people that was �36 SLOVAKIA diametrically opposite in nationality, place in society , and occupation. This dissimilarity in turn tended to heighten emotional responses. The strike increased the stresses of nativism. Passions grew in both contending groups; as workers sought to shut down the mines , the Sheriff and his deputies, under the pressure of coal companies , tried to prevent them from accomplishing their objective. A feeling of anxiety and tension grew in the community as the chances of an ugly confrontation between strikers and law officers became likely. Undoubtedly , the Sheriff and his men fully sensed this but realized the ramifications if they failed to prevent the strikers from closing down the mining operations at Lattimer. If unsuccessful, the chances of protecting the remaining mines from being closed down by the strikers would be slight. Combined with this pressure were frustrations in trying to quell the strikers' activities , tension and fatigue over the incident at West Hazleton, malicious attitudes toward the immigrants who were also labor agitators, and a glandular excitement capable of generating panic from a large group about to undergo another encounter with strikers . A maturation process among Slavic and Italian immigrants in the anthracite coal fields reached fruition when the strike broke out in the Lehigh region in the late summer of 1897. Having become the dominant group among the mine workers in the late 1890's, they asserted themselves by conceiving and initiating the strike . This decision resulted from the frustrating working conditions and discriminatory practices emanating from nativistic actions which combined to impose hardships and an inferior status . The culmination of these factors was the wellspring for discontent and dissatisfaction. At this time the United Mine Workers of America lacked strength to represent and protect the anthracite mine workers ' interest effectively and , in addition , generally showed little interest in including the new immigrants in their ranks or purview. Consequently, the only recourse for the immigrant workers was to take matters into their own hands to seek redress for grievances. As the strike developed, it lacked coherent strategies since it was unorganized, leaderless , and did not have benefit of an effective union structure to provide direction, articulation, and ability to successfully negotiate with the coal operators. (173) This point of inadequate experience and unfamiliarity in labor affairs made the strikers vulnerable to violence . Therefore, on that Friday afternoon as the immigrant strikers marched into Lattimer imbued with a spirit to win their strike, they came face to face with Sheriff Martin and his deputies equally committed to stopping them. It was as if for a moment, the recent social and economic history of the area had been centripetally compressed into a time capsule only to be exploded by indigenous divergent and incompatible forces . Catapulted into a deadly collision were two different worlds in conflict. The result was-violence, perpetrated by public peace keepers who were the instruments of coal �SLOVAKIA 37 companies' strategy to break the strike . The effect was that Lattimer became the worst tragedy in American labor history in terms of the number of workers killed and wounded by public authorities, who were not provoked nor endangered and who attacked without warning unarmed strikers peacefully demonstrating on a public highway. FOOTNOTES (1) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 11, 1897. (2) Letter from Henry Hoyt, Assistant Attorney-General, to William Day, Secretary of State, April 8, 1898; in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, with the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 6, 1898 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1901), 82-87. Hoyt' s letter stemmed from an investigation made by the Department of Justice for the Department of State concerning a diplomatic protest from the Austria-Hungary government over several of its nationals killed and wounded at Lattimer. A great deal of confusion and inaccuracy existed in newspaper accounts as to the number of casualities from the shooting; reports varied from fourteen to as many as fifty people killed. Hoyt based his figures upon grand jury murder indictments against Sheriff Martin and his deputies who were brought to trial on February 1, 1898, in Luzerne County but were found not guilty by the jury. (3) Daily Standard (Hazleton), September 11, 1897. (4) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 11, 1897. (5) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (6) Daily Globe (South Bethlehem) , September 11, 1897. (7) St. Louis Post Dispatch, September 12, 1897. (8) San Francisco Chronicle, September 11, 1897. (9) Detroit Free Press, September 11, 1897. (10) Pittsburgh Dispatch, September 11, 1897. (11) Boston Daily Globe, September 11, 1897. (12) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 5, 1897. (13) Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers : A Study in Immigration (Philadelphia: J . B. Lippincott Company, 1904) , 51 & 58 ; Frank Julian Warne, "Some Industrial Effects of Slav Immigration," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904), 223-224. (14) Rowland Berthoff, "The Social Order of the Anthracite Region , 1825-1902," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LXXXIX (July 1965), 169-171; Charles B. Spahr, "America 's Working People," Outlook, Ll(Il (August 5, 1899) , 811. (15) Peter Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904) , 219. (16) Berthoff, 287; George 0 . Virtue, "The Anthracite Mine Laborers," Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor No. 13, (November, 1897) , 753. (17) Henry Edward Rood , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village ," Century Magazine, XXXIII, new series, (April, 1898), 811. (18) Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," 221. (19) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1895 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1895), 643. (20) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1897 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 546. �38 SLOVAKIA (21) Frank Julian Warne, " Organized Labor in the Anthracite Coal Fields," Outlook, LXXI (May 24 , 1902), 273 . '' . . . The operators used them (immigrants) originally to introduce low wages ... " Wilkes-Barre Record, August 8, 1897. The attitude that immigrants were responsible for undermining native labor interests was prevalent in newspaper editorials. Mauch Chunk Coal Gazette, September 25, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 8, 1897; Weekly Herald (Shenandoah), September 18, 1897; Sullivan Review, September 16, 1897 ; Detroit Free Press, September 12, 1897; Pittsburgh Post, September 15, 1897. (22) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. The laborer who assisted the contract miner was not employed by the coal operator but by the miner. Nearly eighty percent of the mine laborers in the Lehigh region worked under the contract system. Frank Julian Warne , " The Anthracite Coal Strike, " Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XVII (January, 1901), 32-33 . (23) Rood, 815. (24) Frank Julian Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," Annuals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XXI (January , 1903) , 23-24; Rood, 815; Virtue, 753 . (25) Victor R. Greene, The Slavic Community on Strike: Immigrant Labor in Pennsylvania Anthracite (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968), 86-87 ; Berthoff, 272-273 ; Virtue , 753 . (26) Spahr, 8ll ; Warne, " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," 31-32 ; Roberts, "The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities, " 218 . (27) Harold W. Aurand , From the Molly Maguires to the United Mine Workers: The Social Ecology of an Industrial Union, 1869-1897 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press , 1971) , 136. (28) Berthoff, 273 . (29) Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker, " 21; Berthoff, 268. (30) Alexander Trachtenberg, The History of Legislation for the Protection of Coal Miners in Pennsylvania, 1824-1915 (New York: International Publishers, 1942) , 134135. (31) Ibid., 135-136; Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88 . (32) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Sessions of 1889, Vol. I, Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1889) , 1529. (33) Virtue, 768; Greene, ll 7-ll8 ; Pottsville Republican, June 15, 1897 . (34) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1889, Vol. I, 1236. (35) Ibid. (36) United Mine Workers Journal, October 22, 1896, 1. (37) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1897, 289. (38) UMW Journal, August 12, 1897, 7. (39) Daily Standard, August 28, 1897. (40) Warne , Th e Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88. (41) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Ses sion of 1897, 135-136. The bill passed the House and Senate by votes of 126 to 12 and 28 to 3 respectively . Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 1069 & 2418 . There were attempts in the House to make the tax five cents a day. Ibid., 2418 (42) Ibid., 2292 . (43) Ibid., 2217 . �SLOVAKIA 39 (44) UMW Journal, July 1, 1897, 1. (45) Fraser v. McConway & Torley Co., 82 The Federal Reporter 259 (1897) . (46) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, 2217. (47) Wilkes-Barre Record, August 26 & 28, 1897. (48) Peter Roberts, Anthracite Coal Communities: A Study of the Demography, The Social, Educational and Moral Life of the Anthracite Region (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904), 44-45 . (49) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897. (50) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report on Conditions Existing Among the Miners and Those Employed in and About the Mines in the Anthracite Coal Regions ," Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Session Begun at Harrisburg, on the Fifth Day of January, 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1897), Il, 1824-1842. (51) R eports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), xvi-xvii . (52) Ibid., xvii; "Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (53) Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 170-172. (54) "The Association Letter," Anthracite Coal Operators Association, September, 1897, 2. (55) John Graham Brooks, " An Impression of the Anthracite Coal Troubles," Yale Review, VI (November, 1897), 307. (56) "Legislative Investigating Committee Report, " 1826. (57) Virtue, 756 . (58) Ibid., 757-58; "The Association Letter," 14-15; "The Marketing of Small Sizes of Anthracite," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (June, 1897), 490. (59) The Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1888-89, Vol. IV (Washington: U.S . Government Printing Office, 1889) , lxxix . (60) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1891), 256-57 . (61) Peter Roberts , Anthracite Coal Industry (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1901), 136. (62) Ibid., 138. (63) "Company Store Legislation," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (April, 1897) , 395. (64) Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897. (65) Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897. (66) Virtue, 760 ; " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (67) UMW Journal, January 14 , 1897, 5; Ibid., October 22, 1896, l; Wilkes-Barre Record, December 25, 1896; Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897 . Fahy launched a campaign in the anthracite region to secure public contributions to support the United Mine Workers of America lobbying activities to abolish the company store. The Pennsylvania Legislature, reflecting an increased awareness of labor interests, responded and passed a bill in July, 1897 , placing a ten percent tax upon the face value of all types of certificates or the equivalent issued in lieu of legal tender for employees' wages . This measure would have severely crippled the operation of company stores; however, Governor Hastings vetoed the legislation on the ground that it violated the state constitution. George Edward Reed, ed., Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. Xll, 4th ser., (Harrisburg: Wm . Stanley Ray State Printer, 1902), 150-54. �40 SLOVAKIA (68) Daily Standard, August 31 & September 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2 & 13, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike of May-October, 1902 by the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission (Washington : U.S . Government Printing Office , 1903), 144 . The above source contained information regarding the strikers' demands made to the G. B. Markle & Company in the 1897 strike. (69) Daily Standard, September 6 & 8, 1897; Spahr, 810 . (70) Ibid.; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897 ; The Reports of Committees of the Hous e ... Fiftieth Congress, lxxxi. (71) Berthoff, 286. If all the miners in the fifth district (Lehigh region) had turned in their empty powder kegs in 1896, they would have raised $10 ,028.30 . Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173. (72) Robe rts , Anthracite Coal Communities, 259, 262-263. (73) Report of the Industrial Commission of the Relations and Conditions of Capital and Labor in the Mining Industry Including Testimony, Review of Evidence, and Topical Digest, Vol. XIl (Washington : U.S. Government Printing Office , 1901), 142 . (74) Robe rts, Anthracite Coal Industry, 133-134. (75) Daily Standard, September 6, 8 & 9, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 7, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike, 144. (76) Daily Standard, September 9, 1897; Spahr, 810; Report of the Industrial Commission, 142. (77) Computation based on 5,754 miners and laborers in the fifth anthracite district and the use of 100,283 kegs of blasting powder. Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173 & 176. (78) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891, 96-97. (79) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. (80) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1830. (81) UMW Journal, Ocotber 22, 1896, 1. (82) Report of the Industrial Commission, 143. (83) UMW Journal, November 25, 1897, 2; Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (84) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 15, 1897. (85) Ibid.; Daily Standard, August 17, 1897. In the Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre newspapers there appeared an account of an interview with an unnamed individual defending Jones ' superintendency . Acknowledging that Jones may have made some mistakes, the source indicated that the workers' discontent really stemmed from the decisions made by the preceeding superintendent or from orders issued by higher company officials . ''He is charged with being a tyrant, and in reference to this it may be said that each foreman has full charge of all employees working under him . But Jones is among the first men about the works in the morning and among the last to leave at night, and because he attends strictly to business he is called a tyrant by men who want ten hours pay for less than ten hours of work.'' Wilkes-Barre Times, August 27, 1897. (86) Ibid., August 16, 1897. Gomer Jones was arrested later on a complaint by John Bodan on the charge of aggravated assault. Ibid., August 18, 1897. (87)lbid. , August 16, 1897 . (88) Ibid. , August 17, 1897 . (89) Ibid. , August 18, 1897. (90) Ibid. , August 20, 1897 . �SLOVAKIA 41 (91) Ibid. , August 21, 1897. (92) Ibid. (93) Ibid., August 28, 30 & September 1, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28, 1897. (94) Ibid., September 3, 1897. (95) Ibid., September 3 & 4, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, September 4, 6 & 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 3, 1897 . (96) Ibid. , August 28, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897. (97) Ibid. , August 30, 1897 . (98) Ibid., August 31, 1897. (99) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 3, 1897. (100) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. (101) Ibid, ; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & 30, 1897. (102) Ibid. , September 4 & 6, 1897. (103) Daily Standard, September 6, 1897. (104) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897. (105) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. A. S. Van Wickle Company operated independently of the other coal companies, provided their employees more work, and were regarded with greater esteem and confidence in the community. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 22, 1897 . (106) Letter from James Martin to Daniel H. Hastings, Governor of Pennsylvania, October 18, 1897 , Governor Hastings Papers, MG-145, Box 18, Division of Archives and Manuscripts of Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (107) Ibid. (108) R eco rd of the Times (Wilkes-Barre), March 4, 1898. (109) New York World, February 13, 1898; Dollar Weekly News-Dealer (Wilkes-Barre), September 18, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 23 , 1898 ; Pennsylvania, Department of State, Commission Bureau, "Policemen, 1889-1912," 346; Hazle Township and Hazleton City, "Real Estate Tax Assessment Books for 1896 and 1897 ,'' Office of the Board for the Assessment and Revision of Taxes , Luzerne County Courthouse, Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . (110) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898; Daily Standard, September 7, 1897. (111) Record of the Times, March 4, 1897. (112) Daily Standard, October 21, 1897. A review of the annual financial report of the Comptroller for Luzerne County revealed that there were no payments from county funds for the services of the deputies at Hazleton , supporting the conclusion that the coal operators paid the deputies' salaries. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 23, 1898. (113) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (114) Daily Standard, September 9, 1898. (115) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (116) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (118) Ibid. (119) Ibid. , September 9, 1897. (120) Ibid. , September 10, 1897 . (121) Ibid., September 9, 1897. �42 SLOVAKIA (122) Ibid., September 8, 1897; Hazleton Sentinel, September 3, 1897; Spahr, 808. (123) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (124) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (125) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (126) Record of the Times, February 11, 1898. (127) Ibid. , March 4, 1898. (128) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (129) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (130) Ibid. (131) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (132) Ibid. (133) Ibid. (134) Ibid., February 18, 1898. (135) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (136) Ibid., February 15, 1898. (137) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (138) Ibid., February 8, 1898. (139) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (140) New York World, September 12, 1898. "Whether deserved or not, Sheriff Martin, of Luzerne county, it is alleged, entertains an unquestionable hatred for the foreign element." Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (141) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (142) Ibid., September 11, 1897. (143) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 13, 1897. (144) Easton Free Press, September 13, 1897. (145) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (146) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (147) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (148) Record of the Times, February 28, 1898; Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (149) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (150) Ibid. (151) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (152) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (153) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898; Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia), September 11, 1897; Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (154) Ibid., September 11, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 11 , 1897; WilkesBarre Record, September 11, 1897 . (155) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (156) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (157) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897. (158) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (159) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897 . (160) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11 , 1897. �SLOVAKIA 43 (161) Pottsville Republican, September 14, 1897. (162) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (163) Evening Bulletin, September 13, 1897. (164) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (165) Record of the Times, February 22, 1897. (166) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (167) Record of the Times, February 11 & 15, 1898; Daily Standard, September 11, 1897; "Some of the guns were loaded with shells containing a lot of No.8 shot, which scattered with deadliest effect, and others had the plain bullets of heavy bore. The manner in which the victims were tom up looked as though they had been before gatling guns or on a field of where grape and canister were poured from cannon mouths." Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (168) Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (169) Wilkes-Barre Sunday Morning Leader, September 12, 1897. (170) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (171) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (172) New York Tribune, September 15, 1897. (173) Report of the Industrial Commission, 139-140; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & September 5, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. When news of the Lattimer shooting spread through the coal fields surrounding Hazleton, the scope of the strike immediately enlarged involving some 10,000 mine employees and idling nineteen of the thirty-three area collieries. Strikers were unwilling to return to work during the following week when funerals for victims were held; they further refused to end their work stoppage until the coal operators met their grievances, mainly an increase in wages. The strike began to wane on September 20 when the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company agreed to grant a ten percent wage increase to mine laborers, pay six to eight cents more per car of coal to miners, and seek solutions to workers' complaints. Only two companies, Lehigh Valley Coal Company and C. Pardee and Company, had not reached a settlement by the end of the second week after the Lattimer shooting but by the end of September they both made an agreement similar to the other coal operators which finally brought an end to the Lehigh coal strike of 1897. Pennsylvania, Official Documents of 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1899), ill, 124 Scranton Times, September 21, 1897; Daily Standard, September 21 & 24, 1897; UMW Journal, November 18, 1897, 3. �44 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre KON STANTIN CULEN A tragic event that occurred in September 1897 struck at the heart of Slovak American life with such telling impact that it served to solidify the Slovak immigrants in the United States into one unified body more effectively than had any previous experience in their new world. This event greatly furthered that awareness of a need for unity that began to crystallize under the pressures to which they had been subjected in their homeland Slovakia. In American history as well as in the record of early SlovakAmerican history this event is known as the Lattimer slaughter or the Lattimer massacre. The setting was the mining region around Hazleton, Pennsylvania. It was an area that had long seethed with the discontent and the restiveness of the men who were employed in the mines . Mine management groups had long bled their workers white, extracting the very marrow out of their bones . The companies paid out pauper wages, cheated the workmen on their weight checks, overcharged prices for foods and daily necessities that were sold through company stores. Scores of mining catastrophes underscored the obvious inadequacy of safety measures that existed to protect the men in their dangerous work in deep underground pits. Miners in Hazleton had declared a strike but nearby mines in neighboring communities continued to operate at practically full strength. Some casual talk was heard from time to time to the effect that the Hazleton operators were planning to bring in scabs in the near future. Union leaders realized that their Hazleton strike would lose all effectiveness unless the miners of the entire locality would join forces in one concerted resistance movement, supporting the Hazleton effort and pressing common demands for improved conditions and benefits. On September 10, 1897 a sizable group of Slovak and Polish miners who were on strike set out for the small mining settlement of Lattimer. In subsequent investigations during the trial they testified that they were on their way there because the Lattimer workers had sent them word that they decided to join the strike movement. The group of striking miners had hardly left Hazleton when Sheriff Martin with a company of about a hundred men from the supporting police force (so-called deputies) anticipated their movement and went An excerpt from Konstantin Culen's two-volume History of the Slovaks in America. (Bratislava, Slovenska Liga , 1942) vol. 1, Part XI , no . 5-9, pp. 162-176. Translated by Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. �SLOVAKIA 45 on ahead of them riding the trolley lines. On reaching Lattimer, he assigned his force of deputies to various positions and then he moved several paces forward, addressing the group marching in on foot, to read a restraining order that forbade any gathering or assemblage of persons by provision ordinance dealing with uprising and rebellion. During the reading of this ordinance, a few strikers came closer to the sheriff and there was some minor verbal exchange. The miners objected that they were not disturbers of the public peace or revolutionaries of any kind; they were simply orderly and law-abiding citizens peacefully going along their way . This reaction so exasperated the sheriff that he reached out and snatched away a small American flag that one of the men was carrying, tore it up, pulled out his revolver and began to shoot. After he had drawn his trigger five times, his sixth shot struck a miner in the chest and hurled him to the ground. After the sheriff's outburst of fire, there was the sound of volleys from the deputies. The unarmed miners turned and fled in panic, trying to find safety or protection of some kind. The brutal frontal attack lasted but a few moments but the deputies continued to fire upon the fleeing miners so that practically all of them were struck and wounded in flight.(1) The deputies who were charged with excitement by this time, further assaulted the bleeding victims by beating them and kicking them cruelly as they lay helpless on the ground. A shot or a volley of shots can seem to be an effective argument at a given moment but usually its effectiveness wears off after a brief time. And shots or salvos of shots fail to carry conviction. This was brought out in the Lattimer situation. The Slovak colony found itself in a state of shock, standing inconsolate beside the corpses of the fallen men. It was all too clear to these newcomers now - if it had not been clear to them before - that every Slovak had to be very realistically a brother to a fellow-Slovak, that every Slovak would have to be the most reliable standby and defense of a fellow-Slovak. Anything less than that would serve to reduce them to the debasing circumstance of being mere henchmen and convenient tools of foreign overlords and exploiters. This extravagant bloodletting and bizarre butchering under unprovoked and non-violent circumstances evoked considerable humane reaction in the American press. The attitudes of American journalists were not all of a kind. Some reporters and editors were incensed over the needless killings and brutality. Some wrote with a sense of relief that the incident involved only "Hunkies" - the generic designation that most newspapers used for every newcomer from Austria-Hungary. News of this lamentable event spread to all the Slovak settlers scattered throughout the United States and set off a degree of outrage and consternation that no other experience had yet caused in SlovakAmerican life. Those who had been faction-torn or at odds for whatever �46 SLOVAKIA reasons , were at once moved to conciliation and unity through their common grief at the graveside of the murdered men. Slovak Ame rican journalists who had been indulging personal and non-personal bouts of polemics in their papers left all that trivia now that a common cause evolved out of this catastrophe , and a vigorous new spirit infused their energies and talents. They reacted with a sense of unity and resolute will not only to moderate the mounting resentment and growing agitation that could have been fanned to unreasonable and uncontrollable proportions but to divert effort and attention to an altruistic purpose on behalf of aiding and befriending the widowed and orphaned survivors . Slovak American journalists also undertook a determined program to secure in the free world of America that measure of civic dignity and security that would make it impossible for such brutal disregard of the human right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ever to be repeated and condoned again . The press came out strongly with appeals for at least financial compensation to the bereaved widows and orphans and demanded that punitive justice be dealt the incriminated sheriff. The general feeling was that the just process of law and suitable sentencing should act as a deterrent to any possible repetition of the horrible incident. The whole body of Slovak immigrant life in America reacted with a corporate cry of pain and a strong appeal protesting the inhumanity of the Lattimer episode. New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, all made their voices heard as did lesser towns and even the lowly scattered hamlet settlements in America where Slovaks nursed the pain of this tragic hurt . Countless gatherings and demonstrations attracted thousands of Slovak laborers to review and assess the factors involved and the consequences of this catastrophe. Numberless formal discussions and rallies were climaxed with the drawing up of appropriate protest resolutions. All Slovak-American centers participated in drives to aid the victimized survivors of the callous murder, and there were also spirited fund-raising campaigns for legal expenses and court costs to bring Sheriff Martin to justice, for the prevailing view was that he should be made to pay for his crime, for his responsibility in leading and abetting reprehensible action . A committee for this express purpose was organized in Hazleton, holding itself charged to set in motion whatever action might be called for and to pursue the cause to its end. The September 16, 1897 issue (738) of the Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny appeared with a banner headline whose bold-faced lettering read: "Massacre of Slavs . In the freest country under the sun , people are shot at like dogs. Slavs are the victims of American savagery." Editor Pucher Ciernovodsky designated September 10 the bloody Friday of Slovak national life. His report seemed to be written with a pen dipped in blood. He denounced the attacking party and he did not spare the Slovaks themselves , finding them culpable of that lack of �SLOVAKIA 47 interest in public affairs that could have contributed significantly to the culmination of this public scandal. Some of Pucher Ciernovodsky' s thoughts were: ' 'The mountainsides of Hazleton are drenched with Slovak blood, and pitiable orphans and widows, fathers and mothers, brothers and friends raise eyes brimming with bitter tears to heaven pleading, 0 God , is there justice in this life? If there is justice on this earth of ours, did our blood truly deserve this spilling? Who in this world is committed to greater drudgery than we? Who in this world is engaged in a work that is more dangerous than ours? ' 'When we are driven to extremes of misery because hunger and want have sapped our strength and our bodies are bone-weary from overwork, and when our famished and shabbily clothed children ask for food that we cannot provide for them , and we go to discuss our problems and try to come together for deliberations in an effort to arrive at some reasonable solutions, how to go about unsnarling this sad fate that so embitters our lives - what kind of law is it, what kind of justice and fairness is it - or is it our miserable doom that we should be shot at like dogs? Ah, America, America ... ''It is indeed a curious America. When the Turks set upon the Armenians, every full-blooded American protested and vehemently shouted his willingness to join a fighting force to check the Turks. And yet here and now when it comes to bringing to justice those who similarly violated the rights of Slavs in America, they do all in their power to prevent the guilty from being brought to legitimate trial. Reams have been written and volumes have been mouthed condemning the cruelties of the Spanish in Cuba. There was universal recrimination against the injustices inflicted upon the oppressed Cubans, yet journalists have scant syllables of tenderness or sympathy for our people who were felled by wanton gunshot in a manner more senseless and inhuman than any attack of the Spanish upon the Cubans . The Cubans at least had defense weapons but our people were shot unarmed, shot like animals . ''This grieves us unspeakably. '' And, in the last analysis, who is most responsible for all this? "We ourselves must hold ourselves responsible. "A Slav does not support a fellow-Slav. We have no mutual bonds of unity, no fellowship at all, no commonly shared activities. We cultivate none. We fail to get along amicably. Instead, we seem to make sport of baiting one another, and we lack even that zest for life that long ago should have whipped us into a common front to denounce the maligning that the American press released against us and to protest the discrimination and injustice imposed upon foreigners by the threecent-tax. If other ethnic groups had not taken the initiative , we would have let them dance on our heads . �48 SLOVAKIA ' ' What can the American public think about such men? It would not be surprising if they rated us cowardly, worthless, less than the Indians, and so deserving a fate no better than that of the Indians. "We give too little consideration to matters like citizenship, legal rights and civil rights or public opinion. No wonder, then, that public opinion shows no concern about us, has no regard for us . ''If public opinion had any respect for us, then those deputies and the sheriff who were involved in the Lattimer affair would not have allowed themselves to perpetrate such an act of sheer barbarism. Whatever the circumstances, whether there was any excuse or not for a collective attack with Winchester rifles, at least this truth remains that if we were not a subservient people they would not have kept firing at our fleeing men from behind. "The catchword of people like our attackers, is "Shoot the Hungarian dog! ' ' Why? Because we do not make the effort to have our own recognized defense and defenders , our own qualified men who are in touch with the pulse of political life and current trends , men qualified to speak out on our behalf. We ourselves all too readily and regrettably belittle our own ; we tend to regard with disfavor and lack of recognition those of us who have gifts of leadership; we begrudge them opportunities , cut them down and deny them a chance to develop their potential. "In the end we suffer for it collectively. It is true that there are officials whose duty it is to defend our people because they were appointed and authorized to do so, and they are salaried to execute this office , but they seem to be wrapped in safe slumber. They are our Austro-Hungarian consuls. " Just what did these officials, these Austro-Hungarian consuls do for us in previous strike situations? Exactly nothing. " On the other hand , how did the Italian consuls react when their Italian countrymen were being lynched in New Orleans? The furor that was generated on that occasion almost incited a war with the United States, and an indemnity of five thousand dollars had to be paid for every victim. ' 'It is our reasoned judgment that the Hazleton bloodshed is far more criminal than was the New Orleans lynching and it is the patent duty of the Austro-Hungarian government to make honorable and serious intervention on our behalf. "Since those who were shot to death were citizens of the United States , we have no alternative but to organize our effort in order to bring the whole affair to an exhaustive investigation and to the due process of justice. The burden of responsibility in this matter rests primarily with our Slavic organizations which, in every respect, bear the characteristics of American organizational structure. And their responsibility for such action is all the more binding if any of their members happened to be among the victims, if they were members of �SLOVAKIA 49 the National Slovak Society, the First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota), the Greek Catholic society Sojedinenie, the Pennsylvania Slovak Union, Sojus, etc. Let these organizations set in motion the wheels that will bring about necessary lawsuits; let them underwrite out of their treasuries or raise funds in some way to cover related expenses, and let their united effort and combined strength prove that they truly have the good name and the best interests of all Slavic ethnics at heart. Let me presume to say that this Bartholomew night should serve as a Sturrnistic symbol effecting concerted and wholehearted cooperation. ''If this soul-shaking experience fails to jolt us out of our morbid lethargy, we ought to raise a memorial cross as a marker for our nation and our spirit of patriotism and declare that we buried it all on that bloody Friday in Hazleton.'' (2) Because of this massacre a violent disturbance broke out among the Slovak and Polish miners. Governor Hastings declared a state of emergency in Hazleton and dispatched 2,500 troops to move in and control the problem. Security measures that the governor ordered for the Hazleton area were very extensive and elaborate, involving the outlay of $475 ,000 - a very large sum in those days. The whole countryside seethed and repercussions were witnessed far and wide. The American press took sides with Sheriff Martin, generally arguing (as if it were a valid objection) that the slain men were not even American citizens. The press of the ethnic groups and those who supported the cause of the miners countered this attitude with the historically substantiated observation that neither were Pulaski, Kosciusko and some other heroes of the American War for Independence official citizens of the United States. They came to fight for freedom in a land that was alien to them because liberty and freedom are nowhere in the world foreign commodities to any human being. Freedom is the prerogative of every person and we are all entitled to our share of this gift. In the hour of our country's struggle for freedom, every able volunteer was welcome to share in the battle and in the pain to win it. Now that the fruits of liberty should be portioned out to all and denied to none in a free land, it is glibly said that freedom is our privilege - you are existentially in the land of liberty but you are not a free man. On September 11 the miners held an open air protest rally in Hazleton. Father Stas, pastor of St. John Nepomucene Roman Catholic church in Freeland, spoke on behalf of the Slovak minority. He spoke out strongly and fearlessly against a freedom that countenances the murder of defenseless people. Some of the other speakers on this occasion were Reverend R. Aust of Hazleton who represented the Poles, Reverend Gullovic, Reverend Hauser, attorney John Shea of Wilkes-Barre and J . Fahy, president of the United Mine Workers. A gathering of over 4,000 Slovak and Polish mine workers resolved to �50 SLOVAKIA defend their rights, determined to make Sheriff Martin stand trial for this wanton bloodletting. The victims of the disaster were buried on September 12 as huge throngs converged upon the area for the occasion. This Lattimer massacre affected much of America. On September 15, the Slovaks and the Poles of the New York region held a mass demonstration at which they made it clear that the issue at stake was in no way related to religious affiliation or nationality roots or fratemalism of one kind or another. Their main concern was the general welfare of the American working class and fundamental civil rights for all. They appealed for unanimity and single-mindedness of purpose among them all - the Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians and English. A resolution which they formulated on this occasion includes these sentiments: · 'Profoundly affected by the catastrophe that occurred in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in a free country, the republic of the United States of North America, where on September 10 eighteen men who were Slavs and Slovaks were shot to death and about forty others were wounded by a sheriff's posse as these men peaceably and with no ill intent went their way on a public street, aware of the provision of the Constitution of the United States which guarantees every citizen freedom of speech, freedom of opinion and belief, and the right of assemblage, all of which this country esteems and safeguards as sacred civil rights. ' ' Aware that the action of Sheriff Martin and his party was wholly unlawful and totally uncalled for - for it has been proved that the workmen who were en route to their predetermined destination had neither arms nor foul purpose, and he had not even tried to inform them of his rights and their duties - we, on this basis, as American citizens, as workingmen, as Slavs by accident of birth, do most emphatically denounce and condemn this criminal act. We express our profound sympathy to the bereaved families of the unfortunate victims even as we invoke the widely esteemed American regard for justice, urging that formal action be taken to bring to trial those who are considered blameworthy and to have them face their responsibility by due process of law and in this way to effect moral satisfaction to our nation and material compensation to the survivors of the victim families; ' 'We further resolve that to the full extent of our ability and means we will morally and materially offer our assistance to the unfortunately bereaved and we will exert all our power and prestige to have bloodthirsty criminals bear the just punishment which their conduct deserves; "We finally resolve that copies of this resolution be sent to the governor of the state of Pennsylvania and to the district attorney of Luzerne County, and that it be published in all newspapers; we also urge the editors of our Slovak publications to appeal to our people to �SLOVAKIA 51 support this action wholeheartedly with liberal contributions in an effort to redeem and justify the much maligned name and rights of the Slovaks who find it inevitable to undertake a distasteful reckoning with narrow-minded nativists." (3) A spirited call was made in the press for attendance at a protest gathering scheduled for September 20 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania "at which resolutions will be formulated denouncing the action of Sheriff Martin who is responsible for the shooting-death of so many blameless Slovaks . English, Slovak, Polish, Croatian and various other speakers will address those present." Protest and denunciation were voiced from all parts of the nation where there were fellow nationals of the slain miners . Dr. Theodorovic, who represented the office of the Austro-Hungarian consul, came to Hazleton for a personal assessment of the massacre and related factors. Slovak and Polish groups initiated drives throughout the United States in order to raise funds for promoting an equitable trial that would yield at least fair compensations where they were due, and just penalties for Sheriff Martin and his henchmen, all within the framework of jurisprudence and with a deterrent impact against similar injustice. One outcome of this effort was the organization of "the National Fair Trial and Beneficial Committee on Behalf of the Lattimer Victims. " This committee published a public statement and an appeal which was carried in all the current newspapers. It read in part: '' The underlings who are in the employ of corporations and share a thirst for liquidating their fellow-citizens are largely the lackeys and hacks of their bosses, all murderously eager to carry out every order from the top. The incident did not arise out of any disturbance of the peace by those guiltless men who were so brutally victimized; there was no intent to transgress law or ordinance; they carried no firearms , no clubs or flails. Workingmen were simply on a mission of their own, marching along the street to meet some fellow-workers from the same mining company in order to discuss a sharing of views and attitudes and to build moral support in a common cause. ''The Declaration of Independence in this land proclaims that all men are created free and equal. Somehow these hirelings felt that the life of an alien is not worth even as much as the life of a slave. Apparently they were led to believe that their killing of such people and under such circumstances would be universally approved by the press and by public opinion. '' It is well known that Americans endorse the principle of fair play. When poor workmen, unarmed victims, were so foully gunned down in cold blood, not only this land but all the civilized world was appalled by the atrocity. The Constitution of the United States provides for the right of peaceful assembly. Have these words meaning or force in the light of bullets and bayonets? We hold that every individual who participated in the shooting on that ill-fated day in Lattimer overstepped his rights �52 SLOVAKIA and violated the law. We hold that their act was nothing short of criminal, inhuman and unspeakable butchery. "We make this appeal and protest in the name of those who were wounded and as representatives of those who are the bereaved survivors in the families of the slain victims. Our committee has been organized in order to provide counsel and to call witnesses and to take care of whatever else may be necessary to bring Sheriff Martin and his deputies to face indictment and to stand trial according to the full force of our country's laws. ''We act on the principle that this struggle of ours is your struggle as well as ours and on the assumption that you are friends of the workingman who is often taken advantage of. If these people whom we desire to bring to an accounting are let go free and without making retribution for the killing of our countrymen, who knows what further fate can await us in the future? "Reverend Richard Aust, president; John Nemeth, treasurer; Loughran, secretary; Reverend John Stas, Salvator di Sandola, Nicholas Ballok, Matthews Long, John Kuntz, Charles Hauser, Edmund Lemhick, Reverend J. Formanek, Frank Kozlovski, George Kozarovich. '' Samuel Gompers, president of the Federation of Labor, visited the scene and made some observations about the cheap labor of the Poles, Slovaks and Italians whom the coal barons were importing into America in order to squeeze out the '' intelligent Irish and Welsh laborers.' ' Even before the sentencing, Gompers as president of the workers' union said, ''It is my opinion that the sheriff and his deputies will be acquitted in order to teach 'those foreigners' a lesson to behave differently in the future. ' 'Posterity will rate the Lattimer killings as nothing but massacre of a kind that has no equal in the history of civilized peoples, and the consciences of the perpetrators of this act will accuse and torment them to their last day. And even though monopolies and monopolists may succeed in achieving their victory, such slaughter must some day come to an end; truth will be victorious and all people will enjoy the fulness of their sacred rights - all people, whether they be of the common working class or the favored moneyed class of mine owners. "The laborers .of our country are moving toward better and stronger organization day by day, and the citizens at large are grasping a much better and a truer concept of the rights and obligations of individuals. When that day of ultimate realization does arrive, the account of the Lattimer murders will have been written in our history in letters of blood and this notorious crime will be looked upon as the most atrocious and vile offense of the nineteenth century.'' The trial of Sheriff Martin and his associates opened on February 1, 1898. The place of trial was the Luzerne County Court in WilkesBarre. Adherents of both the prosecution and the defense followed �SLOVAKIA 53 developments with undivided attention and intense feeling. Sheriff Martin had the support of all the major coal corporations , top officialdom and capitalism . The plaintiffs were backed by the laboring masses. In the process of jury se lection , Judge Staley Woodward saw to it that only American-born citizens were seated as jurors . There was never any doubt that the se lected jury panel was unanimous in its antipathy for foreigners . Judge Woodward ascertained from sworn testimony that the striking miners had created no public disorder or disturbance during their march , that they were completely unarmed, that Sheriff Martin had stopped them and insolently ordered them to turn back , that the miners were not incline d to obey but had objected that they had every right to use a public street. Further testimony indicated that the sheriff challenged the leader of the marching group, gave the order to fire and that he himself fired the first shot , striking the leader of the marching miners in the chest as additional volleys were turned upon the men who began to run for shelter . The City Trust Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia supplied bail for the indicted to the amount of $256 ,000 . The press seldom missed an opportunity to belittle the foreign element and to overstate their shortcomings and least desirable traits - almost as if bad traits and undesirable characteristics were exclusively theirs. The presiding judge at the trial was Judge Woodward. He was related to the owner of the mines where strikes were beginning to be staged. He was also a shareholder in these mines. There was not a single Slav among the twelve jurors, most of whom were farmers, men who could hardly have firsthand knowledge of mining conditions and the situations that had justified the strike movement. They were not at all familiar with such matters as fair working conditions, e quitable pay, safety m easures, etc. A writer in one of the current publications observed, ' 'These are the names of the men in whose hands rests the power of passing a verdict that will tell the world whether anyone in this civilized country - even if he be the highest official of a particular country - may or may not, without cause, slaughter peaceful workers . It is easy to tell from the listed names that to the very last man these jurors are all Americans. The question is: are their hearts filled with rank nativism and malicious ill-will against foreigners? If they are bigoted nativists, it is vain to expect a fair sentence.'' Early in the opening of the trial the court denied the motion of the state prosecutor that the jury go to the scene of the massacre for a kind of re-enactment of the events that occurred there . The last act of this bloody drama took place during the trial. As charge followed upon charge , the full impact of hate and prejudice �54 SLOVAKIA harbored against the Slavic immigrants came into clearer and surer light. One of the defendants boasted, "I did all right; I aimed at nine and brought down five of them ." Meanwhile the mutilated survivors of that bloody Friday - some without an arm or a leg -- were in full view of the court and the spectators gathered at the trial. Before the eyes of them all , Gregory Gasparik with bandages bound about his head in which a bullet was still lodged, in moderate tones testified against Sheriff Martin and his posse. People who lived near the scene of the crime also came in to testify, telling how they had seen the deputies beat the strikers who were already all bloodied and wounded with shots . The defendants produced about a hundred witnesses who charged that Poles and Huns had terrorized the whole area and that on this occasion they were actuallly marching with firearms. They supported Sheriff Martin as a law man who was doing his duty when he ordered his men to fire at the group . Sheriff Martin, on his part, denied all guilt in the matter and entered a plea of innocent . He claimed that after reading the injunction, he attempted to arrest the leader of the marchers but the striking men , misunderstanding his action and intent, set upon him and began to beat and kick him. At this point he called upon his men for help and when even that restraint was ineffective, he finally gave an order to fire because he feared that he might be killed. When blank shots did not quell the situation , then they began to shoot in earnest even if it meant to wound and kill. He claimed that when he first met the marchers, he asked where they were going and that they answered, ''To Lattimer in order to get the men out of work! " " I begged them and pleaded with them not to go any farther ," he stated. " I urged them to obey the law and to disperse. Someone from the back of the crowd loudly cried out the word to go on. The strikers began to jostle me about and to shout abuse at me. One drunken Hungarian even tried to throttle me so I arrested him. The crowd that surrounded me swelled bigger and bigger. I drew my revolver and aimed into the air because I did not want to hurt anyone . In that instant, Joseph Novotny punched me in the face and I fell to the ground as the mob began to howl, 'Kill the s.o.b. ! ' '' I tried to defend myself with my revolver but it wouldn't fire. The mob that was pressing upon me was armed with revolvers and knives. When I fell to my knees, the deputies began to fire and the crowd then started to fall back. But they did not disperse at once. At a distance of 500 to 600 feet, they stopped in a wooded place. I felt that they might return. My men began to shout to them to disperse . Afterwards I gave the order to look after the wounded and the killed.'' The strikers countered this desposition with the charge that the sheriff was the first to fire a shot. They maintained that no one struck �SLOVAKIA 55 him, no one kicked him nor was there any evidence on his clothing or his body that he had been subjected to rough treatment of any kind. No blanks were discharged and no man who was wounded or killed was struck by a frontal shot; all were shot from the back. The son of the mine owner, young Pardee, called out to the law men , "Boys, shoot down those Huns! " Further testimony indicated that the deputies were extremely harsh and unfeeling even toward the killed and the wounded , kicking them mercilessly. Sworn witnesses consistently testified that the miners had no arms of any kind . They carried no canes or sticks, no rocks or stones , much less firearms. Scores of witnesses corroborated this testimony . Andrew Siviar, one of the miners, testified that the workmen marched as members of the United Mine Workers of America and that they had no weapons and had planned no mischief or property destruction of any kind. John Milhala, secretary of the local union, testified that they had gone to the mayor of the city who assured them that they could go to Lattimer in orderly fashion , that the sheriff had no authority to stop or prevent them. Some striking testimony was presented by the local school teacher Charles Guscot. He was eyewitness to the entire episode. He attested to the opening of fire by Sheriff Martin and the inhumane shooting upon the men who helplessly tried to flee from the ruthless officers. Another teacher from a nearby school alleged that she personally saw one of the deputies pursuing a wounded and bloodied man and in horror witnessed how he shot him to death a few steps in front of her when the weakened man fell to the ground from exhaustion. Reverend Stafflet declared under sworn testimony that he was passing the scene in a trolley car and had seen no signs of provocation on the part of the miners . They conducted themselves becomingly and bothered nobody along the way. The daily papers reported that the courtroom was the scene of some most unusual proceedings. The firm that had provided the earlier funds for bail now again supplied further expense money in the amount of over $402 .00 . All the sworn testimony agreed on the fact that the miners had no weapons . As a matter of fact, they had reckoned with the possibility of being challenged on the way and had forbidden any man to carry arms. Not one of them carried even as much as a walking stick or ordinary cane. Among the witnesses one testified that when he decided to join the group, he went into the mountains and cut himself a staff - just in case - but the others prevailed upon him to throw it away. There was also testimony that the deputies had openly boasted in the town that they would kill "the dirty Huns" yet. One of them joked about the whole thing afterwards, commenting that if he had been �56 SLOVAKIA given a cent for every one that he shot, he would have had the price of a bee r because he himself hit five . The sheriff and all the indicted men appeared before the bench with an air of great self-confidence and assurance. Their backing firm had made an outlay of over $30,000 in legal fees, the judge undoubtedly lent them the weight of his favor and they knew beforehand that no kind of testimony could affect them adversely. Some of the leading American newspapers, including the New York World which was owned by Pulitzer , a Jew from Zemplin in Slovakia, slanted their reporting to discredit the miners. Maurice Engelman , who was also a witness, testified that back in town they laughingly told him to hide or he would be an easy target. John Petruska testified that he was present when the posse was choosing firearms and one of the deputies quipped, " We ' re on our way for a shooting in Lattimer!" Gaspar Wizneski testified that he himself saw the sheriff raise his revolver and fire into the crowd in front of him . '' Do you swear that you saw the sheriff kill one of the strikers?'' the attorney challenged him . '' I swear to it that I did! '' he answered in a clear and audible voice that carried throughout the electrified atmosphere of the courtroom. Martin McGahren and Scarlet, attorneys for the plaintiffs, did not lack incriminating evidence yet all the substance of the testimony did not seem to put the burden of guilt on the accused. The court demanded specific proof and specific charges identifying who killed whom . This could hardly be presented , given the circumstances of abrupt assault and the ensuing panic . Who could tell precisely whose bullet killed this victim or that one? And there was the persistent line of defense claiming that the sheriff acted in the discharge of his duty when he issued the order to fire on the crowd. The defense was called to investigate a hundred witnesses . It was a drawn out trial that finally ended on March 9, 1898 . The sentence that was pronounced was: "The accused are found not guilty. " The court ruled that they had the right to shoot, that they had a right to selfdefense. This verdict created a public scandal. Over 30 ,000 miners began to threaten to take to the streets again, to start another strike. But they were at a total disadvantage. Corporations had contributed several hundred thousands of dollars for this legal battle. How could that be matched by the trifling $5,930 that the impoverished and distracted miners were able to raise from their own resources? For long months, the prime topic of public interest and comment among the Slovaks was the Lattimer massacre. Dozens and dozens of articles, printed and spoken reactions of varying degrees of intensity, were devoted to this incredibly outrageous event and its disgraceful outcome . J. A. Feriencik vehemently and fearlessly criticized a court of �SLOVAKIA 57 justice that would condone such wanton killing and allow such an act to go unpunished, unatoned, because the lords and the mighty ones assented to it. In stark disbelief he wrote: ''They will kill, they will shoot, and grant you no mourning or tears of relief. And somehow they will make it all come out within the limits of the law. '' On the one hand we keep calling out 'Friends and countrymen of ours, come out here and settle here in America, in this famed free country. Apply for American citizenship, learn English, do your utmost to become worthy citizens of the United States, etc.' On the other hand, we urge our people back home to come over with their entire families, to establish themselves as family units and to adopt the American way of life and so gain the ' respect' of their American neighbors. '' And our people here credulously throng to the courts for naturalization forms, they register their desire to become American citizens, set themselves to studying English, the language of this country, adopt American usage and custom, and with all the ardor of their nature they cultivate a deep love for this new country of theirs. In many instances their devotion and loyalty outstrip the sentiments of some native American citizens. And the returns for this good will and generous effort? - Heartless murder! "Even as our people spare no pain in their sincere enthusiasm to evidence their devotion , patriotism and good will, their love for the land of their adoption, their respect for its laws, they are contemptuously referred to as scoundrel Huns and Hunkies. And what hate goes with the slogans: They pushed us out of our jobs; take it out on them! Give it to them! Let them know that we don't like them one bit! '' Some of it is even more foul than this but I must restrain myself or some of that biased American justice might just get me across the knuckles too. "So it is then. These are the facts: You, my people , bend your neck willingly . You do all that you can to prove your genuine devotion to this new land. And what do you get for it all? - Censure, unmitigated scorn, cold brutality. '' Blameless blood is needlessly shed within the scope of the law. It is all but a miracle that the presiding judge did not pin a medal of heroism on the lapel of the sheriff and proclaim him a deliverer of some kind. ''It is time for us to look about and assess what's around us and not just sound off about the freedom, the democracy and the brotherhood of these people. "At every step you come upon hate, you face contempt. Even a street urchin will let you know that you are repulsive to him. ' ' My people, does misery force you to flee from one country as you seek to save your life and avoid starvation, and do you eagerly turn to �58 SLOVAKIA this free America to settle here and earn your bread through hard work and long hours? You escape from misery at home and the threat of death by famine only to hurl yourself into the arms of death here. There you tried to save your life; here they snatch it from you. "Foul murder! '' Are we to be the door mat of murderers forever? Some drive us out of our birthplace and in exile others set upon us with the intent to kill. "Introduce a system of slavery. Buy white slaves, shackle them, treat them at will and you will have a fair picture of American freedom and democracy in action . A realistic picture. Is the world to consider these democratic and freedom-loving people? A murderer has never yet been taken for a champion of freedom , a humanitarian or a freedom-lover. The lurid blotch left by Slovak blood spilled in Pennsylvania will long witness your kind of benevolence, your warped philanthropia? '' Are we to tell the undisguised truth to all our people? Well, if you want them to shoot you here, then tell it. It appears that before long they will pass laws making it legal to shoot Slovaks in certain particular months and not to consider them game in others - just as they do for various animals. It seems to be moving in that direction. This very trial gives proof of such widely touted justice and equity. The capitalist triumphs in spite of his crime and his guilt. The wretched workman loses even though it is he who has been wronged. " My people, if you only had millions of dollars in your hands, they would surely have proved to you how they can adjust and modify twisted paragraphs. But without the almighty dollar ... if you are the unfortunate wretch, then suffer and be still. That is the kind of principle that guided the judge presiding at the trial of the Lattimer murderers .'' (4) The American-Slovak News further editorialized on the subject of the trial and its verdict: '' For those who participated in the Lattimer massacre - or putting it more aptly - for those who defended the bloody trade of the butchers thirsting for human blood at the scene of the Lattimer carnage, it would be rather unfair to designate the event as a drama. For them this classic drama reached its denouement with all the impact of a genuine comedy. Twelve confirmed foes of all that does not breathe the fanatic ideas of the Apaches declared that the butcher Sheriff Martin and his vultures only did their duty; they acted as honorable men when they killed off those hated Huns. ''They crucified truth! They grossly trampled upon the rights of the disadvantaged workman in this free country. Why? For no reason other than this fact that the slaughtered victims first saw the light of day in Hungary, in Russia, in Germany or in Italy.'' (5) �SLOVAKIA 59 Naturally such a foul crime of multiple homicide and utter ruthlessness could not have touched Slovak life without affecting it deeply. The Slovaks sensed that if they would truly avoid being so tom by factions and lack of unity, if they could somehow unite their thousands of workers with common purpose and a sense of solidarity, such a misfortune could never again be repeated. Gradually there evolved within them the consciousness that we are all at fault, all of us, for not claiming those rights to which we are entitled. And so we suffer punishment. Out of this painful and humiliating or humbling realization , even before the verdict was pronounced, there grew the first substantial endeavor of the Slovaks in this land to work in harmony and to achieve a common strength. Realization fortunately led to action. On October 17, 1897 representatives of the leading Slovak-American publications met in Cleveland in order to confer on definite practical steps toward cooperation and the pursuit of common goals. The conference of these journalists resolved to adopt measures related to basic issues in order to counteract the unwholesome attitudes and underserved attacks of certain American press agencies that treated the Slovak immigrant element as less than human . This Congress of Slavic Pressmen , which was organized by Fr. (Francis) Pucher , also sent expressions of condolence to the survivors of the Lattimer victims. This innocent Slovak blood that was shed then did not go wholly wasted. It tended to conciliate the Slovaks and to bring them together. And though this was an extravagantly harsh and costly lesson, it taught them that in their distant strange land they must renounce all petty conflicts and contentions, for in this new world their widely scattered strength will count only if they can bring themselves together and act as a corporate unit that has the general welfare at heart. Many families that had not bothered about joining a Slovak fraternal or beneficial organization now saw that membership in such a society could really mean much to them, especially in the event of an unfortunate or tragic occurrence. The blood that the Slovak miners shed for the general good was the first effective and lasting incentive that brought the Slovaks of America together into one unified and conscious body. One disappointment followed in the aftermath. Newspapers published the report that John Nemeth, chairman of the committee, was named consul just before the final settlement of all the misunderstandings; however, his appointment was conditioned on his withdrawal from the committee. The government of Austria-Hungary petitioned the government of the United States to allocate some compensation to the families of the Lattimer victims. The outcome is embodied in an official document of the Secretary of the Interior (78,999) which includes the following statement: �60 SLOVAKIA "The government of the United States does not recognize any obligation to provide compensation to our fellow-citizens or to the famili es of those who were killed in the clash between the mine workers and the police in the Hazleton-Lattimer area.'' From the blood of these martyrs there was a sprouting of the fragile and delicate flower of accord. Within a year the general tone of the Slovak press had changed from bitter acrimony and unprofitable controversy to understanding and kindlier feeling all around. Even in cases where everyone had believed that common ground could never be found among known antagonists, it had indeed been discovered that these individuals also had many mutually satisfying interests to share and promote and they could work together and get along satisfactorily in spite of their differences. From this point on, every other problem seemed to be of a trivial nature, insignificant trifles that caused minor rifts here and there but had no essential substance. The main drive was toward definite goals even though various and varied avenues led to the ultimate end. FOOTNOTES (1) In a newspaper report published by the Amerikansko Slovenske noviny right after the event, the following are listed as fatality victims in this unfortunate clash: 1) John Kosanec , 2) John Temoci , 3) Fr. Kedel, 4) John Ceka, 5) John Ceslak 6) George Versek, 7) Stephen Hornik , 8) George Kulik, 9) Fr. Ceka, 10) Stephen Ulrich, 11) Andrew Zesman, 12) John Ivanko. Later these names wer also added to the list: 13) John Futa , whose name is sometimes also given as Futas, 14) Stephen Jurek, 15) Michael Ceslak, 16) George Gasparek, 17) John Slebodnik , 18) John Banko, 19) Andrew Jurecek, 20) John Skrip. Since Sheriff Martin was indicted for the death of twenty-one victims , it is clear that this list is incomplete. Some of the men who had been seriously wounded in the incident later died in the hospital. An exact list with all names in their correct spelling is most likely available from the court records in Wilkes-Barre and probably from various English and Polish newspapers of that time. It was a common practice in those days to transmit news reports by telegraphic communication and so it is possible that some of the names were affected by transcription and could have been somewhat distorted. The following men were wounded in the encounter: Anthony Macuka, single , Polish; James Tomason , single, Polish; Francis Fetus, single, Slovak; John Penkames, married, Lithuanian; Joseph Macko, married, Slovak ; Andrew Josmont, married, Polish ; Martin Serfanek, single, Polish ; John Dolny , married , Slovak; John Krisak, single, Slovak ; John Presa, married, Slovak ; Andrew Majer , single, Slovak; John Padnok , married , Polish ; John Posca, married, Slovak ; George Gaspar, single, Slovak; Adolph Colak, married, Slovak ; Adam Lipianski , single, Polish; John Kulich, single, Polish , John Kontra, married , Slovak; Joseph Gasparik, married, Slovak; Thomas Paris , single, Polish ; Andrew Honas, married, Slovak; Andrew Orban, married , Polish; Gaspar Dula§, married , Slovak; Joseph Zapa, Slovak; Joseph Paulak, married , Polish; Matthew Chia, married , Polish; Clement Plotach, married, Polish; John Fora, single, Slovak; Stanislaus Kominski, married, Polish; Constantine Monsara , married , Polish , Bernard Rummal, single, Polish . In 1902 the convention of American Mine Workers adopted a resolution providing for the erection of a memorial to honor the fallen miners as pioneer heroes in the cause for �SLOVAKIA 61 social justice. Additional names of stricken men that make their appearance within the formal text of this resolution include the following: Clement Patek, John Foote, Sebastian Praztomski, Raphael Rezervicz, Albert Czaja, Stanley Rajoski, Andrew Goekers, Andrew Miczkowski, John Krop, Andrew Morrikoski, Adam Zrainski, Adalbert Zienka, Frank Chazesjewski, Steve Znoec, Andrew Jamee (Jurecek), Mike Coseak (Ceslak), George Kulek (Kulik). Some of the surnames were garbled to some extent; most likely they happened to be misread in the course of years that had passed since the massacre itself. (2) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny (American-Slovak News), September 16, 1897. (3) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny, 30. IX. 1897. (4) "Let Slovak Blood Call to God for Vengeance" American-Slovak News, 31. ill. 1898. (5) American-Slovak News. 5.Il. 1899. �62 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre and Trial HARRY B. SCHOOLEY III INTRODUCTION To have a clearer understanding of the trial at issue it is necessary to say that upon entering the court where the trial is in progress one is immediately impressed with the fact that the issue involved is as much a question of the relations of employer and employed as a question of the trial of Sheriff Martin and his deputies for murder, and, as has been invariably the case, the representatives of corporate power assume a hauteur and domineering attitude toward all. The counsel for the defense, former Attorney-General Palmer and Mr. Lenahan, as well as Sheriff Martin and the Deputies , assume an air of offended pride and indignation at being called to defend themselves against a charge of killing a score or more laborers, and think of it! Foreign laborers at that! So wrote Samuel Gompers in an article for the New York World of February 20, 1898. The shooting at Lattimer, Pennsylvania, had become labor's forgotten massacre. Twenty-four striking anthracite coal miners were killed when Luzerne County Sheriff James Martin ordered his deputies to fire into their ranks when their parade threatened the security of the community shortly after three o'clock on the hot afternoon of September 10, 1897. While at times a Sheriff has been punished for criminal neglect of his duty in not firing on a riotous mob, Sheriff Martin was proceeded against in the Lattimer trial because he and his deputies did so fire. The law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for whose supremacy they battled, was used to compass their destruction because they did so. Gompers was wrong. Lattimer was not a '' question of the relations of employer and employed." The lesson of the verdict in the Lattimer case is not that the rich are to be protected, but that the poor and defenseless shall have an absolute guarantee of all their individual rights, and that those who attempt to impair them by lawlessness must answer to the law as criminals. H.B.s.,m May, 1965 (Harry B. Schooley ill teaches at the Buffalo Seminary for girls in Buffalo, New York. A native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he wrote this paper while an undergraduate at Williams College in May, 1965.) �SLOVAKIA 63 Ariovistus Pardee, an ambitious engineering student with the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, was sent in May of 1833 to the Lehigh coal regions of Pennsylvania to survey a railroad line from the anthracite mines at Beaver Meadow to the Lehigh Canal at Mauch Chunk. Pardee 's success in the area led him to locating further lines in the region and he began his own mining operations in 1840.(1) In 1869 Pardee built the company towns of Lattimer and Harwood near Hazleton to house the miners working in his six mines. In 1892, following his father ' s death, Calvin Pardee took over the mines at Lattimer and Harwood. Feeling there would be less chance of a consolidation of the working men against his interests, Pardee mixed the foreign immigrant miners filling the houses at Lattimer largely with Italians and those at Harwood with Slovaks, Poles, and Lithuanians . Between 1875 and 1900 there were sporadic attempts on behalf of the Welsh, Irish, and German miners of the anthracite fields to organize for better working and wage conditions. A means for curbing any attempts to organize the miners was the introduction by the mine operators of large numbers of laborers from Austria-Hungary, Poland, Russia , and Italy who were content to work hard and long for low wages. This over supply of unorganized men literally depressed wages to a minimum through the ever-present competition.(2) By the late 1890's the mine patches of the Lehigh coal regions were largely populated by the new mixture of non-English speaking nationalities who with their cheaper immigrant labor replaced the old order of English , Welsh, and Irish miners. The new miners were largely Slovaks, Poles, Italians , Hungarians , and Lithuanians and were considered "foreigners" relegated by the social conditions to which they belonged - the unpainted company houses , shacks, and the dreaded company store. A racial and national prejudice predominated in the mine patches and the better educated, more intelligent of the foreigners met with each other and insisted that every good foreigner should get his "papers " as soon as possible so as to vote in the elections and prevent the '' white men ' ' from voting to pass a law that might drive them from the country. Many of the miners found themselves in great debt to the company store . In 1896 the Pennsylvania Legislature appointed a committee to investigate the company store system . An order for 50,000 copies of the committee report was canceled because, as American Federation of Labor Vice President J . P. McGuire stated in September of 1897 , ''of the disgrace which would fall upon the State were the truth made known of conditions existing in the Schuylkill region." (3) Conditions were the same in the Lehigh and Wyoming Valleys. Perhaps McGuire 's labor affiliations prejudiced him in the making of this statement, but the recent business depression had reduced the lot of the anthracite miner to a very poor one. The manager of one of the Hazleton collieries revealed that his payrolls for September 1, 1897, amounted to about $26,000, of which $18,000 was �64 SLOVAKIA deducted for living expenses (debts to the company store, rents for living in the company houses, fees deducted from pay for the company doctor, money deducted to pay the priest) leaving less than one-third the original amount to be divided among the miners. Discontent over small wages, idleness, and other alleged "wrongs" was seized upon by the new leadership composed of young, energetic and often violent labor organizers as a timely excuse for action. Their opportunity came in August of 1897. A strike broke out at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company 's Honeybrook Colliery near the new borough of McAdoo, when twenty driver boys were ordered to stable their mules after stopping work without extra pay. They refused and division superintendent Gomer Jones fired them. On Sunday, August 15, 2,500 Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company miners joined the strike. Newspapers feared that ''the Italians and Hungarians, who are very aggressive, cannot be controlled." (4) The Honeybrook strikers were led by a committee of grievances which met with general superintendent Elmer H. Lawall demanding an investigation of Gomer Jones to the effect that he reduced miners' wages and that the wages be restored to the original rates. Lawall promised an investigation of Jones if the miners returned to work; and a week after the first walk-out, work was resumed at Honeybrook.(5) On the same day (August 22) the Honeybrook miners returned to work, there arrived in the area from Philadelphia one John Fahy, selfappointed local president of the United Mine Workers of America. Meeting with Italian miners at Audenreid, Yorktown, and Beaver Brook, Fahy persuaded them to organize an Italian branch of the United Mine Workers.(6) Fahy's presence in the area on behalf of the union caused great concern among the mine operators as the miners became more aware of their plight and their demands became more intense. Fahy's word spread rapidly from operation to operation, and on August 26, Italian and Hungarian miners struck at the Van Wickle Coal Company collieries at Beaver Meadow and Coleraine. Two thousand miners moving overnight forced the workers from their shops at the Van Wickle breakers so as to stop all work. Their demands for higher wages were not considered serious as the strike was spontaneous and had no apparent intelligent leadership.(7) On August 27, the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville was idled by the strikers and a coal train was prevented from leaving the town. All Van Wickle operations were forced to shut down. The next day at a meeting of the strikers in Hazleton, a formal demand was presented to Van Wickle superintendent Roderick. Roderick claimed that the advanced scheduled wages (which would set a wage scale for the region) demanded by Fahy 's organizers would not be paid to the miners, although the average pay rates of the region would be paid. The speaker at a Coleraine meeting urged the strikers to resort to violence if the demands were not met. In answer armed members of the Coal and �SLOVAKIA 65 Iron Police were sent to guard the Van Wickle properties.(8) Saloons in Milnesville and Coleraine were closed and a state of ominous calm pervaded the Hazleton area. English-speaking miners were willing to return to work were it not for the threats made by the foreigners. The employees of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company anxiously watched the Van Wickle situation as there had been no action taken towards the promised investigation of Superintendent Jones.(9) Between August 30 and September 3 the strike spread rapidly. Roderick agreed to make wage concessions at the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville which immediately resumed work. If settlements were made at the other Van Wickle operations, then the Lehigh and WilkesBarre miners might never see Jones investigated at all. The miners at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre's Audenreid colliery struck and five hundred strong marched on the company's Yorktown colliery and washeries at Dodson, Beaver Brook, Star, Monarch, and Carson, driving off all the workmen.(10) The miners at the Van Wickle Coleraine colliery remained on strike. Assembling in McAdoo on September 2, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre strikers marched with an American flag to the Beaver Brook colliery forcing it to close. Those workers who refused to stop work were driven off. From Beaver Brook they marched to Yorktown (which had resumed work in spite of the march on that operation by the Audenreid strikers a day earlier) where colliery superintendent Hayes tried to reason with them, as the Yorktown workers had no grievance. Nevertheless, the Yorktown colliery closed. The march then turned towards Audenreid and the home of Gomer Jones. Following a thorough but futile search for Jones , the then two thousand marchers proceeded to the colliery at Silver Brook where the workers fled. At a meeting that evening in McAdoo, the members of the grievance committee advised against future marches, but Fahy's organizers insisted that the marches would continue daily until all the collieries were idle. Fahy, incidentally, was in Silver Brook that evening organizing a new chapter of the United Mine Workers. At Coleraine the Van Wickle strikers were quiet and Superintendent Roderick, in a bid to maintain good will between the company and the strikers, stated that none of the Coleraine workers participated in the march.(11) Later on the evening of September 2, the Coleraine strikers agreed to return to work if they would be protected from the mob. Roderick gladly granted protection. Mayor Altmiller of Hazleton issued orders to the police that if any attempt was made to organize a mob parade on September 3, the marchers were to be dispersed, and if the police were not strong enough the citizens should help them. The Lehigh Valley Coal Company closed its collieries at Jeansville and Hazleton No. 1 not because of grievances between the company and its employees, but because the mob of strikers had threatened the workers. The Lehigh Valley counseled all its workmen to obey the will of the mob.(12) By September 3 the strike had stopped all �66 SLOVAKIA mining operations except those of the New Ebervale Coal Company , Van Wickle 's Coleraine and Milnesville Collieries, and Pardee 's colliery at Lattimer. The weapons of the foreigners were the threat and the mob . With the march of September 2 and the probability of future marches , many mine owners feared for the safety of their property at the hands of the striking miners. The Luzerne County Sheriff's office in Wilkes-Barre, in response to the pleas of the operators for protection , sent an urgent telegram to Sheriff James R. Martin , vacationing in Atlantic City, requesting his immediate return. As soon as Sheriff Martin arrived in Wilkes-Barre on September 5, he telegraphed the sheriffs of Carbon and Schuylkill counties to meet him in Hazleton the next day. Before boarding the train to Hazleton, Martin announced that if he thought necessary , a proclamation would be issued calling on the strikers to refrain from all acts of violence and to permit all who so desired to return to their usual vocation as well as to cease marching. "The fact that men are compelled against their will to march along with an ignorant and sometimes infuriated mob causes some fear that other and more dangerous complications may arise ." (13) Following the Hazleton meeting on September 6, the three sheriffs simultaneously published a proclamation prohibiting mob parades and demonstrations , stating the following: . . . notice is given to all good citizens to refrain from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace . Notice is further given, that all such acts of disorder and lawlessness will be summarily repressed and punished in accordance with the laws of the land. - James Martin, High Sheriff of Luzerne County The proclamation was based on the Pennsylvania Riot Act of March 31, 1860 which forbade ''any persons riotously and tumultuously to assemble together to the disturbance of the public peace." (15) While the three sheriffs were meeting in Hazleton, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company granted the same advances as did the Van Wickle Coal Company at Milnesville and Coleraine.(16) That night Sheriff Martin in his Broad Street hotel room swore in 87 deputies, most of whom were members of the Coal and Iron Police from the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre and Lehigh Valley Coal companies , but some of whom were business and professional men of the Hazleton area .(17) For the next three days the Hazleton area remained in an uneasy calm as the sheriff and his deputies remained on call responding to separate incidents throughout the area. �SLOVAKIA 67 While Martin and his men remained in Hazleton, John Fahy was active at the Pardee colliery at Harwood. Enlisting the aid of the popular young Hungarian slate boss, John Eagler, Fahy was successful in organizing a new branch of the United Mine Workers. Fahy claimed the new union advocated peaceful arbitration of differences between the miners and the operators. Selecting Eagler as their first local secretary and Joseph Mehalto, another well-known Slav from nearby Crystal Ridge as president, the Harwood body immediately formulated a list of grievances - demanding a ten cent wage raise, a reduction of blasting powder from $2. 75 to $1.50, and no company butcher or company doctor - which they presented to the Pardee office in Hazleton on September 9.(18) While the Harwood strikers were presenting their grievances, a mob of "young Italians and Huns" descended on the New Ebervale Coal Company's colliery at Ebervale, driving off Superintendent John Scott and his employees in a shower of rocks and sticks.(19) With this outbreak of new violence, the Pardee Company refused to consider any grievances until all sections of the Harwood colliery were working. Meeting in the Harwood schoolhouse on the evening of September 9, the striking miners decided that in order to get the bargaining position they needed, the whole company must be shut down. This meant work must be stopped at Lattimer. Upon Mehalto's suggestion, the members resolved to send a committee of ten to Lattimer on the next day to persuade the colliery to close down. (20) On the morning of the tenth it was suggested that the strikers go along with the committee, and with Mehalto and Eagler at the head of a column of 250 to 300 men and boys, the strikers set out for Lattimer. With the American flag at the head of the procession, they marched through Crystal Ridge and Cranberry where they were joined by others until the ranks numbered about four hundred. On entering West Hazleton the strikers found their route blocked by Sheriff Martin and his deputies . Standing in front of his line of deputies, Martin ordered the strikers to stop and to disperse. The march pushed on, a scuffle resulted, two strikers were arrested, and the flag was taken from them. Following this encounter, the strikers moved off into a field by the side of the road and the sheriff and his deputies withdrew maintaining a careful eye on the marchers. Soon, however, the march was under way once more, the strikers still heading for Lattimer but skirting West Hazleton to the north. Martin and his deputies hurriedly boarded an open trolley car, provided for their use by the Lehigh Transit Company, and rode back into Hazleton and out the Lattimer line to Harleigh , where the road to Lattimer and the rail line converged and ran parallel for a short distance. At Harleigh the sheriff and his deputies again met the marching strikers, the trolley car keeping pace with the men on foot, grim silence between them while the police in their trolley sat holding their rifles . (21) The car arrived in Lattimer in time for Martin to �68 SLOVAKIA watch the movement of the march, and, from a high point at the town 's approach, the column could be observed moving toward the Pardee colliery No. 1. Again the deputies, about 150 in number, having been reinforced by numbers of the coal and iron police from Lattimer, lined up in a semi-circle across the road with Sheriff Martin standing several yards in front of them. The scene at West Hazleton a few hours earlier appeared about to be re-enacted. When the strikers reached the line of deputies Martin, proclamation in hand, stepped out to meet them: ''You must stop marching and disperse. This is contrary to the law and you are creating a disturbance. You must go back. I won't let you go on to the colliery.'' (22) Eagler argued that American citizens had the right to parade as long as they were not disturbing the peace. Martin read the Riot Act. Most of the marchers, not understanding English, pushed forward to find out what Martin was saying. In the crowd the sheriff was jostled. Thinking himself in danger, he tried to get back to his line of deputies, but was knocked to his knees. The strikers made way for him, and just as he emerged from their ranks, the cry was heard, ''Fire, fire on' em!'' The deputies fired into the unarmed mob. (23) Following a meeting with his lawyer on arriving back in WilkesBarre that evening, Sheriff Martin issued a statement of the Hazleton conditions and shooting: I was not there to interfere in the strike in any shape or manner, but was there for the mere purpose to prevent all violations of the law, and to restore peace and quiet. I beseeched and entreated the leaders to talk to their comrades and ask them to disperse and return to their homes, act in a peaceable way and desist from doing any sort of violence ... (at West Hazleton) the strikers began to crowd together, and to mutter and chatter in their own languages. The leaders urged them on and at the same time began to curse and swear at me, as well as openly defy me and my deputies . (at Lattimer) I ... rushed ahead of my deputies ... dashed in among the foreigners and boldly placed the leader under arrest. (the strikers) at once attacked me most viciously , striking and kicking me, knocking me down. I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers, as it might probably frighten them ... I fully realized that the foreigners were a desperate lot ... (I assumed) they were too excited to listen to reason and that myself and deputies would be killed ... if we did not defend ourselves. I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot, if they must, to protect their lives or to �SLOVAKIA 69 protect the property, that they had been sent to guard, from being demolished. I hated to give the command to shoot and was awful sorry that I was compelled to do so, but I was there to do my duty and I did it the best I knew how and as my conscience dictated, as the strikers were violating the laws of the Commonwealth and flatly refused to obey the proclamation that I had read to them. They, instead, insisted on doing violence and disobeying the laws.(24) In "doing violence and disobeying the laws" eighteen strikers were instantly killed while approximately twenty-four others were seriously wounded. Eagler and Mehalto escaped and their comrades fled in terror. One of the strikers, Martin Rosko, a Hungarian from Mt. Pleasant and wounded in the arm, gave the following account: We were going along the road to Lattimer and the deputies were lined across the road barring our progress. We tried to go through them and did not attempt to hit or molest them when they fired upon us. We ran but they kept on shooting while we ran. It (the massacre) is all their fault.(25) That evening three thousand Hazleton-area miners gathered at Hazleton's Donegal Hall for a meeting conducted by United Mine Workers' president John Fahy in which it was resolved "that we demand the prosecution of the sheriff and deputies of the crimes committed this tenth day of September."(26) At midnight Pennsylvania Governor Daniel Hastings notified Colonel C. B. Dougherty of the 9th Regiment that as there may be further disturbances and that the security of the community may be in danger, Dougherty was to take the regiment to Hazleton to maintain peace and order. (27) On September 11, Dougherty's regiment was joined by five regiments of the Third Brigade of the Pennsylvania National Guard under the leadership of General John P. Gobin. On the morning of September 11, John Nemeth, a leader of the strikers' general committee, went before Squire Gorman of Hazleton and had warrants sworn out for Sheriff Martin and 102 of his deputies. (28) When General Gobin heard of the warrants he issued an edict declaring that so long as the troops remain in the vicinity not a single deputy would be placed under arrest. Owing to the military authority, Sheriff Martin and the deputies were not arrested until ten days after the warrants were issued. Also on that morning a representative of the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Philadelphia arrived in Hazleton to investigate the murder of Hungarian nationals. (29) �70 SLOVAKIA In the meantime the strike continued. By September 14, seven thousand men had left their jobs, crippling the seven Hazleton area companies.(30) Out of sympathy for their murdered comrades from Harwood, 2,300 men left work at the Pardee operations at Lattimer. Visiting Hazleton from Philadelphia the next day, Calvin Pardee stated the following: My men were perfectly satisfied with the wages they were receiving, and would have continued work had they not been driven away by the mob . . . I have operated my collieries over twenty years on the sliding scale, the rate of wages being based on the price of coal at tide, and I will not change that method.(31) Sheriff Scott of Schuylkill County telegraphed to Governor Hastings an appeal for troops to maintain order should the strike spread to his county(32) as sporadic outbreaks of violence continued throughout the region with no apparent prospect of settlement in sight. John Fahy, in a somewhat curious statement to the press on September 18, claimed "The strike is not being conducted by the United Mine Workers." Speaking of his efforts to organize the miners, Fahy stated, "our objects are not to raise excitement and occasion violence but are arbitration, peace and conciliation. Our organization is not to encourage strikes but to prevent them." (33) Fahy expressed the hope that the strike would be settled more quickly if more men organized. If more men were organized in the manner in which the Harwood strikers were organized, the strike would be far from being settled. On September 19 following a Hazleton meeting, the owners of the mines at Lattimer, Beaver Meadow, Honeybrook, McAdoo, and Audenreid announced that they would open their mines on September 20, and if the men were not back at work, they would be discharged altogether. By September 20 all strikers but the employees of the Coxe Brothers Coal Company had returned to work.(34) That evening Fahy held a meeting at Donegal Hall whereat the miners resolved ''to demand that the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania immediately proceed against each corporation now conducting company stores."(35) On September 23, the employees of the Silver Brook collieries were told they were no longer subject to compulsory patronization of the company store and company butcher.(36) The operators gradually made concessions to prevent another such strike, and on September 29, General Gobin and his troops left Hazleton.(37) The anthracite strike of 1897 was virtually over. With peace returning to the Hazleton region, attention was turned to the fate of Sheriff Martin and his deputies. On September 20, Luzerne County District Attorney D.A. Fell and County Detective Isaac Eckert secured bench warrants from the Luzerne County Court of Oyer �SLOVAKIA 71 and Terminer for the arrest of Martin and 68 of his deputies, charging them with' 'the willful and malicious killing of twenty-four (six had died since the shooting) strikers near the village of Lattimer on September 10 last."(38) Bail was posted at $4,000 for homicide and $1,000 for felonious wounding and, through the maneuvring of Calvin Pardee, bond was furnished by the City Trust, Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia.(39) Seeing the opportunity to take up the cause, the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor meeting in Washington resolved on September 24, That we condemn most severely the wanton killing and wounding of the poor miners at Lattimer and will give our fullest help through the trade union and the American Federation of Labor to raise money for the legal prosecution and conviction of Sheriff Martin and his murderous minions, that through the courts of the land even-handed justice may be done to atone for those revolting murders.(40) A preliminary hearing was held in the Luzerne County Court House at Wilkes-Barre from September 21 to 27 wherein the grand jury came to the decision that Martin and his men had shown probable cause of a "wanton and unjustifiable" killing of the strikers.(41) The case of Commonwealth v. Martin was scheduled to begin on February 1, 1898. On February 4, 1898, an editorial in the Wilkes-Barre Record accurately predicted that the trial was expected to develop whether the sheriff and his posse were justified, under the circumstances, in resorting to the extreme measure they did, either for their own protection or to preserve law, order, and the public peace. The case was called on the morning of February 1, before Judge Stanley Woodward, presiding judge of Luzerne County. Sheriff Martin's defense counsel consisted of his personal lawyer, George S. Ferris, and the county's leading criminal lawyer, John T. Lenahan. Other attorneys for the defendants were Henry W. Palmer, George Troutman, C. W. Kline, George R. Urquhart and F. W. Wheaton. At the table for the prosecution sat the new District Attorney, T. R. Martin, who had only taken office a month earlier. With Martin were four other lawyers, who were secured by the strikers' prosecuting committee: John Garman, John McGahren, James Scarlett, and former secretary of the miners' prosecuting committee, J. F. Loughran. In addition to the deputies the court room was crowded with interested spectators including New York, Philadelphia, and nationally syndicated newspaper reporters, newspaper artists, representatives of the Royal Austro-Hungarian government which was planning to make a claim for indemnity for the deaths of the nationals should the sheriff be convicted, and the solicitor general of the United States, Luzerne County's own Henry M. Hoyt (Williams, 1849).(42) �72 SLOVAKIA For two tedious days the court was involved in selecting a jury. When the task had been completed, the twelve men who sat in the jury box were all native American citizens and were largely representative of the middle class skilled labor group.(43) Many of the jury men admitted in their examination by the counsels for defense and prosecution that although they had already formed an opinion, their verdict would not be so influenced. None of the jurors were foreign-born and counsel Loughran complained that the majority of them were ''in sympathy with the sheriff and his deputies." (44) The case for the Commonwealth was opened by McGahren, who claimed the shooting at Lattimer was a ''horrible massacre . '' In a highly emotional speech he told the courtroom how Sheriff Martin stood by proudly while his men brutally murdered the fleeing strikers. He even went so far as to claim the sheriff had emptied his pistol into the head of one of the march leaders. The Sheriff's actions at Lattimer were "a disgrace to civilization," he explained.(46) With this heated example of rhetoric, began the case for the prosecution which consumed nearly sixteen days of examination during which 103 witnesses testified. At the end of the first week of the trial on February 5, it developed that when the case had been continued from the November to the January term of court, bail for the defendants had not been renewed. District Attorney Martin immediately asked either that bail be posted or that the defendants be committed to jail. Judge Woodward replied he would not require the defendants to enter bail until Monday, February 7. Garman of the prosecution immediately pressed the court further to demand bail at once. Lenahan of the defense resented Garman's demands and charged, "You are a puppy! You have been a puppy all your life!" Garman's reply was apparently appropriate as he turned to Judge Woodward and said, "When the thing back of me shuts up, I will proceed." Lenahan replied, "That is only a part of the buffoonery of the Commonwealth.'' Garman turned to face him and raised his fist as if to strike. "If you touch me, I'll kill you!" By this time friends intervened and restrained the two attorneys until order was restored. Garman, eyeing Lenahan defiantly, replied, ''The buffoon has just ceased speaking." (4 7) This exchange of opinions on the floor of the courtroom did not change Woodward's mind and the bail was deferred. The exchange was, however, quickly picked up by the out-of-town reporters and reported in such a way that when court convened on February 7, Judge Woodward admonished the artists and reporters of some of the newspapers that if they continued to caricature the proceedings of the court or to misrepresent what developed, he would refuse them admission to the courtroom.(48) Woodward's admonishment of the reporters for their "yellow journalism" did not end the court's cause for concern. On the evening of February 14, the President of the American Federation of Labor, �SLOVAKIA 73 Samuel Gompers, arrived in Wilkes-Barre to write a special report on the trial for the New York World. The Wilkes-Barre Record was critical of the labor leader's being in Wilkes-Barre, claiming that Gompers would only report the trial from the point of view of the strikers, not from the objective viewpoint of whether Martin was justified in shooting.(49) The Record was not the only newspaper critical of Gompers ' being in Wilkes-Barre. The New York Evening Sun stated " Gompers is so dissatisfied with the way Judge Woodward is conducting the Lattimer trial that he refused to be presented to him. We can only congratulate his Honor on a fortunate escape." (50) In an article in the World on February 20, Gompers attacked Woodward's conduct of the trial, his rulings on evidence, and went so far as to attack him personally as a friend of the mine owners, as Woodward: married into a family of land holders of the district, who receive royalties upon every ton of coal mined. When a cessation of mining occurs from any cause Judge Woodward is to that extent a loser of part of his income. He is a member of the Westmoreland Club, of which the mine-owners are largely members and of which also a number of the so-called deputies are members.(Of the strikers Gompers wrote) They had previously decided and carried out their purpose , to be unarmed and unprotected except by the justice of their cause and the American flag in which they had absolute faith. It is sad to contemplate when workingmen of either American or foreign birth have their faith and confidence in the emblem of our country destroyed and perhaps sadder still is the possibility of losing faith in the justice of our courts. In conclusion Gompers made the Lattimer trial a trial in behalf of the eventual triumph of the working man: The workers of our country are organizing better and more thoroughly each day; we shall not only create a healthier public sentiment as to man 's rights and man's duties, but we shall largely constitute that public opinion. And , when that day comes , the crime of Lattimer will be a record-letter day in the annals of our history to which all will look back upon with horror as the monumental crime of the century. (51) Should Sheriff Martin be convicted of murder, labor would win a great victory in its struggle for recognition. While labor adopted Lattimer as its forgotten massacre , the prosecution rested on February �74 SLOVAKIA 21, having produced testimony in line with McGahren's opening. Ferris opened the case for the defense claiming that if a sheriff and his posse meet a riotous mob which resists them in such a way that their duty to uphold the law requires the use of firearms, then, "they do their duty. They do not violate, but obey the law.'' (52) Anarchy ruled the Hazleton area, Ferris explained, and Martin, in the company of good, lawabiding citizens - not bar room toughs and thugs - brought security to the region. On March 1, Sheriff Martin took the stand. He testified that when he met the strikers at Lattimer, he demanded to know where they were going and they all answered, "Lattimer to get out the men!" He also told the court that he had told them they were doing wrong and that he read the proclamation to them. He said he begged them to go no farther, but they pushed on and someone tried to grab him by the neck. I arrested him, when a big crowd pushed around me. I pulled out my revolver for protection and held it in the air, as I did not want to shoot. One of the mob tried to grab it, but failed, and in the struggle I and the crowd around me were pushed to one side of the road." (53) Martin testified one of the strikers gave him a terrific blow on the side of the head and that he tried to shoot that man, but his pistol would not go off. Then the firing began. After 111 witnesses had testified for the defense the Court adjourned on March 4.(54) The closing pleas to the jury began on March 7, with Scarlett opening for the prosecution: "Every effort has been made to have it tried fairly and nothing has been excluded and every bit of evidence has been admitted according to the rules of the court." (55) The final plea was made by former state Attorney-General Henry W. Palmer, on behalf of the defense, to an overcrowded court room. Palmer's closing has been praised as a masterpiece of eloquence and damned as a bigoted oration and foul utterance against the Slav immigrants. To the jury Palmer said the following: Condemn these men and go home to your neighbors and tell them, 'We convicted Sheriff Martin and his deputies for an error in judgment when they were standing between your homes and the horrors of mob rule.' Tell your wives and children that henceforth when the rioters are about to march and the right of men to work is in peril that there will be no Sheriff and deputies to keep the peace or defend your homes, because by your verdict you will have forbidden them to act, under penalty of death or infamous punishment. (56) Following Palmer's plea District Attorney Martin closed the case for the prosecution, and late on the afternoon of March 9, Judge Woodward delivered his charge to the jury. In an admirably clear, impartial, and ably written presentation of the law of riot and murder, �SLOVAKIA 75 Woodward charged that the sheriff had the right as the chief officer of the county to summon a posse to assist him in the preservation of order and in the prevention of riot. The public peace in Hazleton was threatened. Men were being driven from their jobs by the mob. The Sheriff saw the people were terrorized by the strikers. When they were at West Hazleton and at Lattimer, the strikers failed to obey the sheriff and insisted on pushing on. It was the duty of the crowd to obey his command and that disobedience of the sheriff was evidence of a riotous purpose. If you are satisfied, gentlemen, from the evidence that the purpose of the sheriff and of the posse was to preserve order and prevent a riot, then it would follow that their intent and object was not a criminal or unlawful one, and the rule of the law which makes the act of one the act of all has no application to the facts of this case. (57) At three minutes after ten on the morning of March 9, the jury arrived at its verdict. The sealed paper was handed up to the Judge, who examined it and returned it to the clerk. The clerk read: ''Gentlemen of the jury, harken unto your verdict as the Court hath recorded it. You find in the case wherein the Commonwealth is prosecutor and Sheriff Martin et. al., defendants, you find the defendants not guilty. So say you all?" (58) The verdict of acquittal was a just one under the law, yet, at the same time, it is possible that a terrible doubt exists that the slaughter at Lattimer was necessary or justifiable. Could the tragedy have been avoided? It is not clear that the miners should have been prevented from marching on the highway; it is not clear that they should have been denied the opportunity to show themselves within sight of the miners at work; it is not clear that the deputies should have fired as soon as they did. But, the law is for all men, and against all men who are not obedient to it. There is no question of the right of men to strike. The strike is often the only weapon. When the striker learns to keep within the law, to be fair to others, and to respect property rights, he will have made the greatest advances in the direction of public sympathy. The example of the Lattimer strikers was clear. Had a determined effort been made to keep within the law, to win the friendship of the people of the Hazleton region, the clash with Sheriff Martin and his deputies would have been avoided. The law is the defense of the individual and the salvation of the nation. Violence toward it cannot win. EPILOGUE In the course of researching the Commonwealth v. Martin Trial, it has been found that the Luzerne County Court records for that case are missing from their file at the Luzerne County Court House. Perhaps an �76 SLOVAKIA attorney borrowed them to study and never returned them ; or perhaps they were removed by intent considering the hard feelings exhibited by some members of the Hazleton mining community following the jury's verdict. The sleepy little mining patch of Lattimer today is much the same as it was sixty-eight years ago. The breakers are gone , the trolley tracks are gone , and the miners, whose families now occupy the same houses that witnessed the shooting, work at the near-by collieries in Harleigh and Jeddo . The excitement that brought the name Lattimer to the mind of most Americans in 1897 has been completely forgotten - even in Luzerne County. Should Lattimer be forgotten? Some say it should . But in today 's society when groups of American are banding together and marching, sometimes in defiance of the law, in causes they believe to be paramount, the tragedy of Lattimer could happen again. FOOTNOTES (1) John W . Jordan, Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography, vol. 7, (New York , 1916), 2350. (2) John Mitchell , Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903), 375. (3) Henry Edward Rood , " A Pennsylvania Colliery Village, " The Century Magazine, vol. 55, no . 6, (April, 1898), 814. (4) "2,500 Men cut at Hazleton ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. (5) " The Honey Brook Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 21, 1897 , 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 23, 1897, 8. (6) ''The Hazleton Strike,'' Wilk es-Barre Evening Leader, August 23 , 1897, 8. (7) " Two Thousand Foreigners Out, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 27, 1897, 1. (8) " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control ," Wilkes-Barre E vening Leader, August 28, 1897. 1. " Hazleton Strike Comes to a Demand ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 29, 1897, 1. (9) " The Anthracite Strike ," Wilkes -Barre E ve ning Leader, August 30, 1897, 1. (10) " Wild Excitement, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897, 1-2. (11) " Strike Situation at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (12) " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (13) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897 , 1. (14)/bid., 1. (15) " Labor Day Parade at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 7, 1897, 1. (16) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897, 1. (17) " Strikers Still Marching," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader. �SLOVAKIA 77 (18) Ibid., 2. (19)lbid., 2. (20) Ibid., 2. (21) Ibid., 2. (22) "Murdered in Cold Blood," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 11 , 1897, 1. (23) Ibid., 1. (24) Ibid., 1. (25) Ibid. , 1. (26) Ibid. , 1. (27) Ibid., 1. (28) "Sheriff Martin to be Arrested, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 12, 1897, 1. (29) Ibid., 1. (30) ''They Will Not Return to Work, '' Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 14, 1897, 1. (31) "Everything Quiet Along the Line, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (32) " Miners ' Strike is Spreading," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (33) " News from the Seat of War," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 18, 1897, 1. (34) " Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 21, 1897, 1. (35) " Many Strikers Return to Work, " Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897, 1. (36) "A Quiet Day at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. (37) " Troops Leave Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 29, 1897, 1. (38) " A Stampede to Return to Work," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 21 , 1897, 1. (39) " The Court Sits In Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. (40) " The Court Sits in Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattimer," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 24, 1897, 1. " The Sheriff Condemned," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 28, 1897, 1. (42) ''The Lattimer Cases,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897, 1. (43) "The Twelve Jurymen Selected, " Wilkes-Barre Record, February 3, 1898, 1. (44) " The Lattimer Cases," Wilkes-Barre Record, February 4, 1898, 1. (45) Henry W. Palmer, Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, Penna. , 1913) 64. (46) Ibid., 65. (47) ''Excitement In Court,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 7, 1898, 12. (48) '' Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6 . (49) '' Said the Sheriff Shot, '' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 16, 1898, 6. (50) "A Labor View of Judge Woodward ," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4. (51) "Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter," New York World, February 20, 1898, 20. (52) Palmer , 67. (53) George B. Kulp , Luzerne Legal Register Reports, vol. 9 (Wilkes-Barre, 1900), 81. (54) Palmer , 81. �78 SLOVAKIA (55) Ibid., ll0. (56) Ibid., 147. (57) From Judge Woodward ' s original hand-written charge to the jury as found in his personal scrapbook in the possession of his grand-daughter, Mrs . Bruce Payne of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (58) " The Deputies Are Not Guilty," Wilkes-Barre Times, March 9, 1898, 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Jordan, John W ., Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography vol. 7, (New York, 1916) . Kulp, George B., Luzerne Legal Register Reports vol. 9, (Wilkes-Barre, 1900) . Mitchell , John, Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903). Palmer, Henry W ., Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, 1913) . Rood, Henry Edward , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village," The Century Magazine, Vol. 55, no. 6, (1898). Newspaper Sources "A Labor View of Judge Woodward," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4 . '' Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter, " New York World, February 20 , 1898, 20. ''Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6. ''2,500 Men out at Hazleton, '' Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. " The Honey Brook Strike, " August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," August 21, 1897, 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," August 23, 1897, 8 . " Two Thousand Foreigners Out," August 27, 1897, 1. " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control," August 28, 1897, 1. " Hazleton Strike comes to a Demand ," August 29, 1897, 1. " The Anthracite Strike ," August 30, 1897, 1. " Wild Excitement" September 2, 1897, 1-2. " Strike Situation at Hazleton," September 3 , 1897, 1. " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," September 3, 1897, 1. " Sheriff Martin on the Ground, " September 6, 1897, 1. · 'Labor Day Parade at Hazleton,'' September 7, 1897, 1. "Strikers Still Marching, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 9, 1897, 2. "Murdered in Cold Blood," September 11, 1897, 1. " She riff Martin to be Arrested ," September 12, 1897, 1. " They Will Not Return to Work," September 14, 1897 , 1. · 'Eve rything Quiet along the Line ,' ' September 16, 1897, 1. " Mine rs ' Strike is Spreading, " September 17, 1897, 1. " News from the Seat of War," September 18, 1897, 1. " A Stampede to return to Work ," Septe mber 21, 1897, 1. "The Court sits in Judgment," Se ptember 22 , 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattime r," September 24 , 1897, 1. " She riff Condemned," September 28 , 1897, 1. ··A Quiet Day at Hazleton ,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. �SLOVAKIA 79 "Troops Leave Hazleton ," September 29, 1897, 1. "The Twelve Jurymen Selected," February 3, 1898, 1. "The Lattimer Cases," February 4, 1898, 1. "Excitement in Court," February 7, 1898 , 12. "Said the Sheriff Shot," February 16, 1898, 6. "Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897 , 1. "The Dep uties are Not Guilty," March 9, 1898, 1. Woodward, Stanley, the original hand-written charge to the jury as found in Judge Woodwa rd 's personal scrap book now in the possession of his granddaughter, Mrs. Bruce Payne of Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1977, Vol. 27 Description An account of the resource Vol. 27 (No. 50), 1977. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 9 The Lattimer Massacre and Its Sources GEORGE A. TURNER ''The affair at Hazleton yesterday is one of those terrible catastrophies the news of which simply stuns the community and paralyzes for a moment the power of thought." (1) The above editorial comment was a reaction to one of the worst acts of violence in the history of the American labor movement. The tragedy occurred at Laimer, a small coal mining patch, one and a half miles northeast of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh region of the anthracite coal fields on September 10, 1897. A group of nearly four hundred striking, unarmed, immigrant mine workers adhering to the control of their leaders, approached Lattimer to encourage the employees of Calvin Pardee & Company to join them in a work stoppage. They encountered Sheriff James Martin of Luzerne County and his posse of eighty-six deputies who viewed them as enemies of public order and the wellspring of lawlessness. When the marching laborers arrived at Lattimer in midafternoon, the Sheriff approached them, ordered them to halt, disperse, and return to their homes. Within a few minutes an altercation erupted between the Sheriff and some of the strikers at which point the deputies aimed their rifles and fired directly into the group of strikers. Instantly, their gunshots produced a carnage of blood and death among the immigrants - a massacre that left nineteen dead and thirty-eight wounded.(2) Peace officers were unscathed in their deadly assault on the defenseless workers who had been peacefully assembled on a public highway. This incident, lasting only a few minutes, became one of the most devastating acts of public authorities attacking, wounding and killing American laborers. The next day newspaper headlines depicted the killings as an atrocity. Regional papers denounced the shooting: "Yesterday's Butchery, A Mob of Heartless Deputies Fire Into a Throng of Miners and Accomplish Deadly Work" ;(3) "D of Blood at Lattimer" ;(4) "Strikers Shot in Cold Blood" ;(5) and "Looks Like Butchery" .(6) The account quickly spread beyond the anthracite region. Major metropolitan newspapers depicted the shooting in equally stark terms: ''The Killing of Miners at Lattimer Was Butchery'';(7) ''Mowed Down By Deputies" ;(8) "Laid Low By Bullets, the Men Fell Like Sheep Before the Murderous Winchesters of the Officials" ;(9) "Homestead Battle Thrown In The Shade" ;(10) and "Dead in Heaps, Deputies Fire on Miners at Lattimer, Penn ., Men Were Huddled Closely and Slaughter Was Terrific''. (11) The killing of the strikers by the Sheriff's deputies was a major national news story for several days prompting a 10 SLOVAKIA very basic question: Why did this senseless, violent act of shooting unarmed immigrant workers occur? To answer this inquiry requires an understanding of nativism found in the hard coal fields of Pennsylvania and an identification of those factors affecting the lives and working conditions of the immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. Slavic and Italian immigrants began arriving in the eight Pennsylvania counties comprising the anthracite region in the late 1870' s and early 1880 's with nearly all taking employment in mining and by the late 1890's outnumbered German and English-speaking workers .(12) The magnitude of this immigration flow from Poland, Austria-Hungary , Russia, and Italy was evident; in 1880 they totaled only 1,925 , in 1890 they were 32,007, and ten years later their numbe had more than doubled to 89,328. At the same time the foreign born from England , Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Germany decreased by 2.2 percent from 102,421 in 1880 to 100,269 in 1900; in particular, the demographic composition of this group in Luzerne County revealed a decline from ninety-four percent in 1880, to sixty-eight percent in 1890, and a further drop to forty-nine percent in 1900. These southern and eastern Europeans grew to an ever increasing percent of the foreignborn population in the anthracite coal fields: 1. 7 percent in 1880, 25 .2 percent in 1890 , and 46.1 percent in 1900.(13) Such a substantial and rapid growth of alien people created apprehension and anxieties leading to resentment and nativistic sentiments among the AngloSaxon population , their antipathy stemming from cultural differences and fear of economic competition for jobs. There was little to encourage the necessary processes for immigrants to be readily assimilated into the society. New arrivals had a distinctive culture, language , religion, and life style that were strikingly different , giving rise to suspicion and contempt from the native population and other established ethnic groups. Eastern and southern Europeans established numerous ethnic societies which perpetuated their pride , customs, and traditions . Since their religion was Catholic , they organized separate parishes along nationality lines thus sustaining ethnic identification. Marriage records reveal a consistent pattern of immigrants marrying only members of their own nationality. Divisions caused by factionalism in this polyglot society were difficult to bridge. Newspapers did not assume any responsibility for promoting harmony and assimilation among the diverse nationalities, and public schools did not lead in the task of Americanizing children of foreign cultures until the early 1900's . School attendance by immigrant children was minimal and those who did attend encountered language barriers. (14) Anglo-Saxons were finding it difficult to accept a pluralistic society in which they were becoming a numerical minority. This development fostered nativist sentiment , causing AngloSaxons to have ce rtain perceptions of the immigrants that inhibited SLOVAKIA 11 assimilation of the aliens contributing to their separation and isolation in the society. Attitudes of non-acceptance found expression in opprobrious terms for the new arrivals: " Pollocks, " "Huns," and " Dagoes," all denoting inferiority and disdain. Polish, Italian, and Slavic celebrations for marriages and their baptismal customs were denigrated and viewed as outlandish. A common belief among the native population was that a '' ... Slav does not know how to enjoy himself save by getting drunk, he does not know how to show kindness to friends save by making them drink." (15) Stories circulated that these new aliens participated in wife-selling, practiced polyandry, and were responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime, (16) contributing to the viewpoint that they were '' ... much more dangerous to the body politic than the excluded Chinese; . . . do not hesitate to use dynamite if they desire to blow up the home of one whom they particularly hate."(17) Rejection of the new immigrants grew in part from a feeling on the part of Anglo-Saxons that they belonged to a superior and more progressive race of people. The way that immigrants lived reinforced feelings of superiority in nativist thinking. Due to economic factors, lack of acceptance, and the desire of ethnic groups to have their own neighborhoods, ghettoes emerged in different communities. Since houses in ghettoes were crowded and substandard, outsiders viewed living conditions as unpleasant , unattractive, offensive, and the area as a tough and brawlly place to live. "The Slavs are physically strong and can flourish in an environment that would be fatal to more sensitive organisms." (18) Supporting this dislike of southern and eastern Europeans, the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1895 passed a resolution calling upon Congress to enact legislation to restrict immigration. The resolution clearly reflected a protectionist attitude as seen in its opening statement: '' That we recognize in the constant influx of an ignorant and vicious class of immigrants a great and growing evil highly injurious to American workingmen and dangerous to American institutions." (19) Again, two years later legislators passed another similar resolution.(20) Native Americans and older immigrants from northern Europe came to the conclusion they were being invaded and overcome by hordes of undesirable people who would undermine their communities. Of equal importance and of more immediate concern was competition by Slavic and Italian immigrants for jobs and wages in the labor market. Nativist sentiment held that railroads and coal operators enticed immigrants to settle in the region in order to increase the supply of labor which, in turn, had the effect of keeping wage rates down. (21) This charge against railroad and coal operators, however, was not completely true. It was well known that contract miners, who were primarily Anglo-Saxons, had the best and highest paying positions outside the mine supervisory jobs. They were also employers and were '' ... themselves largely responsible for the employment of 12 SLOVAKIA the non-English speaking foreigners. Instead of employing English laborers at the regular wage week the miners would employ a big Slav or Hun cheaply, increasing his own pay check quite an amount. His boasting of the 'snap' caused others to do the same."(22) Job competition increased as immigrants took any kind of work they could find in and around the mines. No matter what employment they found their wages were four or five times higher than what they previously earned in the native land.(23) Anxious to find work, newcomers took the unskilled positions of slate pickers, door-boys and helpers, drivers , runners, and laborers, willing to endure dangerous work and inconveniences which older workers refused to accept. With the passage of time and experience they began to compete for the higher paying, skilled positions held by English-speaking and German coal workers. Established workers contended that since new immigrants were willing to accept lower wages and even wage cuts to get and hold jobs, they were undermining the standard of living and forcing many older laborers to forego mining in the mines and to leave the area to find new employment. Anglo-Saxon workers became bitter and antagonistic which impaired the development of any class solidarity among the anthracite workers.(24) This led to discriminatory and exclusionary practices toward eastern and southern Europeans. The history of the anthracite labor movement revealed that the Knights of Labor, dominated by Irish, and the Amalgamated Association of Miners and Mine Laborers, controlled by Americans, English, Welsh, and Germans, were ineffective in enrolling these workers into their ranks in the 1880's and 1890's. Leaders of organized labor vacillated, were ambivalent, and showed a lack of real interest in encouraging new immigrants to join the union movement. On certain occasions labor organizations even attacked Slavic groups for undermining the labor movement. Failure of the unions to bridge ethnic differences was a major factor in thwarting endeavors to establish successful collective bargaining with the region's coal operators and to gain better conditions of employment.(25) Whenever new immigrants supported organized labor, they generally joined locals organized along ethnic lines; this at first weakened the interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests of mine workers. English-speaking officials retained control of union affairs, further contributing to a lack of fusion and interchange of interests and ideas between the AngloSaxons and the new immigrants.(26) When the United Mine Workers of America first appeared in the area in the early 1890's, it made little headway in recruiting the Slavic and Italian immigrants who were fast becoming the major segment of the anthracite labor force.(27) Finally, when U.M.W.A. became firmly established after 1900 and merged the 'old' and 'new' immigrants together, each local retained ethnic SLOVAKIA 13 distinction , making the union an alliance of distrustful nationality groups .(28) Established miners, who supported organized labor and held the higher paying and more desirable jobs, sought to protect their positions and perpetuate their advantage. They were fearful that the new immigrants who entered the coal fields as unskilled laborers would in time acquire needed skills to pass into the ranks of skilled miners which had the highest pay scale ; older workers also believed that when new immigrants became employed in mines the accident rate increased due to their lack of mining experience and inability to communicate in English .(29) State mine inspector, James Roderick, of Luzerne and Carbon Counties supported this viewpoint and asserted in 1883 that the rate of accidents increased as the influx of new laborers grew, whereas the older miners were more careful in their work. (30) Therefore, AngloSaxon miners supported the enactment of the miners' examination law passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1889. The official title of the legislation, " An act for the examination of miners in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania and to prevent the employment of incompetent persons as miners in anthracite coal mines,'' aptly described its intent. The law created examination boards in various districts in the anthracite region consisting of skilled miners having at least five years of experience and appointed by the presiding judge in a county . It stipulated that no coal company could legally employ a person as a miner who did not have a certificate of competency issued by a miners' examination board ; in order for a person to receive a miner's certificate he had to provide evidence of having at least two years experience as a mine laborer in Pennsylvania.(31) In the legislative debate on this proposal, coal operators were accused of allowing incompetent people to work in mines , thus contributing to large numbers of fatalities and injuries. Many hoped that the new law would reduce the dangers of working in anthracite mines . Aside from viewing this act as a safety measure, there was a clear inference that the law would also help to check the influx and competition of labor from the new immigrants. Representative Caffery commenting on the proposed law declared that it could prevent '' ... incompetent men to come here from Europe, three or four of whom will be rushed into one chamber, thus dividing up the work.'' (32) Caffery's remark clearly made reference to the recent European influx into the anthracite region that had aroused resentments among older miners. In time it became apparent that expectations concerning the miner 's examination law would not be realized. Anglo-Saxon miners recognized that asking a few questions by miners ' examination boards could not really assure the competency of an applicant. In the examination of a non-English speaking person, the interpreter often aided and embellished the individual' s response. Furthermore, it 14 SLOVAKIA became a fact of life, due to fraud and corruption, that certificates became articles of merchandise.(33) From the time the law went into effect until 1897 there were several attempts to modify or even to repeal the statute . The law, rather than excluding unskilled laborers from becoming miners, had, in effect, due to the requirement of two years of mining experience in Pennsylvania, made ineligible the experienced miners who came from other parts of the country or Europe to secure jobs in the anthracite coal fields . These men were unwilling to work two years as a mine laborers in order to qualify for a miner's certificate. Instead, this simply assured that the new immigrants in time would move into the ranks of skilled miners - the higher-paying positions normally held by Anglo-Saxon workers. Representative Miller, whose district included Luzerne county, substantiated this point: ''Under the present act no one can receive a certificate as a miner until he has worked for two years as a miner's laborer. The result of that is just this: Only the least responsible class of workmen will come into the anthracite district at all; it excludes all of the better class of men. No one who is a practical miner from the bituminous region, or any other part of the State or the United States will come into the anthracite region and work for two years as a miner's laborer before he can obtain this certificate. '' (34) Admission that the law would stymie the settlement of new immigrants in the region was acknowledged by Representative Morahan in one of the attempts to revise the statute: ''It was brought about after the mining corporations had sent their agents over into Europe and brought over an element tended to restrict the production and elevation of wages. It was passed for the purpose of preventing the importation of pauper immigrants into the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania . . . "(35) Deficiencies in the miners' examination law prompted district one (anthracite region) of the United Mine Workers of America in its annual convention at Pottsvillle on October 16, 1896, to charge that the act was a farce. In a resolution calling for revision of the statute, the union wanted stiff penalties, imprisonment up to five years and fines of $100, for not adhering to the law; it also advocated that the state pay board members a set salary, abolishing the present procedure of having salaries based on fees collected from issuance of certificates. (36) These recommended changes reflected a view that corruption and failure to enforce the law had become commonplace among many of the miners' examination boards. John Fahy, president of district one, lobbied at the state capital in support of revisions to the law approved in 1897. One amendment increased penalties for violations, but no changes were made in the fee structure. A second amendment stipulated that each exaininee had to answer a minimum of twelve questions in English, which prohibited the use of interpreters and therefore discriminated against immigrants, who could not speak English.(37) The United Mine SLOVAKIA 15 Worker's Journal lauded Fahy's lobbying activities and contribution in getting this legislature enacted. (38) After passage of these revisions to the law, the Miners' Examination Board in the Hazleton area placed a notice in the local newspaper to alert mine officials of its provisions. It noted that the law had been violated in the past but henceforth would be strictly enforced. The Board's warning reflected nativist sentiment: "As you, above all others, should know the necessity of having men who understand their work and the language which is the known language of this, our country, the Board would say do your duty and acquit yourselves like men and Americans.'' (39) Control of the miners' examination boards rested with English-speaking miners who were able to exercise certain prerogatives and institute various regulations to their advantage at the expense of the new immigrants.(40) Another piece of discriminating legislation with nativist prejudice, the Alien Tax Act, passed by large majorities in both houses, went into effect on July 1, 1897. The statue stipulated that any male alien age twenty-one and over employed in the state had to pay a three-cent tax on each day of employment which meant that most aliens employed as laborers in the Lehigh anthracite coal region suffered a two to three percent reduction in daily wages . Employers had to maintain employment records on aliens in their service and to collect the tax which reverted to the county treasury, half of which went to school districts and the other half to defray county operating expenses.(41) In the senate debate over the bill, the presence of new immigrants in the community gave rise to a concern that they were '' .. . a constant source of expense to us and . . . this is a very good way to get some money out of them to help pay the expenses of government.' ' (42) The act's preamble declared that aliens showed no allegiance to the state and did not financially support the maintenance of government. In addition, it described aliens as direct competitors to the state's laboring population. One passage stated they were '' ... brought into unjust competition with the tax-paying American laborers and greatly impair their welfare by depriving them of their employment and of preventing them from receiving fair compensation for their labor therefore." (43) Again, John Fahy, miners ' advocate at the state capital, wrote an article for the United Mine Workers Journal asserting: ''What a world of good this law would do the American citizens who try to earn their living in the coal mines, if the tax were one dollar per day.' ' (44) Nearly two months after the tax went into effect, the United States Circuit Court in Pittsburgh declared the law unconstitutional as a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. Judge Acheson in the court's decision acknowledged that the law discriminated against new immigrants: "Evidently the act is intended to hinder the employment of foreign born unnaturalized male persons over 21 years of age." (45) An obvious recourse for the alien to avoid this new tax, prior to its 16 SLOVAKIA being declared unconstitutional, was to become a naturalized citizen. Senator Flinn feared this possibility and could see little benefit from such a law unless to increase local revenues. It was his opinion that the legislation '' ... would have a tendency to drive this class of people into quicker citizenship." (46) Possibly anticipating this result, the Naturalization Court in Luzerne County a few days prior to the alien tax being voided instituted new rules to revise the process of naturalizing aliens. New procedures required an applicant to make formal application and declare his or her intention to become an American citizen at least thirty days prior to appearing in court, to be represented in the court proceedings by an attorney, and to produce a certificate of entry from the commissioner of immigration at the port of arrival. County officials had to publish in advance of the naturalization hearing the names of aliens seeking citizenship . Publicizing names of aliens petitioning to become citizens had the purpose of facilitating the process of weeding out undesirable applicants. Under the new rules five people could sign a petition remonstrating against an alien becoming a citizen thereby requiring a hearing to pass on their objections. In court, the alien had to demonstrate knowledge of the national and state constitutions and duties of citizens with responses in English.(47) Under these new procedures costs and amount of time required of the foreigner to become a citizen greatly increased. Previously, it had been perfunctory procedure since the immigrant only had to pay two dollars to secure naturalization papers. Now the costs rose to at least eight dollars for court and attorney fees.(48) When the individual lived some distance from the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, he had additional expenses for transportation and meals as well as losing a day of wages. Cumulatively, the costs for most aliens was equivalent to nearly two weeks of wages . A month later when implementation of these new naturalization rules became part of the court proceedings, half of the ninety-seven applicants, predominately Slavic, Polish, and Italian, were rejected in their quest for citizenship.(49) The new naturalization procedures confirmed the fact that the ease with which foreigners had in the past gained American citizenship would no longer be the rule. The new immigrants, who had become the dominant group among the mine workers, found themselves unaccepted due to nativistic attitudes, discriminatory laws, organized labor's lack of interest and view of them as an economic threat, and increased difficulty in acquiring citizenship. An added burden which all mine laborers faced was working conditions in the anthracite coal fields . The Pennsylvania Legislature in 1897 established a joint investigating committee of three representatives and two senators to examine and make a report concerning working conditions among those employed in the mining of anthracite coal. The committee held twenty-six meetings in the principal cities in the anthracite region and took testimony from 311 witnesses SLOVAKIA 17 representing businessmen , directors of relief organizations, and different classes of people connected with mining. The committee released its findings to the public on June 14, 1897, containing valuable information affecting those employed in mining.(50) The committee cited a major problem in the anthracite coal economy as excessive production in relationship to market demands that made coal prices weak and unstable. This had a direct bearing on mine employees since coal operators would cut production , institute lay-offs , and reduce wages in order to prevent or minimize their losses, thus exacerbating the labor market which already suffered from an over supply of workers . Surplus labor was evident when comparing the number employed in the anthracite mines in 1892 with 1896 and the coal produced in those same two years. Between 1892 to 1896 there occurred a fifteen percent increase in the number employed , 130,197 to 149,670, while coal production only increased five percent, 45,738,374 to 48,074 ,350 tons.(51) Estimated production capacity of the region 's collieries in 1896 was ninety million tons; actual output only came to fifty-four percent of capability while the number of mine employees for that same year increased by 6,065 .(52) Because of surplus laborers and a weak coal market there was lack of employment in the mines in 1896 as the average number of days of employment in the Hazleton region was only 178 days or fifty-seven percent of full employment for a year, based on a six-day week for fifty-two weeks. (53) This same condition was still prevalent in the first seven months in 1897 in which the mines operated on an average of one or two days a week.(54) One mine owner succinctly described the situation: " We can't give them work enough even at ninety cents a day because of the ups and downs of the business. When things begin to improve, we must have enough on hand to satisfy the demand, and that means, when business slacks up, that many have to be idle ." (55) This practice of the coal operators cutting back production to maintain the price of coal in a depressed market had caused frequent interruptions in the mid 1890's that put the standard of living of the average mine laborer on a very low basis . The legislative report pointed out that starvation conditions existed among the miners with Hazleton and vicinity one of the five areas identified as having great destitution and want. The committee reported: ' 'The testimony shows conclusively that deplorable condition of affairs for a period covering about two years, and particularly since the first of January of the present year, since which time the men in and about the collieries have been employed not more than two or three three-fourths days per week , earning on an average $4 per week , upon which , in many instances, they were compelled to support large families , in some cases as high as eleven members, paying house rent and coal and the necessities of life, which to this committee seems an impossibility . In . .. mining centres there is at all times more or less destitution and want , in many instances occasioned by profligacy. 18 SLOVAKIA Matters throughout the anthracite region have been gradually growing worse, and never in the history of this section of our State has the condition of the men employed in and about the mines been so deplorable or of such long duration.'' (56) The wages of miners and laborers in the Lehigh anthracite region had a direct relationship to the selling price of coal. Since the collapse of the union after the strike in 1888, there was no union contract to govern working conditions and wages. Wages were pegged to the market price of coal at the tidewater in Elizabethport, New Jersey. This system known as the ' 'sliding scale'' came into effect in 1869 with the formula for determining wages established in 1875. Under this arrangement, if coal sold for $5 .00 a ton at Elizabethport, miners, who held the highest paying jobs, received eighty-seven cents for each car of coal produced which meant that on the average, skilled miners earned twenty-one cents an hour, or $12.60 a week for sixty hours of work. The highest paid class of laborers, if a ton of coal sold for the same price, earned $10.80 a week or fourteen percent less than the miners. Whenever the price of coal increased ten cents a ton, wages advanced one percent for each ten cent rise and conversely, whenever the price of coal declined ten cents a ton, wages decreased one percent for each ten cent reduction . (57) Mine employees saw several drawbacks to this method of determining wages. Lehigh coal operators, as opposed to the Wyoming and Schuylkill coal operators, were mainly independents; hence, they were more vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the freight rates in transporting their coal to the markets, which, in turn, had a direct bearing on establishing the price of coal. High transportation costs reduced the coal operator's ability to improve wages and, most importantly, forced an increase in coal prices that made coal produced in the Lehigh region less competitive in the market than that produced in the other two fields largely under the control of the railroads. Consequently, starting in 1892 the Lehigh coal operators, who produced only around sixteen percent of anthracite coal, agreed to sell part of their production to the railway coal companies at forty percent below the tidewater price in order to avoid excessive freight rates. A major portion of the coal production was sold in the interior at prices higher than at the tidewater. Finally, the 1875 price-wage formula did not reflect changes that had occurred in the coal market. Anthracite coal had been losing the industrial fuel market to the less expensive bituminous coal. This loss forced a readjustment in the coal trade as more and more anthracite had to be processed into smaller sizes to be sold for home heating purposes. Smaller sizes gradually became the major portion of the coal trade and this sold at lower prices, resulting in a reduction of the average price per ton of coal thus keeping wages down.(58) Besides irregular work and low wages the anthracite laborer had to contend with day-to-day conditions which were equally distressing. The SLOVAKIA 19 company store had long been an issue in the mining communities and had an odious reputation. The fact that employees were under some form of compulsion to make their purchases at a company store at inflated prices was so repugnant that it caused considerable discord, dissension, and prolonged agitation. A congressional committee in 1889 investigating working conditions in the anthracite region reported some of the abuses connected with stores operated by coal companies which still persisted in the late 1890's. Prices were as much as thirty percent higher for the same items sold in independent stores. There was both direct and subtle pressure on employees to purchase groceries , clothing, and other items from the company store; workers feared losing their jobs or being moved to a lower paying position or to one that was more difficult because of dangerous or strenuous working conditions. "Some of the officials of the company, such as foremen, would state to their workmen, 'If you patronize me we will patronize you.' Well , that meant if there was a good job they would receive it if they traded in the company' s store ."(59) Reacting to these abuses, Pennsylvania in 1891 enacted a law prohibiting corporations engaged in mining and manufacturing from operating general supply stores . In an attempt to prevent evasion, the law explicitly made it illegal for a corporation to contract with an independent store to require its employees to purchase merchandise; also it prohibited any corporate officer or stockholder to operate a company store on the premises of the corporation. (60) Unfortunately, the legislation did not eliminate the many evils associated with the company stores. In the first place , unincorporated coal operators did not come under the law's jurisdiction. Secondly, there was a loophole in the law's language forbidding a corporation from requiring its employees to patronize a particular store by stating that employees " shall not be obliged" to deal with a designated store. In other words an employee of a corporation could not be compelled to shop at a particular store but he could voluntarily choose to buy his merchandise at that store. Realistically, as life existed in the mining communities with the ever-presence and dominance of the coal companies, many factors came into play that inevitably induced an employee to make a so-called voluntary decision to patronize a particular store. Thirdly, when individual coal operators sold their interests to a large corporation, they often retained the right to continue the operation of their store. In this arrangement, many times the corporation provided a service by deducting an employee's bill at the store from his monthly wages with a collection fee which varied from three to five percent of the bill. This system had a descriptive nickname of the "pluck-me-store." (61) It was in the Lehigh region, where a very large percent of the coal operators were independent and unincorporated, that the existence of company stores was one of the highest in the anthracite region ; two-thirds of the mine laborers worked at collieries 20 SLOVAKIA that operated company stores.(62) In some instances a coal company which operated a store would undersell its competitor by lowering prices for coal and then make up losses by compelling the employees to trade at the company store at exorbitant prices .(63) The store of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company reportedly had everything from a red herring to a furnace . A Polish employee of the company flatly stated: '' ... we are compelled to purchase whether we want to or not. " (64) Three English-speaking miners of the A. S. Van Wickle Company commented that they would not object to the company's store if it were not for the high prices. To illustrate their point, they cited three items priced in an independent store and the company store: dozen eggs for thirteen cents as opposed to twenty-three cents, pound of butter for eighteen cents as opposed to twenty-six cents, and tobacco for twenty-six cents as opposed to thirtyfour cents. (In computing these goods the average price increase over the independent store was forty-six percent.) They further asserted: ''These are but a few samples of the prices charged here, but we have no redress. If we do not deal in the store we are notified about it with a broad intimation that others would be glad to have our places and deal in the store ." (65) The two investigative reports documented abuses concerning the company store in the anthracite region in 1897 and drew attention to three pertinent facts: the company store did not operate to the benefit of the workmen; employees were subjected to intimidation when they failed to patronize company stores; profits were substantial. (66) The company store problem was a major concern of John Fahy who noted that the number was greater than when the legislation was passed in 1891 and coal operators continued to violate the law. Union members of the United Mine Workers of America agreed and passed a resolution condemning this kind of store : '' ... the company store is a great and burdensome evil; that the system is harsh and tyrannical, and its purposes to rob labor of the full use of that pittance, always too meager, which the mine worker now received for his toil . . . "(67) Another grievance of the workers closely related to the company store was the practice of having a company butcher make door to door sales to employees living in company houses. They objected to the butcher's high prices and his habit of leaving more meat than requested forcing the purchaser to pay for meat not wanted . (68) What they wanted was the. abolition of this solicitation. Dominance of the coal companies over their employees was felt in another way through the company doctor. Coal operators had a physician to administer to the health needs of workers. On the surface this service appeared to be a desirable fringe benefit. Not so in the eyes of the employees who had several objections. They felt that they should have the right to select their own doctor since many believed that the quality of medical help was below average. The fact that the doctor's SLOVAKIA 21 allegiance rested with the company placed uncertainty on the doctorpatient relationship.(69) Aside from these reservations was the cost. Deduction from workers' paychecks funded the program; A. S. Van Wickle Company levied two cents a day on each employee while other companies charged each married man with a family seventy-five cents a month and single men fifty cents a month.(70) To many this outlay of money equaled a half-day of wages and was an unnecessary cost. At this time it was common practice for people to rely upon home remedies for curing illnesses rather than always going to a doctor. A custom among miners was to establish their own mutual medical aid organizations known as '' keg funds.'' Miners donated refunds received from turning in their empty powder kegs.(71) Another major factor explaining why workers opposed the company doctor scheme stemmed from a plethora of fraternal groups that provided insurance against sickness and death. In the Hazleton area there were around fifty such organizations with many established along ethnic lines. Working class membership in these societies was large. Dues entitled them to sick benefits that varied from four to six dollars a week for a period of three to six months. Average death benefits ranged from $50 to $125 with wives often receiving half the rate. (72) With these other arrangements, the company doctor plan offered few, if any , advantages to mine workers. Feelings of exploitation among the miners were particularly strong over the price of blasting powder and mining supplies and the coercion to purchase these items from the coal companies. Each of the collieries kept mining supplies for sale. Testimony before the United States Industrial Commission revealed: ''The coal operators will say that they do not compel miners to buy their supplies with that company. While this may be true in regard to oil in some places, yet they are compelled to buy their powder from these companies where they work, for they will tell you if you do not buy your powder there you can work where you buy it."(73) Along with this compulsion there was the high price for the powder. A keg of powder weighing twenty-five pounds sold for $2. 75 in the Lehigh region whereas in the Schuylkill region the same amount had sold for $1.50 since 1888.(74) A major demand of the strikers was to secure a price decrease for powder generally in the amount of seventy-five cents a keg. However, miners at Calvin Pardee & Company sought a more extensive price reduction for powder so that it would sell for $1.50 a keg.(75) Powder purchased from independent stores sold from $1.25 to $1.50 a keg and the wholesale cost of powder per keg delivered from the manufacturer ranged from 90 cents to $1.00.(76) It was obvious to the miners that the coal operators made substantial profits on the sale of powder with a mark-up of around two hundred percent. When comparing powder prices in the Schuylkill region with the Hazleton area in 1896, men believed they were overcharged by some $125,353.75 or a per capita of $217.50 which was 22 SLOVAKIA almost equivalent to one-third of their annual income.(77) This issue was particularly irritating to the miners and they felt that they were victims of extortion. Another vexing issue was the lack of compliance by coal companies to provisions of the state semi-monthly wage payment law passed in 1891 . The act stipulated that employers pay their employees in lawful money every two weeks.(78) With the exception of the Coxe mines, violation of the statute was widespread in the Hazleton area . (79) The state legislative investigating committee reported the act was '' ... virtually a dead letter in many instances. Operators disregard it and deem it an unjustifiable interference with their rights .'' (80) District One of the United Mine Workers of America in its 1896 annual convention adopted a resolution endorsing the semi-monthly wage payment law and invited members of the business community to cooperate with them in supporting this legislation. (81) Frequency of payment to workers was important to coal operators since it had a direct relationship to the maintenance of company stores. If workmen received their wages every two weeks or even weekly, they would be inclined to shop at independent stores which had lower prices. With monthly payments, employees found it convenient and, sometimes necessary , to depend on credit extended at the company stores.(82) These cumulative burdens of adverse working conditions, irregular and limited work, low wages, pressure to patronize the company's store and butcher, expense for a company doctor, high costs for blasting powder and mining supplies, and non-compliance with the semi-monthly pay law were hardships ever present to mine laborers and became issues in the strike. Of equal importance, immigrant workers found themselves having to cope with additional adversities such as nativistic attitudes that rejected their culture and impeded assimilation, economic discrimination in employment, passage of the alien tax law, and difficult and costly naturalization procedures. A wellspring of resentment and antagonism festered among the ranks of southern and eastern Europeans over conditions affecting their lives which stirred feelings of discontent and frustrations creating a serious strike situation. The spark which produced the Lattimer massacre first appeared to be nothing more than an isolated and minor labor dispute between District Superintendent Gomer Jones and some mule drivers at the Honey Brook colliery of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company; however, it became the catalyst leading to a series of crippling strikes in the Lehigh region. Gomer Jones , who had a reputation as a tyrannical mine boss, had recently been appointed superintendent of the Audenried district and assumed his new position with an eagerness to establish order and efficiency out of what he and the company considered to be a chaotic situation.(83) Jones stated in an interview that he perceived his superintendency: '' I came here a year ago. I came to restore discipline SLOVAKIA 23 in the mines and to operate them in such a manner that the company could continue in business. The discipline was certainly lax. The men did about as they pleased. The two superintendents who were here then associated with the men, mixed with them, drank with them and were regarded as 'hail fellows well met' everywhere among the miners. Now I cannot do that. I'm not a drinking man, and I've never made it a practice to hobnob with the men. However, when I give orders I expect them to be obeyed and do not permit miners to do exactly as they please. " (84) He began to institute economics in the company's operations in order to achieve the lowest possible cost in mining. To carry out this resolve , he dismissed two easy-going foremen , about eighty other workers, and reduced daily wages for all classes of mine workers from three percent for carpenters to as much as twenty-five percent for stripping miners.(85) Another of Jones ' cost-saving proposals required all of the company mules to be stabled at Audenried. This measure required the mule drivers employed at Honey Brook to spend an extra hour in the morning and evening to pick up their mules and return them to the stables. For these two extra hours of work , Jones refused to grant any compensation to the mule drivers . Dissatisfaction over this arrangement provoked a strike among mule drivers , who were Slavic and Polish , on August 13 . The next day some workers took up positions along the road near the stable to insure that none of the mule teams was removed for work. Upon learning of this development , Jones went to the scene with club in hand with the intention of dispersing the disgruntled workers. Within minutes a boisterous dispute erupted and Jones, using his club, struck one worker. Some of Jones' assistants came to his rescue before the melee got completely out of control. (86) A consequence of the mule driver strike and the residue of dissatisfaction and discontent among the rest of the workers produced a general strike against the company on August 16. An assessment of the situation made by a local newspaper declared that coal companies " .. . import this cheap labor, drag them down with all sorts of hardships, and indignities and finally the bosses attempt to make records for money saving and thus increase their own salaries at the expense of the poor unfortunates who are under them. There is no need for white slavery, nor pauper wages ... pay them a living salary and treat them as human beings , and trouble of this kind will be unheard of.'' (87) That evening miners held a large meeting at McAdoo at which they formulated their grievances and demands to present to Elmer H. Lawall, General Superintendent of Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. They wanted restoration of the wage scale in effect prior to reductions imposed by Jones , an increase of ten percent in wages for all employees who worked underground, purchase of coal by workers for use in their homes reduced from $2.50 to $1.50 a ton, the right of each worker to select his own doctor, removal of Gomer Jones from his 24 SLOVAKIA position as district superintendent, and assurance that each person on strike would be reinstated.(88). Miners elected a strike committee representing different nationalities to present the issue to company officials. After meeting with Mr. Lawall on August 17, the committee decided to go to New York the next day to confer with Mr. Lawall and C. H. Warren, assistant to company President Maxwell. After returning from New York, the committee on August 19 met with the miners to report on negotiations, informing them that Mr. Warren had pledged that the company would pay the same rate of wages prevailing in the area and did not object to miners selecting their own doctor and making their own payments. There was no response to reducing the price of coal used by miners in their homes. With regard to the miners' objections concerning the conduct of Gomer Jones, the company refused to dismiss him but did promise to investigate his actions; this prompted an editorial comment in a Hazleton newspaper: ''The men are determined in their demands for justice, and if the Lehigh and WilkesBarre officials are wise they will speedily dismiss Superintendent Gomer Jones, for so long as he is retained in his present position, the trouble will not be adjusted. This man, with perhaps one exception, has imposed more hardships on the mines than any other living person who ever set foot on this soil. " (89) Upon hearing the company offer, which the miners described as one containing only promises rather than solutions to their grievances and demands, they voted to remain on strike . (90) Refusal to end the strike caused Mr. Lawall to hold another meeting with the strike committee. Three additional issues were introduced in the negotiations: employees need not live in company houses , men in the same grade of work receive the same pay, and employees be paid for all services rendered to the company - a direct reference to the mule drivers' complaint of having to spend two extra hours without pay to pick up and return their mules to the stables. After conferring with Lawall the strike committee called another meeting with workers on August 20. At this time the company informed the men that it had accepted the employees' position on the three additional points and that Lawall had personally promised to investigate fairly every grievance . Strikers believed that the injudicious activities of Jones would certainly be exposed and he would be dismissed. They learned that the mules were returned to Honey Brook, removing the issue of extra work without pay that had sparked the strike . In addition, two men dismissed by Jones were reinstated to their former positions. With such favorable news and expectation of Jones' replacement, the miners voted to end the week old strike and return to work on August 23.(91) The euphoria that prevailed among miners stemmed from their belief of success in exerting their interests against the coal company. This sense of accomplishment was further underscored by the fact they SLOVAKIA 25 had been able to organize seven locals of the United Mine Workers of America comprising nearly a thousand men or about half of the company' s employees in the Audenried district. Establishing the union rested on the activities of John Fahy, United Mine Workers organizer, who took advantage of miners' discontent over their working conditions and lack of unionization. With the backing of a union and the promise of Lawall to investigate their differences with Jones , miners felt confident that they had won.(92) It appeared that labor unrest at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company was only an aberration and the outlook for labor peace quite good. Such optimism was short lived. The strike was a harbinger of labor agitation that soon engulfed the Lehigh mining region surrounding Hazleton. Within a week, on August 27, another strike initiated by immigrant workers broke out at the Coleraine and Milnesville collieries of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company. Some 1,500 strikers demanded reinstatement of the wage scale prior to the reduction made in February of 1897, which meant an average increase in wages from ten to fifteen percent in the daily rates. They wanted the new daily rates to be the following: stripping laborers, $1.20; first class laborers , $1.64; second class laborers, $1.50; outside laborers , from $1.00 to $1.20 ; breaker hands, men at $1.00 and boys at 90 cents; mule drivers, one mule at $1.50 ; two mules at $1.64; and three mules at $1.75; first class miners , $2.10; and second class miners, $1.93 . A few days later, August 31, some 2,000 employees of Lehigh and WilkesBarre Coal Company swelled the ranks of dissatisfied workers by walking off their jobs a second time after the elapse of two weeks when company officials had promised a settlement of their grievances in their first strike at the beginning of the month.(93) Chairman of the strikers ' negotiating committee charged that ' ' ... Messrs. Lawall and Warren, did not keep faith, and their refusal to make any concessions after their encouraging promises originally had served to work the men up to a high pitch. " (94) Work stoppages also began to spread to other coal operators: Lehigh Valley Coal Company, C. M. Dodson & Company, G. B. Markel & Company, Calvin Pardee & Company, A. Pardee & Company , New Ebervale Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, Arnold & Morgan Company , and Silver Brook Coal Company.(95) This general strike action at the end of August and the first of September erupted with the pressing demand for an increase in wages. Immigrant workers were the principal source of agitation over this issue. It was they who suffered loss of wages due to enactment of the alien tax law and who felt the effects of wage discrimination when they received less for the same job than the English-speaking worker. Miners in their class earned from $1.50 to $1.65 a day while an Englishspeaking miner earned $1.97 for the same position. Similar conditions existed for those who were employed as laborers; the percent of wage difference was even greater, $1.15 versus $1.50. Anglo-Saxon workers 26 SLOVAKIA did not support the strike and immigrants looked upon them as a favored class. Since Slavic and Italian workers outnumbered Englishspeaking workers by a three-to-one ratio, their dissatisfaction over wages and working conditions became the prevailing voice. (96) Demand for the same pay for the same job had the following local, editorial support: "Employees should receive the same compensation for the same kind and amount of work done whether they are Hungarians, Italians or any other nationality." (97) Strikers ' demands for improvement in their wages came in part from the fact that Lehigh coal operators paid lower wages than operators in the other two anthracite coal fields. (98) Although there existed an industry-wide formula for determining wages based on the tidewater price of coal, in actuality there was a divergence in the wage scale particularly among the unskilled in different coal companies, which contributed to labor unrest among workers when they learned their wages were lower than their counterparts in other mines. In protest, foreign workers began marching from one colliery to another, closing down operations and compelling other workers to join their ranks. With each passing day the situation became somewhat more tense. Area newspapers assessed conditions as serious with the distinct possibility of becoming quite dangerous since, ''Never in the history of the region was such a determined body of men seen together'' ;(99) it was feared that unless a settlement was reached, '' ... the whole Lehigh region will be plunged into one of the most threatening conditions ever experienced in the history of Pennsylvania coal mining." (100) Immigrant workers were the masters of the situation, dominating the strike activities; English-speaking workers, fewer in number receiving better wages, did not voluntarily support them and preferred to remain at work. Instead of a feeling of camaraderie and solidarity between these two groups there was distrust and suspicion.(101) An important break occurred in the strike action when A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company made a wage settlement with their employees at Milnesville and Coleraine collieries on September 3 and 4, respectively. The company's General Superintendent, James Roderick, fulfilled a promise to investigate wages paid at other area mines and, if his company's rates were lower, make appropriate advances. Advances did not completely equal the original demands of the workers: increases were around nine percent given primarily to the unskilled and semiskilled, jobs held mainly by the Slavic and Italian immigrants with no raise for skilled laborers, miners, jobs dominated by AngloSaxons.(102) With regard to the alien tax, which had recently been declared unconstitutional, the company promised to return the money at the next pay day. Concerning other issues of the company store and butcher, Roderick promised ''. . . there will positively be no compulsion for any man to deal with the company butcher and the company SLOVAKIA 27 store, nor will any intimidation in this direction be permitted by any of the subordinates."(103) Following the lead of A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company, officials at Coxe mines voluntarily increased wages ten cents a day to prevent their workers from going out on strike. (104) Settlement of the strike at A. S. Van Wickle Coal Company and increased pay by Coxe marked an important turning point in the labor unrest which had idled some twelve collieries due to the strikers' demonstrations. Success of these workers in improving their wages became a stimulus for hundreds of other workers to increase their determination to secure the same monetary gain. Higher wages granted by the two companies simply exacerbated the situation when other coal operators refused to match or make any improvement in wages. As long as this condition prevailed, chances of labor unrest becoming volatile heightened and the outcome became more uncertain . A week prior to the Lattimer killings, a Hazleton newspaper, realizing the nature of the situation, made the following appeal to coal operators: ''What the outcome of the uprising will be is simply conjecture, but one thing is certain, that the operators owe it to themselves as well as the community to bring about a speedy adjustment of the trouble. There is no good reason why the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. officials should not pay the same rate of wages as A. S. Van Wickle; they are in a position to do it and ought to. If there is to be an average rate of wages let all the operators join the combination and pay it. The obstinacy of either one company or the other, is simply injurious to the community, and for the benefit of all we suggest that the operators at least meet the men half-way, and the trouble will soon be a thing of the past. " (105) As each day passed without settlement, strikers continued marching from one coal mine to another seeking to induce other workers to join the strike; some responded willingly and others only after cajoling or intimidation. Their efforts were having success in disrupting the area's mining operations. Anxiety grew as the potential for serious trouble became likely with an apparent impasse emerging between strikers and operators who had refused to go along with the settlement made by A. S. Van Wickle and Coxe. Coal companies , holding the view that the situation had deteriorated and people had become terrorstricken by the strikers' protest, urged the sheriff to intervene in a manner that would terminate the strikers' activities. Sheriff James Martin, vacationing in Atlantic City, New Jersey , received a telegram on Saturday , September 4, from his deputy, Mr. George Wall, that Superintendent Lathrop of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company requested him to go to Hazleton to deal with the developing strike situation. Upon returning to Wilkes-Barre, the Sheriff held a Monday morning conference concerning the strike with Lathrop, Superintendent Steams of Cross Creek Coal Company, and Superintendent Lawall of Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company before 28 SLOVAKIA proceeding to Hazleton.(106) The Sheriff did not come to Hazleton at the request of any elected or appointed public official such as a magistrate, justice of peace, constable, or mayor, nor upon his arrival did he confer with any public official concerning the question of public order as related to the strikers' demonstrations. Instead, when he came to Hazleton, he met with Mr. Zerby, Assistant Superintendent of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and Mr. Platt, Superintendent of Calvin Pardee & Company store. Naturally, these two men held views concerning the strike that reflected their companies' vested interests and could possibly have misrepresented the degree of disruption. Apparently, Martin did not feel there was any advantage to investigating and reviewing developments with a variety of people having different perspectives in order to ascertain objectively sentiments and facts related to the strike. It was at this time that officials of Lehigh Valley Coal Company, Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, Cross Creek Coal Company, and Calvin Pardee & Company made it abundantly clear that they would hold Sheriff Martin personally responsible for any interference with their mining operations.(107) After conferring with Messrs. Zerby and Platt, Martin decided to organize a posse comitatus. A Sheriff's decision to create a posse must be based upon circumstances as defined in law in which a state of disorder exists, consisting of a riot or the threat of a riot in which life and property are in jeopardy. Again Martin's assessment that these conditions existed rested upon information given to him by representatives of coal companies. Following their recommendation, he appointed Thomas Hall, a prominent Hazleton businessman whose occupation involved selling blasting powder to coal companies, as his chief deputy.(108) In the Hazleton Machinery Supply Company Store, a concern involved in coal mining, eighty-seven men were sworn in as Sheriff's deputies and members of the posse with nearly all of them directly or indirectly earning their living from coal companies. This close connection of the deputies with the coal companies was apparent as some twenty-three were employees of Calvin Pardee & Company, including his own son and Augustus W. Drake, Pardee's General Superintendent; fourteen worked for the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and six were members of the coal and iron police. All but one deputy had surnames indicating Irish, English, or German heritage, the majority were members of prominent families and relatives of coal operators, many were young, several had attended college and were engineers or held managerial positions in coal companies. Others were businessmen and a few were laborers.(109) Superintendent Smith of G. B. Markle & Company, a coal operator, ordered rifles and shotguns and shipped them to a warehouse owned by A. Pardee & Company, another coal operator, where they were dispensed to the deputies under the direction of Mr. Platt.(110) Martin cautioned his deputies: " ... it was their duty to maintain the peace at all hazards, but under no cir- SLOVAKIA 29 cumstances to shoot unless they were convinced either they or myself to be in danger.'' (111) Since the coal operators were responsible for requesting the Sheriff to come to Hazleton and to organize a posse, they also agreed to assume the costs for expenses incurred by the deputies. (112) Another service available to the Sheriff and his deputies was a special trolley car provided by Lehigh Traction Company upon the orders of Mr. Zerby so they could have unimpeded transportation to move about the coal fields.(113) While arrangements were under way in organizing the posse, Martin contacted Sheriffs Scott and Setzer of Schuylkill and Carbon Counties, respectively , since Lehigh coal fields encompassed parts of these counties. The main source of strike agitation came from men employed at collieries south of Hazleton in the area where Luzerne , Schuylkill , and Carbon Counties have a common boundary. After consulting with each other, the three law officers issued separate proclamations admonishing people '' . . . from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly, and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace .' ' (114) Included in the proclamation was the state riot act of 1860 describing illegal activities and penalties. Sheriff Martin 's decision to issue the proclamation made it appear that he felt conditions were turbulent, disorderly, and warranted the organization of a posse; yet on the same day he chose to spend a leisurely afternnoon attending the bicycle races at Hazleton.(115) The following morning, Tuesday, September 7, Sheriff Martin, upon learning that a group of strikers planned to shut down the Crystal Ridge Colliery , took a number of deputies to the site and prevented them from accomplishing their goal.(116) News of this intervention by the Sheriff either had not spread, or if it had, did not awe other strikers from descending on the New Ebervale Coal Company colliery and closing it down. Company superintendent, John Scott, describing the incident stated: '' ... the real leader appeared and said they intended to win the strike if they had to apply the torch to every town in the region ."(117) After closing the New Ebervale colliery, strikers marched over to the stripping area of Calvin Pardee & Company at Lattimer hoping to repeat their success earlier in the day. However, some of the Sheriff's deputies were already at Lattimer to prevent any disruption in the company 's operations . When the marchers appeared, the officers fired warning shots ito the air dispersing them and thwarting their objective.(118) The remaining days prior to the tragedy at Lattimer found Sheriff Martin and his deputies constantly transversing the coal fields from one colliery to another checking the strikers' movements . With each passing encounter the level of exasperation and tension between the law officers and immigrant workers on strike began to rise. A Hazleton newspaper again reflected a growing concern over the lack of a strike 30 SLOVAKIA settlement and a possible serious confrontation: ''The strike can be settled within twenty-four hours, and without bloodshed, if the operators will act fair and honest with their men. "(119) A day later the same editorial voice observed a growing seriousness in that the strikers '' ... are very much embittered against the deputies, and it is feared that both parties will engage in mortal combat." (120) A letter to the newspaper editor commenting on the strike stated it was '' ... causing a depression in business and fear in the hearts of the people of bloodshed . . . '' suggesting ' ' . . . the Ministerial Association take the matter in hand, call a meeting of all the clergy of the Protestant and Catholic churches, and together with the press and businessmen try and see if their influence could not be used to settle this grave matter between the operators and men."(121) John Fahy counseled the workers to obey the Sheriff's proclamations and to avoid provocations that could cause violence since the authorities had the ability to crush them. His interest was to temper the strikers' ardor and give it some meaningful direction.(122) Martin, apparently feeling some frustrations and reservations over his efforts to deal with strikers , told Frank Pardee, head of A. Pardee & Company, '' ... that while the strikers simply confined themselves to talking to the men quietly and persuading them to quit, it was none of my business and I had no right to interfere. "(123) Regardless of whatever doubts the Sheriff may have had, he knew perfectly well that he could not disregard the wishes of the coal operators. Starting on Thursday afternoon events began to cascade toward that fateful Friday. Employees of Calvin Pardee & Company at Harwood who were on strike felt that in order to win they had to shut down the company's operation at Lattimer which had failed earlier. News came to Harwood strikers that their fellow employees at Lattimer were anxious to join them if only they would march over to Lattimer; this appeal stimulated their determination.(124) The Harwood local of the United Mine Workers held a meeting on Thursday evening to make plans to march to Lattimer the next day. Joe Mahalko, president of the Harwood local of the United Mine Workers of America, cautioned his fellow workers to go without guns or any other kind of weapons, to harm no one nor to destroy any property, and to keep the peace. On the next day, Friday, September 10, around noon some two hundred and fifty strikers from the Harwood area, consisting almost exclusively of immigrant workers, started their ill-fated mission to get their counterparts to go on strike at Lattimer. As the march proceeded, some seventy-five to one hundred additional strikers joined the ranks. (125) When they reached the outskirts of West Hazleton on their route to Lattimer around two o 'clock, they were stopped by Evan Jones, Chief of Police of West Hazleton, who told them, "Go back out of this, you are in a dangerous place. If you have to go to Lattimer you must go another way."(126) At this point Sheriff Martin and his deputies SLOVAKIA 31 arrived on the scene with the intention of stopping the marchers from proceeding to Lattimer. A confrontation occurred between the Sheriff, his deputies , and the strikers, in which one striker was arrested, another had his arm broken by a deputy, many had guns thrust in their faces , the American flag they were carrying was destroyed, and there was an exchange of blasphemous name calling.(127) Martin read his proclamation containing the riot act, ordered them to cease their march to Lattimer , and urged them to return to their homes, telling them that all of the marching from colliery to colliery to drive men from work was no way to get better wages.(128) He believed there would be serious trouble since some of the marchers had picked up stones and looked as if they intended to throw them at the law enforcement officials. However, this fear proved to be unfounded since they did not take such a provocative action. (129) Efforts to halt the march were futile considering the strikers ' determination to continue their trek to Lattimer, and Martin 's inability to communicate with them since he spoke only English and had no interpreter . After becoming exhausted from the episode , he simply gave up trying to stop them.(130) The strikers ' perception of this hostile encounter differed from the law officers ' version and hinted at forthcoming trouble . John Eagler, one of the leaders of the march and secretary of the United Mine Workers local at Harwood stated: " We were met by the deputies at West Hazleton who did not come like civilized beings , but broke through the ranks, crying, 'Stop , stop!' " (131) Joseph Mahalko declared : '' I told the Sheriff we had no stick big as my finger in the crowd. All Sheriff said was 'don't go any farther .' Sheriff said , 'You go back or I shoot you . ' " (132) Again John Eagler stated that the Sheriff only took a piece of paper from his pocket and did not read any proclamation as he claimed but had simply told them that it was against the law to march to Lattimer.(133) The strikers asserted they did not initiate any altercation with the law officers but were merely the victims of an unwarranted attempt to prohibit them from using the public highway. Something that proved to be far more serious was the ominous threats attributted to the Sheriff and his deputies against the strikers: "Go back and take care of yourself, for there will be big trouble today ." (134) " We 'll get even with the --- at Lattimer."(135) "We ' ll leave them go till we get to Lattimer ; then we ' ll shoot them. "(136) "I'd like to get a pop at the ---of b---. I'll bet I'll drop six. " (137) "I didn 't know what the h--- the Sheriff makes us walk around here so much without giving us a chance to shoot those men .'' (138) ' 'Everyone of the G-- d-- Hunks ought to be shot. " (139) Sheriff Martin , formerly a coal foreman at the Mill Creek colliery in Luzerne County, allegedly stated, " . . . a little cold lead is the only way to conquer the strikers."(140) The Sheriff's efforts and reported intimidations to terminate the strike rs ' march to Lattimer became nothing more than a futile gesture that only made them more resolute to continue their journey. Un- 32 SLOVAKIA daunted, the marchers following the advice of Chief Evan Jones took a route toward Lattimer along the outskirts of Hazleton on which they could proceed without further interference.(141) Sheriff Martin realizing his efforts had been to no avail quickly returned to Hazleton, summoned his entire force of deputies telling them to take their arms and board the trolley to Lattimer so they could prevent the marchers from stopping the Lattimer mining operations.(142) En route there was talk among the deputies '' . . . about shooting and each man seemed to be eager ... "(143) Since some of the deputies had served as coal and iron police, they " ... had had much trouble with the strikers on previous occasions and were said to be in a revengeful mood against them. "(144) Even Sheriff Martin admitted, " ... I have no doubt that some of the deputies were excited, and certainly the ride over the mountain in that crowded car was animating."(145) The Sheriff and his posse arrived at Lattimer a few minutes after three o'clock and stationed themselves along the right side of the road as it entered Lattimer from the south. He instructed his deputies " ... to keep cool and not get excited. "(146) However, before the strikers arrived, the deputies ordered a woman to go into her house on the likelihood that some shooting may occur.(147) Shortly after the deputies were in place , the strikers appeared coming up the public road in an orderly array toward the Lattimer breaker. (148) There was every reason to suspect that the deputies were fully aware that the miners were unarmed. As they approached the law officers who were standing parallel to the road, the Sheriff stepped out and walked toward the marchers with the intention of learning what they planned to do. Martin indicated that " ... if they are not going to do anything, I may let them go on, and we will go along with them.' ' (149) He ordered them to halt about forty or fifty yards from the armed deputies. The front of the column slowed as the Sheriff approached and asked them what they intended to do. The Sheriff reported they said, "We stop Lattimer Mines."(150) He then proceeded to read his proclamation in English, which many of them could not understand, while at the same time the rear of the column kept pushing forward. Within a few minutes a fracas broke out between the Sheriff and some twenty strikers at the side of the road when he attempted to seize and arrest one of the men.(151) At this point the deputies aimed and fired directly into the ranks of the strikers. The exploding crescendo of Winchesters created a bloody massacre with the sound of shrieks and moaning of the dying and wounded lying in agony. One newspaper described the scene: ''It was a human slaughter in which men were mowed down like grain stalks before a scythe, by the deadly bullets which stormed for fully two minutes. The blood of the dead and dying soaked the dusty road and flowed in streams through the ditch."(152) The murderous volley created a human carnage taking the lives of nineteen immigrants and leaving thrity-eight wounded; eleven men died at Lattimer with the SLOVAKIA 33 remaining eight dying at the Hazleton Hospital. Dr. Keller, a physician at the hospital, stated that many of the victims were shot in the back.(153) What began a month earlier as a dispute between Gomer Jones and immigrant mule drivers grew into a serious strike finally ending as a sorrowful episode in American labor history. In the aftermath of this tragedy there were contradictory versions as to what actually happened. Sheriff Martin said the strikers were vicious, boisterous, a furious and desperate gang, fierce as wild beasts, threatening to physically harm or even kill him. He felt that they were bent on doing violence and had no intention of obeying his proclamation or the laws of Pennsylvania. Earlier at West Hazleton, Martin told the marchers that it was his duty to prevent them from interfering with the men who were working at the mines, and at Lattimer he went a step further to warn them that if they did not disperse there would be trouble.(154) When a Hungarian speaking in broken English told him, "Go to hell, you a---," (155) he sought to arrest the man who shouted the epithet. The men, excited, began assaulting him forcing him to draw his revolver in self defense and attempt to shoot an attacking man, but the gun failed to discharge. He claimed that two of his attackers had pistols and a third man with a knife sought to stab him. (156) In a letter written five weeks later explaining the event to Governor Hastings, Martin wrote the following description: "One high (sic) fellow gave me a blow on the cheek and knocked me on my knees. I would have been knocked down on my back, but the crowd was too close around me so that there was no room for me to get down, and while we were struggling I heard a shot followed closely by a second and then a number of shots together. Those who were attacking me were shot, and I was then unable to recover myself, and there is no doubt in my mind that if the deputies had not shot just when they did I would certainly have been killed. While I was struggling with part of the mob on one side of the road in the ditch where they had pushed me, the part on the other side of the road with a whoop and yell rushed on toward the deputies, who no doubt fearing that their lives were in danger and that I was to be killed, fired ... '' (157) On the day after the shooting, Martin gave several conflicting statements as to why the deputies shot the strikers. "I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers ... I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot if they must to protect their lives or to protect the property that they had been sent to guard from being demolished . . . I hated to give the command to shoot and was awfully sorry that I was compelled to do so. "(158) "I did not order the deputies to fire; someone else did that. I gave no order." (159) "The shooting commenced in a manner that baffles me completely when it comes to explaining."(160) A few days later in an interview Martin suggested that the cause of the shooting came from an impulse of his men to protect him: ''They saw me in the 34 SLOVAKIA midst of the strikers, with men aiming blows at me, and they supposed probably that my life was in danger."(161) The Sheriff's answers vacillated on how the shooting began, ranging from admitting that he gave the order to his deputies to fire their weapons to denying any knowledge of how the firing happened. Even among the deputies there was no satisfactory answer as to how the shooting commenced. The version of the confrontation by the strikers and bystanders differed from and challenged the assertions made by Sheriff Martin. According to the strikers, the Sheriff ordered them to halt and began to read his proclamation. The situation became disruptive when the Sheriff sought to arrest one of the marchers and get the others to disperse. One of the men told the Sheriff '' . . . we only want to move on peaceably ... "(162) Those in the rear of the column continued pressing forward and shouting '' go ahead,'' pushing the Sheriff and some of the men off to the side of the road. Whereupon, John Eagler reported that Martin flourished his revolver, '' ... grabbed one man by the arm, and, pointing the revolver at him, said, 'Did you tell them to go ahead?' The man said he had not spoken, and then the Sheriff grabbed another man and began to shove him about. 'You will say ''Go ahead," eh?' said the Sheriff, and at the same time he aimed the revolver squarely at the man's heart. The man naturally was frightened, and pushed the Sheriff's hand holding the revolver to one side. Whether or not the Sheriff considers that an attack or·not I don't know. I am positive that not a man hit the Sheriff."(163) An account from a bystander stated that Martin '' . . . became excited and ordered the deputies to shoot . . . " (164) A striker affirmed this point that the Sheriff gave the order to fire.(165) Another eye witness agreed that Martin's command was to fire but only a warning shot over the heads of the strikers.(166) Witnesses to the shooting pointed out there were no warning shots fired but told of excessive firing into the ranks of the strikers, deputies continuing to shoot after men ran for cover, and men shot down as far as 150 yards from where they were stopped by the Sheriff.(167) A Lattimer school teacher reported: "I saw men who had hidden behind trees and fences during the first fusillade leave their places of concealment only to be deliberately shot down."(168) The school house about three hundred yards distant from which the teacher saw the shooting was riddled with bullets. An area newspaper asserted: ''This would indicate that the strikers, fleeing by the shortest route to Hazleton across the hills, were shot at long after there was any danger to the deputies." (169) Strikers affirming this horror told of being targets as they ran for safety. A detached account by Henry Hoyt, United States Assistant Attorney General, based upon an investigation of the shooting made the following summation: ''It appeared that the strikers were unarmed; that small clubs which they had previously carried were thrown away on the march between West Hazleton and Lattimer; that they were peaceable and orderly in West SLOVAKIA 35 Hazleton and Lattimer; were not riotous at West Hazleton or Lattimer, and at neither place made an assault upon the Sheriff or his deputies, or offered any violence or used threatening language to them."(170) Martin confirmed Hoyt's account by stating, in response to a reporter's question, that the strikers until the time of the shooting had not committed any overt act nor behaved otherwise than peaceably. (171) The Lattimer tragedy resulted from a multiplicity of interrelated sources. Existing in the anthracite region were nativistic sentiments encompassing an attitude of disdain for Slavic and Italian immigrants; Anglo-Saxons looked upon the strikers as unwelcomed strangers who were inferiors and who could not possibly conform to accepted standards in society. In an interview a federal treasury official, who was familiar with Hazleton, affirmed this idea with his romantic (and distorted) depiction of an idyllic and bucolic setting disrupted by the intrusion of alien people who fostered hatred: ''I think when all the facts come out in regard to the shooting it will be found that the officers who did the shooting have covered a revenge of years under the wings of the law. I remember when twelve or fifteen years ago, the section around Hazleton was settled by hard-working and honest Irishmen, Welshmen, Englishmen, Germans, and Americans. They worked in the mines and did well. Many of them owned their own homes - pretty little cottages on the hillside, surrounded by outhouses for cattle and chickens, etc., and happiness seemed to smile on all. There were no strikes and the morality of the neighborhood was good. Then began to come in the Hungarians and the Poles and the class of foreigners, by accepting smaller wages, ran the others out. I knew several Irishmen who vowed they would not leave, but went away to other States, in many instances having to sell their little homes to pay their debts and to get away on. This naturally caused a bitter feeling, a feeling which exists to this day, and one which caused many vows of revenge. The houses once the property of prosperous Irishmen and Americans are now in filthy condition, occupied by two and three families of Hungarians and Poles. Instead of clean beds there are bunks ranged along the walls and as many as four people slept in a small room. In that band of deputies which encountered the marching miners a few days ago are many men who remembered the change from the scenes of years ago. Their hearts have been full of revenge. When the opportunity presented itself they seized it, with the horrible result too well known. They shot to kill, because their relatives and friends had been made paupers by these people. I do not approve of the shooting, but I believe the facts will reveal what I have stated." (172) These immigrant strikers represented a class of people outside the local structure, posed an economic threat to the interests of coal operators, and replaced Anglo-Saxons as the dominant mine workers. In contrast, the Sheriff's posse consisted of a class of people that was 36 SLOVAKIA diametrically opposite in nationality, place in society , and occupation. This dissimilarity in turn tended to heighten emotional responses. The strike increased the stresses of nativism. Passions grew in both contending groups; as workers sought to shut down the mines , the Sheriff and his deputies, under the pressure of coal companies , tried to prevent them from accomplishing their objective. A feeling of anxiety and tension grew in the community as the chances of an ugly confrontation between strikers and law officers became likely. Undoubtedly , the Sheriff and his men fully sensed this but realized the ramifications if they failed to prevent the strikers from closing down the mining operations at Lattimer. If unsuccessful, the chances of protecting the remaining mines from being closed down by the strikers would be slight. Combined with this pressure were frustrations in trying to quell the strikers' activities , tension and fatigue over the incident at West Hazleton, malicious attitudes toward the immigrants who were also labor agitators, and a glandular excitement capable of generating panic from a large group about to undergo another encounter with strikers . A maturation process among Slavic and Italian immigrants in the anthracite coal fields reached fruition when the strike broke out in the Lehigh region in the late summer of 1897. Having become the dominant group among the mine workers in the late 1890's, they asserted themselves by conceiving and initiating the strike . This decision resulted from the frustrating working conditions and discriminatory practices emanating from nativistic actions which combined to impose hardships and an inferior status . The culmination of these factors was the wellspring for discontent and dissatisfaction. At this time the United Mine Workers of America lacked strength to represent and protect the anthracite mine workers ' interest effectively and , in addition , generally showed little interest in including the new immigrants in their ranks or purview. Consequently, the only recourse for the immigrant workers was to take matters into their own hands to seek redress for grievances. As the strike developed, it lacked coherent strategies since it was unorganized, leaderless , and did not have benefit of an effective union structure to provide direction, articulation, and ability to successfully negotiate with the coal operators. (173) This point of inadequate experience and unfamiliarity in labor affairs made the strikers vulnerable to violence . Therefore, on that Friday afternoon as the immigrant strikers marched into Lattimer imbued with a spirit to win their strike, they came face to face with Sheriff Martin and his deputies equally committed to stopping them. It was as if for a moment, the recent social and economic history of the area had been centripetally compressed into a time capsule only to be exploded by indigenous divergent and incompatible forces . Catapulted into a deadly collision were two different worlds in conflict. The result was-violence, perpetrated by public peace keepers who were the instruments of coal SLOVAKIA 37 companies' strategy to break the strike . The effect was that Lattimer became the worst tragedy in American labor history in terms of the number of workers killed and wounded by public authorities, who were not provoked nor endangered and who attacked without warning unarmed strikers peacefully demonstrating on a public highway. FOOTNOTES (1) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 11, 1897. (2) Letter from Henry Hoyt, Assistant Attorney-General, to William Day, Secretary of State, April 8, 1898; in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, with the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 6, 1898 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1901), 82-87. Hoyt' s letter stemmed from an investigation made by the Department of Justice for the Department of State concerning a diplomatic protest from the Austria-Hungary government over several of its nationals killed and wounded at Lattimer. A great deal of confusion and inaccuracy existed in newspaper accounts as to the number of casualities from the shooting; reports varied from fourteen to as many as fifty people killed. Hoyt based his figures upon grand jury murder indictments against Sheriff Martin and his deputies who were brought to trial on February 1, 1898, in Luzerne County but were found not guilty by the jury. (3) Daily Standard (Hazleton), September 11, 1897. (4) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 11, 1897. (5) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (6) Daily Globe (South Bethlehem) , September 11, 1897. (7) St. Louis Post Dispatch, September 12, 1897. (8) San Francisco Chronicle, September 11, 1897. (9) Detroit Free Press, September 11, 1897. (10) Pittsburgh Dispatch, September 11, 1897. (11) Boston Daily Globe, September 11, 1897. (12) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 5, 1897. (13) Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers : A Study in Immigration (Philadelphia: J . B. Lippincott Company, 1904) , 51 & 58 ; Frank Julian Warne, "Some Industrial Effects of Slav Immigration," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904), 223-224. (14) Rowland Berthoff, "The Social Order of the Anthracite Region , 1825-1902," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LXXXIX (July 1965), 169-171; Charles B. Spahr, "America 's Working People," Outlook, Ll(Il (August 5, 1899) , 811. (15) Peter Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," Charities and the Commons, XIII (December 3, 1904) , 219. (16) Berthoff, 287; George 0 . Virtue, "The Anthracite Mine Laborers," Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor No. 13, (November, 1897) , 753. (17) Henry Edward Rood , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village ," Century Magazine, XXXIII, new series, (April, 1898), 811. (18) Roberts , " The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities," 221. (19) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1895 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1895), 643. (20) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1897 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 546. 38 SLOVAKIA (21) Frank Julian Warne, " Organized Labor in the Anthracite Coal Fields," Outlook, LXXI (May 24 , 1902), 273 . '' . . . The operators used them (immigrants) originally to introduce low wages ... " Wilkes-Barre Record, August 8, 1897. The attitude that immigrants were responsible for undermining native labor interests was prevalent in newspaper editorials. Mauch Chunk Coal Gazette, September 25, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 8, 1897; Weekly Herald (Shenandoah), September 18, 1897; Sullivan Review, September 16, 1897 ; Detroit Free Press, September 12, 1897; Pittsburgh Post, September 15, 1897. (22) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. The laborer who assisted the contract miner was not employed by the coal operator but by the miner. Nearly eighty percent of the mine laborers in the Lehigh region worked under the contract system. Frank Julian Warne , " The Anthracite Coal Strike, " Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XVII (January, 1901), 32-33 . (23) Rood, 815. (24) Frank Julian Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," Annuals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, XXI (January , 1903) , 23-24; Rood, 815; Virtue, 753 . (25) Victor R. Greene, The Slavic Community on Strike: Immigrant Labor in Pennsylvania Anthracite (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968), 86-87 ; Berthoff, 272-273 ; Virtue , 753 . (26) Spahr, 8ll ; Warne, " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker," 31-32 ; Roberts, "The Sclavs in Anthracite Coal Communities, " 218 . (27) Harold W. Aurand , From the Molly Maguires to the United Mine Workers: The Social Ecology of an Industrial Union, 1869-1897 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press , 1971) , 136. (28) Berthoff, 273 . (29) Warne , " The Effect of Unionism Upon the Mine Worker, " 21; Berthoff, 268. (30) Alexander Trachtenberg, The History of Legislation for the Protection of Coal Miners in Pennsylvania, 1824-1915 (New York: International Publishers, 1942) , 134135. (31) Ibid., 135-136; Frank Julian Warne, The Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88 . (32) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Sessions of 1889, Vol. I, Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1889) , 1529. (33) Virtue, 768; Greene, ll 7-ll8 ; Pottsville Republican, June 15, 1897 . (34) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1889, Vol. I, 1236. (35) Ibid. (36) United Mine Workers Journal, October 22, 1896, 1. (37) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1897, 289. (38) UMW Journal, August 12, 1897, 7. (39) Daily Standard, August 28, 1897. (40) Warne , Th e Slav Invasion and the Mine Workers, 88. (41) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Ses sion of 1897, 135-136. The bill passed the House and Senate by votes of 126 to 12 and 28 to 3 respectively . Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), 1069 & 2418 . There were attempts in the House to make the tax five cents a day. Ibid., 2418 (42) Ibid., 2292 . (43) Ibid., 2217 . SLOVAKIA 39 (44) UMW Journal, July 1, 1897, 1. (45) Fraser v. McConway & Torley Co., 82 The Federal Reporter 259 (1897) . (46) Pennsylvania Legislative Record for the Session of 1897, Vol. I, 2217. (47) Wilkes-Barre Record, August 26 & 28, 1897. (48) Peter Roberts, Anthracite Coal Communities: A Study of the Demography, The Social, Educational and Moral Life of the Anthracite Region (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904), 44-45 . (49) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897. (50) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report on Conditions Existing Among the Miners and Those Employed in and About the Mines in the Anthracite Coal Regions ," Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Session Begun at Harrisburg, on the Fifth Day of January, 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1897), Il, 1824-1842. (51) R eports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896 (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch State Printer, 1897), xvi-xvii . (52) Ibid., xvii; "Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (53) Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 170-172. (54) "The Association Letter," Anthracite Coal Operators Association, September, 1897, 2. (55) John Graham Brooks, " An Impression of the Anthracite Coal Troubles," Yale Review, VI (November, 1897), 307. (56) "Legislative Investigating Committee Report, " 1826. (57) Virtue, 756 . (58) Ibid., 757-58; "The Association Letter," 14-15; "The Marketing of Small Sizes of Anthracite," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (June, 1897), 490. (59) The Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1888-89, Vol. IV (Washington: U.S . Government Printing Office, 1889) , lxxix . (60) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891 (Harrisburg: Edwin K. Meyers State Printer, 1891), 256-57 . (61) Peter Roberts , Anthracite Coal Industry (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1901), 136. (62) Ibid., 138. (63) "Company Store Legislation," The Colliery Engineer, XVIl (April, 1897) , 395. (64) Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897. (65) Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897. (66) Virtue, 760 ; " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1839. (67) UMW Journal, January 14 , 1897, 5; Ibid., October 22, 1896, l; Wilkes-Barre Record, December 25, 1896; Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897 . Fahy launched a campaign in the anthracite region to secure public contributions to support the United Mine Workers of America lobbying activities to abolish the company store. The Pennsylvania Legislature, reflecting an increased awareness of labor interests, responded and passed a bill in July, 1897 , placing a ten percent tax upon the face value of all types of certificates or the equivalent issued in lieu of legal tender for employees' wages . This measure would have severely crippled the operation of company stores; however, Governor Hastings vetoed the legislation on the ground that it violated the state constitution. George Edward Reed, ed., Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. Xll, 4th ser., (Harrisburg: Wm . Stanley Ray State Printer, 1902), 150-54. 40 SLOVAKIA (68) Daily Standard, August 31 & September 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2 & 13, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike of May-October, 1902 by the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission (Washington : U.S . Government Printing Office , 1903), 144 . The above source contained information regarding the strikers' demands made to the G. B. Markle & Company in the 1897 strike. (69) Daily Standard, September 6 & 8, 1897; Spahr, 810 . (70) Ibid.; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897 ; The Reports of Committees of the Hous e ... Fiftieth Congress, lxxxi. (71) Berthoff, 286. If all the miners in the fifth district (Lehigh region) had turned in their empty powder kegs in 1896, they would have raised $10 ,028.30 . Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173. (72) Robe rts , Anthracite Coal Communities, 259, 262-263. (73) Report of the Industrial Commission of the Relations and Conditions of Capital and Labor in the Mining Industry Including Testimony, Review of Evidence, and Topical Digest, Vol. XIl (Washington : U.S. Government Printing Office , 1901), 142 . (74) Robe rts, Anthracite Coal Industry, 133-134. (75) Daily Standard, September 6, 8 & 9, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, September 7, 1897; Report to the President of the Anthracite Coal Strike, 144. (76) Daily Standard, September 9, 1897; Spahr, 810; Report of the Industrial Commission, 142. (77) Computation based on 5,754 miners and laborers in the fifth anthracite district and the use of 100,283 kegs of blasting powder. Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1896, 173 & 176. (78) Laws of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of 1891, 96-97. (79) Pottsville Republican, September 20, 1897. (80) " Legislative Investigating Committee Report," 1830. (81) UMW Journal, Ocotber 22, 1896, 1. (82) Report of the Industrial Commission, 143. (83) UMW Journal, November 25, 1897, 2; Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (84) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 15, 1897. (85) Ibid.; Daily Standard, August 17, 1897. In the Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre newspapers there appeared an account of an interview with an unnamed individual defending Jones ' superintendency . Acknowledging that Jones may have made some mistakes, the source indicated that the workers' discontent really stemmed from the decisions made by the preceeding superintendent or from orders issued by higher company officials . ''He is charged with being a tyrant, and in reference to this it may be said that each foreman has full charge of all employees working under him . But Jones is among the first men about the works in the morning and among the last to leave at night, and because he attends strictly to business he is called a tyrant by men who want ten hours pay for less than ten hours of work.'' Wilkes-Barre Times, August 27, 1897. (86) Ibid., August 16, 1897. Gomer Jones was arrested later on a complaint by John Bodan on the charge of aggravated assault. Ibid., August 18, 1897. (87)lbid. , August 16, 1897 . (88) Ibid. , August 17, 1897 . (89) Ibid. , August 18, 1897. (90) Ibid. , August 20, 1897 . SLOVAKIA 41 (91) Ibid. , August 21, 1897. (92) Ibid. (93) Ibid., August 28, 30 & September 1, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28, 1897. (94) Ibid., September 3, 1897. (95) Ibid., September 3 & 4, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, September 4, 6 & 8, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 3, 1897 . (96) Ibid. , August 28, 1897; Daily Standard, August 28, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 , 1897. (97) Ibid. , August 30, 1897 . (98) Ibid., August 31, 1897. (99) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 3, 1897. (100) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. (101) Ibid, ; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & 30, 1897. (102) Ibid. , September 4 & 6, 1897. (103) Daily Standard, September 6, 1897. (104) Wilkes-Barre Record, September 4, 1897. (105) Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. A. S. Van Wickle Company operated independently of the other coal companies, provided their employees more work, and were regarded with greater esteem and confidence in the community. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 22, 1897 . (106) Letter from James Martin to Daniel H. Hastings, Governor of Pennsylvania, October 18, 1897 , Governor Hastings Papers, MG-145, Box 18, Division of Archives and Manuscripts of Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (107) Ibid. (108) R eco rd of the Times (Wilkes-Barre), March 4, 1898. (109) New York World, February 13, 1898; Dollar Weekly News-Dealer (Wilkes-Barre), September 18, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 23 , 1898 ; Pennsylvania, Department of State, Commission Bureau, "Policemen, 1889-1912," 346; Hazle Township and Hazleton City, "Real Estate Tax Assessment Books for 1896 and 1897 ,'' Office of the Board for the Assessment and Revision of Taxes , Luzerne County Courthouse, Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . (110) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898; Daily Standard, September 7, 1897. (111) Record of the Times, March 4, 1897. (112) Daily Standard, October 21, 1897. A review of the annual financial report of the Comptroller for Luzerne County revealed that there were no payments from county funds for the services of the deputies at Hazleton , supporting the conclusion that the coal operators paid the deputies' salaries. Wilkes-Barre Record, January 23, 1898. (113) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (114) Daily Standard, September 9, 1898. (115) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (116) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (118) Ibid. (119) Ibid. , September 9, 1897. (120) Ibid. , September 10, 1897 . (121) Ibid., September 9, 1897. 42 SLOVAKIA (122) Ibid., September 8, 1897; Hazleton Sentinel, September 3, 1897; Spahr, 808. (123) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (124) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (125) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (126) Record of the Times, February 11, 1898. (127) Ibid. , March 4, 1898. (128) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (129) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897 . (130) Ibid. (131) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (132) Ibid. (133) Ibid. (134) Ibid., February 18, 1898. (135) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (136) Ibid., February 15, 1898. (137) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (138) Ibid., February 8, 1898. (139) Ibid., February 11, 1898. (140) New York World, September 12, 1898. "Whether deserved or not, Sheriff Martin, of Luzerne county, it is alleged, entertains an unquestionable hatred for the foreign element." Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (141) Record of the Times, February 8, 1898. (142) Ibid., September 11, 1897. (143) Wilkes-Barre Leader, September 13, 1897. (144) Easton Free Press, September 13, 1897. (145) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (146) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (147) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (148) Record of the Times, February 28, 1898; Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (149) Martin to Hastings , October 18, 1897. (150) Ibid. (151) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (152) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (153) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898; Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia), September 11, 1897; Record of the Times, February 8, 1898; Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 1897. (154) Ibid., September 11, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 11 , 1897; WilkesBarre Record, September 11, 1897 . (155) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (156) Record of the Times, March 4, 1898. (157) Martin to Hastings, October 18, 1897. (158) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (159) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897 . (160) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11 , 1897. SLOVAKIA 43 (161) Pottsville Republican, September 14, 1897. (162) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (163) Evening Bulletin, September 13, 1897. (164) Daily Standard, September 11, 1897. (165) Record of the Times, February 22, 1897. (166) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (167) Record of the Times, February 11 & 15, 1898; Daily Standard, September 11, 1897; "Some of the guns were loaded with shells containing a lot of No.8 shot, which scattered with deadliest effect, and others had the plain bullets of heavy bore. The manner in which the victims were tom up looked as though they had been before gatling guns or on a field of where grape and canister were poured from cannon mouths." Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 1897. (168) Easton Free Press, September 11, 1897. (169) Wilkes-Barre Sunday Morning Leader, September 12, 1897. (170) Hoyt to Day, April 8, 1898. (171) Pottsville Republican, September 11, 1897. (172) New York Tribune, September 15, 1897. (173) Report of the Industrial Commission, 139-140; Wilkes-Barre Record, August 28 & September 5, 1897; Pottsville Republican, September 2, 1897; Daily Standard, September 4, 1897. When news of the Lattimer shooting spread through the coal fields surrounding Hazleton, the scope of the strike immediately enlarged involving some 10,000 mine employees and idling nineteen of the thirty-three area collieries. Strikers were unwilling to return to work during the following week when funerals for victims were held; they further refused to end their work stoppage until the coal operators met their grievances, mainly an increase in wages. The strike began to wane on September 20 when the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company agreed to grant a ten percent wage increase to mine laborers, pay six to eight cents more per car of coal to miners, and seek solutions to workers' complaints. Only two companies, Lehigh Valley Coal Company and C. Pardee and Company, had not reached a settlement by the end of the second week after the Lattimer shooting but by the end of September they both made an agreement similar to the other coal operators which finally brought an end to the Lehigh coal strike of 1897. Pennsylvania, Official Documents of 1897 (Harrisburg: Wm. Stanley Ray State Printer, 1899), ill, 124 Scranton Times, September 21, 1897; Daily Standard, September 21 & 24, 1897; UMW Journal, November 18, 1897, 3. 44 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre KON STANTIN CULEN A tragic event that occurred in September 1897 struck at the heart of Slovak American life with such telling impact that it served to solidify the Slovak immigrants in the United States into one unified body more effectively than had any previous experience in their new world. This event greatly furthered that awareness of a need for unity that began to crystallize under the pressures to which they had been subjected in their homeland Slovakia. In American history as well as in the record of early SlovakAmerican history this event is known as the Lattimer slaughter or the Lattimer massacre. The setting was the mining region around Hazleton, Pennsylvania. It was an area that had long seethed with the discontent and the restiveness of the men who were employed in the mines . Mine management groups had long bled their workers white, extracting the very marrow out of their bones . The companies paid out pauper wages, cheated the workmen on their weight checks, overcharged prices for foods and daily necessities that were sold through company stores. Scores of mining catastrophes underscored the obvious inadequacy of safety measures that existed to protect the men in their dangerous work in deep underground pits. Miners in Hazleton had declared a strike but nearby mines in neighboring communities continued to operate at practically full strength. Some casual talk was heard from time to time to the effect that the Hazleton operators were planning to bring in scabs in the near future. Union leaders realized that their Hazleton strike would lose all effectiveness unless the miners of the entire locality would join forces in one concerted resistance movement, supporting the Hazleton effort and pressing common demands for improved conditions and benefits. On September 10, 1897 a sizable group of Slovak and Polish miners who were on strike set out for the small mining settlement of Lattimer. In subsequent investigations during the trial they testified that they were on their way there because the Lattimer workers had sent them word that they decided to join the strike movement. The group of striking miners had hardly left Hazleton when Sheriff Martin with a company of about a hundred men from the supporting police force (so-called deputies) anticipated their movement and went An excerpt from Konstantin Culen's two-volume History of the Slovaks in America. (Bratislava, Slovenska Liga , 1942) vol. 1, Part XI , no . 5-9, pp. 162-176. Translated by Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. SLOVAKIA 45 on ahead of them riding the trolley lines. On reaching Lattimer, he assigned his force of deputies to various positions and then he moved several paces forward, addressing the group marching in on foot, to read a restraining order that forbade any gathering or assemblage of persons by provision ordinance dealing with uprising and rebellion. During the reading of this ordinance, a few strikers came closer to the sheriff and there was some minor verbal exchange. The miners objected that they were not disturbers of the public peace or revolutionaries of any kind; they were simply orderly and law-abiding citizens peacefully going along their way . This reaction so exasperated the sheriff that he reached out and snatched away a small American flag that one of the men was carrying, tore it up, pulled out his revolver and began to shoot. After he had drawn his trigger five times, his sixth shot struck a miner in the chest and hurled him to the ground. After the sheriff's outburst of fire, there was the sound of volleys from the deputies. The unarmed miners turned and fled in panic, trying to find safety or protection of some kind. The brutal frontal attack lasted but a few moments but the deputies continued to fire upon the fleeing miners so that practically all of them were struck and wounded in flight.(1) The deputies who were charged with excitement by this time, further assaulted the bleeding victims by beating them and kicking them cruelly as they lay helpless on the ground. A shot or a volley of shots can seem to be an effective argument at a given moment but usually its effectiveness wears off after a brief time. And shots or salvos of shots fail to carry conviction. This was brought out in the Lattimer situation. The Slovak colony found itself in a state of shock, standing inconsolate beside the corpses of the fallen men. It was all too clear to these newcomers now - if it had not been clear to them before - that every Slovak had to be very realistically a brother to a fellow-Slovak, that every Slovak would have to be the most reliable standby and defense of a fellow-Slovak. Anything less than that would serve to reduce them to the debasing circumstance of being mere henchmen and convenient tools of foreign overlords and exploiters. This extravagant bloodletting and bizarre butchering under unprovoked and non-violent circumstances evoked considerable humane reaction in the American press. The attitudes of American journalists were not all of a kind. Some reporters and editors were incensed over the needless killings and brutality. Some wrote with a sense of relief that the incident involved only "Hunkies" - the generic designation that most newspapers used for every newcomer from Austria-Hungary. News of this lamentable event spread to all the Slovak settlers scattered throughout the United States and set off a degree of outrage and consternation that no other experience had yet caused in SlovakAmerican life. Those who had been faction-torn or at odds for whatever 46 SLOVAKIA reasons , were at once moved to conciliation and unity through their common grief at the graveside of the murdered men. Slovak Ame rican journalists who had been indulging personal and non-personal bouts of polemics in their papers left all that trivia now that a common cause evolved out of this catastrophe , and a vigorous new spirit infused their energies and talents. They reacted with a sense of unity and resolute will not only to moderate the mounting resentment and growing agitation that could have been fanned to unreasonable and uncontrollable proportions but to divert effort and attention to an altruistic purpose on behalf of aiding and befriending the widowed and orphaned survivors . Slovak American journalists also undertook a determined program to secure in the free world of America that measure of civic dignity and security that would make it impossible for such brutal disregard of the human right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ever to be repeated and condoned again . The press came out strongly with appeals for at least financial compensation to the bereaved widows and orphans and demanded that punitive justice be dealt the incriminated sheriff. The general feeling was that the just process of law and suitable sentencing should act as a deterrent to any possible repetition of the horrible incident. The whole body of Slovak immigrant life in America reacted with a corporate cry of pain and a strong appeal protesting the inhumanity of the Lattimer episode. New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, all made their voices heard as did lesser towns and even the lowly scattered hamlet settlements in America where Slovaks nursed the pain of this tragic hurt . Countless gatherings and demonstrations attracted thousands of Slovak laborers to review and assess the factors involved and the consequences of this catastrophe. Numberless formal discussions and rallies were climaxed with the drawing up of appropriate protest resolutions. All Slovak-American centers participated in drives to aid the victimized survivors of the callous murder, and there were also spirited fund-raising campaigns for legal expenses and court costs to bring Sheriff Martin to justice, for the prevailing view was that he should be made to pay for his crime, for his responsibility in leading and abetting reprehensible action . A committee for this express purpose was organized in Hazleton, holding itself charged to set in motion whatever action might be called for and to pursue the cause to its end. The September 16, 1897 issue (738) of the Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny appeared with a banner headline whose bold-faced lettering read: "Massacre of Slavs . In the freest country under the sun , people are shot at like dogs. Slavs are the victims of American savagery." Editor Pucher Ciernovodsky designated September 10 the bloody Friday of Slovak national life. His report seemed to be written with a pen dipped in blood. He denounced the attacking party and he did not spare the Slovaks themselves , finding them culpable of that lack of SLOVAKIA 47 interest in public affairs that could have contributed significantly to the culmination of this public scandal. Some of Pucher Ciernovodsky' s thoughts were: ' 'The mountainsides of Hazleton are drenched with Slovak blood, and pitiable orphans and widows, fathers and mothers, brothers and friends raise eyes brimming with bitter tears to heaven pleading, 0 God , is there justice in this life? If there is justice on this earth of ours, did our blood truly deserve this spilling? Who in this world is committed to greater drudgery than we? Who in this world is engaged in a work that is more dangerous than ours? ' 'When we are driven to extremes of misery because hunger and want have sapped our strength and our bodies are bone-weary from overwork, and when our famished and shabbily clothed children ask for food that we cannot provide for them , and we go to discuss our problems and try to come together for deliberations in an effort to arrive at some reasonable solutions, how to go about unsnarling this sad fate that so embitters our lives - what kind of law is it, what kind of justice and fairness is it - or is it our miserable doom that we should be shot at like dogs? Ah, America, America ... ''It is indeed a curious America. When the Turks set upon the Armenians, every full-blooded American protested and vehemently shouted his willingness to join a fighting force to check the Turks. And yet here and now when it comes to bringing to justice those who similarly violated the rights of Slavs in America, they do all in their power to prevent the guilty from being brought to legitimate trial. Reams have been written and volumes have been mouthed condemning the cruelties of the Spanish in Cuba. There was universal recrimination against the injustices inflicted upon the oppressed Cubans, yet journalists have scant syllables of tenderness or sympathy for our people who were felled by wanton gunshot in a manner more senseless and inhuman than any attack of the Spanish upon the Cubans . The Cubans at least had defense weapons but our people were shot unarmed, shot like animals . ''This grieves us unspeakably. '' And, in the last analysis, who is most responsible for all this? "We ourselves must hold ourselves responsible. "A Slav does not support a fellow-Slav. We have no mutual bonds of unity, no fellowship at all, no commonly shared activities. We cultivate none. We fail to get along amicably. Instead, we seem to make sport of baiting one another, and we lack even that zest for life that long ago should have whipped us into a common front to denounce the maligning that the American press released against us and to protest the discrimination and injustice imposed upon foreigners by the threecent-tax. If other ethnic groups had not taken the initiative , we would have let them dance on our heads . 48 SLOVAKIA ' ' What can the American public think about such men? It would not be surprising if they rated us cowardly, worthless, less than the Indians, and so deserving a fate no better than that of the Indians. "We give too little consideration to matters like citizenship, legal rights and civil rights or public opinion. No wonder, then, that public opinion shows no concern about us, has no regard for us . ''If public opinion had any respect for us, then those deputies and the sheriff who were involved in the Lattimer affair would not have allowed themselves to perpetrate such an act of sheer barbarism. Whatever the circumstances, whether there was any excuse or not for a collective attack with Winchester rifles, at least this truth remains that if we were not a subservient people they would not have kept firing at our fleeing men from behind. "The catchword of people like our attackers, is "Shoot the Hungarian dog! ' ' Why? Because we do not make the effort to have our own recognized defense and defenders , our own qualified men who are in touch with the pulse of political life and current trends , men qualified to speak out on our behalf. We ourselves all too readily and regrettably belittle our own ; we tend to regard with disfavor and lack of recognition those of us who have gifts of leadership; we begrudge them opportunities , cut them down and deny them a chance to develop their potential. "In the end we suffer for it collectively. It is true that there are officials whose duty it is to defend our people because they were appointed and authorized to do so, and they are salaried to execute this office , but they seem to be wrapped in safe slumber. They are our Austro-Hungarian consuls. " Just what did these officials, these Austro-Hungarian consuls do for us in previous strike situations? Exactly nothing. " On the other hand , how did the Italian consuls react when their Italian countrymen were being lynched in New Orleans? The furor that was generated on that occasion almost incited a war with the United States, and an indemnity of five thousand dollars had to be paid for every victim. ' 'It is our reasoned judgment that the Hazleton bloodshed is far more criminal than was the New Orleans lynching and it is the patent duty of the Austro-Hungarian government to make honorable and serious intervention on our behalf. "Since those who were shot to death were citizens of the United States , we have no alternative but to organize our effort in order to bring the whole affair to an exhaustive investigation and to the due process of justice. The burden of responsibility in this matter rests primarily with our Slavic organizations which, in every respect, bear the characteristics of American organizational structure. And their responsibility for such action is all the more binding if any of their members happened to be among the victims, if they were members of SLOVAKIA 49 the National Slovak Society, the First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota), the Greek Catholic society Sojedinenie, the Pennsylvania Slovak Union, Sojus, etc. Let these organizations set in motion the wheels that will bring about necessary lawsuits; let them underwrite out of their treasuries or raise funds in some way to cover related expenses, and let their united effort and combined strength prove that they truly have the good name and the best interests of all Slavic ethnics at heart. Let me presume to say that this Bartholomew night should serve as a Sturrnistic symbol effecting concerted and wholehearted cooperation. ''If this soul-shaking experience fails to jolt us out of our morbid lethargy, we ought to raise a memorial cross as a marker for our nation and our spirit of patriotism and declare that we buried it all on that bloody Friday in Hazleton.'' (2) Because of this massacre a violent disturbance broke out among the Slovak and Polish miners. Governor Hastings declared a state of emergency in Hazleton and dispatched 2,500 troops to move in and control the problem. Security measures that the governor ordered for the Hazleton area were very extensive and elaborate, involving the outlay of $475 ,000 - a very large sum in those days. The whole countryside seethed and repercussions were witnessed far and wide. The American press took sides with Sheriff Martin, generally arguing (as if it were a valid objection) that the slain men were not even American citizens. The press of the ethnic groups and those who supported the cause of the miners countered this attitude with the historically substantiated observation that neither were Pulaski, Kosciusko and some other heroes of the American War for Independence official citizens of the United States. They came to fight for freedom in a land that was alien to them because liberty and freedom are nowhere in the world foreign commodities to any human being. Freedom is the prerogative of every person and we are all entitled to our share of this gift. In the hour of our country's struggle for freedom, every able volunteer was welcome to share in the battle and in the pain to win it. Now that the fruits of liberty should be portioned out to all and denied to none in a free land, it is glibly said that freedom is our privilege - you are existentially in the land of liberty but you are not a free man. On September 11 the miners held an open air protest rally in Hazleton. Father Stas, pastor of St. John Nepomucene Roman Catholic church in Freeland, spoke on behalf of the Slovak minority. He spoke out strongly and fearlessly against a freedom that countenances the murder of defenseless people. Some of the other speakers on this occasion were Reverend R. Aust of Hazleton who represented the Poles, Reverend Gullovic, Reverend Hauser, attorney John Shea of Wilkes-Barre and J . Fahy, president of the United Mine Workers. A gathering of over 4,000 Slovak and Polish mine workers resolved to 50 SLOVAKIA defend their rights, determined to make Sheriff Martin stand trial for this wanton bloodletting. The victims of the disaster were buried on September 12 as huge throngs converged upon the area for the occasion. This Lattimer massacre affected much of America. On September 15, the Slovaks and the Poles of the New York region held a mass demonstration at which they made it clear that the issue at stake was in no way related to religious affiliation or nationality roots or fratemalism of one kind or another. Their main concern was the general welfare of the American working class and fundamental civil rights for all. They appealed for unanimity and single-mindedness of purpose among them all - the Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians and English. A resolution which they formulated on this occasion includes these sentiments: · 'Profoundly affected by the catastrophe that occurred in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in a free country, the republic of the United States of North America, where on September 10 eighteen men who were Slavs and Slovaks were shot to death and about forty others were wounded by a sheriff's posse as these men peaceably and with no ill intent went their way on a public street, aware of the provision of the Constitution of the United States which guarantees every citizen freedom of speech, freedom of opinion and belief, and the right of assemblage, all of which this country esteems and safeguards as sacred civil rights. ' ' Aware that the action of Sheriff Martin and his party was wholly unlawful and totally uncalled for - for it has been proved that the workmen who were en route to their predetermined destination had neither arms nor foul purpose, and he had not even tried to inform them of his rights and their duties - we, on this basis, as American citizens, as workingmen, as Slavs by accident of birth, do most emphatically denounce and condemn this criminal act. We express our profound sympathy to the bereaved families of the unfortunate victims even as we invoke the widely esteemed American regard for justice, urging that formal action be taken to bring to trial those who are considered blameworthy and to have them face their responsibility by due process of law and in this way to effect moral satisfaction to our nation and material compensation to the survivors of the victim families; ' 'We further resolve that to the full extent of our ability and means we will morally and materially offer our assistance to the unfortunately bereaved and we will exert all our power and prestige to have bloodthirsty criminals bear the just punishment which their conduct deserves; "We finally resolve that copies of this resolution be sent to the governor of the state of Pennsylvania and to the district attorney of Luzerne County, and that it be published in all newspapers; we also urge the editors of our Slovak publications to appeal to our people to SLOVAKIA 51 support this action wholeheartedly with liberal contributions in an effort to redeem and justify the much maligned name and rights of the Slovaks who find it inevitable to undertake a distasteful reckoning with narrow-minded nativists." (3) A spirited call was made in the press for attendance at a protest gathering scheduled for September 20 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania "at which resolutions will be formulated denouncing the action of Sheriff Martin who is responsible for the shooting-death of so many blameless Slovaks . English, Slovak, Polish, Croatian and various other speakers will address those present." Protest and denunciation were voiced from all parts of the nation where there were fellow nationals of the slain miners . Dr. Theodorovic, who represented the office of the Austro-Hungarian consul, came to Hazleton for a personal assessment of the massacre and related factors. Slovak and Polish groups initiated drives throughout the United States in order to raise funds for promoting an equitable trial that would yield at least fair compensations where they were due, and just penalties for Sheriff Martin and his henchmen, all within the framework of jurisprudence and with a deterrent impact against similar injustice. One outcome of this effort was the organization of "the National Fair Trial and Beneficial Committee on Behalf of the Lattimer Victims. " This committee published a public statement and an appeal which was carried in all the current newspapers. It read in part: '' The underlings who are in the employ of corporations and share a thirst for liquidating their fellow-citizens are largely the lackeys and hacks of their bosses, all murderously eager to carry out every order from the top. The incident did not arise out of any disturbance of the peace by those guiltless men who were so brutally victimized; there was no intent to transgress law or ordinance; they carried no firearms , no clubs or flails. Workingmen were simply on a mission of their own, marching along the street to meet some fellow-workers from the same mining company in order to discuss a sharing of views and attitudes and to build moral support in a common cause. ''The Declaration of Independence in this land proclaims that all men are created free and equal. Somehow these hirelings felt that the life of an alien is not worth even as much as the life of a slave. Apparently they were led to believe that their killing of such people and under such circumstances would be universally approved by the press and by public opinion. '' It is well known that Americans endorse the principle of fair play. When poor workmen, unarmed victims, were so foully gunned down in cold blood, not only this land but all the civilized world was appalled by the atrocity. The Constitution of the United States provides for the right of peaceful assembly. Have these words meaning or force in the light of bullets and bayonets? We hold that every individual who participated in the shooting on that ill-fated day in Lattimer overstepped his rights 52 SLOVAKIA and violated the law. We hold that their act was nothing short of criminal, inhuman and unspeakable butchery. "We make this appeal and protest in the name of those who were wounded and as representatives of those who are the bereaved survivors in the families of the slain victims. Our committee has been organized in order to provide counsel and to call witnesses and to take care of whatever else may be necessary to bring Sheriff Martin and his deputies to face indictment and to stand trial according to the full force of our country's laws. ''We act on the principle that this struggle of ours is your struggle as well as ours and on the assumption that you are friends of the workingman who is often taken advantage of. If these people whom we desire to bring to an accounting are let go free and without making retribution for the killing of our countrymen, who knows what further fate can await us in the future? "Reverend Richard Aust, president; John Nemeth, treasurer; Loughran, secretary; Reverend John Stas, Salvator di Sandola, Nicholas Ballok, Matthews Long, John Kuntz, Charles Hauser, Edmund Lemhick, Reverend J. Formanek, Frank Kozlovski, George Kozarovich. '' Samuel Gompers, president of the Federation of Labor, visited the scene and made some observations about the cheap labor of the Poles, Slovaks and Italians whom the coal barons were importing into America in order to squeeze out the '' intelligent Irish and Welsh laborers.' ' Even before the sentencing, Gompers as president of the workers' union said, ''It is my opinion that the sheriff and his deputies will be acquitted in order to teach 'those foreigners' a lesson to behave differently in the future. ' 'Posterity will rate the Lattimer killings as nothing but massacre of a kind that has no equal in the history of civilized peoples, and the consciences of the perpetrators of this act will accuse and torment them to their last day. And even though monopolies and monopolists may succeed in achieving their victory, such slaughter must some day come to an end; truth will be victorious and all people will enjoy the fulness of their sacred rights - all people, whether they be of the common working class or the favored moneyed class of mine owners. "The laborers .of our country are moving toward better and stronger organization day by day, and the citizens at large are grasping a much better and a truer concept of the rights and obligations of individuals. When that day of ultimate realization does arrive, the account of the Lattimer murders will have been written in our history in letters of blood and this notorious crime will be looked upon as the most atrocious and vile offense of the nineteenth century.'' The trial of Sheriff Martin and his associates opened on February 1, 1898. The place of trial was the Luzerne County Court in WilkesBarre. Adherents of both the prosecution and the defense followed SLOVAKIA 53 developments with undivided attention and intense feeling. Sheriff Martin had the support of all the major coal corporations , top officialdom and capitalism . The plaintiffs were backed by the laboring masses. In the process of jury se lection , Judge Staley Woodward saw to it that only American-born citizens were seated as jurors . There was never any doubt that the se lected jury panel was unanimous in its antipathy for foreigners . Judge Woodward ascertained from sworn testimony that the striking miners had created no public disorder or disturbance during their march , that they were completely unarmed, that Sheriff Martin had stopped them and insolently ordered them to turn back , that the miners were not incline d to obey but had objected that they had every right to use a public street. Further testimony indicated that the sheriff challenged the leader of the marching group, gave the order to fire and that he himself fired the first shot , striking the leader of the marching miners in the chest as additional volleys were turned upon the men who began to run for shelter . The City Trust Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia supplied bail for the indicted to the amount of $256 ,000 . The press seldom missed an opportunity to belittle the foreign element and to overstate their shortcomings and least desirable traits - almost as if bad traits and undesirable characteristics were exclusively theirs. The presiding judge at the trial was Judge Woodward. He was related to the owner of the mines where strikes were beginning to be staged. He was also a shareholder in these mines. There was not a single Slav among the twelve jurors, most of whom were farmers, men who could hardly have firsthand knowledge of mining conditions and the situations that had justified the strike movement. They were not at all familiar with such matters as fair working conditions, e quitable pay, safety m easures, etc. A writer in one of the current publications observed, ' 'These are the names of the men in whose hands rests the power of passing a verdict that will tell the world whether anyone in this civilized country - even if he be the highest official of a particular country - may or may not, without cause, slaughter peaceful workers . It is easy to tell from the listed names that to the very last man these jurors are all Americans. The question is: are their hearts filled with rank nativism and malicious ill-will against foreigners? If they are bigoted nativists, it is vain to expect a fair sentence.'' Early in the opening of the trial the court denied the motion of the state prosecutor that the jury go to the scene of the massacre for a kind of re-enactment of the events that occurred there . The last act of this bloody drama took place during the trial. As charge followed upon charge , the full impact of hate and prejudice 54 SLOVAKIA harbored against the Slavic immigrants came into clearer and surer light. One of the defendants boasted, "I did all right; I aimed at nine and brought down five of them ." Meanwhile the mutilated survivors of that bloody Friday - some without an arm or a leg -- were in full view of the court and the spectators gathered at the trial. Before the eyes of them all , Gregory Gasparik with bandages bound about his head in which a bullet was still lodged, in moderate tones testified against Sheriff Martin and his posse. People who lived near the scene of the crime also came in to testify, telling how they had seen the deputies beat the strikers who were already all bloodied and wounded with shots . The defendants produced about a hundred witnesses who charged that Poles and Huns had terrorized the whole area and that on this occasion they were actuallly marching with firearms. They supported Sheriff Martin as a law man who was doing his duty when he ordered his men to fire at the group . Sheriff Martin, on his part, denied all guilt in the matter and entered a plea of innocent . He claimed that after reading the injunction, he attempted to arrest the leader of the marchers but the striking men , misunderstanding his action and intent, set upon him and began to beat and kick him. At this point he called upon his men for help and when even that restraint was ineffective, he finally gave an order to fire because he feared that he might be killed. When blank shots did not quell the situation , then they began to shoot in earnest even if it meant to wound and kill. He claimed that when he first met the marchers, he asked where they were going and that they answered, ''To Lattimer in order to get the men out of work! " " I begged them and pleaded with them not to go any farther ," he stated. " I urged them to obey the law and to disperse. Someone from the back of the crowd loudly cried out the word to go on. The strikers began to jostle me about and to shout abuse at me. One drunken Hungarian even tried to throttle me so I arrested him. The crowd that surrounded me swelled bigger and bigger. I drew my revolver and aimed into the air because I did not want to hurt anyone . In that instant, Joseph Novotny punched me in the face and I fell to the ground as the mob began to howl, 'Kill the s.o.b. ! ' '' I tried to defend myself with my revolver but it wouldn't fire. The mob that was pressing upon me was armed with revolvers and knives. When I fell to my knees, the deputies began to fire and the crowd then started to fall back. But they did not disperse at once. At a distance of 500 to 600 feet, they stopped in a wooded place. I felt that they might return. My men began to shout to them to disperse . Afterwards I gave the order to look after the wounded and the killed.'' The strikers countered this desposition with the charge that the sheriff was the first to fire a shot. They maintained that no one struck SLOVAKIA 55 him, no one kicked him nor was there any evidence on his clothing or his body that he had been subjected to rough treatment of any kind. No blanks were discharged and no man who was wounded or killed was struck by a frontal shot; all were shot from the back. The son of the mine owner, young Pardee, called out to the law men , "Boys, shoot down those Huns! " Further testimony indicated that the deputies were extremely harsh and unfeeling even toward the killed and the wounded , kicking them mercilessly. Sworn witnesses consistently testified that the miners had no arms of any kind . They carried no canes or sticks, no rocks or stones , much less firearms. Scores of witnesses corroborated this testimony . Andrew Siviar, one of the miners, testified that the workmen marched as members of the United Mine Workers of America and that they had no weapons and had planned no mischief or property destruction of any kind. John Milhala, secretary of the local union, testified that they had gone to the mayor of the city who assured them that they could go to Lattimer in orderly fashion , that the sheriff had no authority to stop or prevent them. Some striking testimony was presented by the local school teacher Charles Guscot. He was eyewitness to the entire episode. He attested to the opening of fire by Sheriff Martin and the inhumane shooting upon the men who helplessly tried to flee from the ruthless officers. Another teacher from a nearby school alleged that she personally saw one of the deputies pursuing a wounded and bloodied man and in horror witnessed how he shot him to death a few steps in front of her when the weakened man fell to the ground from exhaustion. Reverend Stafflet declared under sworn testimony that he was passing the scene in a trolley car and had seen no signs of provocation on the part of the miners . They conducted themselves becomingly and bothered nobody along the way. The daily papers reported that the courtroom was the scene of some most unusual proceedings. The firm that had provided the earlier funds for bail now again supplied further expense money in the amount of over $402 .00 . All the sworn testimony agreed on the fact that the miners had no weapons . As a matter of fact, they had reckoned with the possibility of being challenged on the way and had forbidden any man to carry arms. Not one of them carried even as much as a walking stick or ordinary cane. Among the witnesses one testified that when he decided to join the group, he went into the mountains and cut himself a staff - just in case - but the others prevailed upon him to throw it away. There was also testimony that the deputies had openly boasted in the town that they would kill "the dirty Huns" yet. One of them joked about the whole thing afterwards, commenting that if he had been 56 SLOVAKIA given a cent for every one that he shot, he would have had the price of a bee r because he himself hit five . The sheriff and all the indicted men appeared before the bench with an air of great self-confidence and assurance. Their backing firm had made an outlay of over $30,000 in legal fees, the judge undoubtedly lent them the weight of his favor and they knew beforehand that no kind of testimony could affect them adversely. Some of the leading American newspapers, including the New York World which was owned by Pulitzer , a Jew from Zemplin in Slovakia, slanted their reporting to discredit the miners. Maurice Engelman , who was also a witness, testified that back in town they laughingly told him to hide or he would be an easy target. John Petruska testified that he was present when the posse was choosing firearms and one of the deputies quipped, " We ' re on our way for a shooting in Lattimer!" Gaspar Wizneski testified that he himself saw the sheriff raise his revolver and fire into the crowd in front of him . '' Do you swear that you saw the sheriff kill one of the strikers?'' the attorney challenged him . '' I swear to it that I did! '' he answered in a clear and audible voice that carried throughout the electrified atmosphere of the courtroom. Martin McGahren and Scarlet, attorneys for the plaintiffs, did not lack incriminating evidence yet all the substance of the testimony did not seem to put the burden of guilt on the accused. The court demanded specific proof and specific charges identifying who killed whom . This could hardly be presented , given the circumstances of abrupt assault and the ensuing panic . Who could tell precisely whose bullet killed this victim or that one? And there was the persistent line of defense claiming that the sheriff acted in the discharge of his duty when he issued the order to fire on the crowd. The defense was called to investigate a hundred witnesses . It was a drawn out trial that finally ended on March 9, 1898 . The sentence that was pronounced was: "The accused are found not guilty. " The court ruled that they had the right to shoot, that they had a right to selfdefense. This verdict created a public scandal. Over 30 ,000 miners began to threaten to take to the streets again, to start another strike. But they were at a total disadvantage. Corporations had contributed several hundred thousands of dollars for this legal battle. How could that be matched by the trifling $5,930 that the impoverished and distracted miners were able to raise from their own resources? For long months, the prime topic of public interest and comment among the Slovaks was the Lattimer massacre. Dozens and dozens of articles, printed and spoken reactions of varying degrees of intensity, were devoted to this incredibly outrageous event and its disgraceful outcome . J. A. Feriencik vehemently and fearlessly criticized a court of SLOVAKIA 57 justice that would condone such wanton killing and allow such an act to go unpunished, unatoned, because the lords and the mighty ones assented to it. In stark disbelief he wrote: ''They will kill, they will shoot, and grant you no mourning or tears of relief. And somehow they will make it all come out within the limits of the law. '' On the one hand we keep calling out 'Friends and countrymen of ours, come out here and settle here in America, in this famed free country. Apply for American citizenship, learn English, do your utmost to become worthy citizens of the United States, etc.' On the other hand, we urge our people back home to come over with their entire families, to establish themselves as family units and to adopt the American way of life and so gain the ' respect' of their American neighbors. '' And our people here credulously throng to the courts for naturalization forms, they register their desire to become American citizens, set themselves to studying English, the language of this country, adopt American usage and custom, and with all the ardor of their nature they cultivate a deep love for this new country of theirs. In many instances their devotion and loyalty outstrip the sentiments of some native American citizens. And the returns for this good will and generous effort? - Heartless murder! "Even as our people spare no pain in their sincere enthusiasm to evidence their devotion , patriotism and good will, their love for the land of their adoption, their respect for its laws, they are contemptuously referred to as scoundrel Huns and Hunkies. And what hate goes with the slogans: They pushed us out of our jobs; take it out on them! Give it to them! Let them know that we don't like them one bit! '' Some of it is even more foul than this but I must restrain myself or some of that biased American justice might just get me across the knuckles too. "So it is then. These are the facts: You, my people , bend your neck willingly . You do all that you can to prove your genuine devotion to this new land. And what do you get for it all? - Censure, unmitigated scorn, cold brutality. '' Blameless blood is needlessly shed within the scope of the law. It is all but a miracle that the presiding judge did not pin a medal of heroism on the lapel of the sheriff and proclaim him a deliverer of some kind. ''It is time for us to look about and assess what's around us and not just sound off about the freedom, the democracy and the brotherhood of these people. "At every step you come upon hate, you face contempt. Even a street urchin will let you know that you are repulsive to him. ' ' My people, does misery force you to flee from one country as you seek to save your life and avoid starvation, and do you eagerly turn to 58 SLOVAKIA this free America to settle here and earn your bread through hard work and long hours? You escape from misery at home and the threat of death by famine only to hurl yourself into the arms of death here. There you tried to save your life; here they snatch it from you. "Foul murder! '' Are we to be the door mat of murderers forever? Some drive us out of our birthplace and in exile others set upon us with the intent to kill. "Introduce a system of slavery. Buy white slaves, shackle them, treat them at will and you will have a fair picture of American freedom and democracy in action . A realistic picture. Is the world to consider these democratic and freedom-loving people? A murderer has never yet been taken for a champion of freedom , a humanitarian or a freedom-lover. The lurid blotch left by Slovak blood spilled in Pennsylvania will long witness your kind of benevolence, your warped philanthropia? '' Are we to tell the undisguised truth to all our people? Well, if you want them to shoot you here, then tell it. It appears that before long they will pass laws making it legal to shoot Slovaks in certain particular months and not to consider them game in others - just as they do for various animals. It seems to be moving in that direction. This very trial gives proof of such widely touted justice and equity. The capitalist triumphs in spite of his crime and his guilt. The wretched workman loses even though it is he who has been wronged. " My people, if you only had millions of dollars in your hands, they would surely have proved to you how they can adjust and modify twisted paragraphs. But without the almighty dollar ... if you are the unfortunate wretch, then suffer and be still. That is the kind of principle that guided the judge presiding at the trial of the Lattimer murderers .'' (4) The American-Slovak News further editorialized on the subject of the trial and its verdict: '' For those who participated in the Lattimer massacre - or putting it more aptly - for those who defended the bloody trade of the butchers thirsting for human blood at the scene of the Lattimer carnage, it would be rather unfair to designate the event as a drama. For them this classic drama reached its denouement with all the impact of a genuine comedy. Twelve confirmed foes of all that does not breathe the fanatic ideas of the Apaches declared that the butcher Sheriff Martin and his vultures only did their duty; they acted as honorable men when they killed off those hated Huns. ''They crucified truth! They grossly trampled upon the rights of the disadvantaged workman in this free country. Why? For no reason other than this fact that the slaughtered victims first saw the light of day in Hungary, in Russia, in Germany or in Italy.'' (5) SLOVAKIA 59 Naturally such a foul crime of multiple homicide and utter ruthlessness could not have touched Slovak life without affecting it deeply. The Slovaks sensed that if they would truly avoid being so tom by factions and lack of unity, if they could somehow unite their thousands of workers with common purpose and a sense of solidarity, such a misfortune could never again be repeated. Gradually there evolved within them the consciousness that we are all at fault, all of us, for not claiming those rights to which we are entitled. And so we suffer punishment. Out of this painful and humiliating or humbling realization , even before the verdict was pronounced, there grew the first substantial endeavor of the Slovaks in this land to work in harmony and to achieve a common strength. Realization fortunately led to action. On October 17, 1897 representatives of the leading Slovak-American publications met in Cleveland in order to confer on definite practical steps toward cooperation and the pursuit of common goals. The conference of these journalists resolved to adopt measures related to basic issues in order to counteract the unwholesome attitudes and underserved attacks of certain American press agencies that treated the Slovak immigrant element as less than human . This Congress of Slavic Pressmen , which was organized by Fr. (Francis) Pucher , also sent expressions of condolence to the survivors of the Lattimer victims. This innocent Slovak blood that was shed then did not go wholly wasted. It tended to conciliate the Slovaks and to bring them together. And though this was an extravagantly harsh and costly lesson, it taught them that in their distant strange land they must renounce all petty conflicts and contentions, for in this new world their widely scattered strength will count only if they can bring themselves together and act as a corporate unit that has the general welfare at heart. Many families that had not bothered about joining a Slovak fraternal or beneficial organization now saw that membership in such a society could really mean much to them, especially in the event of an unfortunate or tragic occurrence. The blood that the Slovak miners shed for the general good was the first effective and lasting incentive that brought the Slovaks of America together into one unified and conscious body. One disappointment followed in the aftermath. Newspapers published the report that John Nemeth, chairman of the committee, was named consul just before the final settlement of all the misunderstandings; however, his appointment was conditioned on his withdrawal from the committee. The government of Austria-Hungary petitioned the government of the United States to allocate some compensation to the families of the Lattimer victims. The outcome is embodied in an official document of the Secretary of the Interior (78,999) which includes the following statement: 60 SLOVAKIA "The government of the United States does not recognize any obligation to provide compensation to our fellow-citizens or to the famili es of those who were killed in the clash between the mine workers and the police in the Hazleton-Lattimer area.'' From the blood of these martyrs there was a sprouting of the fragile and delicate flower of accord. Within a year the general tone of the Slovak press had changed from bitter acrimony and unprofitable controversy to understanding and kindlier feeling all around. Even in cases where everyone had believed that common ground could never be found among known antagonists, it had indeed been discovered that these individuals also had many mutually satisfying interests to share and promote and they could work together and get along satisfactorily in spite of their differences. From this point on, every other problem seemed to be of a trivial nature, insignificant trifles that caused minor rifts here and there but had no essential substance. The main drive was toward definite goals even though various and varied avenues led to the ultimate end. FOOTNOTES (1) In a newspaper report published by the Amerikansko Slovenske noviny right after the event, the following are listed as fatality victims in this unfortunate clash: 1) John Kosanec , 2) John Temoci , 3) Fr. Kedel, 4) John Ceka, 5) John Ceslak 6) George Versek, 7) Stephen Hornik , 8) George Kulik, 9) Fr. Ceka, 10) Stephen Ulrich, 11) Andrew Zesman, 12) John Ivanko. Later these names wer also added to the list: 13) John Futa , whose name is sometimes also given as Futas, 14) Stephen Jurek, 15) Michael Ceslak, 16) George Gasparek, 17) John Slebodnik , 18) John Banko, 19) Andrew Jurecek, 20) John Skrip. Since Sheriff Martin was indicted for the death of twenty-one victims , it is clear that this list is incomplete. Some of the men who had been seriously wounded in the incident later died in the hospital. An exact list with all names in their correct spelling is most likely available from the court records in Wilkes-Barre and probably from various English and Polish newspapers of that time. It was a common practice in those days to transmit news reports by telegraphic communication and so it is possible that some of the names were affected by transcription and could have been somewhat distorted. The following men were wounded in the encounter: Anthony Macuka, single , Polish; James Tomason , single, Polish; Francis Fetus, single, Slovak; John Penkames, married, Lithuanian; Joseph Macko, married, Slovak ; Andrew Josmont, married, Polish ; Martin Serfanek, single, Polish ; John Dolny , married , Slovak; John Krisak, single, Slovak ; John Presa, married, Slovak ; Andrew Majer , single, Slovak; John Padnok , married , Polish ; John Posca, married, Slovak ; George Gaspar, single, Slovak; Adolph Colak, married, Slovak ; Adam Lipianski , single, Polish; John Kulich, single, Polish , John Kontra, married , Slovak; Joseph Gasparik, married, Slovak; Thomas Paris , single, Polish ; Andrew Honas, married, Slovak; Andrew Orban, married , Polish; Gaspar Dula§, married , Slovak; Joseph Zapa, Slovak; Joseph Paulak, married , Polish; Matthew Chia, married , Polish; Clement Plotach, married, Polish; John Fora, single, Slovak; Stanislaus Kominski, married, Polish; Constantine Monsara , married , Polish , Bernard Rummal, single, Polish . In 1902 the convention of American Mine Workers adopted a resolution providing for the erection of a memorial to honor the fallen miners as pioneer heroes in the cause for SLOVAKIA 61 social justice. Additional names of stricken men that make their appearance within the formal text of this resolution include the following: Clement Patek, John Foote, Sebastian Praztomski, Raphael Rezervicz, Albert Czaja, Stanley Rajoski, Andrew Goekers, Andrew Miczkowski, John Krop, Andrew Morrikoski, Adam Zrainski, Adalbert Zienka, Frank Chazesjewski, Steve Znoec, Andrew Jamee (Jurecek), Mike Coseak (Ceslak), George Kulek (Kulik). Some of the surnames were garbled to some extent; most likely they happened to be misread in the course of years that had passed since the massacre itself. (2) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny (American-Slovak News), September 16, 1897. (3) Amerikansko-slovenske noviny, 30. IX. 1897. (4) "Let Slovak Blood Call to God for Vengeance" American-Slovak News, 31. ill. 1898. (5) American-Slovak News. 5.Il. 1899. 62 SLOVAKIA The Lattimer Massacre and Trial HARRY B. SCHOOLEY III INTRODUCTION To have a clearer understanding of the trial at issue it is necessary to say that upon entering the court where the trial is in progress one is immediately impressed with the fact that the issue involved is as much a question of the relations of employer and employed as a question of the trial of Sheriff Martin and his deputies for murder, and, as has been invariably the case, the representatives of corporate power assume a hauteur and domineering attitude toward all. The counsel for the defense, former Attorney-General Palmer and Mr. Lenahan, as well as Sheriff Martin and the Deputies , assume an air of offended pride and indignation at being called to defend themselves against a charge of killing a score or more laborers, and think of it! Foreign laborers at that! So wrote Samuel Gompers in an article for the New York World of February 20, 1898. The shooting at Lattimer, Pennsylvania, had become labor's forgotten massacre. Twenty-four striking anthracite coal miners were killed when Luzerne County Sheriff James Martin ordered his deputies to fire into their ranks when their parade threatened the security of the community shortly after three o'clock on the hot afternoon of September 10, 1897. While at times a Sheriff has been punished for criminal neglect of his duty in not firing on a riotous mob, Sheriff Martin was proceeded against in the Lattimer trial because he and his deputies did so fire. The law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for whose supremacy they battled, was used to compass their destruction because they did so. Gompers was wrong. Lattimer was not a '' question of the relations of employer and employed." The lesson of the verdict in the Lattimer case is not that the rich are to be protected, but that the poor and defenseless shall have an absolute guarantee of all their individual rights, and that those who attempt to impair them by lawlessness must answer to the law as criminals. H.B.s.,m May, 1965 (Harry B. Schooley ill teaches at the Buffalo Seminary for girls in Buffalo, New York. A native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he wrote this paper while an undergraduate at Williams College in May, 1965.) SLOVAKIA 63 Ariovistus Pardee, an ambitious engineering student with the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, was sent in May of 1833 to the Lehigh coal regions of Pennsylvania to survey a railroad line from the anthracite mines at Beaver Meadow to the Lehigh Canal at Mauch Chunk. Pardee 's success in the area led him to locating further lines in the region and he began his own mining operations in 1840.(1) In 1869 Pardee built the company towns of Lattimer and Harwood near Hazleton to house the miners working in his six mines. In 1892, following his father ' s death, Calvin Pardee took over the mines at Lattimer and Harwood. Feeling there would be less chance of a consolidation of the working men against his interests, Pardee mixed the foreign immigrant miners filling the houses at Lattimer largely with Italians and those at Harwood with Slovaks, Poles, and Lithuanians . Between 1875 and 1900 there were sporadic attempts on behalf of the Welsh, Irish, and German miners of the anthracite fields to organize for better working and wage conditions. A means for curbing any attempts to organize the miners was the introduction by the mine operators of large numbers of laborers from Austria-Hungary, Poland, Russia , and Italy who were content to work hard and long for low wages. This over supply of unorganized men literally depressed wages to a minimum through the ever-present competition.(2) By the late 1890's the mine patches of the Lehigh coal regions were largely populated by the new mixture of non-English speaking nationalities who with their cheaper immigrant labor replaced the old order of English , Welsh, and Irish miners. The new miners were largely Slovaks, Poles, Italians , Hungarians , and Lithuanians and were considered "foreigners" relegated by the social conditions to which they belonged - the unpainted company houses , shacks, and the dreaded company store. A racial and national prejudice predominated in the mine patches and the better educated, more intelligent of the foreigners met with each other and insisted that every good foreigner should get his "papers " as soon as possible so as to vote in the elections and prevent the '' white men ' ' from voting to pass a law that might drive them from the country. Many of the miners found themselves in great debt to the company store . In 1896 the Pennsylvania Legislature appointed a committee to investigate the company store system . An order for 50,000 copies of the committee report was canceled because, as American Federation of Labor Vice President J . P. McGuire stated in September of 1897 , ''of the disgrace which would fall upon the State were the truth made known of conditions existing in the Schuylkill region." (3) Conditions were the same in the Lehigh and Wyoming Valleys. Perhaps McGuire 's labor affiliations prejudiced him in the making of this statement, but the recent business depression had reduced the lot of the anthracite miner to a very poor one. The manager of one of the Hazleton collieries revealed that his payrolls for September 1, 1897, amounted to about $26,000, of which $18,000 was 64 SLOVAKIA deducted for living expenses (debts to the company store, rents for living in the company houses, fees deducted from pay for the company doctor, money deducted to pay the priest) leaving less than one-third the original amount to be divided among the miners. Discontent over small wages, idleness, and other alleged "wrongs" was seized upon by the new leadership composed of young, energetic and often violent labor organizers as a timely excuse for action. Their opportunity came in August of 1897. A strike broke out at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company 's Honeybrook Colliery near the new borough of McAdoo, when twenty driver boys were ordered to stable their mules after stopping work without extra pay. They refused and division superintendent Gomer Jones fired them. On Sunday, August 15, 2,500 Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company miners joined the strike. Newspapers feared that ''the Italians and Hungarians, who are very aggressive, cannot be controlled." (4) The Honeybrook strikers were led by a committee of grievances which met with general superintendent Elmer H. Lawall demanding an investigation of Gomer Jones to the effect that he reduced miners' wages and that the wages be restored to the original rates. Lawall promised an investigation of Jones if the miners returned to work; and a week after the first walk-out, work was resumed at Honeybrook.(5) On the same day (August 22) the Honeybrook miners returned to work, there arrived in the area from Philadelphia one John Fahy, selfappointed local president of the United Mine Workers of America. Meeting with Italian miners at Audenreid, Yorktown, and Beaver Brook, Fahy persuaded them to organize an Italian branch of the United Mine Workers.(6) Fahy's presence in the area on behalf of the union caused great concern among the mine operators as the miners became more aware of their plight and their demands became more intense. Fahy's word spread rapidly from operation to operation, and on August 26, Italian and Hungarian miners struck at the Van Wickle Coal Company collieries at Beaver Meadow and Coleraine. Two thousand miners moving overnight forced the workers from their shops at the Van Wickle breakers so as to stop all work. Their demands for higher wages were not considered serious as the strike was spontaneous and had no apparent intelligent leadership.(7) On August 27, the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville was idled by the strikers and a coal train was prevented from leaving the town. All Van Wickle operations were forced to shut down. The next day at a meeting of the strikers in Hazleton, a formal demand was presented to Van Wickle superintendent Roderick. Roderick claimed that the advanced scheduled wages (which would set a wage scale for the region) demanded by Fahy 's organizers would not be paid to the miners, although the average pay rates of the region would be paid. The speaker at a Coleraine meeting urged the strikers to resort to violence if the demands were not met. In answer armed members of the Coal and SLOVAKIA 65 Iron Police were sent to guard the Van Wickle properties.(8) Saloons in Milnesville and Coleraine were closed and a state of ominous calm pervaded the Hazleton area. English-speaking miners were willing to return to work were it not for the threats made by the foreigners. The employees of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company anxiously watched the Van Wickle situation as there had been no action taken towards the promised investigation of Superintendent Jones.(9) Between August 30 and September 3 the strike spread rapidly. Roderick agreed to make wage concessions at the Van Wickle colliery at Milnesville which immediately resumed work. If settlements were made at the other Van Wickle operations, then the Lehigh and WilkesBarre miners might never see Jones investigated at all. The miners at the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre's Audenreid colliery struck and five hundred strong marched on the company's Yorktown colliery and washeries at Dodson, Beaver Brook, Star, Monarch, and Carson, driving off all the workmen.(10) The miners at the Van Wickle Coleraine colliery remained on strike. Assembling in McAdoo on September 2, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre strikers marched with an American flag to the Beaver Brook colliery forcing it to close. Those workers who refused to stop work were driven off. From Beaver Brook they marched to Yorktown (which had resumed work in spite of the march on that operation by the Audenreid strikers a day earlier) where colliery superintendent Hayes tried to reason with them, as the Yorktown workers had no grievance. Nevertheless, the Yorktown colliery closed. The march then turned towards Audenreid and the home of Gomer Jones. Following a thorough but futile search for Jones , the then two thousand marchers proceeded to the colliery at Silver Brook where the workers fled. At a meeting that evening in McAdoo, the members of the grievance committee advised against future marches, but Fahy's organizers insisted that the marches would continue daily until all the collieries were idle. Fahy, incidentally, was in Silver Brook that evening organizing a new chapter of the United Mine Workers. At Coleraine the Van Wickle strikers were quiet and Superintendent Roderick, in a bid to maintain good will between the company and the strikers, stated that none of the Coleraine workers participated in the march.(11) Later on the evening of September 2, the Coleraine strikers agreed to return to work if they would be protected from the mob. Roderick gladly granted protection. Mayor Altmiller of Hazleton issued orders to the police that if any attempt was made to organize a mob parade on September 3, the marchers were to be dispersed, and if the police were not strong enough the citizens should help them. The Lehigh Valley Coal Company closed its collieries at Jeansville and Hazleton No. 1 not because of grievances between the company and its employees, but because the mob of strikers had threatened the workers. The Lehigh Valley counseled all its workmen to obey the will of the mob.(12) By September 3 the strike had stopped all 66 SLOVAKIA mining operations except those of the New Ebervale Coal Company , Van Wickle 's Coleraine and Milnesville Collieries, and Pardee 's colliery at Lattimer. The weapons of the foreigners were the threat and the mob . With the march of September 2 and the probability of future marches , many mine owners feared for the safety of their property at the hands of the striking miners. The Luzerne County Sheriff's office in Wilkes-Barre, in response to the pleas of the operators for protection , sent an urgent telegram to Sheriff James R. Martin , vacationing in Atlantic City, requesting his immediate return. As soon as Sheriff Martin arrived in Wilkes-Barre on September 5, he telegraphed the sheriffs of Carbon and Schuylkill counties to meet him in Hazleton the next day. Before boarding the train to Hazleton, Martin announced that if he thought necessary , a proclamation would be issued calling on the strikers to refrain from all acts of violence and to permit all who so desired to return to their usual vocation as well as to cease marching. "The fact that men are compelled against their will to march along with an ignorant and sometimes infuriated mob causes some fear that other and more dangerous complications may arise ." (13) Following the Hazleton meeting on September 6, the three sheriffs simultaneously published a proclamation prohibiting mob parades and demonstrations , stating the following: . . . notice is given to all good citizens to refrain from all tumultuous and unlawful assembly and from all acts of disorder or violence, and from all acts interfering with the liberty of other citizens, or tending to a breach of the peace . Notice is further given, that all such acts of disorder and lawlessness will be summarily repressed and punished in accordance with the laws of the land. - James Martin, High Sheriff of Luzerne County The proclamation was based on the Pennsylvania Riot Act of March 31, 1860 which forbade ''any persons riotously and tumultuously to assemble together to the disturbance of the public peace." (15) While the three sheriffs were meeting in Hazleton, Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company granted the same advances as did the Van Wickle Coal Company at Milnesville and Coleraine.(16) That night Sheriff Martin in his Broad Street hotel room swore in 87 deputies, most of whom were members of the Coal and Iron Police from the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre and Lehigh Valley Coal companies , but some of whom were business and professional men of the Hazleton area .(17) For the next three days the Hazleton area remained in an uneasy calm as the sheriff and his deputies remained on call responding to separate incidents throughout the area. SLOVAKIA 67 While Martin and his men remained in Hazleton, John Fahy was active at the Pardee colliery at Harwood. Enlisting the aid of the popular young Hungarian slate boss, John Eagler, Fahy was successful in organizing a new branch of the United Mine Workers. Fahy claimed the new union advocated peaceful arbitration of differences between the miners and the operators. Selecting Eagler as their first local secretary and Joseph Mehalto, another well-known Slav from nearby Crystal Ridge as president, the Harwood body immediately formulated a list of grievances - demanding a ten cent wage raise, a reduction of blasting powder from $2. 75 to $1.50, and no company butcher or company doctor - which they presented to the Pardee office in Hazleton on September 9.(18) While the Harwood strikers were presenting their grievances, a mob of "young Italians and Huns" descended on the New Ebervale Coal Company's colliery at Ebervale, driving off Superintendent John Scott and his employees in a shower of rocks and sticks.(19) With this outbreak of new violence, the Pardee Company refused to consider any grievances until all sections of the Harwood colliery were working. Meeting in the Harwood schoolhouse on the evening of September 9, the striking miners decided that in order to get the bargaining position they needed, the whole company must be shut down. This meant work must be stopped at Lattimer. Upon Mehalto's suggestion, the members resolved to send a committee of ten to Lattimer on the next day to persuade the colliery to close down. (20) On the morning of the tenth it was suggested that the strikers go along with the committee, and with Mehalto and Eagler at the head of a column of 250 to 300 men and boys, the strikers set out for Lattimer. With the American flag at the head of the procession, they marched through Crystal Ridge and Cranberry where they were joined by others until the ranks numbered about four hundred. On entering West Hazleton the strikers found their route blocked by Sheriff Martin and his deputies . Standing in front of his line of deputies, Martin ordered the strikers to stop and to disperse. The march pushed on, a scuffle resulted, two strikers were arrested, and the flag was taken from them. Following this encounter, the strikers moved off into a field by the side of the road and the sheriff and his deputies withdrew maintaining a careful eye on the marchers. Soon, however, the march was under way once more, the strikers still heading for Lattimer but skirting West Hazleton to the north. Martin and his deputies hurriedly boarded an open trolley car, provided for their use by the Lehigh Transit Company, and rode back into Hazleton and out the Lattimer line to Harleigh , where the road to Lattimer and the rail line converged and ran parallel for a short distance. At Harleigh the sheriff and his deputies again met the marching strikers, the trolley car keeping pace with the men on foot, grim silence between them while the police in their trolley sat holding their rifles . (21) The car arrived in Lattimer in time for Martin to 68 SLOVAKIA watch the movement of the march, and, from a high point at the town 's approach, the column could be observed moving toward the Pardee colliery No. 1. Again the deputies, about 150 in number, having been reinforced by numbers of the coal and iron police from Lattimer, lined up in a semi-circle across the road with Sheriff Martin standing several yards in front of them. The scene at West Hazleton a few hours earlier appeared about to be re-enacted. When the strikers reached the line of deputies Martin, proclamation in hand, stepped out to meet them: ''You must stop marching and disperse. This is contrary to the law and you are creating a disturbance. You must go back. I won't let you go on to the colliery.'' (22) Eagler argued that American citizens had the right to parade as long as they were not disturbing the peace. Martin read the Riot Act. Most of the marchers, not understanding English, pushed forward to find out what Martin was saying. In the crowd the sheriff was jostled. Thinking himself in danger, he tried to get back to his line of deputies, but was knocked to his knees. The strikers made way for him, and just as he emerged from their ranks, the cry was heard, ''Fire, fire on' em!'' The deputies fired into the unarmed mob. (23) Following a meeting with his lawyer on arriving back in WilkesBarre that evening, Sheriff Martin issued a statement of the Hazleton conditions and shooting: I was not there to interfere in the strike in any shape or manner, but was there for the mere purpose to prevent all violations of the law, and to restore peace and quiet. I beseeched and entreated the leaders to talk to their comrades and ask them to disperse and return to their homes, act in a peaceable way and desist from doing any sort of violence ... (at West Hazleton) the strikers began to crowd together, and to mutter and chatter in their own languages. The leaders urged them on and at the same time began to curse and swear at me, as well as openly defy me and my deputies . (at Lattimer) I ... rushed ahead of my deputies ... dashed in among the foreigners and boldly placed the leader under arrest. (the strikers) at once attacked me most viciously , striking and kicking me, knocking me down. I called to the deputies to discharge their firearms into the air over the heads of the strikers, as it might probably frighten them ... I fully realized that the foreigners were a desperate lot ... (I assumed) they were too excited to listen to reason and that myself and deputies would be killed ... if we did not defend ourselves. I then called upon the deputies to defend themselves and shoot, if they must, to protect their lives or to SLOVAKIA 69 protect the property, that they had been sent to guard, from being demolished. I hated to give the command to shoot and was awful sorry that I was compelled to do so, but I was there to do my duty and I did it the best I knew how and as my conscience dictated, as the strikers were violating the laws of the Commonwealth and flatly refused to obey the proclamation that I had read to them. They, instead, insisted on doing violence and disobeying the laws.(24) In "doing violence and disobeying the laws" eighteen strikers were instantly killed while approximately twenty-four others were seriously wounded. Eagler and Mehalto escaped and their comrades fled in terror. One of the strikers, Martin Rosko, a Hungarian from Mt. Pleasant and wounded in the arm, gave the following account: We were going along the road to Lattimer and the deputies were lined across the road barring our progress. We tried to go through them and did not attempt to hit or molest them when they fired upon us. We ran but they kept on shooting while we ran. It (the massacre) is all their fault.(25) That evening three thousand Hazleton-area miners gathered at Hazleton's Donegal Hall for a meeting conducted by United Mine Workers' president John Fahy in which it was resolved "that we demand the prosecution of the sheriff and deputies of the crimes committed this tenth day of September."(26) At midnight Pennsylvania Governor Daniel Hastings notified Colonel C. B. Dougherty of the 9th Regiment that as there may be further disturbances and that the security of the community may be in danger, Dougherty was to take the regiment to Hazleton to maintain peace and order. (27) On September 11, Dougherty's regiment was joined by five regiments of the Third Brigade of the Pennsylvania National Guard under the leadership of General John P. Gobin. On the morning of September 11, John Nemeth, a leader of the strikers' general committee, went before Squire Gorman of Hazleton and had warrants sworn out for Sheriff Martin and 102 of his deputies. (28) When General Gobin heard of the warrants he issued an edict declaring that so long as the troops remain in the vicinity not a single deputy would be placed under arrest. Owing to the military authority, Sheriff Martin and the deputies were not arrested until ten days after the warrants were issued. Also on that morning a representative of the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Philadelphia arrived in Hazleton to investigate the murder of Hungarian nationals. (29) 70 SLOVAKIA In the meantime the strike continued. By September 14, seven thousand men had left their jobs, crippling the seven Hazleton area companies.(30) Out of sympathy for their murdered comrades from Harwood, 2,300 men left work at the Pardee operations at Lattimer. Visiting Hazleton from Philadelphia the next day, Calvin Pardee stated the following: My men were perfectly satisfied with the wages they were receiving, and would have continued work had they not been driven away by the mob . . . I have operated my collieries over twenty years on the sliding scale, the rate of wages being based on the price of coal at tide, and I will not change that method.(31) Sheriff Scott of Schuylkill County telegraphed to Governor Hastings an appeal for troops to maintain order should the strike spread to his county(32) as sporadic outbreaks of violence continued throughout the region with no apparent prospect of settlement in sight. John Fahy, in a somewhat curious statement to the press on September 18, claimed "The strike is not being conducted by the United Mine Workers." Speaking of his efforts to organize the miners, Fahy stated, "our objects are not to raise excitement and occasion violence but are arbitration, peace and conciliation. Our organization is not to encourage strikes but to prevent them." (33) Fahy expressed the hope that the strike would be settled more quickly if more men organized. If more men were organized in the manner in which the Harwood strikers were organized, the strike would be far from being settled. On September 19 following a Hazleton meeting, the owners of the mines at Lattimer, Beaver Meadow, Honeybrook, McAdoo, and Audenreid announced that they would open their mines on September 20, and if the men were not back at work, they would be discharged altogether. By September 20 all strikers but the employees of the Coxe Brothers Coal Company had returned to work.(34) That evening Fahy held a meeting at Donegal Hall whereat the miners resolved ''to demand that the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania immediately proceed against each corporation now conducting company stores."(35) On September 23, the employees of the Silver Brook collieries were told they were no longer subject to compulsory patronization of the company store and company butcher.(36) The operators gradually made concessions to prevent another such strike, and on September 29, General Gobin and his troops left Hazleton.(37) The anthracite strike of 1897 was virtually over. With peace returning to the Hazleton region, attention was turned to the fate of Sheriff Martin and his deputies. On September 20, Luzerne County District Attorney D.A. Fell and County Detective Isaac Eckert secured bench warrants from the Luzerne County Court of Oyer SLOVAKIA 71 and Terminer for the arrest of Martin and 68 of his deputies, charging them with' 'the willful and malicious killing of twenty-four (six had died since the shooting) strikers near the village of Lattimer on September 10 last."(38) Bail was posted at $4,000 for homicide and $1,000 for felonious wounding and, through the maneuvring of Calvin Pardee, bond was furnished by the City Trust, Safe Deposit and Surety Company of Philadelphia.(39) Seeing the opportunity to take up the cause, the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor meeting in Washington resolved on September 24, That we condemn most severely the wanton killing and wounding of the poor miners at Lattimer and will give our fullest help through the trade union and the American Federation of Labor to raise money for the legal prosecution and conviction of Sheriff Martin and his murderous minions, that through the courts of the land even-handed justice may be done to atone for those revolting murders.(40) A preliminary hearing was held in the Luzerne County Court House at Wilkes-Barre from September 21 to 27 wherein the grand jury came to the decision that Martin and his men had shown probable cause of a "wanton and unjustifiable" killing of the strikers.(41) The case of Commonwealth v. Martin was scheduled to begin on February 1, 1898. On February 4, 1898, an editorial in the Wilkes-Barre Record accurately predicted that the trial was expected to develop whether the sheriff and his posse were justified, under the circumstances, in resorting to the extreme measure they did, either for their own protection or to preserve law, order, and the public peace. The case was called on the morning of February 1, before Judge Stanley Woodward, presiding judge of Luzerne County. Sheriff Martin's defense counsel consisted of his personal lawyer, George S. Ferris, and the county's leading criminal lawyer, John T. Lenahan. Other attorneys for the defendants were Henry W. Palmer, George Troutman, C. W. Kline, George R. Urquhart and F. W. Wheaton. At the table for the prosecution sat the new District Attorney, T. R. Martin, who had only taken office a month earlier. With Martin were four other lawyers, who were secured by the strikers' prosecuting committee: John Garman, John McGahren, James Scarlett, and former secretary of the miners' prosecuting committee, J. F. Loughran. In addition to the deputies the court room was crowded with interested spectators including New York, Philadelphia, and nationally syndicated newspaper reporters, newspaper artists, representatives of the Royal Austro-Hungarian government which was planning to make a claim for indemnity for the deaths of the nationals should the sheriff be convicted, and the solicitor general of the United States, Luzerne County's own Henry M. Hoyt (Williams, 1849).(42) 72 SLOVAKIA For two tedious days the court was involved in selecting a jury. When the task had been completed, the twelve men who sat in the jury box were all native American citizens and were largely representative of the middle class skilled labor group.(43) Many of the jury men admitted in their examination by the counsels for defense and prosecution that although they had already formed an opinion, their verdict would not be so influenced. None of the jurors were foreign-born and counsel Loughran complained that the majority of them were ''in sympathy with the sheriff and his deputies." (44) The case for the Commonwealth was opened by McGahren, who claimed the shooting at Lattimer was a ''horrible massacre . '' In a highly emotional speech he told the courtroom how Sheriff Martin stood by proudly while his men brutally murdered the fleeing strikers. He even went so far as to claim the sheriff had emptied his pistol into the head of one of the march leaders. The Sheriff's actions at Lattimer were "a disgrace to civilization," he explained.(46) With this heated example of rhetoric, began the case for the prosecution which consumed nearly sixteen days of examination during which 103 witnesses testified. At the end of the first week of the trial on February 5, it developed that when the case had been continued from the November to the January term of court, bail for the defendants had not been renewed. District Attorney Martin immediately asked either that bail be posted or that the defendants be committed to jail. Judge Woodward replied he would not require the defendants to enter bail until Monday, February 7. Garman of the prosecution immediately pressed the court further to demand bail at once. Lenahan of the defense resented Garman's demands and charged, "You are a puppy! You have been a puppy all your life!" Garman's reply was apparently appropriate as he turned to Judge Woodward and said, "When the thing back of me shuts up, I will proceed." Lenahan replied, "That is only a part of the buffoonery of the Commonwealth.'' Garman turned to face him and raised his fist as if to strike. "If you touch me, I'll kill you!" By this time friends intervened and restrained the two attorneys until order was restored. Garman, eyeing Lenahan defiantly, replied, ''The buffoon has just ceased speaking." (4 7) This exchange of opinions on the floor of the courtroom did not change Woodward's mind and the bail was deferred. The exchange was, however, quickly picked up by the out-of-town reporters and reported in such a way that when court convened on February 7, Judge Woodward admonished the artists and reporters of some of the newspapers that if they continued to caricature the proceedings of the court or to misrepresent what developed, he would refuse them admission to the courtroom.(48) Woodward's admonishment of the reporters for their "yellow journalism" did not end the court's cause for concern. On the evening of February 14, the President of the American Federation of Labor, SLOVAKIA 73 Samuel Gompers, arrived in Wilkes-Barre to write a special report on the trial for the New York World. The Wilkes-Barre Record was critical of the labor leader's being in Wilkes-Barre, claiming that Gompers would only report the trial from the point of view of the strikers, not from the objective viewpoint of whether Martin was justified in shooting.(49) The Record was not the only newspaper critical of Gompers ' being in Wilkes-Barre. The New York Evening Sun stated " Gompers is so dissatisfied with the way Judge Woodward is conducting the Lattimer trial that he refused to be presented to him. We can only congratulate his Honor on a fortunate escape." (50) In an article in the World on February 20, Gompers attacked Woodward's conduct of the trial, his rulings on evidence, and went so far as to attack him personally as a friend of the mine owners, as Woodward: married into a family of land holders of the district, who receive royalties upon every ton of coal mined. When a cessation of mining occurs from any cause Judge Woodward is to that extent a loser of part of his income. He is a member of the Westmoreland Club, of which the mine-owners are largely members and of which also a number of the so-called deputies are members.(Of the strikers Gompers wrote) They had previously decided and carried out their purpose , to be unarmed and unprotected except by the justice of their cause and the American flag in which they had absolute faith. It is sad to contemplate when workingmen of either American or foreign birth have their faith and confidence in the emblem of our country destroyed and perhaps sadder still is the possibility of losing faith in the justice of our courts. In conclusion Gompers made the Lattimer trial a trial in behalf of the eventual triumph of the working man: The workers of our country are organizing better and more thoroughly each day; we shall not only create a healthier public sentiment as to man 's rights and man's duties, but we shall largely constitute that public opinion. And , when that day comes , the crime of Lattimer will be a record-letter day in the annals of our history to which all will look back upon with horror as the monumental crime of the century. (51) Should Sheriff Martin be convicted of murder, labor would win a great victory in its struggle for recognition. While labor adopted Lattimer as its forgotten massacre , the prosecution rested on February 74 SLOVAKIA 21, having produced testimony in line with McGahren's opening. Ferris opened the case for the defense claiming that if a sheriff and his posse meet a riotous mob which resists them in such a way that their duty to uphold the law requires the use of firearms, then, "they do their duty. They do not violate, but obey the law.'' (52) Anarchy ruled the Hazleton area, Ferris explained, and Martin, in the company of good, lawabiding citizens - not bar room toughs and thugs - brought security to the region. On March 1, Sheriff Martin took the stand. He testified that when he met the strikers at Lattimer, he demanded to know where they were going and they all answered, "Lattimer to get out the men!" He also told the court that he had told them they were doing wrong and that he read the proclamation to them. He said he begged them to go no farther, but they pushed on and someone tried to grab him by the neck. I arrested him, when a big crowd pushed around me. I pulled out my revolver for protection and held it in the air, as I did not want to shoot. One of the mob tried to grab it, but failed, and in the struggle I and the crowd around me were pushed to one side of the road." (53) Martin testified one of the strikers gave him a terrific blow on the side of the head and that he tried to shoot that man, but his pistol would not go off. Then the firing began. After 111 witnesses had testified for the defense the Court adjourned on March 4.(54) The closing pleas to the jury began on March 7, with Scarlett opening for the prosecution: "Every effort has been made to have it tried fairly and nothing has been excluded and every bit of evidence has been admitted according to the rules of the court." (55) The final plea was made by former state Attorney-General Henry W. Palmer, on behalf of the defense, to an overcrowded court room. Palmer's closing has been praised as a masterpiece of eloquence and damned as a bigoted oration and foul utterance against the Slav immigrants. To the jury Palmer said the following: Condemn these men and go home to your neighbors and tell them, 'We convicted Sheriff Martin and his deputies for an error in judgment when they were standing between your homes and the horrors of mob rule.' Tell your wives and children that henceforth when the rioters are about to march and the right of men to work is in peril that there will be no Sheriff and deputies to keep the peace or defend your homes, because by your verdict you will have forbidden them to act, under penalty of death or infamous punishment. (56) Following Palmer's plea District Attorney Martin closed the case for the prosecution, and late on the afternoon of March 9, Judge Woodward delivered his charge to the jury. In an admirably clear, impartial, and ably written presentation of the law of riot and murder, SLOVAKIA 75 Woodward charged that the sheriff had the right as the chief officer of the county to summon a posse to assist him in the preservation of order and in the prevention of riot. The public peace in Hazleton was threatened. Men were being driven from their jobs by the mob. The Sheriff saw the people were terrorized by the strikers. When they were at West Hazleton and at Lattimer, the strikers failed to obey the sheriff and insisted on pushing on. It was the duty of the crowd to obey his command and that disobedience of the sheriff was evidence of a riotous purpose. If you are satisfied, gentlemen, from the evidence that the purpose of the sheriff and of the posse was to preserve order and prevent a riot, then it would follow that their intent and object was not a criminal or unlawful one, and the rule of the law which makes the act of one the act of all has no application to the facts of this case. (57) At three minutes after ten on the morning of March 9, the jury arrived at its verdict. The sealed paper was handed up to the Judge, who examined it and returned it to the clerk. The clerk read: ''Gentlemen of the jury, harken unto your verdict as the Court hath recorded it. You find in the case wherein the Commonwealth is prosecutor and Sheriff Martin et. al., defendants, you find the defendants not guilty. So say you all?" (58) The verdict of acquittal was a just one under the law, yet, at the same time, it is possible that a terrible doubt exists that the slaughter at Lattimer was necessary or justifiable. Could the tragedy have been avoided? It is not clear that the miners should have been prevented from marching on the highway; it is not clear that they should have been denied the opportunity to show themselves within sight of the miners at work; it is not clear that the deputies should have fired as soon as they did. But, the law is for all men, and against all men who are not obedient to it. There is no question of the right of men to strike. The strike is often the only weapon. When the striker learns to keep within the law, to be fair to others, and to respect property rights, he will have made the greatest advances in the direction of public sympathy. The example of the Lattimer strikers was clear. Had a determined effort been made to keep within the law, to win the friendship of the people of the Hazleton region, the clash with Sheriff Martin and his deputies would have been avoided. The law is the defense of the individual and the salvation of the nation. Violence toward it cannot win. EPILOGUE In the course of researching the Commonwealth v. Martin Trial, it has been found that the Luzerne County Court records for that case are missing from their file at the Luzerne County Court House. Perhaps an 76 SLOVAKIA attorney borrowed them to study and never returned them ; or perhaps they were removed by intent considering the hard feelings exhibited by some members of the Hazleton mining community following the jury's verdict. The sleepy little mining patch of Lattimer today is much the same as it was sixty-eight years ago. The breakers are gone , the trolley tracks are gone , and the miners, whose families now occupy the same houses that witnessed the shooting, work at the near-by collieries in Harleigh and Jeddo . The excitement that brought the name Lattimer to the mind of most Americans in 1897 has been completely forgotten - even in Luzerne County. Should Lattimer be forgotten? Some say it should . But in today 's society when groups of American are banding together and marching, sometimes in defiance of the law, in causes they believe to be paramount, the tragedy of Lattimer could happen again. FOOTNOTES (1) John W . Jordan, Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography, vol. 7, (New York , 1916), 2350. (2) John Mitchell , Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903), 375. (3) Henry Edward Rood , " A Pennsylvania Colliery Village, " The Century Magazine, vol. 55, no . 6, (April, 1898), 814. (4) "2,500 Men cut at Hazleton ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. (5) " The Honey Brook Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 21, 1897 , 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 23, 1897, 8. (6) ''The Hazleton Strike,'' Wilk es-Barre Evening Leader, August 23 , 1897, 8. (7) " Two Thousand Foreigners Out, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 27, 1897, 1. (8) " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control ," Wilkes-Barre E vening Leader, August 28, 1897. 1. " Hazleton Strike Comes to a Demand ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 29, 1897, 1. (9) " The Anthracite Strike ," Wilkes -Barre E ve ning Leader, August 30, 1897, 1. (10) " Wild Excitement, " Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 2, 1897, 1-2. (11) " Strike Situation at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (12) " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 3, 1897, 1. (13) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897 , 1. (14)/bid., 1. (15) " Labor Day Parade at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 7, 1897, 1. (16) " Sheriff Martin on the Ground ," Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, September 6, 1897, 1. (17) " Strikers Still Marching," Wilkes -Barre Evening Leader. SLOVAKIA 77 (18) Ibid., 2. (19)lbid., 2. (20) Ibid., 2. (21) Ibid., 2. (22) "Murdered in Cold Blood," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 11 , 1897, 1. (23) Ibid., 1. (24) Ibid., 1. (25) Ibid. , 1. (26) Ibid. , 1. (27) Ibid., 1. (28) "Sheriff Martin to be Arrested, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 12, 1897, 1. (29) Ibid., 1. (30) ''They Will Not Return to Work, '' Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 14, 1897, 1. (31) "Everything Quiet Along the Line, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (32) " Miners ' Strike is Spreading," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 16, 1897, 1. (33) " News from the Seat of War," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 18, 1897, 1. (34) " Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 21, 1897, 1. (35) " Many Strikers Return to Work, " Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897, 1. (36) "A Quiet Day at Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. (37) " Troops Leave Hazleton ," Wilkes-Barre Record, September 29, 1897, 1. (38) " A Stampede to Return to Work," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 21 , 1897, 1. (39) " The Court Sits In Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. (40) " The Court Sits in Judgment," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 22, 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattimer," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 24, 1897, 1. " The Sheriff Condemned," Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 28, 1897, 1. (42) ''The Lattimer Cases,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 28, 1897, 1. (43) "The Twelve Jurymen Selected, " Wilkes-Barre Record, February 3, 1898, 1. (44) " The Lattimer Cases," Wilkes-Barre Record, February 4, 1898, 1. (45) Henry W. Palmer, Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, Penna. , 1913) 64. (46) Ibid., 65. (47) ''Excitement In Court,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 7, 1898, 12. (48) '' Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6 . (49) '' Said the Sheriff Shot, '' Wilkes-Barre Record, February 16, 1898, 6. (50) "A Labor View of Judge Woodward ," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4. (51) "Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter," New York World, February 20, 1898, 20. (52) Palmer , 67. (53) George B. Kulp , Luzerne Legal Register Reports, vol. 9 (Wilkes-Barre, 1900), 81. (54) Palmer , 81. 78 SLOVAKIA (55) Ibid., ll0. (56) Ibid., 147. (57) From Judge Woodward ' s original hand-written charge to the jury as found in his personal scrapbook in the possession of his grand-daughter, Mrs . Bruce Payne of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (58) " The Deputies Are Not Guilty," Wilkes-Barre Times, March 9, 1898, 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Jordan, John W ., Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography vol. 7, (New York, 1916) . Kulp, George B., Luzerne Legal Register Reports vol. 9, (Wilkes-Barre, 1900) . Mitchell , John, Organized Labor, (Philadelphia, 1903). Palmer, Henry W ., Fifty Years at the Bar and in Politics, (Williamsport, 1913) . Rood, Henry Edward , "A Pennsylvania Colliery Village," The Century Magazine, Vol. 55, no. 6, (1898). Newspaper Sources "A Labor View of Judge Woodward," New York Evening Sun, February 17, 1898, 4 . '' Samuel Gompers on the Lattimer Slaughter, " New York World, February 20 , 1898, 20. ''Yellow Journalism in the Court,'' Pittsburgh Times, February 8, 1898, 6. ''2,500 Men out at Hazleton, '' Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, August 16, 1897, 1. " The Honey Brook Strike, " August 17, 1897, 1. "Concessions to Honey Brook Miners," August 21, 1897, 7. "The Hazleton Strike ," August 23, 1897, 8 . " Two Thousand Foreigners Out," August 27, 1897, 1. " Strikers in Hazleton Region in Complete Control," August 28, 1897, 1. " Hazleton Strike comes to a Demand ," August 29, 1897, 1. " The Anthracite Strike ," August 30, 1897, 1. " Wild Excitement" September 2, 1897, 1-2. " Strike Situation at Hazleton," September 3 , 1897, 1. " Wild Scenes at Hazleton ," September 3, 1897, 1. " Sheriff Martin on the Ground, " September 6, 1897, 1. · 'Labor Day Parade at Hazleton,'' September 7, 1897, 1. "Strikers Still Marching, " Wilkes-Barre News Dealer, September 9, 1897, 2. "Murdered in Cold Blood," September 11, 1897, 1. " She riff Martin to be Arrested ," September 12, 1897, 1. " They Will Not Return to Work," September 14, 1897 , 1. · 'Eve rything Quiet along the Line ,' ' September 16, 1897, 1. " Mine rs ' Strike is Spreading, " September 17, 1897, 1. " News from the Seat of War," September 18, 1897, 1. " A Stampede to return to Work ," Septe mber 21, 1897, 1. "The Court sits in Judgment," Se ptember 22 , 1897, 1. " The Shooting at Lattime r," September 24 , 1897, 1. " She riff Condemned," September 28 , 1897, 1. ··A Quiet Day at Hazleton ,'' Wilkes-Barre Record, September 23, 1897, 1. SLOVAKIA 79 "Troops Leave Hazleton ," September 29, 1897, 1. "The Twelve Jurymen Selected," February 3, 1898, 1. "The Lattimer Cases," February 4, 1898, 1. "Excitement in Court," February 7, 1898 , 12. "Said the Sheriff Shot," February 16, 1898, 6. "Sunday in the Strike Region ," Wilkes-Barre Times, September 20, 1897 , 1. "The Dep uties are Not Guilty," March 9, 1898, 1. Woodward, Stanley, the original hand-written charge to the jury as found in Judge Woodwa rd 's personal scrap book now in the possession of his granddaughter, Mrs. Bruce Payne of Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource THE MASSACRE AT LATIIMER MINES: September 10, 1897 Description An account of the resource Slovakia, Vol. 27 (No. 50), 1977<br />pp. 9-79<br /><ol><li>The Lattimer Massacre and Its Sources / George A. Turner (pp. 9-43).</li> <li>The Lattimer Massacre / Konštantín Čulen (pp. 44-61).</li> <li>The Lattimer Massacre and Trial / Harry B. Schooley III (pp. 62-79).</li> </ol> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Turner, George A., 1935-2014 Schooley, Harry B. Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977 name SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6a5fe5a9fbf3474e5b7d9452af1925f3.pdf 8e833bf6d7fc053aa8f72888ebbe9c31 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 47 The Matica slovenska and Its Relation to the Development of Slovak Literature* Norma L. Rudin sky The distinctively Slavic institution of th e matica can perhaps b e best described as a national library, publishing house, university , scientific institute, acad emy of scholars, and nationalistic missionary society all in one. The earliest examples - the Matica srbska founded in 1826, Matice ceska in 1831, and Mati ce moravska in 1836 - were like the later Matica slovenska, founded in Turciansky Svaty Martin on August 4 , 1863, in playing an important role in literary development. 1 But the Slovak Matica assumed a special significance because of the much more desolate circumstan ces of the Slovaks in Hungary . This difference makes a particularly interesting study not only of the Slavic matica movement but also of the special place of literature in Slovak intellectual hi sto ry . In speaking of the relation of the Matica slovenska to Slovak literature, one has to distinguish between the effect of the actual institute as it existed (from its founding in 1863 to its closure by Magyar authorities in 1875 and since its reopening in 1919) and the effect of the spiritual/ psychological or symboli c nature of the Matica even when it did not exist , i.e ., 1875-1919 , and in a certain sense when it was "onl y" a national library without a membership base, from 195 1 to 1968 . One also has to consider the symbolic meaning whenever a Matica was established outsid e Slovakia , as ha s happened seve ral times . • Thi s is a rev ised ve rsio n of a pa per prese nt ed at th e panel " The M ati ca slove nsk a: 120 Yea rs of Survi va l" spo nso red by the Slova k Studies Associati on durin g th e Fiftee nth Nati onal C onve nti o n of th e Am eri can Association for th e Advan ce m ent of Slavic Studies held in Kan sas C it y, Mi ssouri in O ctober 1983 . �48 SLOVAKIA It is also necessary to distinguish the direct effects of the Matica from its indirect effects, that is , from all its general educational results, such as greater literacy and a higher cultural level that came from activities like publishing almanacs, setting up amateur theatricals, or dignifying folk literature by collecting and reciting it. By all such results the Matica contributed to the development of a social and intellect ual environment in which Slovak literature could arise. Literary works are always a response of an artist to a particular time and place; the general activities of the Matica provided a stimulus to literary talent and helped to secure an audience for that talent. But having mentioned this indirect effect, I shall confine myself to the direct effects of the Matica on Slovak literature, and first to those that occurred while the Matica actually existed. The special relation of the "t\1atica to both language and literature is indicated in the list of presidents and directors. The office of president (predseda), which until 1945 was an honorary position and could be held by two or three people at a time, has had over thirteen occupants; at least four were major writers Qan Francisci, Pavol OrszaghHviezdoslav, Ladislav Novomesky, and Vladimfr Minac - Novomesky having two terms, before and after his prison sentence), and five were literary historians or at least had strong literary interests (Stefan Moyses, Jozef Koza.eek , F.R. Osvald, Jur Janoska, and Marian Blaha). Of the seven directors (spravca), which is the chief administrative position , one was a major writer O. C. Hronsky) and three were major literary historians Qaroslav Vlcek, Jozef Skultety, and Jan Martak , who had two terms). 2 If the secretaries (tajomnfk) are added as major officers, they were all literary figures except Frantisek Hermansky, a lin gui st, and JozefCincik, an artist and art historian: Stefan Krcmery, RudolfKlacko, Hronsky ' Martak, and Stanislav Meciar. l It is hard to see much real effect upon literature from the first Matica, even though one of its functions was to publish and distribute literary works. The major Slovak writers of that tim e were only beginning to write and publish just before the Matica was closed. For example, Hviezdoslav's first poems were published in 1868 but in Skalica , not in Martin, as was also his journal Napred. Svetozar Hurban -Vajansky's first book, a coll ection of poems, came out in 1871 but again in Skalica, not Martin. Elena Mar6thy -Soltesova's first story was published in 1881, and Martin Kukucfn' s first story appeared in 1882 when th e Mati ca �SLOVAKIA 49 was cl osed . In fact , proba bl y the only reall y signifi cant literary work durin g the tim e of the first Matica was the collectio n a nd preservation of folk litera ture, the two-volume collection Sbornfk sloven sk ych n arod- nych piesnf, povestf, prfslovf, p orek adiel, hadok , hier, obycaj ov a povier in 1870 and 1874, the second volum e of which was edited by P avo) Dobsin sky. This work was, of course, ve ry impo rta n t in th e establishm ent of Slovak fo lk literature as well as ethnography. Otherwi se, however , the twelve issu es of the a nnu al publicatio n L etopis M atice slo vensk ej a nd the 44 books published by the M a tica carried so m e li te ra ry hi stor y but prima ril y in rela tion to la n gu age, no t liter a ture. 4 Afte r the M atica was reopened in 19 19, its fi rst offi cial li te rary divisio n was the Lite rary Hi sto r y D ep a rtment (Litera rn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS ), whi ch was form ed o n M ay 11 , 19 22 b y separat in g the hi sto ry of li te ra tu re secti on (hi sto rickoli terarn a sekcia) from the Hi story D epartm ent (Historicky od bo r M S). T he latter ha d bee n establ ished at the second ge ner al asse mbl y of the M at ica in Au gust, 1920 . T he fi rst offi cers of the Literary Hi story D epartme n t we re J a roslav V lcek as pres ide nt , Albert Prazak as vice- preside nt , a nd Stefan Krcm ery as secreta ry, S and they gave the depa rtment its basic to ne for the next decade. T he D epartm en t was enl a rged in Febru a ry, 1925 by adding to it m an y writers from the literary sectio n of th e Art s D ep a rtm e nt (U m elecky odbo r M S), a nd its na m e was ch a n ged to th e Liter a ry a nd Literar y Hi sto ry D ep a rtm ent (Litera rn y a literarn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS) . But the old n am e was taken again the nex t year , a nd it remain ed the Li te ra rnohi sto ricky odbo r 6 until it was ended in 1953, when its work was taken over by several in stitutes, such as the Li te ra rn y archfv M S a n d the In sti tu te of Slovak Liter ature in the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Ustav sloven skej li teratury SA V) in Brat islava . 7 T h is n a m e, in fac t , in d icated its m a in fu nct io n : it collected manu scrip ts b io-b ibli ograp hi es, m emoris , a nd the li ke. 8 O ne of its first act ivit ies was to coll ect a nd pu bli sh Vl ce k 's hi story of Slovak li te ra tu re in 1923, a nd it co ntribu ted to th e S bornfk Ma tice slovensk ej pre j azykospyt, narodopis, dejepis a literarnu historiu , whi ch , howeve r , eve n th ou gh ed ited fi rs t by V lcek, the n by S kul tety, in its first d ecade co n ta in ed m u ch m o re o n ethn ograp hy a nd la n gu age tha n on li te ratu re . 9 Also, m u ch of the work do ne the n de pended upon Czech scholars who - li ke V lce k hi r.1self, Prazak, a nd Flora Kl einsch nitzova - trea ted Slovak li te rat ure as a b ra n ch of Czech li terat ure, whi ch affected their research goals a nd in te rests . �50 SLOVAKIA It has bee n said b y Lubomfr Durovic that althou gh the first Czechoslovak Republic de jure challenged the existence of the Slovak nation by the official theory of the '' Czechoslovak n a tion ,'' it de facto saved th e n a tion by m eans of the great opportunities it provided compared to the Hunga ri a n period . 10 This can be seen very clearly in the ch a n ges that occurred in th e Matica after 1930 when a n ew generat ion of Slovak scholars h ad been trained whose chief interest was in Slovak, not Czech , cu lture and who wanted to co nsider its specificity and its relation to other Slavic cultures, not to Czech culture alone . In 1935 the Sbornfk was divided into specialized pa rts with individu al editors : Ludovft Nova k edited th e la n gu age secti on a nd Stanislav M eciar the lite rary sect ion . The a rrival of su ch a literary schol a r as Andrej Mraz in 1930 m eant , therefore, a cha n ge in em phasis not only from narodopis or et hn ography to literature, but also from bio-bibliographical works to criti cal a nd evalu ative studies and monographs on individual authors, su ch as j a nko Kral' , J a n K alinciak , Samo Chalupka, a nd Ivan Krasko . 11 In add ition , seve ral foreig n Slavists, such as the Ru ssian Dmitri C izevskij an d the Pole Wl ad yslaw Bobek , contributed to the Sbornfk seve ral co mparative studi es rela tin g Slovak literature to th e ge ne ral stream of Slavic literatures a nd in importa n t respects cha n gin g the inte rpreta tion a nd pe riodi zation of Vlcek , which had been follow ed also by Albert Prazak in th e d oze n or m ore wo rks on Slovak li terature h e publi shed in th e M atica in the 1920s a nd after 1932 in th e U ce na spolocnost' Safarikova. In fact , it is inte resting that the first effort to determine a real pe riodization of Slovak literature in itself, not in terms of the peri odization of Czech lite ra ture as Vlcek a nd Prazak h ad don e, was m ade by the P ole Bobek in 193 7; li ttle work was done again on the p eri odizati on of earl y Slovak lite rature until the M a rxist hi stori a ns did it in 1958 in the first volume of the Academy of Sciences literary hi story . i Apa rt from literary history , however , there was really little formal esthetic a n alysis or study of th e theo ry of lite rature. Th e major exce pti on (and it is trul y m ajor) was th e publication in 1939 of the book Vyvin slo vensk eh o versa od skoly Sturo vej by th e Ru ssia n-born forma li st and stru cturali st Mikul as Bakos, who d eveloped a more modern es th etic a n alysis tha n an yone else had done. Accordin g to P avo! Stevcek, it has "remained a book of cardin al importance" to thi s d ay. 13 Th e Sbornfk was not th e on ly literary journ al publi shed by th e M at ica, howeve r . M o re impo rt ant was Sloven sk e pohl'a dy, wh ich has 1 �SLOVAKIA 51 been, and still is, a sort of microcosm of Slovak cultural life since it was founded by JozefMiloslav Hurban in 1846. Hurban 's purpose in starting the periodical was " to apply consistently in Slovak cultural life the principles of science and criticism .'' 14 In the first six years of its existence (1846-52), it reflected the major events of Slovak intellectual life - including Hurban ' s defense of Stur's langu age codification in 1846 . Although halted by the censors and b y finan cial difficulties in 1852, it was resumed in M artin in 1881 and continued with first Vajansky as editor , then Jozef Skultety publishing and editing it until 1919 . In 1921 the M atica started it up again under the editorship of Stefan Krcmery, and it remained a monthly published by the Matica until 1953, when it was taken over b y the Slovak Writers' Union , whose organ it is today . In the Matica period, it was edited by Krcmery until illness forced his ret irem ent in 1932, then Andrej Mraz until 1938, and Stanislav M eciar until 1945; with a few exceptions in that period everyo ne published there: nationalists , internationalists, Catholics, Lutherans, Communists, realists, surrealists, social realists. 15 Unlike the Sbornfk, Slovenske pohl'ady always carried original works of literature - poetry and sto ries - as well as literary history and criticism . Thu s it contributed to the growth of literature itself, not just to literary criticism . Besides these two journals, however , the Literary History D epartm ent supported literature in another way: by republishin g the "classics" in collected editions, includin g all the works ofHviezdoslav, Vajansky, Kukucfn , Timrava, the Stur school , and also contemporary writers, such as janko j esensky , Hronsky , a nd M artin R azu s. 16 Unfortunately, these editions of the classics were not usually prepared accord ing to consistent, modern editorial principles, either in selection and arrange m ent of the m ate rial or in lin guistic and textual stand ards. Skultety , Mraz, and M eciar each followed his own editorial system , and editorial assistants acted even more freely. Numerous living authors complained about their treatm en t, and this was true after World War II as well as during and befo re. 17 Furthermore, the Matica did not always select fo r publication the best current works. It showed no interest in Kukucfn's Mat' vola (1 926-27) , published by G .A. Beza in Trnava, nor did it issue Milo Urban 's Zivy bic (Prague, 1927), which is generally rated as by far the best Slovak novel published in the 1920s. But this can be regarded as a sign of the times: In its early period the Matica could be in co ntact �52 SLOVAKIA with almost everything, but as Slovak opportunities grew geometrically with education and the other new advantages, the Matica and Martin could not hold everything in their own hands, and other literary centers were developing . Bratislava became the major competitor, not only because of the professors at the University, but also because of the newly-established Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenska akademia vied a umenf) in 1942, which eventually developed into the current Slovenska akademia vied. In fact, organizational changes in the Matica also became necessary to meet the increasingly specialized growth of knowledge itself in the second half of the twentieth century. 18 The changes in the Matica that occurred after World War II have to be seen in this context: No organization could continue as the sole cultural and scientific institution, as the arts and social sciences became much too complex to be governed in a single organization, especially an institute far away from the capital city, the chief metropolis, and the seat of the main university system. Major changes would have occurred even without the Communist takeover in 1948 or the Marxist-Leninist theories of internationalism and the leading role of the Party - all of which tended to diminish the importance of the Matica. When the law of 1954 reduced the Matica to the single function of a national library and bibliographic institute, I think the fact that it kept exactly its literary relations - its archival, bibliographic, library, and museum activities - is not at all surprising and indicated its basic function from the beginning . But with this point, we are faced with the symbolic meaning, the psychological/spiritual effect, of the Matica slovenska apart from its physical existence . This brings us to the second kind of effect upon literature the Matica has had . In the extreme Magyar persecution at the time of the Matica's early life, it became a sort of guardian and protector of the Slovak nation, which specifically came to mean the guardian of Slovak self-expression, of literature and language. Historians have recognized and shown how closely the Slovak sense of identity, the sense of self, is tied to language ; Peter Brock, for example, has called the Slovaks a "culturallinguistic nation.' ' 19 The Matica was literally the defender in the battle with Czech linguists over the Pravidla , and in the gathering of signatures of 128 writers - essentially all the practicing writers of the time - on a petition to request revision of the Pravidla, Slovaks were completely united on the language issue. The petition caused such bad feelings on �SLOVAKIA 53 co nfessional and political grounds between ''Czechoslovaks ' ' and "Slovaks" that the Catholic J.C . Hronsky (who had collected the signatures) and the Lutheran Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova published a soothing joint letter in N arodnie novin y. But there was no disagreement on the language issue itself. 20 This need to defend the Slovak la nguage stopped after the period of the Slovak R epublic a nd Czech acceptance of Slovak individuality in the Kosice Program of 1945 , and the linguistic " purism" stopped when it was no longer needed as a defense. 21 Although Slovak language and literature did not still have to be protected as such, the Literarny archfv and the Literarnomuzejne oddelenie were co ntinuing the guardianship of the past, as allowed by the law of 1954 . Such a narrow view of the Matica as guardian, howeve r, is apparently not sufficient to satisfy the Slovak image of the M atica, because demands were made for a change in the liberal 1960s , especially a t the hundred-year jubilee in 1963 . The restrictive law of 1954 was replaced by the law of 1968 , which resto red the Matica's membership base, gave it a biographical department, and made it responsible for cultural relations with foreigners of Slovak ancestry. The insults of Pres ident Antonfn Novotny against the M atica were taken by Slovaks as insults against the whole nation and used by the liberals (Czech as well as Slovak) in 1968-69 both to remove Novotny from office and to improve the status of the Matica . The book published then , Z vole l'udu obnovena, expresses this continuing view of the Matica as a response to the people's need . 22 Clearly, the hi sto rical and the current concept of the Matica includes its ability to propagate (not only to preserve) among Slovaks their sense of identity in their lan guage and literature. This mission can be seen in another way . I have said that one also has to co nsider the psychological effect of the M a tica as a moveable institute that can be established by Slovaks outside Slovakia. This first occurred in 1893 when the "Matica slovenska in America " was founded in Chicago by American Slovaks ce ntered around the R everend Stefan Furd ek 's j ednota and Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky's Slovak V Amerike . It published several works before it dissolved in 1897 , including a literary journal similar to Slovenske pohl'ady. 23 A "Matica slovenska in Yugoslavia" was established in 1932 in Petrovec, near Novi Sad, where a large and compact gro up of Slovaks had lived for two hundred years; it lasted until 1948. The Zahranicna Matica Slovenska , founded by Sta ni slav Meciar a nd J .C. Hronsky after World War II in Argentina , �54 SLOVAKIA with collaborators in the United States and Canada, still exists. In all three examples, the literary activity (both planned and actually carried out) followed the traditional lines ofMatica activity . For example, Meciar collected and published material on Martin Kukucfn while he lived in Chile and also reprinted and analyzed certain works by J .C. Hronsky . 24 Even while the Matica was closed from 187 5 to 1919, it seemed to produce various alternatives to fill its place . For example , the women's organization Zivena was founded in 1869, but it was not closed by Magyar officials since it was just a women's organization, and therefore was presumably insignificant. Its annual meeting occurred in August because it had been founded at the Matica general assembly, so the August m eetings of Zivena became a substitute for the banned August general assembly of the Matica. 2 5 Zivena also developed a publishing program and an almanach , L etopis Zi ven y, to fill the gap left by the closed Matica. This substitution became possible because the Slovak women's movement was primarily an arm of the national movem ent rather than a genuine feminist drive. In part this was true because the Slovak nationalists, such as Ambro Pietor, were instiga tors in founding the women's organization ; they were looking for help in the struggle against Magyar domination. But it was also true because the leader of the women's movement soon became Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova, daughter of a poet of the Stur school, and more of a nationalist herself than a feminist in her own fiction (unlike the fiction of Timrava, which was more nearly feminist). 26 Therefore, I think the work of Zivena can be said to belon g to the Matica tradition . In the same period, but outside Turciansky Sviity M a rtin , other nationalist centers began to develop among Rom a n Catholics, such as the Spolok sv. Vojtecha in Trnava . In addition, K arol Salva's press in Ruzomberok began to compete with the M atica, as did the journal Dennica, ed ited b y T erezia Vansova in Pila . 2 7 In referring to physical effects as opposed to symbolic effects, or maticas abroad and alternative institutions, it is clear that I am co nsidering a movement rather than only the maj or in stitute that movem ent produced . The Matica movement was and is bigger than the institute itself, and in fac t has spread, I think , much farther and deeper in Slovak literary life than the institute itself indicates . For exam ple, one can see evidence of the identification of Slovak selfhood with literature in the theory of comparativistics of Dionyz Durisin in the Institute of �SLOVAKIA 55 Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and also in the analysis of specifically Slovak elements in lyricized prose by Jan Stevcek of Comenius University . 18 I do not think it is stretching the point too much to say there is something distinctively Slovak about the ambitious attempt of the "Nitra School" of literary theory to utilize and adapt concepts from Czech and Polish structuralism and the Tartu semioticians to create what Edward Mozejko has called "the introduction of a new discipline - the poetics of metatexts . .. a universal metalanguage of art ... the investigation of so-called intersemiotic translation ... a new communicative poetics of literature and art. " 19 To conclude, therefore, the Matica slovenska as an institute resulted from the particular political situation of the Slovaks in Hungary, but it continued and has been periodically renewed because it is a symbol and a symptom of the historical Slovak self-identification with its language and literature. NOTES ' Sta nl ey B. Kimball , " The Serbian Marica - Prototype of Austro-Slav Litera ry Foundat ion s: The First Fifty Yea rs 1826-76 ," East European Quarterly, III (September l 969) , 353-70; Peter H errity, "The R ole of the M a ti ca a nd Similar Societies in the Development of the Slavoni c Literary Languages ,'' Slavon ic and East European R eview, LI Oul y 1973), 368-386 . ' John A. Bert a helped to compile this list; see also his " The Marica slovenska and Its R ole in Slovak Cultural D evelopment, 19 19- 1939" (Ph .D . disse rt a tion , SUNY Bingha mton , l 983). ' " M a ti ca slovenska, " En cyklopedia Slovenska, Vol. III (Bra tislava: SA V , 1979). • Peter Liba, V ydava tel'sk e die/a M a tice slovensk ej 1863-1954 (M artin : M ati ca slovenska , 1962) . ' T omas Winkler , M a rica slovensk a v rok och 1919- 1945: z p roblem ov a dokum entov ustredia MS (Martin: M ati ca slovenska, 1971 ), p . 149. ' Ibid ., p. 150. ' "Literarn ovedn y ustav Slovens kej akademie vied ," Encyklopedia S/ovenska , Vol. III. 8 Winkler, pp. 150-53. ' Ibid, pp. 152-53. �SLOVAKIA 56 10 L ' ubomir Durov ic, "Slovak, " in Th e Slavic Lieerary Languages: Formaeion and Developmene, eds. A .M . Schenker and E. Stankiewicz (New H ave n : Yale Conciliu m on Internati ona l and Area Studies, 1980), p . 222. Owen V. Johnson has shown to what ex tent an education class developed in thi s period in his " The slovak Intelligentsia 19 18- 1938" in Russian and Slavic Hisrory , ed . D .K . Rowney and G.E. Orchard (Columbu s: Slavica Publishers, Inc., 1977), and also in his Ph .D . dissertati on , " Sociocultural a nd National D evelo pment in Slovakia , 1918-1 938: Education and It s Impact" (University of Mi chigan , 1978). 11 Winkler, pp . 153-55. ll 13 Jan Misianik , "Uvodom," D ejin y searsej slo venskej lieerac ury, ed s. J a n Misianik , J ozef Mina rik, Milena Mi chalcova, and Andrej Melichercik , Vol. I (Bratislava: SAV, 1958) , 5-6. The introduction is dated Dece mber 30, 1956. See also Winkler, p . 155. P avo! Stevcek, Coneemporary Slovak Lieeraeure (Bra ti slava: Obzo r, 1980), p . 119 ; Stevcek says Bakos was th e "fou nd er of lit era ry theory ." See also Winkler , p. 156. " Vi ctor K ochol , in D ejin y slovenskej lit eratury: Lieeraeura narodn eho obrodenia , eds . Milan Pisut , K arol R ose nbaum , Victor Kochol, Vol. II (Bratislava: SAY , 1960) , pp . 466-67: "Hurban chcel v slovenskom kulturnom zivote dosled ne upl atn ova t' principy vedec kosti a kritickosti . . . . " 11 Winkler, pp . 157-59. See a lso V ladimir Petrik , "Slovenske pohl'ady 192 2- 1938 , " Slovenske pohl'ady , No. 7 (1964) , 8-14 , and Jozef Bzoch, "Slove nske pohl'ad y 1939- 1944, " Slo venske pohl'ady, o. 8 (1964), 6-9. 1 • See Liba , op . cir. 17 E.G., Iva n Ku sy, ed. , Timra va: Zobran e spisy, II (Bratisl ava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury , 1956), 287-88, and es pecially Marianna PridavkovaMinarikova , Textologicke a seylisticke problem y K.ukucinovho die/a (Bratislava: SA V, 1972), pp . 5, 13 , 15, and passim . " In 1935, for exa mpl e, th e lin guist r.udovit Novak argued for chan ges in th e Matica to provide greater finan cial support and to bring scientifi c freedom from political chan ges (Winkler , pp. 29-30 a nd 110- 12) ; in fact, th e J azy koved ny odbor had such ex treme organiza ti onal disagreements amo ng its members (especially Novak and H enri ch Ba rt ek) th a t once ( 1936) Hronsk y wanted to resign a nd later (1941) th e odbor was on th e verge of being di ssolved (see Winkler , pp . 30 a nd 131-32). On SA VU a nd SAV, see Slovenska ak adem ia vied (Bratislava: Vydavatcl'stvo SAV, 1969). " Peter Brock , The Slo,·ak National Awakenin g: An Essay in eh e lnt eJlecr ual Hiseory of Ease General Europe (Toronto a nd Buffalo: Universi ty of T oro nto Press, 1976), p. ix . Brock uses as a motto H ans Kohn's statement: " In Central and Eastern Europe it was the poe t, the phil ologist, and th e hi storian who crea ted th e nati onaliti es. " "' Elena Mar6th y-Soltcsova a nd J .C . H rons ky, " Slm-cnskej ve rej nos ti . Vysvetlenie vo veci podpisov pre navrh slov . spisova tcl'ov ," Narodnie novin y, May 1932 , p. 2. On th e Pra vidla , see Durovic, pp . 222-25 , and Robert Auty, " The R ole of Purism in th e Development of th e Sl avonic Lit erary Languages, " Slavonic R eview , LI Uul y 1973) , 335 -43. �SLOVAKIA 57 " 6urovic, pp . 225-26. " Z vole I'udu obnovena, ed s. Ivan Gegus and Mil os K ovacka (M a rtin : Matica slovenska , 1968 - ac tu all y 1969), pp. 6-9 a nd p assim . Novotnfs petty a nd tas teless behavior is outlin ed here also. " '' Matica slove nska v Amerike '' and '' Matica slovenska v J uh oslav ii ,' ' En cyklopedia Slovenska , Vol. III. On th e American Matica, see also K ons ta ntin C ul en , Slovenske casopisy ,· Amerike (Cleveland: Prva katolicka sloven ska jednota, 1970), pp . 19-21 , 52-53 , 70-71. " Stanislav M ecia r , Kukucfn if.ivy , 2 vols. ( Bu enos Aires: Knizni ca Slobodna Slovenska Kultu ra , 1958 and 1960) - stri ctl y speaking th ese books were no t published by the Matica but within that trad itio n; J. C. Hronsky , Poh ar z bruseneho skla , ed. S. Mcciar (Buenos Aires: Zahranicn a M ati ca Slovenska, 1964), and Na kriinych cescach , cd. S. Meciar (Bu enos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Sloven ska, 1966). " Stefana Yotrubova, Zivena. j ej osudy a praca (Martin: Zivena, 1931) , pp . 22-23; see a lso J a rmil a Tkadleckova-Yantuchova, Zivena-Spolok slovensk ych zien (Bra ti slava : Epocha , 1969). " See th e compariso n in An In cipienc Feminise: Slovak Scories by Timra, ·a , ed it ed and translated by No rm a Leigh Rudinsk y (Columbus: Slavica Publishers, In c. , in prep.). " J a n Tibensky , ed ., Slovensko: Dejiny (Bratislava: Obzor, 197 1), p . 543. " Dionyz Duri sin , Problem y Jic erarn ej komparacistik y (Bratislava: SA V, 1967), and Z dcjin a ce6rie Jicerarn ej kompara cisrik y (Bratislava: SA V , 1970) ; J an Stevcck, Nez badane pr6zy (Bratislava: Slovensky spisova tel' , 197 1), a nd L yrizovan a pr6za (B ra ti slava : Tatran , 1973). " Edwa rd Mozejko, " Survey: Slovak Theory of Litera ry Co mmuni ca ti on : Notes on th e Nitra School of Lit erary Criticism,' ' PTL: A j ourn al for Descripri,·e Poetics and Theory of Lircrarure , 4 (1979) , 37 1-8 4. �� SLOVAKIA 47 The Matica slovenska and Its Relation to the Development of Slovak Literature* Norma L. Rudin sky The distinctively Slavic institution of th e matica can perhaps b e best described as a national library, publishing house, university , scientific institute, acad emy of scholars, and nationalistic missionary society all in one. The earliest examples - the Matica srbska founded in 1826, Matice ceska in 1831, and Mati ce moravska in 1836 - were like the later Matica slovenska, founded in Turciansky Svaty Martin on August 4 , 1863, in playing an important role in literary development. 1 But the Slovak Matica assumed a special significance because of the much more desolate circumstan ces of the Slovaks in Hungary . This difference makes a particularly interesting study not only of the Slavic matica movement but also of the special place of literature in Slovak intellectual hi sto ry . In speaking of the relation of the Matica slovenska to Slovak literature, one has to distinguish between the effect of the actual institute as it existed (from its founding in 1863 to its closure by Magyar authorities in 1875 and since its reopening in 1919) and the effect of the spiritual/ psychological or symboli c nature of the Matica even when it did not exist , i.e ., 1875-1919 , and in a certain sense when it was "onl y" a national library without a membership base, from 195 1 to 1968 . One also has to consider the symbolic meaning whenever a Matica was established outsid e Slovakia , as ha s happened seve ral times . • Thi s is a rev ised ve rsio n of a pa per prese nt ed at th e panel " The M ati ca slove nsk a: 120 Yea rs of Survi va l" spo nso red by the Slova k Studies Associati on durin g th e Fiftee nth Nati onal C onve nti o n of th e Am eri can Association for th e Advan ce m ent of Slavic Studies held in Kan sas C it y, Mi ssouri in O ctober 1983 . �48 SLOVAKIA It is also necessary to distinguish the direct effects of the Matica from its indirect effects, that is , from all its general educational results, such as greater literacy and a higher cultural level that came from activities like publishing almanacs, setting up amateur theatricals, or dignifying folk literature by collecting and reciting it. By all such results the Matica contributed to the development of a social and intellect ual environment in which Slovak literature could arise. Literary works are always a response of an artist to a particular time and place; the general activities of the Matica provided a stimulus to literary talent and helped to secure an audience for that talent. But having mentioned this indirect effect, I shall confine myself to the direct effects of the Matica on Slovak literature, and first to those that occurred while the Matica actually existed. The special relation of the "t\1atica to both language and literature is indicated in the list of presidents and directors. The office of president (predseda), which until 1945 was an honorary position and could be held by two or three people at a time, has had over thirteen occupants; at least four were major writers Qan Francisci, Pavol OrszaghHviezdoslav, Ladislav Novomesky, and Vladimfr Minac - Novomesky having two terms, before and after his prison sentence), and five were literary historians or at least had strong literary interests (Stefan Moyses, Jozef Koza.eek , F.R. Osvald, Jur Janoska, and Marian Blaha). Of the seven directors (spravca), which is the chief administrative position , one was a major writer O. C. Hronsky) and three were major literary historians Qaroslav Vlcek, Jozef Skultety, and Jan Martak , who had two terms). 2 If the secretaries (tajomnfk) are added as major officers, they were all literary figures except Frantisek Hermansky, a lin gui st, and JozefCincik, an artist and art historian: Stefan Krcmery, RudolfKlacko, Hronsky ' Martak, and Stanislav Meciar. l It is hard to see much real effect upon literature from the first Matica, even though one of its functions was to publish and distribute literary works. The major Slovak writers of that tim e were only beginning to write and publish just before the Matica was closed. For example, Hviezdoslav's first poems were published in 1868 but in Skalica , not in Martin, as was also his journal Napred. Svetozar Hurban -Vajansky's first book, a coll ection of poems, came out in 1871 but again in Skalica, not Martin. Elena Mar6thy -Soltesova's first story was published in 1881, and Martin Kukucfn' s first story appeared in 1882 when th e Mati ca �SLOVAKIA 49 was cl osed . In fact , proba bl y the only reall y signifi cant literary work durin g the tim e of the first Matica was the collectio n a nd preservation of folk litera ture, the two-volume collection Sbornfk sloven sk ych n arod- nych piesnf, povestf, prfslovf, p orek adiel, hadok , hier, obycaj ov a povier in 1870 and 1874, the second volum e of which was edited by P avo) Dobsin sky. This work was, of course, ve ry impo rta n t in th e establishm ent of Slovak fo lk literature as well as ethnography. Otherwi se, however , the twelve issu es of the a nnu al publicatio n L etopis M atice slo vensk ej a nd the 44 books published by the M a tica carried so m e li te ra ry hi stor y but prima ril y in rela tion to la n gu age, no t liter a ture. 4 Afte r the M atica was reopened in 19 19, its fi rst offi cial li te rary divisio n was the Lite rary Hi sto r y D ep a rtment (Litera rn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS ), whi ch was form ed o n M ay 11 , 19 22 b y separat in g the hi sto ry of li te ra tu re secti on (hi sto rickoli terarn a sekcia) from the Hi story D epartm ent (Historicky od bo r M S). T he latter ha d bee n establ ished at the second ge ner al asse mbl y of the M at ica in Au gust, 1920 . T he fi rst offi cers of the Literary Hi story D epartme n t we re J a roslav V lcek as pres ide nt , Albert Prazak as vice- preside nt , a nd Stefan Krcm ery as secreta ry, S and they gave the depa rtment its basic to ne for the next decade. T he D epartm en t was enl a rged in Febru a ry, 1925 by adding to it m an y writers from the literary sectio n of th e Art s D ep a rtm e nt (U m elecky odbo r M S), a nd its na m e was ch a n ged to th e Liter a ry a nd Literar y Hi sto ry D ep a rtm ent (Litera rn y a literarn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS) . But the old n am e was taken again the nex t year , a nd it remain ed the Li te ra rnohi sto ricky odbo r 6 until it was ended in 1953, when its work was taken over by several in stitutes, such as the Li te ra rn y archfv M S a n d the In sti tu te of Slovak Liter ature in the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Ustav sloven skej li teratury SA V) in Brat islava . 7 T h is n a m e, in fac t , in d icated its m a in fu nct io n : it collected manu scrip ts b io-b ibli ograp hi es, m emoris , a nd the li ke. 8 O ne of its first act ivit ies was to coll ect a nd pu bli sh Vl ce k 's hi story of Slovak li te ra tu re in 1923, a nd it co ntribu ted to th e S bornfk Ma tice slovensk ej pre j azykospyt, narodopis, dejepis a literarnu historiu , whi ch , howeve r , eve n th ou gh ed ited fi rs t by V lcek, the n by S kul tety, in its first d ecade co n ta in ed m u ch m o re o n ethn ograp hy a nd la n gu age tha n on li te ratu re . 9 Also, m u ch of the work do ne the n de pended upon Czech scholars who - li ke V lce k hi r.1self, Prazak, a nd Flora Kl einsch nitzova - trea ted Slovak li te rat ure as a b ra n ch of Czech li terat ure, whi ch affected their research goals a nd in te rests . �50 SLOVAKIA It has bee n said b y Lubomfr Durovic that althou gh the first Czechoslovak Republic de jure challenged the existence of the Slovak nation by the official theory of the '' Czechoslovak n a tion ,'' it de facto saved th e n a tion by m eans of the great opportunities it provided compared to the Hunga ri a n period . 10 This can be seen very clearly in the ch a n ges that occurred in th e Matica after 1930 when a n ew generat ion of Slovak scholars h ad been trained whose chief interest was in Slovak, not Czech , cu lture and who wanted to co nsider its specificity and its relation to other Slavic cultures, not to Czech culture alone . In 1935 the Sbornfk was divided into specialized pa rts with individu al editors : Ludovft Nova k edited th e la n gu age secti on a nd Stanislav M eciar the lite rary sect ion . The a rrival of su ch a literary schol a r as Andrej Mraz in 1930 m eant , therefore, a cha n ge in em phasis not only from narodopis or et hn ography to literature, but also from bio-bibliographical works to criti cal a nd evalu ative studies and monographs on individual authors, su ch as j a nko Kral' , J a n K alinciak , Samo Chalupka, a nd Ivan Krasko . 11 In add ition , seve ral foreig n Slavists, such as the Ru ssian Dmitri C izevskij an d the Pole Wl ad yslaw Bobek , contributed to the Sbornfk seve ral co mparative studi es rela tin g Slovak literature to th e ge ne ral stream of Slavic literatures a nd in importa n t respects cha n gin g the inte rpreta tion a nd pe riodi zation of Vlcek , which had been follow ed also by Albert Prazak in th e d oze n or m ore wo rks on Slovak li terature h e publi shed in th e M atica in the 1920s a nd after 1932 in th e U ce na spolocnost' Safarikova. In fact , it is inte resting that the first effort to determine a real pe riodization of Slovak literature in itself, not in terms of the peri odization of Czech lite ra ture as Vlcek a nd Prazak h ad don e, was m ade by the P ole Bobek in 193 7; li ttle work was done again on the p eri odizati on of earl y Slovak lite rature until the M a rxist hi stori a ns did it in 1958 in the first volume of the Academy of Sciences literary hi story . i Apa rt from literary history , however , there was really little formal esthetic a n alysis or study of th e theo ry of lite rature. Th e major exce pti on (and it is trul y m ajor) was th e publication in 1939 of the book Vyvin slo vensk eh o versa od skoly Sturo vej by th e Ru ssia n-born forma li st and stru cturali st Mikul as Bakos, who d eveloped a more modern es th etic a n alysis tha n an yone else had done. Accordin g to P avo! Stevcek, it has "remained a book of cardin al importance" to thi s d ay. 13 Th e Sbornfk was not th e on ly literary journ al publi shed by th e M at ica, howeve r . M o re impo rt ant was Sloven sk e pohl'a dy, wh ich has 1 �SLOVAKIA 51 been, and still is, a sort of microcosm of Slovak cultural life since it was founded by JozefMiloslav Hurban in 1846. Hurban 's purpose in starting the periodical was " to apply consistently in Slovak cultural life the principles of science and criticism .'' 14 In the first six years of its existence (1846-52), it reflected the major events of Slovak intellectual life - including Hurban ' s defense of Stur's langu age codification in 1846 . Although halted by the censors and b y finan cial difficulties in 1852, it was resumed in M artin in 1881 and continued with first Vajansky as editor , then Jozef Skultety publishing and editing it until 1919 . In 1921 the M atica started it up again under the editorship of Stefan Krcmery, and it remained a monthly published by the Matica until 1953, when it was taken over b y the Slovak Writers' Union , whose organ it is today . In the Matica period, it was edited by Krcmery until illness forced his ret irem ent in 1932, then Andrej Mraz until 1938, and Stanislav M eciar until 1945; with a few exceptions in that period everyo ne published there: nationalists , internationalists, Catholics, Lutherans, Communists, realists, surrealists, social realists. 15 Unlike the Sbornfk, Slovenske pohl'ady always carried original works of literature - poetry and sto ries - as well as literary history and criticism . Thu s it contributed to the growth of literature itself, not just to literary criticism . Besides these two journals, however , the Literary History D epartm ent supported literature in another way: by republishin g the "classics" in collected editions, includin g all the works ofHviezdoslav, Vajansky, Kukucfn , Timrava, the Stur school , and also contemporary writers, such as janko j esensky , Hronsky , a nd M artin R azu s. 16 Unfortunately, these editions of the classics were not usually prepared accord ing to consistent, modern editorial principles, either in selection and arrange m ent of the m ate rial or in lin guistic and textual stand ards. Skultety , Mraz, and M eciar each followed his own editorial system , and editorial assistants acted even more freely. Numerous living authors complained about their treatm en t, and this was true after World War II as well as during and befo re. 17 Furthermore, the Matica did not always select fo r publication the best current works. It showed no interest in Kukucfn's Mat' vola (1 926-27) , published by G .A. Beza in Trnava, nor did it issue Milo Urban 's Zivy bic (Prague, 1927), which is generally rated as by far the best Slovak novel published in the 1920s. But this can be regarded as a sign of the times: In its early period the Matica could be in co ntact �52 SLOVAKIA with almost everything, but as Slovak opportunities grew geometrically with education and the other new advantages, the Matica and Martin could not hold everything in their own hands, and other literary centers were developing . Bratislava became the major competitor, not only because of the professors at the University, but also because of the newly-established Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenska akademia vied a umenf) in 1942, which eventually developed into the current Slovenska akademia vied. In fact, organizational changes in the Matica also became necessary to meet the increasingly specialized growth of knowledge itself in the second half of the twentieth century. 18 The changes in the Matica that occurred after World War II have to be seen in this context: No organization could continue as the sole cultural and scientific institution, as the arts and social sciences became much too complex to be governed in a single organization, especially an institute far away from the capital city, the chief metropolis, and the seat of the main university system. Major changes would have occurred even without the Communist takeover in 1948 or the Marxist-Leninist theories of internationalism and the leading role of the Party - all of which tended to diminish the importance of the Matica. When the law of 1954 reduced the Matica to the single function of a national library and bibliographic institute, I think the fact that it kept exactly its literary relations - its archival, bibliographic, library, and museum activities - is not at all surprising and indicated its basic function from the beginning . But with this point, we are faced with the symbolic meaning, the psychological/spiritual effect, of the Matica slovenska apart from its physical existence . This brings us to the second kind of effect upon literature the Matica has had . In the extreme Magyar persecution at the time of the Matica's early life, it became a sort of guardian and protector of the Slovak nation, which specifically came to mean the guardian of Slovak self-expression, of literature and language. Historians have recognized and shown how closely the Slovak sense of identity, the sense of self, is tied to language ; Peter Brock, for example, has called the Slovaks a "culturallinguistic nation.' ' 19 The Matica was literally the defender in the battle with Czech linguists over the Pravidla , and in the gathering of signatures of 128 writers - essentially all the practicing writers of the time - on a petition to request revision of the Pravidla, Slovaks were completely united on the language issue. The petition caused such bad feelings on �SLOVAKIA 53 co nfessional and political grounds between ''Czechoslovaks ' ' and "Slovaks" that the Catholic J.C . Hronsky (who had collected the signatures) and the Lutheran Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova published a soothing joint letter in N arodnie novin y. But there was no disagreement on the language issue itself. 20 This need to defend the Slovak la nguage stopped after the period of the Slovak R epublic a nd Czech acceptance of Slovak individuality in the Kosice Program of 1945 , and the linguistic " purism" stopped when it was no longer needed as a defense. 21 Although Slovak language and literature did not still have to be protected as such, the Literarny archfv and the Literarnomuzejne oddelenie were co ntinuing the guardianship of the past, as allowed by the law of 1954 . Such a narrow view of the Matica as guardian, howeve r, is apparently not sufficient to satisfy the Slovak image of the M atica, because demands were made for a change in the liberal 1960s , especially a t the hundred-year jubilee in 1963 . The restrictive law of 1954 was replaced by the law of 1968 , which resto red the Matica's membership base, gave it a biographical department, and made it responsible for cultural relations with foreigners of Slovak ancestry. The insults of Pres ident Antonfn Novotny against the M atica were taken by Slovaks as insults against the whole nation and used by the liberals (Czech as well as Slovak) in 1968-69 both to remove Novotny from office and to improve the status of the Matica . The book published then , Z vole l'udu obnovena, expresses this continuing view of the Matica as a response to the people's need . 22 Clearly, the hi sto rical and the current concept of the Matica includes its ability to propagate (not only to preserve) among Slovaks their sense of identity in their lan guage and literature. This mission can be seen in another way . I have said that one also has to co nsider the psychological effect of the M a tica as a moveable institute that can be established by Slovaks outside Slovakia. This first occurred in 1893 when the "Matica slovenska in America " was founded in Chicago by American Slovaks ce ntered around the R everend Stefan Furd ek 's j ednota and Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky's Slovak V Amerike . It published several works before it dissolved in 1897 , including a literary journal similar to Slovenske pohl'ady. 23 A "Matica slovenska in Yugoslavia" was established in 1932 in Petrovec, near Novi Sad, where a large and compact gro up of Slovaks had lived for two hundred years; it lasted until 1948. The Zahranicna Matica Slovenska , founded by Sta ni slav Meciar a nd J .C. Hronsky after World War II in Argentina , �54 SLOVAKIA with collaborators in the United States and Canada, still exists. In all three examples, the literary activity (both planned and actually carried out) followed the traditional lines ofMatica activity . For example, Meciar collected and published material on Martin Kukucfn while he lived in Chile and also reprinted and analyzed certain works by J .C. Hronsky . 24 Even while the Matica was closed from 187 5 to 1919, it seemed to produce various alternatives to fill its place . For example , the women's organization Zivena was founded in 1869, but it was not closed by Magyar officials since it was just a women's organization, and therefore was presumably insignificant. Its annual meeting occurred in August because it had been founded at the Matica general assembly, so the August m eetings of Zivena became a substitute for the banned August general assembly of the Matica. 2 5 Zivena also developed a publishing program and an almanach , L etopis Zi ven y, to fill the gap left by the closed Matica. This substitution became possible because the Slovak women's movement was primarily an arm of the national movem ent rather than a genuine feminist drive. In part this was true because the Slovak nationalists, such as Ambro Pietor, were instiga tors in founding the women's organization ; they were looking for help in the struggle against Magyar domination. But it was also true because the leader of the women's movement soon became Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova, daughter of a poet of the Stur school, and more of a nationalist herself than a feminist in her own fiction (unlike the fiction of Timrava, which was more nearly feminist). 26 Therefore, I think the work of Zivena can be said to belon g to the Matica tradition . In the same period, but outside Turciansky Sviity M a rtin , other nationalist centers began to develop among Rom a n Catholics, such as the Spolok sv. Vojtecha in Trnava . In addition, K arol Salva's press in Ruzomberok began to compete with the M atica, as did the journal Dennica, ed ited b y T erezia Vansova in Pila . 2 7 In referring to physical effects as opposed to symbolic effects, or maticas abroad and alternative institutions, it is clear that I am co nsidering a movement rather than only the maj or in stitute that movem ent produced . The Matica movement was and is bigger than the institute itself, and in fac t has spread, I think , much farther and deeper in Slovak literary life than the institute itself indicates . For exam ple, one can see evidence of the identification of Slovak selfhood with literature in the theory of comparativistics of Dionyz Durisin in the Institute of �SLOVAKIA 55 Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and also in the analysis of specifically Slovak elements in lyricized prose by Jan Stevcek of Comenius University . 18 I do not think it is stretching the point too much to say there is something distinctively Slovak about the ambitious attempt of the "Nitra School" of literary theory to utilize and adapt concepts from Czech and Polish structuralism and the Tartu semioticians to create what Edward Mozejko has called "the introduction of a new discipline - the poetics of metatexts . .. a universal metalanguage of art ... the investigation of so-called intersemiotic translation ... a new communicative poetics of literature and art. " 19 To conclude, therefore, the Matica slovenska as an institute resulted from the particular political situation of the Slovaks in Hungary, but it continued and has been periodically renewed because it is a symbol and a symptom of the historical Slovak self-identification with its language and literature. NOTES ' Sta nl ey B. Kimball , " The Serbian Marica - Prototype of Austro-Slav Litera ry Foundat ion s: The First Fifty Yea rs 1826-76 ," East European Quarterly, III (September l 969) , 353-70; Peter H errity, "The R ole of the M a ti ca a nd Similar Societies in the Development of the Slavoni c Literary Languages ,'' Slavon ic and East European R eview, LI Oul y 1973), 368-386 . ' John A. Bert a helped to compile this list; see also his " The Marica slovenska and Its R ole in Slovak Cultural D evelopment, 19 19- 1939" (Ph .D . disse rt a tion , SUNY Bingha mton , l 983). ' " M a ti ca slovenska, " En cyklopedia Slovenska, Vol. III (Bra tislava: SA V , 1979). • Peter Liba, V ydava tel'sk e die/a M a tice slovensk ej 1863-1954 (M artin : M ati ca slovenska , 1962) . ' T omas Winkler , M a rica slovensk a v rok och 1919- 1945: z p roblem ov a dokum entov ustredia MS (Martin: M ati ca slovenska, 1971 ), p . 149. ' Ibid ., p. 150. ' "Literarn ovedn y ustav Slovens kej akademie vied ," Encyklopedia S/ovenska , Vol. III. 8 Winkler, pp. 150-53. ' Ibid, pp. 152-53. �SLOVAKIA 56 10 L ' ubomir Durov ic, "Slovak, " in Th e Slavic Lieerary Languages: Formaeion and Developmene, eds. A .M . Schenker and E. Stankiewicz (New H ave n : Yale Conciliu m on Internati ona l and Area Studies, 1980), p . 222. Owen V. Johnson has shown to what ex tent an education class developed in thi s period in his " The slovak Intelligentsia 19 18- 1938" in Russian and Slavic Hisrory , ed . D .K . Rowney and G.E. Orchard (Columbu s: Slavica Publishers, Inc., 1977), and also in his Ph .D . dissertati on , " Sociocultural a nd National D evelo pment in Slovakia , 1918-1 938: Education and It s Impact" (University of Mi chigan , 1978). 11 Winkler, pp . 153-55. ll 13 Jan Misianik , "Uvodom," D ejin y searsej slo venskej lieerac ury, ed s. J a n Misianik , J ozef Mina rik, Milena Mi chalcova, and Andrej Melichercik , Vol. I (Bratislava: SAV, 1958) , 5-6. The introduction is dated Dece mber 30, 1956. See also Winkler, p . 155. P avo! Stevcek, Coneemporary Slovak Lieeraeure (Bra ti slava: Obzo r, 1980), p . 119 ; Stevcek says Bakos was th e "fou nd er of lit era ry theory ." See also Winkler , p. 156. " Vi ctor K ochol , in D ejin y slovenskej lit eratury: Lieeraeura narodn eho obrodenia , eds . Milan Pisut , K arol R ose nbaum , Victor Kochol, Vol. II (Bratislava: SAY , 1960) , pp . 466-67: "Hurban chcel v slovenskom kulturnom zivote dosled ne upl atn ova t' principy vedec kosti a kritickosti . . . . " 11 Winkler, pp . 157-59. See a lso V ladimir Petrik , "Slovenske pohl'ady 192 2- 1938 , " Slovenske pohl'ady , No. 7 (1964) , 8-14 , and Jozef Bzoch, "Slove nske pohl'ad y 1939- 1944, " Slo venske pohl'ady, o. 8 (1964), 6-9. 1 • See Liba , op . cir. 17 E.G., Iva n Ku sy, ed. , Timra va: Zobran e spisy, II (Bratisl ava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury , 1956), 287-88, and es pecially Marianna PridavkovaMinarikova , Textologicke a seylisticke problem y K.ukucinovho die/a (Bratislava: SA V, 1972), pp . 5, 13 , 15, and passim . " In 1935, for exa mpl e, th e lin guist r.udovit Novak argued for chan ges in th e Matica to provide greater finan cial support and to bring scientifi c freedom from political chan ges (Winkler , pp. 29-30 a nd 110- 12) ; in fact, th e J azy koved ny odbor had such ex treme organiza ti onal disagreements amo ng its members (especially Novak and H enri ch Ba rt ek) th a t once ( 1936) Hronsk y wanted to resign a nd later (1941) th e odbor was on th e verge of being di ssolved (see Winkler , pp . 30 a nd 131-32). On SA VU a nd SAV, see Slovenska ak adem ia vied (Bratislava: Vydavatcl'stvo SAV, 1969). " Peter Brock , The Slo,·ak National Awakenin g: An Essay in eh e lnt eJlecr ual Hiseory of Ease General Europe (Toronto a nd Buffalo: Universi ty of T oro nto Press, 1976), p. ix . Brock uses as a motto H ans Kohn's statement: " In Central and Eastern Europe it was the poe t, the phil ologist, and th e hi storian who crea ted th e nati onaliti es. " "' Elena Mar6th y-Soltcsova a nd J .C . H rons ky, " Slm-cnskej ve rej nos ti . Vysvetlenie vo veci podpisov pre navrh slov . spisova tcl'ov ," Narodnie novin y, May 1932 , p. 2. On th e Pra vidla , see Durovic, pp . 222-25 , and Robert Auty, " The R ole of Purism in th e Development of th e Sl avonic Lit erary Languages, " Slavonic R eview , LI Uul y 1973) , 335 -43. �SLOVAKIA 57 " 6urovic, pp . 225-26. " Z vole I'udu obnovena, ed s. Ivan Gegus and Mil os K ovacka (M a rtin : Matica slovenska , 1968 - ac tu all y 1969), pp. 6-9 a nd p assim . Novotnfs petty a nd tas teless behavior is outlin ed here also. " '' Matica slove nska v Amerike '' and '' Matica slovenska v J uh oslav ii ,' ' En cyklopedia Slovenska , Vol. III. On th e American Matica, see also K ons ta ntin C ul en , Slovenske casopisy ,· Amerike (Cleveland: Prva katolicka sloven ska jednota, 1970), pp . 19-21 , 52-53 , 70-71. " Stanislav M ecia r , Kukucfn if.ivy , 2 vols. ( Bu enos Aires: Knizni ca Slobodna Slovenska Kultu ra , 1958 and 1960) - stri ctl y speaking th ese books were no t published by the Matica but within that trad itio n; J. C. Hronsky , Poh ar z bruseneho skla , ed. S. Mcciar (Buenos Aires: Zahranicn a M ati ca Slovenska, 1964), and Na kriinych cescach , cd. S. Meciar (Bu enos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Sloven ska, 1966). " Stefana Yotrubova, Zivena. j ej osudy a praca (Martin: Zivena, 1931) , pp . 22-23; see a lso J a rmil a Tkadleckova-Yantuchova, Zivena-Spolok slovensk ych zien (Bra ti slava : Epocha , 1969). " See th e compariso n in An In cipienc Feminise: Slovak Scories by Timra, ·a , ed it ed and translated by No rm a Leigh Rudinsk y (Columbus: Slavica Publishers, In c. , in prep.). " J a n Tibensky , ed ., Slovensko: Dejiny (Bratislava: Obzor, 197 1), p . 543. " Dionyz Duri sin , Problem y Jic erarn ej komparacistik y (Bratislava: SA V, 1967), and Z dcjin a ce6rie Jicerarn ej kompara cisrik y (Bratislava: SA V , 1970) ; J an Stevcck, Nez badane pr6zy (Bratislava: Slovensky spisova tel' , 197 1), a nd L yrizovan a pr6za (B ra ti slava : Tatran , 1973). " Edwa rd Mozejko, " Survey: Slovak Theory of Litera ry Co mmuni ca ti on : Notes on th e Nitra School of Lit erary Criticism,' ' PTL: A j ourn al for Descripri,·e Poetics and Theory of Lircrarure , 4 (1979) , 37 1-8 4. �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 47 The Matica slovenska and Its Relation to the Development of Slovak Literature* Norma L. Rudin sky The distinctively Slavic institution of th e matica can perhaps b e best described as a national library, publishing house, university , scientific institute, acad emy of scholars, and nationalistic missionary society all in one. The earliest examples - the Matica srbska founded in 1826, Matice ceska in 1831, and Mati ce moravska in 1836 - were like the later Matica slovenska, founded in Turciansky Svaty Martin on August 4 , 1863, in playing an important role in literary development. 1 But the Slovak Matica assumed a special significance because of the much more desolate circumstan ces of the Slovaks in Hungary . This difference makes a particularly interesting study not only of the Slavic matica movement but also of the special place of literature in Slovak intellectual hi sto ry . In speaking of the relation of the Matica slovenska to Slovak literature, one has to distinguish between the effect of the actual institute as it existed (from its founding in 1863 to its closure by Magyar authorities in 1875 and since its reopening in 1919) and the effect of the spiritual/ psychological or symboli c nature of the Matica even when it did not exist , i.e ., 1875-1919 , and in a certain sense when it was "onl y" a national library without a membership base, from 195 1 to 1968 . One also has to consider the symbolic meaning whenever a Matica was established outsid e Slovakia , as ha s happened seve ral times . • Thi s is a rev ised ve rsio n of a pa per prese nt ed at th e panel " The M ati ca slove nsk a: 120 Yea rs of Survi va l" spo nso red by the Slova k Studies Associati on durin g th e Fiftee nth Nati onal C onve nti o n of th e Am eri can Association for th e Advan ce m ent of Slavic Studies held in Kan sas C it y, Mi ssouri in O ctober 1983 . 48 SLOVAKIA It is also necessary to distinguish the direct effects of the Matica from its indirect effects, that is , from all its general educational results, such as greater literacy and a higher cultural level that came from activities like publishing almanacs, setting up amateur theatricals, or dignifying folk literature by collecting and reciting it. By all such results the Matica contributed to the development of a social and intellect ual environment in which Slovak literature could arise. Literary works are always a response of an artist to a particular time and place; the general activities of the Matica provided a stimulus to literary talent and helped to secure an audience for that talent. But having mentioned this indirect effect, I shall confine myself to the direct effects of the Matica on Slovak literature, and first to those that occurred while the Matica actually existed. The special relation of the "t\1atica to both language and literature is indicated in the list of presidents and directors. The office of president (predseda), which until 1945 was an honorary position and could be held by two or three people at a time, has had over thirteen occupants; at least four were major writers Qan Francisci, Pavol OrszaghHviezdoslav, Ladislav Novomesky, and Vladimfr Minac - Novomesky having two terms, before and after his prison sentence), and five were literary historians or at least had strong literary interests (Stefan Moyses, Jozef Koza.eek , F.R. Osvald, Jur Janoska, and Marian Blaha). Of the seven directors (spravca), which is the chief administrative position , one was a major writer O. C. Hronsky) and three were major literary historians Qaroslav Vlcek, Jozef Skultety, and Jan Martak , who had two terms). 2 If the secretaries (tajomnfk) are added as major officers, they were all literary figures except Frantisek Hermansky, a lin gui st, and JozefCincik, an artist and art historian: Stefan Krcmery, RudolfKlacko, Hronsky ' Martak, and Stanislav Meciar. l It is hard to see much real effect upon literature from the first Matica, even though one of its functions was to publish and distribute literary works. The major Slovak writers of that tim e were only beginning to write and publish just before the Matica was closed. For example, Hviezdoslav's first poems were published in 1868 but in Skalica , not in Martin, as was also his journal Napred. Svetozar Hurban -Vajansky's first book, a coll ection of poems, came out in 1871 but again in Skalica, not Martin. Elena Mar6thy -Soltesova's first story was published in 1881, and Martin Kukucfn' s first story appeared in 1882 when th e Mati ca SLOVAKIA 49 was cl osed . In fact , proba bl y the only reall y signifi cant literary work durin g the tim e of the first Matica was the collectio n a nd preservation of folk litera ture, the two-volume collection Sbornfk sloven sk ych n arod- nych piesnf, povestf, prfslovf, p orek adiel, hadok , hier, obycaj ov a povier in 1870 and 1874, the second volum e of which was edited by P avo) Dobsin sky. This work was, of course, ve ry impo rta n t in th e establishm ent of Slovak fo lk literature as well as ethnography. Otherwi se, however , the twelve issu es of the a nnu al publicatio n L etopis M atice slo vensk ej a nd the 44 books published by the M a tica carried so m e li te ra ry hi stor y but prima ril y in rela tion to la n gu age, no t liter a ture. 4 Afte r the M atica was reopened in 19 19, its fi rst offi cial li te rary divisio n was the Lite rary Hi sto r y D ep a rtment (Litera rn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS ), whi ch was form ed o n M ay 11 , 19 22 b y separat in g the hi sto ry of li te ra tu re secti on (hi sto rickoli terarn a sekcia) from the Hi story D epartm ent (Historicky od bo r M S). T he latter ha d bee n establ ished at the second ge ner al asse mbl y of the M at ica in Au gust, 1920 . T he fi rst offi cers of the Literary Hi story D epartme n t we re J a roslav V lcek as pres ide nt , Albert Prazak as vice- preside nt , a nd Stefan Krcm ery as secreta ry, S and they gave the depa rtment its basic to ne for the next decade. T he D epartm en t was enl a rged in Febru a ry, 1925 by adding to it m an y writers from the literary sectio n of th e Art s D ep a rtm e nt (U m elecky odbo r M S), a nd its na m e was ch a n ged to th e Liter a ry a nd Literar y Hi sto ry D ep a rtm ent (Litera rn y a literarn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS) . But the old n am e was taken again the nex t year , a nd it remain ed the Li te ra rnohi sto ricky odbo r 6 until it was ended in 1953, when its work was taken over by several in stitutes, such as the Li te ra rn y archfv M S a n d the In sti tu te of Slovak Liter ature in the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Ustav sloven skej li teratury SA V) in Brat islava . 7 T h is n a m e, in fac t , in d icated its m a in fu nct io n : it collected manu scrip ts b io-b ibli ograp hi es, m emoris , a nd the li ke. 8 O ne of its first act ivit ies was to coll ect a nd pu bli sh Vl ce k 's hi story of Slovak li te ra tu re in 1923, a nd it co ntribu ted to th e S bornfk Ma tice slovensk ej pre j azykospyt, narodopis, dejepis a literarnu historiu , whi ch , howeve r , eve n th ou gh ed ited fi rs t by V lcek, the n by S kul tety, in its first d ecade co n ta in ed m u ch m o re o n ethn ograp hy a nd la n gu age tha n on li te ratu re . 9 Also, m u ch of the work do ne the n de pended upon Czech scholars who - li ke V lce k hi r.1self, Prazak, a nd Flora Kl einsch nitzova - trea ted Slovak li te rat ure as a b ra n ch of Czech li terat ure, whi ch affected their research goals a nd in te rests . 50 SLOVAKIA It has bee n said b y Lubomfr Durovic that althou gh the first Czechoslovak Republic de jure challenged the existence of the Slovak nation by the official theory of the '' Czechoslovak n a tion ,'' it de facto saved th e n a tion by m eans of the great opportunities it provided compared to the Hunga ri a n period . 10 This can be seen very clearly in the ch a n ges that occurred in th e Matica after 1930 when a n ew generat ion of Slovak scholars h ad been trained whose chief interest was in Slovak, not Czech , cu lture and who wanted to co nsider its specificity and its relation to other Slavic cultures, not to Czech culture alone . In 1935 the Sbornfk was divided into specialized pa rts with individu al editors : Ludovft Nova k edited th e la n gu age secti on a nd Stanislav M eciar the lite rary sect ion . The a rrival of su ch a literary schol a r as Andrej Mraz in 1930 m eant , therefore, a cha n ge in em phasis not only from narodopis or et hn ography to literature, but also from bio-bibliographical works to criti cal a nd evalu ative studies and monographs on individual authors, su ch as j a nko Kral' , J a n K alinciak , Samo Chalupka, a nd Ivan Krasko . 11 In add ition , seve ral foreig n Slavists, such as the Ru ssian Dmitri C izevskij an d the Pole Wl ad yslaw Bobek , contributed to the Sbornfk seve ral co mparative studi es rela tin g Slovak literature to th e ge ne ral stream of Slavic literatures a nd in importa n t respects cha n gin g the inte rpreta tion a nd pe riodi zation of Vlcek , which had been follow ed also by Albert Prazak in th e d oze n or m ore wo rks on Slovak li terature h e publi shed in th e M atica in the 1920s a nd after 1932 in th e U ce na spolocnost' Safarikova. In fact , it is inte resting that the first effort to determine a real pe riodization of Slovak literature in itself, not in terms of the peri odization of Czech lite ra ture as Vlcek a nd Prazak h ad don e, was m ade by the P ole Bobek in 193 7; li ttle work was done again on the p eri odizati on of earl y Slovak lite rature until the M a rxist hi stori a ns did it in 1958 in the first volume of the Academy of Sciences literary hi story . i Apa rt from literary history , however , there was really little formal esthetic a n alysis or study of th e theo ry of lite rature. Th e major exce pti on (and it is trul y m ajor) was th e publication in 1939 of the book Vyvin slo vensk eh o versa od skoly Sturo vej by th e Ru ssia n-born forma li st and stru cturali st Mikul as Bakos, who d eveloped a more modern es th etic a n alysis tha n an yone else had done. Accordin g to P avo! Stevcek, it has "remained a book of cardin al importance" to thi s d ay. 13 Th e Sbornfk was not th e on ly literary journ al publi shed by th e M at ica, howeve r . M o re impo rt ant was Sloven sk e pohl'a dy, wh ich has 1 SLOVAKIA 51 been, and still is, a sort of microcosm of Slovak cultural life since it was founded by JozefMiloslav Hurban in 1846. Hurban 's purpose in starting the periodical was " to apply consistently in Slovak cultural life the principles of science and criticism .'' 14 In the first six years of its existence (1846-52), it reflected the major events of Slovak intellectual life - including Hurban ' s defense of Stur's langu age codification in 1846 . Although halted by the censors and b y finan cial difficulties in 1852, it was resumed in M artin in 1881 and continued with first Vajansky as editor , then Jozef Skultety publishing and editing it until 1919 . In 1921 the M atica started it up again under the editorship of Stefan Krcmery, and it remained a monthly published by the Matica until 1953, when it was taken over b y the Slovak Writers' Union , whose organ it is today . In the Matica period, it was edited by Krcmery until illness forced his ret irem ent in 1932, then Andrej Mraz until 1938, and Stanislav M eciar until 1945; with a few exceptions in that period everyo ne published there: nationalists , internationalists, Catholics, Lutherans, Communists, realists, surrealists, social realists. 15 Unlike the Sbornfk, Slovenske pohl'ady always carried original works of literature - poetry and sto ries - as well as literary history and criticism . Thu s it contributed to the growth of literature itself, not just to literary criticism . Besides these two journals, however , the Literary History D epartm ent supported literature in another way: by republishin g the "classics" in collected editions, includin g all the works ofHviezdoslav, Vajansky, Kukucfn , Timrava, the Stur school , and also contemporary writers, such as janko j esensky , Hronsky , a nd M artin R azu s. 16 Unfortunately, these editions of the classics were not usually prepared accord ing to consistent, modern editorial principles, either in selection and arrange m ent of the m ate rial or in lin guistic and textual stand ards. Skultety , Mraz, and M eciar each followed his own editorial system , and editorial assistants acted even more freely. Numerous living authors complained about their treatm en t, and this was true after World War II as well as during and befo re. 17 Furthermore, the Matica did not always select fo r publication the best current works. It showed no interest in Kukucfn's Mat' vola (1 926-27) , published by G .A. Beza in Trnava, nor did it issue Milo Urban 's Zivy bic (Prague, 1927), which is generally rated as by far the best Slovak novel published in the 1920s. But this can be regarded as a sign of the times: In its early period the Matica could be in co ntact 52 SLOVAKIA with almost everything, but as Slovak opportunities grew geometrically with education and the other new advantages, the Matica and Martin could not hold everything in their own hands, and other literary centers were developing . Bratislava became the major competitor, not only because of the professors at the University, but also because of the newly-established Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenska akademia vied a umenf) in 1942, which eventually developed into the current Slovenska akademia vied. In fact, organizational changes in the Matica also became necessary to meet the increasingly specialized growth of knowledge itself in the second half of the twentieth century. 18 The changes in the Matica that occurred after World War II have to be seen in this context: No organization could continue as the sole cultural and scientific institution, as the arts and social sciences became much too complex to be governed in a single organization, especially an institute far away from the capital city, the chief metropolis, and the seat of the main university system. Major changes would have occurred even without the Communist takeover in 1948 or the Marxist-Leninist theories of internationalism and the leading role of the Party - all of which tended to diminish the importance of the Matica. When the law of 1954 reduced the Matica to the single function of a national library and bibliographic institute, I think the fact that it kept exactly its literary relations - its archival, bibliographic, library, and museum activities - is not at all surprising and indicated its basic function from the beginning . But with this point, we are faced with the symbolic meaning, the psychological/spiritual effect, of the Matica slovenska apart from its physical existence . This brings us to the second kind of effect upon literature the Matica has had . In the extreme Magyar persecution at the time of the Matica's early life, it became a sort of guardian and protector of the Slovak nation, which specifically came to mean the guardian of Slovak self-expression, of literature and language. Historians have recognized and shown how closely the Slovak sense of identity, the sense of self, is tied to language ; Peter Brock, for example, has called the Slovaks a "culturallinguistic nation.' ' 19 The Matica was literally the defender in the battle with Czech linguists over the Pravidla , and in the gathering of signatures of 128 writers - essentially all the practicing writers of the time - on a petition to request revision of the Pravidla, Slovaks were completely united on the language issue. The petition caused such bad feelings on SLOVAKIA 53 co nfessional and political grounds between ''Czechoslovaks ' ' and "Slovaks" that the Catholic J.C . Hronsky (who had collected the signatures) and the Lutheran Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova published a soothing joint letter in N arodnie novin y. But there was no disagreement on the language issue itself. 20 This need to defend the Slovak la nguage stopped after the period of the Slovak R epublic a nd Czech acceptance of Slovak individuality in the Kosice Program of 1945 , and the linguistic " purism" stopped when it was no longer needed as a defense. 21 Although Slovak language and literature did not still have to be protected as such, the Literarny archfv and the Literarnomuzejne oddelenie were co ntinuing the guardianship of the past, as allowed by the law of 1954 . Such a narrow view of the Matica as guardian, howeve r, is apparently not sufficient to satisfy the Slovak image of the M atica, because demands were made for a change in the liberal 1960s , especially a t the hundred-year jubilee in 1963 . The restrictive law of 1954 was replaced by the law of 1968 , which resto red the Matica's membership base, gave it a biographical department, and made it responsible for cultural relations with foreigners of Slovak ancestry. The insults of Pres ident Antonfn Novotny against the M atica were taken by Slovaks as insults against the whole nation and used by the liberals (Czech as well as Slovak) in 1968-69 both to remove Novotny from office and to improve the status of the Matica . The book published then , Z vole l'udu obnovena, expresses this continuing view of the Matica as a response to the people's need . 22 Clearly, the hi sto rical and the current concept of the Matica includes its ability to propagate (not only to preserve) among Slovaks their sense of identity in their lan guage and literature. This mission can be seen in another way . I have said that one also has to co nsider the psychological effect of the M a tica as a moveable institute that can be established by Slovaks outside Slovakia. This first occurred in 1893 when the "Matica slovenska in America " was founded in Chicago by American Slovaks ce ntered around the R everend Stefan Furd ek 's j ednota and Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky's Slovak V Amerike . It published several works before it dissolved in 1897 , including a literary journal similar to Slovenske pohl'ady. 23 A "Matica slovenska in Yugoslavia" was established in 1932 in Petrovec, near Novi Sad, where a large and compact gro up of Slovaks had lived for two hundred years; it lasted until 1948. The Zahranicna Matica Slovenska , founded by Sta ni slav Meciar a nd J .C. Hronsky after World War II in Argentina , 54 SLOVAKIA with collaborators in the United States and Canada, still exists. In all three examples, the literary activity (both planned and actually carried out) followed the traditional lines ofMatica activity . For example, Meciar collected and published material on Martin Kukucfn while he lived in Chile and also reprinted and analyzed certain works by J .C. Hronsky . 24 Even while the Matica was closed from 187 5 to 1919, it seemed to produce various alternatives to fill its place . For example , the women's organization Zivena was founded in 1869, but it was not closed by Magyar officials since it was just a women's organization, and therefore was presumably insignificant. Its annual meeting occurred in August because it had been founded at the Matica general assembly, so the August m eetings of Zivena became a substitute for the banned August general assembly of the Matica. 2 5 Zivena also developed a publishing program and an almanach , L etopis Zi ven y, to fill the gap left by the closed Matica. This substitution became possible because the Slovak women's movement was primarily an arm of the national movem ent rather than a genuine feminist drive. In part this was true because the Slovak nationalists, such as Ambro Pietor, were instiga tors in founding the women's organization ; they were looking for help in the struggle against Magyar domination. But it was also true because the leader of the women's movement soon became Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova, daughter of a poet of the Stur school, and more of a nationalist herself than a feminist in her own fiction (unlike the fiction of Timrava, which was more nearly feminist). 26 Therefore, I think the work of Zivena can be said to belon g to the Matica tradition . In the same period, but outside Turciansky Sviity M a rtin , other nationalist centers began to develop among Rom a n Catholics, such as the Spolok sv. Vojtecha in Trnava . In addition, K arol Salva's press in Ruzomberok began to compete with the M atica, as did the journal Dennica, ed ited b y T erezia Vansova in Pila . 2 7 In referring to physical effects as opposed to symbolic effects, or maticas abroad and alternative institutions, it is clear that I am co nsidering a movement rather than only the maj or in stitute that movem ent produced . The Matica movement was and is bigger than the institute itself, and in fac t has spread, I think , much farther and deeper in Slovak literary life than the institute itself indicates . For exam ple, one can see evidence of the identification of Slovak selfhood with literature in the theory of comparativistics of Dionyz Durisin in the Institute of SLOVAKIA 55 Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and also in the analysis of specifically Slovak elements in lyricized prose by Jan Stevcek of Comenius University . 18 I do not think it is stretching the point too much to say there is something distinctively Slovak about the ambitious attempt of the "Nitra School" of literary theory to utilize and adapt concepts from Czech and Polish structuralism and the Tartu semioticians to create what Edward Mozejko has called "the introduction of a new discipline - the poetics of metatexts . .. a universal metalanguage of art ... the investigation of so-called intersemiotic translation ... a new communicative poetics of literature and art. " 19 To conclude, therefore, the Matica slovenska as an institute resulted from the particular political situation of the Slovaks in Hungary, but it continued and has been periodically renewed because it is a symbol and a symptom of the historical Slovak self-identification with its language and literature. NOTES ' Sta nl ey B. Kimball , " The Serbian Marica - Prototype of Austro-Slav Litera ry Foundat ion s: The First Fifty Yea rs 1826-76 ," East European Quarterly, III (September l 969) , 353-70; Peter H errity, "The R ole of the M a ti ca a nd Similar Societies in the Development of the Slavoni c Literary Languages ,'' Slavon ic and East European R eview, LI Oul y 1973), 368-386 . ' John A. Bert a helped to compile this list; see also his " The Marica slovenska and Its R ole in Slovak Cultural D evelopment, 19 19- 1939" (Ph .D . disse rt a tion , SUNY Bingha mton , l 983). ' " M a ti ca slovenska, " En cyklopedia Slovenska, Vol. III (Bra tislava: SA V , 1979). • Peter Liba, V ydava tel'sk e die/a M a tice slovensk ej 1863-1954 (M artin : M ati ca slovenska , 1962) . ' T omas Winkler , M a rica slovensk a v rok och 1919- 1945: z p roblem ov a dokum entov ustredia MS (Martin: M ati ca slovenska, 1971 ), p . 149. ' Ibid ., p. 150. ' "Literarn ovedn y ustav Slovens kej akademie vied ," Encyklopedia S/ovenska , Vol. III. 8 Winkler, pp. 150-53. ' Ibid, pp. 152-53. SLOVAKIA 56 10 L ' ubomir Durov ic, "Slovak, " in Th e Slavic Lieerary Languages: Formaeion and Developmene, eds. A .M . Schenker and E. Stankiewicz (New H ave n : Yale Conciliu m on Internati ona l and Area Studies, 1980), p . 222. Owen V. Johnson has shown to what ex tent an education class developed in thi s period in his " The slovak Intelligentsia 19 18- 1938" in Russian and Slavic Hisrory , ed . D .K . Rowney and G.E. Orchard (Columbu s: Slavica Publishers, Inc., 1977), and also in his Ph .D . dissertati on , " Sociocultural a nd National D evelo pment in Slovakia , 1918-1 938: Education and It s Impact" (University of Mi chigan , 1978). 11 Winkler, pp . 153-55. ll 13 Jan Misianik , "Uvodom," D ejin y searsej slo venskej lieerac ury, ed s. J a n Misianik , J ozef Mina rik, Milena Mi chalcova, and Andrej Melichercik , Vol. I (Bratislava: SAV, 1958) , 5-6. The introduction is dated Dece mber 30, 1956. See also Winkler, p . 155. P avo! Stevcek, Coneemporary Slovak Lieeraeure (Bra ti slava: Obzo r, 1980), p . 119 ; Stevcek says Bakos was th e "fou nd er of lit era ry theory ." See also Winkler , p. 156. " Vi ctor K ochol , in D ejin y slovenskej lit eratury: Lieeraeura narodn eho obrodenia , eds . Milan Pisut , K arol R ose nbaum , Victor Kochol, Vol. II (Bratislava: SAY , 1960) , pp . 466-67: "Hurban chcel v slovenskom kulturnom zivote dosled ne upl atn ova t' principy vedec kosti a kritickosti . . . . " 11 Winkler, pp . 157-59. See a lso V ladimir Petrik , "Slovenske pohl'ady 192 2- 1938 , " Slovenske pohl'ady , No. 7 (1964) , 8-14 , and Jozef Bzoch, "Slove nske pohl'ad y 1939- 1944, " Slo venske pohl'ady, o. 8 (1964), 6-9. 1 • See Liba , op . cir. 17 E.G., Iva n Ku sy, ed. , Timra va: Zobran e spisy, II (Bratisl ava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury , 1956), 287-88, and es pecially Marianna PridavkovaMinarikova , Textologicke a seylisticke problem y K.ukucinovho die/a (Bratislava: SA V, 1972), pp . 5, 13 , 15, and passim . " In 1935, for exa mpl e, th e lin guist r.udovit Novak argued for chan ges in th e Matica to provide greater finan cial support and to bring scientifi c freedom from political chan ges (Winkler , pp. 29-30 a nd 110- 12) ; in fact, th e J azy koved ny odbor had such ex treme organiza ti onal disagreements amo ng its members (especially Novak and H enri ch Ba rt ek) th a t once ( 1936) Hronsk y wanted to resign a nd later (1941) th e odbor was on th e verge of being di ssolved (see Winkler , pp . 30 a nd 131-32). On SA VU a nd SAV, see Slovenska ak adem ia vied (Bratislava: Vydavatcl'stvo SAV, 1969). " Peter Brock , The Slo,·ak National Awakenin g: An Essay in eh e lnt eJlecr ual Hiseory of Ease General Europe (Toronto a nd Buffalo: Universi ty of T oro nto Press, 1976), p. ix . Brock uses as a motto H ans Kohn's statement: " In Central and Eastern Europe it was the poe t, the phil ologist, and th e hi storian who crea ted th e nati onaliti es. " "' Elena Mar6th y-Soltcsova a nd J .C . H rons ky, " Slm-cnskej ve rej nos ti . Vysvetlenie vo veci podpisov pre navrh slov . spisova tcl'ov ," Narodnie novin y, May 1932 , p. 2. On th e Pra vidla , see Durovic, pp . 222-25 , and Robert Auty, " The R ole of Purism in th e Development of th e Sl avonic Lit erary Languages, " Slavonic R eview , LI Uul y 1973) , 335 -43. SLOVAKIA 57 " 6urovic, pp . 225-26. " Z vole I'udu obnovena, ed s. Ivan Gegus and Mil os K ovacka (M a rtin : Matica slovenska , 1968 - ac tu all y 1969), pp. 6-9 a nd p assim . Novotnfs petty a nd tas teless behavior is outlin ed here also. " '' Matica slove nska v Amerike '' and '' Matica slovenska v J uh oslav ii ,' ' En cyklopedia Slovenska , Vol. III. On th e American Matica, see also K ons ta ntin C ul en , Slovenske casopisy ,· Amerike (Cleveland: Prva katolicka sloven ska jednota, 1970), pp . 19-21 , 52-53 , 70-71. " Stanislav M ecia r , Kukucfn if.ivy , 2 vols. ( Bu enos Aires: Knizni ca Slobodna Slovenska Kultu ra , 1958 and 1960) - stri ctl y speaking th ese books were no t published by the Matica but within that trad itio n; J. C. Hronsky , Poh ar z bruseneho skla , ed. S. Mcciar (Buenos Aires: Zahranicn a M ati ca Slovenska, 1964), and Na kriinych cescach , cd. S. Meciar (Bu enos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Sloven ska, 1966). " Stefana Yotrubova, Zivena. j ej osudy a praca (Martin: Zivena, 1931) , pp . 22-23; see a lso J a rmil a Tkadleckova-Yantuchova, Zivena-Spolok slovensk ych zien (Bra ti slava : Epocha , 1969). " See th e compariso n in An In cipienc Feminise: Slovak Scories by Timra, ·a , ed it ed and translated by No rm a Leigh Rudinsk y (Columbus: Slavica Publishers, In c. , in prep.). " J a n Tibensky , ed ., Slovensko: Dejiny (Bratislava: Obzor, 197 1), p . 543. " Dionyz Duri sin , Problem y Jic erarn ej komparacistik y (Bratislava: SA V, 1967), and Z dcjin a ce6rie Jicerarn ej kompara cisrik y (Bratislava: SA V , 1970) ; J an Stevcck, Nez badane pr6zy (Bratislava: Slovensky spisova tel' , 197 1), a nd L yrizovan a pr6za (B ra ti slava : Tatran , 1973). " Edwa rd Mozejko, " Survey: Slovak Theory of Litera ry Co mmuni ca ti on : Notes on th e Nitra School of Lit erary Criticism,' ' PTL: A j ourn al for Descripri,·e Poetics and Theory of Lircrarure , 4 (1979) , 37 1-8 4.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Matica slovenská and Its Relation to the Development of Slovak Literature Description An account of the resource Norma L. Rudinsky Slovakia, Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984 pp. 47-57 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rudinsky, Norma Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/940fc8e5506394b87c91288100e5826c.pdf a63412e374518eb1b76e89e14fea4a92 PDF Text Text SWVAKIA 77 '.nlE MATICA SLOVENSKA IN A.MERICA JOSEPH PAUCO Father Furdek was quite happy over the progress the Slovak fratemal benefit societies, he was instrumental in bringing into being, were making: The First Catholic Slovak Union and The First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union. 1 Both organizations had the same mission. But to Furdek it was wery obvious that "the Slovak nation needs help. We, the children of the Slovak family," he said, "are obligated ito sacrifice, to the limit of our strength, for our poor nation which, already so weakened ,b y ,M agyar chauvinism, is becoming still weaker because of emilgration. No one can satisfy his hunger on eulogies - speeches will not make the Slovak nation wealthy, whether thereby we praise our timid people or -blast its destroyers. Here deeds are necessary, here sacrifices are needed". 2 Furdek was well aware of the spiritual poverty in Slovakia; he knew there was a sad lack Otf Slova:k intelligentsia; he knew that the Slovaks did not have enough schools. Fully realizing this sad situation, Furdek was the fimt of the Slovaks in America. to raise his voice to save Slovakia, inviting all Slova:k groups in the Unted States to take part in this action: '"Slovak men, to all of you who have the welfare of our people at heart, regardless of whatever side you may be on, let us get together at our own exipense sometime in September or Octdber, in Chicago, to delilberate in what way we might besit act to uplift the Slovak people in Slovalcla. Getting together would not hann us American SlovaJks; and a conference of Slovaks certainly would not injure the Slovaks in Slovakia" .3 Furdek's appeal struck "the string of the Slova:k heart. Individuals and newspapers without exception acknowledged the need of the proposed conference". 4 Furdek forthwith set the coniference date for September 26, 1893, in Ohioogo, Ill. F-urdek's proposal was backed by the Supreme Officers of the First Catholic Slovak Union, who issued the following statement on Sept. 5, 1893: "Coun,tcymen - in Chicago, Ill., on the 26th of September, there will be a meeting of the lovers of the Slovak �78 SLOVAKIA people. We shall discuss in what way we might most effectively act for the welfare of our nation here and in Slovakia. "Countrymen, who of us would not wish to uplift the wronged Slovak people? We know, we are not deceiving ourselves, you are not indifferent to the fate of the Slovak' people, therefore we respectfully invite you to come, if you can, to Chicago, on September 26, at nine in the morning, to this conference in the school hall of St. Procopius parish at 704 Allport Street. "The program at this time would perhaips be premature - many people lmow much. Now our main effort is: let us get together, let us delilberate together. Our pur.pose is sacred, our intention sel:fless, admission to friends of the Slovak people is free, therefore we hope you will truke part in the conference to which we respectfully invite you. With familiar respect: Rev. R. Wider, Rev. E. Gellhof, Rev. V. Panuska, Rev. S. Furdek, J. Onda, J. V. Rozko". 5 The conference in Chicago was attended by some 100 Slovak leaders, priests and laymen, representatives of Slovak organizations and of both main confessions, Catholic and Lutheran. Father Stefan Furdek opened and presided at the conference. Peter Rovnianek, president of the National Slovak Society, suggested that the group found a Slavia!k League of America. The conference, however, adopted the motion of Father Ervin Gellhof to establish the Matica Sloven.ska (Slova:k Institute) of America in memory of the Matica Slovenska in Slovakia which was dissolved by the Magyars. The main pur.pose of the Matica was "to support the interests of our countrymen in the old fatherland and here in America". 6 In Chicago the Matica immediately decided to publish a document in the English, German, French, Russian, and Slovak languages, in which would be revealed the injustices perpetrated by the Magyars on the Slova;ks. The conference of the Matica ordered a letter to be sent to th~ Government of the United States accusing the Magyar Government of violating international postal regulations by opening aind confiscating mail sent to Slov•aJria from America. In order to gain a massive membership, individuals and societies, the dues were purposely very low: 25 cents per annum. Furdek suggested that a substantial part of the 1 �SLOVAKIA 79 membership dues be used to support Slovak newspapers in Slovakia. The following were elected officers of the Matica Slovenska: Rev. Stephen Furdek, president; A. Ruma.n, vice president; Dr. M. Francisci, secretary; J. 2izka, treasurer; Rev. F. Vlasak, fin. secretary. In the first appeal of the Matica by Furdek and F·r ancisci, we find these words: "It is the sacred duty of every one whom a !Slovak mother carried under her heart to become a member of the Matica. However, ,i f any one hesitates or offe-ra excuses, let him not boast of the honored name of Slovak because he is not worthy of it". 7 Furdek rested his hope on the First Catholic Slovak Union and exerted every effort to ha,ve the entire Union join the Matica and pay the dues for every member. 8 When the matter came before the fifth convention, however, the majority of delegates voted it down. 9 Furdek was disappointed but not disheartened; he continued to plead for all Jednotars to join the Matica. The following branches of the Jednota joined the Matica with their entire membership: 1. m, 14, 18, rn, 23, 24, 30, 46, 55, 59, 64, 65, 10, 715, 82, 86, 89, 91, 92, 104, 106, 108, tlO, 1111, 123, 127. 10 At the first convention of the Matica Slovenska in Chicago, m., on September 17, 1894, Father Furdek reported that some 1,200 individuals, most of them J ednotars, had become members of the Matica. 11 The meeting approved the By-laws of the Matica which were prepared by the By-Law Committee. Since Father Furdek did not want a second term as president, Gustav Marsall was elected to that office. Svehla became vice president, P. V. Rovnianek, secretary, Father S. Furdek, treasurer, 2i.zka, fin. secretary, Imrich Podkrivacky, trustee. Furdek wrote that the Matica meeting "was harmonious a.nd that indisputably the Matica had become an important factor in the life of the Slovaks here and in the old country". 12 Almost immediately thereafter, however, the old arguments were revived by some of the leading members of the National Slovak Society, Rovnianek announced that he was not taking over the office of secretary and withdrew from the organization. G. Marsall, the president of the Matica thereupon named John A. Feriencik in his �80 SLOVAKIA place. At that time Feriencik worked in the editorial office of the Jednota and his keen reflections about cultwal .and national problems evoked a lively .response.13 He took up the work of the Matica willingly and energetically, presenting it as "the academy of the national ca,use". 14 The National Slovak Society, like the First Catholic Slovak Union, was a fraternal benefit society, but presumed to speak in the name of all the Slovaks in Arrnerti.oa.. The First Catholic Slovak Union (the JEDNOTA) repudiated this presumptuous claim, especially since a strong antiCatholic element began to exert its influence in the NSS. mather F1urdek proclaimed: "Let our motto be: for Catholics in religious matters - the First Catholic Slovak Union; and in national (Slovak) matters - the Matica".15 Shortly ·b efore the second convention of the Matica, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 6, 1895, Ferie:ncik resigned his secretaryship. This meeting was held on the 34th anniversary of the historical 1861 Memorandum of the Slovak Nation. Reports of the ofificers revealed that the Matica had the following as charter members: Jozef 2izka, Rev. Stefan Furdek, Rev. R. Wider, Rev. F. Janusek, Rev. Jan Stas, iRev. V. Kazincy, Rev. J. Kasparek, Rev. F. Horvath, Rev. Matus Jankola, and Jozef Kuruca.r. The membership numbered 864, which included 476 members of the Jednota and 216 of the NSS. President Marsall stated that causes of the decline were "the commercial spirit of our people," Jack of information and unfavorable conditions.16 The Literary Committee of the Mwtica was happy to report that Gustav Marsall's book "Radca Slovenskych Prisfahovalcov v Spojenych Sta.toch Sevemej Ameriky" 17 (The Counsellor of Slovak Immigrants in the United States of North America) was .p ublished. The second convention of the Matica sent 100 Gold Crowns to Tureiansky Svaty Martin to support national aims and ten dollars to the Tatran Society in Vienna. Marsall was re-elected president, Rev. R. Wider was elected treasurer and Rev. V. Cerveny, secretary. A "cultural evening" closed the second convention. Recurrent dissension undermined the foundation of the Matica Slovenska. in America. Then the National Slovak �SLOVAKIA 81 Society, under the leadership of ' Peter P. Rovnia.nek - a fallen away Catholic-openly expressed its distrust of the Matica and, thus, Furdek aigain represented all hopes of the Slovaiks. "Without Furdek not much . could be accomplished. The convention of September 1, 1896, elected Furdek president again" .18 Furdek kept on pleading with the members of the Jednota to back the Matica and his appeals, in a measure, met with a favorable response. 19 Furdek insisted a.n. propagating good Slovak literature at low cost so that "the nation might undertand that a literary society (the Matica) is of benefit to it. Publish ·b ooks, get them among the people, and proba.bly the Matica will be reV'ived !" .20 F'ather Furdek's plans, however, were never fully rea.li.z.ed. The Matica Sliovenska in America was doomed before it really became a going concern. The workers of the Matica had a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa., on August 16, l.'899, a.n.d the last report of its activity was published in the JEDNOTA (the organ of the First Catholic Slovak Union, which also was founded by Father Furdek) a week later. The M.aJtica took over the "National Fund" - a newly born organization, which to a certain extent replaced the Matica. The National Fbnd organization fared no better than its predecessors. After it came the Slovak League of America which was also founded by the Rev. Stephen Furdek in Cleveland, ·onio, cm' May 26, 1907.21 REFERENCES 1. Furdek organized the First Cllltholic Slovak Union, in 1890, in Cleveland, Ohio, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, also in Cleveland, in 1892. Together they total a membership or over 200,000. 2. Od Srdca k Srdcu: Jednota, Aug. 16, 1893, p. 4. 3. lbidem. 4. Ona 26. aeptembra do Chicaga: Jednota, Aug. 30, 1893, p. 4. 5. Jednota, Sept. 13, 189.3, p. 1. 6. Chlcagaka porada: Jednota, Oct. 4, 1893, p. 1. The details or the conference are given In this report. The telegram sent to the -Narodne Noviny In Turclansky Svaty Martin read: "We have estalblished the Matica SlovenskA. The resurrected Matlca sends .g reetings ·to Slovakia." 7. The appeal, entitled "SloTakom," was published in the Jednota, <:Yet. 11, · 1893, p . 1. 8. Matlca: Jednota, April 18, 1894, p. 4; J rd nota , May 2 and !J . 1894, P. 4. �SLOVAKIA 82 9. Minutes of the Fifth Convention, Home Otfiee, Cleveland, O'hio. 10. KatoHcka Slovenaka Jednota: Kalendar J®DNO'IIA, 1896, p. 3~. 11. Vaine ahromafdenie Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, Sept. 19, 1894, p. 4. 12. !Ilbidem. 13. Jednota, Nov. 14, 1894. 1'4. 1Matica. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 2. 15. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 4; Konstantin Culen: Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike, Vol. 1, p. 217 - Spor Slovakov v Amerike, Kalendar J1EIDNl()T,A, 1896, p. 69. 16. Dru he valne ahromafdenie ( Konvencia) "Matice Slovenakej v Amerike": Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 2. 17. Podiel Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 4. The book of 164 pp. was really the first history of the United States in the United States in the Slovaik languwge. Every mem.ber of the Matica was given the book for free. 18. Culen, op. cit., p. 235. 19. !Many issues of the Jednota contained the personal a;ppeal of Furdek and other oUicers of the Matica. 20. Podielova kniha Matice: Jednota, June 9, 1897, P. 4. In that year the second and last literary work was published by the Matica, the 'ISbornik Matice Slovenskej". Most of the contributions were by authors from Slovakia (IBlelek, Sasinek, Zigmundik, Kmet, Srobar). 21. Maticna sch6dza: Jednota, Aug_ 23, 1899, p. 4. Representatives of the First Ca:tholic Slovak Union, the corresponding Ladies Union, National Slovak 'Society, the Zivena and the Evangelical Slovak Union attended the meeting. The next five years the Matica existed only on paper. Prof. Andrew B. Slaibey: Prehfad dejin Slovakov v Amerike in the Kalendar of the NS:S, 1926, p. 52. DID YOU READ UN<:ONQUERABLES "a true classic because its literary style, ita deep emotional undertones, ita spiritual strength and the vivid picture it pre-senta of life under Communist terror . . . " (Father John l.Jach and Msgr. M. K. Mlynarovich)? If not, get your copy today ( $2.00) from the author: .JOSEPH PAUl:O Mici.-11.-town. Pa . P. 0. Rox 2R5 • � SWVAKIA 77 '.nlE MATICA SLOVENSKA IN A.MERICA JOSEPH PAUCO Father Furdek was quite happy over the progress the Slovak fratemal benefit societies, he was instrumental in bringing into being, were making: The First Catholic Slovak Union and The First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union. 1 Both organizations had the same mission. But to Furdek it was wery obvious that "the Slovak nation needs help. We, the children of the Slovak family," he said, "are obligated ito sacrifice, to the limit of our strength, for our poor nation which, already so weakened ,b y ,M agyar chauvinism, is becoming still weaker because of emilgration. No one can satisfy his hunger on eulogies - speeches will not make the Slovak nation wealthy, whether thereby we praise our timid people or -blast its destroyers. Here deeds are necessary, here sacrifices are needed". 2 Furdek was well aware of the spiritual poverty in Slovakia; he knew there was a sad lack Otf Slova:k intelligentsia; he knew that the Slovaks did not have enough schools. Fully realizing this sad situation, Furdek was the fimt of the Slovaks in America. to raise his voice to save Slovakia, inviting all Slova:k groups in the Unted States to take part in this action: '"Slovak men, to all of you who have the welfare of our people at heart, regardless of whatever side you may be on, let us get together at our own exipense sometime in September or Octdber, in Chicago, to delilberate in what way we might besit act to uplift the Slovak people in Slovalcla. Getting together would not hann us American SlovaJks; and a conference of Slovaks certainly would not injure the Slovaks in Slovakia" .3 Furdek's appeal struck "the string of the Slova:k heart. Individuals and newspapers without exception acknowledged the need of the proposed conference". 4 Furdek forthwith set the coniference date for September 26, 1893, in Ohioogo, Ill. F-urdek's proposal was backed by the Supreme Officers of the First Catholic Slovak Union, who issued the following statement on Sept. 5, 1893: "Coun,tcymen - in Chicago, Ill., on the 26th of September, there will be a meeting of the lovers of the Slovak �78 SLOVAKIA people. We shall discuss in what way we might most effectively act for the welfare of our nation here and in Slovakia. "Countrymen, who of us would not wish to uplift the wronged Slovak people? We know, we are not deceiving ourselves, you are not indifferent to the fate of the Slovak' people, therefore we respectfully invite you to come, if you can, to Chicago, on September 26, at nine in the morning, to this conference in the school hall of St. Procopius parish at 704 Allport Street. "The program at this time would perhaips be premature - many people lmow much. Now our main effort is: let us get together, let us delilberate together. Our pur.pose is sacred, our intention sel:fless, admission to friends of the Slovak people is free, therefore we hope you will truke part in the conference to which we respectfully invite you. With familiar respect: Rev. R. Wider, Rev. E. Gellhof, Rev. V. Panuska, Rev. S. Furdek, J. Onda, J. V. Rozko". 5 The conference in Chicago was attended by some 100 Slovak leaders, priests and laymen, representatives of Slovak organizations and of both main confessions, Catholic and Lutheran. Father Stefan Furdek opened and presided at the conference. Peter Rovnianek, president of the National Slovak Society, suggested that the group found a Slavia!k League of America. The conference, however, adopted the motion of Father Ervin Gellhof to establish the Matica Sloven.ska (Slova:k Institute) of America in memory of the Matica Slovenska in Slovakia which was dissolved by the Magyars. The main pur.pose of the Matica was "to support the interests of our countrymen in the old fatherland and here in America". 6 In Chicago the Matica immediately decided to publish a document in the English, German, French, Russian, and Slovak languages, in which would be revealed the injustices perpetrated by the Magyars on the Slova;ks. The conference of the Matica ordered a letter to be sent to th~ Government of the United States accusing the Magyar Government of violating international postal regulations by opening aind confiscating mail sent to Slov•aJria from America. In order to gain a massive membership, individuals and societies, the dues were purposely very low: 25 cents per annum. Furdek suggested that a substantial part of the 1 �SLOVAKIA 79 membership dues be used to support Slovak newspapers in Slovakia. The following were elected officers of the Matica Slovenska: Rev. Stephen Furdek, president; A. Ruma.n, vice president; Dr. M. Francisci, secretary; J. 2izka, treasurer; Rev. F. Vlasak, fin. secretary. In the first appeal of the Matica by Furdek and F·r ancisci, we find these words: "It is the sacred duty of every one whom a !Slovak mother carried under her heart to become a member of the Matica. However, ,i f any one hesitates or offe-ra excuses, let him not boast of the honored name of Slovak because he is not worthy of it". 7 Furdek rested his hope on the First Catholic Slovak Union and exerted every effort to ha,ve the entire Union join the Matica and pay the dues for every member. 8 When the matter came before the fifth convention, however, the majority of delegates voted it down. 9 Furdek was disappointed but not disheartened; he continued to plead for all Jednotars to join the Matica. The following branches of the Jednota joined the Matica with their entire membership: 1. m, 14, 18, rn, 23, 24, 30, 46, 55, 59, 64, 65, 10, 715, 82, 86, 89, 91, 92, 104, 106, 108, tlO, 1111, 123, 127. 10 At the first convention of the Matica Slovenska in Chicago, m., on September 17, 1894, Father Furdek reported that some 1,200 individuals, most of them J ednotars, had become members of the Matica. 11 The meeting approved the By-laws of the Matica which were prepared by the By-Law Committee. Since Father Furdek did not want a second term as president, Gustav Marsall was elected to that office. Svehla became vice president, P. V. Rovnianek, secretary, Father S. Furdek, treasurer, 2i.zka, fin. secretary, Imrich Podkrivacky, trustee. Furdek wrote that the Matica meeting "was harmonious a.nd that indisputably the Matica had become an important factor in the life of the Slovaks here and in the old country". 12 Almost immediately thereafter, however, the old arguments were revived by some of the leading members of the National Slovak Society, Rovnianek announced that he was not taking over the office of secretary and withdrew from the organization. G. Marsall, the president of the Matica thereupon named John A. Feriencik in his �80 SLOVAKIA place. At that time Feriencik worked in the editorial office of the Jednota and his keen reflections about cultwal .and national problems evoked a lively .response.13 He took up the work of the Matica willingly and energetically, presenting it as "the academy of the national ca,use". 14 The National Slovak Society, like the First Catholic Slovak Union, was a fraternal benefit society, but presumed to speak in the name of all the Slovaks in Arrnerti.oa.. The First Catholic Slovak Union (the JEDNOTA) repudiated this presumptuous claim, especially since a strong antiCatholic element began to exert its influence in the NSS. mather F1urdek proclaimed: "Let our motto be: for Catholics in religious matters - the First Catholic Slovak Union; and in national (Slovak) matters - the Matica".15 Shortly ·b efore the second convention of the Matica, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 6, 1895, Ferie:ncik resigned his secretaryship. This meeting was held on the 34th anniversary of the historical 1861 Memorandum of the Slovak Nation. Reports of the ofificers revealed that the Matica had the following as charter members: Jozef 2izka, Rev. Stefan Furdek, Rev. R. Wider, Rev. F. Janusek, Rev. Jan Stas, iRev. V. Kazincy, Rev. J. Kasparek, Rev. F. Horvath, Rev. Matus Jankola, and Jozef Kuruca.r. The membership numbered 864, which included 476 members of the Jednota and 216 of the NSS. President Marsall stated that causes of the decline were "the commercial spirit of our people," Jack of information and unfavorable conditions.16 The Literary Committee of the Mwtica was happy to report that Gustav Marsall's book "Radca Slovenskych Prisfahovalcov v Spojenych Sta.toch Sevemej Ameriky" 17 (The Counsellor of Slovak Immigrants in the United States of North America) was .p ublished. The second convention of the Matica sent 100 Gold Crowns to Tureiansky Svaty Martin to support national aims and ten dollars to the Tatran Society in Vienna. Marsall was re-elected president, Rev. R. Wider was elected treasurer and Rev. V. Cerveny, secretary. A "cultural evening" closed the second convention. Recurrent dissension undermined the foundation of the Matica Slovenska. in America. Then the National Slovak �SLOVAKIA 81 Society, under the leadership of ' Peter P. Rovnia.nek - a fallen away Catholic-openly expressed its distrust of the Matica and, thus, Furdek aigain represented all hopes of the Slovaiks. "Without Furdek not much . could be accomplished. The convention of September 1, 1896, elected Furdek president again" .18 Furdek kept on pleading with the members of the Jednota to back the Matica and his appeals, in a measure, met with a favorable response. 19 Furdek insisted a.n. propagating good Slovak literature at low cost so that "the nation might undertand that a literary society (the Matica) is of benefit to it. Publish ·b ooks, get them among the people, and proba.bly the Matica will be reV'ived !" .20 F'ather Furdek's plans, however, were never fully rea.li.z.ed. The Matica Sliovenska in America was doomed before it really became a going concern. The workers of the Matica had a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa., on August 16, l.'899, a.n.d the last report of its activity was published in the JEDNOTA (the organ of the First Catholic Slovak Union, which also was founded by Father Furdek) a week later. The M.aJtica took over the "National Fund" - a newly born organization, which to a certain extent replaced the Matica. The National Fbnd organization fared no better than its predecessors. After it came the Slovak League of America which was also founded by the Rev. Stephen Furdek in Cleveland, ·onio, cm' May 26, 1907.21 REFERENCES 1. Furdek organized the First Cllltholic Slovak Union, in 1890, in Cleveland, Ohio, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, also in Cleveland, in 1892. Together they total a membership or over 200,000. 2. Od Srdca k Srdcu: Jednota, Aug. 16, 1893, p. 4. 3. lbidem. 4. Ona 26. aeptembra do Chicaga: Jednota, Aug. 30, 1893, p. 4. 5. Jednota, Sept. 13, 189.3, p. 1. 6. Chlcagaka porada: Jednota, Oct. 4, 1893, p. 1. The details or the conference are given In this report. The telegram sent to the -Narodne Noviny In Turclansky Svaty Martin read: "We have estalblished the Matica SlovenskA. The resurrected Matlca sends .g reetings ·to Slovakia." 7. The appeal, entitled "SloTakom," was published in the Jednota, <:Yet. 11, · 1893, p . 1. 8. Matlca: Jednota, April 18, 1894, p. 4; J rd nota , May 2 and !J . 1894, P. 4. �SLOVAKIA 82 9. Minutes of the Fifth Convention, Home Otfiee, Cleveland, O'hio. 10. KatoHcka Slovenaka Jednota: Kalendar J®DNO'IIA, 1896, p. 3~. 11. Vaine ahromafdenie Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, Sept. 19, 1894, p. 4. 12. !Ilbidem. 13. Jednota, Nov. 14, 1894. 1'4. 1Matica. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 2. 15. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 4; Konstantin Culen: Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike, Vol. 1, p. 217 - Spor Slovakov v Amerike, Kalendar J1EIDNl()T,A, 1896, p. 69. 16. Dru he valne ahromafdenie ( Konvencia) "Matice Slovenakej v Amerike": Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 2. 17. Podiel Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 4. The book of 164 pp. was really the first history of the United States in the United States in the Slovaik languwge. Every mem.ber of the Matica was given the book for free. 18. Culen, op. cit., p. 235. 19. !Many issues of the Jednota contained the personal a;ppeal of Furdek and other oUicers of the Matica. 20. Podielova kniha Matice: Jednota, June 9, 1897, P. 4. In that year the second and last literary work was published by the Matica, the 'ISbornik Matice Slovenskej". Most of the contributions were by authors from Slovakia (IBlelek, Sasinek, Zigmundik, Kmet, Srobar). 21. Maticna sch6dza: Jednota, Aug_ 23, 1899, p. 4. Representatives of the First Ca:tholic Slovak Union, the corresponding Ladies Union, National Slovak 'Society, the Zivena and the Evangelical Slovak Union attended the meeting. The next five years the Matica existed only on paper. Prof. Andrew B. Slaibey: Prehfad dejin Slovakov v Amerike in the Kalendar of the NS:S, 1926, p. 52. DID YOU READ UN<:ONQUERABLES "a true classic because its literary style, ita deep emotional undertones, ita spiritual strength and the vivid picture it pre-senta of life under Communist terror . . . " (Father John l.Jach and Msgr. M. K. Mlynarovich)? If not, get your copy today ( $2.00) from the author: .JOSEPH PAUl:O Mici.-11.-town. Pa . P. 0. Rox 2R5 • � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SWVAKIA 77 '.nlE MATICA SLOVENSKA IN A.MERICA JOSEPH PAUCO Father Furdek was quite happy over the progress the Slovak fratemal benefit societies, he was instrumental in bringing into being, were making: The First Catholic Slovak Union and The First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union. 1 Both organizations had the same mission. But to Furdek it was wery obvious that "the Slovak nation needs help. We, the children of the Slovak family," he said, "are obligated ito sacrifice, to the limit of our strength, for our poor nation which, already so weakened ,b y ,M agyar chauvinism, is becoming still weaker because of emilgration. No one can satisfy his hunger on eulogies - speeches will not make the Slovak nation wealthy, whether thereby we praise our timid people or -blast its destroyers. Here deeds are necessary, here sacrifices are needed". 2 Furdek was well aware of the spiritual poverty in Slovakia; he knew there was a sad lack Otf Slova:k intelligentsia; he knew that the Slovaks did not have enough schools. Fully realizing this sad situation, Furdek was the fimt of the Slovaks in America. to raise his voice to save Slovakia, inviting all Slova:k groups in the Unted States to take part in this action: '"Slovak men, to all of you who have the welfare of our people at heart, regardless of whatever side you may be on, let us get together at our own exipense sometime in September or Octdber, in Chicago, to delilberate in what way we might besit act to uplift the Slovak people in Slovalcla. Getting together would not hann us American SlovaJks; and a conference of Slovaks certainly would not injure the Slovaks in Slovakia" .3 Furdek's appeal struck "the string of the Slova:k heart. Individuals and newspapers without exception acknowledged the need of the proposed conference". 4 Furdek forthwith set the coniference date for September 26, 1893, in Ohioogo, Ill. F-urdek's proposal was backed by the Supreme Officers of the First Catholic Slovak Union, who issued the following statement on Sept. 5, 1893: "Coun,tcymen - in Chicago, Ill., on the 26th of September, there will be a meeting of the lovers of the Slovak 78 SLOVAKIA people. We shall discuss in what way we might most effectively act for the welfare of our nation here and in Slovakia. "Countrymen, who of us would not wish to uplift the wronged Slovak people? We know, we are not deceiving ourselves, you are not indifferent to the fate of the Slovak' people, therefore we respectfully invite you to come, if you can, to Chicago, on September 26, at nine in the morning, to this conference in the school hall of St. Procopius parish at 704 Allport Street. "The program at this time would perhaips be premature - many people lmow much. Now our main effort is: let us get together, let us delilberate together. Our pur.pose is sacred, our intention sel:fless, admission to friends of the Slovak people is free, therefore we hope you will truke part in the conference to which we respectfully invite you. With familiar respect: Rev. R. Wider, Rev. E. Gellhof, Rev. V. Panuska, Rev. S. Furdek, J. Onda, J. V. Rozko". 5 The conference in Chicago was attended by some 100 Slovak leaders, priests and laymen, representatives of Slovak organizations and of both main confessions, Catholic and Lutheran. Father Stefan Furdek opened and presided at the conference. Peter Rovnianek, president of the National Slovak Society, suggested that the group found a Slavia!k League of America. The conference, however, adopted the motion of Father Ervin Gellhof to establish the Matica Sloven.ska (Slova:k Institute) of America in memory of the Matica Slovenska in Slovakia which was dissolved by the Magyars. The main pur.pose of the Matica was "to support the interests of our countrymen in the old fatherland and here in America". 6 In Chicago the Matica immediately decided to publish a document in the English, German, French, Russian, and Slovak languages, in which would be revealed the injustices perpetrated by the Magyars on the Slova;ks. The conference of the Matica ordered a letter to be sent to th~ Government of the United States accusing the Magyar Government of violating international postal regulations by opening aind confiscating mail sent to Slov•aJria from America. In order to gain a massive membership, individuals and societies, the dues were purposely very low: 25 cents per annum. Furdek suggested that a substantial part of the 1 SLOVAKIA 79 membership dues be used to support Slovak newspapers in Slovakia. The following were elected officers of the Matica Slovenska: Rev. Stephen Furdek, president; A. Ruma.n, vice president; Dr. M. Francisci, secretary; J. 2izka, treasurer; Rev. F. Vlasak, fin. secretary. In the first appeal of the Matica by Furdek and F·r ancisci, we find these words: "It is the sacred duty of every one whom a !Slovak mother carried under her heart to become a member of the Matica. However, ,i f any one hesitates or offe-ra excuses, let him not boast of the honored name of Slovak because he is not worthy of it". 7 Furdek rested his hope on the First Catholic Slovak Union and exerted every effort to ha,ve the entire Union join the Matica and pay the dues for every member. 8 When the matter came before the fifth convention, however, the majority of delegates voted it down. 9 Furdek was disappointed but not disheartened; he continued to plead for all Jednotars to join the Matica. The following branches of the Jednota joined the Matica with their entire membership: 1. m, 14, 18, rn, 23, 24, 30, 46, 55, 59, 64, 65, 10, 715, 82, 86, 89, 91, 92, 104, 106, 108, tlO, 1111, 123, 127. 10 At the first convention of the Matica Slovenska in Chicago, m., on September 17, 1894, Father Furdek reported that some 1,200 individuals, most of them J ednotars, had become members of the Matica. 11 The meeting approved the By-laws of the Matica which were prepared by the By-Law Committee. Since Father Furdek did not want a second term as president, Gustav Marsall was elected to that office. Svehla became vice president, P. V. Rovnianek, secretary, Father S. Furdek, treasurer, 2i.zka, fin. secretary, Imrich Podkrivacky, trustee. Furdek wrote that the Matica meeting "was harmonious a.nd that indisputably the Matica had become an important factor in the life of the Slovaks here and in the old country". 12 Almost immediately thereafter, however, the old arguments were revived by some of the leading members of the National Slovak Society, Rovnianek announced that he was not taking over the office of secretary and withdrew from the organization. G. Marsall, the president of the Matica thereupon named John A. Feriencik in his 80 SLOVAKIA place. At that time Feriencik worked in the editorial office of the Jednota and his keen reflections about cultwal .and national problems evoked a lively .response.13 He took up the work of the Matica willingly and energetically, presenting it as "the academy of the national ca,use". 14 The National Slovak Society, like the First Catholic Slovak Union, was a fraternal benefit society, but presumed to speak in the name of all the Slovaks in Arrnerti.oa.. The First Catholic Slovak Union (the JEDNOTA) repudiated this presumptuous claim, especially since a strong antiCatholic element began to exert its influence in the NSS. mather F1urdek proclaimed: "Let our motto be: for Catholics in religious matters - the First Catholic Slovak Union; and in national (Slovak) matters - the Matica".15 Shortly ·b efore the second convention of the Matica, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 6, 1895, Ferie:ncik resigned his secretaryship. This meeting was held on the 34th anniversary of the historical 1861 Memorandum of the Slovak Nation. Reports of the ofificers revealed that the Matica had the following as charter members: Jozef 2izka, Rev. Stefan Furdek, Rev. R. Wider, Rev. F. Janusek, Rev. Jan Stas, iRev. V. Kazincy, Rev. J. Kasparek, Rev. F. Horvath, Rev. Matus Jankola, and Jozef Kuruca.r. The membership numbered 864, which included 476 members of the Jednota and 216 of the NSS. President Marsall stated that causes of the decline were "the commercial spirit of our people," Jack of information and unfavorable conditions.16 The Literary Committee of the Mwtica was happy to report that Gustav Marsall's book "Radca Slovenskych Prisfahovalcov v Spojenych Sta.toch Sevemej Ameriky" 17 (The Counsellor of Slovak Immigrants in the United States of North America) was .p ublished. The second convention of the Matica sent 100 Gold Crowns to Tureiansky Svaty Martin to support national aims and ten dollars to the Tatran Society in Vienna. Marsall was re-elected president, Rev. R. Wider was elected treasurer and Rev. V. Cerveny, secretary. A "cultural evening" closed the second convention. Recurrent dissension undermined the foundation of the Matica Slovenska. in America. Then the National Slovak SLOVAKIA 81 Society, under the leadership of ' Peter P. Rovnia.nek - a fallen away Catholic-openly expressed its distrust of the Matica and, thus, Furdek aigain represented all hopes of the Slovaiks. "Without Furdek not much . could be accomplished. The convention of September 1, 1896, elected Furdek president again" .18 Furdek kept on pleading with the members of the Jednota to back the Matica and his appeals, in a measure, met with a favorable response. 19 Furdek insisted a.n. propagating good Slovak literature at low cost so that "the nation might undertand that a literary society (the Matica) is of benefit to it. Publish ·b ooks, get them among the people, and proba.bly the Matica will be reV'ived !" .20 F'ather Furdek's plans, however, were never fully rea.li.z.ed. The Matica Sliovenska in America was doomed before it really became a going concern. The workers of the Matica had a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa., on August 16, l.'899, a.n.d the last report of its activity was published in the JEDNOTA (the organ of the First Catholic Slovak Union, which also was founded by Father Furdek) a week later. The M.aJtica took over the "National Fund" - a newly born organization, which to a certain extent replaced the Matica. The National Fbnd organization fared no better than its predecessors. After it came the Slovak League of America which was also founded by the Rev. Stephen Furdek in Cleveland, ·onio, cm' May 26, 1907.21 REFERENCES 1. Furdek organized the First Cllltholic Slovak Union, in 1890, in Cleveland, Ohio, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, also in Cleveland, in 1892. Together they total a membership or over 200,000. 2. Od Srdca k Srdcu: Jednota, Aug. 16, 1893, p. 4. 3. lbidem. 4. Ona 26. aeptembra do Chicaga: Jednota, Aug. 30, 1893, p. 4. 5. Jednota, Sept. 13, 189.3, p. 1. 6. Chlcagaka porada: Jednota, Oct. 4, 1893, p. 1. The details or the conference are given In this report. The telegram sent to the -Narodne Noviny In Turclansky Svaty Martin read: "We have estalblished the Matica SlovenskA. The resurrected Matlca sends .g reetings ·to Slovakia." 7. The appeal, entitled "SloTakom," was published in the Jednota, <:Yet. 11, · 1893, p . 1. 8. Matlca: Jednota, April 18, 1894, p. 4; J rd nota , May 2 and !J . 1894, P. 4. SLOVAKIA 82 9. Minutes of the Fifth Convention, Home Otfiee, Cleveland, O'hio. 10. KatoHcka Slovenaka Jednota: Kalendar J®DNO'IIA, 1896, p. 3~. 11. Vaine ahromafdenie Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, Sept. 19, 1894, p. 4. 12. !Ilbidem. 13. Jednota, Nov. 14, 1894. 1'4. 1Matica. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 2. 15. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 4; Konstantin Culen: Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike, Vol. 1, p. 217 - Spor Slovakov v Amerike, Kalendar J1EIDNl()T,A, 1896, p. 69. 16. Dru he valne ahromafdenie ( Konvencia) "Matice Slovenakej v Amerike": Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 2. 17. Podiel Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 4. The book of 164 pp. was really the first history of the United States in the United States in the Slovaik languwge. Every mem.ber of the Matica was given the book for free. 18. Culen, op. cit., p. 235. 19. !Many issues of the Jednota contained the personal a;ppeal of Furdek and other oUicers of the Matica. 20. Podielova kniha Matice: Jednota, June 9, 1897, P. 4. In that year the second and last literary work was published by the Matica, the 'ISbornik Matice Slovenskej". Most of the contributions were by authors from Slovakia (IBlelek, Sasinek, Zigmundik, Kmet, Srobar). 21. Maticna sch6dza: Jednota, Aug_ 23, 1899, p. 4. Representatives of the First Ca:tholic Slovak Union, the corresponding Ladies Union, National Slovak 'Society, the Zivena and the Evangelical Slovak Union attended the meeting. The next five years the Matica existed only on paper. Prof. Andrew B. Slaibey: Prehfad dejin Slovakov v Amerike in the Kalendar of the NS:S, 1926, p. 52. DID YOU READ UN<:ONQUERABLES "a true classic because its literary style, ita deep emotional undertones, ita spiritual strength and the vivid picture it pre-senta of life under Communist terror . . . " (Father John l.Jach and Msgr. M. K. Mlynarovich)? If not, get your copy today ( $2.00) from the author: .JOSEPH PAUl:O Mici.-11.-town. Pa . P. 0. Rox 2R5 •  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Matica Slovenská in America Description An account of the resource Joseph Paučo Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 77-82 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Paučo, Jozef, 1914-1975 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6af3069216b8f27a5e1eeaa8832ebcce.pdf 27e44e4b577a56f9ea866735ae1d64ca PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 9 mE MEANING OF THE CYRILO-METHODIAN JUBILEE FRANCIS LANAK The year 1963 marks the 1,100th anniversary of the advent of the Slovak apostles, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to Slovakia, after accepting invitation of Rastislav, the Slovak sovereign, to preach the Word of God in a language which was intelligible to his people. This solemn occasion of far-reac·h ing ecclesiastical, cultural, and national significance is being commemorated by Slovaks in the entire world, because eleven whole centuries have passed since the time that Slovakia recorded the event in the history of Europe. Let us delve into the history of the ancient Slovaks of the 9th century who had their freedom, their own state, and an honorable place in the Europe of that time. The first Slovak ruler, whose name history has recorded, had the first Christian church established in 830, in Nitra, and later himself became a Christian. That ruler was Pribina, who later ruled over the Slovaks in TransDanubian Pannonia for twenty years and had 32 churches consecrated. His son, Kocer, continued in this work, and, among other things, it was he wtho appealed to the Holy Father at that time to intervene for the freedom of St. Methodius who had been incarcerated by the Germans. Let us here recall Mojmir I , who for the first time united all Slovak tribes and thereby became the founder of the Slovak State. And in his successor, Rastislav, Slovakia had its first Slovak statesman and ruler of great stature, who purposively and on ,h is own initiative wanted to permanently secure Slovak independence with a separate Slovak ecclesiastical province, which would be headed by an archbishop and would be affiliated with and dependent only on Rome-the same arrangement as the Germans had. With this clearly in our minds, the significance of our CyriloMethodian jubilee becomes obvious. Already during the reign of the predecessors of Rastislav, the land of the Slovaks was the mission territory of the German missionaries of the Salzburg bishopric. With Christianity came the influence of the German empire, but �10 SLOVAKIA also of its imperialistic effo*. When Rastislav defeated the Germans in 855, he was seriously; concerned with the ,problem how he could best secure peace for his people and its own independent development. He decided that he could do this most effectively by requesting the Pope for a Slovak bishop and the establishment of a Slovak acclesiastical province, such as the German empire had. Thereby, he reckoned, he would limit the intervention of the German bishops into the affairs and interests of Slovak rulers. In 860, Rastislav sent a delegation to Rome, to Pope Nicholas I, with a request for missionaries who could speak the language of his people. When the Holy See made a lengthy study of it and did not decide favorably even after a year, Rastislav sent another delegation, in 862, with the same request to Michael Ill in Constantinople, Emperor of the East Roman Empire. The Emperor granted Rastislav's request and sent two teachers and saintly brothers, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to the homeland of the Slovaks. Before they set out on their mission to Slovakia, the brothers invented an alphabet for the ancient Slovaks and translated parts of the Holy Writ and liturgical texts into ancient Slovak. They came to Slovakia in 863. After three years, on Rastislav's advice, they went to Rome with a large delegation, including some of their students, as well as with the remains of St. Clement, the martyr, there to defend the usage of old Slovak as a liturgical language and to repudiate the charges the Gennan clergy had lodged against them. They were successful in their mission. Adrian IT approved the use of Slovak in the liturgy and consecrated Methodius bishop for the territory of the ancient Slovaks, dispatching letters to princes Pribina, Rastislav, and Svatopluk to let them know directly of the action he had taken. Thus it was that the Slovaik rulers for the first time in history entered into direct diplomatic contact with the highest spiritual and political authorities of the world of that time as independent sovereigns. The German bishops protested, had Methodius seized in Pannonia and taken into Bavaria. A diplomatic struggle, lasting five years, ensued �SLOVAKIA 11 between the Holy See and the German emperor. In the end the Slovaks were victorious, and the papal legate inducted St. Methodius to the bisbop's seat in Nitra. In the meantime Svatopluk had succeeded Rastislav. Though Svatopluk did not fully understand the original idea of Rastislav and was under the influence of the hostility of the German clergy, who continued to oppose Slovak liturgy and Methodius, the latter developed an intensive missionary activity not only in Slovakia, but also in the ex:panded Great Moravian Empire of King Svatopluk. Among other things, St. Methodius baptized Bofivoj, the Czech Prince, after Svatopluk had conquered the Czechs, and spread Christianity among the Vislanians (the present Poles) who also W',ere a part of Svatopluk's realm. Methodius then made another diplomatic mission to Rome to gain more recognition for the land of the Slovaks and their sovereign. The Holy See took the great empire of Svatopluk under its -p rotection, placing it on the same footing as the German empire, and St. Methodius was named archbishop by the Holy Father with the right to name Slovak bishops. The Germans, of course, highly resented this recognition by the Holy See and attacked Svatopluk repeatedly only to be repulsed by him. The Slovak Sviitopluk remained unconquered by the Germans for the entire 25 years of his reign. After St. Methodius died in 885, the Germans convinced Pape Stephen V to such an extent that he forbade the use of the ancient Slovak liturgy, and the disciples of Methocilus were forced to seek asylum in neighboring Bulgaria. It was from Bulgaria that the ancient Slovak liturgy spread into Russia where Russian literature then developed from the original ancient Slovak of St. Cyril and Methodius. The successoc of .Svatopluk, Mojmir II, sent a delegation to Rome requesting that his territory be given the recognition of an independent ecclesiastical province. The mission was successful, Po~ John IX granting the request. After the experiences of his predecessors, Mojmir II did not ask for a renewal of the Slovak liturgy, so that the Latin became domesticated in the land of the Slovaks and with it Slovakia was definij:ely bound to Rome and western Europe. �12 SLOVAKIA From this hurried glance into the Slovak past we see that our ancient Slovak language became, alongside Latin and Greek, the third language in which Christian liturgical services were conducted; thait the Slovaks were first among the Slovanic peoples who as an entire state accepted Christianity and thus recorded themselves as the first Slovanic people into the cultural history of Europe; we see that they were the first among the Slovanic nations to have their own archbishop and bishops, and that they were the first to propagate Christianity 3.100ng the other Slovanic peoples and therefore were in the cultural forefront of Europe already in the ninth century after Christ, and were indirectly responsible for the introduction of letters among the Bulgarians and Russians. Furthermore, we see that the Slovaks had their own political state in the ninth century and were ruled by leaders of vision and wisdom who were able to retain their independence on the most important crossroads of Europe for almost a whole century under the most difficult circumstances. When the independence of -t he ancient empire of the Slovaks was finally lost in about 904 after repeated and concentrated attacks by the combined forces of the Magyars, Germ.ans, and Czechs - the Slovaks of Rastislav, Pribina, Svatopluk and Mojmir II never gave up hope of regaining their independence, their freedom to worship God in their own fashion and the right to rule themselves and be masters of their own destiny in their ancient homeland - Slovakia. Martin Kukucin's noveJs are being translated into Russian by Jurija Bogdanov. Foor of the eminent Slovak n-0velist's works were pulblished in 1-961• under the title "Novelly." The first edition consls.ted of 30,000 oopies. X X X Jan and Bernard Kurudr, meJI11bers of the religious order of the Comforters cxf Christ, re<:ently were sentenced to prison by the Red Court of Bratislava "for illlegal contacts with the West." In Nitra, Slovakia, 118 priests and brothers o:f the Society cxf the Divine Word weire sentenced to priscm on charges of d•istriibuting "illegal pulblications" and p e ,r f o rim i n g churCth services unlawfully. l!!! l!E( iJg wellkn-own SloV'ak composer otf minor musical scores, celebrated his seventieth birthda,y on February 15. He devoted much of his life to coJlectitng and arrangi<n,g Slovak popular songs . John Valalt'an-Oolinsky, � SLOVAKIA 9 mE MEANING OF THE CYRILO-METHODIAN JUBILEE FRANCIS LANAK The year 1963 marks the 1,100th anniversary of the advent of the Slovak apostles, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to Slovakia, after accepting invitation of Rastislav, the Slovak sovereign, to preach the Word of God in a language which was intelligible to his people. This solemn occasion of far-reac·h ing ecclesiastical, cultural, and national significance is being commemorated by Slovaks in the entire world, because eleven whole centuries have passed since the time that Slovakia recorded the event in the history of Europe. Let us delve into the history of the ancient Slovaks of the 9th century who had their freedom, their own state, and an honorable place in the Europe of that time. The first Slovak ruler, whose name history has recorded, had the first Christian church established in 830, in Nitra, and later himself became a Christian. That ruler was Pribina, who later ruled over the Slovaks in TransDanubian Pannonia for twenty years and had 32 churches consecrated. His son, Kocer, continued in this work, and, among other things, it was he wtho appealed to the Holy Father at that time to intervene for the freedom of St. Methodius who had been incarcerated by the Germans. Let us here recall Mojmir I , who for the first time united all Slovak tribes and thereby became the founder of the Slovak State. And in his successor, Rastislav, Slovakia had its first Slovak statesman and ruler of great stature, who purposively and on ,h is own initiative wanted to permanently secure Slovak independence with a separate Slovak ecclesiastical province, which would be headed by an archbishop and would be affiliated with and dependent only on Rome-the same arrangement as the Germans had. With this clearly in our minds, the significance of our CyriloMethodian jubilee becomes obvious. Already during the reign of the predecessors of Rastislav, the land of the Slovaks was the mission territory of the German missionaries of the Salzburg bishopric. With Christianity came the influence of the German empire, but �10 SLOVAKIA also of its imperialistic effo*. When Rastislav defeated the Germans in 855, he was seriously; concerned with the ,problem how he could best secure peace for his people and its own independent development. He decided that he could do this most effectively by requesting the Pope for a Slovak bishop and the establishment of a Slovak acclesiastical province, such as the German empire had. Thereby, he reckoned, he would limit the intervention of the German bishops into the affairs and interests of Slovak rulers. In 860, Rastislav sent a delegation to Rome, to Pope Nicholas I, with a request for missionaries who could speak the language of his people. When the Holy See made a lengthy study of it and did not decide favorably even after a year, Rastislav sent another delegation, in 862, with the same request to Michael Ill in Constantinople, Emperor of the East Roman Empire. The Emperor granted Rastislav's request and sent two teachers and saintly brothers, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to the homeland of the Slovaks. Before they set out on their mission to Slovakia, the brothers invented an alphabet for the ancient Slovaks and translated parts of the Holy Writ and liturgical texts into ancient Slovak. They came to Slovakia in 863. After three years, on Rastislav's advice, they went to Rome with a large delegation, including some of their students, as well as with the remains of St. Clement, the martyr, there to defend the usage of old Slovak as a liturgical language and to repudiate the charges the Gennan clergy had lodged against them. They were successful in their mission. Adrian IT approved the use of Slovak in the liturgy and consecrated Methodius bishop for the territory of the ancient Slovaks, dispatching letters to princes Pribina, Rastislav, and Svatopluk to let them know directly of the action he had taken. Thus it was that the Slovaik rulers for the first time in history entered into direct diplomatic contact with the highest spiritual and political authorities of the world of that time as independent sovereigns. The German bishops protested, had Methodius seized in Pannonia and taken into Bavaria. A diplomatic struggle, lasting five years, ensued �SLOVAKIA 11 between the Holy See and the German emperor. In the end the Slovaks were victorious, and the papal legate inducted St. Methodius to the bisbop's seat in Nitra. In the meantime Svatopluk had succeeded Rastislav. Though Svatopluk did not fully understand the original idea of Rastislav and was under the influence of the hostility of the German clergy, who continued to oppose Slovak liturgy and Methodius, the latter developed an intensive missionary activity not only in Slovakia, but also in the ex:panded Great Moravian Empire of King Svatopluk. Among other things, St. Methodius baptized Bofivoj, the Czech Prince, after Svatopluk had conquered the Czechs, and spread Christianity among the Vislanians (the present Poles) who also W',ere a part of Svatopluk's realm. Methodius then made another diplomatic mission to Rome to gain more recognition for the land of the Slovaks and their sovereign. The Holy See took the great empire of Svatopluk under its -p rotection, placing it on the same footing as the German empire, and St. Methodius was named archbishop by the Holy Father with the right to name Slovak bishops. The Germans, of course, highly resented this recognition by the Holy See and attacked Svatopluk repeatedly only to be repulsed by him. The Slovak Sviitopluk remained unconquered by the Germans for the entire 25 years of his reign. After St. Methodius died in 885, the Germans convinced Pape Stephen V to such an extent that he forbade the use of the ancient Slovak liturgy, and the disciples of Methocilus were forced to seek asylum in neighboring Bulgaria. It was from Bulgaria that the ancient Slovak liturgy spread into Russia where Russian literature then developed from the original ancient Slovak of St. Cyril and Methodius. The successoc of .Svatopluk, Mojmir II, sent a delegation to Rome requesting that his territory be given the recognition of an independent ecclesiastical province. The mission was successful, Po~ John IX granting the request. After the experiences of his predecessors, Mojmir II did not ask for a renewal of the Slovak liturgy, so that the Latin became domesticated in the land of the Slovaks and with it Slovakia was definij:ely bound to Rome and western Europe. �12 SLOVAKIA From this hurried glance into the Slovak past we see that our ancient Slovak language became, alongside Latin and Greek, the third language in which Christian liturgical services were conducted; thait the Slovaks were first among the Slovanic peoples who as an entire state accepted Christianity and thus recorded themselves as the first Slovanic people into the cultural history of Europe; we see that they were the first among the Slovanic nations to have their own archbishop and bishops, and that they were the first to propagate Christianity 3.100ng the other Slovanic peoples and therefore were in the cultural forefront of Europe already in the ninth century after Christ, and were indirectly responsible for the introduction of letters among the Bulgarians and Russians. Furthermore, we see that the Slovaks had their own political state in the ninth century and were ruled by leaders of vision and wisdom who were able to retain their independence on the most important crossroads of Europe for almost a whole century under the most difficult circumstances. When the independence of -t he ancient empire of the Slovaks was finally lost in about 904 after repeated and concentrated attacks by the combined forces of the Magyars, Germ.ans, and Czechs - the Slovaks of Rastislav, Pribina, Svatopluk and Mojmir II never gave up hope of regaining their independence, their freedom to worship God in their own fashion and the right to rule themselves and be masters of their own destiny in their ancient homeland - Slovakia. Martin Kukucin's noveJs are being translated into Russian by Jurija Bogdanov. Foor of the eminent Slovak n-0velist's works were pulblished in 1-961• under the title "Novelly." The first edition consls.ted of 30,000 oopies. X X X Jan and Bernard Kurudr, meJI11bers of the religious order of the Comforters cxf Christ, re<:ently were sentenced to prison by the Red Court of Bratislava "for illlegal contacts with the West." In Nitra, Slovakia, 118 priests and brothers o:f the Society cxf the Divine Word weire sentenced to priscm on charges of d•istriibuting "illegal pulblications" and p e ,r f o rim i n g churCth services unlawfully. l!!! l!E( iJg wellkn-own SloV'ak composer otf minor musical scores, celebrated his seventieth birthda,y on February 15. He devoted much of his life to coJlectitng and arrangi<n,g Slovak popular songs . John Valalt'an-Oolinsky, � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 9 mE MEANING OF THE CYRILO-METHODIAN JUBILEE FRANCIS LANAK The year 1963 marks the 1,100th anniversary of the advent of the Slovak apostles, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to Slovakia, after accepting invitation of Rastislav, the Slovak sovereign, to preach the Word of God in a language which was intelligible to his people. This solemn occasion of far-reac·h ing ecclesiastical, cultural, and national significance is being commemorated by Slovaks in the entire world, because eleven whole centuries have passed since the time that Slovakia recorded the event in the history of Europe. Let us delve into the history of the ancient Slovaks of the 9th century who had their freedom, their own state, and an honorable place in the Europe of that time. The first Slovak ruler, whose name history has recorded, had the first Christian church established in 830, in Nitra, and later himself became a Christian. That ruler was Pribina, who later ruled over the Slovaks in TransDanubian Pannonia for twenty years and had 32 churches consecrated. His son, Kocer, continued in this work, and, among other things, it was he wtho appealed to the Holy Father at that time to intervene for the freedom of St. Methodius who had been incarcerated by the Germans. Let us here recall Mojmir I , who for the first time united all Slovak tribes and thereby became the founder of the Slovak State. And in his successor, Rastislav, Slovakia had its first Slovak statesman and ruler of great stature, who purposively and on ,h is own initiative wanted to permanently secure Slovak independence with a separate Slovak ecclesiastical province, which would be headed by an archbishop and would be affiliated with and dependent only on Rome-the same arrangement as the Germans had. With this clearly in our minds, the significance of our CyriloMethodian jubilee becomes obvious. Already during the reign of the predecessors of Rastislav, the land of the Slovaks was the mission territory of the German missionaries of the Salzburg bishopric. With Christianity came the influence of the German empire, but 10 SLOVAKIA also of its imperialistic effo*. When Rastislav defeated the Germans in 855, he was seriously; concerned with the ,problem how he could best secure peace for his people and its own independent development. He decided that he could do this most effectively by requesting the Pope for a Slovak bishop and the establishment of a Slovak acclesiastical province, such as the German empire had. Thereby, he reckoned, he would limit the intervention of the German bishops into the affairs and interests of Slovak rulers. In 860, Rastislav sent a delegation to Rome, to Pope Nicholas I, with a request for missionaries who could speak the language of his people. When the Holy See made a lengthy study of it and did not decide favorably even after a year, Rastislav sent another delegation, in 862, with the same request to Michael Ill in Constantinople, Emperor of the East Roman Empire. The Emperor granted Rastislav's request and sent two teachers and saintly brothers, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to the homeland of the Slovaks. Before they set out on their mission to Slovakia, the brothers invented an alphabet for the ancient Slovaks and translated parts of the Holy Writ and liturgical texts into ancient Slovak. They came to Slovakia in 863. After three years, on Rastislav's advice, they went to Rome with a large delegation, including some of their students, as well as with the remains of St. Clement, the martyr, there to defend the usage of old Slovak as a liturgical language and to repudiate the charges the Gennan clergy had lodged against them. They were successful in their mission. Adrian IT approved the use of Slovak in the liturgy and consecrated Methodius bishop for the territory of the ancient Slovaks, dispatching letters to princes Pribina, Rastislav, and Svatopluk to let them know directly of the action he had taken. Thus it was that the Slovaik rulers for the first time in history entered into direct diplomatic contact with the highest spiritual and political authorities of the world of that time as independent sovereigns. The German bishops protested, had Methodius seized in Pannonia and taken into Bavaria. A diplomatic struggle, lasting five years, ensued SLOVAKIA 11 between the Holy See and the German emperor. In the end the Slovaks were victorious, and the papal legate inducted St. Methodius to the bisbop's seat in Nitra. In the meantime Svatopluk had succeeded Rastislav. Though Svatopluk did not fully understand the original idea of Rastislav and was under the influence of the hostility of the German clergy, who continued to oppose Slovak liturgy and Methodius, the latter developed an intensive missionary activity not only in Slovakia, but also in the ex:panded Great Moravian Empire of King Svatopluk. Among other things, St. Methodius baptized Bofivoj, the Czech Prince, after Svatopluk had conquered the Czechs, and spread Christianity among the Vislanians (the present Poles) who also W',ere a part of Svatopluk's realm. Methodius then made another diplomatic mission to Rome to gain more recognition for the land of the Slovaks and their sovereign. The Holy See took the great empire of Svatopluk under its -p rotection, placing it on the same footing as the German empire, and St. Methodius was named archbishop by the Holy Father with the right to name Slovak bishops. The Germans, of course, highly resented this recognition by the Holy See and attacked Svatopluk repeatedly only to be repulsed by him. The Slovak Sviitopluk remained unconquered by the Germans for the entire 25 years of his reign. After St. Methodius died in 885, the Germans convinced Pape Stephen V to such an extent that he forbade the use of the ancient Slovak liturgy, and the disciples of Methocilus were forced to seek asylum in neighboring Bulgaria. It was from Bulgaria that the ancient Slovak liturgy spread into Russia where Russian literature then developed from the original ancient Slovak of St. Cyril and Methodius. The successoc of .Svatopluk, Mojmir II, sent a delegation to Rome requesting that his territory be given the recognition of an independent ecclesiastical province. The mission was successful, Po~ John IX granting the request. After the experiences of his predecessors, Mojmir II did not ask for a renewal of the Slovak liturgy, so that the Latin became domesticated in the land of the Slovaks and with it Slovakia was definij:ely bound to Rome and western Europe. 12 SLOVAKIA From this hurried glance into the Slovak past we see that our ancient Slovak language became, alongside Latin and Greek, the third language in which Christian liturgical services were conducted; thait the Slovaks were first among the Slovanic peoples who as an entire state accepted Christianity and thus recorded themselves as the first Slovanic people into the cultural history of Europe; we see that they were the first among the Slovanic nations to have their own archbishop and bishops, and that they were the first to propagate Christianity 3.100ng the other Slovanic peoples and therefore were in the cultural forefront of Europe already in the ninth century after Christ, and were indirectly responsible for the introduction of letters among the Bulgarians and Russians. Furthermore, we see that the Slovaks had their own political state in the ninth century and were ruled by leaders of vision and wisdom who were able to retain their independence on the most important crossroads of Europe for almost a whole century under the most difficult circumstances. When the independence of -t he ancient empire of the Slovaks was finally lost in about 904 after repeated and concentrated attacks by the combined forces of the Magyars, Germ.ans, and Czechs - the Slovaks of Rastislav, Pribina, Svatopluk and Mojmir II never gave up hope of regaining their independence, their freedom to worship God in their own fashion and the right to rule themselves and be masters of their own destiny in their ancient homeland - Slovakia. Martin Kukucin's noveJs are being translated into Russian by Jurija Bogdanov. Foor of the eminent Slovak n-0velist's works were pulblished in 1-961• under the title "Novelly." The first edition consls.ted of 30,000 oopies. X X X Jan and Bernard Kurudr, meJI11bers of the religious order of the Comforters cxf Christ, re<:ently were sentenced to prison by the Red Court of Bratislava "for illlegal contacts with the West." In Nitra, Slovakia, 118 priests and brothers o:f the Society cxf the Divine Word weire sentenced to priscm on charges of d•istriibuting "illegal pulblications" and p e ,r f o rim i n g churCth services unlawfully. l!!! l!E( iJg wellkn-own SloV'ak composer otf minor musical scores, celebrated his seventieth birthda,y on February 15. He devoted much of his life to coJlectitng and arrangi<n,g Slovak popular songs . John Valalt'an-Oolinsky,  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Meaning of the Cyril-Methodian Jubilee Description An account of the resource Francis Lanák Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 9-12 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lanák, Francis Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6eddbebeec47d1c911b38343d3742daa.pdf 7ecf6c97b2c4f90f0758cc11e32c687b PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 179 THE MILITARY MISSIONS OF MILAN R. STEFANIK IN RUSSIA ON BEHALF OF THE CZECH AND SLOVAK CAUSE (BASED UPON DOCUMENTS IN THE RUSSIAN ARCHIVES) Evgeny F. Firsov This paper focuses on Milan R. Stefanik's recruitment of Czech and Slovak volunteers for the Czechoslovak 1 national movement in Russia during the First World War. It is based upon original materials identified in the Russian archives in the Russian, Czech, Slovak and French languages, including from the Department of written sources of the State Historical Museum (then - OPI GIM). Milan R. Stefanik (1880-1919), Slovak by origin, naturalized in France, was undoubtedly one of the most visible and popular figures among Czechs and Slovaks abroad during the First World War. In one reference to the Czechoslovak diaspora and to prisoners of war in Russia, it was underlined that the success of the national movement was guaranteed by the activity of M. R. Stefanik. This document made the flattering assessment: You know who Stefanik is. He is from the Slovak Nitra region on the border with Moravia, once the center of the former Great Moravian Empire of Sviitopluk, which was the natural center of the Czechoslovak nation. He is a member and plenipotentiary of the Czechoslovak National Council, the authorized representative of Prof Masaryk. A renowned scholar, a hero, who distinguished himself on the French, Italian and Serbian fronts, he is a first-class and influential diplomat.2 1 ln the Russian documents of that time Czecho-Slovak was written, as a rule, as one word. And Stefanik adhered to the Czechoslovak orientation. 2 OPT GIM, f. 151. N.F. Melnikova-Kedrova-Rivnac. Materialy J. Papouseka. Hektograf na cesskom jazyke. February, 14, I 917. See also Evgeni Firsov, ,, Hektograficke materialy a korespondence v propagande patriotickeho hnuti ceskych a slovenskych zajatcu v Rusku," Historie a vojenstvi 1 (Praha, 2003), 23-36. �180 SLOVAKIA In Soviet historiography before 1990, Stefanik was considered one of the initiators of foreign intervention in Russia and a supporter of Admiral Kolchak. Despite this, his name can be found in the Soviet Encyclop edia. Furthermore, in Soviet and other historiography, Stefanik appeared as an anti-hero, in spite of all his achievements in the national liberation of the Czechs and Slovaks. 3 Only in 2001 , on the initiative of Igor Furdik, Ambassador Extraordinary of Slovakia to Russia, and due to the efforts of a number of Russian historians (including the author of this article) and Slovak historian Joseph Husar, there appeared a really objective work: Milan Rastislav Stefanik. Novy) vzg/'ad [Milan Rastislav Stefanik. A New Approach] (Martin, 2001 ). It is remarkable that the book was published in Slovakia. As expressed by Ambassador Furdik, the new situation in Central Europe finally allowed a fair and balanced assessment of Milan R. Stefanik. 4 Stefanik's personality characteristics in Russian sources are generally very positive and sympathetic. They repeatedly illustrated his courage and sacrifice. Stefanik initially arrived in Russia in 1916 as an emissary of the French military and only later as a representative of the Czechoslovak National Council. In Czechoslovakia, the Slovak sociologist Anton Stefanek pointed out that to Stefanik ... we owe the fact that no one can rule over the Slovaks and the Slovak language, and Slovak national traditions regained their freedom, something which everybody was dreaming of, and that our ancestors had been waiting for. Th e history of the Slovak p eople would apparently have developed quite differently had it not been for Stefanik. 5 Stefanik appeared as a stoic person, but he was in poor health. He was ready to go to the end of the world for T. G. Masaryk and to 3 Sovetskij enciklopedicheskij slovar' (Moskva, 1982), 15-17, "Stefanik"; L. Holotik, Stefanikovska legenda a vznik CSR (Bratislava, 1958). 4 Milan Rastislav Stefa nik. Novy) vzg/'ad (Martin, 2001 ), 9; Evgenij F. Firsov, ,. Bojovnik za narodnu slobodu. M.R.Stefanik vo svetle ruskych pramenov," in M R. Stefanik v zrkadle prameiiov a najnovsich poznatkov historiograjie (Bratislava, 20 I 0). For a bibliography of the proceedings of the author about the national movement of Czechs and Slovaks of this period, see Evgenij Firsov, Scholars of Bohemian, Czech and Czechoslovak History Studies I (A- I) (Prague, 2005), 262-68 . 5 Slovensky dennik, 7, 1924, p.102. �SLOVAKIA 181 carry out any mission in distant Russia. The correspondence between Masaryk and Edvard Benes (from the Prague archives) shows that neither one was initially in any hurry to go to Russia. Benes justified his unwillingness to go by teaching a course on Czech history and literature from the sociological aspect at the Paris Higher Institute of Oriental Languages 6 . Masaryk was engaged in similar activities in London. So it was necessary for Stefanik to go to Russia. On July 26, 1916, The French General Staff issued an order, signed by the deputy Chief of Staff General Pelle, authorizing a "special mission" to Russia. By this order, Lieutenant Stefanik (led by General Maurice Janin) would be to allowed by Russia to organize a group of Austrian prisoners of war of Czech nationality to serve in France in Russian units or in special units. These would be formed on the basis of an agreement between France and Russia.7 The Czech troops were supposed to serve on the French front, but not on the Russian, to ensure their future independence from Russia. The French Command believed that Stefanik's mission should be limited to the recruitment of Czech and Slovak volunteers in order to strengthen the military forces of France. 8 Long and difficult negotiations (and even "nervousness," as noted by contemporaries) during the summer of 1916 and the spring of 191 7, and again between November 1918 and January 1919, ensued. Stefanik had to deal with former Czech member of the Austrian Parliament Josef Durich and his followers and with the board of the Union of Czech and Slovak Societies in Russia. He was assisted by Bohdan Pavlu and a group of Petrograd Czechs. Stefanik finally has managed to incline Slovak national groups in Russia to the proCzechoslovak and pro-French orientation of the Czechoslovak National Council in Paris. 9 Upon his arrival in Russia, Stefanik was able to make a most favorable impression upon the leaders of the diplomatic office of Stav6 TGM - EB. Korespondence (Praha, 2004), 192. Milan Rastislav Stefanik v archivnych dokumentoch Historickej slui by fran cuzskeho ministerstva obrany. Ed. Frederic Guelton a i. (Bratislava: Ministerstvo obrany SR, 2009), 55 . 8 Ibid., 58. 9 See more details see E. Firsov, ,,Boj za orientaciu ceskeho a slovenskeho narodnooslobodzovacieho hnutia v Rusku v rokoch 1915-1917," Historicky casopis 43 , no. I ( 1995), 47-68. 7 �182 SLOVAKIA ka (General Headquarters - E.F.) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (further - MF A). As the August 2, 1916 letter of Basili (the Chief of the Diplomatic office of Stavka) to A. Neratoff in MF A of stated: "In the middle of August Stefanik arrived, a Lieutenant in the French service, originally a Czech (! - E.F. ). General Alekseev (Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander - E.F.), as well as I, were impressed by Stefanik as a sensible and intelligent man" 10 . Basili then continued: In my conversations, I repeated to him (Stefanik - E.F.) what I had to tell his countrymen, that the success of the Czech cause depended upon ending, as soon as possible, the disagreement among the Czechs working with us .... and that we did not want to interfere in the internal affairs of the Czechs, but of course expect them to keep in mind their natural duty primarily to Russia. Stefanik went from Stavka to Kiev, where he attended a meeting of Czech leaders. At his suggestion, they created the Association of Czechs in Russia. At the head of the new organization will be Durich, with a staff, elected in agreement with the Czechoslovak National Council. 11 Stefanik showed much more useful activities with the organization of Czech troops, according to Basili. 12 Furthermore, Basili went on, The role played by Stefanik in concluding an agreement with Durich, and the latter's f ear of Stefanik, makes us want to turn him from the Czech cause in Russia, since he could be useful to us in military terms. From this point of view the commissioning of persons proposed to you by Stefanik is also undesirable because of their deliberate Masaryk coloring. JJ After this message of August 30, 1916, A. Neratoff informed Basili that: ... all negotiations on the Czech political system are concentrated in the hands of Masaryk. Durich 's activity is re10 11 12 13 AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 61. D. 93. L. 96. AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 61. D. 93. L. 9606.-98. AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 61. D. 93 . L. I 05 . AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 607. D. 93 . L. I 07. �SLOVAKIA 183 stricted to propaganda among the Czech prisoners of war in Russia, under the close supervision of Masaryk ' agents, the most important of which is Stefanik. 14 The main result of this exchange was the September, 1916 conclusion that it was necessary to make efforts to retain the main center of the Czechoslovak movement in Russia. World War I would decide on the structure of Central Europe based upon new principles. Thus, we can conclude that the results of the first Stefanik mission to Russia almost did not depend on him (in spite of the fact that in historical literature it was judged a failure ). 15 This was especially true because at the beginning of August 1916, i.e. before Stefanik's arrival in Russia, the Council of Ministers had rejected a request by the French government to allow a significant number of prisoners of war to be transferred to France. Stefanik's mission led to the neutralization of Masaryk's competitor in Russia, Josef Diirich, and paved the way for T.G. Masaryk' s coming to Russia as the leader of the Czechoslovak national movement a few months after the February, 1917 revolution. The archival materials of Jaroslav Papousek, discovered by us, included letters to Bohdan Pavhl, a close colleague and authorized representative of M. R. Stefanik. They complete the history of the struggle for the recognition of the Masaryk program for the independent Czechoslovak State from the "Russian" colony of Czechs and Slovaks. They also cover the creation of the Council headed by Diirich, as well as the history of its collapse. With the strong support of Milan R. Stefanik, a decisive role in this was played by representatives of the so-called Petrograd opposition (B. Pavhl, J. Papousek, J. Klecanda, etc.). Supported by M. R. Stefanik, they carried out the decisions of Masaryk and his Council in Paris. In this regard, the literature on the Legionnaires, which alluded to the spontaneous connection of "Russian" Czechs and Slovaks to Masaryk's program, is unconvincing. 16 14 For more about this see E. Firsov, ,,Milan Rastislav Stefanik (po operativnym materialam zarskoj i kolcakovskoj vlasti), " in Milan Rastislav Stefanik: novyj vzgl'ad (Martin, 2001), 41. 15 See for example, K. Pichlik , B. Klipa., J. Zabloudilova, Ceskoslovensti /egionafi (1914-1920) (Praha, 1996). 6 See, for example, JosefKudela, S nasim voj skem na Rusi (Praha, 1923). �184 SLOVAKIA Now we will present at least part of a letter, written by M. R. Stefanik in Petrograd in February of 1917, and addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It reads in part: Your Excellency, I have the honor hereby to inform Your Excellency that the Czechoslovak National Council unanimously agreed to exclude the deputy J. Durich from membership in the National Council. I consider it my duty to inform Your Excellency of the sad act which was forced upon the Czechoslovak National Council by Mr. Durich 's actions. Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration and deep devotion. Milan Stefanik, a member of the Czechoslovak National Council, in Petrograd, February 9, 1917. His Excellency Mr. Minister of Foreign Affairs N. N. Pokrovsky 17 . Then followed a detailed explanation by Stefanik. The text consists of more than fourteen pages. On Stefanik' s letter there appears a hand-written notation : it was read by the Minister at a meeting on February 10, 1917. From these documents it is clear that Stefanik' s efforts as the representative of the Paris Czechoslovak National Council were ultimately aimed at weakening Russia's geopolitical influence in Central Europe. We now proceed to the next arrival of M. R. Stefanik in Russia, this time in Siberia. This information is taken mainly from the Admiral Kolchak government reports (mostly from the collections of GARF) . It is not my intention to reproduce the history of Kolchak's government in the Siberian expanses of Russia, nor to give a detailed explanation of the relations between the Siberian Provisional Government at Omsk and the Czechoslovak Legions. For us it was more important to look at the general condition and spirit of the Czechoslovak troops on the eve of Stefanik' s arrival in Siberia through Vladivostok, and to reproduce for the first time important materials about Stefanik' s activities. 17 A VPRI, F. Osobyj politotdel. D., 224. �SLOVAKIA 185 The relationship between the Czechoslovak military units and the Provisional Siberian Government, according to the operative information of Stefanik, evolved quite favorably. In reports from the summer of 1918 it was noted that almost brotherly relations had been established with the Czechs and Slovaks, based on a community of mutual interests and goals. On behalf of the Allies, the French side gave official thanks to the Czechs and Slovaks for their actions and their willingness to contribute to the opening of a second front. 18 The first mention of Stefanik (who at this time was identified as a Czech) was found in a telegram of November 5, 1918, from the Siberian command headquarters in Omsk, that is, a few days before the Kolchak coup. It said that the Allies knew about the expansion of the Czechoslovak military units, and their rebelliousness was seen as a desire to leave Russia. It further stated: "General Janin, with Czech General Stefanik, arrived in Russia to command the Czechs and to arrange for help. The latter condemns the policy of the Czech National Council." 19 The documents further stated that the Omsk events (Kolchak's coup) were favorably received by the Allies. Stefanik arrived in Siberia in an emergency situation, especially with the intention of inspecting the situation. He was powerless to affect the general course of events. No less important, and quite a delicate task, was to quell a strong revolutionary and even proBolshevik unrest in the ranks of the Czech and Slovak troops. He also had to overcome the anti-Kolchak' spirit of the troops (spread immediately after the coup), and to persuade their leaders to cooperate with the new Siberian power, as the other Allies had already done. Those believed that the Czechoslovaks should not leave Russia until their presence was no longer necessary for intervention. Meanwhile, the Czechoslovak army in Russia was also essential to Prague, as it was one of the guarantors of the projected boundaries of the newly-created Czechoslovak Republic. The binding of Czech and Slovak troops to the new government did not happen immediately. The operative information at the end of November, 1918 was that the Czechoslovak army had no sympathy 18 See E. Firsov, ,,Milan Rastislav Stefanik (po operativnym materialam carskoj i kolcakovskoj vlasti) ," in Milan Rastislav Stefanik: novyj vzgl'ad (Martin, 2001), 3556. 19 GARF. F. 162. �186 SLOVAKIA for the violent upheaval at Omsk and considered the crisis unfinished and looked forward to its resolution by legal means. Among the Czechoslovak Army Corps demands arose to send these military units home. The critical attitude of the Czechoslovak army during 1919 did not change. The Kolchak government failed to recruit it for the front. Its Council of Ministers even promised to reward the Czechoslovak army in the struggle for the revival of Russia by giving it the right to acquire real estate. The general condition of Czechoslovak forces was compared in the reports with the situation in the Russian army. It was noted that Czech and Slovak officers quickly became right-wing and the rankand-file left-wing, with a gap growing between them. After General Stefanik's arrival, Admiral Kolchak, in a telegram of December 20, 1918 to the Russian Ambassador in Paris, informed him that: "General Janin has arrived, whom we expected with impatience, hoping to resolve urgent problems of command together with him and Stefanik. .. 11 20 . In our view, many complications stemmed not only from the fact that the Czech and Slovak commanders often acted (according to Kolchak) quite independently, but also that the mass of the Czech and Slovak Legionaries saw in Kolchak's government the danger of the restoration of the old pre-revolutionary order. It was no secret that the Legionnaires' political orientations were formed by the party of social revolutionaries. By tremendous persuasion General Stefanik managed to turn the Czech and Slovak troops into allies of Kolchak. In conversations with the Czech and Slovak troops, Stefanik set out to fulfill promises which were made to the Allies - to protect the Trans-Siberian Railway, which the Legionnaires had captured, as well as the city of Omsk. He even had to struggle with cases of insubordination. His most radical step was to publish order Number 588 on January 16, 1919, which was announced after his departure. According to this order, the army and democracy were incompatible. Therefore, all elected committees of the Russian Army type were to be dissolved. A few days later Stefanik left Siberia, apparently due to ill health. 20 E. Firsov, ,,Milan Rastislav Stefanik (po operativnym materialam carskoj i kolcakovskoj vlasti), " in Milan Rastislav Stefanik: novyj vzgl 'ad (Martin, 200 I), 45-46. �SLOVAKIA 187 The most detailed archival materials on Stefanik's activities in Siberia are contained in the July 3, 1919 Department of State Protection report to Kolchak's government. It covers the long period from the fall of 1918 to the summer of 1919. This report, signed by Lieutenant Colonel Russiyanov (some reports were signed by an agent nicknamed "Summer"), noted: While the Czechoslovaks had plenty of everything, and everyone was interested in them, when they felt that they were in charge, [they] did not feel homesick and forgot the drought at home. But when their position had deteriorated, and they receded into the background, discontent arose among them .. . Their commanders, wishing to suppress a rising discontent, and at the same time to constrain the demoralizing propagation of "Committees" among them, have welcomed to Russia General Stefanik, who is clothed with the authority of the Republic ... Stefanik informed them that, as of his arrival, the Czechoslovak army became a regular army of the Czechoslovak Republic. Stefanik promised that he would do everything in his power to alleviate the Czechoslovaks' situation in Siberia and to ensure their return home as soon as possible... "21 One of the representatives of Kolchak' Department of State Protection even declared that "almost without exception, all social classes have turned against the Czechoslovaks. Always it heard that the Czechoslovaks have undertaken not to work for them."22 What were the results of this Siberian tour? Almost a century later, contrary to the negative opinions regarding Stefanik's stay in Russia, 23 positive results are also evident. Stefanik helped to unite the Czechoslovak army, to increase its combat capability, and to make it a part of the newly-created Czechoslovak Republic. He persuaded the Legionaries to endure for a bit longer, even though they were so far from their native land. Russian sources also speak of Stefanik's merits and to his expulsion of the most Russophobe-minded members of the Czechoslovak National Council, who opposed Kolchak. 24 21 GARF. F. 147. Op. 8. D. 40. GARF. F. 147. Op. 8. D. 40. L. 5806. 23 See for example, L. Holotik, "Stefanikovska legenda a vznik CSR" (Bratislava, 1958). 24 S Kolcakom, protiv Kolcaka (Moskva, 2007), 137. 22 �188 SLOVAKIA Thanks to Stefanik, many Russian troops, earlier divided over the Czechoslovak army, went over to Kolchak. Stefanik helped to smooth the friction between French General Janin and Admiral Kolchak. With Stefanik' s sudden departure from Siberia, the relationship between the Allies and Kolchak deteriorated and latent plans were nurtured about the secret withdrawal of Czechoslovak troops from the zone of Kolchak' power. Thus the fate of the Siberian governor was sealed by the Allies. Nevertheless, the Allies still continued to watch over Kolchak, for they were attracted by the Russian gold reserves 25 and an incredible desire to profit by them. They were not able to provide to the Russian government of Kolchak substantial military aid and the mission of Janin and the Allies turned from a military to a diplomatic one. In the words of G. K. Gins (whose work "Siberia, the Allies and Kolchak" has been published several times in Russia) "the consciousness of common Slavonic problems, the adherence to culture which was broken by Bolshevism - could it be understood by an ordinary Czech soldier?" 26 Stefanik was one of the few who perceived these problems and planted this understanding with another compatriot. The book of G.K. Gins, a former manager of the Kolchak government, contains the highest praise for Stefanik and his stay in Omsk. Gins concludes that the Czech Legionnaires' saga in Russia was not heroic in itself. It contributed nothing to the Slavic peoples, to Siberia or to Russia. The Czechs and Slovaks just wanted to go home. 27 In 2007 a book entitled "With Kolchak against Kolchak" appeared. This work leaves much to be desired. The section about Stefanik, for example, contains many mistakes. The name "Stefanik" on page 13 7 is distorted and the years of his life are not specified. Furthermore, it asserted that Stefanik was "ill in Siberia and moved to Czechoslovakia," and further in this book, " ... he came for the evacuation of the Czechoslovak Corps, and on September 2, 1920 25 RGV A, f. 1198. Dokumental 'nyje materialy po istorii sozdanija cecho-slovackogo gosudarstva. Kollekcij a. CCXIII. General Janin E. Benesu. Omsk, 29.X.1919. The document in fiarticular says: «Je provoque mesures pour transferer reserve d' orn . 6 G.K Gins., Sibir ', sojuzniki i Kolcak (Moskva, 2008), 578. 27 Ibid., 574-75 . �SLOVAKIA 189 departed from Vladivostok to Czechoslovakia" 28 (but we know that Stefanik died on May 4, 1919). Most recently, valuable sources of the Russian State Military Archives (further - RGV A) relating to the national liberation struggle of Czechs and Slovaks in the First World War have become available. Of special interest are materials containing confidential correspondence (most often marked "urgent") by the Chief of Allied forces in Siberia, General Maurice Janin, with various authorities. They include numerous dispatches (intercepted by Kolchak's counterespionage) sent by Janin to the French command, and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic, Edvard Benes. An exchange of telegrams was also conducted with the commander of Czechoslovak troops in Siberia. More steadfast analysis of this considerable block of archival materials still needs to be carried out. The materials reveal a lot about the role of the Allies in Siberia, and especially characterize the relationship of the Allies, General Janin and the Czechoslovak army with Kolchak's government. The RGVA block also contains some interesting materials relating to Stefanik's stay in the camp of the Czechoslovak army and Kolchak's, and Stefanik's reports to Benes. And here one can draw a general conclusion that as a military commander and as a representative of the new Czechoslovak Republic, Stefanik enjoyed unprecedented respect and trust. Estimations of Stefanik contained in Janin's dispatches are positive and respectful. In summary, we will now underline the importance of Stefanik's military missions in Russia. During his first mission, Stefanik made the break which led to Diirich's downfall and this made things easier for T. G. Masaryk, who arrived after the February revolution in 1917. The second mission in Siberia and to the Far East, appears unfinished because Stefanik's health deteriorated. However, there was also a disagreement with Maurice Janin, the commander-in-chief of the armies of the Entente. As a result, Stefanik abruptly left Siberia in order to take part in the Paris Peace Conference, even though he was not officially included in the Czechoslovak delegation. He intended to use his abilities, his influence at the highest levels and his diplomatic skills to uphold Czechoslovak (and especially Slovak) affairs. The important question of the frontiers of the new state was 28 S Kolcakom, protiv Kolcaka (Moskva, 2007), 137. �190 SLOVAKIA solved. And the merits of Stefanik, judging by the memoirs of representatives of Great Britain, were recognized as considerable. 29 The arrival of Stefanik strengthened the Slovak component in the argument for an independent Czecho-Slovak state. At the Paris Conference Stefanik was named "the Czech Military Minister;" he left the impression of a mobile, and in contrast to the corpulent Karel Kramai', a "vigorous and imperious figure." Those who remembered Stefanik at the Conference considered his death an "essential loss, as by temperament Stefanik was sparkling champagne compared to the Czech spirit of heavy beer." 30 oan OIOflk 27 /x 1919 Qeneralu 'lffrcr,y Irtutak Situace na f rmU lpatna. LeT' lcl'idlo T plnea 11atup11. Stl'ed a pra,e lcl'idlo 118tupuje ponolna, ~llkytujice dosU tmoUjn;f odpor, Tiak nhledea k w,tupu lwfho kfidla msi tab ustuponti. Oeobd pro tentokraty neohoTa■ perne nada j i T UBj>lohu d jaU protiofendT:y. llyslli le T bnku ae 1aane e na- kusei o.Ji:a. Poehybuji le se Tlada T pl'1paU nakuaoe O..ka udrli. ProeiA pfilalllU sacboTat1 T Anla:la pa'h.dak.Zlollllram 0.Sl. ~dy naehuejioill ae jelti T o.ku daU patr16DII roskuy k e1'8ntuelni 91'llkuao1 Genenll JANI N. Illustration I . Instructions of General Janin to General Syrovy in connection with the planned evacuation of Czechoslovak troops from Omsk (The source is from RGVA , Russia) 29 30 G. Nikolson, Kak delalsja mir v /919 g. (Moskva, 1945), 251 . Ibid. �191 SLOVAKIA OOIIII ExplldU d 'Omsk le 29 OctobN 1919. ioie franqaiae Co.wrlquer Docteur BEIIES. Retrai te continue la ga110he eat aur 1 • ICJ!Dl oo peo en annt Pl!'?ROPAil.OSKI le reete a pe11 pres de mi-chnin entre le11 2 rhieraa. Tro11pea sont tree ua4es, d4moralidee, lea r4eerres douteuses. J' 4proun Tina craintea au 11uj11t d • <IISK, qua partage je croia eal'oir l.e Comaand8J!llllt an Ohef. Je prol'oq'tll aesurea pour t r&Daf6rer r411erre d • or. Situation r6sllltant de 1· 11ffoudr81118nt du front, de 1 • 4Yacuati <11 dee ~nee et du d4sordra g4n4rali ■ d est bien diftlcile. General JANIN. Illustration 2. General Janin informs Edvard Benes about the measures taken on displacement of the Russian gold reserves (The source is from RGVA. Russia) �� SLOVAKIA 179 THE MILITARY MISSIONS OF MILAN R. STEFANIK IN RUSSIA ON BEHALF OF THE CZECH AND SLOVAK CAUSE (BASED UPON DOCUMENTS IN THE RUSSIAN ARCHIVES) Evgeny F. Firsov This paper focuses on Milan R. Stefanik's recruitment of Czech and Slovak volunteers for the Czechoslovak 1 national movement in Russia during the First World War. It is based upon original materials identified in the Russian archives in the Russian, Czech, Slovak and French languages, including from the Department of written sources of the State Historical Museum (then - OPI GIM). Milan R. Stefanik (1880-1919), Slovak by origin, naturalized in France, was undoubtedly one of the most visible and popular figures among Czechs and Slovaks abroad during the First World War. In one reference to the Czechoslovak diaspora and to prisoners of war in Russia, it was underlined that the success of the national movement was guaranteed by the activity of M. R. Stefanik. This document made the flattering assessment: You know who Stefanik is. He is from the Slovak Nitra region on the border with Moravia, once the center of the former Great Moravian Empire of Sviitopluk, which was the natural center of the Czechoslovak nation. He is a member and plenipotentiary of the Czechoslovak National Council, the authorized representative of Prof Masaryk. A renowned scholar, a hero, who distinguished himself on the French, Italian and Serbian fronts, he is a first-class and influential diplomat.2 1 ln the Russian documents of that time Czecho-Slovak was written, as a rule, as one word. And Stefanik adhered to the Czechoslovak orientation. 2 OPT GIM, f. 151. N.F. Melnikova-Kedrova-Rivnac. Materialy J. Papouseka. Hektograf na cesskom jazyke. February, 14, I 917. See also Evgeni Firsov, ,, Hektograficke materialy a korespondence v propagande patriotickeho hnuti ceskych a slovenskych zajatcu v Rusku," Historie a vojenstvi 1 (Praha, 2003), 23-36. �180 SLOVAKIA In Soviet historiography before 1990, Stefanik was considered one of the initiators of foreign intervention in Russia and a supporter of Admiral Kolchak. Despite this, his name can be found in the Soviet Encyclop edia. Furthermore, in Soviet and other historiography, Stefanik appeared as an anti-hero, in spite of all his achievements in the national liberation of the Czechs and Slovaks. 3 Only in 2001 , on the initiative of Igor Furdik, Ambassador Extraordinary of Slovakia to Russia, and due to the efforts of a number of Russian historians (including the author of this article) and Slovak historian Joseph Husar, there appeared a really objective work: Milan Rastislav Stefanik. Novy) vzg/'ad [Milan Rastislav Stefanik. A New Approach] (Martin, 2001 ). It is remarkable that the book was published in Slovakia. As expressed by Ambassador Furdik, the new situation in Central Europe finally allowed a fair and balanced assessment of Milan R. Stefanik. 4 Stefanik's personality characteristics in Russian sources are generally very positive and sympathetic. They repeatedly illustrated his courage and sacrifice. Stefanik initially arrived in Russia in 1916 as an emissary of the French military and only later as a representative of the Czechoslovak National Council. In Czechoslovakia, the Slovak sociologist Anton Stefanek pointed out that to Stefanik ... we owe the fact that no one can rule over the Slovaks and the Slovak language, and Slovak national traditions regained their freedom, something which everybody was dreaming of, and that our ancestors had been waiting for. Th e history of the Slovak p eople would apparently have developed quite differently had it not been for Stefanik. 5 Stefanik appeared as a stoic person, but he was in poor health. He was ready to go to the end of the world for T. G. Masaryk and to 3 Sovetskij enciklopedicheskij slovar' (Moskva, 1982), 15-17, "Stefanik"; L. Holotik, Stefanikovska legenda a vznik CSR (Bratislava, 1958). 4 Milan Rastislav Stefa nik. Novy) vzg/'ad (Martin, 2001 ), 9; Evgenij F. Firsov, ,. Bojovnik za narodnu slobodu. M.R.Stefanik vo svetle ruskych pramenov," in M R. Stefanik v zrkadle prameiiov a najnovsich poznatkov historiograjie (Bratislava, 20 I 0). For a bibliography of the proceedings of the author about the national movement of Czechs and Slovaks of this period, see Evgenij Firsov, Scholars of Bohemian, Czech and Czechoslovak History Studies I (A- I) (Prague, 2005), 262-68 . 5 Slovensky dennik, 7, 1924, p.102. �SLOVAKIA 181 carry out any mission in distant Russia. The correspondence between Masaryk and Edvard Benes (from the Prague archives) shows that neither one was initially in any hurry to go to Russia. Benes justified his unwillingness to go by teaching a course on Czech history and literature from the sociological aspect at the Paris Higher Institute of Oriental Languages 6 . Masaryk was engaged in similar activities in London. So it was necessary for Stefanik to go to Russia. On July 26, 1916, The French General Staff issued an order, signed by the deputy Chief of Staff General Pelle, authorizing a "special mission" to Russia. By this order, Lieutenant Stefanik (led by General Maurice Janin) would be to allowed by Russia to organize a group of Austrian prisoners of war of Czech nationality to serve in France in Russian units or in special units. These would be formed on the basis of an agreement between France and Russia.7 The Czech troops were supposed to serve on the French front, but not on the Russian, to ensure their future independence from Russia. The French Command believed that Stefanik's mission should be limited to the recruitment of Czech and Slovak volunteers in order to strengthen the military forces of France. 8 Long and difficult negotiations (and even "nervousness," as noted by contemporaries) during the summer of 1916 and the spring of 191 7, and again between November 1918 and January 1919, ensued. Stefanik had to deal with former Czech member of the Austrian Parliament Josef Durich and his followers and with the board of the Union of Czech and Slovak Societies in Russia. He was assisted by Bohdan Pavlu and a group of Petrograd Czechs. Stefanik finally has managed to incline Slovak national groups in Russia to the proCzechoslovak and pro-French orientation of the Czechoslovak National Council in Paris. 9 Upon his arrival in Russia, Stefanik was able to make a most favorable impression upon the leaders of the diplomatic office of Stav6 TGM - EB. Korespondence (Praha, 2004), 192. Milan Rastislav Stefanik v archivnych dokumentoch Historickej slui by fran cuzskeho ministerstva obrany. Ed. Frederic Guelton a i. (Bratislava: Ministerstvo obrany SR, 2009), 55 . 8 Ibid., 58. 9 See more details see E. Firsov, ,,Boj za orientaciu ceskeho a slovenskeho narodnooslobodzovacieho hnutia v Rusku v rokoch 1915-1917," Historicky casopis 43 , no. I ( 1995), 47-68. 7 �182 SLOVAKIA ka (General Headquarters - E.F.) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (further - MF A). As the August 2, 1916 letter of Basili (the Chief of the Diplomatic office of Stavka) to A. Neratoff in MF A of stated: "In the middle of August Stefanik arrived, a Lieutenant in the French service, originally a Czech (! - E.F. ). General Alekseev (Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander - E.F.), as well as I, were impressed by Stefanik as a sensible and intelligent man" 10 . Basili then continued: In my conversations, I repeated to him (Stefanik - E.F.) what I had to tell his countrymen, that the success of the Czech cause depended upon ending, as soon as possible, the disagreement among the Czechs working with us .... and that we did not want to interfere in the internal affairs of the Czechs, but of course expect them to keep in mind their natural duty primarily to Russia. Stefanik went from Stavka to Kiev, where he attended a meeting of Czech leaders. At his suggestion, they created the Association of Czechs in Russia. At the head of the new organization will be Durich, with a staff, elected in agreement with the Czechoslovak National Council. 11 Stefanik showed much more useful activities with the organization of Czech troops, according to Basili. 12 Furthermore, Basili went on, The role played by Stefanik in concluding an agreement with Durich, and the latter's f ear of Stefanik, makes us want to turn him from the Czech cause in Russia, since he could be useful to us in military terms. From this point of view the commissioning of persons proposed to you by Stefanik is also undesirable because of their deliberate Masaryk coloring. JJ After this message of August 30, 1916, A. Neratoff informed Basili that: ... all negotiations on the Czech political system are concentrated in the hands of Masaryk. Durich 's activity is re10 11 12 13 AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 61. D. 93. L. 96. AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 61. D. 93. L. 9606.-98. AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 61. D. 93 . L. I 05 . AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 607. D. 93 . L. I 07. �SLOVAKIA 183 stricted to propaganda among the Czech prisoners of war in Russia, under the close supervision of Masaryk ' agents, the most important of which is Stefanik. 14 The main result of this exchange was the September, 1916 conclusion that it was necessary to make efforts to retain the main center of the Czechoslovak movement in Russia. World War I would decide on the structure of Central Europe based upon new principles. Thus, we can conclude that the results of the first Stefanik mission to Russia almost did not depend on him (in spite of the fact that in historical literature it was judged a failure ). 15 This was especially true because at the beginning of August 1916, i.e. before Stefanik's arrival in Russia, the Council of Ministers had rejected a request by the French government to allow a significant number of prisoners of war to be transferred to France. Stefanik's mission led to the neutralization of Masaryk's competitor in Russia, Josef Diirich, and paved the way for T.G. Masaryk' s coming to Russia as the leader of the Czechoslovak national movement a few months after the February, 1917 revolution. The archival materials of Jaroslav Papousek, discovered by us, included letters to Bohdan Pavhl, a close colleague and authorized representative of M. R. Stefanik. They complete the history of the struggle for the recognition of the Masaryk program for the independent Czechoslovak State from the "Russian" colony of Czechs and Slovaks. They also cover the creation of the Council headed by Diirich, as well as the history of its collapse. With the strong support of Milan R. Stefanik, a decisive role in this was played by representatives of the so-called Petrograd opposition (B. Pavhl, J. Papousek, J. Klecanda, etc.). Supported by M. R. Stefanik, they carried out the decisions of Masaryk and his Council in Paris. In this regard, the literature on the Legionnaires, which alluded to the spontaneous connection of "Russian" Czechs and Slovaks to Masaryk's program, is unconvincing. 16 14 For more about this see E. Firsov, ,,Milan Rastislav Stefanik (po operativnym materialam zarskoj i kolcakovskoj vlasti), " in Milan Rastislav Stefanik: novyj vzgl'ad (Martin, 2001), 41. 15 See for example, K. Pichlik , B. Klipa., J. Zabloudilova, Ceskoslovensti /egionafi (1914-1920) (Praha, 1996). 6 See, for example, JosefKudela, S nasim voj skem na Rusi (Praha, 1923). �184 SLOVAKIA Now we will present at least part of a letter, written by M. R. Stefanik in Petrograd in February of 1917, and addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It reads in part: Your Excellency, I have the honor hereby to inform Your Excellency that the Czechoslovak National Council unanimously agreed to exclude the deputy J. Durich from membership in the National Council. I consider it my duty to inform Your Excellency of the sad act which was forced upon the Czechoslovak National Council by Mr. Durich 's actions. Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration and deep devotion. Milan Stefanik, a member of the Czechoslovak National Council, in Petrograd, February 9, 1917. His Excellency Mr. Minister of Foreign Affairs N. N. Pokrovsky 17 . Then followed a detailed explanation by Stefanik. The text consists of more than fourteen pages. On Stefanik' s letter there appears a hand-written notation : it was read by the Minister at a meeting on February 10, 1917. From these documents it is clear that Stefanik' s efforts as the representative of the Paris Czechoslovak National Council were ultimately aimed at weakening Russia's geopolitical influence in Central Europe. We now proceed to the next arrival of M. R. Stefanik in Russia, this time in Siberia. This information is taken mainly from the Admiral Kolchak government reports (mostly from the collections of GARF) . It is not my intention to reproduce the history of Kolchak's government in the Siberian expanses of Russia, nor to give a detailed explanation of the relations between the Siberian Provisional Government at Omsk and the Czechoslovak Legions. For us it was more important to look at the general condition and spirit of the Czechoslovak troops on the eve of Stefanik' s arrival in Siberia through Vladivostok, and to reproduce for the first time important materials about Stefanik' s activities. 17 A VPRI, F. Osobyj politotdel. D., 224. �SLOVAKIA 185 The relationship between the Czechoslovak military units and the Provisional Siberian Government, according to the operative information of Stefanik, evolved quite favorably. In reports from the summer of 1918 it was noted that almost brotherly relations had been established with the Czechs and Slovaks, based on a community of mutual interests and goals. On behalf of the Allies, the French side gave official thanks to the Czechs and Slovaks for their actions and their willingness to contribute to the opening of a second front. 18 The first mention of Stefanik (who at this time was identified as a Czech) was found in a telegram of November 5, 1918, from the Siberian command headquarters in Omsk, that is, a few days before the Kolchak coup. It said that the Allies knew about the expansion of the Czechoslovak military units, and their rebelliousness was seen as a desire to leave Russia. It further stated: "General Janin, with Czech General Stefanik, arrived in Russia to command the Czechs and to arrange for help. The latter condemns the policy of the Czech National Council." 19 The documents further stated that the Omsk events (Kolchak's coup) were favorably received by the Allies. Stefanik arrived in Siberia in an emergency situation, especially with the intention of inspecting the situation. He was powerless to affect the general course of events. No less important, and quite a delicate task, was to quell a strong revolutionary and even proBolshevik unrest in the ranks of the Czech and Slovak troops. He also had to overcome the anti-Kolchak' spirit of the troops (spread immediately after the coup), and to persuade their leaders to cooperate with the new Siberian power, as the other Allies had already done. Those believed that the Czechoslovaks should not leave Russia until their presence was no longer necessary for intervention. Meanwhile, the Czechoslovak army in Russia was also essential to Prague, as it was one of the guarantors of the projected boundaries of the newly-created Czechoslovak Republic. The binding of Czech and Slovak troops to the new government did not happen immediately. The operative information at the end of November, 1918 was that the Czechoslovak army had no sympathy 18 See E. Firsov, ,,Milan Rastislav Stefanik (po operativnym materialam carskoj i kolcakovskoj vlasti) ," in Milan Rastislav Stefanik: novyj vzgl'ad (Martin, 2001), 3556. 19 GARF. F. 162. �186 SLOVAKIA for the violent upheaval at Omsk and considered the crisis unfinished and looked forward to its resolution by legal means. Among the Czechoslovak Army Corps demands arose to send these military units home. The critical attitude of the Czechoslovak army during 1919 did not change. The Kolchak government failed to recruit it for the front. Its Council of Ministers even promised to reward the Czechoslovak army in the struggle for the revival of Russia by giving it the right to acquire real estate. The general condition of Czechoslovak forces was compared in the reports with the situation in the Russian army. It was noted that Czech and Slovak officers quickly became right-wing and the rankand-file left-wing, with a gap growing between them. After General Stefanik's arrival, Admiral Kolchak, in a telegram of December 20, 1918 to the Russian Ambassador in Paris, informed him that: "General Janin has arrived, whom we expected with impatience, hoping to resolve urgent problems of command together with him and Stefanik. .. 11 20 . In our view, many complications stemmed not only from the fact that the Czech and Slovak commanders often acted (according to Kolchak) quite independently, but also that the mass of the Czech and Slovak Legionaries saw in Kolchak's government the danger of the restoration of the old pre-revolutionary order. It was no secret that the Legionnaires' political orientations were formed by the party of social revolutionaries. By tremendous persuasion General Stefanik managed to turn the Czech and Slovak troops into allies of Kolchak. In conversations with the Czech and Slovak troops, Stefanik set out to fulfill promises which were made to the Allies - to protect the Trans-Siberian Railway, which the Legionnaires had captured, as well as the city of Omsk. He even had to struggle with cases of insubordination. His most radical step was to publish order Number 588 on January 16, 1919, which was announced after his departure. According to this order, the army and democracy were incompatible. Therefore, all elected committees of the Russian Army type were to be dissolved. A few days later Stefanik left Siberia, apparently due to ill health. 20 E. Firsov, ,,Milan Rastislav Stefanik (po operativnym materialam carskoj i kolcakovskoj vlasti), " in Milan Rastislav Stefanik: novyj vzgl 'ad (Martin, 200 I), 45-46. �SLOVAKIA 187 The most detailed archival materials on Stefanik's activities in Siberia are contained in the July 3, 1919 Department of State Protection report to Kolchak's government. It covers the long period from the fall of 1918 to the summer of 1919. This report, signed by Lieutenant Colonel Russiyanov (some reports were signed by an agent nicknamed "Summer"), noted: While the Czechoslovaks had plenty of everything, and everyone was interested in them, when they felt that they were in charge, [they] did not feel homesick and forgot the drought at home. But when their position had deteriorated, and they receded into the background, discontent arose among them .. . Their commanders, wishing to suppress a rising discontent, and at the same time to constrain the demoralizing propagation of "Committees" among them, have welcomed to Russia General Stefanik, who is clothed with the authority of the Republic ... Stefanik informed them that, as of his arrival, the Czechoslovak army became a regular army of the Czechoslovak Republic. Stefanik promised that he would do everything in his power to alleviate the Czechoslovaks' situation in Siberia and to ensure their return home as soon as possible... "21 One of the representatives of Kolchak' Department of State Protection even declared that "almost without exception, all social classes have turned against the Czechoslovaks. Always it heard that the Czechoslovaks have undertaken not to work for them."22 What were the results of this Siberian tour? Almost a century later, contrary to the negative opinions regarding Stefanik's stay in Russia, 23 positive results are also evident. Stefanik helped to unite the Czechoslovak army, to increase its combat capability, and to make it a part of the newly-created Czechoslovak Republic. He persuaded the Legionaries to endure for a bit longer, even though they were so far from their native land. Russian sources also speak of Stefanik's merits and to his expulsion of the most Russophobe-minded members of the Czechoslovak National Council, who opposed Kolchak. 24 21 GARF. F. 147. Op. 8. D. 40. GARF. F. 147. Op. 8. D. 40. L. 5806. 23 See for example, L. Holotik, "Stefanikovska legenda a vznik CSR" (Bratislava, 1958). 24 S Kolcakom, protiv Kolcaka (Moskva, 2007), 137. 22 �188 SLOVAKIA Thanks to Stefanik, many Russian troops, earlier divided over the Czechoslovak army, went over to Kolchak. Stefanik helped to smooth the friction between French General Janin and Admiral Kolchak. With Stefanik' s sudden departure from Siberia, the relationship between the Allies and Kolchak deteriorated and latent plans were nurtured about the secret withdrawal of Czechoslovak troops from the zone of Kolchak' power. Thus the fate of the Siberian governor was sealed by the Allies. Nevertheless, the Allies still continued to watch over Kolchak, for they were attracted by the Russian gold reserves 25 and an incredible desire to profit by them. They were not able to provide to the Russian government of Kolchak substantial military aid and the mission of Janin and the Allies turned from a military to a diplomatic one. In the words of G. K. Gins (whose work "Siberia, the Allies and Kolchak" has been published several times in Russia) "the consciousness of common Slavonic problems, the adherence to culture which was broken by Bolshevism - could it be understood by an ordinary Czech soldier?" 26 Stefanik was one of the few who perceived these problems and planted this understanding with another compatriot. The book of G.K. Gins, a former manager of the Kolchak government, contains the highest praise for Stefanik and his stay in Omsk. Gins concludes that the Czech Legionnaires' saga in Russia was not heroic in itself. It contributed nothing to the Slavic peoples, to Siberia or to Russia. The Czechs and Slovaks just wanted to go home. 27 In 2007 a book entitled "With Kolchak against Kolchak" appeared. This work leaves much to be desired. The section about Stefanik, for example, contains many mistakes. The name "Stefanik" on page 13 7 is distorted and the years of his life are not specified. Furthermore, it asserted that Stefanik was "ill in Siberia and moved to Czechoslovakia," and further in this book, " ... he came for the evacuation of the Czechoslovak Corps, and on September 2, 1920 25 RGV A, f. 1198. Dokumental 'nyje materialy po istorii sozdanija cecho-slovackogo gosudarstva. Kollekcij a. CCXIII. General Janin E. Benesu. Omsk, 29.X.1919. The document in fiarticular says: «Je provoque mesures pour transferer reserve d' orn . 6 G.K Gins., Sibir ', sojuzniki i Kolcak (Moskva, 2008), 578. 27 Ibid., 574-75 . �SLOVAKIA 189 departed from Vladivostok to Czechoslovakia" 28 (but we know that Stefanik died on May 4, 1919). Most recently, valuable sources of the Russian State Military Archives (further - RGV A) relating to the national liberation struggle of Czechs and Slovaks in the First World War have become available. Of special interest are materials containing confidential correspondence (most often marked "urgent") by the Chief of Allied forces in Siberia, General Maurice Janin, with various authorities. They include numerous dispatches (intercepted by Kolchak's counterespionage) sent by Janin to the French command, and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic, Edvard Benes. An exchange of telegrams was also conducted with the commander of Czechoslovak troops in Siberia. More steadfast analysis of this considerable block of archival materials still needs to be carried out. The materials reveal a lot about the role of the Allies in Siberia, and especially characterize the relationship of the Allies, General Janin and the Czechoslovak army with Kolchak's government. The RGVA block also contains some interesting materials relating to Stefanik's stay in the camp of the Czechoslovak army and Kolchak's, and Stefanik's reports to Benes. And here one can draw a general conclusion that as a military commander and as a representative of the new Czechoslovak Republic, Stefanik enjoyed unprecedented respect and trust. Estimations of Stefanik contained in Janin's dispatches are positive and respectful. In summary, we will now underline the importance of Stefanik's military missions in Russia. During his first mission, Stefanik made the break which led to Diirich's downfall and this made things easier for T. G. Masaryk, who arrived after the February revolution in 1917. The second mission in Siberia and to the Far East, appears unfinished because Stefanik's health deteriorated. However, there was also a disagreement with Maurice Janin, the commander-in-chief of the armies of the Entente. As a result, Stefanik abruptly left Siberia in order to take part in the Paris Peace Conference, even though he was not officially included in the Czechoslovak delegation. He intended to use his abilities, his influence at the highest levels and his diplomatic skills to uphold Czechoslovak (and especially Slovak) affairs. The important question of the frontiers of the new state was 28 S Kolcakom, protiv Kolcaka (Moskva, 2007), 137. �190 SLOVAKIA solved. And the merits of Stefanik, judging by the memoirs of representatives of Great Britain, were recognized as considerable. 29 The arrival of Stefanik strengthened the Slovak component in the argument for an independent Czecho-Slovak state. At the Paris Conference Stefanik was named "the Czech Military Minister;" he left the impression of a mobile, and in contrast to the corpulent Karel Kramai', a "vigorous and imperious figure." Those who remembered Stefanik at the Conference considered his death an "essential loss, as by temperament Stefanik was sparkling champagne compared to the Czech spirit of heavy beer." 30 oan OIOflk 27 /x 1919 Qeneralu 'lffrcr,y Irtutak Situace na f rmU lpatna. LeT' lcl'idlo T plnea 11atup11. Stl'ed a pra,e lcl'idlo 118tupuje ponolna, ~llkytujice dosU tmoUjn;f odpor, Tiak nhledea k w,tupu lwfho kfidla msi tab ustuponti. Oeobd pro tentokraty neohoTa■ perne nada j i T UBj>lohu d jaU protiofendT:y. llyslli le T bnku ae 1aane e na- kusei o.Ji:a. Poehybuji le se Tlada T pl'1paU nakuaoe O..ka udrli. ProeiA pfilalllU sacboTat1 T Anla:la pa'h.dak.Zlollllram 0.Sl. ~dy naehuejioill ae jelti T o.ku daU patr16DII roskuy k e1'8ntuelni 91'llkuao1 Genenll JANI N. Illustration I . Instructions of General Janin to General Syrovy in connection with the planned evacuation of Czechoslovak troops from Omsk (The source is from RGVA , Russia) 29 30 G. Nikolson, Kak delalsja mir v /919 g. (Moskva, 1945), 251 . Ibid. �191 SLOVAKIA OOIIII ExplldU d 'Omsk le 29 OctobN 1919. ioie franqaiae Co.wrlquer Docteur BEIIES. Retrai te continue la ga110he eat aur 1 • ICJ!Dl oo peo en annt Pl!'?ROPAil.OSKI le reete a pe11 pres de mi-chnin entre le11 2 rhieraa. Tro11pea sont tree ua4es, d4moralidee, lea r4eerres douteuses. J' 4proun Tina craintea au 11uj11t d • <IISK, qua partage je croia eal'oir l.e Comaand8J!llllt an Ohef. Je prol'oq'tll aesurea pour t r&Daf6rer r411erre d • or. Situation r6sllltant de 1· 11ffoudr81118nt du front, de 1 • 4Yacuati <11 dee ~nee et du d4sordra g4n4rali ■ d est bien diftlcile. General JANIN. Illustration 2. General Janin informs Edvard Benes about the measures taken on displacement of the Russian gold reserves (The source is from RGVA. Russia) �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2013, Vol. 41 Description An account of the resource Vol. 41 (No. 76-77), 2013. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 179 THE MILITARY MISSIONS OF MILAN R. STEFANIK IN RUSSIA ON BEHALF OF THE CZECH AND SLOVAK CAUSE (BASED UPON DOCUMENTS IN THE RUSSIAN ARCHIVES) Evgeny F. Firsov This paper focuses on Milan R. Stefanik's recruitment of Czech and Slovak volunteers for the Czechoslovak 1 national movement in Russia during the First World War. It is based upon original materials identified in the Russian archives in the Russian, Czech, Slovak and French languages, including from the Department of written sources of the State Historical Museum (then - OPI GIM). Milan R. Stefanik (1880-1919), Slovak by origin, naturalized in France, was undoubtedly one of the most visible and popular figures among Czechs and Slovaks abroad during the First World War. In one reference to the Czechoslovak diaspora and to prisoners of war in Russia, it was underlined that the success of the national movement was guaranteed by the activity of M. R. Stefanik. This document made the flattering assessment: You know who Stefanik is. He is from the Slovak Nitra region on the border with Moravia, once the center of the former Great Moravian Empire of Sviitopluk, which was the natural center of the Czechoslovak nation. He is a member and plenipotentiary of the Czechoslovak National Council, the authorized representative of Prof Masaryk. A renowned scholar, a hero, who distinguished himself on the French, Italian and Serbian fronts, he is a first-class and influential diplomat.2 1 ln the Russian documents of that time Czecho-Slovak was written, as a rule, as one word. And Stefanik adhered to the Czechoslovak orientation. 2 OPT GIM, f. 151. N.F. Melnikova-Kedrova-Rivnac. Materialy J. Papouseka. Hektograf na cesskom jazyke. February, 14, I 917. See also Evgeni Firsov, ,, Hektograficke materialy a korespondence v propagande patriotickeho hnuti ceskych a slovenskych zajatcu v Rusku," Historie a vojenstvi 1 (Praha, 2003), 23-36. 180 SLOVAKIA In Soviet historiography before 1990, Stefanik was considered one of the initiators of foreign intervention in Russia and a supporter of Admiral Kolchak. Despite this, his name can be found in the Soviet Encyclop edia. Furthermore, in Soviet and other historiography, Stefanik appeared as an anti-hero, in spite of all his achievements in the national liberation of the Czechs and Slovaks. 3 Only in 2001 , on the initiative of Igor Furdik, Ambassador Extraordinary of Slovakia to Russia, and due to the efforts of a number of Russian historians (including the author of this article) and Slovak historian Joseph Husar, there appeared a really objective work: Milan Rastislav Stefanik. Novy) vzg/'ad [Milan Rastislav Stefanik. A New Approach] (Martin, 2001 ). It is remarkable that the book was published in Slovakia. As expressed by Ambassador Furdik, the new situation in Central Europe finally allowed a fair and balanced assessment of Milan R. Stefanik. 4 Stefanik's personality characteristics in Russian sources are generally very positive and sympathetic. They repeatedly illustrated his courage and sacrifice. Stefanik initially arrived in Russia in 1916 as an emissary of the French military and only later as a representative of the Czechoslovak National Council. In Czechoslovakia, the Slovak sociologist Anton Stefanek pointed out that to Stefanik ... we owe the fact that no one can rule over the Slovaks and the Slovak language, and Slovak national traditions regained their freedom, something which everybody was dreaming of, and that our ancestors had been waiting for. Th e history of the Slovak p eople would apparently have developed quite differently had it not been for Stefanik. 5 Stefanik appeared as a stoic person, but he was in poor health. He was ready to go to the end of the world for T. G. Masaryk and to 3 Sovetskij enciklopedicheskij slovar' (Moskva, 1982), 15-17, "Stefanik"; L. Holotik, Stefanikovska legenda a vznik CSR (Bratislava, 1958). 4 Milan Rastislav Stefa nik. Novy) vzg/'ad (Martin, 2001 ), 9; Evgenij F. Firsov, ,. Bojovnik za narodnu slobodu. M.R.Stefanik vo svetle ruskych pramenov," in M R. Stefanik v zrkadle prameiiov a najnovsich poznatkov historiograjie (Bratislava, 20 I 0). For a bibliography of the proceedings of the author about the national movement of Czechs and Slovaks of this period, see Evgenij Firsov, Scholars of Bohemian, Czech and Czechoslovak History Studies I (A- I) (Prague, 2005), 262-68 . 5 Slovensky dennik, 7, 1924, p.102. SLOVAKIA 181 carry out any mission in distant Russia. The correspondence between Masaryk and Edvard Benes (from the Prague archives) shows that neither one was initially in any hurry to go to Russia. Benes justified his unwillingness to go by teaching a course on Czech history and literature from the sociological aspect at the Paris Higher Institute of Oriental Languages 6 . Masaryk was engaged in similar activities in London. So it was necessary for Stefanik to go to Russia. On July 26, 1916, The French General Staff issued an order, signed by the deputy Chief of Staff General Pelle, authorizing a "special mission" to Russia. By this order, Lieutenant Stefanik (led by General Maurice Janin) would be to allowed by Russia to organize a group of Austrian prisoners of war of Czech nationality to serve in France in Russian units or in special units. These would be formed on the basis of an agreement between France and Russia.7 The Czech troops were supposed to serve on the French front, but not on the Russian, to ensure their future independence from Russia. The French Command believed that Stefanik's mission should be limited to the recruitment of Czech and Slovak volunteers in order to strengthen the military forces of France. 8 Long and difficult negotiations (and even "nervousness," as noted by contemporaries) during the summer of 1916 and the spring of 191 7, and again between November 1918 and January 1919, ensued. Stefanik had to deal with former Czech member of the Austrian Parliament Josef Durich and his followers and with the board of the Union of Czech and Slovak Societies in Russia. He was assisted by Bohdan Pavlu and a group of Petrograd Czechs. Stefanik finally has managed to incline Slovak national groups in Russia to the proCzechoslovak and pro-French orientation of the Czechoslovak National Council in Paris. 9 Upon his arrival in Russia, Stefanik was able to make a most favorable impression upon the leaders of the diplomatic office of Stav6 TGM - EB. Korespondence (Praha, 2004), 192. Milan Rastislav Stefanik v archivnych dokumentoch Historickej slui by fran cuzskeho ministerstva obrany. Ed. Frederic Guelton a i. (Bratislava: Ministerstvo obrany SR, 2009), 55 . 8 Ibid., 58. 9 See more details see E. Firsov, ,,Boj za orientaciu ceskeho a slovenskeho narodnooslobodzovacieho hnutia v Rusku v rokoch 1915-1917," Historicky casopis 43 , no. I ( 1995), 47-68. 7 182 SLOVAKIA ka (General Headquarters - E.F.) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (further - MF A). As the August 2, 1916 letter of Basili (the Chief of the Diplomatic office of Stavka) to A. Neratoff in MF A of stated: "In the middle of August Stefanik arrived, a Lieutenant in the French service, originally a Czech (! - E.F. ). General Alekseev (Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander - E.F.), as well as I, were impressed by Stefanik as a sensible and intelligent man" 10 . Basili then continued: In my conversations, I repeated to him (Stefanik - E.F.) what I had to tell his countrymen, that the success of the Czech cause depended upon ending, as soon as possible, the disagreement among the Czechs working with us .... and that we did not want to interfere in the internal affairs of the Czechs, but of course expect them to keep in mind their natural duty primarily to Russia. Stefanik went from Stavka to Kiev, where he attended a meeting of Czech leaders. At his suggestion, they created the Association of Czechs in Russia. At the head of the new organization will be Durich, with a staff, elected in agreement with the Czechoslovak National Council. 11 Stefanik showed much more useful activities with the organization of Czech troops, according to Basili. 12 Furthermore, Basili went on, The role played by Stefanik in concluding an agreement with Durich, and the latter's f ear of Stefanik, makes us want to turn him from the Czech cause in Russia, since he could be useful to us in military terms. From this point of view the commissioning of persons proposed to you by Stefanik is also undesirable because of their deliberate Masaryk coloring. JJ After this message of August 30, 1916, A. Neratoff informed Basili that: ... all negotiations on the Czech political system are concentrated in the hands of Masaryk. Durich 's activity is re10 11 12 13 AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 61. D. 93. L. 96. AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 61. D. 93. L. 9606.-98. AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 61. D. 93 . L. I 05 . AVPRI, Dipkanceljarija. Op. 607. D. 93 . L. I 07. SLOVAKIA 183 stricted to propaganda among the Czech prisoners of war in Russia, under the close supervision of Masaryk ' agents, the most important of which is Stefanik. 14 The main result of this exchange was the September, 1916 conclusion that it was necessary to make efforts to retain the main center of the Czechoslovak movement in Russia. World War I would decide on the structure of Central Europe based upon new principles. Thus, we can conclude that the results of the first Stefanik mission to Russia almost did not depend on him (in spite of the fact that in historical literature it was judged a failure ). 15 This was especially true because at the beginning of August 1916, i.e. before Stefanik's arrival in Russia, the Council of Ministers had rejected a request by the French government to allow a significant number of prisoners of war to be transferred to France. Stefanik's mission led to the neutralization of Masaryk's competitor in Russia, Josef Diirich, and paved the way for T.G. Masaryk' s coming to Russia as the leader of the Czechoslovak national movement a few months after the February, 1917 revolution. The archival materials of Jaroslav Papousek, discovered by us, included letters to Bohdan Pavhl, a close colleague and authorized representative of M. R. Stefanik. They complete the history of the struggle for the recognition of the Masaryk program for the independent Czechoslovak State from the "Russian" colony of Czechs and Slovaks. They also cover the creation of the Council headed by Diirich, as well as the history of its collapse. With the strong support of Milan R. Stefanik, a decisive role in this was played by representatives of the so-called Petrograd opposition (B. Pavhl, J. Papousek, J. Klecanda, etc.). Supported by M. R. Stefanik, they carried out the decisions of Masaryk and his Council in Paris. In this regard, the literature on the Legionnaires, which alluded to the spontaneous connection of "Russian" Czechs and Slovaks to Masaryk's program, is unconvincing. 16 14 For more about this see E. Firsov, ,,Milan Rastislav Stefanik (po operativnym materialam zarskoj i kolcakovskoj vlasti), " in Milan Rastislav Stefanik: novyj vzgl'ad (Martin, 2001), 41. 15 See for example, K. Pichlik , B. Klipa., J. Zabloudilova, Ceskoslovensti /egionafi (1914-1920) (Praha, 1996). 6 See, for example, JosefKudela, S nasim voj skem na Rusi (Praha, 1923). 184 SLOVAKIA Now we will present at least part of a letter, written by M. R. Stefanik in Petrograd in February of 1917, and addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It reads in part: Your Excellency, I have the honor hereby to inform Your Excellency that the Czechoslovak National Council unanimously agreed to exclude the deputy J. Durich from membership in the National Council. I consider it my duty to inform Your Excellency of the sad act which was forced upon the Czechoslovak National Council by Mr. Durich 's actions. Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration and deep devotion. Milan Stefanik, a member of the Czechoslovak National Council, in Petrograd, February 9, 1917. His Excellency Mr. Minister of Foreign Affairs N. N. Pokrovsky 17 . Then followed a detailed explanation by Stefanik. The text consists of more than fourteen pages. On Stefanik' s letter there appears a hand-written notation : it was read by the Minister at a meeting on February 10, 1917. From these documents it is clear that Stefanik' s efforts as the representative of the Paris Czechoslovak National Council were ultimately aimed at weakening Russia's geopolitical influence in Central Europe. We now proceed to the next arrival of M. R. Stefanik in Russia, this time in Siberia. This information is taken mainly from the Admiral Kolchak government reports (mostly from the collections of GARF) . It is not my intention to reproduce the history of Kolchak's government in the Siberian expanses of Russia, nor to give a detailed explanation of the relations between the Siberian Provisional Government at Omsk and the Czechoslovak Legions. For us it was more important to look at the general condition and spirit of the Czechoslovak troops on the eve of Stefanik' s arrival in Siberia through Vladivostok, and to reproduce for the first time important materials about Stefanik' s activities. 17 A VPRI, F. Osobyj politotdel. D., 224. SLOVAKIA 185 The relationship between the Czechoslovak military units and the Provisional Siberian Government, according to the operative information of Stefanik, evolved quite favorably. In reports from the summer of 1918 it was noted that almost brotherly relations had been established with the Czechs and Slovaks, based on a community of mutual interests and goals. On behalf of the Allies, the French side gave official thanks to the Czechs and Slovaks for their actions and their willingness to contribute to the opening of a second front. 18 The first mention of Stefanik (who at this time was identified as a Czech) was found in a telegram of November 5, 1918, from the Siberian command headquarters in Omsk, that is, a few days before the Kolchak coup. It said that the Allies knew about the expansion of the Czechoslovak military units, and their rebelliousness was seen as a desire to leave Russia. It further stated: "General Janin, with Czech General Stefanik, arrived in Russia to command the Czechs and to arrange for help. The latter condemns the policy of the Czech National Council." 19 The documents further stated that the Omsk events (Kolchak's coup) were favorably received by the Allies. Stefanik arrived in Siberia in an emergency situation, especially with the intention of inspecting the situation. He was powerless to affect the general course of events. No less important, and quite a delicate task, was to quell a strong revolutionary and even proBolshevik unrest in the ranks of the Czech and Slovak troops. He also had to overcome the anti-Kolchak' spirit of the troops (spread immediately after the coup), and to persuade their leaders to cooperate with the new Siberian power, as the other Allies had already done. Those believed that the Czechoslovaks should not leave Russia until their presence was no longer necessary for intervention. Meanwhile, the Czechoslovak army in Russia was also essential to Prague, as it was one of the guarantors of the projected boundaries of the newly-created Czechoslovak Republic. The binding of Czech and Slovak troops to the new government did not happen immediately. The operative information at the end of November, 1918 was that the Czechoslovak army had no sympathy 18 See E. Firsov, ,,Milan Rastislav Stefanik (po operativnym materialam carskoj i kolcakovskoj vlasti) ," in Milan Rastislav Stefanik: novyj vzgl'ad (Martin, 2001), 3556. 19 GARF. F. 162. 186 SLOVAKIA for the violent upheaval at Omsk and considered the crisis unfinished and looked forward to its resolution by legal means. Among the Czechoslovak Army Corps demands arose to send these military units home. The critical attitude of the Czechoslovak army during 1919 did not change. The Kolchak government failed to recruit it for the front. Its Council of Ministers even promised to reward the Czechoslovak army in the struggle for the revival of Russia by giving it the right to acquire real estate. The general condition of Czechoslovak forces was compared in the reports with the situation in the Russian army. It was noted that Czech and Slovak officers quickly became right-wing and the rankand-file left-wing, with a gap growing between them. After General Stefanik's arrival, Admiral Kolchak, in a telegram of December 20, 1918 to the Russian Ambassador in Paris, informed him that: "General Janin has arrived, whom we expected with impatience, hoping to resolve urgent problems of command together with him and Stefanik. .. 11 20 . In our view, many complications stemmed not only from the fact that the Czech and Slovak commanders often acted (according to Kolchak) quite independently, but also that the mass of the Czech and Slovak Legionaries saw in Kolchak's government the danger of the restoration of the old pre-revolutionary order. It was no secret that the Legionnaires' political orientations were formed by the party of social revolutionaries. By tremendous persuasion General Stefanik managed to turn the Czech and Slovak troops into allies of Kolchak. In conversations with the Czech and Slovak troops, Stefanik set out to fulfill promises which were made to the Allies - to protect the Trans-Siberian Railway, which the Legionnaires had captured, as well as the city of Omsk. He even had to struggle with cases of insubordination. His most radical step was to publish order Number 588 on January 16, 1919, which was announced after his departure. According to this order, the army and democracy were incompatible. Therefore, all elected committees of the Russian Army type were to be dissolved. A few days later Stefanik left Siberia, apparently due to ill health. 20 E. Firsov, ,,Milan Rastislav Stefanik (po operativnym materialam carskoj i kolcakovskoj vlasti), " in Milan Rastislav Stefanik: novyj vzgl 'ad (Martin, 200 I), 45-46. SLOVAKIA 187 The most detailed archival materials on Stefanik's activities in Siberia are contained in the July 3, 1919 Department of State Protection report to Kolchak's government. It covers the long period from the fall of 1918 to the summer of 1919. This report, signed by Lieutenant Colonel Russiyanov (some reports were signed by an agent nicknamed "Summer"), noted: While the Czechoslovaks had plenty of everything, and everyone was interested in them, when they felt that they were in charge, [they] did not feel homesick and forgot the drought at home. But when their position had deteriorated, and they receded into the background, discontent arose among them .. . Their commanders, wishing to suppress a rising discontent, and at the same time to constrain the demoralizing propagation of "Committees" among them, have welcomed to Russia General Stefanik, who is clothed with the authority of the Republic ... Stefanik informed them that, as of his arrival, the Czechoslovak army became a regular army of the Czechoslovak Republic. Stefanik promised that he would do everything in his power to alleviate the Czechoslovaks' situation in Siberia and to ensure their return home as soon as possible... "21 One of the representatives of Kolchak' Department of State Protection even declared that "almost without exception, all social classes have turned against the Czechoslovaks. Always it heard that the Czechoslovaks have undertaken not to work for them."22 What were the results of this Siberian tour? Almost a century later, contrary to the negative opinions regarding Stefanik's stay in Russia, 23 positive results are also evident. Stefanik helped to unite the Czechoslovak army, to increase its combat capability, and to make it a part of the newly-created Czechoslovak Republic. He persuaded the Legionaries to endure for a bit longer, even though they were so far from their native land. Russian sources also speak of Stefanik's merits and to his expulsion of the most Russophobe-minded members of the Czechoslovak National Council, who opposed Kolchak. 24 21 GARF. F. 147. Op. 8. D. 40. GARF. F. 147. Op. 8. D. 40. L. 5806. 23 See for example, L. Holotik, "Stefanikovska legenda a vznik CSR" (Bratislava, 1958). 24 S Kolcakom, protiv Kolcaka (Moskva, 2007), 137. 22 188 SLOVAKIA Thanks to Stefanik, many Russian troops, earlier divided over the Czechoslovak army, went over to Kolchak. Stefanik helped to smooth the friction between French General Janin and Admiral Kolchak. With Stefanik' s sudden departure from Siberia, the relationship between the Allies and Kolchak deteriorated and latent plans were nurtured about the secret withdrawal of Czechoslovak troops from the zone of Kolchak' power. Thus the fate of the Siberian governor was sealed by the Allies. Nevertheless, the Allies still continued to watch over Kolchak, for they were attracted by the Russian gold reserves 25 and an incredible desire to profit by them. They were not able to provide to the Russian government of Kolchak substantial military aid and the mission of Janin and the Allies turned from a military to a diplomatic one. In the words of G. K. Gins (whose work "Siberia, the Allies and Kolchak" has been published several times in Russia) "the consciousness of common Slavonic problems, the adherence to culture which was broken by Bolshevism - could it be understood by an ordinary Czech soldier?" 26 Stefanik was one of the few who perceived these problems and planted this understanding with another compatriot. The book of G.K. Gins, a former manager of the Kolchak government, contains the highest praise for Stefanik and his stay in Omsk. Gins concludes that the Czech Legionnaires' saga in Russia was not heroic in itself. It contributed nothing to the Slavic peoples, to Siberia or to Russia. The Czechs and Slovaks just wanted to go home. 27 In 2007 a book entitled "With Kolchak against Kolchak" appeared. This work leaves much to be desired. The section about Stefanik, for example, contains many mistakes. The name "Stefanik" on page 13 7 is distorted and the years of his life are not specified. Furthermore, it asserted that Stefanik was "ill in Siberia and moved to Czechoslovakia," and further in this book, " ... he came for the evacuation of the Czechoslovak Corps, and on September 2, 1920 25 RGV A, f. 1198. Dokumental 'nyje materialy po istorii sozdanija cecho-slovackogo gosudarstva. Kollekcij a. CCXIII. General Janin E. Benesu. Omsk, 29.X.1919. The document in fiarticular says: «Je provoque mesures pour transferer reserve d' orn . 6 G.K Gins., Sibir ', sojuzniki i Kolcak (Moskva, 2008), 578. 27 Ibid., 574-75 . SLOVAKIA 189 departed from Vladivostok to Czechoslovakia" 28 (but we know that Stefanik died on May 4, 1919). Most recently, valuable sources of the Russian State Military Archives (further - RGV A) relating to the national liberation struggle of Czechs and Slovaks in the First World War have become available. Of special interest are materials containing confidential correspondence (most often marked "urgent") by the Chief of Allied forces in Siberia, General Maurice Janin, with various authorities. They include numerous dispatches (intercepted by Kolchak's counterespionage) sent by Janin to the French command, and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic, Edvard Benes. An exchange of telegrams was also conducted with the commander of Czechoslovak troops in Siberia. More steadfast analysis of this considerable block of archival materials still needs to be carried out. The materials reveal a lot about the role of the Allies in Siberia, and especially characterize the relationship of the Allies, General Janin and the Czechoslovak army with Kolchak's government. The RGVA block also contains some interesting materials relating to Stefanik's stay in the camp of the Czechoslovak army and Kolchak's, and Stefanik's reports to Benes. And here one can draw a general conclusion that as a military commander and as a representative of the new Czechoslovak Republic, Stefanik enjoyed unprecedented respect and trust. Estimations of Stefanik contained in Janin's dispatches are positive and respectful. In summary, we will now underline the importance of Stefanik's military missions in Russia. During his first mission, Stefanik made the break which led to Diirich's downfall and this made things easier for T. G. Masaryk, who arrived after the February revolution in 1917. The second mission in Siberia and to the Far East, appears unfinished because Stefanik's health deteriorated. However, there was also a disagreement with Maurice Janin, the commander-in-chief of the armies of the Entente. As a result, Stefanik abruptly left Siberia in order to take part in the Paris Peace Conference, even though he was not officially included in the Czechoslovak delegation. He intended to use his abilities, his influence at the highest levels and his diplomatic skills to uphold Czechoslovak (and especially Slovak) affairs. The important question of the frontiers of the new state was 28 S Kolcakom, protiv Kolcaka (Moskva, 2007), 137. 190 SLOVAKIA solved. And the merits of Stefanik, judging by the memoirs of representatives of Great Britain, were recognized as considerable. 29 The arrival of Stefanik strengthened the Slovak component in the argument for an independent Czecho-Slovak state. At the Paris Conference Stefanik was named "the Czech Military Minister;" he left the impression of a mobile, and in contrast to the corpulent Karel Kramai', a "vigorous and imperious figure." Those who remembered Stefanik at the Conference considered his death an "essential loss, as by temperament Stefanik was sparkling champagne compared to the Czech spirit of heavy beer." 30 oan OIOflk 27 /x 1919 Qeneralu 'lffrcr,y Irtutak Situace na f rmU lpatna. LeT' lcl'idlo T plnea 11atup11. Stl'ed a pra,e lcl'idlo 118tupuje ponolna, ~llkytujice dosU tmoUjn;f odpor, Tiak nhledea k w,tupu lwfho kfidla msi tab ustuponti. Oeobd pro tentokraty neohoTa■ perne nada j i T UBj>lohu d jaU protiofendT:y. llyslli le T bnku ae 1aane e na- kusei o.Ji:a. Poehybuji le se Tlada T pl'1paU nakuaoe O..ka udrli. ProeiA pfilalllU sacboTat1 T Anla:la pa'h.dak.Zlollllram 0.Sl. ~dy naehuejioill ae jelti T o.ku daU patr16DII roskuy k e1'8ntuelni 91'llkuao1 Genenll JANI N. Illustration I . Instructions of General Janin to General Syrovy in connection with the planned evacuation of Czechoslovak troops from Omsk (The source is from RGVA , Russia) 29 30 G. Nikolson, Kak delalsja mir v /919 g. (Moskva, 1945), 251 . Ibid. 191 SLOVAKIA OOIIII ExplldU d 'Omsk le 29 OctobN 1919. ioie franqaiae Co.wrlquer Docteur BEIIES. Retrai te continue la ga110he eat aur 1 • ICJ!Dl oo peo en annt Pl!'?ROPAil.OSKI le reete a pe11 pres de mi-chnin entre le11 2 rhieraa. Tro11pea sont tree ua4es, d4moralidee, lea r4eerres douteuses. J' 4proun Tina craintea au 11uj11t d • <IISK, qua partage je croia eal'oir l.e Comaand8J!llllt an Ohef. Je prol'oq'tll aesurea pour t r&Daf6rer r411erre d • or. Situation r6sllltant de 1· 11ffoudr81118nt du front, de 1 • 4Yacuati <11 dee ~nee et du d4sordra g4n4rali ■ d est bien diftlcile. General JANIN. Illustration 2. General Janin informs Edvard Benes about the measures taken on displacement of the Russian gold reserves (The source is from RGVA. Russia)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Military Missions of Milan R. Štefánik in Russia on Behalf of the Czech and Slovak Cause Description An account of the resource Evgeny F. Firsov Slovakia, Vol. 41 (No. 76-77), 2013 pp. 179-191 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Firsov, E. F. (Evgeniĭ Fedorovich) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/47653971ccea679e235420b8cd96add1.pdf ddcc5581d104a68b08c9accfa8e408c9 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 59 The Modernization of Slovakia: The Role of Vocational High Schools, 1918-1938 Owen V . Johnson Most of the modern nations and nationalities in Eastern Europe began as cultural movements. Writers and teachers were among their earliest leaders. As these movements grew in size, they turned into political movements , with lawyers playing increasingly important roles. 1 Most of the research on East European national development has focused on these changes . None of these developing nations could long survive, however, without an adequate industrial , commercial, and modern agricultural base. Such development has been the thread of continuity in twentieth-century Eastern Europe behind the facade of radical political change. This article examines the basis of economic change which was laid down in three types of secondary schools in interwar Slovakia, the commercial academies, and the industrial and agricultural high schools. That they were not a top priority of the new Czechoslovak government is indicated by the fact that none was opened until the fall of 1919, nearly a year after the creation of the new Republic , while the first Slovak gymnazium had opened its doors only two weeks after the seizure of power by the new state. The common tie of these three types of schools was that they were more likely to draw their students from the middle schools , in contrast to the gymnazium, which usually admitted students directly from primary schools to its eight-year curriculum. In part this is explained by the fact that these schools attracted a different type of student , on e who was interested not in becoming a lawyer, a doctor , or a teacher - those people went to the gymnazia or the teacher training institutions - but the one who wanted to become an ' ' independent entrepreneur.'' �60 SLOVA KIA Each of th ese schools will b e di scu ssed se parately. Like the o the r vocatio na l seco nda ry schools, the co mm e rcial acad e mies perform ed a du a l fun ction . Their four- year curriculum was des igned partially to prepa re student s to a ssum e respo n sible positio n s in bu sin ess or b a nking offi ces (e.g., two fore ign la n gu ages, incl udin g G erm a n , were in the curriculum) a nd pa rtially to prepa re those students who wished to study a t an institutio n of higher learning . The course was ge n era l, with no provisio n for specializa tio n . 2 G radu a tes we re eli gible to study a t the V ysoka o bchodn a skola (C o mme rcial College) in Pragu e, o r , e ffective 192 4 , a ft er pass in g the supplem entary exam (s) (give n in Slovakia o nly in Bra ti slava) in L a tin a nd philosophical proped eu tika, a t the L a w F aculty in Brno . 3 Beginnin g in 193 4 , they we re also eli gible to a ttend milita ry offi ce r s' school. G radu a tes who did no t go o n for furth e r edu cation h ad the right , a fter o ne year 's practice, to the " indepe nde nt m a n age m e nt of a business. " 4 M os t oft e n , howeve r , they becam e officials in b a nkin g or com me rce, o r gained employ m ent in the sta te bureau cracy. 5 The e ntra nce requirem e nts to these schools we re th e sam e as fo r o ther vocatio na l schools. The prospective a pplicant e ith er ha d to be a t leas t age 14 a nd h ave co mple ted four years a t a realka o r som e kind of gymnazium , o r be a g radu a te of the middl e school, with a pp ro pria te gra des. Preferen ce was give n to a pplicants with bu siness experie nce . 6 T hose pe rso ns who h ad passed the ir gymnazium m aturita una nimou sly or with distinctio n could take a o ne-year post -g rad u a te course a t a co mme rcial acad emy ( o ne su ch course was se t up a t Bra ti slava); those w ho had rece ived a "with m ajo rity" mark would be accepted o nly if there was roo m . Gymnazium gradua tes could al so enter the third year of the co mme rcial acade m y o n a tentat ive bas is, hav in g ho weve r to ta ke seve ra l supple m e nta ry exa m s by Christm as . 7 T he traditio nal Hun gari a n d isd a in fo r co mme rce, a nd he nce, fo r comm ercial edu cati o n , le ft it s imp r int on public a ttitudes toward th e bu siness academies. When the Bra ti slava Commercial Acade m y opened for bu sin ess in th e fall of 19 19, nearly a third of the regul a rl y enro ll ed stude nts we re Czec hs. Czechs were in the majo rit y at the a ttached post-gradu a te co urse. 8 It took time to ove rco me the negat ive attitudes, time for these schools to d em o nstra te the ir wo rth . A s a ch ro nicle r at the K os ice Com m e rcial Acad e m y no ted , the sc hool " ove rco m es the mi stake n trad itio n in the �SLOVAKIA 61 Slovak people that only the hi gh school, specifically the gymnazium and not a commercial school, can insure the Slovak son or daughter a regular functional edu cation .' ' 9 In those early years, it was often necessary to personally con vince the parents of prospective students of the value of the commercial education. One means of persuasion was money in the form of scholarships . In the early years, however, state aid was not very generous, about one grant per school. 10 It appears that the total amount of support rose significantly beginning with the 1928/29 school year. An increasingly important source was the regional Slovak government. Ove rall , government assistance for the commercial academies generally is a carbon copy of the assistance to the gymnazia. The old Hungarian schools operated uninterrupted through the 1918/9 school year. By the following fall, two schools had been closed , at Hume nne and Revuca , for lack of students; the rest were taken over by the state. Because there were no Slovaks qualified to teach in this field, Czechs were brought in to serve as both professors and principals. The old three-year pattern of instruction was continued until the passage of a new law on February 15, 1922, which formally established fouryear academies at Bratislava , Kosice, and Martin . By fall, a fourth academy was opened at Banska Bystrica. The close proximity of the last two named schools soon led to an apparent superfluity of places , and the school at Martin was forced to close , doing so one grade at a time , beginning in 1923/4. 11 The postwar recession and the deindustrialization of Slovakia which accompanied it , coupled with an essentially rural population, were surely the major causes. They discouraged parents who might otherwise have thought of enrolling their children. 12 The recovery which soon followed led to a n ew interest in this type of school , leading to the establishment of an institution at Nitra in 1926/7 - considered a replacement for Martin - and at Trencfn and (once again) Martin in 1927/8 . Job offers were now two or three times higher than the number of graduates . 13 Although the Depression forestalled the establi shm ent of any add itional schools for n early a d ecade, the number of students continued to rise steadily , except for a slight fall occasioned by the com ing of age of the tiny World War I generation. In common with the expansion in the number of gymnazia just before the outbreak of World War II , a commercial academ y was set up at Humen ne in the 1937/8 school year, where there h ad once been a Hungarian school. �62 SLOVAKIA The importance of the gove rnment 's role in fos te rin g commercial education is demonstrated by the fact that all of the commercial academies in Slovakia were state institutio ns. Only two of the approxima tely thirty other school s in the Republic were owned a nd ope rated b y the sta te . The commercial academies had a reputa tion of quality both at home and abroad because they enrolled a highly select group of students chosen from amon g man y a pplicants . The teacher s we re highly qualified , attracted by high pay . Even teachers of general educa tional subj ects earned more th an they would in a gymnazium or a realka. The o nly additional requirem ent was tha t they n eeded to have some minimal knowledge of business. 14 The curriculum was evenly divided between subjects of general instru ction (with a heavy d ose of la n gu ages) and business subj ects. Strictly speakin g, study a t the commercial acad emies did n o t end with a m aturita exam. 15 Even thou gh the examina tion was op tional, m ost stude nts took it b ecau se it was n ecessary for admi ssion to the univer sity , a nd it could m ean a hi gh er pos ition or rate o f pay on m a n y jobs . (It should be n oted tha t a hi gher p rece ntage of commercial acad em y students went on for additional studies tha n did students from the indu strial hi gh schools. y 6 In an effort to encourage students to go into bu siness for them selves upo n gradu a tion rather than takin g up an admini st ration j ob , the comm e rcial acad e mies d evelop ed a p rogram in which studen ts would spend their summers wo rking in various shops . Local banks, district and county gove rnm ents, a nd ch a mber s o f commerce r a ised the m on ey to pay the students for the experien ce. The D epression forced a cutback in the program . Ther e is no ev ide n ce that the program achieved its goal. 17 Like the indu strial high sch ools, the co mmercial acad e mies actu ally we re onl y the a n chor s of la rger edu cation al in sti t utio n s. In all ca ses, there was a two -year bu sin ess sch ool a ttach ed . A cco rdin g to Cve rcko, ' ' Students showed a preference fo r the two-year b usiness schools becau se they prov ided edu cation al oppo rtunities fo r stu d ent s from th e poo rer famili es and fo r youn g wom en w ho d es ired employm e n t in offi ces . ' ' 18 In so m e in stan ces, these bu siness schools, wh en located in pl aces other tha n a t a co mmercial acad em y, the m selves se rved as ce nte rs for sho rter term bu siness cou rses . 19 T he sch ool a t Brat islava was even m ore co mplex becau se it h ad bo th Czechoslovak a nd Hun garia n divisio ns. Published statistics on the commercial acad emies n ormally in cl uded d a ta o n both the acad emies a nd the a tt ach ed sch ools, m a kin g it m ore �SLOVAKIA 63 difficult to study the makeup of the student body of the academies alone. N evertheless, some observati on s can be made , especiall y whe n the published sta tewide statistics a re considered in conjun ction with the a nalysis of the sta tistics from the a nnu al repo rts published by the schools ( also see Fi gure 1 a nd T able 1) . One of the more interesting aspects is the presen ce of a slowly increasing number of women in these schools. This contrasts strongly with th e indu stri al hi gh school s. Whil e the postwa r recession n early wipes out a n initi al fem ale enrollment of b etter tha n ten percent, a gradual improve m ent whi ch began in the mid-twenties continued to the end of the R epublic, so tha t by the 1936/7 school year , more tha n a fifth of the stud ents we re women . The pe rce ntage of wo men gradu a tes , in line with the ge ne ral tre nd , was several percent less. At Nit ra, th e student s we re prima ril y children of white-collar worke rs, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, businessmen , and shopkeepers, in other words , the better situ ated elem ents of the society . About on e third of the student s cam e from workin g cl ass famili es. Jo INDUSTRIAL HIGH SCHOOLS Th e indu stri al hi gh school (priem yselna skola), with a fo ur- year curriculum , witnessed a slow developm ent ove r the hi story of the first C zechoslovak R epubli c. A s was the case with vocation al second a ry schools in gen eral , th ere were n ot ve ry man y of th em. Anton Stefa nek, who as R eferent fo r Edu cation in Slova ki a helped established th e school system, reali zed th e n eed for these schools, but recogni zed th e publi c ha d littl e apprec ia tio n fo r th em : It is n ecessary th a t Slovaks understa nd the value of technical , indu stri al a nd commercial schools. Yes, second a ry schools th ere mu st b e, gymnazia a nd realky, but all peopl e cann o t be gentlem e n with te nd er h a nd s.J 1 Al thou gh seve ral of these in stituti o n s h ad peen in ex isten ce durin g Hun gari an rule, they were in the large r cities, where the Slovak presence was sm all. Further , they lacked do rmito ries, m a kin g a tte nd a nce so m ewh a t diffi cult for o th er th a n city res id ents. 21 Three Czechoslovak in d u stri al hi gh schools o pen ed in th e fall of 19 19, with th e fi rs t grad u a tes em ergin g in 1923 . T wo we re in Bra tislava, a m ech a ni cal en gin ee rin g school (s trojnick a) a nd a buildin g or �64 SLOVAKIA civil engineerin g school (stavitel'ska), sharing the same facili ties. Kosice had a dual language engineering school. A chemical high school opened in Banska Stiavnica in 1921 , foll owed by a second buildin g school in Presov in 1931. The final institution to open its doors was the electrotechni cal hi gh school in Banska Byst rica , commen cing operations in the fall of 1936. Study at each institution, partially general a nd partially technical , ended with a maturita examination. The mech a nical e ngineering school was design ed to provide "gen eral and profess ional education , such as needed by managers of smaller engin eering firms or factories with enginee ring systems, or by technical officials.'' The course lasted four years. Applica nts for the school need ed to have co mpl eted four years of gymnazium studies, or middle school plus the one-year supplem entary " naukobeh ." Students with only three years of gym nazium or who h ad completed middle school edu cation with a grade of at leas t "good ," and who cou ld prove they had at least one year of on-the-job experience , cou ld also be admitted. 23 Preference went to those with practi cal experience. An entran ce exam was required. Like the co mmercial academi es, vocat ional schools of shorter duration were attached to each industrial high school. Th e goals of the other types of indu strial high schools were similar - to train the students for skill ed managerial and technical jobs, or for university study; the admission requireme nts were nearly the same , too. Th e civil engin eering hi gh school was designed to provide theoretical and practi cal instruction for future ind ependent owners of construction firm s, especiall y those dealing in concrete, rein forced co ncrete, a nd ca rpentry, as well as for private or state technical offic ials. 14 Graduates were ex pected to be abl e to construct a dwelli ng. The chem ical high school's a im was th e provision of gen eral a nd speciali zed education in combination with practical experience for future factory owners , administrators, and factory offi cials for various chemi cal plants, such as dye-works, printing, bleach or soap pla nts, glassworks, fertili ze r faciliti es, etc. 15 The electrotechni cal school , which had no graduates in its short existence, was also to give both ge neral a nd speciali zed inst ru ction combined with practi cal experie nce, to owners or managers of mach in e or electrotechni cal factories , or ot her factories with machine systems, and for technical offic ials of th e larger private or state engineerin g organizations. 26 The graduates of industrial hi gh schools could , aft er passing a sup- �SLOVAKIA 65 plementary exam, also study a t the technical universiti es, although few did, both because of the exam , a nd becau se, until the fall of 1938, there was no technical university in Slovakia, a fact which also h and icapped th ese schools in the ir efforts to a ttract students. 27 In th e fall of 1934, a transport division was added to the con struction high school in Bratislava , the ex press a im of the change b eing to facilitiate graduate placem ent, particularly in the m edium-sized and small firm s. J8 Th e practical n a ture of the study at the indu strial high schools required that no private students be all owed . Forty applicants were to be admitted each year at each school, except for the chemi cal hi gh school, to whi ch a maximum of thirty were all owed . If an aspirin g student passed th e entran ce examination at a parti cular school , but was not admitted because of lack of sufficient pl aces , he cou ld seek admission elsewhere in the R epublic .J 9 When the schools opened in the fall of 1919 , applicants from Slovakia were few . A call was sent out to the Czech students in the overcrowded industrial hi gh schools of Bohemia and Moravia to come to Slovakia. The re were promises of travel a nd ot her support, anything to help ra ise th e enrollm ent. 3° Of th e 77 students who enroll ed at the two schools in Bratislava , 42 were Slovak and 26 were Czech. 31 Th e total number of students experienced a steady, but slow climb upward because with th e opening of each new sc hool , approximately one cl ass was open ed each year (see Figure 2 and Table 2). In 1925, howeve r, the Ministry of Edu cation an noun ced plans to gradually close th e ch emical high school " because th e prese nt conditions in th e chem ical industry in no way ass ure the stude nts the fulfillm e nt of the amb ition s which lead them to the school.' ' The Ministry of Education (Msano) backed down , however, a nd agreed to co ntinu e to operate the school , provided first yea r enrollment reached 20 stud ents. 3J O verall , th e number of appli cations to all th e schools was mod erate until the mid-thirties, when both the expansion of industry in Slovakia a nd th e immin ent openin g of th e techni cal uni ve rsity led to a n explo sion of inte res t in these schools. At Banska Bystrica, for in sta nce, th e numbe r of appli cat io n s exceed ed th e number of admi ss ion s by 4 or 5 to 1. A simil a r jump in in terest developed in Bra ti slava abo u t the sa m e tim e . Earli er, nea rl y everyo ne who p assed the e ntran ce exam was admitted . (About one-th ird of th e a pplicants fail ed th e tes t.) Alth ough th ere has been no research o n th e subj ect, it is prob able �66 SLOVAKIA that the limited number of these schools was a hindrance in the expansion of the number of students, not only because there was a limited number of places, but also because students from a large part of the more Slovak areas of Slovakia could attend these schools only if they could afford to pay room and board. The schools themselves did not have their own dormitories, although the two Bratislava schools had access to up to 100 places in the city's Secondary School dormitory . 33 The founding of the electrotechnical school at Banska Bystrica provides some fine examples of the government ' s general attitudes toward the need for industrial education in Slovakia. The campaign for the establishment of the school was led by the Banska Bystrica City Council and by the Central Slovak Chamber of Commerce . The latter made the initial move in May 1934, urging the city council to join forces . The Chamber pointed out the lack of this particular kind of education in Slovakia. Two months later, the City Council wrote to the Ministry of Education , stressing how the creation of this school would further the development of Slovakia: The continuing electrification of Slovakia is not yet finish ed ; thus , not only would many jobs in this area await the graduates of the school, but the power-stations in Slovakia have a continuing lack of well-educated Slovaks . 34 The Ministry of Education responded the following spring, expressing doubt that there would be a sufficient number of students with the requisite preparatory education, and suggesting doubt that, in view of the economic crisis , the graduates could be placed. The economic upswing which was even then beginning apparently erased all doubts . The flood of applications had proved Prague wrong , at least on a delayed basis. H With the exception of the chemical high school, very few girls enrolled in the industrial high schools, the total reaching a high of 6 ½ percent in 1929/30 and 1930/1. There is no obvious explanation for the chemical school exception. Information on scholarship aid is too skimpy to make any judgments. AG RI CULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS The two schools known as higher agricultural schools showed the least change of any of the secondary level institutions in Slovakia dur- �SLOVAKIA 67 ing the interwar Republic. One was the higher agricultural (or farming) school in Kosice, founded on the ruins of a prewar college level Hungarian Academy, and the other the higher forestry school in Banska Stiavnica. There also had been a Forestry Academy there, although its building fell to the industrial high school. Both agricultural schools were administered by the Ministry of Agriculture through an inspector of agricultural instruction in Bratislava, one of six such offices in Czechoslovakia. 36 The school in Kosice was one of more than a dozen higher farming schools in the Republic, that in Banska Stiavnica one of four higher forestry schools (one of three Czechoslovak) in Czechoslovakia. 3 1 Both schools opened in the fall of 1919 and graduated their first classes in the spring of 1923. The faculty consisted almost entirely of Czechs . 3 8 The goal of the Farming School at Kosice was the education of' 'independent agricultural entrepreneurs" as well as officials who could handle agricultural affairs for the government or serve cooperatives in an office capacity. 39 The curriculum sought to make of the student an '' agricultural intelligent who could learn not to limit himself to that which is generally known, but who would also try to look for new ways and methods; in short, that it kindle and nurture in the young man the skill of application and, as much as possible, initiative.' ' 40 Students, of whom 30 were admitted each year, had to be at least 15 years of age, and to have completed either middle school, or the first four years of a gymnazium. In addition, boys and girls who had completed the shorter twoyear peasant school course with distinction could be admitted. Preference was to be given to those from peasant families who would be farming independently. 41 Originally three years in length, the school was converted to four years in 1920/ 1 (Ministry of Agriculture 21308/ 1920). The expanded curriculum permitted an expansion of general education and a deepening of technical subjects, as well as greater emphasis on the practical element of instruction . In addition, new subjects were added to prepare the students better for the modern world, including civics, business, typewriting, the cooperative movement, and milk processing. 42 The program of study ended with the maturita exam. Graduates, after passing supplementary exams , could study at the College of Agriculture, the College of Veterinary Medicine, Commercial Colleges, �68 SLOVAKIA or the Military Academy . A Provincial Institute of Agriculture R esearch was attached to the school. Applicants for the higher forestry high school also needed to be 15 years of age, and have completed the lower four years of a gymnazium , or a middle school plus the one-year continuation course (nauk obeh). Preference was given to sons of forestry employees and workers . No women were allowed. All graduates of secondary schools could pass directly into the second year of the school and, if they passed the required examination, advance directly into the third year of study. 43 The entering class was at first limited to 30 students, a figure later cut to 20. Only in exceptio n al cases were students from Bohemia and Moravia to be admitted. They had to be able to prove that a job would be await in g them upon graduation . 4 4 The goal of the school was to provide education for an efficient forest service and for the admin istration of smaller forest properties or the lumber business and industry and to provide an education correspond in g to the general level of advanced secondary education. The four-year course concluded with maturita exams . Graduates could attend the forestry division of the College of Agriculture after completing suppleme ntary exams in language and mathematical subjects. 4 5 Those who wished to enter state service directly (which was th e rule) were required to pass a state exam in the appropriate field. There is some irony in the generally held assumption that "through the incorporation of agricultural Slovakia, the Czechoslovak Republic has become nearly self-supporting as regards the supply of agricultural produce, " 46 yet so little attent ion was given to developing an advanced system of agricu ltural education in Slovakia. Part of the answer lies in the small size of so many of the land holdings, which would make further education superfluous. Prior to 1918, these two schools, existing on the level of junior colleges, had turned out offic ials and employees to manage the great estates of the Hungarian magnates. In fact, interest in attending the Czechoslovak school does not seem to have been overwhelming. For one thing , social attitudes worked against it. One stu dent remembered first enrollin g at a teacher training institute , then persuading hi s father that employment possibilities after graduat ion from the Farming School wou ld be much better. His mother and sister, however, were appalled by his withdrawal from the teacher training institute, and insisted he go back to it, which he did. 47 The R eferent for Agriculture, �SLOVAKIA 69 Pavel Blaho, had to take special pains to insure that there were enough students at all in the first years. 48 The school in Kosice had particular trouble attracting Slovak students. In 1920/1 , only 7 of 23 first year students were Slovak . 49 In that same year, only 21 of 48 students at Banska Stiavnica had parents living in Slovakia. 50 There were more Czechs than Slovaks in the first forestry graduating class. 51 Further discouraging the establishment of more schools was the argument that Slovaks were eligible to attend similar institutions in the Czech lands. Because these schools were both '' one of a kind'' they drew students from all over Slovakia. For instance, Kosice, in 1929/3 0, had representatives from more than half the counties of Slovakia. 52 This made the provision of housing important. Initially, Kosice had a dormitory for 45 students. It was replaced in the 1923/2 4 school year by the Ministry of Agriculture with a building which housed 120. A temporary dormitory was established at Banska Stiavnica in 1920 within the school itself. 53 However , once the school had reached its full complement of four classes in the fall of 1922 , the need for classrooms forced the dormitory's closing. Between a half and two-thirds of the students received financial aid, the m ajority of which, after 1929 , came from the regional government in Bratislava. Prior to that time , the counties and districts frequently gave support. 54 State aid was channeled through the Ministry of Agriculture . 55 Financial aid on the average was about twice as large for the students in Kosice as in Banska Stiavnica . Total enrollment at the two schools remained constant between 160 and 200 students (see Tables 3 and 4) . Girls were eligible to attend the school in Kosice , but hardly any did . Between 90 and 95 percent of the enrollment consisted of Czech and Slovak students, with a sprinkling of Ruthenians (particularly in the more accessible Kosice), Germans, and Hungarians. The percentage of students who were Catholic initially was very high (88 percent), but by 1925 declined to a level of about 70 percent , at which it remained. The percentage of Lutherans , at first very low, rose to 15-20 percent by 1925. The fact that the Lutheran pe rcentage was slightly higher than in the population as a whole can be attributed largely to the fact that Banska Stiavnica was situated in a more strongly Protestant area. There also were regularly small numbers of Orthodox , Greek Catholic, and Jewish students. Students at both Banska Stiavnica and Kosice te nded to be well a bove the minimum age, with the largest number in the 19-20 year old �70 SLOVAKIA range. Those from agricultural families were in the majority at Kosice and usually in the minority at Banska Stiavnica. In addition, if from agricultural backgrounds those at Kosice were more likely to come from larger landholders. 56 HIGHER COOPERATIVE AG RI CULTURAL SCHOOL An additional specialized school, the Higher Cooperative Agricultural School, a private institution , was opened in Bratislava in the fall of 1936. The goal of the school's four-semester course was to provide ''professional theoretical and practical preparation or development in cooperative consciousness and education for capable cooperative officials and functionaries for Slovakia, as well as for friends of the cooperative idea. " 57 Prior to the opening of the Slovak school, the cooperative officials had been drawn from the graduates of the commercial academies and agricultural schools, as well as from officials of financial institutions . The Central Cooperative Council ran a similar school in Prague, but it was not able to accept all applicants from Slovakia. Stipends for students from Slovakia had been made available on the basis of reciprocity , i.e., service in Slovakia. The Bratislava branch of the Cooperative Council lacked funds as well as a building to start its own school. When the latter problem was solved, the former became available. 58 Three groups were eligible for admission. The majority were to have completed a high school education, with preference given to graduates of the higher agricultural school in Kosice and the commercial academies, as well as those who had cooperative experience. A second group was drawn from those who had completed with success at least the first four years of high school or middle school, and who had also successfully completed agricultural or business school and had at least two years of cooperative experience . This group required entrance exams. A third group, persons not citizens of Czechoslovakia, could be admitted in special cases. The total from the second and third groups was not to exceed 8 places in the class of 24 . 59 In the two years the school was in operation, about half of the 22 students were age 23 and older; they came from many different districts across Slovakia . From a religious standpoint, the Lutherans were over-represented (see Table 5), with 35 percent the first year and 45 percent the second year. The parents of about two-thirds of the students �SLOVAKIA 71 had agricultural occupations. There is n o reference to the sex of the stude nts, although it can b e presumed that all were m en . 60 CONCLUSION It is un avoidable that some of the information presen ted in this article represents what might be called " microhistory ." In it are catalogued various beginnings and small changes . It is b ecause these changes have previously not been recorded in an organized fashion that certain processes of n ational d evelopment in twentieth-century Slovakia have not been properly understood. It is generally recognized that too few students in developing countries study mathematics or the scientific professions. 61 In many ways, Slovakia was an undeveloped country . Consideration mu st be given , however, to priorities in national form ation . Given the necessity of creating an intelligentsia within a national grouping, the most immediate and most important con cern is for an intelligentsia which will be visible to the public. Slovak-speaking lawye rs to ha ndle legal and administrative affairs, Slovak-speaking doctors to minister to the public, and Slovak-speaking teachers to teach Slovak culture were far m ore important a t the outset than the development of a technical intelligentsia for developin g a Slovak n ation al consciousn ess . Certainly the opportunities in the interwar republic to employ the skills gained in the vocational high schools were rather limited for a variety of reasons related to the formation of a n ew state-system in Eastern Europe . The lack of a n adequately trained agricultural , comme rcial, and industri al intelligentsia became painfully visible during the shortlived existence of the Slovak state ( 1939-1945). But , if it were not for the modest accompli shments in this field by the so-called bourgeois republic , the rapid growth begun in the Slovak state and continued in the renewed postwar Czechoslovak R epublic would n ot h ave been so dramatic . NOTES ' Th is peri od iza tion is outl in ed, a mong others, by Sta nl ey Z . Pech , " Ri ght, Left , and C entre in Eastern Europe 1869-1 940 : A cross-N ational Profile," C an adian journal of History , V ol. 16 , No. 2 ( 198 1), pp . 23 7-262. �72 SLOVAKIA ' For the cu rri culum of the commercial academy, see Vestnfk Ministerstva skolstvf a narodnf osvety (Msano), 13, No. 5 ( 15 May 1931), 18 1. 3 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 3 ( 15 M arch 1924), 100. Philosophical propedeutike consisted of a" . .. sy nthesis of knowledge from all subjects; acquaintance with the principal methods of philosophic solutions of problems. Thorough realization of the laws of intellec tual life and appreciation of th e major qu estions and tasks of philosophy. Survey of the intellec tual development of hum an ity." Vojtech Andie, "A Comparative Study of Education in Czechoslovakia for th e Periods of 1918 to 1938 and 1948 to 1953" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation , New York University , 1954) , p . 128. • Ida Zubacka, "Prfspevok k dejinam strednych odbornych skol v Nitre v rokoch 1918- 1938," Zbornfk Pedagogick ej fakulty v Nitre, 2 1 (1973)-Spolocenske ved ydejepis-zemepis, p. 104. 1 " Strucny informacnf pi'ehled o skolstvf narodnfm , sti'ednfm a odbornem , " Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 5 ( 15 May 1924), 273-4. 6 Antonin Bohac, "Padesat let ceskoslovenskeho skolstvf ," Pedagogika, 18, No. 5 ( 1968), 675. ' Vestnfk Msano, 7, No. 6 ( 15 Jun e 1925), 183-4. 8 Eduard Weis, "Zprava stat isti cka o skolstvf v Bratisl ave na pocatku sk. r . 1919/20 a srovnanf dat o skolach eleme ntarnfch s kon ce m sk. r. 1918/ 19, 16 December 191 9. Fond 7 Minister s plnou moci pre Slovensku (M/pm), Statny ustredny archfv Slovenskej socialistickej republiky (SUA SSR) Bra ti slava. • Yea rl y R eport, K osice Obchodna Akademia 1919/2 0-20/ 1, p. 6. ' 0 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No . 12 ( 15 D ece mber 1924), 592-3. '' J . Fuksa et al. , eds. , Almanach obchodnfho skolstvf ceskos/ovenske republiky 1918- 1928 (Prague : Statnf nakladatelst vf, 1938), p. 23 . " The i upan of Spis doubted hi s population 's " understanding for th e practical ed ucation of (its) youth ." His comments cited by M / pm as one of th e reasons to deny commercial academy to K ezmarok-M/ pm 14634/2 1 Adm . III of 20 October 192 1 in Spisska zupa 691/1921 in Statny archfv-Levoca. The principal in K osice had no doubts th at the population in that city did not value a commercial edu ca tion. Yearly R eport, 19 19/20-20/ 1, p . 36 . 13 Yearly R eport, Brat islava OA 1928/9, p. 15. 14 Bohac , "Padesat let, " p . 678. 11 Ibid ., p . 675. 16 Ibid. 11 Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca OA 1927 /8 , p. 7; 1928/9, p. 20; 193 1/ 2, p. 9; and 1932 /3, p. 11. " Sister M. Joan Cvercko , " Schools of Slova ki a: Histori cal Study of Secondary Technical-Vocational Education 1918-1 948" (Unpublished M .A. thesis, The Catholic University of America, 1972), p. 62. �SLOVAKIA 19 ' 0 73 Fuksa, Almanach , pp . 125-4 7, describes in detail the various combinations of schools as th ey were in 1928. Zubacka, " Prfspevok," p. 105. " Literarny archiv Matice slovenskej (LAMS) 42 VIII 23, "Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920, " p. 10. " Yearly Report, Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/20, p. 11. " H. J a nus , " Sedemdesiat' rokov priemyselnej skoly v Bratislave ," Jednotna skola, 26, No. 2 (February 1974), 181. " Yea rly Report , Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/ 20, p. 1. " Julius Bartak , Vyvin Jesnickeho skolstva na Slovensku v ramci hospodarskych pomerov (Bratislava: Lesnfcka a dreva rska ustredna, 1942), p. 303. ,. Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca Statna odborna skola 1936/7, p . 3. " Bohac , "Padesat let ," p. 675. According to " Strucny ," pp . 260-1 , no supplementary exam was required; a successful maturitant could study in th e technical or mining colleges in th e sam e field he had done his high school work ; according to Anton Benda , "Statn a cs!. priemyselna skola s mad'arskymi pobockami V Kosiciach, " in A .S. Zitavsky, Pamiitnik slovensk eho skolstva za ucinkovania Prezidenta T.G. Masaryk a (Bratislava: V yd avatel'stvo pamii.tnika Slovenskeho skolstva, (1936-7), V ol. I , p. 177 , "at leas t one" a year from his school went on for uni versity level study. " J a nus, "Sedemd esiat'," p. 182. Similar reasoning und erlay the creation of a post-gradu ate electrotechni cal course at Bra tisl ava in 1931/2, although the course seems only to have existed fo r a year. Yearl y R eport, Bratislava Priem yselna skola 1930/ 1, pp . 24-5 and 193 1/2, p. 25. " " Strucny," pp. 260-1. '° K om ensky, 46 , No. 24 (30 August 1919), 7. " LAMS 42 VIII 23 , " Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920," p. 12. " Pohron ska zupa 3851/1925-SA-Banska Bys tri ca. " J. Smetana, "Statn a cs!. pri emyselna skola v Bratislave," in Zitavsky , Pamacnik , V ol. I , p. 163. " Brigita Simonova et. al. , Minulost', sucasnost', buducnost ': Jubilejny alman ach k 50. vyrociu sloven sk ej cechnick ej skoly v B anskej B ys trici (Banska Bystrica : Stredoslove nske vyd avatel'stvo , 1967) , pp. 34-5. " Ibid ., pp . I 04-7. " Edvard R eich , " V yvoj ze medelskeho skol stvf s hledi ska celostatniho, " in R eich & Vaclav Skoda , eds., Zem edelska osveta V R. C.S. (Prague: Ministerstvo skolstvi a narodni osvety, mini sterstvo ze m edelstvf a ze msky ufad , 1931), pp. 10- 12. " Th ere was so me va ri a nce: The tot al of ag ricultural schools fluctu ated between 13 and I 6 ( of whi ch I 0-12 were Czechoslovak). " r,udovft H am as, " V ychova pol'nohospodarov v rokoch neslobod y- 1938- 1945 na �74 SLOVAKIA Slovensku," Cykl. vytisk. KPU, Bratislava, as quoted in Zdenek Cernohorsky , Dejiny zemedelskeho skolstvi v Ceskoslovensku (Prague: SPN, 1980), pp. 5-1 . 39 ' 0 Jozef Babanek, Zemedel'ske skolstvo dl'a stavu roku 1927 (Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1928), p. 30. Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1920/30, p. 5. " Eudovft Hamas, Z dejin pol'nohospodarskeho skolstva (Bratislava: SPN, 1967), p. 22 . " Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, p . 11 • . 0 Bartik , V}'vin, p. 291. 44 Ibid., 290; and Ceskoslovenska Statistika, Vol. 2, p. ts• . " Babanek, Zemedel'ske, p. 60 . •• Vladislav Brdlik, "Agriculture," in Jozef Gruber, Czechoslovakia: A Survey of Economic and Social Conditions (New York: The Macmillan Co. , 1924), p. 28. " Vladimir Medek, "Krfdla do zivota," in Hudzovic , Sto rokov, p. 147. " See Yearly Report of Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/30, p. 25. Perhaps the most seductive means was financial. In 1920/ 1, 26 students at Kosice received grants totalling 24,920 Kc . No other such school received more than eight grants . In the same year, 18 stipends and grants worth 15,900 Kc were awarded to Banska Stiavnica forestry students. The other three such schools in the Republic together had only 14 grants for 4900 Kc. Further evidence of Blaho ' s influence is that same year, nearly half of the students in Kosice were from his home country at the other end of Slovakia . The largest number of students at Banska Stiavnica were also from Nitra County. Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Tables V, VII. " Referent for Education to principals of all secondary schools in Slovakia, c. 30.927 / II of 8 June 1921-copy in Prievidza G, Spisy, Carton 1, Okresny archfv-Prievidza. '° Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Table IV. " Zelmfra Miillerova, "Lesnfcke knifoice na Slovensku , " Kniznicny zbornik , 1971, p. 182. The proportion of Slovaks increased only gradually . " Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/ 30 , pp. 74-6. " Students went on strike in December 1919 to force the establishment of the dormitory. Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1919-1959 (Bratislava: Poverenfctvo Podohospodarstva, 1959), p. 15. " Archival records testify that the two schools actively solicited this aid . For example, see their letters to Podtatranska County. Podtatranska zupa c. 28405/ 1923, 33123/1924, and 4939/1925 Adm If-SA-Bytca. " Students were eligible for the coveted Pa.Iffy awards . These are described by Ivan Derer, "Spachala prvnf republika temei' genocidu Slovaku? " Literarni listy , I , No. 15 (6 June 1968), p. 4. 16 The place of agricultural education in Czechoslovak history is described extensivel y in Cernohorsky, Dejiny zemedelskeho . Most of his material is drawn from official sources . �SLOVAKIA 75 " Yearly R eport, Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, p . 27. 51 Fedor Houdek, "Zahajovacia re(: pri otvoreni Vyssej zemedelskej skoly druzstevnej v Bratislave 1. okt6bra 1936," in Yearly Report , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 11 -13. " Yearl y R eport , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 27-8. 60 See the school 's yearly reports 1936/7 & 1937/8. 61 W . Arthur Lewis , The University in Less-Developed Countries (New York: International Council for Educational D evelopment , 1974), p . 17 . �19 19/20 z E :, .n ......, 0 '- g "Cl ,,, 'i:..., 500 1000 Figure 1 - 1929/30 Commercial Academy Enrollment Yea r 1937 /8 Women students Total students t""' ► ...... ► ~ < 0 r:.n --.J 0-, �SLOVAKIA T able 1 - 77 Com mercial Academies To tal Students 1919/20 1920/ 1 192 1/2 1922 /3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 1926/7 Rrati sl..n·a 146 I 74 150 134 133 so 93 103 124 63 33 134 105 I 19 17 132 18 112 103 151 78 130 Ran skil Rys1rica KuSin· T. S,·. !'vl anin 36 40 64 74 I 15 124 40 Nitra TrcnCin TOTAL u f wh ich womc- n Pcrccn1agc Stude n ts in sen ior dass o f which womc-n 222 31 13 .96 3 12 32 10 .26 0 0 Nationali1y Czcl·hos lu,·ak 346 367 21 6 .07 38 10 .35 24 40 343(93 . 5) Czec h Slova k German Jewi sh H ungarian Poli sh 17 74 392 68 17 .35 71 8 2 324(93.6) 370 SI 13 . 78 IO 7 375 58 15 .47 411 52 12 .65 88 9 372(61.69) 35(5 .80) 105(17 .41) 9( 1.49) 69( 11.44) 13(2 . 16) O th er Czec hoslov aks at H ungarian Schools Religion Roman Cathol ic Greek Cat holi c Czech Rn·thrcn Lu1 hcran Reform ed Onhodux Jewish Czec hosh),·ak Other Prott·s1an1 s Nunt· 208(60 . I ) 3 3 54(27 .69) 73(2 1. 1) 22( 11 .28) 35 I 119(61.03) 18 Parental Occupation Agrinilturt· lndu slry·ov,:n busim·ss Free Pruft: ss ions/ lnt elligcn sia S1att· Em plo yt·cs Comrnern· 'v\lorkcrs 97( 15 .23) Pl ace of Res idence Cum mut c Live with parent s or relatives in tuw n Li ve with guardians Birthplace City of School Other Slu,·akia 13(9 .49) 78(56 .93 ) Foreign Bcihemia '.\1orav ia/ Silcsia 4(2.92) 25( 18 .25) I 7( 12 .41 ) 94(30 . 13) 14(4 .49) 139(44 .55) 36( 11. 54 ) 29(9 .29) 384(58.45) �78 SLOVAKIA Table 1 - Commercial Academies 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 193 1/2 193 2/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 169 122 125 39 75 49 579 82 14 . 16 178 109 134 67 107 84 679 97 14 .29 188 122 133 94 125 118 780 121 15.51 202 132 133 119 125 155 866 137 15.8 1 228 147 136 124 127 150 912 160 17.54 22 1 150 140 123 136 154 924 177 19. 16 204 20 1 134 140 194 152 164 131 141 882 159 18 .03 909 163 17 .93 937 187 19.96 182 I 73 171 147 146 155 1024 224 21.88 193 31 185 27 185 36 214 32 205 32 190 35 867(92 .5) 23 32 193 7/8 221 205 973(95 .0) l061(76 .33) 10 1(7.27) 178( 12.81) 17 19( 1. 37) 28 4 8(0.58) 905(65.06) l04( 15.83) 7(1.07) 12(1.83) (includi ng Uniatc) I 10( 16 .74) 18(2 . 74) 18(2 . 74) 22(3 .35) 215( 15.46) 23( 1. 65) 16(1.15) 143( 10 .28) 53(3 .8 1) 36(2 .59) 111(17 .43 ) 16(2 .51) 204(32 .03) 145( 11.9 1) 6(0.49) 408(33 .53) 235( 19.31) 291(23 .91) 132(10.85) 180(28.26) 29(4.55) 604(52. 16) 264(22 .80) 290(25 .04) �"' E ..:J " :i z ... 0 3 ......"' "" i:: 1920/ 1 400 600 Figure 2 - 1929/30 Industrial High School Enrollment Year 1937 /8 Women students Total students t"" IC -..J > < > :,,:: 0 Ul �SLOVAKIA 80 Table 2 Total Students Brati slava- m ech. eng. -civil eng. Kos ice- m ech. eng. Ban ska Stiavnica-chemi cal Prefov-civil en g. TOTAL of which wome n• Student s in sen ior cl ass of whi ch wom en Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ss ian/ Ru th en ian/ U kra ini a n Hun ga ri a n G erm a n J ew ish Oth er Industrial High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 45 32 41 81 68 86 1921/2 1922/3 1923 /4 1924 / 5 1925/6 117 53 11 6 JO 118 235 3 296 2 52 131 79 136 27 128 88 130 52 126 105 144 79 11 2 120 138 82 373 2 398 454 11 55 0 452 75 I 211 3 270 2 4 16 4 18 Religion R oma n Ca tholic Greek Ca tholi c Czech Brethren Lutheran R eform ed Orthodox J ewish None • alm ost a ll women stu died a t Ba n skcl St iav ni ca 178 4 I 42 2 2 42 25 346 3 14 2 7 �SLOVAKIA Table 2 - 81 Industrial High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 ll7 104 138 88 117 114 l 29 110 120 117 133 106 121 113 136 123 129 126 150 134 447 7 470 12 476 24 493 32 539 35 11 2 7 123 l 26 157 130 26 562 29 11 2 12 137 116 155 128 60 596 21 138 6 142 93 151 131 98 144 135 99 147 108 595 19 134 4 599 5 139 3 600 16 166 6 Ill 132 88 133 118 93 583 567 3 552 4 5 4 �82 SLOVAKIA Table 3 - Agricultural High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 1921/2 1922/3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 K o~ice- Agricultu ral School Banska StiavnicaForestry High School TOTAL of which women No. in senior class Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ssian/Ruthenian/U krainia n G erm an Hun garian J ewi sh Bul garian Unknown Other Religion Rom an Cathol ic Greek Catholic Czech Brethren Luthera n Reformed Orthodox J ew ish Czechoslovak Other None Fees Paid in Fall Fee W a iver Half Waiver 25 45 68 96 100 107 109 48 93 0 0 77 145 0 0 98 194 95 195 0 85 192 84 193 2 87 139 2 3 2 2 3 184 3 2 4 183 2 4 4 180 5 2 2 178 5 6 3 82 8 2 128 11 157 4 1 22 1 3 151 3 2 26 149 3 2 26 140 4 1 32 5 6 3 6 2 3 4 1 2 125 67 3 114 68 10 134 54 5 2 5 7 2 �SLOV AKIA Table 3 - 83 Agricultural High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/ 1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 96 94 105 104 108 104 107 108 112 72 67 161 0 71 176 0 73 177 0 81 189 0 80 184 0 77 184 84 192 85 197 42 45 168 155 3 3 167 4 3 2 77 85 199 192 2 35 190 2 183 2 3 3 132 8 130 7 13 1 5 137 7 127 9 37 37 37 6 6 I 33 2 3 4 2 45 5 6 34 2 2 5 4 4 2 162 5 3 2 7 4 4 11 3 3 114 2 120 3 124 4 31 25 34 5 9 2 7 9 10 6 4 3 3 107 57 4 109 50 2 178 2 114 176 2 3 2 147 3 2 5 176 5 2 4 I 115 I 41 196 2 5 2 I 2 5 88 21 83 105 5 89 �SLOVAKIA 84 Table 4 - Agricultural High Schools 1922/3 1921/2 K Socioeconomic Data BS K 1924/5 1923 / 4 BS K BS K BS Parental Occupation Owners u f land : JOO+ hc<:1arcs 20- 100 hcnan·s 5-20 hcnan:s k-ss than 5 h1.•1.·tarcs 8 22 15 18 3 16 3 19 12 18 14 II 12 13 7 46 Agriniltural or forc s,ry 1.· mplu y1.-c ur wor ke r offi c ia l Non-agricultural 25 14 15 31 II 36 14 16 49 9 41 14 50 52 Age - 16 17- 18 19-20 281 27 5' 2 1-22 6 81 3I 21 13 23 & abm-c 2 17 33 31 24 36 15 10 25 Scholarships S1atc-No. / V alm· Region al-Nu./Val uc 27/26,800 I 517,900 37/38,485 9/ 10,830 17 /8 ,900 9/ 4 ,629 Distri<·1- No ./ Va lu c Othcr-Nu ./ Va lu c (Values in KCs) 16/13 ,000 7/9,500 8/4,900 9/6, .1 00 29/ 39,800 18/17,400 Total Studcn1s rccei \' in g grant s No./Va lu c BS - Ban sk- a Stia\'nit·a K - K o~ in· - age 15 1 - ages 16- 18 54/ 54,215 27 / 18.829 9 33 38 12 8 65/ 41.81 0 27 29 16 18 23/15,900 8 33 40 17 9 7 1/ 37 ,600 24 29 20 10 34/15,580 �85 SLOVAKIA Table 4 - 1926/7 1925 /6 K BS K II 12 26 II 14 20 13 8 4 II 45 14 46 4 32 16 35 19 19 13 34 28 17 4 4 36 48 17 4 Agricultural High Schools - Socioeconomic Data 1927/8 BS K 1936/7 193516 BS K BS K 12 6 9 18 25 15 13 9 10 26 40 6 8 22 34 II 7 9 36 4 19 9 9 32 I 37 20 24 14 6 8 33 30 22 22 4 25 31 10 19 44 23 6 8/3, 100 4 /2 , 500 25/12 ,350 9/3,000 6 6 6 2 23 20 23 4/3,000 21700 55/33, 150 2017,790 53/30.750 13/11,650 58/27,400 2/5,200 36/16,050 8/5,500 BS 30 17 7 47 30 39 I7 22 27 27 14 17 6/4,200 15/ 12,700 10/3,350 1/962 5/2,300 7/4,200 1/500 32121,212 13/7 ,000 �86 SLOVAKIA Table 5 Higher Cooperative Agricultural School 1936/7 Total Students : 22 (all male); all graduated Nationality : 20 Czechoslovak, 2 Hungarian Age: I 17-18 , 5 19-20, 5 21-2, 5 23 & above Fees: 17 waived , 5 part waived Family O ccupations: 3 owners of 20-100 hectares, 10 owners of 5-20 hec tares, 2 agricultural or forest ry employees and workers , 7 non agricultural Scholarships: 3 from regional government totalling 4,000 Kc 16 others totalling 26,000 Kc � SLOVAKIA 59 The Modernization of Slovakia: The Role of Vocational High Schools, 1918-1938 Owen V . Johnson Most of the modern nations and nationalities in Eastern Europe began as cultural movements. Writers and teachers were among their earliest leaders. As these movements grew in size, they turned into political movements , with lawyers playing increasingly important roles. 1 Most of the research on East European national development has focused on these changes . None of these developing nations could long survive, however, without an adequate industrial , commercial, and modern agricultural base. Such development has been the thread of continuity in twentieth-century Eastern Europe behind the facade of radical political change. This article examines the basis of economic change which was laid down in three types of secondary schools in interwar Slovakia, the commercial academies, and the industrial and agricultural high schools. That they were not a top priority of the new Czechoslovak government is indicated by the fact that none was opened until the fall of 1919, nearly a year after the creation of the new Republic , while the first Slovak gymnazium had opened its doors only two weeks after the seizure of power by the new state. The common tie of these three types of schools was that they were more likely to draw their students from the middle schools , in contrast to the gymnazium, which usually admitted students directly from primary schools to its eight-year curriculum. In part this is explained by the fact that these schools attracted a different type of student , on e who was interested not in becoming a lawyer, a doctor , or a teacher - those people went to the gymnazia or the teacher training institutions - but the one who wanted to become an ' ' independent entrepreneur.'' �60 SLOVA KIA Each of th ese schools will b e di scu ssed se parately. Like the o the r vocatio na l seco nda ry schools, the co mm e rcial acad e mies perform ed a du a l fun ction . Their four- year curriculum was des igned partially to prepa re student s to a ssum e respo n sible positio n s in bu sin ess or b a nking offi ces (e.g., two fore ign la n gu ages, incl udin g G erm a n , were in the curriculum) a nd pa rtially to prepa re those students who wished to study a t an institutio n of higher learning . The course was ge n era l, with no provisio n for specializa tio n . 2 G radu a tes we re eli gible to study a t the V ysoka o bchodn a skola (C o mme rcial College) in Pragu e, o r , e ffective 192 4 , a ft er pass in g the supplem entary exam (s) (give n in Slovakia o nly in Bra ti slava) in L a tin a nd philosophical proped eu tika, a t the L a w F aculty in Brno . 3 Beginnin g in 193 4 , they we re also eli gible to a ttend milita ry offi ce r s' school. G radu a tes who did no t go o n for furth e r edu cation h ad the right , a fter o ne year 's practice, to the " indepe nde nt m a n age m e nt of a business. " 4 M os t oft e n , howeve r , they becam e officials in b a nkin g or com me rce, o r gained employ m ent in the sta te bureau cracy. 5 The e ntra nce requirem e nts to these schools we re th e sam e as fo r o ther vocatio na l schools. The prospective a pplicant e ith er ha d to be a t leas t age 14 a nd h ave co mple ted four years a t a realka o r som e kind of gymnazium , o r be a g radu a te of the middl e school, with a pp ro pria te gra des. Preferen ce was give n to a pplicants with bu siness experie nce . 6 T hose pe rso ns who h ad passed the ir gymnazium m aturita una nimou sly or with distinctio n could take a o ne-year post -g rad u a te course a t a co mme rcial acad emy ( o ne su ch course was se t up a t Bra ti slava); those w ho had rece ived a "with m ajo rity" mark would be accepted o nly if there was roo m . Gymnazium gradua tes could al so enter the third year of the co mme rcial acade m y o n a tentat ive bas is, hav in g ho weve r to ta ke seve ra l supple m e nta ry exa m s by Christm as . 7 T he traditio nal Hun gari a n d isd a in fo r co mme rce, a nd he nce, fo r comm ercial edu cati o n , le ft it s imp r int on public a ttitudes toward th e bu siness academies. When the Bra ti slava Commercial Acade m y opened for bu sin ess in th e fall of 19 19, nearly a third of the regul a rl y enro ll ed stude nts we re Czec hs. Czechs were in the majo rit y at the a ttached post-gradu a te co urse. 8 It took time to ove rco me the negat ive attitudes, time for these schools to d em o nstra te the ir wo rth . A s a ch ro nicle r at the K os ice Com m e rcial Acad e m y no ted , the sc hool " ove rco m es the mi stake n trad itio n in the �SLOVAKIA 61 Slovak people that only the hi gh school, specifically the gymnazium and not a commercial school, can insure the Slovak son or daughter a regular functional edu cation .' ' 9 In those early years, it was often necessary to personally con vince the parents of prospective students of the value of the commercial education. One means of persuasion was money in the form of scholarships . In the early years, however, state aid was not very generous, about one grant per school. 10 It appears that the total amount of support rose significantly beginning with the 1928/29 school year. An increasingly important source was the regional Slovak government. Ove rall , government assistance for the commercial academies generally is a carbon copy of the assistance to the gymnazia. The old Hungarian schools operated uninterrupted through the 1918/9 school year. By the following fall, two schools had been closed , at Hume nne and Revuca , for lack of students; the rest were taken over by the state. Because there were no Slovaks qualified to teach in this field, Czechs were brought in to serve as both professors and principals. The old three-year pattern of instruction was continued until the passage of a new law on February 15, 1922, which formally established fouryear academies at Bratislava , Kosice, and Martin . By fall, a fourth academy was opened at Banska Bystrica. The close proximity of the last two named schools soon led to an apparent superfluity of places , and the school at Martin was forced to close , doing so one grade at a time , beginning in 1923/4. 11 The postwar recession and the deindustrialization of Slovakia which accompanied it , coupled with an essentially rural population, were surely the major causes. They discouraged parents who might otherwise have thought of enrolling their children. 12 The recovery which soon followed led to a n ew interest in this type of school , leading to the establishment of an institution at Nitra in 1926/7 - considered a replacement for Martin - and at Trencfn and (once again) Martin in 1927/8 . Job offers were now two or three times higher than the number of graduates . 13 Although the Depression forestalled the establi shm ent of any add itional schools for n early a d ecade, the number of students continued to rise steadily , except for a slight fall occasioned by the com ing of age of the tiny World War I generation. In common with the expansion in the number of gymnazia just before the outbreak of World War II , a commercial academ y was set up at Humen ne in the 1937/8 school year, where there h ad once been a Hungarian school. �62 SLOVAKIA The importance of the gove rnment 's role in fos te rin g commercial education is demonstrated by the fact that all of the commercial academies in Slovakia were state institutio ns. Only two of the approxima tely thirty other school s in the Republic were owned a nd ope rated b y the sta te . The commercial academies had a reputa tion of quality both at home and abroad because they enrolled a highly select group of students chosen from amon g man y a pplicants . The teacher s we re highly qualified , attracted by high pay . Even teachers of general educa tional subj ects earned more th an they would in a gymnazium or a realka. The o nly additional requirem ent was tha t they n eeded to have some minimal knowledge of business. 14 The curriculum was evenly divided between subjects of general instru ction (with a heavy d ose of la n gu ages) and business subj ects. Strictly speakin g, study a t the commercial acad emies did n o t end with a m aturita exam. 15 Even thou gh the examina tion was op tional, m ost stude nts took it b ecau se it was n ecessary for admi ssion to the univer sity , a nd it could m ean a hi gh er pos ition or rate o f pay on m a n y jobs . (It should be n oted tha t a hi gher p rece ntage of commercial acad em y students went on for additional studies tha n did students from the indu strial hi gh schools. y 6 In an effort to encourage students to go into bu siness for them selves upo n gradu a tion rather than takin g up an admini st ration j ob , the comm e rcial acad e mies d evelop ed a p rogram in which studen ts would spend their summers wo rking in various shops . Local banks, district and county gove rnm ents, a nd ch a mber s o f commerce r a ised the m on ey to pay the students for the experien ce. The D epression forced a cutback in the program . Ther e is no ev ide n ce that the program achieved its goal. 17 Like the indu strial high sch ools, the co mmercial acad e mies actu ally we re onl y the a n chor s of la rger edu cation al in sti t utio n s. In all ca ses, there was a two -year bu sin ess sch ool a ttach ed . A cco rdin g to Cve rcko, ' ' Students showed a preference fo r the two-year b usiness schools becau se they prov ided edu cation al oppo rtunities fo r stu d ent s from th e poo rer famili es and fo r youn g wom en w ho d es ired employm e n t in offi ces . ' ' 18 In so m e in stan ces, these bu siness schools, wh en located in pl aces other tha n a t a co mmercial acad em y, the m selves se rved as ce nte rs for sho rter term bu siness cou rses . 19 T he sch ool a t Brat islava was even m ore co mplex becau se it h ad bo th Czechoslovak a nd Hun garia n divisio ns. Published statistics on the commercial acad emies n ormally in cl uded d a ta o n both the acad emies a nd the a tt ach ed sch ools, m a kin g it m ore �SLOVAKIA 63 difficult to study the makeup of the student body of the academies alone. N evertheless, some observati on s can be made , especiall y whe n the published sta tewide statistics a re considered in conjun ction with the a nalysis of the sta tistics from the a nnu al repo rts published by the schools ( also see Fi gure 1 a nd T able 1) . One of the more interesting aspects is the presen ce of a slowly increasing number of women in these schools. This contrasts strongly with th e indu stri al hi gh school s. Whil e the postwa r recession n early wipes out a n initi al fem ale enrollment of b etter tha n ten percent, a gradual improve m ent whi ch began in the mid-twenties continued to the end of the R epublic, so tha t by the 1936/7 school year , more tha n a fifth of the stud ents we re women . The pe rce ntage of wo men gradu a tes , in line with the ge ne ral tre nd , was several percent less. At Nit ra, th e student s we re prima ril y children of white-collar worke rs, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, businessmen , and shopkeepers, in other words , the better situ ated elem ents of the society . About on e third of the student s cam e from workin g cl ass famili es. Jo INDUSTRIAL HIGH SCHOOLS Th e indu stri al hi gh school (priem yselna skola), with a fo ur- year curriculum , witnessed a slow developm ent ove r the hi story of the first C zechoslovak R epubli c. A s was the case with vocation al second a ry schools in gen eral , th ere were n ot ve ry man y of th em. Anton Stefa nek, who as R eferent fo r Edu cation in Slova ki a helped established th e school system, reali zed th e n eed for these schools, but recogni zed th e publi c ha d littl e apprec ia tio n fo r th em : It is n ecessary th a t Slovaks understa nd the value of technical , indu stri al a nd commercial schools. Yes, second a ry schools th ere mu st b e, gymnazia a nd realky, but all peopl e cann o t be gentlem e n with te nd er h a nd s.J 1 Al thou gh seve ral of these in stituti o n s h ad peen in ex isten ce durin g Hun gari an rule, they were in the large r cities, where the Slovak presence was sm all. Further , they lacked do rmito ries, m a kin g a tte nd a nce so m ewh a t diffi cult for o th er th a n city res id ents. 21 Three Czechoslovak in d u stri al hi gh schools o pen ed in th e fall of 19 19, with th e fi rs t grad u a tes em ergin g in 1923 . T wo we re in Bra tislava, a m ech a ni cal en gin ee rin g school (s trojnick a) a nd a buildin g or �64 SLOVAKIA civil engineerin g school (stavitel'ska), sharing the same facili ties. Kosice had a dual language engineering school. A chemical high school opened in Banska Stiavnica in 1921 , foll owed by a second buildin g school in Presov in 1931. The final institution to open its doors was the electrotechni cal hi gh school in Banska Byst rica , commen cing operations in the fall of 1936. Study at each institution, partially general a nd partially technical , ended with a maturita examination. The mech a nical e ngineering school was design ed to provide "gen eral and profess ional education , such as needed by managers of smaller engin eering firms or factories with enginee ring systems, or by technical officials.'' The course lasted four years. Applica nts for the school need ed to have co mpl eted four years of gymnazium studies, or middle school plus the one-year supplem entary " naukobeh ." Students with only three years of gym nazium or who h ad completed middle school edu cation with a grade of at leas t "good ," and who cou ld prove they had at least one year of on-the-job experience , cou ld also be admitted. 23 Preference went to those with practi cal experience. An entran ce exam was required. Like the co mmercial academi es, vocat ional schools of shorter duration were attached to each industrial high school. Th e goals of the other types of indu strial high schools were similar - to train the students for skill ed managerial and technical jobs, or for university study; the admission requireme nts were nearly the same , too. Th e civil engin eering hi gh school was designed to provide theoretical and practi cal instruction for future ind ependent owners of construction firm s, especiall y those dealing in concrete, rein forced co ncrete, a nd ca rpentry, as well as for private or state technical offic ials. 14 Graduates were ex pected to be abl e to construct a dwelli ng. The chem ical high school's a im was th e provision of gen eral a nd speciali zed education in combination with practical experience for future factory owners , administrators, and factory offi cials for various chemi cal plants, such as dye-works, printing, bleach or soap pla nts, glassworks, fertili ze r faciliti es, etc. 15 The electrotechni cal school , which had no graduates in its short existence, was also to give both ge neral a nd speciali zed inst ru ction combined with practi cal experie nce, to owners or managers of mach in e or electrotechni cal factories , or ot her factories with machine systems, and for technical offic ials of th e larger private or state engineerin g organizations. 26 The graduates of industrial hi gh schools could , aft er passing a sup- �SLOVAKIA 65 plementary exam, also study a t the technical universiti es, although few did, both because of the exam , a nd becau se, until the fall of 1938, there was no technical university in Slovakia, a fact which also h and icapped th ese schools in the ir efforts to a ttract students. 27 In th e fall of 1934, a transport division was added to the con struction high school in Bratislava , the ex press a im of the change b eing to facilitiate graduate placem ent, particularly in the m edium-sized and small firm s. J8 Th e practical n a ture of the study at the indu strial high schools required that no private students be all owed . Forty applicants were to be admitted each year at each school, except for the chemi cal hi gh school, to whi ch a maximum of thirty were all owed . If an aspirin g student passed th e entran ce examination at a parti cular school , but was not admitted because of lack of sufficient pl aces , he cou ld seek admission elsewhere in the R epublic .J 9 When the schools opened in the fall of 1919 , applicants from Slovakia were few . A call was sent out to the Czech students in the overcrowded industrial hi gh schools of Bohemia and Moravia to come to Slovakia. The re were promises of travel a nd ot her support, anything to help ra ise th e enrollm ent. 3° Of th e 77 students who enroll ed at the two schools in Bratislava , 42 were Slovak and 26 were Czech. 31 Th e total number of students experienced a steady, but slow climb upward because with th e opening of each new sc hool , approximately one cl ass was open ed each year (see Figure 2 and Table 2). In 1925, howeve r, the Ministry of Edu cation an noun ced plans to gradually close th e ch emical high school " because th e prese nt conditions in th e chem ical industry in no way ass ure the stude nts the fulfillm e nt of the amb ition s which lead them to the school.' ' The Ministry of Education (Msano) backed down , however, a nd agreed to co ntinu e to operate the school , provided first yea r enrollment reached 20 stud ents. 3J O verall , th e number of appli cations to all th e schools was mod erate until the mid-thirties, when both the expansion of industry in Slovakia a nd th e immin ent openin g of th e techni cal uni ve rsity led to a n explo sion of inte res t in these schools. At Banska Bystrica, for in sta nce, th e numbe r of appli cat io n s exceed ed th e number of admi ss ion s by 4 or 5 to 1. A simil a r jump in in terest developed in Bra ti slava abo u t the sa m e tim e . Earli er, nea rl y everyo ne who p assed the e ntran ce exam was admitted . (About one-th ird of th e a pplicants fail ed th e tes t.) Alth ough th ere has been no research o n th e subj ect, it is prob able �66 SLOVAKIA that the limited number of these schools was a hindrance in the expansion of the number of students, not only because there was a limited number of places, but also because students from a large part of the more Slovak areas of Slovakia could attend these schools only if they could afford to pay room and board. The schools themselves did not have their own dormitories, although the two Bratislava schools had access to up to 100 places in the city's Secondary School dormitory . 33 The founding of the electrotechnical school at Banska Bystrica provides some fine examples of the government ' s general attitudes toward the need for industrial education in Slovakia. The campaign for the establishment of the school was led by the Banska Bystrica City Council and by the Central Slovak Chamber of Commerce . The latter made the initial move in May 1934, urging the city council to join forces . The Chamber pointed out the lack of this particular kind of education in Slovakia. Two months later, the City Council wrote to the Ministry of Education , stressing how the creation of this school would further the development of Slovakia: The continuing electrification of Slovakia is not yet finish ed ; thus , not only would many jobs in this area await the graduates of the school, but the power-stations in Slovakia have a continuing lack of well-educated Slovaks . 34 The Ministry of Education responded the following spring, expressing doubt that there would be a sufficient number of students with the requisite preparatory education, and suggesting doubt that, in view of the economic crisis , the graduates could be placed. The economic upswing which was even then beginning apparently erased all doubts . The flood of applications had proved Prague wrong , at least on a delayed basis. H With the exception of the chemical high school, very few girls enrolled in the industrial high schools, the total reaching a high of 6 ½ percent in 1929/30 and 1930/1. There is no obvious explanation for the chemical school exception. Information on scholarship aid is too skimpy to make any judgments. AG RI CULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS The two schools known as higher agricultural schools showed the least change of any of the secondary level institutions in Slovakia dur- �SLOVAKIA 67 ing the interwar Republic. One was the higher agricultural (or farming) school in Kosice, founded on the ruins of a prewar college level Hungarian Academy, and the other the higher forestry school in Banska Stiavnica. There also had been a Forestry Academy there, although its building fell to the industrial high school. Both agricultural schools were administered by the Ministry of Agriculture through an inspector of agricultural instruction in Bratislava, one of six such offices in Czechoslovakia. 36 The school in Kosice was one of more than a dozen higher farming schools in the Republic, that in Banska Stiavnica one of four higher forestry schools (one of three Czechoslovak) in Czechoslovakia. 3 1 Both schools opened in the fall of 1919 and graduated their first classes in the spring of 1923. The faculty consisted almost entirely of Czechs . 3 8 The goal of the Farming School at Kosice was the education of' 'independent agricultural entrepreneurs" as well as officials who could handle agricultural affairs for the government or serve cooperatives in an office capacity. 39 The curriculum sought to make of the student an '' agricultural intelligent who could learn not to limit himself to that which is generally known, but who would also try to look for new ways and methods; in short, that it kindle and nurture in the young man the skill of application and, as much as possible, initiative.' ' 40 Students, of whom 30 were admitted each year, had to be at least 15 years of age, and to have completed either middle school, or the first four years of a gymnazium. In addition, boys and girls who had completed the shorter twoyear peasant school course with distinction could be admitted. Preference was to be given to those from peasant families who would be farming independently. 41 Originally three years in length, the school was converted to four years in 1920/ 1 (Ministry of Agriculture 21308/ 1920). The expanded curriculum permitted an expansion of general education and a deepening of technical subjects, as well as greater emphasis on the practical element of instruction . In addition, new subjects were added to prepare the students better for the modern world, including civics, business, typewriting, the cooperative movement, and milk processing. 42 The program of study ended with the maturita exam. Graduates, after passing supplementary exams , could study at the College of Agriculture, the College of Veterinary Medicine, Commercial Colleges, �68 SLOVAKIA or the Military Academy . A Provincial Institute of Agriculture R esearch was attached to the school. Applicants for the higher forestry high school also needed to be 15 years of age, and have completed the lower four years of a gymnazium , or a middle school plus the one-year continuation course (nauk obeh). Preference was given to sons of forestry employees and workers . No women were allowed. All graduates of secondary schools could pass directly into the second year of the school and, if they passed the required examination, advance directly into the third year of study. 43 The entering class was at first limited to 30 students, a figure later cut to 20. Only in exceptio n al cases were students from Bohemia and Moravia to be admitted. They had to be able to prove that a job would be await in g them upon graduation . 4 4 The goal of the school was to provide education for an efficient forest service and for the admin istration of smaller forest properties or the lumber business and industry and to provide an education correspond in g to the general level of advanced secondary education. The four-year course concluded with maturita exams . Graduates could attend the forestry division of the College of Agriculture after completing suppleme ntary exams in language and mathematical subjects. 4 5 Those who wished to enter state service directly (which was th e rule) were required to pass a state exam in the appropriate field. There is some irony in the generally held assumption that "through the incorporation of agricultural Slovakia, the Czechoslovak Republic has become nearly self-supporting as regards the supply of agricultural produce, " 46 yet so little attent ion was given to developing an advanced system of agricu ltural education in Slovakia. Part of the answer lies in the small size of so many of the land holdings, which would make further education superfluous. Prior to 1918, these two schools, existing on the level of junior colleges, had turned out offic ials and employees to manage the great estates of the Hungarian magnates. In fact, interest in attending the Czechoslovak school does not seem to have been overwhelming. For one thing , social attitudes worked against it. One stu dent remembered first enrollin g at a teacher training institute , then persuading hi s father that employment possibilities after graduat ion from the Farming School wou ld be much better. His mother and sister, however, were appalled by his withdrawal from the teacher training institute, and insisted he go back to it, which he did. 47 The R eferent for Agriculture, �SLOVAKIA 69 Pavel Blaho, had to take special pains to insure that there were enough students at all in the first years. 48 The school in Kosice had particular trouble attracting Slovak students. In 1920/1 , only 7 of 23 first year students were Slovak . 49 In that same year, only 21 of 48 students at Banska Stiavnica had parents living in Slovakia. 50 There were more Czechs than Slovaks in the first forestry graduating class. 51 Further discouraging the establishment of more schools was the argument that Slovaks were eligible to attend similar institutions in the Czech lands. Because these schools were both '' one of a kind'' they drew students from all over Slovakia. For instance, Kosice, in 1929/3 0, had representatives from more than half the counties of Slovakia. 52 This made the provision of housing important. Initially, Kosice had a dormitory for 45 students. It was replaced in the 1923/2 4 school year by the Ministry of Agriculture with a building which housed 120. A temporary dormitory was established at Banska Stiavnica in 1920 within the school itself. 53 However , once the school had reached its full complement of four classes in the fall of 1922 , the need for classrooms forced the dormitory's closing. Between a half and two-thirds of the students received financial aid, the m ajority of which, after 1929 , came from the regional government in Bratislava. Prior to that time , the counties and districts frequently gave support. 54 State aid was channeled through the Ministry of Agriculture . 55 Financial aid on the average was about twice as large for the students in Kosice as in Banska Stiavnica . Total enrollment at the two schools remained constant between 160 and 200 students (see Tables 3 and 4) . Girls were eligible to attend the school in Kosice , but hardly any did . Between 90 and 95 percent of the enrollment consisted of Czech and Slovak students, with a sprinkling of Ruthenians (particularly in the more accessible Kosice), Germans, and Hungarians. The percentage of students who were Catholic initially was very high (88 percent), but by 1925 declined to a level of about 70 percent , at which it remained. The percentage of Lutherans , at first very low, rose to 15-20 percent by 1925. The fact that the Lutheran pe rcentage was slightly higher than in the population as a whole can be attributed largely to the fact that Banska Stiavnica was situated in a more strongly Protestant area. There also were regularly small numbers of Orthodox , Greek Catholic, and Jewish students. Students at both Banska Stiavnica and Kosice te nded to be well a bove the minimum age, with the largest number in the 19-20 year old �70 SLOVAKIA range. Those from agricultural families were in the majority at Kosice and usually in the minority at Banska Stiavnica. In addition, if from agricultural backgrounds those at Kosice were more likely to come from larger landholders. 56 HIGHER COOPERATIVE AG RI CULTURAL SCHOOL An additional specialized school, the Higher Cooperative Agricultural School, a private institution , was opened in Bratislava in the fall of 1936. The goal of the school's four-semester course was to provide ''professional theoretical and practical preparation or development in cooperative consciousness and education for capable cooperative officials and functionaries for Slovakia, as well as for friends of the cooperative idea. " 57 Prior to the opening of the Slovak school, the cooperative officials had been drawn from the graduates of the commercial academies and agricultural schools, as well as from officials of financial institutions . The Central Cooperative Council ran a similar school in Prague, but it was not able to accept all applicants from Slovakia. Stipends for students from Slovakia had been made available on the basis of reciprocity , i.e., service in Slovakia. The Bratislava branch of the Cooperative Council lacked funds as well as a building to start its own school. When the latter problem was solved, the former became available. 58 Three groups were eligible for admission. The majority were to have completed a high school education, with preference given to graduates of the higher agricultural school in Kosice and the commercial academies, as well as those who had cooperative experience. A second group was drawn from those who had completed with success at least the first four years of high school or middle school, and who had also successfully completed agricultural or business school and had at least two years of cooperative experience . This group required entrance exams. A third group, persons not citizens of Czechoslovakia, could be admitted in special cases. The total from the second and third groups was not to exceed 8 places in the class of 24 . 59 In the two years the school was in operation, about half of the 22 students were age 23 and older; they came from many different districts across Slovakia . From a religious standpoint, the Lutherans were over-represented (see Table 5), with 35 percent the first year and 45 percent the second year. The parents of about two-thirds of the students �SLOVAKIA 71 had agricultural occupations. There is n o reference to the sex of the stude nts, although it can b e presumed that all were m en . 60 CONCLUSION It is un avoidable that some of the information presen ted in this article represents what might be called " microhistory ." In it are catalogued various beginnings and small changes . It is b ecause these changes have previously not been recorded in an organized fashion that certain processes of n ational d evelopment in twentieth-century Slovakia have not been properly understood. It is generally recognized that too few students in developing countries study mathematics or the scientific professions. 61 In many ways, Slovakia was an undeveloped country . Consideration mu st be given , however, to priorities in national form ation . Given the necessity of creating an intelligentsia within a national grouping, the most immediate and most important con cern is for an intelligentsia which will be visible to the public. Slovak-speaking lawye rs to ha ndle legal and administrative affairs, Slovak-speaking doctors to minister to the public, and Slovak-speaking teachers to teach Slovak culture were far m ore important a t the outset than the development of a technical intelligentsia for developin g a Slovak n ation al consciousn ess . Certainly the opportunities in the interwar republic to employ the skills gained in the vocational high schools were rather limited for a variety of reasons related to the formation of a n ew state-system in Eastern Europe . The lack of a n adequately trained agricultural , comme rcial, and industri al intelligentsia became painfully visible during the shortlived existence of the Slovak state ( 1939-1945). But , if it were not for the modest accompli shments in this field by the so-called bourgeois republic , the rapid growth begun in the Slovak state and continued in the renewed postwar Czechoslovak R epublic would n ot h ave been so dramatic . NOTES ' Th is peri od iza tion is outl in ed, a mong others, by Sta nl ey Z . Pech , " Ri ght, Left , and C entre in Eastern Europe 1869-1 940 : A cross-N ational Profile," C an adian journal of History , V ol. 16 , No. 2 ( 198 1), pp . 23 7-262. �72 SLOVAKIA ' For the cu rri culum of the commercial academy, see Vestnfk Ministerstva skolstvf a narodnf osvety (Msano), 13, No. 5 ( 15 May 1931), 18 1. 3 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 3 ( 15 M arch 1924), 100. Philosophical propedeutike consisted of a" . .. sy nthesis of knowledge from all subjects; acquaintance with the principal methods of philosophic solutions of problems. Thorough realization of the laws of intellec tual life and appreciation of th e major qu estions and tasks of philosophy. Survey of the intellec tual development of hum an ity." Vojtech Andie, "A Comparative Study of Education in Czechoslovakia for th e Periods of 1918 to 1938 and 1948 to 1953" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation , New York University , 1954) , p . 128. • Ida Zubacka, "Prfspevok k dejinam strednych odbornych skol v Nitre v rokoch 1918- 1938," Zbornfk Pedagogick ej fakulty v Nitre, 2 1 (1973)-Spolocenske ved ydejepis-zemepis, p. 104. 1 " Strucny informacnf pi'ehled o skolstvf narodnfm , sti'ednfm a odbornem , " Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 5 ( 15 May 1924), 273-4. 6 Antonin Bohac, "Padesat let ceskoslovenskeho skolstvf ," Pedagogika, 18, No. 5 ( 1968), 675. ' Vestnfk Msano, 7, No. 6 ( 15 Jun e 1925), 183-4. 8 Eduard Weis, "Zprava stat isti cka o skolstvf v Bratisl ave na pocatku sk. r . 1919/20 a srovnanf dat o skolach eleme ntarnfch s kon ce m sk. r. 1918/ 19, 16 December 191 9. Fond 7 Minister s plnou moci pre Slovensku (M/pm), Statny ustredny archfv Slovenskej socialistickej republiky (SUA SSR) Bra ti slava. • Yea rl y R eport, K osice Obchodna Akademia 1919/2 0-20/ 1, p. 6. ' 0 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No . 12 ( 15 D ece mber 1924), 592-3. '' J . Fuksa et al. , eds. , Almanach obchodnfho skolstvf ceskos/ovenske republiky 1918- 1928 (Prague : Statnf nakladatelst vf, 1938), p. 23 . " The i upan of Spis doubted hi s population 's " understanding for th e practical ed ucation of (its) youth ." His comments cited by M / pm as one of th e reasons to deny commercial academy to K ezmarok-M/ pm 14634/2 1 Adm . III of 20 October 192 1 in Spisska zupa 691/1921 in Statny archfv-Levoca. The principal in K osice had no doubts th at the population in that city did not value a commercial edu ca tion. Yearly R eport, 19 19/20-20/ 1, p . 36 . 13 Yearly R eport, Brat islava OA 1928/9, p. 15. 14 Bohac , "Padesat let, " p . 678. 11 Ibid ., p . 675. 16 Ibid. 11 Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca OA 1927 /8 , p. 7; 1928/9, p. 20; 193 1/ 2, p. 9; and 1932 /3, p. 11. " Sister M. Joan Cvercko , " Schools of Slova ki a: Histori cal Study of Secondary Technical-Vocational Education 1918-1 948" (Unpublished M .A. thesis, The Catholic University of America, 1972), p. 62. �SLOVAKIA 19 ' 0 73 Fuksa, Almanach , pp . 125-4 7, describes in detail the various combinations of schools as th ey were in 1928. Zubacka, " Prfspevok," p. 105. " Literarny archiv Matice slovenskej (LAMS) 42 VIII 23, "Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920, " p. 10. " Yearly Report, Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/20, p. 11. " H. J a nus , " Sedemdesiat' rokov priemyselnej skoly v Bratislave ," Jednotna skola, 26, No. 2 (February 1974), 181. " Yea rly Report , Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/ 20, p. 1. " Julius Bartak , Vyvin Jesnickeho skolstva na Slovensku v ramci hospodarskych pomerov (Bratislava: Lesnfcka a dreva rska ustredna, 1942), p. 303. ,. Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca Statna odborna skola 1936/7, p . 3. " Bohac , "Padesat let ," p. 675. According to " Strucny ," pp . 260-1 , no supplementary exam was required; a successful maturitant could study in th e technical or mining colleges in th e sam e field he had done his high school work ; according to Anton Benda , "Statn a cs!. priemyselna skola s mad'arskymi pobockami V Kosiciach, " in A .S. Zitavsky, Pamiitnik slovensk eho skolstva za ucinkovania Prezidenta T.G. Masaryk a (Bratislava: V yd avatel'stvo pamii.tnika Slovenskeho skolstva, (1936-7), V ol. I , p. 177 , "at leas t one" a year from his school went on for uni versity level study. " J a nus, "Sedemd esiat'," p. 182. Similar reasoning und erlay the creation of a post-gradu ate electrotechni cal course at Bra tisl ava in 1931/2, although the course seems only to have existed fo r a year. Yearl y R eport, Bratislava Priem yselna skola 1930/ 1, pp . 24-5 and 193 1/2, p. 25. " " Strucny," pp. 260-1. '° K om ensky, 46 , No. 24 (30 August 1919), 7. " LAMS 42 VIII 23 , " Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920," p. 12. " Pohron ska zupa 3851/1925-SA-Banska Bys tri ca. " J. Smetana, "Statn a cs!. pri emyselna skola v Bratislave," in Zitavsky , Pamacnik , V ol. I , p. 163. " Brigita Simonova et. al. , Minulost', sucasnost', buducnost ': Jubilejny alman ach k 50. vyrociu sloven sk ej cechnick ej skoly v B anskej B ys trici (Banska Bystrica : Stredoslove nske vyd avatel'stvo , 1967) , pp. 34-5. " Ibid ., pp . I 04-7. " Edvard R eich , " V yvoj ze medelskeho skol stvf s hledi ska celostatniho, " in R eich & Vaclav Skoda , eds., Zem edelska osveta V R. C.S. (Prague: Ministerstvo skolstvi a narodni osvety, mini sterstvo ze m edelstvf a ze msky ufad , 1931), pp. 10- 12. " Th ere was so me va ri a nce: The tot al of ag ricultural schools fluctu ated between 13 and I 6 ( of whi ch I 0-12 were Czechoslovak). " r,udovft H am as, " V ychova pol'nohospodarov v rokoch neslobod y- 1938- 1945 na �74 SLOVAKIA Slovensku," Cykl. vytisk. KPU, Bratislava, as quoted in Zdenek Cernohorsky , Dejiny zemedelskeho skolstvi v Ceskoslovensku (Prague: SPN, 1980), pp. 5-1 . 39 ' 0 Jozef Babanek, Zemedel'ske skolstvo dl'a stavu roku 1927 (Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1928), p. 30. Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1920/30, p. 5. " Eudovft Hamas, Z dejin pol'nohospodarskeho skolstva (Bratislava: SPN, 1967), p. 22 . " Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, p . 11 • . 0 Bartik , V}'vin, p. 291. 44 Ibid., 290; and Ceskoslovenska Statistika, Vol. 2, p. ts• . " Babanek, Zemedel'ske, p. 60 . •• Vladislav Brdlik, "Agriculture," in Jozef Gruber, Czechoslovakia: A Survey of Economic and Social Conditions (New York: The Macmillan Co. , 1924), p. 28. " Vladimir Medek, "Krfdla do zivota," in Hudzovic , Sto rokov, p. 147. " See Yearly Report of Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/30, p. 25. Perhaps the most seductive means was financial. In 1920/ 1, 26 students at Kosice received grants totalling 24,920 Kc . No other such school received more than eight grants . In the same year, 18 stipends and grants worth 15,900 Kc were awarded to Banska Stiavnica forestry students. The other three such schools in the Republic together had only 14 grants for 4900 Kc. Further evidence of Blaho ' s influence is that same year, nearly half of the students in Kosice were from his home country at the other end of Slovakia . The largest number of students at Banska Stiavnica were also from Nitra County. Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Tables V, VII. " Referent for Education to principals of all secondary schools in Slovakia, c. 30.927 / II of 8 June 1921-copy in Prievidza G, Spisy, Carton 1, Okresny archfv-Prievidza. '° Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Table IV. " Zelmfra Miillerova, "Lesnfcke knifoice na Slovensku , " Kniznicny zbornik , 1971, p. 182. The proportion of Slovaks increased only gradually . " Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/ 30 , pp. 74-6. " Students went on strike in December 1919 to force the establishment of the dormitory. Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1919-1959 (Bratislava: Poverenfctvo Podohospodarstva, 1959), p. 15. " Archival records testify that the two schools actively solicited this aid . For example, see their letters to Podtatranska County. Podtatranska zupa c. 28405/ 1923, 33123/1924, and 4939/1925 Adm If-SA-Bytca. " Students were eligible for the coveted Pa.Iffy awards . These are described by Ivan Derer, "Spachala prvnf republika temei' genocidu Slovaku? " Literarni listy , I , No. 15 (6 June 1968), p. 4. 16 The place of agricultural education in Czechoslovak history is described extensivel y in Cernohorsky, Dejiny zemedelskeho . Most of his material is drawn from official sources . �SLOVAKIA 75 " Yearly R eport, Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, p . 27. 51 Fedor Houdek, "Zahajovacia re(: pri otvoreni Vyssej zemedelskej skoly druzstevnej v Bratislave 1. okt6bra 1936," in Yearly Report , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 11 -13. " Yearl y R eport , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 27-8. 60 See the school 's yearly reports 1936/7 & 1937/8. 61 W . Arthur Lewis , The University in Less-Developed Countries (New York: International Council for Educational D evelopment , 1974), p . 17 . �19 19/20 z E :, .n ......, 0 '- g "Cl ,,, 'i:..., 500 1000 Figure 1 - 1929/30 Commercial Academy Enrollment Yea r 1937 /8 Women students Total students t""' ► ...... ► ~ < 0 r:.n --.J 0-, �SLOVAKIA T able 1 - 77 Com mercial Academies To tal Students 1919/20 1920/ 1 192 1/2 1922 /3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 1926/7 Rrati sl..n·a 146 I 74 150 134 133 so 93 103 124 63 33 134 105 I 19 17 132 18 112 103 151 78 130 Ran skil Rys1rica KuSin· T. S,·. !'vl anin 36 40 64 74 I 15 124 40 Nitra TrcnCin TOTAL u f wh ich womc- n Pcrccn1agc Stude n ts in sen ior dass o f which womc-n 222 31 13 .96 3 12 32 10 .26 0 0 Nationali1y Czcl·hos lu,·ak 346 367 21 6 .07 38 10 .35 24 40 343(93 . 5) Czec h Slova k German Jewi sh H ungarian Poli sh 17 74 392 68 17 .35 71 8 2 324(93.6) 370 SI 13 . 78 IO 7 375 58 15 .47 411 52 12 .65 88 9 372(61.69) 35(5 .80) 105(17 .41) 9( 1.49) 69( 11.44) 13(2 . 16) O th er Czec hoslov aks at H ungarian Schools Religion Roman Cathol ic Greek Cat holi c Czech Rn·thrcn Lu1 hcran Reform ed Onhodux Jewish Czec hosh),·ak Other Prott·s1an1 s Nunt· 208(60 . I ) 3 3 54(27 .69) 73(2 1. 1) 22( 11 .28) 35 I 119(61.03) 18 Parental Occupation Agrinilturt· lndu slry·ov,:n busim·ss Free Pruft: ss ions/ lnt elligcn sia S1att· Em plo yt·cs Comrnern· 'v\lorkcrs 97( 15 .23) Pl ace of Res idence Cum mut c Live with parent s or relatives in tuw n Li ve with guardians Birthplace City of School Other Slu,·akia 13(9 .49) 78(56 .93 ) Foreign Bcihemia '.\1orav ia/ Silcsia 4(2.92) 25( 18 .25) I 7( 12 .41 ) 94(30 . 13) 14(4 .49) 139(44 .55) 36( 11. 54 ) 29(9 .29) 384(58.45) �78 SLOVAKIA Table 1 - Commercial Academies 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 193 1/2 193 2/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 169 122 125 39 75 49 579 82 14 . 16 178 109 134 67 107 84 679 97 14 .29 188 122 133 94 125 118 780 121 15.51 202 132 133 119 125 155 866 137 15.8 1 228 147 136 124 127 150 912 160 17.54 22 1 150 140 123 136 154 924 177 19. 16 204 20 1 134 140 194 152 164 131 141 882 159 18 .03 909 163 17 .93 937 187 19.96 182 I 73 171 147 146 155 1024 224 21.88 193 31 185 27 185 36 214 32 205 32 190 35 867(92 .5) 23 32 193 7/8 221 205 973(95 .0) l061(76 .33) 10 1(7.27) 178( 12.81) 17 19( 1. 37) 28 4 8(0.58) 905(65.06) l04( 15.83) 7(1.07) 12(1.83) (includi ng Uniatc) I 10( 16 .74) 18(2 . 74) 18(2 . 74) 22(3 .35) 215( 15.46) 23( 1. 65) 16(1.15) 143( 10 .28) 53(3 .8 1) 36(2 .59) 111(17 .43 ) 16(2 .51) 204(32 .03) 145( 11.9 1) 6(0.49) 408(33 .53) 235( 19.31) 291(23 .91) 132(10.85) 180(28.26) 29(4.55) 604(52. 16) 264(22 .80) 290(25 .04) �"' E ..:J " :i z ... 0 3 ......"' "" i:: 1920/ 1 400 600 Figure 2 - 1929/30 Industrial High School Enrollment Year 1937 /8 Women students Total students t"" IC -..J > < > :,,:: 0 Ul �SLOVAKIA 80 Table 2 Total Students Brati slava- m ech. eng. -civil eng. Kos ice- m ech. eng. Ban ska Stiavnica-chemi cal Prefov-civil en g. TOTAL of which wome n• Student s in sen ior cl ass of whi ch wom en Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ss ian/ Ru th en ian/ U kra ini a n Hun ga ri a n G erm a n J ew ish Oth er Industrial High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 45 32 41 81 68 86 1921/2 1922/3 1923 /4 1924 / 5 1925/6 117 53 11 6 JO 118 235 3 296 2 52 131 79 136 27 128 88 130 52 126 105 144 79 11 2 120 138 82 373 2 398 454 11 55 0 452 75 I 211 3 270 2 4 16 4 18 Religion R oma n Ca tholic Greek Ca tholi c Czech Brethren Lutheran R eform ed Orthodox J ewish None • alm ost a ll women stu died a t Ba n skcl St iav ni ca 178 4 I 42 2 2 42 25 346 3 14 2 7 �SLOVAKIA Table 2 - 81 Industrial High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 ll7 104 138 88 117 114 l 29 110 120 117 133 106 121 113 136 123 129 126 150 134 447 7 470 12 476 24 493 32 539 35 11 2 7 123 l 26 157 130 26 562 29 11 2 12 137 116 155 128 60 596 21 138 6 142 93 151 131 98 144 135 99 147 108 595 19 134 4 599 5 139 3 600 16 166 6 Ill 132 88 133 118 93 583 567 3 552 4 5 4 �82 SLOVAKIA Table 3 - Agricultural High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 1921/2 1922/3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 K o~ice- Agricultu ral School Banska StiavnicaForestry High School TOTAL of which women No. in senior class Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ssian/Ruthenian/U krainia n G erm an Hun garian J ewi sh Bul garian Unknown Other Religion Rom an Cathol ic Greek Catholic Czech Brethren Luthera n Reformed Orthodox J ew ish Czechoslovak Other None Fees Paid in Fall Fee W a iver Half Waiver 25 45 68 96 100 107 109 48 93 0 0 77 145 0 0 98 194 95 195 0 85 192 84 193 2 87 139 2 3 2 2 3 184 3 2 4 183 2 4 4 180 5 2 2 178 5 6 3 82 8 2 128 11 157 4 1 22 1 3 151 3 2 26 149 3 2 26 140 4 1 32 5 6 3 6 2 3 4 1 2 125 67 3 114 68 10 134 54 5 2 5 7 2 �SLOV AKIA Table 3 - 83 Agricultural High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/ 1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 96 94 105 104 108 104 107 108 112 72 67 161 0 71 176 0 73 177 0 81 189 0 80 184 0 77 184 84 192 85 197 42 45 168 155 3 3 167 4 3 2 77 85 199 192 2 35 190 2 183 2 3 3 132 8 130 7 13 1 5 137 7 127 9 37 37 37 6 6 I 33 2 3 4 2 45 5 6 34 2 2 5 4 4 2 162 5 3 2 7 4 4 11 3 3 114 2 120 3 124 4 31 25 34 5 9 2 7 9 10 6 4 3 3 107 57 4 109 50 2 178 2 114 176 2 3 2 147 3 2 5 176 5 2 4 I 115 I 41 196 2 5 2 I 2 5 88 21 83 105 5 89 �SLOVAKIA 84 Table 4 - Agricultural High Schools 1922/3 1921/2 K Socioeconomic Data BS K 1924/5 1923 / 4 BS K BS K BS Parental Occupation Owners u f land : JOO+ hc<:1arcs 20- 100 hcnan·s 5-20 hcnan:s k-ss than 5 h1.•1.·tarcs 8 22 15 18 3 16 3 19 12 18 14 II 12 13 7 46 Agriniltural or forc s,ry 1.· mplu y1.-c ur wor ke r offi c ia l Non-agricultural 25 14 15 31 II 36 14 16 49 9 41 14 50 52 Age - 16 17- 18 19-20 281 27 5' 2 1-22 6 81 3I 21 13 23 & abm-c 2 17 33 31 24 36 15 10 25 Scholarships S1atc-No. / V alm· Region al-Nu./Val uc 27/26,800 I 517,900 37/38,485 9/ 10,830 17 /8 ,900 9/ 4 ,629 Distri<·1- No ./ Va lu c Othcr-Nu ./ Va lu c (Values in KCs) 16/13 ,000 7/9,500 8/4,900 9/6, .1 00 29/ 39,800 18/17,400 Total Studcn1s rccei \' in g grant s No./Va lu c BS - Ban sk- a Stia\'nit·a K - K o~ in· - age 15 1 - ages 16- 18 54/ 54,215 27 / 18.829 9 33 38 12 8 65/ 41.81 0 27 29 16 18 23/15,900 8 33 40 17 9 7 1/ 37 ,600 24 29 20 10 34/15,580 �85 SLOVAKIA Table 4 - 1926/7 1925 /6 K BS K II 12 26 II 14 20 13 8 4 II 45 14 46 4 32 16 35 19 19 13 34 28 17 4 4 36 48 17 4 Agricultural High Schools - Socioeconomic Data 1927/8 BS K 1936/7 193516 BS K BS K 12 6 9 18 25 15 13 9 10 26 40 6 8 22 34 II 7 9 36 4 19 9 9 32 I 37 20 24 14 6 8 33 30 22 22 4 25 31 10 19 44 23 6 8/3, 100 4 /2 , 500 25/12 ,350 9/3,000 6 6 6 2 23 20 23 4/3,000 21700 55/33, 150 2017,790 53/30.750 13/11,650 58/27,400 2/5,200 36/16,050 8/5,500 BS 30 17 7 47 30 39 I7 22 27 27 14 17 6/4,200 15/ 12,700 10/3,350 1/962 5/2,300 7/4,200 1/500 32121,212 13/7 ,000 �86 SLOVAKIA Table 5 Higher Cooperative Agricultural School 1936/7 Total Students : 22 (all male); all graduated Nationality : 20 Czechoslovak, 2 Hungarian Age: I 17-18 , 5 19-20, 5 21-2, 5 23 & above Fees: 17 waived , 5 part waived Family O ccupations: 3 owners of 20-100 hectares, 10 owners of 5-20 hec tares, 2 agricultural or forest ry employees and workers , 7 non agricultural Scholarships: 3 from regional government totalling 4,000 Kc 16 others totalling 26,000 Kc � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 59 The Modernization of Slovakia: The Role of Vocational High Schools, 1918-1938 Owen V . Johnson Most of the modern nations and nationalities in Eastern Europe began as cultural movements. Writers and teachers were among their earliest leaders. As these movements grew in size, they turned into political movements , with lawyers playing increasingly important roles. 1 Most of the research on East European national development has focused on these changes . None of these developing nations could long survive, however, without an adequate industrial , commercial, and modern agricultural base. Such development has been the thread of continuity in twentieth-century Eastern Europe behind the facade of radical political change. This article examines the basis of economic change which was laid down in three types of secondary schools in interwar Slovakia, the commercial academies, and the industrial and agricultural high schools. That they were not a top priority of the new Czechoslovak government is indicated by the fact that none was opened until the fall of 1919, nearly a year after the creation of the new Republic , while the first Slovak gymnazium had opened its doors only two weeks after the seizure of power by the new state. The common tie of these three types of schools was that they were more likely to draw their students from the middle schools , in contrast to the gymnazium, which usually admitted students directly from primary schools to its eight-year curriculum. In part this is explained by the fact that these schools attracted a different type of student , on e who was interested not in becoming a lawyer, a doctor , or a teacher - those people went to the gymnazia or the teacher training institutions - but the one who wanted to become an ' ' independent entrepreneur.'' 60 SLOVA KIA Each of th ese schools will b e di scu ssed se parately. Like the o the r vocatio na l seco nda ry schools, the co mm e rcial acad e mies perform ed a du a l fun ction . Their four- year curriculum was des igned partially to prepa re student s to a ssum e respo n sible positio n s in bu sin ess or b a nking offi ces (e.g., two fore ign la n gu ages, incl udin g G erm a n , were in the curriculum) a nd pa rtially to prepa re those students who wished to study a t an institutio n of higher learning . The course was ge n era l, with no provisio n for specializa tio n . 2 G radu a tes we re eli gible to study a t the V ysoka o bchodn a skola (C o mme rcial College) in Pragu e, o r , e ffective 192 4 , a ft er pass in g the supplem entary exam (s) (give n in Slovakia o nly in Bra ti slava) in L a tin a nd philosophical proped eu tika, a t the L a w F aculty in Brno . 3 Beginnin g in 193 4 , they we re also eli gible to a ttend milita ry offi ce r s' school. G radu a tes who did no t go o n for furth e r edu cation h ad the right , a fter o ne year 's practice, to the " indepe nde nt m a n age m e nt of a business. " 4 M os t oft e n , howeve r , they becam e officials in b a nkin g or com me rce, o r gained employ m ent in the sta te bureau cracy. 5 The e ntra nce requirem e nts to these schools we re th e sam e as fo r o ther vocatio na l schools. The prospective a pplicant e ith er ha d to be a t leas t age 14 a nd h ave co mple ted four years a t a realka o r som e kind of gymnazium , o r be a g radu a te of the middl e school, with a pp ro pria te gra des. Preferen ce was give n to a pplicants with bu siness experie nce . 6 T hose pe rso ns who h ad passed the ir gymnazium m aturita una nimou sly or with distinctio n could take a o ne-year post -g rad u a te course a t a co mme rcial acad emy ( o ne su ch course was se t up a t Bra ti slava); those w ho had rece ived a "with m ajo rity" mark would be accepted o nly if there was roo m . Gymnazium gradua tes could al so enter the third year of the co mme rcial acade m y o n a tentat ive bas is, hav in g ho weve r to ta ke seve ra l supple m e nta ry exa m s by Christm as . 7 T he traditio nal Hun gari a n d isd a in fo r co mme rce, a nd he nce, fo r comm ercial edu cati o n , le ft it s imp r int on public a ttitudes toward th e bu siness academies. When the Bra ti slava Commercial Acade m y opened for bu sin ess in th e fall of 19 19, nearly a third of the regul a rl y enro ll ed stude nts we re Czec hs. Czechs were in the majo rit y at the a ttached post-gradu a te co urse. 8 It took time to ove rco me the negat ive attitudes, time for these schools to d em o nstra te the ir wo rth . A s a ch ro nicle r at the K os ice Com m e rcial Acad e m y no ted , the sc hool " ove rco m es the mi stake n trad itio n in the SLOVAKIA 61 Slovak people that only the hi gh school, specifically the gymnazium and not a commercial school, can insure the Slovak son or daughter a regular functional edu cation .' ' 9 In those early years, it was often necessary to personally con vince the parents of prospective students of the value of the commercial education. One means of persuasion was money in the form of scholarships . In the early years, however, state aid was not very generous, about one grant per school. 10 It appears that the total amount of support rose significantly beginning with the 1928/29 school year. An increasingly important source was the regional Slovak government. Ove rall , government assistance for the commercial academies generally is a carbon copy of the assistance to the gymnazia. The old Hungarian schools operated uninterrupted through the 1918/9 school year. By the following fall, two schools had been closed , at Hume nne and Revuca , for lack of students; the rest were taken over by the state. Because there were no Slovaks qualified to teach in this field, Czechs were brought in to serve as both professors and principals. The old three-year pattern of instruction was continued until the passage of a new law on February 15, 1922, which formally established fouryear academies at Bratislava , Kosice, and Martin . By fall, a fourth academy was opened at Banska Bystrica. The close proximity of the last two named schools soon led to an apparent superfluity of places , and the school at Martin was forced to close , doing so one grade at a time , beginning in 1923/4. 11 The postwar recession and the deindustrialization of Slovakia which accompanied it , coupled with an essentially rural population, were surely the major causes. They discouraged parents who might otherwise have thought of enrolling their children. 12 The recovery which soon followed led to a n ew interest in this type of school , leading to the establishment of an institution at Nitra in 1926/7 - considered a replacement for Martin - and at Trencfn and (once again) Martin in 1927/8 . Job offers were now two or three times higher than the number of graduates . 13 Although the Depression forestalled the establi shm ent of any add itional schools for n early a d ecade, the number of students continued to rise steadily , except for a slight fall occasioned by the com ing of age of the tiny World War I generation. In common with the expansion in the number of gymnazia just before the outbreak of World War II , a commercial academ y was set up at Humen ne in the 1937/8 school year, where there h ad once been a Hungarian school. 62 SLOVAKIA The importance of the gove rnment 's role in fos te rin g commercial education is demonstrated by the fact that all of the commercial academies in Slovakia were state institutio ns. Only two of the approxima tely thirty other school s in the Republic were owned a nd ope rated b y the sta te . The commercial academies had a reputa tion of quality both at home and abroad because they enrolled a highly select group of students chosen from amon g man y a pplicants . The teacher s we re highly qualified , attracted by high pay . Even teachers of general educa tional subj ects earned more th an they would in a gymnazium or a realka. The o nly additional requirem ent was tha t they n eeded to have some minimal knowledge of business. 14 The curriculum was evenly divided between subjects of general instru ction (with a heavy d ose of la n gu ages) and business subj ects. Strictly speakin g, study a t the commercial acad emies did n o t end with a m aturita exam. 15 Even thou gh the examina tion was op tional, m ost stude nts took it b ecau se it was n ecessary for admi ssion to the univer sity , a nd it could m ean a hi gh er pos ition or rate o f pay on m a n y jobs . (It should be n oted tha t a hi gher p rece ntage of commercial acad em y students went on for additional studies tha n did students from the indu strial hi gh schools. y 6 In an effort to encourage students to go into bu siness for them selves upo n gradu a tion rather than takin g up an admini st ration j ob , the comm e rcial acad e mies d evelop ed a p rogram in which studen ts would spend their summers wo rking in various shops . Local banks, district and county gove rnm ents, a nd ch a mber s o f commerce r a ised the m on ey to pay the students for the experien ce. The D epression forced a cutback in the program . Ther e is no ev ide n ce that the program achieved its goal. 17 Like the indu strial high sch ools, the co mmercial acad e mies actu ally we re onl y the a n chor s of la rger edu cation al in sti t utio n s. In all ca ses, there was a two -year bu sin ess sch ool a ttach ed . A cco rdin g to Cve rcko, ' ' Students showed a preference fo r the two-year b usiness schools becau se they prov ided edu cation al oppo rtunities fo r stu d ent s from th e poo rer famili es and fo r youn g wom en w ho d es ired employm e n t in offi ces . ' ' 18 In so m e in stan ces, these bu siness schools, wh en located in pl aces other tha n a t a co mmercial acad em y, the m selves se rved as ce nte rs for sho rter term bu siness cou rses . 19 T he sch ool a t Brat islava was even m ore co mplex becau se it h ad bo th Czechoslovak a nd Hun garia n divisio ns. Published statistics on the commercial acad emies n ormally in cl uded d a ta o n both the acad emies a nd the a tt ach ed sch ools, m a kin g it m ore SLOVAKIA 63 difficult to study the makeup of the student body of the academies alone. N evertheless, some observati on s can be made , especiall y whe n the published sta tewide statistics a re considered in conjun ction with the a nalysis of the sta tistics from the a nnu al repo rts published by the schools ( also see Fi gure 1 a nd T able 1) . One of the more interesting aspects is the presen ce of a slowly increasing number of women in these schools. This contrasts strongly with th e indu stri al hi gh school s. Whil e the postwa r recession n early wipes out a n initi al fem ale enrollment of b etter tha n ten percent, a gradual improve m ent whi ch began in the mid-twenties continued to the end of the R epublic, so tha t by the 1936/7 school year , more tha n a fifth of the stud ents we re women . The pe rce ntage of wo men gradu a tes , in line with the ge ne ral tre nd , was several percent less. At Nit ra, th e student s we re prima ril y children of white-collar worke rs, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, businessmen , and shopkeepers, in other words , the better situ ated elem ents of the society . About on e third of the student s cam e from workin g cl ass famili es. Jo INDUSTRIAL HIGH SCHOOLS Th e indu stri al hi gh school (priem yselna skola), with a fo ur- year curriculum , witnessed a slow developm ent ove r the hi story of the first C zechoslovak R epubli c. A s was the case with vocation al second a ry schools in gen eral , th ere were n ot ve ry man y of th em. Anton Stefa nek, who as R eferent fo r Edu cation in Slova ki a helped established th e school system, reali zed th e n eed for these schools, but recogni zed th e publi c ha d littl e apprec ia tio n fo r th em : It is n ecessary th a t Slovaks understa nd the value of technical , indu stri al a nd commercial schools. Yes, second a ry schools th ere mu st b e, gymnazia a nd realky, but all peopl e cann o t be gentlem e n with te nd er h a nd s.J 1 Al thou gh seve ral of these in stituti o n s h ad peen in ex isten ce durin g Hun gari an rule, they were in the large r cities, where the Slovak presence was sm all. Further , they lacked do rmito ries, m a kin g a tte nd a nce so m ewh a t diffi cult for o th er th a n city res id ents. 21 Three Czechoslovak in d u stri al hi gh schools o pen ed in th e fall of 19 19, with th e fi rs t grad u a tes em ergin g in 1923 . T wo we re in Bra tislava, a m ech a ni cal en gin ee rin g school (s trojnick a) a nd a buildin g or 64 SLOVAKIA civil engineerin g school (stavitel'ska), sharing the same facili ties. Kosice had a dual language engineering school. A chemical high school opened in Banska Stiavnica in 1921 , foll owed by a second buildin g school in Presov in 1931. The final institution to open its doors was the electrotechni cal hi gh school in Banska Byst rica , commen cing operations in the fall of 1936. Study at each institution, partially general a nd partially technical , ended with a maturita examination. The mech a nical e ngineering school was design ed to provide "gen eral and profess ional education , such as needed by managers of smaller engin eering firms or factories with enginee ring systems, or by technical officials.'' The course lasted four years. Applica nts for the school need ed to have co mpl eted four years of gymnazium studies, or middle school plus the one-year supplem entary " naukobeh ." Students with only three years of gym nazium or who h ad completed middle school edu cation with a grade of at leas t "good ," and who cou ld prove they had at least one year of on-the-job experience , cou ld also be admitted. 23 Preference went to those with practi cal experience. An entran ce exam was required. Like the co mmercial academi es, vocat ional schools of shorter duration were attached to each industrial high school. Th e goals of the other types of indu strial high schools were similar - to train the students for skill ed managerial and technical jobs, or for university study; the admission requireme nts were nearly the same , too. Th e civil engin eering hi gh school was designed to provide theoretical and practi cal instruction for future ind ependent owners of construction firm s, especiall y those dealing in concrete, rein forced co ncrete, a nd ca rpentry, as well as for private or state technical offic ials. 14 Graduates were ex pected to be abl e to construct a dwelli ng. The chem ical high school's a im was th e provision of gen eral a nd speciali zed education in combination with practical experience for future factory owners , administrators, and factory offi cials for various chemi cal plants, such as dye-works, printing, bleach or soap pla nts, glassworks, fertili ze r faciliti es, etc. 15 The electrotechni cal school , which had no graduates in its short existence, was also to give both ge neral a nd speciali zed inst ru ction combined with practi cal experie nce, to owners or managers of mach in e or electrotechni cal factories , or ot her factories with machine systems, and for technical offic ials of th e larger private or state engineerin g organizations. 26 The graduates of industrial hi gh schools could , aft er passing a sup- SLOVAKIA 65 plementary exam, also study a t the technical universiti es, although few did, both because of the exam , a nd becau se, until the fall of 1938, there was no technical university in Slovakia, a fact which also h and icapped th ese schools in the ir efforts to a ttract students. 27 In th e fall of 1934, a transport division was added to the con struction high school in Bratislava , the ex press a im of the change b eing to facilitiate graduate placem ent, particularly in the m edium-sized and small firm s. J8 Th e practical n a ture of the study at the indu strial high schools required that no private students be all owed . Forty applicants were to be admitted each year at each school, except for the chemi cal hi gh school, to whi ch a maximum of thirty were all owed . If an aspirin g student passed th e entran ce examination at a parti cular school , but was not admitted because of lack of sufficient pl aces , he cou ld seek admission elsewhere in the R epublic .J 9 When the schools opened in the fall of 1919 , applicants from Slovakia were few . A call was sent out to the Czech students in the overcrowded industrial hi gh schools of Bohemia and Moravia to come to Slovakia. The re were promises of travel a nd ot her support, anything to help ra ise th e enrollm ent. 3° Of th e 77 students who enroll ed at the two schools in Bratislava , 42 were Slovak and 26 were Czech. 31 Th e total number of students experienced a steady, but slow climb upward because with th e opening of each new sc hool , approximately one cl ass was open ed each year (see Figure 2 and Table 2). In 1925, howeve r, the Ministry of Edu cation an noun ced plans to gradually close th e ch emical high school " because th e prese nt conditions in th e chem ical industry in no way ass ure the stude nts the fulfillm e nt of the amb ition s which lead them to the school.' ' The Ministry of Education (Msano) backed down , however, a nd agreed to co ntinu e to operate the school , provided first yea r enrollment reached 20 stud ents. 3J O verall , th e number of appli cations to all th e schools was mod erate until the mid-thirties, when both the expansion of industry in Slovakia a nd th e immin ent openin g of th e techni cal uni ve rsity led to a n explo sion of inte res t in these schools. At Banska Bystrica, for in sta nce, th e numbe r of appli cat io n s exceed ed th e number of admi ss ion s by 4 or 5 to 1. A simil a r jump in in terest developed in Bra ti slava abo u t the sa m e tim e . Earli er, nea rl y everyo ne who p assed the e ntran ce exam was admitted . (About one-th ird of th e a pplicants fail ed th e tes t.) Alth ough th ere has been no research o n th e subj ect, it is prob able 66 SLOVAKIA that the limited number of these schools was a hindrance in the expansion of the number of students, not only because there was a limited number of places, but also because students from a large part of the more Slovak areas of Slovakia could attend these schools only if they could afford to pay room and board. The schools themselves did not have their own dormitories, although the two Bratislava schools had access to up to 100 places in the city's Secondary School dormitory . 33 The founding of the electrotechnical school at Banska Bystrica provides some fine examples of the government ' s general attitudes toward the need for industrial education in Slovakia. The campaign for the establishment of the school was led by the Banska Bystrica City Council and by the Central Slovak Chamber of Commerce . The latter made the initial move in May 1934, urging the city council to join forces . The Chamber pointed out the lack of this particular kind of education in Slovakia. Two months later, the City Council wrote to the Ministry of Education , stressing how the creation of this school would further the development of Slovakia: The continuing electrification of Slovakia is not yet finish ed ; thus , not only would many jobs in this area await the graduates of the school, but the power-stations in Slovakia have a continuing lack of well-educated Slovaks . 34 The Ministry of Education responded the following spring, expressing doubt that there would be a sufficient number of students with the requisite preparatory education, and suggesting doubt that, in view of the economic crisis , the graduates could be placed. The economic upswing which was even then beginning apparently erased all doubts . The flood of applications had proved Prague wrong , at least on a delayed basis. H With the exception of the chemical high school, very few girls enrolled in the industrial high schools, the total reaching a high of 6 ½ percent in 1929/30 and 1930/1. There is no obvious explanation for the chemical school exception. Information on scholarship aid is too skimpy to make any judgments. AG RI CULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS The two schools known as higher agricultural schools showed the least change of any of the secondary level institutions in Slovakia dur- SLOVAKIA 67 ing the interwar Republic. One was the higher agricultural (or farming) school in Kosice, founded on the ruins of a prewar college level Hungarian Academy, and the other the higher forestry school in Banska Stiavnica. There also had been a Forestry Academy there, although its building fell to the industrial high school. Both agricultural schools were administered by the Ministry of Agriculture through an inspector of agricultural instruction in Bratislava, one of six such offices in Czechoslovakia. 36 The school in Kosice was one of more than a dozen higher farming schools in the Republic, that in Banska Stiavnica one of four higher forestry schools (one of three Czechoslovak) in Czechoslovakia. 3 1 Both schools opened in the fall of 1919 and graduated their first classes in the spring of 1923. The faculty consisted almost entirely of Czechs . 3 8 The goal of the Farming School at Kosice was the education of' 'independent agricultural entrepreneurs" as well as officials who could handle agricultural affairs for the government or serve cooperatives in an office capacity. 39 The curriculum sought to make of the student an '' agricultural intelligent who could learn not to limit himself to that which is generally known, but who would also try to look for new ways and methods; in short, that it kindle and nurture in the young man the skill of application and, as much as possible, initiative.' ' 40 Students, of whom 30 were admitted each year, had to be at least 15 years of age, and to have completed either middle school, or the first four years of a gymnazium. In addition, boys and girls who had completed the shorter twoyear peasant school course with distinction could be admitted. Preference was to be given to those from peasant families who would be farming independently. 41 Originally three years in length, the school was converted to four years in 1920/ 1 (Ministry of Agriculture 21308/ 1920). The expanded curriculum permitted an expansion of general education and a deepening of technical subjects, as well as greater emphasis on the practical element of instruction . In addition, new subjects were added to prepare the students better for the modern world, including civics, business, typewriting, the cooperative movement, and milk processing. 42 The program of study ended with the maturita exam. Graduates, after passing supplementary exams , could study at the College of Agriculture, the College of Veterinary Medicine, Commercial Colleges, 68 SLOVAKIA or the Military Academy . A Provincial Institute of Agriculture R esearch was attached to the school. Applicants for the higher forestry high school also needed to be 15 years of age, and have completed the lower four years of a gymnazium , or a middle school plus the one-year continuation course (nauk obeh). Preference was given to sons of forestry employees and workers . No women were allowed. All graduates of secondary schools could pass directly into the second year of the school and, if they passed the required examination, advance directly into the third year of study. 43 The entering class was at first limited to 30 students, a figure later cut to 20. Only in exceptio n al cases were students from Bohemia and Moravia to be admitted. They had to be able to prove that a job would be await in g them upon graduation . 4 4 The goal of the school was to provide education for an efficient forest service and for the admin istration of smaller forest properties or the lumber business and industry and to provide an education correspond in g to the general level of advanced secondary education. The four-year course concluded with maturita exams . Graduates could attend the forestry division of the College of Agriculture after completing suppleme ntary exams in language and mathematical subjects. 4 5 Those who wished to enter state service directly (which was th e rule) were required to pass a state exam in the appropriate field. There is some irony in the generally held assumption that "through the incorporation of agricultural Slovakia, the Czechoslovak Republic has become nearly self-supporting as regards the supply of agricultural produce, " 46 yet so little attent ion was given to developing an advanced system of agricu ltural education in Slovakia. Part of the answer lies in the small size of so many of the land holdings, which would make further education superfluous. Prior to 1918, these two schools, existing on the level of junior colleges, had turned out offic ials and employees to manage the great estates of the Hungarian magnates. In fact, interest in attending the Czechoslovak school does not seem to have been overwhelming. For one thing , social attitudes worked against it. One stu dent remembered first enrollin g at a teacher training institute , then persuading hi s father that employment possibilities after graduat ion from the Farming School wou ld be much better. His mother and sister, however, were appalled by his withdrawal from the teacher training institute, and insisted he go back to it, which he did. 47 The R eferent for Agriculture, SLOVAKIA 69 Pavel Blaho, had to take special pains to insure that there were enough students at all in the first years. 48 The school in Kosice had particular trouble attracting Slovak students. In 1920/1 , only 7 of 23 first year students were Slovak . 49 In that same year, only 21 of 48 students at Banska Stiavnica had parents living in Slovakia. 50 There were more Czechs than Slovaks in the first forestry graduating class. 51 Further discouraging the establishment of more schools was the argument that Slovaks were eligible to attend similar institutions in the Czech lands. Because these schools were both '' one of a kind'' they drew students from all over Slovakia. For instance, Kosice, in 1929/3 0, had representatives from more than half the counties of Slovakia. 52 This made the provision of housing important. Initially, Kosice had a dormitory for 45 students. It was replaced in the 1923/2 4 school year by the Ministry of Agriculture with a building which housed 120. A temporary dormitory was established at Banska Stiavnica in 1920 within the school itself. 53 However , once the school had reached its full complement of four classes in the fall of 1922 , the need for classrooms forced the dormitory's closing. Between a half and two-thirds of the students received financial aid, the m ajority of which, after 1929 , came from the regional government in Bratislava. Prior to that time , the counties and districts frequently gave support. 54 State aid was channeled through the Ministry of Agriculture . 55 Financial aid on the average was about twice as large for the students in Kosice as in Banska Stiavnica . Total enrollment at the two schools remained constant between 160 and 200 students (see Tables 3 and 4) . Girls were eligible to attend the school in Kosice , but hardly any did . Between 90 and 95 percent of the enrollment consisted of Czech and Slovak students, with a sprinkling of Ruthenians (particularly in the more accessible Kosice), Germans, and Hungarians. The percentage of students who were Catholic initially was very high (88 percent), but by 1925 declined to a level of about 70 percent , at which it remained. The percentage of Lutherans , at first very low, rose to 15-20 percent by 1925. The fact that the Lutheran pe rcentage was slightly higher than in the population as a whole can be attributed largely to the fact that Banska Stiavnica was situated in a more strongly Protestant area. There also were regularly small numbers of Orthodox , Greek Catholic, and Jewish students. Students at both Banska Stiavnica and Kosice te nded to be well a bove the minimum age, with the largest number in the 19-20 year old 70 SLOVAKIA range. Those from agricultural families were in the majority at Kosice and usually in the minority at Banska Stiavnica. In addition, if from agricultural backgrounds those at Kosice were more likely to come from larger landholders. 56 HIGHER COOPERATIVE AG RI CULTURAL SCHOOL An additional specialized school, the Higher Cooperative Agricultural School, a private institution , was opened in Bratislava in the fall of 1936. The goal of the school's four-semester course was to provide ''professional theoretical and practical preparation or development in cooperative consciousness and education for capable cooperative officials and functionaries for Slovakia, as well as for friends of the cooperative idea. " 57 Prior to the opening of the Slovak school, the cooperative officials had been drawn from the graduates of the commercial academies and agricultural schools, as well as from officials of financial institutions . The Central Cooperative Council ran a similar school in Prague, but it was not able to accept all applicants from Slovakia. Stipends for students from Slovakia had been made available on the basis of reciprocity , i.e., service in Slovakia. The Bratislava branch of the Cooperative Council lacked funds as well as a building to start its own school. When the latter problem was solved, the former became available. 58 Three groups were eligible for admission. The majority were to have completed a high school education, with preference given to graduates of the higher agricultural school in Kosice and the commercial academies, as well as those who had cooperative experience. A second group was drawn from those who had completed with success at least the first four years of high school or middle school, and who had also successfully completed agricultural or business school and had at least two years of cooperative experience . This group required entrance exams. A third group, persons not citizens of Czechoslovakia, could be admitted in special cases. The total from the second and third groups was not to exceed 8 places in the class of 24 . 59 In the two years the school was in operation, about half of the 22 students were age 23 and older; they came from many different districts across Slovakia . From a religious standpoint, the Lutherans were over-represented (see Table 5), with 35 percent the first year and 45 percent the second year. The parents of about two-thirds of the students SLOVAKIA 71 had agricultural occupations. There is n o reference to the sex of the stude nts, although it can b e presumed that all were m en . 60 CONCLUSION It is un avoidable that some of the information presen ted in this article represents what might be called " microhistory ." In it are catalogued various beginnings and small changes . It is b ecause these changes have previously not been recorded in an organized fashion that certain processes of n ational d evelopment in twentieth-century Slovakia have not been properly understood. It is generally recognized that too few students in developing countries study mathematics or the scientific professions. 61 In many ways, Slovakia was an undeveloped country . Consideration mu st be given , however, to priorities in national form ation . Given the necessity of creating an intelligentsia within a national grouping, the most immediate and most important con cern is for an intelligentsia which will be visible to the public. Slovak-speaking lawye rs to ha ndle legal and administrative affairs, Slovak-speaking doctors to minister to the public, and Slovak-speaking teachers to teach Slovak culture were far m ore important a t the outset than the development of a technical intelligentsia for developin g a Slovak n ation al consciousn ess . Certainly the opportunities in the interwar republic to employ the skills gained in the vocational high schools were rather limited for a variety of reasons related to the formation of a n ew state-system in Eastern Europe . The lack of a n adequately trained agricultural , comme rcial, and industri al intelligentsia became painfully visible during the shortlived existence of the Slovak state ( 1939-1945). But , if it were not for the modest accompli shments in this field by the so-called bourgeois republic , the rapid growth begun in the Slovak state and continued in the renewed postwar Czechoslovak R epublic would n ot h ave been so dramatic . NOTES ' Th is peri od iza tion is outl in ed, a mong others, by Sta nl ey Z . Pech , " Ri ght, Left , and C entre in Eastern Europe 1869-1 940 : A cross-N ational Profile," C an adian journal of History , V ol. 16 , No. 2 ( 198 1), pp . 23 7-262. 72 SLOVAKIA ' For the cu rri culum of the commercial academy, see Vestnfk Ministerstva skolstvf a narodnf osvety (Msano), 13, No. 5 ( 15 May 1931), 18 1. 3 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 3 ( 15 M arch 1924), 100. Philosophical propedeutike consisted of a" . .. sy nthesis of knowledge from all subjects; acquaintance with the principal methods of philosophic solutions of problems. Thorough realization of the laws of intellec tual life and appreciation of th e major qu estions and tasks of philosophy. Survey of the intellec tual development of hum an ity." Vojtech Andie, "A Comparative Study of Education in Czechoslovakia for th e Periods of 1918 to 1938 and 1948 to 1953" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation , New York University , 1954) , p . 128. • Ida Zubacka, "Prfspevok k dejinam strednych odbornych skol v Nitre v rokoch 1918- 1938," Zbornfk Pedagogick ej fakulty v Nitre, 2 1 (1973)-Spolocenske ved ydejepis-zemepis, p. 104. 1 " Strucny informacnf pi'ehled o skolstvf narodnfm , sti'ednfm a odbornem , " Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 5 ( 15 May 1924), 273-4. 6 Antonin Bohac, "Padesat let ceskoslovenskeho skolstvf ," Pedagogika, 18, No. 5 ( 1968), 675. ' Vestnfk Msano, 7, No. 6 ( 15 Jun e 1925), 183-4. 8 Eduard Weis, "Zprava stat isti cka o skolstvf v Bratisl ave na pocatku sk. r . 1919/20 a srovnanf dat o skolach eleme ntarnfch s kon ce m sk. r. 1918/ 19, 16 December 191 9. Fond 7 Minister s plnou moci pre Slovensku (M/pm), Statny ustredny archfv Slovenskej socialistickej republiky (SUA SSR) Bra ti slava. • Yea rl y R eport, K osice Obchodna Akademia 1919/2 0-20/ 1, p. 6. ' 0 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No . 12 ( 15 D ece mber 1924), 592-3. '' J . Fuksa et al. , eds. , Almanach obchodnfho skolstvf ceskos/ovenske republiky 1918- 1928 (Prague : Statnf nakladatelst vf, 1938), p. 23 . " The i upan of Spis doubted hi s population 's " understanding for th e practical ed ucation of (its) youth ." His comments cited by M / pm as one of th e reasons to deny commercial academy to K ezmarok-M/ pm 14634/2 1 Adm . III of 20 October 192 1 in Spisska zupa 691/1921 in Statny archfv-Levoca. The principal in K osice had no doubts th at the population in that city did not value a commercial edu ca tion. Yearly R eport, 19 19/20-20/ 1, p . 36 . 13 Yearly R eport, Brat islava OA 1928/9, p. 15. 14 Bohac , "Padesat let, " p . 678. 11 Ibid ., p . 675. 16 Ibid. 11 Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca OA 1927 /8 , p. 7; 1928/9, p. 20; 193 1/ 2, p. 9; and 1932 /3, p. 11. " Sister M. Joan Cvercko , " Schools of Slova ki a: Histori cal Study of Secondary Technical-Vocational Education 1918-1 948" (Unpublished M .A. thesis, The Catholic University of America, 1972), p. 62. SLOVAKIA 19 ' 0 73 Fuksa, Almanach , pp . 125-4 7, describes in detail the various combinations of schools as th ey were in 1928. Zubacka, " Prfspevok," p. 105. " Literarny archiv Matice slovenskej (LAMS) 42 VIII 23, "Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920, " p. 10. " Yearly Report, Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/20, p. 11. " H. J a nus , " Sedemdesiat' rokov priemyselnej skoly v Bratislave ," Jednotna skola, 26, No. 2 (February 1974), 181. " Yea rly Report , Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/ 20, p. 1. " Julius Bartak , Vyvin Jesnickeho skolstva na Slovensku v ramci hospodarskych pomerov (Bratislava: Lesnfcka a dreva rska ustredna, 1942), p. 303. ,. Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca Statna odborna skola 1936/7, p . 3. " Bohac , "Padesat let ," p. 675. According to " Strucny ," pp . 260-1 , no supplementary exam was required; a successful maturitant could study in th e technical or mining colleges in th e sam e field he had done his high school work ; according to Anton Benda , "Statn a cs!. priemyselna skola s mad'arskymi pobockami V Kosiciach, " in A .S. Zitavsky, Pamiitnik slovensk eho skolstva za ucinkovania Prezidenta T.G. Masaryk a (Bratislava: V yd avatel'stvo pamii.tnika Slovenskeho skolstva, (1936-7), V ol. I , p. 177 , "at leas t one" a year from his school went on for uni versity level study. " J a nus, "Sedemd esiat'," p. 182. Similar reasoning und erlay the creation of a post-gradu ate electrotechni cal course at Bra tisl ava in 1931/2, although the course seems only to have existed fo r a year. Yearl y R eport, Bratislava Priem yselna skola 1930/ 1, pp . 24-5 and 193 1/2, p. 25. " " Strucny," pp. 260-1. '° K om ensky, 46 , No. 24 (30 August 1919), 7. " LAMS 42 VIII 23 , " Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920," p. 12. " Pohron ska zupa 3851/1925-SA-Banska Bys tri ca. " J. Smetana, "Statn a cs!. pri emyselna skola v Bratislave," in Zitavsky , Pamacnik , V ol. I , p. 163. " Brigita Simonova et. al. , Minulost', sucasnost', buducnost ': Jubilejny alman ach k 50. vyrociu sloven sk ej cechnick ej skoly v B anskej B ys trici (Banska Bystrica : Stredoslove nske vyd avatel'stvo , 1967) , pp. 34-5. " Ibid ., pp . I 04-7. " Edvard R eich , " V yvoj ze medelskeho skol stvf s hledi ska celostatniho, " in R eich & Vaclav Skoda , eds., Zem edelska osveta V R. C.S. (Prague: Ministerstvo skolstvi a narodni osvety, mini sterstvo ze m edelstvf a ze msky ufad , 1931), pp. 10- 12. " Th ere was so me va ri a nce: The tot al of ag ricultural schools fluctu ated between 13 and I 6 ( of whi ch I 0-12 were Czechoslovak). " r,udovft H am as, " V ychova pol'nohospodarov v rokoch neslobod y- 1938- 1945 na 74 SLOVAKIA Slovensku," Cykl. vytisk. KPU, Bratislava, as quoted in Zdenek Cernohorsky , Dejiny zemedelskeho skolstvi v Ceskoslovensku (Prague: SPN, 1980), pp. 5-1 . 39 ' 0 Jozef Babanek, Zemedel'ske skolstvo dl'a stavu roku 1927 (Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1928), p. 30. Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1920/30, p. 5. " Eudovft Hamas, Z dejin pol'nohospodarskeho skolstva (Bratislava: SPN, 1967), p. 22 . " Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, p . 11 • . 0 Bartik , V}'vin, p. 291. 44 Ibid., 290; and Ceskoslovenska Statistika, Vol. 2, p. ts• . " Babanek, Zemedel'ske, p. 60 . •• Vladislav Brdlik, "Agriculture," in Jozef Gruber, Czechoslovakia: A Survey of Economic and Social Conditions (New York: The Macmillan Co. , 1924), p. 28. " Vladimir Medek, "Krfdla do zivota," in Hudzovic , Sto rokov, p. 147. " See Yearly Report of Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/30, p. 25. Perhaps the most seductive means was financial. In 1920/ 1, 26 students at Kosice received grants totalling 24,920 Kc . No other such school received more than eight grants . In the same year, 18 stipends and grants worth 15,900 Kc were awarded to Banska Stiavnica forestry students. The other three such schools in the Republic together had only 14 grants for 4900 Kc. Further evidence of Blaho ' s influence is that same year, nearly half of the students in Kosice were from his home country at the other end of Slovakia . The largest number of students at Banska Stiavnica were also from Nitra County. Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Tables V, VII. " Referent for Education to principals of all secondary schools in Slovakia, c. 30.927 / II of 8 June 1921-copy in Prievidza G, Spisy, Carton 1, Okresny archfv-Prievidza. '° Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Table IV. " Zelmfra Miillerova, "Lesnfcke knifoice na Slovensku , " Kniznicny zbornik , 1971, p. 182. The proportion of Slovaks increased only gradually . " Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/ 30 , pp. 74-6. " Students went on strike in December 1919 to force the establishment of the dormitory. Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1919-1959 (Bratislava: Poverenfctvo Podohospodarstva, 1959), p. 15. " Archival records testify that the two schools actively solicited this aid . For example, see their letters to Podtatranska County. Podtatranska zupa c. 28405/ 1923, 33123/1924, and 4939/1925 Adm If-SA-Bytca. " Students were eligible for the coveted Pa.Iffy awards . These are described by Ivan Derer, "Spachala prvnf republika temei' genocidu Slovaku? " Literarni listy , I , No. 15 (6 June 1968), p. 4. 16 The place of agricultural education in Czechoslovak history is described extensivel y in Cernohorsky, Dejiny zemedelskeho . Most of his material is drawn from official sources . SLOVAKIA 75 " Yearly R eport, Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, p . 27. 51 Fedor Houdek, "Zahajovacia re(: pri otvoreni Vyssej zemedelskej skoly druzstevnej v Bratislave 1. okt6bra 1936," in Yearly Report , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 11 -13. " Yearl y R eport , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 27-8. 60 See the school 's yearly reports 1936/7 & 1937/8. 61 W . Arthur Lewis , The University in Less-Developed Countries (New York: International Council for Educational D evelopment , 1974), p . 17 . 19 19/20 z E :, .n ......, 0 '- g "Cl ,,, 'i:..., 500 1000 Figure 1 - 1929/30 Commercial Academy Enrollment Yea r 1937 /8 Women students Total students t""' ► ...... ► ~ < 0 r:.n --.J 0-, SLOVAKIA T able 1 - 77 Com mercial Academies To tal Students 1919/20 1920/ 1 192 1/2 1922 /3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 1926/7 Rrati sl..n·a 146 I 74 150 134 133 so 93 103 124 63 33 134 105 I 19 17 132 18 112 103 151 78 130 Ran skil Rys1rica KuSin· T. S,·. !'vl anin 36 40 64 74 I 15 124 40 Nitra TrcnCin TOTAL u f wh ich womc- n Pcrccn1agc Stude n ts in sen ior dass o f which womc-n 222 31 13 .96 3 12 32 10 .26 0 0 Nationali1y Czcl·hos lu,·ak 346 367 21 6 .07 38 10 .35 24 40 343(93 . 5) Czec h Slova k German Jewi sh H ungarian Poli sh 17 74 392 68 17 .35 71 8 2 324(93.6) 370 SI 13 . 78 IO 7 375 58 15 .47 411 52 12 .65 88 9 372(61.69) 35(5 .80) 105(17 .41) 9( 1.49) 69( 11.44) 13(2 . 16) O th er Czec hoslov aks at H ungarian Schools Religion Roman Cathol ic Greek Cat holi c Czech Rn·thrcn Lu1 hcran Reform ed Onhodux Jewish Czec hosh),·ak Other Prott·s1an1 s Nunt· 208(60 . I ) 3 3 54(27 .69) 73(2 1. 1) 22( 11 .28) 35 I 119(61.03) 18 Parental Occupation Agrinilturt· lndu slry·ov,:n busim·ss Free Pruft: ss ions/ lnt elligcn sia S1att· Em plo yt·cs Comrnern· 'v\lorkcrs 97( 15 .23) Pl ace of Res idence Cum mut c Live with parent s or relatives in tuw n Li ve with guardians Birthplace City of School Other Slu,·akia 13(9 .49) 78(56 .93 ) Foreign Bcihemia '.\1orav ia/ Silcsia 4(2.92) 25( 18 .25) I 7( 12 .41 ) 94(30 . 13) 14(4 .49) 139(44 .55) 36( 11. 54 ) 29(9 .29) 384(58.45) 78 SLOVAKIA Table 1 - Commercial Academies 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 193 1/2 193 2/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 169 122 125 39 75 49 579 82 14 . 16 178 109 134 67 107 84 679 97 14 .29 188 122 133 94 125 118 780 121 15.51 202 132 133 119 125 155 866 137 15.8 1 228 147 136 124 127 150 912 160 17.54 22 1 150 140 123 136 154 924 177 19. 16 204 20 1 134 140 194 152 164 131 141 882 159 18 .03 909 163 17 .93 937 187 19.96 182 I 73 171 147 146 155 1024 224 21.88 193 31 185 27 185 36 214 32 205 32 190 35 867(92 .5) 23 32 193 7/8 221 205 973(95 .0) l061(76 .33) 10 1(7.27) 178( 12.81) 17 19( 1. 37) 28 4 8(0.58) 905(65.06) l04( 15.83) 7(1.07) 12(1.83) (includi ng Uniatc) I 10( 16 .74) 18(2 . 74) 18(2 . 74) 22(3 .35) 215( 15.46) 23( 1. 65) 16(1.15) 143( 10 .28) 53(3 .8 1) 36(2 .59) 111(17 .43 ) 16(2 .51) 204(32 .03) 145( 11.9 1) 6(0.49) 408(33 .53) 235( 19.31) 291(23 .91) 132(10.85) 180(28.26) 29(4.55) 604(52. 16) 264(22 .80) 290(25 .04) "' E ..:J " :i z ... 0 3 ......"' "" i:: 1920/ 1 400 600 Figure 2 - 1929/30 Industrial High School Enrollment Year 1937 /8 Women students Total students t"" IC -..J > < > :,,:: 0 Ul SLOVAKIA 80 Table 2 Total Students Brati slava- m ech. eng. -civil eng. Kos ice- m ech. eng. Ban ska Stiavnica-chemi cal Prefov-civil en g. TOTAL of which wome n• Student s in sen ior cl ass of whi ch wom en Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ss ian/ Ru th en ian/ U kra ini a n Hun ga ri a n G erm a n J ew ish Oth er Industrial High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 45 32 41 81 68 86 1921/2 1922/3 1923 /4 1924 / 5 1925/6 117 53 11 6 JO 118 235 3 296 2 52 131 79 136 27 128 88 130 52 126 105 144 79 11 2 120 138 82 373 2 398 454 11 55 0 452 75 I 211 3 270 2 4 16 4 18 Religion R oma n Ca tholic Greek Ca tholi c Czech Brethren Lutheran R eform ed Orthodox J ewish None • alm ost a ll women stu died a t Ba n skcl St iav ni ca 178 4 I 42 2 2 42 25 346 3 14 2 7 SLOVAKIA Table 2 - 81 Industrial High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 ll7 104 138 88 117 114 l 29 110 120 117 133 106 121 113 136 123 129 126 150 134 447 7 470 12 476 24 493 32 539 35 11 2 7 123 l 26 157 130 26 562 29 11 2 12 137 116 155 128 60 596 21 138 6 142 93 151 131 98 144 135 99 147 108 595 19 134 4 599 5 139 3 600 16 166 6 Ill 132 88 133 118 93 583 567 3 552 4 5 4 82 SLOVAKIA Table 3 - Agricultural High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 1921/2 1922/3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 K o~ice- Agricultu ral School Banska StiavnicaForestry High School TOTAL of which women No. in senior class Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ssian/Ruthenian/U krainia n G erm an Hun garian J ewi sh Bul garian Unknown Other Religion Rom an Cathol ic Greek Catholic Czech Brethren Luthera n Reformed Orthodox J ew ish Czechoslovak Other None Fees Paid in Fall Fee W a iver Half Waiver 25 45 68 96 100 107 109 48 93 0 0 77 145 0 0 98 194 95 195 0 85 192 84 193 2 87 139 2 3 2 2 3 184 3 2 4 183 2 4 4 180 5 2 2 178 5 6 3 82 8 2 128 11 157 4 1 22 1 3 151 3 2 26 149 3 2 26 140 4 1 32 5 6 3 6 2 3 4 1 2 125 67 3 114 68 10 134 54 5 2 5 7 2 SLOV AKIA Table 3 - 83 Agricultural High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/ 1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 96 94 105 104 108 104 107 108 112 72 67 161 0 71 176 0 73 177 0 81 189 0 80 184 0 77 184 84 192 85 197 42 45 168 155 3 3 167 4 3 2 77 85 199 192 2 35 190 2 183 2 3 3 132 8 130 7 13 1 5 137 7 127 9 37 37 37 6 6 I 33 2 3 4 2 45 5 6 34 2 2 5 4 4 2 162 5 3 2 7 4 4 11 3 3 114 2 120 3 124 4 31 25 34 5 9 2 7 9 10 6 4 3 3 107 57 4 109 50 2 178 2 114 176 2 3 2 147 3 2 5 176 5 2 4 I 115 I 41 196 2 5 2 I 2 5 88 21 83 105 5 89 SLOVAKIA 84 Table 4 - Agricultural High Schools 1922/3 1921/2 K Socioeconomic Data BS K 1924/5 1923 / 4 BS K BS K BS Parental Occupation Owners u f land : JOO+ hc<:1arcs 20- 100 hcnan·s 5-20 hcnan:s k-ss than 5 h1.•1.·tarcs 8 22 15 18 3 16 3 19 12 18 14 II 12 13 7 46 Agriniltural or forc s,ry 1.· mplu y1.-c ur wor ke r offi c ia l Non-agricultural 25 14 15 31 II 36 14 16 49 9 41 14 50 52 Age - 16 17- 18 19-20 281 27 5' 2 1-22 6 81 3I 21 13 23 & abm-c 2 17 33 31 24 36 15 10 25 Scholarships S1atc-No. / V alm· Region al-Nu./Val uc 27/26,800 I 517,900 37/38,485 9/ 10,830 17 /8 ,900 9/ 4 ,629 Distri<·1- No ./ Va lu c Othcr-Nu ./ Va lu c (Values in KCs) 16/13 ,000 7/9,500 8/4,900 9/6, .1 00 29/ 39,800 18/17,400 Total Studcn1s rccei \' in g grant s No./Va lu c BS - Ban sk- a Stia\'nit·a K - K o~ in· - age 15 1 - ages 16- 18 54/ 54,215 27 / 18.829 9 33 38 12 8 65/ 41.81 0 27 29 16 18 23/15,900 8 33 40 17 9 7 1/ 37 ,600 24 29 20 10 34/15,580 85 SLOVAKIA Table 4 - 1926/7 1925 /6 K BS K II 12 26 II 14 20 13 8 4 II 45 14 46 4 32 16 35 19 19 13 34 28 17 4 4 36 48 17 4 Agricultural High Schools - Socioeconomic Data 1927/8 BS K 1936/7 193516 BS K BS K 12 6 9 18 25 15 13 9 10 26 40 6 8 22 34 II 7 9 36 4 19 9 9 32 I 37 20 24 14 6 8 33 30 22 22 4 25 31 10 19 44 23 6 8/3, 100 4 /2 , 500 25/12 ,350 9/3,000 6 6 6 2 23 20 23 4/3,000 21700 55/33, 150 2017,790 53/30.750 13/11,650 58/27,400 2/5,200 36/16,050 8/5,500 BS 30 17 7 47 30 39 I7 22 27 27 14 17 6/4,200 15/ 12,700 10/3,350 1/962 5/2,300 7/4,200 1/500 32121,212 13/7 ,000 86 SLOVAKIA Table 5 Higher Cooperative Agricultural School 1936/7 Total Students : 22 (all male); all graduated Nationality : 20 Czechoslovak, 2 Hungarian Age: I 17-18 , 5 19-20, 5 21-2, 5 23 & above Fees: 17 waived , 5 part waived Family O ccupations: 3 owners of 20-100 hectares, 10 owners of 5-20 hec tares, 2 agricultural or forest ry employees and workers , 7 non agricultural Scholarships: 3 from regional government totalling 4,000 Kc 16 others totalling 26,000 Kc  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Modernization of Slovakia: The Role of Vocational High Schools, 1918-1938 Description An account of the resource Owen V. Johnson Slovakia, Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984 pp. 59-86 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Johnson, Owen V. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ab31f7bb36899df83936062218757082.pdf 5fda8ada46d10ec0f628057fd6343ca5 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 29 THE MURDER OF MATUS CERNAK Fr. Janik-Horak (This article results from the contents of the corresponding article in ,Czech, wJJ.ich ,appeared in " BOHEMIA" (July 22, 1955), published monthly in Munich, Germany, by the rCzech Democmtic Federalists. T·h e author, its editor-in-chief, is quite outspoken about the ruinous pro-Soviet and a'llti-'.Slovak policy of Dr. \Edward ,B enes and his socialistic political entourage whi ch brought Moscow to CzechoSlovakia and the heart of (Europe.) Two months ago - when we had written that the Communists were maiking an all-out attack against our exiles and that this would be a ,b rutaily merciless fight some of our exiles prdbably thought that we iwere using strong but empty words. That we meant what we wrote at that time has been proved by the explosion in !Munich which mutilated Matthew CernaJk (Tchernah1k) ibeyond recognition. We do nat doubt that this brutal murder is the work of the Prague Communists. Let us consider why they committed it and what they exipected to gain by it. First of ·all, they wanted to liquidate the dangerous anti-Communist, Matthew Cernak. That is the opinion of the ipolice commission of experts assigned to the case, which ascertained that the diabolical instrument which killed Cernak contained one kHogram (2.2 ~bs.) of a high ex;plosive which is not at all obtaina!ble in Germany. With the murder of Cernak, the Reds figured the rest of the exiles would lbe frightened into inaction. Nen, the Prague Reds figured that the murder of Cerna,k in M<Unich would incite the German population, and the German authorities as well, against all exiles in general, 1a nd against the exiles from Ozecho-lSlovakia in particular. They almost succeeded in this, since two Germans were kiHed and 21 others wounded when Cernak opened the bomlb~ac'kage in a Munich post-office. Premier Hogneir of Bavaria ibro1a dcast a warning to all exiles, while the leading "foreign affairs" editor of the "Siiddeutsche Zeitung," Mr. Birnbaum, strongly urged the cessation of ,politica1 ,a ctivity of all exile groups. �30 SLOVAKIA It is significant that Mr. Birnibaum's editorial, together with a commentary sup,plied by Red Prague, ,w as propagated the very next day by the Czeoh Press Bureau (CTK) and the entire Communist press of 0zecho-Slova!kia. We can thank the leadership of the Union of Democratic Exiles (UIDU) ithat the German public convinced that the guilty party o,r parties must :b e sought in Red Czecho-,Slovrukia and not among the exiles in Germany. The Union is made up of seven central organi~ations of exiles; the fate 'M. Cerna,k was a member of its presidium, and Vladimir Pekelsiky (owner and publisher of BOHEM[A) is its secretary-general. Credit must also be .given to editor Birnbaum for allowing himself to be convinced that he wa:s in error and that in the interests of impartiality he himself offered to publish the lengthy article of the DIDU, and which, in fact, he did ;p ublish. The shocking murder of Cernak was supposed to silence and frighten the rest of his fellow-exiles. Even in this case, however, we must state that the Communist murderers miscaloulated. rt is true, of course, that the murder of Cernak did strlke fear in the hearts of many exiles ; it did not, however, frighten of.f the w,arriors. And that is n;iost important. Cowards always crawl aiway from a fight; they never did hel,p fight the Reds, so we might just say: good riddance ! Courageously then - Heroically Now! Matthew Cerna:k was our closest Slovak felQow-warrior on the exile fvont in Ger.many. We stood on the same political platform against Communists and ·against their assistants here in exHe an:d, therefore, even against the ruinous ideology of IDr. Edward Benes in the Council of Free Czecho~Slovakia and in RiA!DIO FREE EUR.OPE. 'Dhat is why we say that the murder of Cernak was a murderous attempt aimed even against us here in the editorial offices of B0HEMtI:A. The German press, seeking sensations, and some malicious exiles wringing their hands joyously where nobody might see them, are even writing and Wking about the people in .the editoriaJl offices of B0HIElMIA who are "dedicated to death," because we a.r e �SLOVAKIA 31 now supposed to be-next. We are not surprised, therefore, that we are _urged !by some of our friends to lbe most careful, to t ~ r our writing and even to quit our fight against the Reds, ,bec,ause, they say, it is in the best interests of our security that we do not incite the Communists against us. In reply, we can only say that we are fully aware o.f the seriousness of the times. Fighters, however, carry on the fight Entil they either win o•r fall in combat; never, however, do_,they flee from battle! Now, we fled into exile to fight for the freedom ,o f our nation and for the freedom of all nations. For us this has never ,b een an empty meaningless phrase which we might use in America to coiled dollars for a carefree, comfortable life. somewhere in a seoure 'land !beyond the ,s ea. When the •program of the Czech 'Democratic Federalists was ,p rodaimed, we ·p ledged to our adherents . that we would loyally -p ersevere, and that pledge iwe conside·r sacred even today. If we have written courageously up to this time, then from now on ·we shafl' write heroica:lly ! The explosion of the iMunich murder of Cernak binds us to do so. We know that our strength and our significance and al,s o our danger to the Communists lies in the fact that we speaik to the wide masses of the common ipeople of our exile, that we are young and that we are not dreamers - and that we do have a positive, healthy, political program. We are familiar with the bloody and bushwhacking methods o.f the Communists. As political prisoners we ha'V'e passed through tens of jails and riruvestigating torture-chambers. That is why we e~pect no quarters and no mercy from them. We •also know that they undertake everything according to plan and, therefore, that the murder of Cernak might well lbe followed by a series of further 'killings, even though they m~ght be per.petrated in a manner different than that oif ,s ending heHish devices. We warn the Reds, however, that the day ,shaH come when they ,wjll know that our God of the Old Testament still lives! There ,w ill come a day when the exiles murdered by them shall foad baok into the homeland an anny of merciless avengers. That day shall come. For that day 1 �32 SLOVAKIA we are strug,g ling for years, and rfor that day we shaH even be prepared to fall, because that shall lbe the day of a new rising of the sun over our enslaved country! It is neces,s ary to note here that Cema!k's death has caused joy not on~y to the initiators and per.petrators in Red Prague, but even to his opponents in the Council of Free Czecho-Slovakia. Certainly they. must realize that dead Cernruk is much more dangerous to them than when he was alive. '.Dhey know that Cerna.k's death as a martyr will give SlovaJk patriots a new motive and added cO'llJrage in their fight for the freedom and independence of the Slova!k nation. '.Dhe 'Munich <killing of Cernak hais cast light on several real~ties. [t has demonstrated what section of the front is most dangerous to Red Prague. That section is not the so~oalled Council of Free Ozecho-Slova:kia, nor the "Czecho-Slovax" dirvi,sion of RiAJD]O FREE EUROOE; neither is it the loudmouths around the dollar trough, nor the dis~ honest people in the social organizaUons who crullously rob needy refugees. !But it is certainlly our section of the front. '!'hat is the section that is ,b eing hit from all sides and stands - and solidly stands - without a single dollar of American support; nay, it is that section which must resist not only the attacks of the Communists, but even the mad attacks of the "peoples' democrats" in exile who are being financed •b y American dollars. Little wonder, then, that some morally irresponsi'ble people in the interests of RFE spread among the uninformed foreign journalists the shameless, false statement that Matus Cernak was •a n employee of the "Ozecho-Slovak" unit of !Radio Free Europe - the same Cernak who stood loyally at our side on the same forefronit, even when RJF:Ei rightfully deserved sharp criticism for the propaganda sprea:d iby the "Ozecho-1Slovak" unit of RIFE. Must All Exiles Think Alike? The Munich murder forces us to speak openly and truthfully about conditions in exile. Our ipolitkal exile. is accustomed to, a.oknowledging every generosity of the free world gra,tefu!lly and uncritic- �SLOVAKIA 33 a1ly. But the free world owes us much more. . . Whether the West gave us anything or not, we always regarded it as our moral duty to ibe sincere allies of the West; and we remain true to this principle. But is it only our fault that we are in exile, that our country is enslaved by Moscow? Or is it not the fauiLt ,o f the Yalta and Porbsdam leaders of the free world? They negotiated with StaJlin about oor land even though they knew practically nothing about it . And it is l.iikewise rtheir fault that at that time they would listen only to Stalin's agent, Dr. Edward Benes. They told us to like Stalin against our will, just li:ke they are teHing us now in exile to like Titoism, which is not a hair different than Stalinism. We know, too, that tomorrow they shall persecute every Titoist, even those who became Titoists at their advice. This is nothing but imbecile uniform:rzing of the views of the exile. Should any one in exile express a different view, his own and sane view, immediately he is suspected and spied upon, smeared and accused of beiillg an enemy agent. They have no respect for the views of others. 1 No Thanks to the Free Europe Committee Americans in the ,F1REE ;JDUROPE COMiMI['DTEE already for years are forcing upon us the political oonc~ tion of the criminal and 1Stalin's agent, Dr. Edward Benes. What do those men !know a:bout our nation? By ,w hat right are they trying to force that criminal political conception upon us? They :would ,probaJbly be very much ,sur,prised if some foreigners, ignorant of American conditions, would continually try to force into the administration of their country Quislings, whOlm the ,A merican nation despises, and the terror of the immoral "ipeoples'" democracy. Not only that, but they even demand that the Czech exile sing praises to them daily and with hat in hand humlbly rkiss their hands. With the Munich murder the situation has gone so far that we cannot lkoop silent a.:bout it any longer. Our exile has nothing to be grateful for to the Free Europe Committee. Whatever it gave to the profaned politicians in the so-oa:lled Council of Free Ozecho-Slovakia does not 1 �34 SLOVAKIA interest the anti-Communist exile at all. And rwe are not interested if they throw out the windows of RIFE millions of dollairs of American contributors. Out of that money not a single cent has gone to support the anti-Oorrununist resistance,. ibut, conversely, those hard-earned dollars have been used to divide and suppress the anti-Communist resistance and for the support of pro~·Communist tendencies and elements, if not even outright Communist agents! Red Prague has murdered \Matthew Cernaik in a manner which has shaken the entire free world, as witnessed by its press . In R:ADIO ,F,RIDE EJUROPE the ernme incident was disposed of in a few simple sentences ia.nd they would prefer that the murder be fo.r,gotten altogether. Why? Propaganda of RFE iis Responsible The "Ozecho-iSlovaJk" unit of R!FE with its continual blabbering of .primitive phrases ·aJbout the Iack of baloney in Czecho-Slovakia completely diverts the attention of the free world from the substance of the Communist threat which is inherent in the moral disintegration of the family and hum8.1Il society and never in the ~ack of meat. For us Communism is unacceptaJble, 1b ecause it is immoral, and immoral even if under it every citirzen would ibe entitled to 10 kilograms of meat daily. This mistaken, primitive propaganda of the "Czecho-'Slov,ak" unit of IRF1E wifil in the end place our exile in the eyes of the West into such a light that not only shall we be understood at all why we are agaJinst a Communist regime, but that rwe also ,s hall ibe regarded as cheats, adventurers and 1 iars, ,b ecause the Prague regime, with the help of ente:r,prises such as the olympics ·a nd others, will easily and altogether convince western journalists and visitors that in Czecho-iSlovaki-a there exist other economic and social conditions th·a n those described by IR@E. It iwill convince them that autos ride normally on the streets of Prague (a certain journalistic primitive recently reported from Brno that the residents of that city hruve not seen any auto fo:r six months!); that people there are nonnaUy dressed, and in many cases even better than in the West; that there are dances at which the bands play western tunes; that there are cultural en- �SLOVAKIA 36 twprises,. calba.rets and night clubs, lange commercial houses, etc., and that wirbh this our nation will ·b e disin~ tegrated internally by the most immoral Communistic sea. In the interest of a more effective fight against Communism, it i,s 1high time that the anti-Communist exile presents a unified and decisive protest rugainst this harmfol activity of the "Ozecho.JSlovruk" unit of RFE, which benefits the Communists in many ways, and so that before the western public a:nd our nation it keep its distance from this irresponsible propaganda. At the same time it is necessary to clearly and loudly point out the actual threat of Communism and the program efforts of t he anti-Communist part of the nation. Shady Acts of the National Socialists in Exile At the same time we must not .r emain siilent rubout the support of the "peoples" democrats by the American Flree Europe Comrruttee. With this support the American F'EC one-sidedly puts itself on record for the party of the OLecho..slovaik National :Socialists. Now, the Committee will have to reconcile itself with the ,f.act thrut we are going to tell the whole iworld a.lbout this situation. 'Ilhis Committee should also know that in its one-sided swpport we see a coarse inter:vention against the health of the exile, if it is not directly against its freedom, and ,a rude political coercion and even moral orientation of the nation in its homeiland. [fit were not for the support of the American FEC, today in exile there would not be even by far so much demoralization and moral disintegration, and there would not be by far so much disgust, bitterness and disappointments in the wide masses of exiles. [f in Australia, Canada, the USA and elsewhere we ·are today the witnesses of how the political exile, after only several years, is beginning to go through the process of old settlers, which ,w ere friendly to emigrants, then rwe can thank the American _cirdes which financiailly suppor,t and poilitically protect the Czecho-lSlovaJk !National Socialists for these anti-exile sentiments. Likewise iwe can /keep silent no longer albout the shady acts of the Ozooh National .Socialists in exile, rubout their �36 SLOVAKIA prepared -o ffensive against the Catholic Church, about their shameless and lbra;zen presumption that ibhey speruk for the exiles and tile nation, and about their immoral political tactics, which might be called a science which !best seHs itself without iregard to the interests of the nation. Indeed, that the alliance with the Czech National !Socialists for those several America;ns is a very ugly calling card even if they use them only because th•e Ozech National Socialists are, according to their views, the most reliable enemies of the Germans and, hence, also reliable agents in Germany. What are we to say about the threats made against refugees in the camps who read "BOHEMIDA"? Why -is it not allowed to sell it there? The "GESKE SWVO" - organ of the Czech National Socialists - is sent on miJitairy postal numbers to Czechs and Slovaks in the U. S. Anny together with sharply anti-German flyers of the RFE en, titled "DEMOCRATIC GUIDE FOR PRAGUE"? Where did the GESKE SLOVO get those milit.a.ry addresses? Who was it that let them have them? And how come that GESKE SLOVO is sent together with leaflets of RFE? Is this a single enterprise and to be regarded as such? While American authorities are assuring iDr. Konrad Adenauer and the west Germans of their friendship and alliance, members ,o f the U. S. Army in western Germany and elsewhere are ·b eing sent inciting, anti-GeTman literature! W,h o is responsilble for this? Wihy is it tolerated? Exiles Lick the Hand for Every Slap in the Face We •k now with what eilithusiasm our article wiH be translated, embellished and sent to various rplaces in the USA with the statement that we are writing against the Americans. So that there be no mistake albout it, we repeat, that for us it is not a question of what side of the :bar.ricades our rplace is. We reiterate that for the freedom of tp.e nation and humanity we shali fight on the side of the free world rto the J:ast drop of !blood. At the same time we pvoc1aim that we are no longer willing to 'keep silent if out of the exile is made a ;political clown,. who not oil'ly no longer defends the. interes.ts of his own nation, but 1 �SLOVAKIA 37 when commanded even I-a.ughs and cries and humlbly and gratefully thanlks and licks the hand for every slap in the face. We Tepeat our call so that the democra:tic, anti-Communist exile ,u nitedly and shanply distance itself from the irresponsilble, primitive ipropaganda of the "Ozecho,.,Slovak" unit of ruiE, which ma.inly serves the Communists and which tomorr.ow ,can mean the disintegration and ruin of our exile. LikewiJSe it should keep away from the "peoples" democratic Council .o f !Free Czecho-Slovakia, which is only an expanded party of the Czeich National Socialists. Let us not ibe fooled. Every period is a period of transition. Even the period during which some American circles surppOirt the ",p eoples" democrats. There will come a day when those Americans will come to ·r ecognize the truth which we write today and the snakes they toyed with on their bosoms. Let us not forget that even the Communist Adolf Hoffmeister for two years was an official of the U. S. Office of War Information, which he ridicules today at home telling how he became an official of the State Department. He used to ibe acceptruble and supported in the USA. When he came to the USA during World War IT, he was dined and wined by the "Czecho-Slovak" countrymen, who today are wining and dining the "peoples" demoaats Zenkl, Rirpka, Peroutlka and company. In Chicago they solemnly welcomed him amid even let him sound off on a Ozech Radio hour. Let us, therefore, not ,b,e deceived. We must pr.otect our anti-Commll!Irist exile so that it remains healthy and unyielding at all costs. ,F or this we need honest men and not doUar politicians. • • • Recommended Books: McCARTHY AND HIS ENEMIES, by Buckley and Bozell, Henry Regnery Co., Chicago; AFTER HI'.DLER STALIN? - by Robert Ingrim, Bruce Publishing Co., Milwaukee; F1ALSE FREEDOM, by Edward L. Delaney, Sequoia University Press, Los Angeles. � SLOVAKIA 29 THE MURDER OF MATUS CERNAK Fr. Janik-Horak (This article results from the contents of the corresponding article in ,Czech, wJJ.ich ,appeared in " BOHEMIA" (July 22, 1955), published monthly in Munich, Germany, by the rCzech Democmtic Federalists. T·h e author, its editor-in-chief, is quite outspoken about the ruinous pro-Soviet and a'llti-'.Slovak policy of Dr. \Edward ,B enes and his socialistic political entourage whi ch brought Moscow to CzechoSlovakia and the heart of (Europe.) Two months ago - when we had written that the Communists were maiking an all-out attack against our exiles and that this would be a ,b rutaily merciless fight some of our exiles prdbably thought that we iwere using strong but empty words. That we meant what we wrote at that time has been proved by the explosion in !Munich which mutilated Matthew CernaJk (Tchernah1k) ibeyond recognition. We do nat doubt that this brutal murder is the work of the Prague Communists. Let us consider why they committed it and what they exipected to gain by it. First of ·all, they wanted to liquidate the dangerous anti-Communist, Matthew Cernak. That is the opinion of the ipolice commission of experts assigned to the case, which ascertained that the diabolical instrument which killed Cernak contained one kHogram (2.2 ~bs.) of a high ex;plosive which is not at all obtaina!ble in Germany. With the murder of Cernak, the Reds figured the rest of the exiles would lbe frightened into inaction. Nen, the Prague Reds figured that the murder of Cerna,k in M<Unich would incite the German population, and the German authorities as well, against all exiles in general, 1a nd against the exiles from Ozecho-lSlovakia in particular. They almost succeeded in this, since two Germans were kiHed and 21 others wounded when Cernak opened the bomlb~ac'kage in a Munich post-office. Premier Hogneir of Bavaria ibro1a dcast a warning to all exiles, while the leading "foreign affairs" editor of the "Siiddeutsche Zeitung," Mr. Birnbaum, strongly urged the cessation of ,politica1 ,a ctivity of all exile groups. �30 SLOVAKIA It is significant that Mr. Birnibaum's editorial, together with a commentary sup,plied by Red Prague, ,w as propagated the very next day by the Czeoh Press Bureau (CTK) and the entire Communist press of 0zecho-Slova!kia. We can thank the leadership of the Union of Democratic Exiles (UIDU) ithat the German public convinced that the guilty party o,r parties must :b e sought in Red Czecho-,Slovrukia and not among the exiles in Germany. The Union is made up of seven central organi~ations of exiles; the fate 'M. Cerna,k was a member of its presidium, and Vladimir Pekelsiky (owner and publisher of BOHEM[A) is its secretary-general. Credit must also be .given to editor Birnbaum for allowing himself to be convinced that he wa:s in error and that in the interests of impartiality he himself offered to publish the lengthy article of the DIDU, and which, in fact, he did ;p ublish. The shocking murder of Cernak was supposed to silence and frighten the rest of his fellow-exiles. Even in this case, however, we must state that the Communist murderers miscaloulated. rt is true, of course, that the murder of Cernak did strlke fear in the hearts of many exiles ; it did not, however, frighten of.f the w,arriors. And that is n;iost important. Cowards always crawl aiway from a fight; they never did hel,p fight the Reds, so we might just say: good riddance ! Courageously then - Heroically Now! Matthew Cerna:k was our closest Slovak felQow-warrior on the exile fvont in Ger.many. We stood on the same political platform against Communists and ·against their assistants here in exHe an:d, therefore, even against the ruinous ideology of IDr. Edward Benes in the Council of Free Czecho~Slovakia and in RiA!DIO FREE EUR.OPE. 'Dhat is why we say that the murder of Cernak was a murderous attempt aimed even against us here in the editorial offices of B0HEMtI:A. The German press, seeking sensations, and some malicious exiles wringing their hands joyously where nobody might see them, are even writing and Wking about the people in .the editoriaJl offices of B0HIElMIA who are "dedicated to death," because we a.r e �SLOVAKIA 31 now supposed to be-next. We are not surprised, therefore, that we are _urged !by some of our friends to lbe most careful, to t ~ r our writing and even to quit our fight against the Reds, ,bec,ause, they say, it is in the best interests of our security that we do not incite the Communists against us. In reply, we can only say that we are fully aware o.f the seriousness of the times. Fighters, however, carry on the fight Entil they either win o•r fall in combat; never, however, do_,they flee from battle! Now, we fled into exile to fight for the freedom ,o f our nation and for the freedom of all nations. For us this has never ,b een an empty meaningless phrase which we might use in America to coiled dollars for a carefree, comfortable life. somewhere in a seoure 'land !beyond the ,s ea. When the •program of the Czech 'Democratic Federalists was ,p rodaimed, we ·p ledged to our adherents . that we would loyally -p ersevere, and that pledge iwe conside·r sacred even today. If we have written courageously up to this time, then from now on ·we shafl' write heroica:lly ! The explosion of the iMunich murder of Cernak binds us to do so. We know that our strength and our significance and al,s o our danger to the Communists lies in the fact that we speaik to the wide masses of the common ipeople of our exile, that we are young and that we are not dreamers - and that we do have a positive, healthy, political program. We are familiar with the bloody and bushwhacking methods o.f the Communists. As political prisoners we ha'V'e passed through tens of jails and riruvestigating torture-chambers. That is why we e~pect no quarters and no mercy from them. We •also know that they undertake everything according to plan and, therefore, that the murder of Cernak might well lbe followed by a series of further 'killings, even though they m~ght be per.petrated in a manner different than that oif ,s ending heHish devices. We warn the Reds, however, that the day ,shaH come when they ,wjll know that our God of the Old Testament still lives! There ,w ill come a day when the exiles murdered by them shall foad baok into the homeland an anny of merciless avengers. That day shall come. For that day 1 �32 SLOVAKIA we are strug,g ling for years, and rfor that day we shaH even be prepared to fall, because that shall lbe the day of a new rising of the sun over our enslaved country! It is neces,s ary to note here that Cema!k's death has caused joy not on~y to the initiators and per.petrators in Red Prague, but even to his opponents in the Council of Free Czecho-Slovakia. Certainly they. must realize that dead Cernruk is much more dangerous to them than when he was alive. '.Dhey know that Cerna.k's death as a martyr will give SlovaJk patriots a new motive and added cO'llJrage in their fight for the freedom and independence of the Slova!k nation. '.Dhe 'Munich <killing of Cernak hais cast light on several real~ties. [t has demonstrated what section of the front is most dangerous to Red Prague. That section is not the so~oalled Council of Free Ozecho-Slova:kia, nor the "Czecho-Slovax" dirvi,sion of RiAJD]O FREE EUROOE; neither is it the loudmouths around the dollar trough, nor the dis~ honest people in the social organizaUons who crullously rob needy refugees. !But it is certainlly our section of the front. '!'hat is the section that is ,b eing hit from all sides and stands - and solidly stands - without a single dollar of American support; nay, it is that section which must resist not only the attacks of the Communists, but even the mad attacks of the "peoples' democrats" in exile who are being financed •b y American dollars. Little wonder, then, that some morally irresponsi'ble people in the interests of RFE spread among the uninformed foreign journalists the shameless, false statement that Matus Cernak was •a n employee of the "Ozecho-Slovak" unit of !Radio Free Europe - the same Cernak who stood loyally at our side on the same forefronit, even when RJF:Ei rightfully deserved sharp criticism for the propaganda sprea:d iby the "Ozecho-1Slovak" unit of RIFE. Must All Exiles Think Alike? The Munich murder forces us to speak openly and truthfully about conditions in exile. Our ipolitkal exile. is accustomed to, a.oknowledging every generosity of the free world gra,tefu!lly and uncritic- �SLOVAKIA 33 a1ly. But the free world owes us much more. . . Whether the West gave us anything or not, we always regarded it as our moral duty to ibe sincere allies of the West; and we remain true to this principle. But is it only our fault that we are in exile, that our country is enslaved by Moscow? Or is it not the fauiLt ,o f the Yalta and Porbsdam leaders of the free world? They negotiated with StaJlin about oor land even though they knew practically nothing about it . And it is l.iikewise rtheir fault that at that time they would listen only to Stalin's agent, Dr. Edward Benes. They told us to like Stalin against our will, just li:ke they are teHing us now in exile to like Titoism, which is not a hair different than Stalinism. We know, too, that tomorrow they shall persecute every Titoist, even those who became Titoists at their advice. This is nothing but imbecile uniform:rzing of the views of the exile. Should any one in exile express a different view, his own and sane view, immediately he is suspected and spied upon, smeared and accused of beiillg an enemy agent. They have no respect for the views of others. 1 No Thanks to the Free Europe Committee Americans in the ,F1REE ;JDUROPE COMiMI['DTEE already for years are forcing upon us the political oonc~ tion of the criminal and 1Stalin's agent, Dr. Edward Benes. What do those men !know a:bout our nation? By ,w hat right are they trying to force that criminal political conception upon us? They :would ,probaJbly be very much ,sur,prised if some foreigners, ignorant of American conditions, would continually try to force into the administration of their country Quislings, whOlm the ,A merican nation despises, and the terror of the immoral "ipeoples'" democracy. Not only that, but they even demand that the Czech exile sing praises to them daily and with hat in hand humlbly rkiss their hands. With the Munich murder the situation has gone so far that we cannot lkoop silent a.:bout it any longer. Our exile has nothing to be grateful for to the Free Europe Committee. Whatever it gave to the profaned politicians in the so-oa:lled Council of Free Ozecho-Slovakia does not 1 �34 SLOVAKIA interest the anti-Communist exile at all. And rwe are not interested if they throw out the windows of RIFE millions of dollairs of American contributors. Out of that money not a single cent has gone to support the anti-Oorrununist resistance,. ibut, conversely, those hard-earned dollars have been used to divide and suppress the anti-Communist resistance and for the support of pro~·Communist tendencies and elements, if not even outright Communist agents! Red Prague has murdered \Matthew Cernaik in a manner which has shaken the entire free world, as witnessed by its press . In R:ADIO ,F,RIDE EJUROPE the ernme incident was disposed of in a few simple sentences ia.nd they would prefer that the murder be fo.r,gotten altogether. Why? Propaganda of RFE iis Responsible The "Ozecho-iSlovaJk" unit of R!FE with its continual blabbering of .primitive phrases ·aJbout the Iack of baloney in Czecho-Slovakia completely diverts the attention of the free world from the substance of the Communist threat which is inherent in the moral disintegration of the family and hum8.1Il society and never in the ~ack of meat. For us Communism is unacceptaJble, 1b ecause it is immoral, and immoral even if under it every citirzen would ibe entitled to 10 kilograms of meat daily. This mistaken, primitive propaganda of the "Czecho-'Slov,ak" unit of IRF1E wifil in the end place our exile in the eyes of the West into such a light that not only shall we be understood at all why we are agaJinst a Communist regime, but that rwe also ,s hall ibe regarded as cheats, adventurers and 1 iars, ,b ecause the Prague regime, with the help of ente:r,prises such as the olympics ·a nd others, will easily and altogether convince western journalists and visitors that in Czecho-iSlovaki-a there exist other economic and social conditions th·a n those described by IR@E. It iwill convince them that autos ride normally on the streets of Prague (a certain journalistic primitive recently reported from Brno that the residents of that city hruve not seen any auto fo:r six months!); that people there are nonnaUy dressed, and in many cases even better than in the West; that there are dances at which the bands play western tunes; that there are cultural en- �SLOVAKIA 36 twprises,. calba.rets and night clubs, lange commercial houses, etc., and that wirbh this our nation will ·b e disin~ tegrated internally by the most immoral Communistic sea. In the interest of a more effective fight against Communism, it i,s 1high time that the anti-Communist exile presents a unified and decisive protest rugainst this harmfol activity of the "Ozecho.JSlovruk" unit of RFE, which benefits the Communists in many ways, and so that before the western public a:nd our nation it keep its distance from this irresponsible propaganda. At the same time it is necessary to clearly and loudly point out the actual threat of Communism and the program efforts of t he anti-Communist part of the nation. Shady Acts of the National Socialists in Exile At the same time we must not .r emain siilent rubout the support of the "peoples" democrats by the American Flree Europe Comrruttee. With this support the American F'EC one-sidedly puts itself on record for the party of the OLecho..slovaik National :Socialists. Now, the Committee will have to reconcile itself with the ,f.act thrut we are going to tell the whole iworld a.lbout this situation. 'Ilhis Committee should also know that in its one-sided swpport we see a coarse inter:vention against the health of the exile, if it is not directly against its freedom, and ,a rude political coercion and even moral orientation of the nation in its homeiland. [fit were not for the support of the American FEC, today in exile there would not be even by far so much demoralization and moral disintegration, and there would not be by far so much disgust, bitterness and disappointments in the wide masses of exiles. [f in Australia, Canada, the USA and elsewhere we ·are today the witnesses of how the political exile, after only several years, is beginning to go through the process of old settlers, which ,w ere friendly to emigrants, then rwe can thank the American _cirdes which financiailly suppor,t and poilitically protect the Czecho-lSlovaJk !National Socialists for these anti-exile sentiments. Likewise iwe can /keep silent no longer albout the shady acts of the Ozooh National .Socialists in exile, rubout their �36 SLOVAKIA prepared -o ffensive against the Catholic Church, about their shameless and lbra;zen presumption that ibhey speruk for the exiles and tile nation, and about their immoral political tactics, which might be called a science which !best seHs itself without iregard to the interests of the nation. Indeed, that the alliance with the Czech National !Socialists for those several America;ns is a very ugly calling card even if they use them only because th•e Ozech National Socialists are, according to their views, the most reliable enemies of the Germans and, hence, also reliable agents in Germany. What are we to say about the threats made against refugees in the camps who read "BOHEMIDA"? Why -is it not allowed to sell it there? The "GESKE SWVO" - organ of the Czech National Socialists - is sent on miJitairy postal numbers to Czechs and Slovaks in the U. S. Anny together with sharply anti-German flyers of the RFE en, titled "DEMOCRATIC GUIDE FOR PRAGUE"? Where did the GESKE SLOVO get those milit.a.ry addresses? Who was it that let them have them? And how come that GESKE SLOVO is sent together with leaflets of RFE? Is this a single enterprise and to be regarded as such? While American authorities are assuring iDr. Konrad Adenauer and the west Germans of their friendship and alliance, members ,o f the U. S. Army in western Germany and elsewhere are ·b eing sent inciting, anti-GeTman literature! W,h o is responsilble for this? Wihy is it tolerated? Exiles Lick the Hand for Every Slap in the Face We •k now with what eilithusiasm our article wiH be translated, embellished and sent to various rplaces in the USA with the statement that we are writing against the Americans. So that there be no mistake albout it, we repeat, that for us it is not a question of what side of the :bar.ricades our rplace is. We reiterate that for the freedom of tp.e nation and humanity we shali fight on the side of the free world rto the J:ast drop of !blood. At the same time we pvoc1aim that we are no longer willing to 'keep silent if out of the exile is made a ;political clown,. who not oil'ly no longer defends the. interes.ts of his own nation, but 1 �SLOVAKIA 37 when commanded even I-a.ughs and cries and humlbly and gratefully thanlks and licks the hand for every slap in the face. We Tepeat our call so that the democra:tic, anti-Communist exile ,u nitedly and shanply distance itself from the irresponsilble, primitive ipropaganda of the "Ozecho,.,Slovak" unit of ruiE, which ma.inly serves the Communists and which tomorr.ow ,can mean the disintegration and ruin of our exile. LikewiJSe it should keep away from the "peoples" democratic Council .o f !Free Czecho-Slovakia, which is only an expanded party of the Czeich National Socialists. Let us not ibe fooled. Every period is a period of transition. Even the period during which some American circles surppOirt the ",p eoples" democrats. There will come a day when those Americans will come to ·r ecognize the truth which we write today and the snakes they toyed with on their bosoms. Let us not forget that even the Communist Adolf Hoffmeister for two years was an official of the U. S. Office of War Information, which he ridicules today at home telling how he became an official of the State Department. He used to ibe acceptruble and supported in the USA. When he came to the USA during World War IT, he was dined and wined by the "Czecho-Slovak" countrymen, who today are wining and dining the "peoples" demoaats Zenkl, Rirpka, Peroutlka and company. In Chicago they solemnly welcomed him amid even let him sound off on a Ozech Radio hour. Let us, therefore, not ,b,e deceived. We must pr.otect our anti-Commll!Irist exile so that it remains healthy and unyielding at all costs. ,F or this we need honest men and not doUar politicians. • • • Recommended Books: McCARTHY AND HIS ENEMIES, by Buckley and Bozell, Henry Regnery Co., Chicago; AFTER HI'.DLER STALIN? - by Robert Ingrim, Bruce Publishing Co., Milwaukee; F1ALSE FREEDOM, by Edward L. Delaney, Sequoia University Press, Los Angeles. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1955, Vol. 5 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 14), March 1955.</li> <li>Issue 2-3 (No. 15-16), June-September 1955.</li> <li>Issue 4 (No. 17), December 1955.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1955 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 29 THE MURDER OF MATUS CERNAK Fr. Janik-Horak (This article results from the contents of the corresponding article in ,Czech, wJJ.ich ,appeared in " BOHEMIA" (July 22, 1955), published monthly in Munich, Germany, by the rCzech Democmtic Federalists. T·h e author, its editor-in-chief, is quite outspoken about the ruinous pro-Soviet and a'llti-'.Slovak policy of Dr. \Edward ,B enes and his socialistic political entourage whi ch brought Moscow to CzechoSlovakia and the heart of (Europe.) Two months ago - when we had written that the Communists were maiking an all-out attack against our exiles and that this would be a ,b rutaily merciless fight some of our exiles prdbably thought that we iwere using strong but empty words. That we meant what we wrote at that time has been proved by the explosion in !Munich which mutilated Matthew CernaJk (Tchernah1k) ibeyond recognition. We do nat doubt that this brutal murder is the work of the Prague Communists. Let us consider why they committed it and what they exipected to gain by it. First of ·all, they wanted to liquidate the dangerous anti-Communist, Matthew Cernak. That is the opinion of the ipolice commission of experts assigned to the case, which ascertained that the diabolical instrument which killed Cernak contained one kHogram (2.2 ~bs.) of a high ex;plosive which is not at all obtaina!ble in Germany. With the murder of Cernak, the Reds figured the rest of the exiles would lbe frightened into inaction. Nen, the Prague Reds figured that the murder of Cerna,k in M<Unich would incite the German population, and the German authorities as well, against all exiles in general, 1a nd against the exiles from Ozecho-lSlovakia in particular. They almost succeeded in this, since two Germans were kiHed and 21 others wounded when Cernak opened the bomlb~ac'kage in a Munich post-office. Premier Hogneir of Bavaria ibro1a dcast a warning to all exiles, while the leading "foreign affairs" editor of the "Siiddeutsche Zeitung," Mr. Birnbaum, strongly urged the cessation of ,politica1 ,a ctivity of all exile groups. 30 SLOVAKIA It is significant that Mr. Birnibaum's editorial, together with a commentary sup,plied by Red Prague, ,w as propagated the very next day by the Czeoh Press Bureau (CTK) and the entire Communist press of 0zecho-Slova!kia. We can thank the leadership of the Union of Democratic Exiles (UIDU) ithat the German public convinced that the guilty party o,r parties must :b e sought in Red Czecho-,Slovrukia and not among the exiles in Germany. The Union is made up of seven central organi~ations of exiles; the fate 'M. Cerna,k was a member of its presidium, and Vladimir Pekelsiky (owner and publisher of BOHEM[A) is its secretary-general. Credit must also be .given to editor Birnbaum for allowing himself to be convinced that he wa:s in error and that in the interests of impartiality he himself offered to publish the lengthy article of the DIDU, and which, in fact, he did ;p ublish. The shocking murder of Cernak was supposed to silence and frighten the rest of his fellow-exiles. Even in this case, however, we must state that the Communist murderers miscaloulated. rt is true, of course, that the murder of Cernak did strlke fear in the hearts of many exiles ; it did not, however, frighten of.f the w,arriors. And that is n;iost important. Cowards always crawl aiway from a fight; they never did hel,p fight the Reds, so we might just say: good riddance ! Courageously then - Heroically Now! Matthew Cerna:k was our closest Slovak felQow-warrior on the exile fvont in Ger.many. We stood on the same political platform against Communists and ·against their assistants here in exHe an:d, therefore, even against the ruinous ideology of IDr. Edward Benes in the Council of Free Czecho~Slovakia and in RiA!DIO FREE EUR.OPE. 'Dhat is why we say that the murder of Cernak was a murderous attempt aimed even against us here in the editorial offices of B0HEMtI:A. The German press, seeking sensations, and some malicious exiles wringing their hands joyously where nobody might see them, are even writing and Wking about the people in .the editoriaJl offices of B0HIElMIA who are "dedicated to death," because we a.r e SLOVAKIA 31 now supposed to be-next. We are not surprised, therefore, that we are _urged !by some of our friends to lbe most careful, to t ~ r our writing and even to quit our fight against the Reds, ,bec,ause, they say, it is in the best interests of our security that we do not incite the Communists against us. In reply, we can only say that we are fully aware o.f the seriousness of the times. Fighters, however, carry on the fight Entil they either win o•r fall in combat; never, however, do_,they flee from battle! Now, we fled into exile to fight for the freedom ,o f our nation and for the freedom of all nations. For us this has never ,b een an empty meaningless phrase which we might use in America to coiled dollars for a carefree, comfortable life. somewhere in a seoure 'land !beyond the ,s ea. When the •program of the Czech 'Democratic Federalists was ,p rodaimed, we ·p ledged to our adherents . that we would loyally -p ersevere, and that pledge iwe conside·r sacred even today. If we have written courageously up to this time, then from now on ·we shafl' write heroica:lly ! The explosion of the iMunich murder of Cernak binds us to do so. We know that our strength and our significance and al,s o our danger to the Communists lies in the fact that we speaik to the wide masses of the common ipeople of our exile, that we are young and that we are not dreamers - and that we do have a positive, healthy, political program. We are familiar with the bloody and bushwhacking methods o.f the Communists. As political prisoners we ha'V'e passed through tens of jails and riruvestigating torture-chambers. That is why we e~pect no quarters and no mercy from them. We •also know that they undertake everything according to plan and, therefore, that the murder of Cernak might well lbe followed by a series of further 'killings, even though they m~ght be per.petrated in a manner different than that oif ,s ending heHish devices. We warn the Reds, however, that the day ,shaH come when they ,wjll know that our God of the Old Testament still lives! There ,w ill come a day when the exiles murdered by them shall foad baok into the homeland an anny of merciless avengers. That day shall come. For that day 1 32 SLOVAKIA we are strug,g ling for years, and rfor that day we shaH even be prepared to fall, because that shall lbe the day of a new rising of the sun over our enslaved country! It is neces,s ary to note here that Cema!k's death has caused joy not on~y to the initiators and per.petrators in Red Prague, but even to his opponents in the Council of Free Czecho-Slovakia. Certainly they. must realize that dead Cernruk is much more dangerous to them than when he was alive. '.Dhey know that Cerna.k's death as a martyr will give SlovaJk patriots a new motive and added cO'llJrage in their fight for the freedom and independence of the Slova!k nation. '.Dhe 'Munich <killing of Cernak hais cast light on several real~ties. [t has demonstrated what section of the front is most dangerous to Red Prague. That section is not the so~oalled Council of Free Ozecho-Slova:kia, nor the "Czecho-Slovax" dirvi,sion of RiAJD]O FREE EUROOE; neither is it the loudmouths around the dollar trough, nor the dis~ honest people in the social organizaUons who crullously rob needy refugees. !But it is certainlly our section of the front. '!'hat is the section that is ,b eing hit from all sides and stands - and solidly stands - without a single dollar of American support; nay, it is that section which must resist not only the attacks of the Communists, but even the mad attacks of the "peoples' democrats" in exile who are being financed •b y American dollars. Little wonder, then, that some morally irresponsi'ble people in the interests of RFE spread among the uninformed foreign journalists the shameless, false statement that Matus Cernak was •a n employee of the "Ozecho-Slovak" unit of !Radio Free Europe - the same Cernak who stood loyally at our side on the same forefronit, even when RJF:Ei rightfully deserved sharp criticism for the propaganda sprea:d iby the "Ozecho-1Slovak" unit of RIFE. Must All Exiles Think Alike? The Munich murder forces us to speak openly and truthfully about conditions in exile. Our ipolitkal exile. is accustomed to, a.oknowledging every generosity of the free world gra,tefu!lly and uncritic- SLOVAKIA 33 a1ly. But the free world owes us much more. . . Whether the West gave us anything or not, we always regarded it as our moral duty to ibe sincere allies of the West; and we remain true to this principle. But is it only our fault that we are in exile, that our country is enslaved by Moscow? Or is it not the fauiLt ,o f the Yalta and Porbsdam leaders of the free world? They negotiated with StaJlin about oor land even though they knew practically nothing about it . And it is l.iikewise rtheir fault that at that time they would listen only to Stalin's agent, Dr. Edward Benes. They told us to like Stalin against our will, just li:ke they are teHing us now in exile to like Titoism, which is not a hair different than Stalinism. We know, too, that tomorrow they shall persecute every Titoist, even those who became Titoists at their advice. This is nothing but imbecile uniform:rzing of the views of the exile. Should any one in exile express a different view, his own and sane view, immediately he is suspected and spied upon, smeared and accused of beiillg an enemy agent. They have no respect for the views of others. 1 No Thanks to the Free Europe Committee Americans in the ,F1REE ;JDUROPE COMiMI['DTEE already for years are forcing upon us the political oonc~ tion of the criminal and 1Stalin's agent, Dr. Edward Benes. What do those men !know a:bout our nation? By ,w hat right are they trying to force that criminal political conception upon us? They :would ,probaJbly be very much ,sur,prised if some foreigners, ignorant of American conditions, would continually try to force into the administration of their country Quislings, whOlm the ,A merican nation despises, and the terror of the immoral "ipeoples'" democracy. Not only that, but they even demand that the Czech exile sing praises to them daily and with hat in hand humlbly rkiss their hands. With the Munich murder the situation has gone so far that we cannot lkoop silent a.:bout it any longer. Our exile has nothing to be grateful for to the Free Europe Committee. Whatever it gave to the profaned politicians in the so-oa:lled Council of Free Ozecho-Slovakia does not 1 34 SLOVAKIA interest the anti-Communist exile at all. And rwe are not interested if they throw out the windows of RIFE millions of dollairs of American contributors. Out of that money not a single cent has gone to support the anti-Oorrununist resistance,. ibut, conversely, those hard-earned dollars have been used to divide and suppress the anti-Communist resistance and for the support of pro~·Communist tendencies and elements, if not even outright Communist agents! Red Prague has murdered \Matthew Cernaik in a manner which has shaken the entire free world, as witnessed by its press . In R:ADIO ,F,RIDE EJUROPE the ernme incident was disposed of in a few simple sentences ia.nd they would prefer that the murder be fo.r,gotten altogether. Why? Propaganda of RFE iis Responsible The "Ozecho-iSlovaJk" unit of R!FE with its continual blabbering of .primitive phrases ·aJbout the Iack of baloney in Czecho-Slovakia completely diverts the attention of the free world from the substance of the Communist threat which is inherent in the moral disintegration of the family and hum8.1Il society and never in the ~ack of meat. For us Communism is unacceptaJble, 1b ecause it is immoral, and immoral even if under it every citirzen would ibe entitled to 10 kilograms of meat daily. This mistaken, primitive propaganda of the "Czecho-'Slov,ak" unit of IRF1E wifil in the end place our exile in the eyes of the West into such a light that not only shall we be understood at all why we are agaJinst a Communist regime, but that rwe also ,s hall ibe regarded as cheats, adventurers and 1 iars, ,b ecause the Prague regime, with the help of ente:r,prises such as the olympics ·a nd others, will easily and altogether convince western journalists and visitors that in Czecho-iSlovaki-a there exist other economic and social conditions th·a n those described by IR@E. It iwill convince them that autos ride normally on the streets of Prague (a certain journalistic primitive recently reported from Brno that the residents of that city hruve not seen any auto fo:r six months!); that people there are nonnaUy dressed, and in many cases even better than in the West; that there are dances at which the bands play western tunes; that there are cultural en- SLOVAKIA 36 twprises,. calba.rets and night clubs, lange commercial houses, etc., and that wirbh this our nation will ·b e disin~ tegrated internally by the most immoral Communistic sea. In the interest of a more effective fight against Communism, it i,s 1high time that the anti-Communist exile presents a unified and decisive protest rugainst this harmfol activity of the "Ozecho.JSlovruk" unit of RFE, which benefits the Communists in many ways, and so that before the western public a:nd our nation it keep its distance from this irresponsible propaganda. At the same time it is necessary to clearly and loudly point out the actual threat of Communism and the program efforts of t he anti-Communist part of the nation. Shady Acts of the National Socialists in Exile At the same time we must not .r emain siilent rubout the support of the "peoples" democrats by the American Flree Europe Comrruttee. With this support the American F'EC one-sidedly puts itself on record for the party of the OLecho..slovaik National :Socialists. Now, the Committee will have to reconcile itself with the ,f.act thrut we are going to tell the whole iworld a.lbout this situation. 'Ilhis Committee should also know that in its one-sided swpport we see a coarse inter:vention against the health of the exile, if it is not directly against its freedom, and ,a rude political coercion and even moral orientation of the nation in its homeiland. [fit were not for the support of the American FEC, today in exile there would not be even by far so much demoralization and moral disintegration, and there would not be by far so much disgust, bitterness and disappointments in the wide masses of exiles. [f in Australia, Canada, the USA and elsewhere we ·are today the witnesses of how the political exile, after only several years, is beginning to go through the process of old settlers, which ,w ere friendly to emigrants, then rwe can thank the American _cirdes which financiailly suppor,t and poilitically protect the Czecho-lSlovaJk !National Socialists for these anti-exile sentiments. Likewise iwe can /keep silent no longer albout the shady acts of the Ozooh National .Socialists in exile, rubout their 36 SLOVAKIA prepared -o ffensive against the Catholic Church, about their shameless and lbra;zen presumption that ibhey speruk for the exiles and tile nation, and about their immoral political tactics, which might be called a science which !best seHs itself without iregard to the interests of the nation. Indeed, that the alliance with the Czech National !Socialists for those several America;ns is a very ugly calling card even if they use them only because th•e Ozech National Socialists are, according to their views, the most reliable enemies of the Germans and, hence, also reliable agents in Germany. What are we to say about the threats made against refugees in the camps who read "BOHEMIDA"? Why -is it not allowed to sell it there? The "GESKE SWVO" - organ of the Czech National Socialists - is sent on miJitairy postal numbers to Czechs and Slovaks in the U. S. Anny together with sharply anti-German flyers of the RFE en, titled "DEMOCRATIC GUIDE FOR PRAGUE"? Where did the GESKE SLOVO get those milit.a.ry addresses? Who was it that let them have them? And how come that GESKE SLOVO is sent together with leaflets of RFE? Is this a single enterprise and to be regarded as such? While American authorities are assuring iDr. Konrad Adenauer and the west Germans of their friendship and alliance, members ,o f the U. S. Army in western Germany and elsewhere are ·b eing sent inciting, anti-GeTman literature! W,h o is responsilble for this? Wihy is it tolerated? Exiles Lick the Hand for Every Slap in the Face We •k now with what eilithusiasm our article wiH be translated, embellished and sent to various rplaces in the USA with the statement that we are writing against the Americans. So that there be no mistake albout it, we repeat, that for us it is not a question of what side of the :bar.ricades our rplace is. We reiterate that for the freedom of tp.e nation and humanity we shali fight on the side of the free world rto the J:ast drop of !blood. At the same time we pvoc1aim that we are no longer willing to 'keep silent if out of the exile is made a ;political clown,. who not oil'ly no longer defends the. interes.ts of his own nation, but 1 SLOVAKIA 37 when commanded even I-a.ughs and cries and humlbly and gratefully thanlks and licks the hand for every slap in the face. We Tepeat our call so that the democra:tic, anti-Communist exile ,u nitedly and shanply distance itself from the irresponsilble, primitive ipropaganda of the "Ozecho,.,Slovak" unit of ruiE, which ma.inly serves the Communists and which tomorr.ow ,can mean the disintegration and ruin of our exile. LikewiJSe it should keep away from the "peoples" democratic Council .o f !Free Czecho-Slovakia, which is only an expanded party of the Czeich National Socialists. Let us not ibe fooled. Every period is a period of transition. Even the period during which some American circles surppOirt the ",p eoples" democrats. There will come a day when those Americans will come to ·r ecognize the truth which we write today and the snakes they toyed with on their bosoms. Let us not forget that even the Communist Adolf Hoffmeister for two years was an official of the U. S. Office of War Information, which he ridicules today at home telling how he became an official of the State Department. He used to ibe acceptruble and supported in the USA. When he came to the USA during World War IT, he was dined and wined by the "Czecho-Slovak" countrymen, who today are wining and dining the "peoples" demoaats Zenkl, Rirpka, Peroutlka and company. In Chicago they solemnly welcomed him amid even let him sound off on a Ozech Radio hour. Let us, therefore, not ,b,e deceived. We must pr.otect our anti-Commll!Irist exile so that it remains healthy and unyielding at all costs. ,F or this we need honest men and not doUar politicians. • • • Recommended Books: McCARTHY AND HIS ENEMIES, by Buckley and Bozell, Henry Regnery Co., Chicago; AFTER HI'.DLER STALIN? - by Robert Ingrim, Bruce Publishing Co., Milwaukee; F1ALSE FREEDOM, by Edward L. Delaney, Sequoia University Press, Los Angeles.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Murder of Matúš Černák Description An account of the resource Fr. Janík-Horák Slovakia, Vol. 5, No. 2-3 (15-16), June-September 1955 pp. 29-37 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Janík-Horák, František Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June-September 1955 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e88f15a5a3124cc119704332de7e69a9.pdf 2324226e9d0c8548ddb018a3c20fad83 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 113 The Nationalist Movements of the Austrian Slavs in 1848: A Comparative Sociological Profile STANLEY Z. PECH The year 1848 was unlike any other in the long and arduous saga of the Austrian Slavs. It was a year when the Austrian Slavs, like the rest of Europe, passed through a major social and political upheaval. However, the year held for them a very special significance: in 1848 they first emerged as fledgling nations, from the backwater of Europe to stake out a claim for themselves as rightful members of the European family. As William H. Stiles, the United States charge d'affaires in Vienna at the time put it: " Previous to that period," the Austrian Slavs possessed "no proper individuality , their political nationality was unacknowledged, and for centuries, consequently, they exercised no influence in the political councils of Europe. The storms of 1848 and 1849 raised them to consideration, and even power. " (1) In recent years, Western historians have been diligent enough in providing the Western reader with the essential facts concerning the revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Slavic realm. There is indeed ample material for a good copy: the fever of the March Days, the clashes and recriminations between Germans and Slavs, the Magyars and Slavs; the fervent preachments of the highpriests of the various Slavic nationalisms; the Slavic Congress in Prague flaring up into an uprising and aborted by the artillery of General Windischgratz. These are the high points of the revolutions essential to an understanding of the events of that year. However, this understanding now needs to be broadened and refined in the light of new techniques and methodologies developed in the West. There is need for a structural analysis of the Slavic nationalist movements of 1848. There is an added potential benefit to be derived from cross-national comparisons to which these movements lend themselves. The present account seeks to construct a social profile of the Slavic nationalist movements of 1848 and to analyze and compare their strength. I In the mid-nineteenth century, the Austrian Empire counted seven Slavic nationalities in its multi-ethnic structure: Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, Poles, and Ukrainians. The last three will not Reprinted with permission from Histoire Sociale-Social History (Ottawa), Vol. 9, November 1976. �114 SLOVAKIA be treated here. For them the Austrian Empire was not the principal homeland: a majority of Ukrainians and Poles lived under Russia (a number of Poles also lived under Prussia), and a majority of Serbs under Turkey. This makes comparisons involving them problematical. Czechs , Slovaks , Slovenes , and Croats, on the other hand, were not so divided; they had no " home " other than the Austrian Empire. Their basic comparability derives from the following: 1) they experienced a revolution in 1848 ; 2) they lived under the same empire; 3) they were Slavic and shared the status of "subject" nationalities living under " alien " rule: the Czechs and the Slovenes under the Austro-Germans in the western half of the empire, and the Slovaks and the Croats under the Magyars in the eastern half of the empire; 4) they were passing through early stages of national awakening. The largest of the four national groups were the Czechs who numbered, in the middle of the nineteenth century, approximately 4 million. The number of Slovaks in the same period was 1. 7 million, that of the Croats 1.6 million, and that of the Slovenes a little over 1 million. (2) The total population of the Austrian Empire is estimated to have been 37 million ,(3) with the Austro-Germans the largest nationality (over 7 million) and the Magyars the second largest (4 .5 million) .(4) The revolutionary stresses that brought on the upheaval in 1848 had been accentuated by the demographic pressures of the halfcentury preceding the upheaval. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century , the population of the empire had been increasing steadily by 1850 the increase had amounted to one third as against the year 1800, a rate comparable to the other large states of Western Europe.(5) While it is difficult to separate the growth rates for the different peoples of the empire , this much can be hypothesized from the evidence: the rate of growth of the Slavs was greater than that of the non-Slavs.(6) In religious affiliation, Czechs , Slovenes, and Croats were at least 95 percent Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism was also dominant among the Slovaks but there it was confronted with a numerically strong Protestant population (between 25 percent and 30 percent) . (7) The fact that the four nationalities being surveyed here had evolved through centuries as "subject" nationalities imparted to their social structures certain distinctive features - features that set them apart from W estem Europe and left a special mark on their development as modernizing societies. The West European model, with France and Germany as a typical example, exhibited a social structure that was unencumbered (small exceptions aside) by the complicating presence of a different nationality: peasants, nobles, workers, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats, priests, bishops, all spoke the same language and belonged to the same nationality. This comfortable ethnic homogeneity was lacking among most of the Austrian Slavs. To generalize: the four nationalities had an "incomplete" social structure; the lower portions �SLOVAKIA 115 of their social pyramid were Slavic while the upper portions were filled with members of the ruling nationality . How did the socio-ethnic edifice look in the specific cases? In the western half of the empire, the Czechs and the Slovenes each had their own peasantry, working class, artisanate, shopkeeper class, intelligentsia, lower clergy and lower bureaucracy. At the same time, their complementing higher classes, the nobility, the entrepreneurs and the higher bureaucracy, were German. The one point of difference between the Czechs and the Slovenes concerned the ecclesiastical hierarchy: in the Czech regions the hierarchy was entirely German whereas in the Slovene regions an influential segment of it was Slovene . This difference explains , in part, the divergent religious attitudes of the two peoples during the next century: the Czechs tended to embrace religious scepticism whereas the Slovenes evinced a vigorous religious spirit and lent strong support to movements of political Catholicism. In the eastern half of the empire, the structure was more complicated. The Slovaks occupied the lower portions of the social pyramid, but the upper portions included, besides the Germans , also the Magyars. The Croats, on the other hand , held a position significantly different from the other three national groups . Of the four nationalities , they alone retained, in part, their own governing class: a segment of the nobility, of higher clergy and of higher bureaucracy in Croatia belonged to the Croatian nationality; the remaining segment was Magyar (or Magyar-oriented Croat) or German. The fact that the Croats retained a substantial foothold in the governing class gave them an advantage not enjoyed by the other three national groups: in the pre-industrial age when the nobility alone counted as a political class , they had at all times a political voice . They had never been reduced to a mere '' nation of peasants.' ' In that sense, they were the only one of the four groups that approximated the West European model of social development. The Austrian Empire was not only a labyrinth of seemingly disarrayed social and ethnic parts. It also was a bewildering conglomerate of provinces and administrative divisions that disarrayed the ethnic parts still further. The existing administrative system had taken shape during the pre-nationalist age and bore no relationship to ethnic boundaries. As a result, not only did some nationality sometimes inhabit two or more provinces but if often shared each such province with a different nationality. Little useful purpose would be served by listing all the administrative divisions with their particular ethnic mosaics. Suffice it to say that for each nationality, one province usually stood out as a core of nationalist activism and attention will be focused on these. For the Czechs, this was the province of Bohemia which the Czechs shared with the Germans, the Czech-German ethnic ratio being 60 percent to 40 percent.(8) For the Slovenes, it was Carniola which was over 90 percent _S lovene, the Germans making up the balance.(9) For �116 SLOVAKIA the Croats, it was Croatia (full name "Croatia-Slavonia") in which the Slavs comprised over 95 percent of the population (two thirds of which were Croats and one third Serbs) while the ruling Magyars and Germans together did not exceed 2 percent; certain other small groups accounted for the remainder. (10) Croatia, it should be stressed, possessed a number of self-governing institutions in which the Croatian nobility, clergy and bureaucracy wielded considerable influence which helped cushion the German-Magyar rule. It even had an army which though subordinated directly to the emperor, was nevertheless an important symbol of Croatian national identity. In short, these social and institutional paraphernalia provided the Croats with defenses and opportunities not available to the other Slavs. This made it possible for them, in the course of 1848, to wrest political control entirely from the Magyars and Germans and erect what amounted to their own state with its own government that recognized only the authority of the emperor in Vienna. None of the other three nationalities came close to generating this type of institutional power. In this connection, it may be noted that the people who exercised the least power from the institutional point of view were the Slovaks. They had been totally submerged through centuries in the existing Hungarian system of counties and no part of the Slovak territory enjoyed the status of a province. The Slovak territory was reasonably compact in ethnic terms but had no institutional support to lend it distinctiveness and distinguish it from the other areas of Hungary. This made the Slovaks the most vulnerable and the least visible of the four peoples. After the Congress of Vienna, the Austrian Empire entered upon the first stages of industrialization . There were, however, marked regional disparities in the tempo with which industrialization proceeded , with the western half of the monarchy moving ahead more rapidly than the eastern half. Among the Slavic peoples, by the middle of the nineteenth century, only the Czechs had made significant advances along the road of modernization . By 1857 , the agrarian sector in Bohemia had been reduced to the point where only some 55 percent of the population derived their livelihood from agriculture .(11) The above figure applies to all of Bohemia (both to its Czech and Germanspeaking areas) ; and it is not possible to say exactly what it would be for the Czech inhabitants specifically. However, it is known that the German-speaking areas of Bohemia were by far the more industrialized( 12) and this would justify revising the figure, as applied to the Czechs, upward: 65 percent to 70 percent seems a more realistic estimate. At this same time, the agrarian sector in the three other Austro-Slavic regions continued to employ 90 percent or more of the economically active population.(13) The economic growth was reflected in the expansion of the urban population, with similar regional disparities prevailing in the degree or urbanization attained. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the proportion of the urban �SLOVAKIA 117 population in Bohemia was just under 20 percent;(14) for the Czechspeaking population of Bohemia this figure would have to be revised downward to some extent, perhaps to 15 percent. The Slovenes had at this time an urban population of 4 percent(15) while for the Slovaks and the Croats the figure was even less. (France had then an urban population of 26 percent and Germany 35 percent.)(16) ThE: major cities were few and not even their rapid expansion during the first half of the nineteenth century - some cities doubled in size during this period had produced many large urban centers by West European standards. The largest one was Prague, the most populous Czech city and the capital of Bohemia. With a population of 118,000 in the middle of the nineteenth century (77 ,000 in 1800), (17) it was the only city in the four ethnic regions to attain the 100,000 mark, an achievement placing it in a class with the major cities of Western Europe. The largest Croatian city was Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, with a population of 15,000(18) (8,000 at the beginning of the century)(19) and the largest Slovene city was Ljubljana (Laibach), the capital of Carniola, with a population of 17,000 (it was half this size in 1817). (20) The biggest city in what is today the Slovak region was Bratislava (Pressburg) which had a population, in 1848, of 40,000 (in 1805 it had been just under 22,000).(21) However, Bratislava was then not a Slovak city in any meaningful sense of the term; the majority of its inhabitants were German and it was not the scene of any mass Slovak nationalist activity in 1848.(22) The case of Bratislava was far from unique: many cities and towns throughout the Slavic regions of the Austrian Empire contained a large number of Germans, and sizeable German minorities were to be found in Prague. Ljubljana and Zagreb.(23) Economic power in the cities and indeed throughout the monarchy was largely in the hands of Germans and German Jews. Germans typically constituted the urban elite which controlled municipal administrations and in general exercised a decisive influence over the Slavic substratum. The demographic development of Prague, as the largest metropolis, deserves a special comment. Although the city grew more or less steadily after the year 1800, the really important demographic transformation was not the growth itself, but the increasing proportion of newcomers who moved into the city from the surrounding countryside. In the first two decades of the nineteenth century, the proportion of these newcomers remained relatively stable - hovering near 6 percent of the total population. A change set in during the 1820s: the proportion of newcomers began to increase markedly, from 6.3 percent in 1818, to 15 percent in 1826, to 36.3 percent in 1834, and finally to 48.9 percent in 1850.(24) This meant that by the middle of the century nearly one half of the Prague population consisted of people who had severed their previous roots and come to the city in search of a new life. The mass of newcomers was Czech. They found work in the new textile and machine industries founded during the 1830s and �118 SLOVAKIA 1840s, and in other forms of employment. Textile workers, about a thousand strong, became the largest distinctive group of the labor force in the capital city. Their rioting in 1844 announced the advent of an industrial age in Bohemia and attracted the attention of Europe, its effect reinforced by the rioting at almost the same time of Prague workers employed on the construction of a new railway.(25) One of the consequences of the influx of newcomers was to augment the Czechspeaking substratum in a city governed by the German elite. All this provided a setting calculated to raise the social and political fever of the capital city and goes far toward explaining the intensity of the upheaval that swept Prague during 1848. The other three cities mentioned above were drawn less precipitously into the vortex of social and economic change. Zagreb may serve as an example of a city standing at the opposite pole of the socio-economic spectrum from Prague. Although its size had almost doubled in the half-century before 1848, the city had not acquired an industrial face in the process. In 1808, nearly 40 percent of its population consisted of nobles and clergy (! ) and by 1848 these two groups, along with the intelligentsia, still accounted for one half of the total number of inhabitants.(26) City life in Zagreb, and in the eastern half of the empire as a whole, retained essentially a pre-industrial character as late as 1848. What passed for a town in the eastern half of the empire was different from what it was understood to be in the western half and in Western Europe. As one contemporary observer described the town scene in the eastern half of the empire just on the eve of 1848: not only the small towns but also the larger cities there '' consisted of nothing but settlements of ploughmen, vine growers, and shepherds in which respect they did not differ at all from the villages .'' (27) It is startling to realize that at the time of the outbreak of the 1848 revolution, Croatia - and also Slovakia - had not yet acquired a single mile of railroad. II How strong were the nationalist movements to which these structures gave rise and which broke into the open during the years 1848-1849, complete with leaders and programs? The nationalist movements of 1848 were the culminating point of the preceding halfcentury of "national awakening." This development had of course proceeded at a different pace in the case of the various peoples and by 1848 each movement ·had attained a different level of strength. How can this strength be measured? How did the movements compare in their ability to mobilize supporters? It is generally agreed that to be effective a movement requires '' some kind of organization that enables certain persons to act as authorized spokesmen and representatives. This can take the form of committees, clubs, labor unions, or political parties.'' (28) Such clubs consist of individuals with the highest degree �SLOVAKIA 119 of commitment to a movement's objectives. In our context, organizations with such a commitment were the pre-March patriotic societies that had come into being during the 1830s and 1840s. The Czechs, the Croats and the Slovaks each had one such society: they were, respectively, the Czech Foundation (Ceska Matice, founded in 1832), the Croatian Foundation (Matica Hrvatska, 1842) and the Slovak Tatrin (1844). These were nationalist societies comprising the highest echelon of nationalist elites. Although independent of each other, they had similar organizational structures and pursued identical objectives: to promote the native language and culture, and to foster the publication of books and newspapers in that language . With this comparability in mind, we can use the numerical strength of these societies as a comparative index of the strength with which the three nationalist movements entered upon the year 1848. On the eve of 1848, the Czech Foundation had a membership of 2329 (for the year 1847),(29) the Croatian Foundation 300(30) (for 1844, the last pre-1848 year available) and Tatrin 80 (1847).(31) Measured against the total population of each nationality as given earlier, this yields the ratio of 5.8 per 10,000 for the Czech national movement, 1.9 per 10,000 for the Croatian, and a low 0.5 per 10,000 for the Slovak. It may be added that the membership in all three societies was growing.(32) Evidently, the nationalist movements had acquired a momentum of their own, adding their weight to the forces that precipitated the collapse of absolutism in March 1848. The revolutions of 1848 may not have been inevitable but the forces that produced them had been unmistakably at work. The Slovenes lacked a patriotic society before 1848 and consequently we cannot measure the strength of the Slovene movement on a basis strictly comparable with the other three. It may be assumed, however, that the absence of a patriotic society is itself evidence of a sort: it suggests the existence of a less developed nationalist movement. Nevertheless, the Slovenes were not without visible manifestations of progress on the nationalist front. Their patriots established a foothold in the Agricultural Society of Camiola, an organization of long standing. This was not a Slovene patriotic society for it counted both Germans and Slovenes among its members and its avowed purpose was improvement of agriculture, not promotion of Slovene nationalism. However, in 1842 the society appointed a moderate, Dr. Janez Bleiweis, as its new secretary, and under him Slovene nationalist forces found elbow room within the society's framework. The success of the first modem Slovene newspaper, Novice, which Bleiweis launched in 1843 under the auspices of the society, afforded proof that Slovene nationalism was on the rise. (33) Still, the absence of a genuine patriotic society was a serious drawback; it meant that the Slovene elite entered upon the year 1848 with little organizational contact, strength and experience. In this it resembled the Slovak elite whose Tatrin offered too feeble a basis when the need �120 SLOVAKIA for action arose . The Slovene and the Slovak elites were the weaker members in the group, the Czech and the Croatian ones the stronger. This distribution of pre-1848 strength corresponds, in fact, very closely to the performance of these nationalist movements during the year 1848. What about the social hue of the elites? The membership rosters of the three patriotic societies contain occupational data that permit us to make cross-national comparisons. For the Slovenes, we must again resort to substitute material which furnishes a basis for an informed estimate. Surveying all four elites, one can perceive two social groups playing a dominant role: the intelligentsia and the lower clergy. The intelligentsia, as defined here, includes teachers, officials, writers, students, and professionals. The term clergy refers to both Roman Catholic and Protestant clergymen. The latter were numerically strong only in the Slovak elite. In the other three elites, the clergy was, with few exceptions, Roman Catholic. While it is true that the intelligentsia and the clergy were prominent in all four elites, their weight varied from case to case. From the material at our disposal it is evident that the intelligentsia had a larger share in the Czech and Croatian elites, while the clergy had a larger share in the Slovene and Slovak elites. The proportion of the intelligentsia and the clergy in the three patriotic societies was, respectively: 54 percent and 29 percent in the Czech.(34) 52 percent and 20 percent in the Croatian(35) and 30 percent and 59 percent in the Slovak society.(36) It is noteworthy that businessmen and other groups ranked after the intelligentsia and the clergy. The peasants as might be expected were hardly significant. The dominant role of the clergy in the Slovene elite can be gleaned from the list of subscribers to the abovementioned newspaper Novice. Although Novice was intended to be a peasant newspaper, the peasants constituted only a small minority of its subscribers; nearly half of the subscribers (in 1847) were nationalist clergymen!(37) The influence of the clergy was noted by a Slovene historian of the last century; in relating the origins of the nationalist movement he observed that ''The number of conscious (Slovene) patriots outside the ranks of the clergy was small.'' (38) The role of the nobility was important only in the Croatian elite . Its proportion in the Croatian Foundation was 7 percent, as compared with 1.5 percent in the Czech Foundation and zero in the Slovak Tatrin. (39) There were, to be sure, influential individual nobles active also in the Czech nationalist movement in its earliest stages. However, they were, as a rule , German-speaking "Bohemian patriots" who sympathized with the Czech movement without identifying themselves with the Czech nationalism. They were friendly outsiders "looking in" and withdrew from the movement in proportion as that movement acquired a clearly Czech nationalist stamp. The role of the nobility in the Croatian movement was completely different. Far from being outsiders �SLOVAKIA 121 looking in, they were anchored squarely in the very heart of the nationalist movement at all times, helping to give it shape and direction in a manner in which the Czech nobility never did. The Croatian elite , it should be pointed out, had an added feature all of its own; this consisted in a peculiar collaboration between the nobles and the intelligentsia. It was almost routine practice for the Croatian nobles who had the right to sit in pre-1848 county assemblies to allow themselves to be represented by members of the nationalist intelligentsia. (40) This gave the intelligentsia considerable influence over and above its numercial strength , but there was a reverse side to the coin: the intelligentsia fell into a state of dependence upon the nobles to some extent and acted as a conduit for noble influence. A particular reference should be made at this point to the Slovak elite and to the problem that bedeviled the relationship between its members: the religious problem. Perhaps half of the clergymen in the Slovak patriotic society were Protestant (Lutheran), the remainder were Roman Catholic.(41) Protestants, however, had acquired a commanding position during the years preceding 1848. Moreover, Protestants and Catholics were divided not only by religious convictions - which would have been serious enough to jeopardize the movement - but also by different attitudes regarding the conception of Slovak nationhood and literary language . The chasm separating the two religious groups proved difficult to bridge and Roman Catholics treated the Protestant initiatives with the greatest reserve. This was bound to have a damaging effect on Slovak efforts; how damaging, the events of 1848 were to bear out only too painfully. This added to the vulnerability of a nationalist movement that had already been rendered vulnerable on other counts. The Slovaks were the only one of the four nationalities that entered the year 1848 with a seriously disunited elite . The elites as organized in the patriotic societies comprised the most highly committed or mobilized members of the nationalist movements. How did the elites draw the broader strata of the populations into the movement? How did the wider process of social mobilization take place? It is now increasingly recognized that the development of nationalism is related to the role of communications. A group of sociological theories assigns communications a prime place in the process of national awakening. One communications model in fact considers ' 'the role of the intelligentsia ... to be a necessary condition of all nationalist movements, " (42) an observation which appears to receive support from the role the intelligentsia played in the four movements examined here. If one includes the clergy, as some historians do , in the concept of "intelligentsia" (" clerical intelligentsia'' ), then the importance of this social group in the genesis of Austro-Slavic nationalisms becomes overwhelming. In this context literacy was an essential factor contributing to the success of any mobilizing effort mounted by the elites. How did the four �122 SLOVAKIA nationalities rate on this count? Literacy statistics were not compiled in the Austrian Empire at the time we are discussing. In order to obtain a picture, we are obliged to rely on later census data that indicate the literacy of the generation that was born in the 1830s and was of school age in the 1840s. In this generation, the Czechs led the others . Their rate was 84. 75 percent which was nearly three times as much as that of the Slovaks (30.2 percent), the Slovenes (28.62 percent) and the Croats (26. 7 percent) . (43) It is necessary to add that the Slavic populations in general were at a disadvantage vis-a-vis the Austro-Germans when it came to the use of their languages as a medium of instruction in schools. Only in the lower schools was teaching conducted in the language appropriate to the ethnic region. The language of middle and higher schools was German in the western half of the empire and German, Latin or Magyar in the eastern half. In other words, attaining a higher level of education generally compelled the individual concerned to leave the cultural ambience of his native language . The results of this process were often bizarre. For example, the Czech Karel Havlicek and the Slovene Bleiwies, both leading nationalists, were, in the early stages of their nationalist activity, more fluent in German than in their own native language - a situation by no means untypical of Slavic national awakeners.(44) The elites were keenly aware of the efficacy of the printed word as a medium through which they could best transmit their ideas and mobilize the larger non-elite mass; hence the preoccupation of the patriotic societies with publishing. The printed word devised and disseminated nationalist symbols, awakened an interest in the past and created an awareness of shared leaders, thus ultimately engendering a sense of the community of language, culture and history. For maximum effectiveness, the printed word had to have periodicity and this pointed to the importance of the newspaper as a vehicle most suitable for communication. It was a portent of an approaching nationalist storm that the fifteen-year period preceding the revolutions of 1848 saw the foundation of the first modem national and nationalist newspapers in the case of all four nationalities . One such newspaper was founded in each case, under the auspices of or in association with, the patriotic societies.(45) Of the four, only one, the Slovak, remained stationary in circulation during the pre-March period(46) while the other three showed a circulation increase, with the Czech newspaper registering an increase that can only be described as extraordinary, from 200 in 1846 to 1,500 in 1848.(47) The editor of the Czech newspaper was Karel Havlicek , of the Croatian, Ljudevit Gaj, of the Slovak, I.:udovit Stur, and of the Slovene, Dr. Janez Bleiweis. It is interesting to note that the last three men were the principal nationalist leaders of their peoples at the time and are considered the ''fathers' ' of their particular nationalist movements. As for Havlicek, he shared this honor with the Czech historian Frantisek Palacky. Nothing illustrates more tellingly the �SLOVAKIA 123 importance of communications to nationalism than the fact that the nationalist editors were the leaders of their national groups. ill In March 1848 absolutism in the Austrian Empire collapsed and this ushered in the "revolutions of 1848," a period of constitutional government that lasted for over a year, until the emperor began to reimpose absolutism in the spring and summer of 1849. Among the most important constitutional innovations introduced by the liberal regime was the abolition of censorship in March 1848. This led to the foundation of new magazines and newspapers, making it possible for the Czech leaders to start a veritable avalanche of the printed word. On the eve of 1848 the Czechs had a total of 13 newspapers and periodicals; after March this number quadrupled, to 52.(48) Elsewhere, the expansion was more modest. In Croatia, the increase was from 5 in 184 7 to 8 in 1848(49) while the corresponding Slovak figures were 6 and 8.(50) The Slovenes, starting from a low base of 1 newspaper in 1847 brought the number up to 6 in 1848.(51) (After the return of the reaction in 1849 the number of newspapers began to drop again to pre1848 levels.) Calculated on a per capita basis, there was, in 1848, one newspaper or magazine for 77,000 Czechs, 167,000 Slovenes, 200,000 Croats and 213,000 Slovaks. Clearly, the Czech elite had at their disposal the most highly developed network of communications - an advantage heightened by the fact that some of their newspapers appeared daily (six times a week) whereas the frequency of the newspapers of the other nationalities was not more than three times a week. The strengths and the handicaps with which each Slavic group had entered upon the revolution became evident in the first days of freedom. The Czechs and the Croats promptly staged mass meetings , (in March in their capital cities) at which nationalist programs were adopted. (52) In the other two ethnic regions, the adoption of nationalist programs was accomplished with less mass support. The Slovenes formulated their nationalist programs in March without the benefit of a single mass meeting - the only Slav group to pass through the revolutionary year without mass demonstrations or rallies in support of nationalist objectives.(53) In Slovakia, the elite was slow in getting off the mark and encountered difficulties in mobilizing public opinion. A full-fledged nationalist program was not adopted until the beginning of May 1848 at a meeting in Liptovsky Svlity Mikulas, but the public presence at this meeting was modest and the program failed to acquire the legitimacy and force sufficient to compel the Magyar authorities to heed it.(54) The opening stages of the revolutionary period demonstrated the advantage of a people having a body of nationalists with organizational experience and mutual contact who would seize the initiatives, and �124 SLOVAKIA quickly and forcefully responded to the challenges of the moment. The pre-1848 patriotic societies consisted of such nationalists. However, accustomed as they had been to more genteel forms of struggle, these societies could not in themselves become the instruments of political activism at a time of revolutionary turbulence, and so new organizations were established to cope with new forms of struggle. The Czechs in Prague created in March a National Committee which served, until its dissolution after the June 1848 uprising in Prague, as a center of Czech nationalist activity throughout Bohemia. Many members of the Czech Foundation became active in the National Committee which counted over a hundred members. In the National Committee, the intelligentsia prevailed, as it had done in the Czech Foundation, with 44 percent of the members belonging to this stratum. However, the proportion of the clergy was drastically reduced in this elite group, to a mere 4 percent, as compared with 29 percent it had had in the Czech Foundation in the last year before the revolution. It appears that the revolution had pushed the clergy into the background. Its place was taken by the bourgeoisie (burghers, artisans, businessmen) whose share in the National Committee was 42 percent.(55) After June 1848 the vacuum created by the demise of the National Committee was filled by the newly founded Slavic Linden (Slovanska Lipa), a nationalist pressure group consciously seeking political change. The Slavic Linden was led by intellectuals and bourgeoisie, with some members of the National Committee passing into its ranks. (56) The clergy played no major role. Politically, the Slavic Linden was somewhat to the left of the National Committee and, unlike the latter, acquired some of the characteristics of a political party: it had its own newspaper, an elected executive, a headquarters (in Prague), and local branches. By the beginning of 1849 it counted 49 branches throughout Bohemia, forming a network reaching into all corners of the province, with a total estimated membership of 2,000.(57) Among rank and file members of the Slavic Linden were peasants and people of the humble stations in life. (58) The Slavic Linden was in fact the only non-elite stratum, showing a widening circle of nationalistically mobilized population. None of the other three nationalities could point to this level of national awakening, and none devised the kind of network through which the nationalists could communicate and operate in an organized fashion. The Croatian nationalist movement operated with instruments essentially different from those employed by the Czechs. The Croatian elite relied less on the spontaneous organs such as the Czech National Committee and more on Croatia's existing institutions of selfgovernment which it revived and re-shaped to suit the new post-March conditions. After March, the Croats acquired their provincial government, the Ban's Council, which managed the affairs of the country throughout 1848-1849. The Croats were the only Slavic group to �SLOVAKIA 125 become for the duration of the 1848-1849 revolutionary period , masters in their own house, recognizing the authority of none but the emperor. Their nobility continued to be active and influential in the existing arrangements. The only new non-governmental nationalist political or quasi-political organization to which the elite gave rise in the postMarch period was the Croatian version of the Slavic Linden. It was inspired by but independent of the Czech Slavic Linden. It was founded in Zagreb , was led by moderately left-oriented intellectuals, and acquired a newspaper of its own. However, it was never too active and never succeeded in building a network of branches throughout the Croatian regions. Only one major branch was set up outside of Zagreb.(59) The total membership of the two branches was no more than a few score and the organization never reached into the non-elite strata. (60) The effectiveness and power of the Croatian nationalist movement derived more from the existing institutional structure and the participation of the nobility than from the mobilization of the wider segments of the population. The Slovenes and the Slovaks could offer little to match the Czech and the Croatian examples. Among the Slovenes, the revolution gave rise to the Slovene Society of Ljubljana founded in April 1848 which became the largest and most influential body of Slovene patriots of the revolutionary period . Its slogan was "Everything for Religion, Emperor and Nationality" and doubtless expressed the influence of clergymen who, according to a police report, formed the largest social group within the 400-member society, with the intelligentsia accounting for the rest .(61) The slogan captures the spirit of the society sufficiently to contrast it with the Czech National Committee which was secular minded and in which the clergy had hardly any role to play. At the same time, it deserves to be noted that the thrust of the Society ' s efforts was cultural more than political. It did not become a center of political activity and did not regard itself as much more than a patriotic interest group. The position of the Slovaks was the least satisfactory. At no time after March 1848 did they form anything resembling the Czech National Committee or even the Slovene Society of Ljubljana. As a consequence, their movement was without an organized thrust and without a single direction. Only the political newspaper, the Slouenskje N<irodnjc Nouini continued to function as a voice of Slovak nationalism but it was compelled to suspend publication in June 1848 under Magyar pressure and with its passing, the last channel of communications through which the elite could address itself to the mass had been destroyed. The Slovak people were thus left without a political newspaper for the greater part of the revolutionary era - a handicap to which none of the other three nationalities was subjected. Furth ermore, in June 1848, Magyar authorities declared martial law over much of Slovak territory - charging the Slovak leaders with '' Pan- �126 SLOVAKIA Slavic" subversion and forcing many of them into exile - and this paralyzed the Slovak movement still further.(62) The clergy (Protestant) continued to dominate what was left of the life of the Slovak movement after June. (63 ) The organizational strength of the elites and the degree to which they were able to mobilize the wider segments of the populations were tested at the elections to the various representative assemblies that took place during 1848 - the first such modem elections to be held in the history of the Austrian Empire. Until 1848 , public life in the empire had borne a German or, in the eastern half, German-Magyar character and this was bound to favor German and Magyar candidates in the election contests even in the Slavic-speaking areas . Conversely, success at the polls of the Slavic candidates could be regarded as evidence of a relatively high degree of mobilization among the Slavic electorate. The right to vote was more liberal in the western than in the eastern half of the empire , and even in the former, segments of the lower social classes were excluded. Nevertheless , it must be acknowledged that everywhere a large number of " common" people enjoyed the right to vote and the election results can serve as a rough expression of popular sentiment vis-a-vis the nationalist movements . The elections yielded the following results. In Bohemia, they demonstrated a high degree of responsiveness of voters to the Czech nationalist movement. In the election of the Bohemian diet in J une 1848 the proportion of Czech deputies elected was just over 60 percent (the remainder were Germans) - a figure corresponding closely to the estimated proportion of the Czech population in the province. The election to the Imperial Parliament held in the same month brought similar results, with the Bohemian voters sending to Vienna 55 Czech as against 35 German deputies.(64) In Croatia, the elections to the diet (June 1848) were a clean sweep for the nationalist candidates. This was due , in part , to the militancy of the Croatian authorities who saw to it that only committed to the Croatian cause could stand as candidates. (65) Because of this, the election results are not very meaningful. In the Slovene regions, the electoral behavior of the voters was less affected by nationalist sentiment. The election of the diet of Carniola produced " numerous" Slovene deputies(66) but not nearly the decisive majority the size of the Slovene population of Camiola (90 percent) would warrant. Similarly, only about half of the deputies elected to the Imperial Parliament in ethnically Slovene territory were actually of Slovene orientation ; the other half were German or bilingual without specifically Slovene leanings.(67) Finally, the nationalists in the Slovak regions failed completely: the first modern Hungarian Parliament , elected in June 1848, did not have a single Slovak deputy. This was attributable, in part , to Magyar electoral pressures. But the principal reason was the underdeveloped nationalist sentiment of the Slovak mass . Slovak leaders were themselves not unaware of this and �SLOVAKIA 127 fielded only a few candidates . (68) The nationalist leaders realized that much of their effectiveness depended on the success with which they mobilized the support of the largest social group: the peasantry . To achieve this, they experimented with the publication of newspapers written and edited specifically for the peasantry. However, the results of this effort proved disappointing. The only peasant newspaper that proved successful was the Slovene Novice but even in this instance , no more than 15 percent of its subscribers belonged to the class for which it was primarily aimed.(69) Clearly, Novice could maintain itself only because of the support of non-peasant readers , particularly the clergy. Publication of peasant newspapers was tried also by Croatian (Summer 1848) and Czech (Spring 1849) leaders but both ventures failed for lack of reader support. (70) A more technically oriented newspaper was devised and launched for the Slovak peasants but it likewise proved short-lived (1848). (71) These failures have usually been attributed to a lack of national consciousness on the part of the peasantry, and doubtless there is more than a grain of truth in the observation. After all, the peasantry had only just emerged, in 1848, from the last vestiges of serfdom . A large number of peasants was still illiterate and could not be expected to display a degree of political and nationalist commitment of the kind evinced by the elites. Plainly, the peasant's most immediate and active concerns involved his own social problems rather than the problems of nationalism . At the same time, it should not be forgotten that the peasants were the authentic traditional bearers of the national cultures and folklore and it would be implausible to maintain that such traditions had failed to engender varying degrees of national consciousness or even of interest in the nationalist movement. There is, in fact , good evidence to show that although the peasants turned their back on peasant newspapers, many of them followed the great nationalist press, such as the Czech Narodni Noviny (successor, since April 1848 to Praiske Noviny) .(72) It is probable that such newspapers offered them a more direct opportunity of identifying with the nationalist leaders . The quality and intensity of the peasants' commitment to nationalism did not and could not equal that of the elites , but not a few of them were prepared to support the elites in the capacity of followers. However, this differed from one ethnic region to another. Peasant support for the nationalist elites was the most widespread in the Czech regions. The authorities in Bohemia were not oblivious to the support from the peasants the Czech leaders enjoyed; a confidential police report of May 1849 noted that Czech leaders could count on Czech peasants in resisting unpopular government measures.(73) In the other three ethnic regions, the peasantry seemed moblized to a lesser degree , the least , to judge from the election results, in Slovakia. The apathy of the Slovak peasant seemed more marked than that of his Czech, Slovene and Croatian counterparts. Indeed, the Slovak �128 SLOVAKIA movement as a whole was so weak that a brief digression concerning this weakness appears warranted. Certainly , a major weakening factor was religious discord. Although a majority of Slovaks were Roman Catholic, the Protestants occupied the highest rungs of power in the elite and were , for all practical purposes , the moving spirits of the revolution of 1848 in Slovakia - a situation calculated to displease the Roman Catholics. The great triad of the movement, tudovit Stur, M. M . Hodza and J.M. Hurban, were all Protestants , the latter two were practicing Lutheran clergymen. The group that adopted the nationalist program of May 1848 consisted almost entirely of Protestants.(74) At the grass roots, the climate was similar: the areas inhabited by Protestants manifested a more active nationalist sentiment during the revolution than those inhabited by Roman Catholics - hardly a favorable omen in a people that was in majority Roman Catholic. It is not surprising that some Roman Catholic Slovaks regarded the movement of 1848 as a Protestant plot.(75) Furthermore , the Slovaks lacked a major center of national culture and their geographic setting in general hindered rather than aided the growth of communications and the development of nationalism . The river valleys amid the high peaks of the Tatra Mountains had an isolating effect. " We are an unfortunate people," lamented one Slovak leader, ' ' in that we live only in our valleys - isolated from one another, ' ' and contrasted it with the advantage the Czechs possessed in having a centrally located city , Prague , which was " like the heart of the (Czech) body ." (76) The network of roads and postal services and transportation facilities was sparse, much sparser than, for instance , in the Czech regions. It took considerably less time to traverse a distance in Bohemia than it did to traverse the same distance in Slovakia. (77) Bratislava was in 1848 a predominantly German city, on the fringes of Slovak ethnic territory. Although Stur's Slovenske Narodnje No vini was published there, the city was far from dominant in Slovak national life . Of the 8 Slovak newspapers appearing in 1848, only 3 were published in Bratislava. (78) The cultural facilities of the Slovaks were dispersed, with no city standing above the others as undisputed national leader. When it came to a center of national culture, the other three peoples were in a better position. The Slovenes , it is true , faced a hostile geographic environment in their mountainous terrain, but had at least a reasonably active center in the city of Ljubljana, situated in the heart of the Slovene ethnic territory. Of the 6 Slovene newspapers appearing in 1848 , all but one originated in Ljubljana. (79) The position of the Croats and the Czechs was again superior to that of the Slovenes. The Croats had their undisputed capital and nationalist center in Zagreb, with 7 of the existing 8 Croatian newspapers published there , (80) and with all major cultural institutions located there. While the Czechs had the most vigorous national center of all, in Prague, to which not only the Czechs but also most other Austrian Slavs, looked �SLOVAKIA 129 for leadership . Of the 41 Czech newspapers published in Bohemia, 33 were appearing in Prague, and they were the ones with the nationwide circulation.(81) Prague was already then becoming the towering symbol of Czech nationalism. To sum up the strength of the Austrian Slavic nationalist movements: the Czechs and the Croats belonged in one category as the stronger pair, while the Slovenes and the Slovaks were the weaker. Within each pair, however, there were marked differences. The Czech movement derived its strength principally from a large popular base , created by more highly developed communications. The Croatian movement had a more restricted popular base but compensated for this by having at is disposal an administrative structure rooted in the traditions of self-government. This, combined with the foothold the movement had in the governing class, the nobility, gave it a readymade leverage of political influence which was denied to the other three nationalities. To formulate it in slightly different language: the strength of the Croatian movement was derived from the traditional social and political features; that of the Czech movement was more clearly associated with the features of modernization. The latter was born in a society that could be described as early industrial, the former in a society that was essentially pre-industrial. A few data will illustrate this. On the eve of 1848, Croatia was without a railroad and with only 4 steam engines operating on its territory.(82) Bohemia (with Moravia) had over 500 kilometers of railroads(83) and some 360 steam engines.(84) For the sake of comparison, it may be noted that at this same time Slovakia was, like Croatia, without a railroad and with only 3 steam engines(85) while Slovenia was more advanced, with 25 steam engines(86) and a stretch of railroad a little under 100 kilometers.(87) (The number of steam engines in Britain then was 30,000 and in France 5,000.(88) Britain had more than 4,000 kilometers of railroad.)(89) The Slovenes and the Slovaks were weaker on several counts . Their nationalist elites were less well organized. The Slovak elite was especially hampered by the Protestant-Catholic differences which constituted a unique element not present in the other three movements. Also, alone of the nationalities being surveyed here, the Slovaks had no institutional forms that would lend their ethnic territory a certain visibility and a possible leverage for political action; and, after June 1848, no political press. Furthermore, the Slovak mass appears to have been the least mobilized into the national movement: the Slovak elite had little impact on the rest of the population. In some of these respects, the Slovenes were in a better position than the Slovaks. They had at least the provincial institutions of Carniola which could be made to serve as an instrument with which to advance the nationalist cause. Their elite was not rent with religious discord. During the year 1848 it succeeded in producing at least a modicum of organizational life (Slovene Society of Ljubljana) and also a political or quasi-political �130 SLOVAKIA press that functioned throughout the 1848-1849 constitutional period. The circulation figures for the Slovene and Slovak newspapers offer unmistakable evidence that the Slovene nationalist movement was reaching a larger proportion of its constituency than the Slovak one.(90) The social and occupational groups that made up the preponderant strain in the nationalist elites were the intelligentsia and the clergy: the former was dominant in the Czech and the Croatian (here linked closely with the nobility) elites, the latter in the Slovene and the Slovak ones. The elites were the ideologues of the nationalist movements, disseminating their views chiefly through the press which they controlled. This suggests some possibilities for future research. It would be desirable to know in what ways the social structure of the elites was reflected in the political ideologies of the nationalist movements.(91) It would be also interesting to discover in what ways the elites helped shape the merging political cultures - the revolutions of 1848 constitute the beginning of modem political life among the peoples of the Austrian Empire - and to what extent this contributed to the enduring pattern of political culture as it crystallized in the coming generations. In our own century, down to the outbreak of World War II, the Czechs gained a reputation for supporting center and left-of-center political movements; the Croats displayed political vagaries but a certain centrist mixture of liberal and conservative seemed to hold the most sway: while among the Slovenes and the Slovaks militant right-wing clericalist movements proved the most dynamic. This pattern seems to mirror, to a considerable extent, the dominant social classes in the nationalist elites as they existed in the middle of the last century. With the present popularity of the study of political cultures, it should not be long before social scientists interested in the Austrian Slavs tum to the middle of the nineteenth century as the time ''when it all began.'' FOOTNOTES 1) W. H. STILLS, Austria in 1848-49 (New York: 1852), 388. ( 2) For the figures for Czechs, Slovaks and Slovenes, see the tables in Fran ZWITTER et al., Nacionalni problemi v Habsbudki Monarhiji (Ljubljana: 1962) , 212-219. For Croats, see the article "Hrvati" in EnciklopedijaJugoslavije. Vol. 4, p. 58. ( 3) Uebersichts-Tafeln zur Statistik der oesterreichisechen Monarchie (Special Reprint of Fascicle X and XI of Statistische Mittheilungen, Vienna: 1850), 1. ( 4) ZWITTER, op. cit., 216, 219. ( 5) George FASEL, Europe in Upheaval: The Revolutions of 1848 (Chicago: 1970), 4. ( 6) Johann SPRINGER, Statistik des oesterreichischen Kaiserstaates, Vol. 1 (Vienna: 1840), 98. ( 7) Slovenska jar: Slovenske povstanie 1848-49, ed. by Jan SLOBODA (Bratislava: 1971), 40 , estimates the Slovak Protestants at one third. ( 8) See the table in ZWITTER, op. cit., 215. �SLOVAKIA 131 ( 9) Bogo GRAFENAUER, Zgodovina slovenskega naroda, Vol. 5 (Ljubljana: 1962), 172. (10) I. KARAMAN, "Ekonomske prilike u vrijeme hrvatskog narodnog preporoda," Kolo, New Series, Vol. 4 (1966), Nos. 8-10, p. 181. (11) K. NOVOTNY and M. MYSKA, eds., Prvni kroky k vitezstvi (Prague: 1966), 10. (12) For the historical development of the ethnic regions of Bohemia, see the map in Ceskoslovenska vlastiveda, Part II, Dejiny, Vol. 2 (Prague: 1969), following p. 80. Compare with this the map depicting the industrial development of Bohemia before 1848, in Atlas ceskoslovenskych dejin (Prague: 1965), No. 17 a. (13) In Croatia as late as 1880 (the earliest year for which accurate statistics are available). 84.64 percent of the population derived their livelihood from agriculture; see Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 4, article "Hrvatska," p. 196. For the Slovenes, the estimate for the middle of the nineteenth century is 89 percent; see article "Slovenija," EnciklopedijaJugoslavije, Vol. 7,353. Much the same picture emerges for the Slovaks, from Slovenskajar, op. cit. 34. (14) See GRAFENAUER, op. cit., 154. (15) Ibid. (16) J. GODECHOT, Les Revolutions de 1848 (Paris: 1971), 90. (17) L. KARNlKOVA, Vyvoj obyvatelstva v ceskych zemich 1754-1914 (Prague: 1965), 105. (18) Uebersichtstafeln zur Statistik, op. cit., 3. (19) F. SISlC, HrvatskaPovijest, Vol. 3 (Zagreb: 1913), 7. (20) Uebersichtstafeln zur Statistik, op. cit., 3. I. CHURKINA, "O nekotorykh osobennostiakh formirovaniia slovenskoi natsii, '' Sovetskoe slavianovedenie, No. 2, 1968, p . 16. (21) Uebersichtstafeln zur Statistik, op. cit., 3 Dejiny Slovenska, ed. by L. HOLOTIK, Vol. 1 (Bratislava: 1961), 435. - For the overall economic trends in Eastern Europe, see I. T. BEREND and G. RAN KI, Economic Development in East-Central Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries (translation from the Hungarian) (New York and London: 1974). (22) In 1850, the ethnic composition of the population of Bratislava was as follows: Germans 70.6 percent, Jews 12.9 percent, Slovaks 10.09 percent, Magyars 6.18 percent, others 0.23 percent. See I. HOUDEK, "Bratislava v revolucnych rokoch 1848-1849." Acta Musei Civitatis Bratislavensis: Bratislava, Vol. 5 (1969), 169. (23) No reliable ethnic statistics exist for these three cities for the middle of the nineteenth century and the available estimates differ so widely that it is unprofitable to reproduce them here. As a rule, German historians claim a larger share of German inhabitants for each city than do the Slavic historians. (24) KARNlKOVA, op. cit., 105. (25) J. JANACEK, ed., Dejiny Prahy (Prague: 1964), 432-433. (26) I. I. LESHCHILOVSKAIA, Illirizm (Moscow: 1968), 94. (27) Quoted in R. A. AVERBUKH, Revoliutsiia i natsionalno-osvoboditelnaia borba v Vengrii 1848-1849 (Moscow: 1965), 5. (28) "Social Movements," in International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 14, p. 441. (29) Prehled ceskoslovenskych dejin, Vol. 1 (Prague: 1958), 688. (30) J. RAVLIC, Matica Hrvatska 1842-1962 (Zagreb: 1963), 40. (31) D. RAP ANT, Tatrin (Martin, 1950), 11-12. For the patriotic societies of the various Slavic groups, see S. B. KIMBALL, The Austro-Slav Revival: A Study of Nineteenth- �132 SLOVAKIA Century Literary Foundations, in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, LXIII, Part 4 (Philadelphia: 1973). (32) The number of members of the Czech Foundation grew from 35 in 1832 to over 500 in 1839, to 2329 in 1847; see Prehled teskoswvenskych dejin op. cit., 688. Tatrin expanded from 23 in 1844 to 80 in 1847; see RAPANT, op. cit., 12, who says that the membership lists were not always accurate. The Croatian Foundation expanded from 158 members in 1842 to 300 in 1844 (figures for the later pre-March years are not available): see RA VLlC, op. cit., 34, 40. (33) J. BLEIWEIS, Zgodovina C. K. krajnske kmetijske druibe (Ljubljana: 1855), 11. (34) M. HROCH, Die Vorkiimpfer der nationalen Bewegung bei den Kleinen Voelkem Europas (Prague: 1968), 44. The percentages refer to the situation as it was in 1847. (35) I have computed these percentages from a membership list containing occupational data, as reproduced in RA VLlC, op. cit., 260-263. The Croatian Foundation was a successor to the so-called Illyrian Reading Room and the above list gives the names of members, 217 in all, of that reading room, for the year 1838-1839. It is the only extant list that contains occupational data and can give us an indication of the social structure of the Croatian Foundation. (36) Computed from a list given in RAP ANT , op. cit., 12. (37) In 1847 the total number of subscribers was 1522 of whom 230 were peasants and 689 clergymen. See GRAFENAUER, op. cit., Vol. 5, 165. (38) J . APIH, "Die Slovenen und die Miirzbewegung von 1848," Oesterreichisches Jahrbuch , XIV (1890), 93. (39) See Notes 34, 35, 36. (40) On the role of the nobility in the Croatian nationalist movement, see LESHCHILOVSKAIA, op. cit., 72-75. (41) RAPANT, op. cit., 12. I have supplemented Rapant's data with those found M. SLAVIK, ed. , Swvenski narodovci do 30. okt6bra 1918 (Trencin: 1945), Ch. ill. For a basic monograph on the early stages of the Slovak nationalist movement, see J. BUTVIN, Slovenske narodno-zjednocovacie hnutie 1780-1848 (Bratislava, 1965). A new quantifying study of the Slovak pre-1848 patriotic intelligentsia is J. HUCKO Socialne sloienie a povod slovenskej obrodenskej inteligencie (Bratislava: 1974). This volume had not reached me at the time this study was completed. (42) A. D. SMITH, Theories of Nationalism (London: 1971), 87 . One of the most influential exponents of the communications theory of nationalism is K. W . DEUTSCH. Nationalism and Social Communication (second edition, Cambridge, Mass ., 1966) . Deutsch inspired the Czech historian HROCH whose work (Note 34) is an important study comparing the origin of certain West and East (including Czech and Slovak) European nationalist movements. (43) M. N. KUZMIN , Shkola i obrazovanie v Chekhoslovakii (Moscow: 1971), 89, 159. (44) One of the leading members of the Czech nationalist movement of the time says of Havlicek and several other Czech nationalists that they spoke Czech "extremely unclearly": quoted in E. BASS, Cteni o roce osmoctyricatem, Vol. 1 (Prague: 1940), 208. For a similar situation among the Slovenes , see F. GESTRIN and V. MELIK, Swvenska zgodovina od konca osemnajstego stoletja do 1918 (Ljubljana: 1968), 83, 88. (45) They were: the Czech Praiske Noviny which began to appear in 1825 but assumed a militant nationalist posture only under the editorship of Karel Havlicek who took it over in 1845-46; the Slovene Novice, founded in 1843; the Croatian Novine Hrvatske (1835); and the Slovak Slovenskje Narodnje Novini (1845). (46) The Slovak newspaper had a circulation of about 500 in the year in which it was launched: see Stur 's letter of September 6, 1845, as printed in Listy Eudovita Stura. Vol. II, ed. by J. AMBRUS (Bratislava: 1956), 94. Subsequent complaints by Stur �SLOVAKIA 133 about circulation indicate that it failed to grow; indeed, for a time at least, it appears to have slipped slightly; see Stur' s letter of August 3, 1846, in Listy, Vol. II, as cited, p. 143. (47) The circulation figures for the Czech newspaper are given by Havlicek in an article published by him on December 28, 1849, and reproduced in Z. V. TOBOLKA , ed. , Karel Havlitek Borovski; Politicke Spisy, Vol. II. Pt. 2 (Prague, 1902) , 875. For a recent article on Havlicek, see B. K. KIMMEL, "Karel Havlicek and the Czech Press before 1848," in P . BROCK and H . Gordon SKILIJNG, eds., The Czech Renascence of the Nineteenth Century (Toronto: 1970) . The Croatian newspaper was printed in 750 copies in the year of its first appearance (1835). This dipped to 400 in 1837 but then began to rise again steadily until the circulation reached 800 in 1848; see J. HORVAT, Povijest novinstva Hrvatske 17711939 (Zagreb : 1962), 123, 133 . The Slovene newspaper started with a run of 1,000 in 1843 and rose to 1,800 by 1848; see J . SLEBINGER, Slovenski tasniki i tasopisi: Bibliografski pregled od 1797-1936 (Ljubljana: 1937), 5. (48) M. LAISKE , Casopisectvi v Cechach 1650-1847 (Prague: 1959), 162, for the pre1848 figure . For the 1848 figure, see F. ROUBIK , Casopisectvo v Cechach v letech 1848-1862 (Prague, 1930). Appendix No . 9 (this for Bohemia) and M. WURMOVA, Soupis moravskych novin a tasopisu z let 1848-1918 (Brno: 1955), 4 (for Moravia) . (49) I. HERGESIC , Hrvatske novine i tasopisi do 1848 (Zagreb : 1936) , 102-103 . (50) M . POTEMRA , Bibliografia slovenskych novin a tasopisov do roku 1918 (Martin: 1958), 117. (51) SLEBINGER, op. cit., 5-7 . (52) For the meeting in Prague, see my Czech Revolution of 1848 (Chapel Hill: 1969), Chpt. 2. For the meeting in Zagreb, see R. HORVAT , Najnovije doba hrvatske povjesti (Zagreb : 1906), 112-113. (53) For the circumstances surrounding the formulation of the Slovene programs , see F. ZWITTER, "Slovenski politicni prerod XIX, stoletja v okviru evropske nacionalne problematike ," Zgodovinski Casopis, Vol. 18 (1964), 110-111. See also I. B. CHURKINA , " Politicheskaia programma Matii Maiara v 1848 godu," Sovetskoe Slavianovedenie 1969, No . 5. (54) J . BUTVIN and J . HA VRANEK, Dejiny Ceskoslovenska (Prague: 1968) , 220-221. (55) A list of members of the National Committee, with occupational data, is found Narodni Noviny, 14 April, 1848. The role of this committee is discussed in PECH, op. cit., 76-79, 115-121. (56) The Slavic Linden executive in Prague had 50 members. Their names, with incomplete occupational data, are printed in Noviny Lipy Slovanske , 11 April, 1849. I was able to identify the occupations of 42 of the members; of these 33 belonged to the inte lligentsia , 6 were merchants , 2 were liberal nobles, and one was a liberal Protestant clergyman . (57) See my "Czech Political Parties in 1848," Canadian Slavonic Papers-Revue canadiene des slavistes XV (1973) , 484-485 . For a map showing the geographic distribution of the branches, see Atlas teskoslovanskych dejin (Prague: 1965), No. 19j . (58) Thus , in one branch in a city , only one member out of 150 enjoyed the status of " burgher." In another, a majority were "poor artisans ," still another consisted largely of " cottagers and poor agricultural workers ." See Narodni Noviny 30 December , 1848 which contains an account of the congress of Slavic Linden branches held in Prague . This account offers some fragmentary data on the occupations of members of a few individual branches . (59) See " Slovenska Lipa ," Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 7, 220-221. �134 SLOVAKIA (60) The Slavic Linden in Zagreb had 80-90 members : Noviny Lipy Slo vans ke, 20 January , 1849. The other major branch, Zadar, is said to have had 200 members ; see V. ZACEK , " Ceske a jihoslovanske Slovanske lipy v roce 1848, " Lite r<irni Archiv Vl (1971) , 227 . (61) J. MAL, " Ljubljana in leto 1848 ," Glasnik Muzejskega Dru~tva za Slovenijo XIV (1933) , 123. See also, J . APIH , Slovenci in 1848 le to (Ljubljana: 1888), 133 . (62) BUTVIN-HAVRANEK , op. cit., 221. (63) Of the four Slovak members who sat on a special 7-man council formed in the fall of 1848 to conduct resistance to Magyar authorities on Slovak territory, 3 were Protestant clergymen ; F . BOKES, " Slovenska narodna rada z rokov 1848-1849," Historicky Casopis xm (1965) , 214 . (64) PECH , Czech Revolution, 104, 167. (65) J . HORVAT, Politii!ka povijest Hrvatske (Zagreb : 1936) , 176. (66) J. APIH, " Die slovenische Bewegung im Fruhjahr und Vorsommer 1848," Oesterreichisches Jahrbuch, XVI (1892); 201. (67) ZWITTER , " Slovenski politicni . .. " 128. (68) D. RAPANT, Slovenske povstanie roku 1848-49, Vol. 1 Pt. 1 (Martin : 1937) , 212. (69) See Note 37 . (70) The Croatian one, entitled Prijatelj Puka, appeared in Zagreb as a weekly supplement of Slavenski Jug. from 9 August to 29 November, 1848 ; see ''Slavenski Jug,' ' Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 7, p. 221. The Czech one was Sedlsk e Noviny, published in Prague between 1 April, 1849 and 30 June, 1849. It is now available in J.J. TYi, Spisy, XIV, ed . by F. STREJCEK and H . HRZALOVA (Prague : 1953). (71) " Noviny pre hospodarstvo , remeslo a domaci zivot ," published from 5 April, 1848 to 27 September, 1848 ; see F . RUTTKAY, Daniel G. Lichard a slovenske novin<irstvo jeho doby (Martin : 1961) , 81 ff . (72) The influence of Havlicek on the peasants was striking. He advised them how to vote and what type of deputies to choose and they followed his advice quite readily; see PECH, Czech R evolution, 105, 284. (73) Ibid. , 258 . (74) L. VON GOGOLAK , Beitriige zur Geschichte des slowakischen Volkes , Vol. 2: Die slowakische nationale Fragen der Reformepoche Ungarns 1790-1848 (Munich: 1969) , 263. (75) D. RAP ANT , Slovenske povstanie roku 1848-49, Vol. 11 Pt. 1 (Martin: 1950), 344 . According to Rapant, Slovak national consciousness was the most highly developed in the Turcian County; RAPANT , op. cit., Vol. ill, Pt. 1 (1956), 351. This was also a region in which the Protestants were especially strong. (76) N<irodni Noviny, 31 May, 1848, article by Hurban . (77) See the map in Atlas i!eskoslovenskych dejin (Prague : 1965), No. 19f; this is an ingenious map comparing the speed of travel in the Czech and Slovak regions in the year 1827. (78) POTEMRA , op. cit., 117. (79) SLEBINGER , op. cit., 5-7 . (80) HERGESIC, op. cit., 102-103. (81) ROUBlK , op. cit., Appendix 6 and 9. (82) R. BICANIC , Doba manufakture u Hrvatskoj i Slavoniji 1750-1860 (Zagreb, 1951), 344. �SLOVAKIA 135 (83) See the map in Skolni atlas t!eskoslovenskych dejin (Prague, 1959), No. 25. (84) Ceskoslovenska vlastiveda, Part II, Dejiny, Vol. 2 (Prague, 1969), 93. (85) Ibid., 104. The first railroad came to Slovakia in the latter part of 1848. (86) GESTRIN-MELIK, op. cit., 50. (87) R. PAVLOVCIC, Zgodovinski atlas Slovenije (Buenos Aires, 1960), No. 69. Also GESTRIN-MELIK , op. cit., 103. (88) GODECHOT . op. cit. , 103. (89) Ceskoslovenska vlastiveda, op. cit., 104. (90) The circulation of the Slovene Novice in 1848 was 1,800 copies which yields a ratio of one copy for 556 people . The circulation of the Slovak Slovenskje Narodnje Novini may be assumed to have been 500 copies in 1848 which yields a ratio of one copy for 3 ,400 people.For the circulation figures, see Notes 46 and 47. (91) I have attempted to compare the ideology of the press of the four nationalities in S. Z. PECH, " The Press of the Habsburg Slavs in 1848: Contribution to a Political Profile ," Canadian Journal of History-Anna/es canadiennes d'histoire, X (1975): 3549 . However, I did not attempt to relate the ideology to the social structure of the elites . � SLOVAKIA 113 The Nationalist Movements of the Austrian Slavs in 1848: A Comparative Sociological Profile STANLEY Z. PECH The year 1848 was unlike any other in the long and arduous saga of the Austrian Slavs. It was a year when the Austrian Slavs, like the rest of Europe, passed through a major social and political upheaval. However, the year held for them a very special significance: in 1848 they first emerged as fledgling nations, from the backwater of Europe to stake out a claim for themselves as rightful members of the European family. As William H. Stiles, the United States charge d'affaires in Vienna at the time put it: " Previous to that period," the Austrian Slavs possessed "no proper individuality , their political nationality was unacknowledged, and for centuries, consequently, they exercised no influence in the political councils of Europe. The storms of 1848 and 1849 raised them to consideration, and even power. " (1) In recent years, Western historians have been diligent enough in providing the Western reader with the essential facts concerning the revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Slavic realm. There is indeed ample material for a good copy: the fever of the March Days, the clashes and recriminations between Germans and Slavs, the Magyars and Slavs; the fervent preachments of the highpriests of the various Slavic nationalisms; the Slavic Congress in Prague flaring up into an uprising and aborted by the artillery of General Windischgratz. These are the high points of the revolutions essential to an understanding of the events of that year. However, this understanding now needs to be broadened and refined in the light of new techniques and methodologies developed in the West. There is need for a structural analysis of the Slavic nationalist movements of 1848. There is an added potential benefit to be derived from cross-national comparisons to which these movements lend themselves. The present account seeks to construct a social profile of the Slavic nationalist movements of 1848 and to analyze and compare their strength. I In the mid-nineteenth century, the Austrian Empire counted seven Slavic nationalities in its multi-ethnic structure: Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, Poles, and Ukrainians. The last three will not Reprinted with permission from Histoire Sociale-Social History (Ottawa), Vol. 9, November 1976. �114 SLOVAKIA be treated here. For them the Austrian Empire was not the principal homeland: a majority of Ukrainians and Poles lived under Russia (a number of Poles also lived under Prussia), and a majority of Serbs under Turkey. This makes comparisons involving them problematical. Czechs , Slovaks , Slovenes , and Croats, on the other hand, were not so divided; they had no " home " other than the Austrian Empire. Their basic comparability derives from the following: 1) they experienced a revolution in 1848 ; 2) they lived under the same empire; 3) they were Slavic and shared the status of "subject" nationalities living under " alien " rule: the Czechs and the Slovenes under the Austro-Germans in the western half of the empire, and the Slovaks and the Croats under the Magyars in the eastern half of the empire; 4) they were passing through early stages of national awakening. The largest of the four national groups were the Czechs who numbered, in the middle of the nineteenth century, approximately 4 million. The number of Slovaks in the same period was 1. 7 million, that of the Croats 1.6 million, and that of the Slovenes a little over 1 million. (2) The total population of the Austrian Empire is estimated to have been 37 million ,(3) with the Austro-Germans the largest nationality (over 7 million) and the Magyars the second largest (4 .5 million) .(4) The revolutionary stresses that brought on the upheaval in 1848 had been accentuated by the demographic pressures of the halfcentury preceding the upheaval. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century , the population of the empire had been increasing steadily by 1850 the increase had amounted to one third as against the year 1800, a rate comparable to the other large states of Western Europe.(5) While it is difficult to separate the growth rates for the different peoples of the empire , this much can be hypothesized from the evidence: the rate of growth of the Slavs was greater than that of the non-Slavs.(6) In religious affiliation, Czechs , Slovenes, and Croats were at least 95 percent Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism was also dominant among the Slovaks but there it was confronted with a numerically strong Protestant population (between 25 percent and 30 percent) . (7) The fact that the four nationalities being surveyed here had evolved through centuries as "subject" nationalities imparted to their social structures certain distinctive features - features that set them apart from W estem Europe and left a special mark on their development as modernizing societies. The West European model, with France and Germany as a typical example, exhibited a social structure that was unencumbered (small exceptions aside) by the complicating presence of a different nationality: peasants, nobles, workers, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats, priests, bishops, all spoke the same language and belonged to the same nationality. This comfortable ethnic homogeneity was lacking among most of the Austrian Slavs. To generalize: the four nationalities had an "incomplete" social structure; the lower portions �SLOVAKIA 115 of their social pyramid were Slavic while the upper portions were filled with members of the ruling nationality . How did the socio-ethnic edifice look in the specific cases? In the western half of the empire, the Czechs and the Slovenes each had their own peasantry, working class, artisanate, shopkeeper class, intelligentsia, lower clergy and lower bureaucracy. At the same time, their complementing higher classes, the nobility, the entrepreneurs and the higher bureaucracy, were German. The one point of difference between the Czechs and the Slovenes concerned the ecclesiastical hierarchy: in the Czech regions the hierarchy was entirely German whereas in the Slovene regions an influential segment of it was Slovene . This difference explains , in part, the divergent religious attitudes of the two peoples during the next century: the Czechs tended to embrace religious scepticism whereas the Slovenes evinced a vigorous religious spirit and lent strong support to movements of political Catholicism. In the eastern half of the empire, the structure was more complicated. The Slovaks occupied the lower portions of the social pyramid, but the upper portions included, besides the Germans , also the Magyars. The Croats, on the other hand , held a position significantly different from the other three national groups . Of the four nationalities , they alone retained, in part, their own governing class: a segment of the nobility, of higher clergy and of higher bureaucracy in Croatia belonged to the Croatian nationality; the remaining segment was Magyar (or Magyar-oriented Croat) or German. The fact that the Croats retained a substantial foothold in the governing class gave them an advantage not enjoyed by the other three national groups: in the pre-industrial age when the nobility alone counted as a political class , they had at all times a political voice . They had never been reduced to a mere '' nation of peasants.' ' In that sense, they were the only one of the four groups that approximated the West European model of social development. The Austrian Empire was not only a labyrinth of seemingly disarrayed social and ethnic parts. It also was a bewildering conglomerate of provinces and administrative divisions that disarrayed the ethnic parts still further. The existing administrative system had taken shape during the pre-nationalist age and bore no relationship to ethnic boundaries. As a result, not only did some nationality sometimes inhabit two or more provinces but if often shared each such province with a different nationality. Little useful purpose would be served by listing all the administrative divisions with their particular ethnic mosaics. Suffice it to say that for each nationality, one province usually stood out as a core of nationalist activism and attention will be focused on these. For the Czechs, this was the province of Bohemia which the Czechs shared with the Germans, the Czech-German ethnic ratio being 60 percent to 40 percent.(8) For the Slovenes, it was Carniola which was over 90 percent _S lovene, the Germans making up the balance.(9) For �116 SLOVAKIA the Croats, it was Croatia (full name "Croatia-Slavonia") in which the Slavs comprised over 95 percent of the population (two thirds of which were Croats and one third Serbs) while the ruling Magyars and Germans together did not exceed 2 percent; certain other small groups accounted for the remainder. (10) Croatia, it should be stressed, possessed a number of self-governing institutions in which the Croatian nobility, clergy and bureaucracy wielded considerable influence which helped cushion the German-Magyar rule. It even had an army which though subordinated directly to the emperor, was nevertheless an important symbol of Croatian national identity. In short, these social and institutional paraphernalia provided the Croats with defenses and opportunities not available to the other Slavs. This made it possible for them, in the course of 1848, to wrest political control entirely from the Magyars and Germans and erect what amounted to their own state with its own government that recognized only the authority of the emperor in Vienna. None of the other three nationalities came close to generating this type of institutional power. In this connection, it may be noted that the people who exercised the least power from the institutional point of view were the Slovaks. They had been totally submerged through centuries in the existing Hungarian system of counties and no part of the Slovak territory enjoyed the status of a province. The Slovak territory was reasonably compact in ethnic terms but had no institutional support to lend it distinctiveness and distinguish it from the other areas of Hungary. This made the Slovaks the most vulnerable and the least visible of the four peoples. After the Congress of Vienna, the Austrian Empire entered upon the first stages of industrialization . There were, however, marked regional disparities in the tempo with which industrialization proceeded , with the western half of the monarchy moving ahead more rapidly than the eastern half. Among the Slavic peoples, by the middle of the nineteenth century, only the Czechs had made significant advances along the road of modernization . By 1857 , the agrarian sector in Bohemia had been reduced to the point where only some 55 percent of the population derived their livelihood from agriculture .(11) The above figure applies to all of Bohemia (both to its Czech and Germanspeaking areas) ; and it is not possible to say exactly what it would be for the Czech inhabitants specifically. However, it is known that the German-speaking areas of Bohemia were by far the more industrialized( 12) and this would justify revising the figure, as applied to the Czechs, upward: 65 percent to 70 percent seems a more realistic estimate. At this same time, the agrarian sector in the three other Austro-Slavic regions continued to employ 90 percent or more of the economically active population.(13) The economic growth was reflected in the expansion of the urban population, with similar regional disparities prevailing in the degree or urbanization attained. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the proportion of the urban �SLOVAKIA 117 population in Bohemia was just under 20 percent;(14) for the Czechspeaking population of Bohemia this figure would have to be revised downward to some extent, perhaps to 15 percent. The Slovenes had at this time an urban population of 4 percent(15) while for the Slovaks and the Croats the figure was even less. (France had then an urban population of 26 percent and Germany 35 percent.)(16) ThE: major cities were few and not even their rapid expansion during the first half of the nineteenth century - some cities doubled in size during this period had produced many large urban centers by West European standards. The largest one was Prague, the most populous Czech city and the capital of Bohemia. With a population of 118,000 in the middle of the nineteenth century (77 ,000 in 1800), (17) it was the only city in the four ethnic regions to attain the 100,000 mark, an achievement placing it in a class with the major cities of Western Europe. The largest Croatian city was Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, with a population of 15,000(18) (8,000 at the beginning of the century)(19) and the largest Slovene city was Ljubljana (Laibach), the capital of Carniola, with a population of 17,000 (it was half this size in 1817). (20) The biggest city in what is today the Slovak region was Bratislava (Pressburg) which had a population, in 1848, of 40,000 (in 1805 it had been just under 22,000).(21) However, Bratislava was then not a Slovak city in any meaningful sense of the term; the majority of its inhabitants were German and it was not the scene of any mass Slovak nationalist activity in 1848.(22) The case of Bratislava was far from unique: many cities and towns throughout the Slavic regions of the Austrian Empire contained a large number of Germans, and sizeable German minorities were to be found in Prague. Ljubljana and Zagreb.(23) Economic power in the cities and indeed throughout the monarchy was largely in the hands of Germans and German Jews. Germans typically constituted the urban elite which controlled municipal administrations and in general exercised a decisive influence over the Slavic substratum. The demographic development of Prague, as the largest metropolis, deserves a special comment. Although the city grew more or less steadily after the year 1800, the really important demographic transformation was not the growth itself, but the increasing proportion of newcomers who moved into the city from the surrounding countryside. In the first two decades of the nineteenth century, the proportion of these newcomers remained relatively stable - hovering near 6 percent of the total population. A change set in during the 1820s: the proportion of newcomers began to increase markedly, from 6.3 percent in 1818, to 15 percent in 1826, to 36.3 percent in 1834, and finally to 48.9 percent in 1850.(24) This meant that by the middle of the century nearly one half of the Prague population consisted of people who had severed their previous roots and come to the city in search of a new life. The mass of newcomers was Czech. They found work in the new textile and machine industries founded during the 1830s and �118 SLOVAKIA 1840s, and in other forms of employment. Textile workers, about a thousand strong, became the largest distinctive group of the labor force in the capital city. Their rioting in 1844 announced the advent of an industrial age in Bohemia and attracted the attention of Europe, its effect reinforced by the rioting at almost the same time of Prague workers employed on the construction of a new railway.(25) One of the consequences of the influx of newcomers was to augment the Czechspeaking substratum in a city governed by the German elite. All this provided a setting calculated to raise the social and political fever of the capital city and goes far toward explaining the intensity of the upheaval that swept Prague during 1848. The other three cities mentioned above were drawn less precipitously into the vortex of social and economic change. Zagreb may serve as an example of a city standing at the opposite pole of the socio-economic spectrum from Prague. Although its size had almost doubled in the half-century before 1848, the city had not acquired an industrial face in the process. In 1808, nearly 40 percent of its population consisted of nobles and clergy (! ) and by 1848 these two groups, along with the intelligentsia, still accounted for one half of the total number of inhabitants.(26) City life in Zagreb, and in the eastern half of the empire as a whole, retained essentially a pre-industrial character as late as 1848. What passed for a town in the eastern half of the empire was different from what it was understood to be in the western half and in Western Europe. As one contemporary observer described the town scene in the eastern half of the empire just on the eve of 1848: not only the small towns but also the larger cities there '' consisted of nothing but settlements of ploughmen, vine growers, and shepherds in which respect they did not differ at all from the villages .'' (27) It is startling to realize that at the time of the outbreak of the 1848 revolution, Croatia - and also Slovakia - had not yet acquired a single mile of railroad. II How strong were the nationalist movements to which these structures gave rise and which broke into the open during the years 1848-1849, complete with leaders and programs? The nationalist movements of 1848 were the culminating point of the preceding halfcentury of "national awakening." This development had of course proceeded at a different pace in the case of the various peoples and by 1848 each movement ·had attained a different level of strength. How can this strength be measured? How did the movements compare in their ability to mobilize supporters? It is generally agreed that to be effective a movement requires '' some kind of organization that enables certain persons to act as authorized spokesmen and representatives. This can take the form of committees, clubs, labor unions, or political parties.'' (28) Such clubs consist of individuals with the highest degree �SLOVAKIA 119 of commitment to a movement's objectives. In our context, organizations with such a commitment were the pre-March patriotic societies that had come into being during the 1830s and 1840s. The Czechs, the Croats and the Slovaks each had one such society: they were, respectively, the Czech Foundation (Ceska Matice, founded in 1832), the Croatian Foundation (Matica Hrvatska, 1842) and the Slovak Tatrin (1844). These were nationalist societies comprising the highest echelon of nationalist elites. Although independent of each other, they had similar organizational structures and pursued identical objectives: to promote the native language and culture, and to foster the publication of books and newspapers in that language . With this comparability in mind, we can use the numerical strength of these societies as a comparative index of the strength with which the three nationalist movements entered upon the year 1848. On the eve of 1848, the Czech Foundation had a membership of 2329 (for the year 1847),(29) the Croatian Foundation 300(30) (for 1844, the last pre-1848 year available) and Tatrin 80 (1847).(31) Measured against the total population of each nationality as given earlier, this yields the ratio of 5.8 per 10,000 for the Czech national movement, 1.9 per 10,000 for the Croatian, and a low 0.5 per 10,000 for the Slovak. It may be added that the membership in all three societies was growing.(32) Evidently, the nationalist movements had acquired a momentum of their own, adding their weight to the forces that precipitated the collapse of absolutism in March 1848. The revolutions of 1848 may not have been inevitable but the forces that produced them had been unmistakably at work. The Slovenes lacked a patriotic society before 1848 and consequently we cannot measure the strength of the Slovene movement on a basis strictly comparable with the other three. It may be assumed, however, that the absence of a patriotic society is itself evidence of a sort: it suggests the existence of a less developed nationalist movement. Nevertheless, the Slovenes were not without visible manifestations of progress on the nationalist front. Their patriots established a foothold in the Agricultural Society of Camiola, an organization of long standing. This was not a Slovene patriotic society for it counted both Germans and Slovenes among its members and its avowed purpose was improvement of agriculture, not promotion of Slovene nationalism. However, in 1842 the society appointed a moderate, Dr. Janez Bleiweis, as its new secretary, and under him Slovene nationalist forces found elbow room within the society's framework. The success of the first modem Slovene newspaper, Novice, which Bleiweis launched in 1843 under the auspices of the society, afforded proof that Slovene nationalism was on the rise. (33) Still, the absence of a genuine patriotic society was a serious drawback; it meant that the Slovene elite entered upon the year 1848 with little organizational contact, strength and experience. In this it resembled the Slovak elite whose Tatrin offered too feeble a basis when the need �120 SLOVAKIA for action arose . The Slovene and the Slovak elites were the weaker members in the group, the Czech and the Croatian ones the stronger. This distribution of pre-1848 strength corresponds, in fact, very closely to the performance of these nationalist movements during the year 1848. What about the social hue of the elites? The membership rosters of the three patriotic societies contain occupational data that permit us to make cross-national comparisons. For the Slovenes, we must again resort to substitute material which furnishes a basis for an informed estimate. Surveying all four elites, one can perceive two social groups playing a dominant role: the intelligentsia and the lower clergy. The intelligentsia, as defined here, includes teachers, officials, writers, students, and professionals. The term clergy refers to both Roman Catholic and Protestant clergymen. The latter were numerically strong only in the Slovak elite. In the other three elites, the clergy was, with few exceptions, Roman Catholic. While it is true that the intelligentsia and the clergy were prominent in all four elites, their weight varied from case to case. From the material at our disposal it is evident that the intelligentsia had a larger share in the Czech and Croatian elites, while the clergy had a larger share in the Slovene and Slovak elites. The proportion of the intelligentsia and the clergy in the three patriotic societies was, respectively: 54 percent and 29 percent in the Czech.(34) 52 percent and 20 percent in the Croatian(35) and 30 percent and 59 percent in the Slovak society.(36) It is noteworthy that businessmen and other groups ranked after the intelligentsia and the clergy. The peasants as might be expected were hardly significant. The dominant role of the clergy in the Slovene elite can be gleaned from the list of subscribers to the abovementioned newspaper Novice. Although Novice was intended to be a peasant newspaper, the peasants constituted only a small minority of its subscribers; nearly half of the subscribers (in 1847) were nationalist clergymen!(37) The influence of the clergy was noted by a Slovene historian of the last century; in relating the origins of the nationalist movement he observed that ''The number of conscious (Slovene) patriots outside the ranks of the clergy was small.'' (38) The role of the nobility was important only in the Croatian elite . Its proportion in the Croatian Foundation was 7 percent, as compared with 1.5 percent in the Czech Foundation and zero in the Slovak Tatrin. (39) There were, to be sure, influential individual nobles active also in the Czech nationalist movement in its earliest stages. However, they were, as a rule , German-speaking "Bohemian patriots" who sympathized with the Czech movement without identifying themselves with the Czech nationalism. They were friendly outsiders "looking in" and withdrew from the movement in proportion as that movement acquired a clearly Czech nationalist stamp. The role of the nobility in the Croatian movement was completely different. Far from being outsiders �SLOVAKIA 121 looking in, they were anchored squarely in the very heart of the nationalist movement at all times, helping to give it shape and direction in a manner in which the Czech nobility never did. The Croatian elite , it should be pointed out, had an added feature all of its own; this consisted in a peculiar collaboration between the nobles and the intelligentsia. It was almost routine practice for the Croatian nobles who had the right to sit in pre-1848 county assemblies to allow themselves to be represented by members of the nationalist intelligentsia. (40) This gave the intelligentsia considerable influence over and above its numercial strength , but there was a reverse side to the coin: the intelligentsia fell into a state of dependence upon the nobles to some extent and acted as a conduit for noble influence. A particular reference should be made at this point to the Slovak elite and to the problem that bedeviled the relationship between its members: the religious problem. Perhaps half of the clergymen in the Slovak patriotic society were Protestant (Lutheran), the remainder were Roman Catholic.(41) Protestants, however, had acquired a commanding position during the years preceding 1848. Moreover, Protestants and Catholics were divided not only by religious convictions - which would have been serious enough to jeopardize the movement - but also by different attitudes regarding the conception of Slovak nationhood and literary language . The chasm separating the two religious groups proved difficult to bridge and Roman Catholics treated the Protestant initiatives with the greatest reserve. This was bound to have a damaging effect on Slovak efforts; how damaging, the events of 1848 were to bear out only too painfully. This added to the vulnerability of a nationalist movement that had already been rendered vulnerable on other counts. The Slovaks were the only one of the four nationalities that entered the year 1848 with a seriously disunited elite . The elites as organized in the patriotic societies comprised the most highly committed or mobilized members of the nationalist movements. How did the elites draw the broader strata of the populations into the movement? How did the wider process of social mobilization take place? It is now increasingly recognized that the development of nationalism is related to the role of communications. A group of sociological theories assigns communications a prime place in the process of national awakening. One communications model in fact considers ' 'the role of the intelligentsia ... to be a necessary condition of all nationalist movements, " (42) an observation which appears to receive support from the role the intelligentsia played in the four movements examined here. If one includes the clergy, as some historians do , in the concept of "intelligentsia" (" clerical intelligentsia'' ), then the importance of this social group in the genesis of Austro-Slavic nationalisms becomes overwhelming. In this context literacy was an essential factor contributing to the success of any mobilizing effort mounted by the elites. How did the four �122 SLOVAKIA nationalities rate on this count? Literacy statistics were not compiled in the Austrian Empire at the time we are discussing. In order to obtain a picture, we are obliged to rely on later census data that indicate the literacy of the generation that was born in the 1830s and was of school age in the 1840s. In this generation, the Czechs led the others . Their rate was 84. 75 percent which was nearly three times as much as that of the Slovaks (30.2 percent), the Slovenes (28.62 percent) and the Croats (26. 7 percent) . (43) It is necessary to add that the Slavic populations in general were at a disadvantage vis-a-vis the Austro-Germans when it came to the use of their languages as a medium of instruction in schools. Only in the lower schools was teaching conducted in the language appropriate to the ethnic region. The language of middle and higher schools was German in the western half of the empire and German, Latin or Magyar in the eastern half. In other words, attaining a higher level of education generally compelled the individual concerned to leave the cultural ambience of his native language . The results of this process were often bizarre. For example, the Czech Karel Havlicek and the Slovene Bleiwies, both leading nationalists, were, in the early stages of their nationalist activity, more fluent in German than in their own native language - a situation by no means untypical of Slavic national awakeners.(44) The elites were keenly aware of the efficacy of the printed word as a medium through which they could best transmit their ideas and mobilize the larger non-elite mass; hence the preoccupation of the patriotic societies with publishing. The printed word devised and disseminated nationalist symbols, awakened an interest in the past and created an awareness of shared leaders, thus ultimately engendering a sense of the community of language, culture and history. For maximum effectiveness, the printed word had to have periodicity and this pointed to the importance of the newspaper as a vehicle most suitable for communication. It was a portent of an approaching nationalist storm that the fifteen-year period preceding the revolutions of 1848 saw the foundation of the first modem national and nationalist newspapers in the case of all four nationalities . One such newspaper was founded in each case, under the auspices of or in association with, the patriotic societies.(45) Of the four, only one, the Slovak, remained stationary in circulation during the pre-March period(46) while the other three showed a circulation increase, with the Czech newspaper registering an increase that can only be described as extraordinary, from 200 in 1846 to 1,500 in 1848.(47) The editor of the Czech newspaper was Karel Havlicek , of the Croatian, Ljudevit Gaj, of the Slovak, I.:udovit Stur, and of the Slovene, Dr. Janez Bleiweis. It is interesting to note that the last three men were the principal nationalist leaders of their peoples at the time and are considered the ''fathers' ' of their particular nationalist movements. As for Havlicek, he shared this honor with the Czech historian Frantisek Palacky. Nothing illustrates more tellingly the �SLOVAKIA 123 importance of communications to nationalism than the fact that the nationalist editors were the leaders of their national groups. ill In March 1848 absolutism in the Austrian Empire collapsed and this ushered in the "revolutions of 1848," a period of constitutional government that lasted for over a year, until the emperor began to reimpose absolutism in the spring and summer of 1849. Among the most important constitutional innovations introduced by the liberal regime was the abolition of censorship in March 1848. This led to the foundation of new magazines and newspapers, making it possible for the Czech leaders to start a veritable avalanche of the printed word. On the eve of 1848 the Czechs had a total of 13 newspapers and periodicals; after March this number quadrupled, to 52.(48) Elsewhere, the expansion was more modest. In Croatia, the increase was from 5 in 184 7 to 8 in 1848(49) while the corresponding Slovak figures were 6 and 8.(50) The Slovenes, starting from a low base of 1 newspaper in 1847 brought the number up to 6 in 1848.(51) (After the return of the reaction in 1849 the number of newspapers began to drop again to pre1848 levels.) Calculated on a per capita basis, there was, in 1848, one newspaper or magazine for 77,000 Czechs, 167,000 Slovenes, 200,000 Croats and 213,000 Slovaks. Clearly, the Czech elite had at their disposal the most highly developed network of communications - an advantage heightened by the fact that some of their newspapers appeared daily (six times a week) whereas the frequency of the newspapers of the other nationalities was not more than three times a week. The strengths and the handicaps with which each Slavic group had entered upon the revolution became evident in the first days of freedom. The Czechs and the Croats promptly staged mass meetings , (in March in their capital cities) at which nationalist programs were adopted. (52) In the other two ethnic regions, the adoption of nationalist programs was accomplished with less mass support. The Slovenes formulated their nationalist programs in March without the benefit of a single mass meeting - the only Slav group to pass through the revolutionary year without mass demonstrations or rallies in support of nationalist objectives.(53) In Slovakia, the elite was slow in getting off the mark and encountered difficulties in mobilizing public opinion. A full-fledged nationalist program was not adopted until the beginning of May 1848 at a meeting in Liptovsky Svlity Mikulas, but the public presence at this meeting was modest and the program failed to acquire the legitimacy and force sufficient to compel the Magyar authorities to heed it.(54) The opening stages of the revolutionary period demonstrated the advantage of a people having a body of nationalists with organizational experience and mutual contact who would seize the initiatives, and �124 SLOVAKIA quickly and forcefully responded to the challenges of the moment. The pre-1848 patriotic societies consisted of such nationalists. However, accustomed as they had been to more genteel forms of struggle, these societies could not in themselves become the instruments of political activism at a time of revolutionary turbulence, and so new organizations were established to cope with new forms of struggle. The Czechs in Prague created in March a National Committee which served, until its dissolution after the June 1848 uprising in Prague, as a center of Czech nationalist activity throughout Bohemia. Many members of the Czech Foundation became active in the National Committee which counted over a hundred members. In the National Committee, the intelligentsia prevailed, as it had done in the Czech Foundation, with 44 percent of the members belonging to this stratum. However, the proportion of the clergy was drastically reduced in this elite group, to a mere 4 percent, as compared with 29 percent it had had in the Czech Foundation in the last year before the revolution. It appears that the revolution had pushed the clergy into the background. Its place was taken by the bourgeoisie (burghers, artisans, businessmen) whose share in the National Committee was 42 percent.(55) After June 1848 the vacuum created by the demise of the National Committee was filled by the newly founded Slavic Linden (Slovanska Lipa), a nationalist pressure group consciously seeking political change. The Slavic Linden was led by intellectuals and bourgeoisie, with some members of the National Committee passing into its ranks. (56) The clergy played no major role. Politically, the Slavic Linden was somewhat to the left of the National Committee and, unlike the latter, acquired some of the characteristics of a political party: it had its own newspaper, an elected executive, a headquarters (in Prague), and local branches. By the beginning of 1849 it counted 49 branches throughout Bohemia, forming a network reaching into all corners of the province, with a total estimated membership of 2,000.(57) Among rank and file members of the Slavic Linden were peasants and people of the humble stations in life. (58) The Slavic Linden was in fact the only non-elite stratum, showing a widening circle of nationalistically mobilized population. None of the other three nationalities could point to this level of national awakening, and none devised the kind of network through which the nationalists could communicate and operate in an organized fashion. The Croatian nationalist movement operated with instruments essentially different from those employed by the Czechs. The Croatian elite relied less on the spontaneous organs such as the Czech National Committee and more on Croatia's existing institutions of selfgovernment which it revived and re-shaped to suit the new post-March conditions. After March, the Croats acquired their provincial government, the Ban's Council, which managed the affairs of the country throughout 1848-1849. The Croats were the only Slavic group to �SLOVAKIA 125 become for the duration of the 1848-1849 revolutionary period , masters in their own house, recognizing the authority of none but the emperor. Their nobility continued to be active and influential in the existing arrangements. The only new non-governmental nationalist political or quasi-political organization to which the elite gave rise in the postMarch period was the Croatian version of the Slavic Linden. It was inspired by but independent of the Czech Slavic Linden. It was founded in Zagreb , was led by moderately left-oriented intellectuals, and acquired a newspaper of its own. However, it was never too active and never succeeded in building a network of branches throughout the Croatian regions. Only one major branch was set up outside of Zagreb.(59) The total membership of the two branches was no more than a few score and the organization never reached into the non-elite strata. (60) The effectiveness and power of the Croatian nationalist movement derived more from the existing institutional structure and the participation of the nobility than from the mobilization of the wider segments of the population. The Slovenes and the Slovaks could offer little to match the Czech and the Croatian examples. Among the Slovenes, the revolution gave rise to the Slovene Society of Ljubljana founded in April 1848 which became the largest and most influential body of Slovene patriots of the revolutionary period . Its slogan was "Everything for Religion, Emperor and Nationality" and doubtless expressed the influence of clergymen who, according to a police report, formed the largest social group within the 400-member society, with the intelligentsia accounting for the rest .(61) The slogan captures the spirit of the society sufficiently to contrast it with the Czech National Committee which was secular minded and in which the clergy had hardly any role to play. At the same time, it deserves to be noted that the thrust of the Society ' s efforts was cultural more than political. It did not become a center of political activity and did not regard itself as much more than a patriotic interest group. The position of the Slovaks was the least satisfactory. At no time after March 1848 did they form anything resembling the Czech National Committee or even the Slovene Society of Ljubljana. As a consequence, their movement was without an organized thrust and without a single direction. Only the political newspaper, the Slouenskje N<irodnjc Nouini continued to function as a voice of Slovak nationalism but it was compelled to suspend publication in June 1848 under Magyar pressure and with its passing, the last channel of communications through which the elite could address itself to the mass had been destroyed. The Slovak people were thus left without a political newspaper for the greater part of the revolutionary era - a handicap to which none of the other three nationalities was subjected. Furth ermore, in June 1848, Magyar authorities declared martial law over much of Slovak territory - charging the Slovak leaders with '' Pan- �126 SLOVAKIA Slavic" subversion and forcing many of them into exile - and this paralyzed the Slovak movement still further.(62) The clergy (Protestant) continued to dominate what was left of the life of the Slovak movement after June. (63 ) The organizational strength of the elites and the degree to which they were able to mobilize the wider segments of the populations were tested at the elections to the various representative assemblies that took place during 1848 - the first such modem elections to be held in the history of the Austrian Empire. Until 1848 , public life in the empire had borne a German or, in the eastern half, German-Magyar character and this was bound to favor German and Magyar candidates in the election contests even in the Slavic-speaking areas . Conversely, success at the polls of the Slavic candidates could be regarded as evidence of a relatively high degree of mobilization among the Slavic electorate. The right to vote was more liberal in the western than in the eastern half of the empire , and even in the former, segments of the lower social classes were excluded. Nevertheless , it must be acknowledged that everywhere a large number of " common" people enjoyed the right to vote and the election results can serve as a rough expression of popular sentiment vis-a-vis the nationalist movements . The elections yielded the following results. In Bohemia, they demonstrated a high degree of responsiveness of voters to the Czech nationalist movement. In the election of the Bohemian diet in J une 1848 the proportion of Czech deputies elected was just over 60 percent (the remainder were Germans) - a figure corresponding closely to the estimated proportion of the Czech population in the province. The election to the Imperial Parliament held in the same month brought similar results, with the Bohemian voters sending to Vienna 55 Czech as against 35 German deputies.(64) In Croatia, the elections to the diet (June 1848) were a clean sweep for the nationalist candidates. This was due , in part , to the militancy of the Croatian authorities who saw to it that only committed to the Croatian cause could stand as candidates. (65) Because of this, the election results are not very meaningful. In the Slovene regions, the electoral behavior of the voters was less affected by nationalist sentiment. The election of the diet of Carniola produced " numerous" Slovene deputies(66) but not nearly the decisive majority the size of the Slovene population of Camiola (90 percent) would warrant. Similarly, only about half of the deputies elected to the Imperial Parliament in ethnically Slovene territory were actually of Slovene orientation ; the other half were German or bilingual without specifically Slovene leanings.(67) Finally, the nationalists in the Slovak regions failed completely: the first modern Hungarian Parliament , elected in June 1848, did not have a single Slovak deputy. This was attributable, in part , to Magyar electoral pressures. But the principal reason was the underdeveloped nationalist sentiment of the Slovak mass . Slovak leaders were themselves not unaware of this and �SLOVAKIA 127 fielded only a few candidates . (68) The nationalist leaders realized that much of their effectiveness depended on the success with which they mobilized the support of the largest social group: the peasantry . To achieve this, they experimented with the publication of newspapers written and edited specifically for the peasantry. However, the results of this effort proved disappointing. The only peasant newspaper that proved successful was the Slovene Novice but even in this instance , no more than 15 percent of its subscribers belonged to the class for which it was primarily aimed.(69) Clearly, Novice could maintain itself only because of the support of non-peasant readers , particularly the clergy. Publication of peasant newspapers was tried also by Croatian (Summer 1848) and Czech (Spring 1849) leaders but both ventures failed for lack of reader support. (70) A more technically oriented newspaper was devised and launched for the Slovak peasants but it likewise proved short-lived (1848). (71) These failures have usually been attributed to a lack of national consciousness on the part of the peasantry, and doubtless there is more than a grain of truth in the observation. After all, the peasantry had only just emerged, in 1848, from the last vestiges of serfdom . A large number of peasants was still illiterate and could not be expected to display a degree of political and nationalist commitment of the kind evinced by the elites. Plainly, the peasant's most immediate and active concerns involved his own social problems rather than the problems of nationalism . At the same time, it should not be forgotten that the peasants were the authentic traditional bearers of the national cultures and folklore and it would be implausible to maintain that such traditions had failed to engender varying degrees of national consciousness or even of interest in the nationalist movement. There is, in fact , good evidence to show that although the peasants turned their back on peasant newspapers, many of them followed the great nationalist press, such as the Czech Narodni Noviny (successor, since April 1848 to Praiske Noviny) .(72) It is probable that such newspapers offered them a more direct opportunity of identifying with the nationalist leaders . The quality and intensity of the peasants' commitment to nationalism did not and could not equal that of the elites , but not a few of them were prepared to support the elites in the capacity of followers. However, this differed from one ethnic region to another. Peasant support for the nationalist elites was the most widespread in the Czech regions. The authorities in Bohemia were not oblivious to the support from the peasants the Czech leaders enjoyed; a confidential police report of May 1849 noted that Czech leaders could count on Czech peasants in resisting unpopular government measures.(73) In the other three ethnic regions, the peasantry seemed moblized to a lesser degree , the least , to judge from the election results, in Slovakia. The apathy of the Slovak peasant seemed more marked than that of his Czech, Slovene and Croatian counterparts. Indeed, the Slovak �128 SLOVAKIA movement as a whole was so weak that a brief digression concerning this weakness appears warranted. Certainly , a major weakening factor was religious discord. Although a majority of Slovaks were Roman Catholic, the Protestants occupied the highest rungs of power in the elite and were , for all practical purposes , the moving spirits of the revolution of 1848 in Slovakia - a situation calculated to displease the Roman Catholics. The great triad of the movement, tudovit Stur, M. M . Hodza and J.M. Hurban, were all Protestants , the latter two were practicing Lutheran clergymen. The group that adopted the nationalist program of May 1848 consisted almost entirely of Protestants.(74) At the grass roots, the climate was similar: the areas inhabited by Protestants manifested a more active nationalist sentiment during the revolution than those inhabited by Roman Catholics - hardly a favorable omen in a people that was in majority Roman Catholic. It is not surprising that some Roman Catholic Slovaks regarded the movement of 1848 as a Protestant plot.(75) Furthermore , the Slovaks lacked a major center of national culture and their geographic setting in general hindered rather than aided the growth of communications and the development of nationalism . The river valleys amid the high peaks of the Tatra Mountains had an isolating effect. " We are an unfortunate people," lamented one Slovak leader, ' ' in that we live only in our valleys - isolated from one another, ' ' and contrasted it with the advantage the Czechs possessed in having a centrally located city , Prague , which was " like the heart of the (Czech) body ." (76) The network of roads and postal services and transportation facilities was sparse, much sparser than, for instance , in the Czech regions. It took considerably less time to traverse a distance in Bohemia than it did to traverse the same distance in Slovakia. (77) Bratislava was in 1848 a predominantly German city, on the fringes of Slovak ethnic territory. Although Stur's Slovenske Narodnje No vini was published there, the city was far from dominant in Slovak national life . Of the 8 Slovak newspapers appearing in 1848, only 3 were published in Bratislava. (78) The cultural facilities of the Slovaks were dispersed, with no city standing above the others as undisputed national leader. When it came to a center of national culture, the other three peoples were in a better position. The Slovenes , it is true , faced a hostile geographic environment in their mountainous terrain, but had at least a reasonably active center in the city of Ljubljana, situated in the heart of the Slovene ethnic territory. Of the 6 Slovene newspapers appearing in 1848 , all but one originated in Ljubljana. (79) The position of the Croats and the Czechs was again superior to that of the Slovenes. The Croats had their undisputed capital and nationalist center in Zagreb, with 7 of the existing 8 Croatian newspapers published there , (80) and with all major cultural institutions located there. While the Czechs had the most vigorous national center of all, in Prague, to which not only the Czechs but also most other Austrian Slavs, looked �SLOVAKIA 129 for leadership . Of the 41 Czech newspapers published in Bohemia, 33 were appearing in Prague, and they were the ones with the nationwide circulation.(81) Prague was already then becoming the towering symbol of Czech nationalism. To sum up the strength of the Austrian Slavic nationalist movements: the Czechs and the Croats belonged in one category as the stronger pair, while the Slovenes and the Slovaks were the weaker. Within each pair, however, there were marked differences. The Czech movement derived its strength principally from a large popular base , created by more highly developed communications. The Croatian movement had a more restricted popular base but compensated for this by having at is disposal an administrative structure rooted in the traditions of self-government. This, combined with the foothold the movement had in the governing class, the nobility, gave it a readymade leverage of political influence which was denied to the other three nationalities. To formulate it in slightly different language: the strength of the Croatian movement was derived from the traditional social and political features; that of the Czech movement was more clearly associated with the features of modernization. The latter was born in a society that could be described as early industrial, the former in a society that was essentially pre-industrial. A few data will illustrate this. On the eve of 1848, Croatia was without a railroad and with only 4 steam engines operating on its territory.(82) Bohemia (with Moravia) had over 500 kilometers of railroads(83) and some 360 steam engines.(84) For the sake of comparison, it may be noted that at this same time Slovakia was, like Croatia, without a railroad and with only 3 steam engines(85) while Slovenia was more advanced, with 25 steam engines(86) and a stretch of railroad a little under 100 kilometers.(87) (The number of steam engines in Britain then was 30,000 and in France 5,000.(88) Britain had more than 4,000 kilometers of railroad.)(89) The Slovenes and the Slovaks were weaker on several counts . Their nationalist elites were less well organized. The Slovak elite was especially hampered by the Protestant-Catholic differences which constituted a unique element not present in the other three movements. Also, alone of the nationalities being surveyed here, the Slovaks had no institutional forms that would lend their ethnic territory a certain visibility and a possible leverage for political action; and, after June 1848, no political press. Furthermore, the Slovak mass appears to have been the least mobilized into the national movement: the Slovak elite had little impact on the rest of the population. In some of these respects, the Slovenes were in a better position than the Slovaks. They had at least the provincial institutions of Carniola which could be made to serve as an instrument with which to advance the nationalist cause. Their elite was not rent with religious discord. During the year 1848 it succeeded in producing at least a modicum of organizational life (Slovene Society of Ljubljana) and also a political or quasi-political �130 SLOVAKIA press that functioned throughout the 1848-1849 constitutional period. The circulation figures for the Slovene and Slovak newspapers offer unmistakable evidence that the Slovene nationalist movement was reaching a larger proportion of its constituency than the Slovak one.(90) The social and occupational groups that made up the preponderant strain in the nationalist elites were the intelligentsia and the clergy: the former was dominant in the Czech and the Croatian (here linked closely with the nobility) elites, the latter in the Slovene and the Slovak ones. The elites were the ideologues of the nationalist movements, disseminating their views chiefly through the press which they controlled. This suggests some possibilities for future research. It would be desirable to know in what ways the social structure of the elites was reflected in the political ideologies of the nationalist movements.(91) It would be also interesting to discover in what ways the elites helped shape the merging political cultures - the revolutions of 1848 constitute the beginning of modem political life among the peoples of the Austrian Empire - and to what extent this contributed to the enduring pattern of political culture as it crystallized in the coming generations. In our own century, down to the outbreak of World War II, the Czechs gained a reputation for supporting center and left-of-center political movements; the Croats displayed political vagaries but a certain centrist mixture of liberal and conservative seemed to hold the most sway: while among the Slovenes and the Slovaks militant right-wing clericalist movements proved the most dynamic. This pattern seems to mirror, to a considerable extent, the dominant social classes in the nationalist elites as they existed in the middle of the last century. With the present popularity of the study of political cultures, it should not be long before social scientists interested in the Austrian Slavs tum to the middle of the nineteenth century as the time ''when it all began.'' FOOTNOTES 1) W. H. STILLS, Austria in 1848-49 (New York: 1852), 388. ( 2) For the figures for Czechs, Slovaks and Slovenes, see the tables in Fran ZWITTER et al., Nacionalni problemi v Habsbudki Monarhiji (Ljubljana: 1962) , 212-219. For Croats, see the article "Hrvati" in EnciklopedijaJugoslavije. Vol. 4, p. 58. ( 3) Uebersichts-Tafeln zur Statistik der oesterreichisechen Monarchie (Special Reprint of Fascicle X and XI of Statistische Mittheilungen, Vienna: 1850), 1. ( 4) ZWITTER, op. cit., 216, 219. ( 5) George FASEL, Europe in Upheaval: The Revolutions of 1848 (Chicago: 1970), 4. ( 6) Johann SPRINGER, Statistik des oesterreichischen Kaiserstaates, Vol. 1 (Vienna: 1840), 98. ( 7) Slovenska jar: Slovenske povstanie 1848-49, ed. by Jan SLOBODA (Bratislava: 1971), 40 , estimates the Slovak Protestants at one third. ( 8) See the table in ZWITTER, op. cit., 215. �SLOVAKIA 131 ( 9) Bogo GRAFENAUER, Zgodovina slovenskega naroda, Vol. 5 (Ljubljana: 1962), 172. (10) I. KARAMAN, "Ekonomske prilike u vrijeme hrvatskog narodnog preporoda," Kolo, New Series, Vol. 4 (1966), Nos. 8-10, p. 181. (11) K. NOVOTNY and M. MYSKA, eds., Prvni kroky k vitezstvi (Prague: 1966), 10. (12) For the historical development of the ethnic regions of Bohemia, see the map in Ceskoslovenska vlastiveda, Part II, Dejiny, Vol. 2 (Prague: 1969), following p. 80. Compare with this the map depicting the industrial development of Bohemia before 1848, in Atlas ceskoslovenskych dejin (Prague: 1965), No. 17 a. (13) In Croatia as late as 1880 (the earliest year for which accurate statistics are available). 84.64 percent of the population derived their livelihood from agriculture; see Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 4, article "Hrvatska," p. 196. For the Slovenes, the estimate for the middle of the nineteenth century is 89 percent; see article "Slovenija," EnciklopedijaJugoslavije, Vol. 7,353. Much the same picture emerges for the Slovaks, from Slovenskajar, op. cit. 34. (14) See GRAFENAUER, op. cit., 154. (15) Ibid. (16) J. GODECHOT, Les Revolutions de 1848 (Paris: 1971), 90. (17) L. KARNlKOVA, Vyvoj obyvatelstva v ceskych zemich 1754-1914 (Prague: 1965), 105. (18) Uebersichtstafeln zur Statistik, op. cit., 3. (19) F. SISlC, HrvatskaPovijest, Vol. 3 (Zagreb: 1913), 7. (20) Uebersichtstafeln zur Statistik, op. cit., 3. I. CHURKINA, "O nekotorykh osobennostiakh formirovaniia slovenskoi natsii, '' Sovetskoe slavianovedenie, No. 2, 1968, p . 16. (21) Uebersichtstafeln zur Statistik, op. cit., 3 Dejiny Slovenska, ed. by L. HOLOTIK, Vol. 1 (Bratislava: 1961), 435. - For the overall economic trends in Eastern Europe, see I. T. BEREND and G. RAN KI, Economic Development in East-Central Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries (translation from the Hungarian) (New York and London: 1974). (22) In 1850, the ethnic composition of the population of Bratislava was as follows: Germans 70.6 percent, Jews 12.9 percent, Slovaks 10.09 percent, Magyars 6.18 percent, others 0.23 percent. See I. HOUDEK, "Bratislava v revolucnych rokoch 1848-1849." Acta Musei Civitatis Bratislavensis: Bratislava, Vol. 5 (1969), 169. (23) No reliable ethnic statistics exist for these three cities for the middle of the nineteenth century and the available estimates differ so widely that it is unprofitable to reproduce them here. As a rule, German historians claim a larger share of German inhabitants for each city than do the Slavic historians. (24) KARNlKOVA, op. cit., 105. (25) J. JANACEK, ed., Dejiny Prahy (Prague: 1964), 432-433. (26) I. I. LESHCHILOVSKAIA, Illirizm (Moscow: 1968), 94. (27) Quoted in R. A. AVERBUKH, Revoliutsiia i natsionalno-osvoboditelnaia borba v Vengrii 1848-1849 (Moscow: 1965), 5. (28) "Social Movements," in International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 14, p. 441. (29) Prehled ceskoslovenskych dejin, Vol. 1 (Prague: 1958), 688. (30) J. RAVLIC, Matica Hrvatska 1842-1962 (Zagreb: 1963), 40. (31) D. RAP ANT, Tatrin (Martin, 1950), 11-12. For the patriotic societies of the various Slavic groups, see S. B. KIMBALL, The Austro-Slav Revival: A Study of Nineteenth- �132 SLOVAKIA Century Literary Foundations, in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, LXIII, Part 4 (Philadelphia: 1973). (32) The number of members of the Czech Foundation grew from 35 in 1832 to over 500 in 1839, to 2329 in 1847; see Prehled teskoswvenskych dejin op. cit., 688. Tatrin expanded from 23 in 1844 to 80 in 1847; see RAPANT, op. cit., 12, who says that the membership lists were not always accurate. The Croatian Foundation expanded from 158 members in 1842 to 300 in 1844 (figures for the later pre-March years are not available): see RA VLlC, op. cit., 34, 40. (33) J. BLEIWEIS, Zgodovina C. K. krajnske kmetijske druibe (Ljubljana: 1855), 11. (34) M. HROCH, Die Vorkiimpfer der nationalen Bewegung bei den Kleinen Voelkem Europas (Prague: 1968), 44. The percentages refer to the situation as it was in 1847. (35) I have computed these percentages from a membership list containing occupational data, as reproduced in RA VLlC, op. cit., 260-263. The Croatian Foundation was a successor to the so-called Illyrian Reading Room and the above list gives the names of members, 217 in all, of that reading room, for the year 1838-1839. It is the only extant list that contains occupational data and can give us an indication of the social structure of the Croatian Foundation. (36) Computed from a list given in RAP ANT , op. cit., 12. (37) In 1847 the total number of subscribers was 1522 of whom 230 were peasants and 689 clergymen. See GRAFENAUER, op. cit., Vol. 5, 165. (38) J . APIH, "Die Slovenen und die Miirzbewegung von 1848," Oesterreichisches Jahrbuch , XIV (1890), 93. (39) See Notes 34, 35, 36. (40) On the role of the nobility in the Croatian nationalist movement, see LESHCHILOVSKAIA, op. cit., 72-75. (41) RAPANT, op. cit., 12. I have supplemented Rapant's data with those found M. SLAVIK, ed. , Swvenski narodovci do 30. okt6bra 1918 (Trencin: 1945), Ch. ill. For a basic monograph on the early stages of the Slovak nationalist movement, see J. BUTVIN, Slovenske narodno-zjednocovacie hnutie 1780-1848 (Bratislava, 1965). A new quantifying study of the Slovak pre-1848 patriotic intelligentsia is J. HUCKO Socialne sloienie a povod slovenskej obrodenskej inteligencie (Bratislava: 1974). This volume had not reached me at the time this study was completed. (42) A. D. SMITH, Theories of Nationalism (London: 1971), 87 . One of the most influential exponents of the communications theory of nationalism is K. W . DEUTSCH. Nationalism and Social Communication (second edition, Cambridge, Mass ., 1966) . Deutsch inspired the Czech historian HROCH whose work (Note 34) is an important study comparing the origin of certain West and East (including Czech and Slovak) European nationalist movements. (43) M. N. KUZMIN , Shkola i obrazovanie v Chekhoslovakii (Moscow: 1971), 89, 159. (44) One of the leading members of the Czech nationalist movement of the time says of Havlicek and several other Czech nationalists that they spoke Czech "extremely unclearly": quoted in E. BASS, Cteni o roce osmoctyricatem, Vol. 1 (Prague: 1940), 208. For a similar situation among the Slovenes , see F. GESTRIN and V. MELIK, Swvenska zgodovina od konca osemnajstego stoletja do 1918 (Ljubljana: 1968), 83, 88. (45) They were: the Czech Praiske Noviny which began to appear in 1825 but assumed a militant nationalist posture only under the editorship of Karel Havlicek who took it over in 1845-46; the Slovene Novice, founded in 1843; the Croatian Novine Hrvatske (1835); and the Slovak Slovenskje Narodnje Novini (1845). (46) The Slovak newspaper had a circulation of about 500 in the year in which it was launched: see Stur 's letter of September 6, 1845, as printed in Listy Eudovita Stura. Vol. II, ed. by J. AMBRUS (Bratislava: 1956), 94. Subsequent complaints by Stur �SLOVAKIA 133 about circulation indicate that it failed to grow; indeed, for a time at least, it appears to have slipped slightly; see Stur' s letter of August 3, 1846, in Listy, Vol. II, as cited, p. 143. (47) The circulation figures for the Czech newspaper are given by Havlicek in an article published by him on December 28, 1849, and reproduced in Z. V. TOBOLKA , ed. , Karel Havlitek Borovski; Politicke Spisy, Vol. II. Pt. 2 (Prague, 1902) , 875. For a recent article on Havlicek, see B. K. KIMMEL, "Karel Havlicek and the Czech Press before 1848," in P . BROCK and H . Gordon SKILIJNG, eds., The Czech Renascence of the Nineteenth Century (Toronto: 1970) . The Croatian newspaper was printed in 750 copies in the year of its first appearance (1835). This dipped to 400 in 1837 but then began to rise again steadily until the circulation reached 800 in 1848; see J. HORVAT, Povijest novinstva Hrvatske 17711939 (Zagreb : 1962), 123, 133 . The Slovene newspaper started with a run of 1,000 in 1843 and rose to 1,800 by 1848; see J . SLEBINGER, Slovenski tasniki i tasopisi: Bibliografski pregled od 1797-1936 (Ljubljana: 1937), 5. (48) M. LAISKE , Casopisectvi v Cechach 1650-1847 (Prague: 1959), 162, for the pre1848 figure . For the 1848 figure, see F. ROUBIK , Casopisectvo v Cechach v letech 1848-1862 (Prague, 1930). Appendix No . 9 (this for Bohemia) and M. WURMOVA, Soupis moravskych novin a tasopisu z let 1848-1918 (Brno: 1955), 4 (for Moravia) . (49) I. HERGESIC , Hrvatske novine i tasopisi do 1848 (Zagreb : 1936) , 102-103 . (50) M . POTEMRA , Bibliografia slovenskych novin a tasopisov do roku 1918 (Martin: 1958), 117. (51) SLEBINGER, op. cit., 5-7 . (52) For the meeting in Prague, see my Czech Revolution of 1848 (Chapel Hill: 1969), Chpt. 2. For the meeting in Zagreb, see R. HORVAT , Najnovije doba hrvatske povjesti (Zagreb : 1906), 112-113. (53) For the circumstances surrounding the formulation of the Slovene programs , see F. ZWITTER, "Slovenski politicni prerod XIX, stoletja v okviru evropske nacionalne problematike ," Zgodovinski Casopis, Vol. 18 (1964), 110-111. See also I. B. CHURKINA , " Politicheskaia programma Matii Maiara v 1848 godu," Sovetskoe Slavianovedenie 1969, No . 5. (54) J . BUTVIN and J . HA VRANEK, Dejiny Ceskoslovenska (Prague: 1968) , 220-221. (55) A list of members of the National Committee, with occupational data, is found Narodni Noviny, 14 April, 1848. The role of this committee is discussed in PECH, op. cit., 76-79, 115-121. (56) The Slavic Linden executive in Prague had 50 members. Their names, with incomplete occupational data, are printed in Noviny Lipy Slovanske , 11 April, 1849. I was able to identify the occupations of 42 of the members; of these 33 belonged to the inte lligentsia , 6 were merchants , 2 were liberal nobles, and one was a liberal Protestant clergyman . (57) See my "Czech Political Parties in 1848," Canadian Slavonic Papers-Revue canadiene des slavistes XV (1973) , 484-485 . For a map showing the geographic distribution of the branches, see Atlas teskoslovanskych dejin (Prague: 1965), No. 19j . (58) Thus , in one branch in a city , only one member out of 150 enjoyed the status of " burgher." In another, a majority were "poor artisans ," still another consisted largely of " cottagers and poor agricultural workers ." See Narodni Noviny 30 December , 1848 which contains an account of the congress of Slavic Linden branches held in Prague . This account offers some fragmentary data on the occupations of members of a few individual branches . (59) See " Slovenska Lipa ," Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 7, 220-221. �134 SLOVAKIA (60) The Slavic Linden in Zagreb had 80-90 members : Noviny Lipy Slo vans ke, 20 January , 1849. The other major branch, Zadar, is said to have had 200 members ; see V. ZACEK , " Ceske a jihoslovanske Slovanske lipy v roce 1848, " Lite r<irni Archiv Vl (1971) , 227 . (61) J. MAL, " Ljubljana in leto 1848 ," Glasnik Muzejskega Dru~tva za Slovenijo XIV (1933) , 123. See also, J . APIH , Slovenci in 1848 le to (Ljubljana: 1888), 133 . (62) BUTVIN-HAVRANEK , op. cit., 221. (63) Of the four Slovak members who sat on a special 7-man council formed in the fall of 1848 to conduct resistance to Magyar authorities on Slovak territory, 3 were Protestant clergymen ; F . BOKES, " Slovenska narodna rada z rokov 1848-1849," Historicky Casopis xm (1965) , 214 . (64) PECH , Czech Revolution, 104, 167. (65) J . HORVAT, Politii!ka povijest Hrvatske (Zagreb : 1936) , 176. (66) J. APIH, " Die slovenische Bewegung im Fruhjahr und Vorsommer 1848," Oesterreichisches Jahrbuch, XVI (1892); 201. (67) ZWITTER , " Slovenski politicni . .. " 128. (68) D. RAPANT, Slovenske povstanie roku 1848-49, Vol. 1 Pt. 1 (Martin : 1937) , 212. (69) See Note 37 . (70) The Croatian one, entitled Prijatelj Puka, appeared in Zagreb as a weekly supplement of Slavenski Jug. from 9 August to 29 November, 1848 ; see ''Slavenski Jug,' ' Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 7, p. 221. The Czech one was Sedlsk e Noviny, published in Prague between 1 April, 1849 and 30 June, 1849. It is now available in J.J. TYi, Spisy, XIV, ed . by F. STREJCEK and H . HRZALOVA (Prague : 1953). (71) " Noviny pre hospodarstvo , remeslo a domaci zivot ," published from 5 April, 1848 to 27 September, 1848 ; see F . RUTTKAY, Daniel G. Lichard a slovenske novin<irstvo jeho doby (Martin : 1961) , 81 ff . (72) The influence of Havlicek on the peasants was striking. He advised them how to vote and what type of deputies to choose and they followed his advice quite readily; see PECH, Czech R evolution, 105, 284. (73) Ibid. , 258 . (74) L. VON GOGOLAK , Beitriige zur Geschichte des slowakischen Volkes , Vol. 2: Die slowakische nationale Fragen der Reformepoche Ungarns 1790-1848 (Munich: 1969) , 263. (75) D. RAP ANT , Slovenske povstanie roku 1848-49, Vol. 11 Pt. 1 (Martin: 1950), 344 . According to Rapant, Slovak national consciousness was the most highly developed in the Turcian County; RAPANT , op. cit., Vol. ill, Pt. 1 (1956), 351. This was also a region in which the Protestants were especially strong. (76) N<irodni Noviny, 31 May, 1848, article by Hurban . (77) See the map in Atlas i!eskoslovenskych dejin (Prague : 1965), No. 19f; this is an ingenious map comparing the speed of travel in the Czech and Slovak regions in the year 1827. (78) POTEMRA , op. cit., 117. (79) SLEBINGER , op. cit., 5-7 . (80) HERGESIC, op. cit., 102-103. (81) ROUBlK , op. cit., Appendix 6 and 9. (82) R. BICANIC , Doba manufakture u Hrvatskoj i Slavoniji 1750-1860 (Zagreb, 1951), 344. �SLOVAKIA 135 (83) See the map in Skolni atlas t!eskoslovenskych dejin (Prague, 1959), No. 25. (84) Ceskoslovenska vlastiveda, Part II, Dejiny, Vol. 2 (Prague, 1969), 93. (85) Ibid., 104. The first railroad came to Slovakia in the latter part of 1848. (86) GESTRIN-MELIK, op. cit., 50. (87) R. PAVLOVCIC, Zgodovinski atlas Slovenije (Buenos Aires, 1960), No. 69. Also GESTRIN-MELIK , op. cit., 103. (88) GODECHOT . op. cit. , 103. (89) Ceskoslovenska vlastiveda, op. cit., 104. (90) The circulation of the Slovene Novice in 1848 was 1,800 copies which yields a ratio of one copy for 556 people . The circulation of the Slovak Slovenskje Narodnje Novini may be assumed to have been 500 copies in 1848 which yields a ratio of one copy for 3 ,400 people.For the circulation figures, see Notes 46 and 47. (91) I have attempted to compare the ideology of the press of the four nationalities in S. Z. PECH, " The Press of the Habsburg Slavs in 1848: Contribution to a Political Profile ," Canadian Journal of History-Anna/es canadiennes d'histoire, X (1975): 3549 . However, I did not attempt to relate the ideology to the social structure of the elites . � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1977, Vol. 27 Description An account of the resource Vol. 27 (No. 50), 1977. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 113 The Nationalist Movements of the Austrian Slavs in 1848: A Comparative Sociological Profile STANLEY Z. PECH The year 1848 was unlike any other in the long and arduous saga of the Austrian Slavs. It was a year when the Austrian Slavs, like the rest of Europe, passed through a major social and political upheaval. However, the year held for them a very special significance: in 1848 they first emerged as fledgling nations, from the backwater of Europe to stake out a claim for themselves as rightful members of the European family. As William H. Stiles, the United States charge d'affaires in Vienna at the time put it: " Previous to that period," the Austrian Slavs possessed "no proper individuality , their political nationality was unacknowledged, and for centuries, consequently, they exercised no influence in the political councils of Europe. The storms of 1848 and 1849 raised them to consideration, and even power. " (1) In recent years, Western historians have been diligent enough in providing the Western reader with the essential facts concerning the revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Slavic realm. There is indeed ample material for a good copy: the fever of the March Days, the clashes and recriminations between Germans and Slavs, the Magyars and Slavs; the fervent preachments of the highpriests of the various Slavic nationalisms; the Slavic Congress in Prague flaring up into an uprising and aborted by the artillery of General Windischgratz. These are the high points of the revolutions essential to an understanding of the events of that year. However, this understanding now needs to be broadened and refined in the light of new techniques and methodologies developed in the West. There is need for a structural analysis of the Slavic nationalist movements of 1848. There is an added potential benefit to be derived from cross-national comparisons to which these movements lend themselves. The present account seeks to construct a social profile of the Slavic nationalist movements of 1848 and to analyze and compare their strength. I In the mid-nineteenth century, the Austrian Empire counted seven Slavic nationalities in its multi-ethnic structure: Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, Poles, and Ukrainians. The last three will not Reprinted with permission from Histoire Sociale-Social History (Ottawa), Vol. 9, November 1976. 114 SLOVAKIA be treated here. For them the Austrian Empire was not the principal homeland: a majority of Ukrainians and Poles lived under Russia (a number of Poles also lived under Prussia), and a majority of Serbs under Turkey. This makes comparisons involving them problematical. Czechs , Slovaks , Slovenes , and Croats, on the other hand, were not so divided; they had no " home " other than the Austrian Empire. Their basic comparability derives from the following: 1) they experienced a revolution in 1848 ; 2) they lived under the same empire; 3) they were Slavic and shared the status of "subject" nationalities living under " alien " rule: the Czechs and the Slovenes under the Austro-Germans in the western half of the empire, and the Slovaks and the Croats under the Magyars in the eastern half of the empire; 4) they were passing through early stages of national awakening. The largest of the four national groups were the Czechs who numbered, in the middle of the nineteenth century, approximately 4 million. The number of Slovaks in the same period was 1. 7 million, that of the Croats 1.6 million, and that of the Slovenes a little over 1 million. (2) The total population of the Austrian Empire is estimated to have been 37 million ,(3) with the Austro-Germans the largest nationality (over 7 million) and the Magyars the second largest (4 .5 million) .(4) The revolutionary stresses that brought on the upheaval in 1848 had been accentuated by the demographic pressures of the halfcentury preceding the upheaval. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century , the population of the empire had been increasing steadily by 1850 the increase had amounted to one third as against the year 1800, a rate comparable to the other large states of Western Europe.(5) While it is difficult to separate the growth rates for the different peoples of the empire , this much can be hypothesized from the evidence: the rate of growth of the Slavs was greater than that of the non-Slavs.(6) In religious affiliation, Czechs , Slovenes, and Croats were at least 95 percent Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism was also dominant among the Slovaks but there it was confronted with a numerically strong Protestant population (between 25 percent and 30 percent) . (7) The fact that the four nationalities being surveyed here had evolved through centuries as "subject" nationalities imparted to their social structures certain distinctive features - features that set them apart from W estem Europe and left a special mark on their development as modernizing societies. The West European model, with France and Germany as a typical example, exhibited a social structure that was unencumbered (small exceptions aside) by the complicating presence of a different nationality: peasants, nobles, workers, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats, priests, bishops, all spoke the same language and belonged to the same nationality. This comfortable ethnic homogeneity was lacking among most of the Austrian Slavs. To generalize: the four nationalities had an "incomplete" social structure; the lower portions SLOVAKIA 115 of their social pyramid were Slavic while the upper portions were filled with members of the ruling nationality . How did the socio-ethnic edifice look in the specific cases? In the western half of the empire, the Czechs and the Slovenes each had their own peasantry, working class, artisanate, shopkeeper class, intelligentsia, lower clergy and lower bureaucracy. At the same time, their complementing higher classes, the nobility, the entrepreneurs and the higher bureaucracy, were German. The one point of difference between the Czechs and the Slovenes concerned the ecclesiastical hierarchy: in the Czech regions the hierarchy was entirely German whereas in the Slovene regions an influential segment of it was Slovene . This difference explains , in part, the divergent religious attitudes of the two peoples during the next century: the Czechs tended to embrace religious scepticism whereas the Slovenes evinced a vigorous religious spirit and lent strong support to movements of political Catholicism. In the eastern half of the empire, the structure was more complicated. The Slovaks occupied the lower portions of the social pyramid, but the upper portions included, besides the Germans , also the Magyars. The Croats, on the other hand , held a position significantly different from the other three national groups . Of the four nationalities , they alone retained, in part, their own governing class: a segment of the nobility, of higher clergy and of higher bureaucracy in Croatia belonged to the Croatian nationality; the remaining segment was Magyar (or Magyar-oriented Croat) or German. The fact that the Croats retained a substantial foothold in the governing class gave them an advantage not enjoyed by the other three national groups: in the pre-industrial age when the nobility alone counted as a political class , they had at all times a political voice . They had never been reduced to a mere '' nation of peasants.' ' In that sense, they were the only one of the four groups that approximated the West European model of social development. The Austrian Empire was not only a labyrinth of seemingly disarrayed social and ethnic parts. It also was a bewildering conglomerate of provinces and administrative divisions that disarrayed the ethnic parts still further. The existing administrative system had taken shape during the pre-nationalist age and bore no relationship to ethnic boundaries. As a result, not only did some nationality sometimes inhabit two or more provinces but if often shared each such province with a different nationality. Little useful purpose would be served by listing all the administrative divisions with their particular ethnic mosaics. Suffice it to say that for each nationality, one province usually stood out as a core of nationalist activism and attention will be focused on these. For the Czechs, this was the province of Bohemia which the Czechs shared with the Germans, the Czech-German ethnic ratio being 60 percent to 40 percent.(8) For the Slovenes, it was Carniola which was over 90 percent _S lovene, the Germans making up the balance.(9) For 116 SLOVAKIA the Croats, it was Croatia (full name "Croatia-Slavonia") in which the Slavs comprised over 95 percent of the population (two thirds of which were Croats and one third Serbs) while the ruling Magyars and Germans together did not exceed 2 percent; certain other small groups accounted for the remainder. (10) Croatia, it should be stressed, possessed a number of self-governing institutions in which the Croatian nobility, clergy and bureaucracy wielded considerable influence which helped cushion the German-Magyar rule. It even had an army which though subordinated directly to the emperor, was nevertheless an important symbol of Croatian national identity. In short, these social and institutional paraphernalia provided the Croats with defenses and opportunities not available to the other Slavs. This made it possible for them, in the course of 1848, to wrest political control entirely from the Magyars and Germans and erect what amounted to their own state with its own government that recognized only the authority of the emperor in Vienna. None of the other three nationalities came close to generating this type of institutional power. In this connection, it may be noted that the people who exercised the least power from the institutional point of view were the Slovaks. They had been totally submerged through centuries in the existing Hungarian system of counties and no part of the Slovak territory enjoyed the status of a province. The Slovak territory was reasonably compact in ethnic terms but had no institutional support to lend it distinctiveness and distinguish it from the other areas of Hungary. This made the Slovaks the most vulnerable and the least visible of the four peoples. After the Congress of Vienna, the Austrian Empire entered upon the first stages of industrialization . There were, however, marked regional disparities in the tempo with which industrialization proceeded , with the western half of the monarchy moving ahead more rapidly than the eastern half. Among the Slavic peoples, by the middle of the nineteenth century, only the Czechs had made significant advances along the road of modernization . By 1857 , the agrarian sector in Bohemia had been reduced to the point where only some 55 percent of the population derived their livelihood from agriculture .(11) The above figure applies to all of Bohemia (both to its Czech and Germanspeaking areas) ; and it is not possible to say exactly what it would be for the Czech inhabitants specifically. However, it is known that the German-speaking areas of Bohemia were by far the more industrialized( 12) and this would justify revising the figure, as applied to the Czechs, upward: 65 percent to 70 percent seems a more realistic estimate. At this same time, the agrarian sector in the three other Austro-Slavic regions continued to employ 90 percent or more of the economically active population.(13) The economic growth was reflected in the expansion of the urban population, with similar regional disparities prevailing in the degree or urbanization attained. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the proportion of the urban SLOVAKIA 117 population in Bohemia was just under 20 percent;(14) for the Czechspeaking population of Bohemia this figure would have to be revised downward to some extent, perhaps to 15 percent. The Slovenes had at this time an urban population of 4 percent(15) while for the Slovaks and the Croats the figure was even less. (France had then an urban population of 26 percent and Germany 35 percent.)(16) ThE: major cities were few and not even their rapid expansion during the first half of the nineteenth century - some cities doubled in size during this period had produced many large urban centers by West European standards. The largest one was Prague, the most populous Czech city and the capital of Bohemia. With a population of 118,000 in the middle of the nineteenth century (77 ,000 in 1800), (17) it was the only city in the four ethnic regions to attain the 100,000 mark, an achievement placing it in a class with the major cities of Western Europe. The largest Croatian city was Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, with a population of 15,000(18) (8,000 at the beginning of the century)(19) and the largest Slovene city was Ljubljana (Laibach), the capital of Carniola, with a population of 17,000 (it was half this size in 1817). (20) The biggest city in what is today the Slovak region was Bratislava (Pressburg) which had a population, in 1848, of 40,000 (in 1805 it had been just under 22,000).(21) However, Bratislava was then not a Slovak city in any meaningful sense of the term; the majority of its inhabitants were German and it was not the scene of any mass Slovak nationalist activity in 1848.(22) The case of Bratislava was far from unique: many cities and towns throughout the Slavic regions of the Austrian Empire contained a large number of Germans, and sizeable German minorities were to be found in Prague. Ljubljana and Zagreb.(23) Economic power in the cities and indeed throughout the monarchy was largely in the hands of Germans and German Jews. Germans typically constituted the urban elite which controlled municipal administrations and in general exercised a decisive influence over the Slavic substratum. The demographic development of Prague, as the largest metropolis, deserves a special comment. Although the city grew more or less steadily after the year 1800, the really important demographic transformation was not the growth itself, but the increasing proportion of newcomers who moved into the city from the surrounding countryside. In the first two decades of the nineteenth century, the proportion of these newcomers remained relatively stable - hovering near 6 percent of the total population. A change set in during the 1820s: the proportion of newcomers began to increase markedly, from 6.3 percent in 1818, to 15 percent in 1826, to 36.3 percent in 1834, and finally to 48.9 percent in 1850.(24) This meant that by the middle of the century nearly one half of the Prague population consisted of people who had severed their previous roots and come to the city in search of a new life. The mass of newcomers was Czech. They found work in the new textile and machine industries founded during the 1830s and 118 SLOVAKIA 1840s, and in other forms of employment. Textile workers, about a thousand strong, became the largest distinctive group of the labor force in the capital city. Their rioting in 1844 announced the advent of an industrial age in Bohemia and attracted the attention of Europe, its effect reinforced by the rioting at almost the same time of Prague workers employed on the construction of a new railway.(25) One of the consequences of the influx of newcomers was to augment the Czechspeaking substratum in a city governed by the German elite. All this provided a setting calculated to raise the social and political fever of the capital city and goes far toward explaining the intensity of the upheaval that swept Prague during 1848. The other three cities mentioned above were drawn less precipitously into the vortex of social and economic change. Zagreb may serve as an example of a city standing at the opposite pole of the socio-economic spectrum from Prague. Although its size had almost doubled in the half-century before 1848, the city had not acquired an industrial face in the process. In 1808, nearly 40 percent of its population consisted of nobles and clergy (! ) and by 1848 these two groups, along with the intelligentsia, still accounted for one half of the total number of inhabitants.(26) City life in Zagreb, and in the eastern half of the empire as a whole, retained essentially a pre-industrial character as late as 1848. What passed for a town in the eastern half of the empire was different from what it was understood to be in the western half and in Western Europe. As one contemporary observer described the town scene in the eastern half of the empire just on the eve of 1848: not only the small towns but also the larger cities there '' consisted of nothing but settlements of ploughmen, vine growers, and shepherds in which respect they did not differ at all from the villages .'' (27) It is startling to realize that at the time of the outbreak of the 1848 revolution, Croatia - and also Slovakia - had not yet acquired a single mile of railroad. II How strong were the nationalist movements to which these structures gave rise and which broke into the open during the years 1848-1849, complete with leaders and programs? The nationalist movements of 1848 were the culminating point of the preceding halfcentury of "national awakening." This development had of course proceeded at a different pace in the case of the various peoples and by 1848 each movement ·had attained a different level of strength. How can this strength be measured? How did the movements compare in their ability to mobilize supporters? It is generally agreed that to be effective a movement requires '' some kind of organization that enables certain persons to act as authorized spokesmen and representatives. This can take the form of committees, clubs, labor unions, or political parties.'' (28) Such clubs consist of individuals with the highest degree SLOVAKIA 119 of commitment to a movement's objectives. In our context, organizations with such a commitment were the pre-March patriotic societies that had come into being during the 1830s and 1840s. The Czechs, the Croats and the Slovaks each had one such society: they were, respectively, the Czech Foundation (Ceska Matice, founded in 1832), the Croatian Foundation (Matica Hrvatska, 1842) and the Slovak Tatrin (1844). These were nationalist societies comprising the highest echelon of nationalist elites. Although independent of each other, they had similar organizational structures and pursued identical objectives: to promote the native language and culture, and to foster the publication of books and newspapers in that language . With this comparability in mind, we can use the numerical strength of these societies as a comparative index of the strength with which the three nationalist movements entered upon the year 1848. On the eve of 1848, the Czech Foundation had a membership of 2329 (for the year 1847),(29) the Croatian Foundation 300(30) (for 1844, the last pre-1848 year available) and Tatrin 80 (1847).(31) Measured against the total population of each nationality as given earlier, this yields the ratio of 5.8 per 10,000 for the Czech national movement, 1.9 per 10,000 for the Croatian, and a low 0.5 per 10,000 for the Slovak. It may be added that the membership in all three societies was growing.(32) Evidently, the nationalist movements had acquired a momentum of their own, adding their weight to the forces that precipitated the collapse of absolutism in March 1848. The revolutions of 1848 may not have been inevitable but the forces that produced them had been unmistakably at work. The Slovenes lacked a patriotic society before 1848 and consequently we cannot measure the strength of the Slovene movement on a basis strictly comparable with the other three. It may be assumed, however, that the absence of a patriotic society is itself evidence of a sort: it suggests the existence of a less developed nationalist movement. Nevertheless, the Slovenes were not without visible manifestations of progress on the nationalist front. Their patriots established a foothold in the Agricultural Society of Camiola, an organization of long standing. This was not a Slovene patriotic society for it counted both Germans and Slovenes among its members and its avowed purpose was improvement of agriculture, not promotion of Slovene nationalism. However, in 1842 the society appointed a moderate, Dr. Janez Bleiweis, as its new secretary, and under him Slovene nationalist forces found elbow room within the society's framework. The success of the first modem Slovene newspaper, Novice, which Bleiweis launched in 1843 under the auspices of the society, afforded proof that Slovene nationalism was on the rise. (33) Still, the absence of a genuine patriotic society was a serious drawback; it meant that the Slovene elite entered upon the year 1848 with little organizational contact, strength and experience. In this it resembled the Slovak elite whose Tatrin offered too feeble a basis when the need 120 SLOVAKIA for action arose . The Slovene and the Slovak elites were the weaker members in the group, the Czech and the Croatian ones the stronger. This distribution of pre-1848 strength corresponds, in fact, very closely to the performance of these nationalist movements during the year 1848. What about the social hue of the elites? The membership rosters of the three patriotic societies contain occupational data that permit us to make cross-national comparisons. For the Slovenes, we must again resort to substitute material which furnishes a basis for an informed estimate. Surveying all four elites, one can perceive two social groups playing a dominant role: the intelligentsia and the lower clergy. The intelligentsia, as defined here, includes teachers, officials, writers, students, and professionals. The term clergy refers to both Roman Catholic and Protestant clergymen. The latter were numerically strong only in the Slovak elite. In the other three elites, the clergy was, with few exceptions, Roman Catholic. While it is true that the intelligentsia and the clergy were prominent in all four elites, their weight varied from case to case. From the material at our disposal it is evident that the intelligentsia had a larger share in the Czech and Croatian elites, while the clergy had a larger share in the Slovene and Slovak elites. The proportion of the intelligentsia and the clergy in the three patriotic societies was, respectively: 54 percent and 29 percent in the Czech.(34) 52 percent and 20 percent in the Croatian(35) and 30 percent and 59 percent in the Slovak society.(36) It is noteworthy that businessmen and other groups ranked after the intelligentsia and the clergy. The peasants as might be expected were hardly significant. The dominant role of the clergy in the Slovene elite can be gleaned from the list of subscribers to the abovementioned newspaper Novice. Although Novice was intended to be a peasant newspaper, the peasants constituted only a small minority of its subscribers; nearly half of the subscribers (in 1847) were nationalist clergymen!(37) The influence of the clergy was noted by a Slovene historian of the last century; in relating the origins of the nationalist movement he observed that ''The number of conscious (Slovene) patriots outside the ranks of the clergy was small.'' (38) The role of the nobility was important only in the Croatian elite . Its proportion in the Croatian Foundation was 7 percent, as compared with 1.5 percent in the Czech Foundation and zero in the Slovak Tatrin. (39) There were, to be sure, influential individual nobles active also in the Czech nationalist movement in its earliest stages. However, they were, as a rule , German-speaking "Bohemian patriots" who sympathized with the Czech movement without identifying themselves with the Czech nationalism. They were friendly outsiders "looking in" and withdrew from the movement in proportion as that movement acquired a clearly Czech nationalist stamp. The role of the nobility in the Croatian movement was completely different. Far from being outsiders SLOVAKIA 121 looking in, they were anchored squarely in the very heart of the nationalist movement at all times, helping to give it shape and direction in a manner in which the Czech nobility never did. The Croatian elite , it should be pointed out, had an added feature all of its own; this consisted in a peculiar collaboration between the nobles and the intelligentsia. It was almost routine practice for the Croatian nobles who had the right to sit in pre-1848 county assemblies to allow themselves to be represented by members of the nationalist intelligentsia. (40) This gave the intelligentsia considerable influence over and above its numercial strength , but there was a reverse side to the coin: the intelligentsia fell into a state of dependence upon the nobles to some extent and acted as a conduit for noble influence. A particular reference should be made at this point to the Slovak elite and to the problem that bedeviled the relationship between its members: the religious problem. Perhaps half of the clergymen in the Slovak patriotic society were Protestant (Lutheran), the remainder were Roman Catholic.(41) Protestants, however, had acquired a commanding position during the years preceding 1848. Moreover, Protestants and Catholics were divided not only by religious convictions - which would have been serious enough to jeopardize the movement - but also by different attitudes regarding the conception of Slovak nationhood and literary language . The chasm separating the two religious groups proved difficult to bridge and Roman Catholics treated the Protestant initiatives with the greatest reserve. This was bound to have a damaging effect on Slovak efforts; how damaging, the events of 1848 were to bear out only too painfully. This added to the vulnerability of a nationalist movement that had already been rendered vulnerable on other counts. The Slovaks were the only one of the four nationalities that entered the year 1848 with a seriously disunited elite . The elites as organized in the patriotic societies comprised the most highly committed or mobilized members of the nationalist movements. How did the elites draw the broader strata of the populations into the movement? How did the wider process of social mobilization take place? It is now increasingly recognized that the development of nationalism is related to the role of communications. A group of sociological theories assigns communications a prime place in the process of national awakening. One communications model in fact considers ' 'the role of the intelligentsia ... to be a necessary condition of all nationalist movements, " (42) an observation which appears to receive support from the role the intelligentsia played in the four movements examined here. If one includes the clergy, as some historians do , in the concept of "intelligentsia" (" clerical intelligentsia'' ), then the importance of this social group in the genesis of Austro-Slavic nationalisms becomes overwhelming. In this context literacy was an essential factor contributing to the success of any mobilizing effort mounted by the elites. How did the four 122 SLOVAKIA nationalities rate on this count? Literacy statistics were not compiled in the Austrian Empire at the time we are discussing. In order to obtain a picture, we are obliged to rely on later census data that indicate the literacy of the generation that was born in the 1830s and was of school age in the 1840s. In this generation, the Czechs led the others . Their rate was 84. 75 percent which was nearly three times as much as that of the Slovaks (30.2 percent), the Slovenes (28.62 percent) and the Croats (26. 7 percent) . (43) It is necessary to add that the Slavic populations in general were at a disadvantage vis-a-vis the Austro-Germans when it came to the use of their languages as a medium of instruction in schools. Only in the lower schools was teaching conducted in the language appropriate to the ethnic region. The language of middle and higher schools was German in the western half of the empire and German, Latin or Magyar in the eastern half. In other words, attaining a higher level of education generally compelled the individual concerned to leave the cultural ambience of his native language . The results of this process were often bizarre. For example, the Czech Karel Havlicek and the Slovene Bleiwies, both leading nationalists, were, in the early stages of their nationalist activity, more fluent in German than in their own native language - a situation by no means untypical of Slavic national awakeners.(44) The elites were keenly aware of the efficacy of the printed word as a medium through which they could best transmit their ideas and mobilize the larger non-elite mass; hence the preoccupation of the patriotic societies with publishing. The printed word devised and disseminated nationalist symbols, awakened an interest in the past and created an awareness of shared leaders, thus ultimately engendering a sense of the community of language, culture and history. For maximum effectiveness, the printed word had to have periodicity and this pointed to the importance of the newspaper as a vehicle most suitable for communication. It was a portent of an approaching nationalist storm that the fifteen-year period preceding the revolutions of 1848 saw the foundation of the first modem national and nationalist newspapers in the case of all four nationalities . One such newspaper was founded in each case, under the auspices of or in association with, the patriotic societies.(45) Of the four, only one, the Slovak, remained stationary in circulation during the pre-March period(46) while the other three showed a circulation increase, with the Czech newspaper registering an increase that can only be described as extraordinary, from 200 in 1846 to 1,500 in 1848.(47) The editor of the Czech newspaper was Karel Havlicek , of the Croatian, Ljudevit Gaj, of the Slovak, I.:udovit Stur, and of the Slovene, Dr. Janez Bleiweis. It is interesting to note that the last three men were the principal nationalist leaders of their peoples at the time and are considered the ''fathers' ' of their particular nationalist movements. As for Havlicek, he shared this honor with the Czech historian Frantisek Palacky. Nothing illustrates more tellingly the SLOVAKIA 123 importance of communications to nationalism than the fact that the nationalist editors were the leaders of their national groups. ill In March 1848 absolutism in the Austrian Empire collapsed and this ushered in the "revolutions of 1848," a period of constitutional government that lasted for over a year, until the emperor began to reimpose absolutism in the spring and summer of 1849. Among the most important constitutional innovations introduced by the liberal regime was the abolition of censorship in March 1848. This led to the foundation of new magazines and newspapers, making it possible for the Czech leaders to start a veritable avalanche of the printed word. On the eve of 1848 the Czechs had a total of 13 newspapers and periodicals; after March this number quadrupled, to 52.(48) Elsewhere, the expansion was more modest. In Croatia, the increase was from 5 in 184 7 to 8 in 1848(49) while the corresponding Slovak figures were 6 and 8.(50) The Slovenes, starting from a low base of 1 newspaper in 1847 brought the number up to 6 in 1848.(51) (After the return of the reaction in 1849 the number of newspapers began to drop again to pre1848 levels.) Calculated on a per capita basis, there was, in 1848, one newspaper or magazine for 77,000 Czechs, 167,000 Slovenes, 200,000 Croats and 213,000 Slovaks. Clearly, the Czech elite had at their disposal the most highly developed network of communications - an advantage heightened by the fact that some of their newspapers appeared daily (six times a week) whereas the frequency of the newspapers of the other nationalities was not more than three times a week. The strengths and the handicaps with which each Slavic group had entered upon the revolution became evident in the first days of freedom. The Czechs and the Croats promptly staged mass meetings , (in March in their capital cities) at which nationalist programs were adopted. (52) In the other two ethnic regions, the adoption of nationalist programs was accomplished with less mass support. The Slovenes formulated their nationalist programs in March without the benefit of a single mass meeting - the only Slav group to pass through the revolutionary year without mass demonstrations or rallies in support of nationalist objectives.(53) In Slovakia, the elite was slow in getting off the mark and encountered difficulties in mobilizing public opinion. A full-fledged nationalist program was not adopted until the beginning of May 1848 at a meeting in Liptovsky Svlity Mikulas, but the public presence at this meeting was modest and the program failed to acquire the legitimacy and force sufficient to compel the Magyar authorities to heed it.(54) The opening stages of the revolutionary period demonstrated the advantage of a people having a body of nationalists with organizational experience and mutual contact who would seize the initiatives, and 124 SLOVAKIA quickly and forcefully responded to the challenges of the moment. The pre-1848 patriotic societies consisted of such nationalists. However, accustomed as they had been to more genteel forms of struggle, these societies could not in themselves become the instruments of political activism at a time of revolutionary turbulence, and so new organizations were established to cope with new forms of struggle. The Czechs in Prague created in March a National Committee which served, until its dissolution after the June 1848 uprising in Prague, as a center of Czech nationalist activity throughout Bohemia. Many members of the Czech Foundation became active in the National Committee which counted over a hundred members. In the National Committee, the intelligentsia prevailed, as it had done in the Czech Foundation, with 44 percent of the members belonging to this stratum. However, the proportion of the clergy was drastically reduced in this elite group, to a mere 4 percent, as compared with 29 percent it had had in the Czech Foundation in the last year before the revolution. It appears that the revolution had pushed the clergy into the background. Its place was taken by the bourgeoisie (burghers, artisans, businessmen) whose share in the National Committee was 42 percent.(55) After June 1848 the vacuum created by the demise of the National Committee was filled by the newly founded Slavic Linden (Slovanska Lipa), a nationalist pressure group consciously seeking political change. The Slavic Linden was led by intellectuals and bourgeoisie, with some members of the National Committee passing into its ranks. (56) The clergy played no major role. Politically, the Slavic Linden was somewhat to the left of the National Committee and, unlike the latter, acquired some of the characteristics of a political party: it had its own newspaper, an elected executive, a headquarters (in Prague), and local branches. By the beginning of 1849 it counted 49 branches throughout Bohemia, forming a network reaching into all corners of the province, with a total estimated membership of 2,000.(57) Among rank and file members of the Slavic Linden were peasants and people of the humble stations in life. (58) The Slavic Linden was in fact the only non-elite stratum, showing a widening circle of nationalistically mobilized population. None of the other three nationalities could point to this level of national awakening, and none devised the kind of network through which the nationalists could communicate and operate in an organized fashion. The Croatian nationalist movement operated with instruments essentially different from those employed by the Czechs. The Croatian elite relied less on the spontaneous organs such as the Czech National Committee and more on Croatia's existing institutions of selfgovernment which it revived and re-shaped to suit the new post-March conditions. After March, the Croats acquired their provincial government, the Ban's Council, which managed the affairs of the country throughout 1848-1849. The Croats were the only Slavic group to SLOVAKIA 125 become for the duration of the 1848-1849 revolutionary period , masters in their own house, recognizing the authority of none but the emperor. Their nobility continued to be active and influential in the existing arrangements. The only new non-governmental nationalist political or quasi-political organization to which the elite gave rise in the postMarch period was the Croatian version of the Slavic Linden. It was inspired by but independent of the Czech Slavic Linden. It was founded in Zagreb , was led by moderately left-oriented intellectuals, and acquired a newspaper of its own. However, it was never too active and never succeeded in building a network of branches throughout the Croatian regions. Only one major branch was set up outside of Zagreb.(59) The total membership of the two branches was no more than a few score and the organization never reached into the non-elite strata. (60) The effectiveness and power of the Croatian nationalist movement derived more from the existing institutional structure and the participation of the nobility than from the mobilization of the wider segments of the population. The Slovenes and the Slovaks could offer little to match the Czech and the Croatian examples. Among the Slovenes, the revolution gave rise to the Slovene Society of Ljubljana founded in April 1848 which became the largest and most influential body of Slovene patriots of the revolutionary period . Its slogan was "Everything for Religion, Emperor and Nationality" and doubtless expressed the influence of clergymen who, according to a police report, formed the largest social group within the 400-member society, with the intelligentsia accounting for the rest .(61) The slogan captures the spirit of the society sufficiently to contrast it with the Czech National Committee which was secular minded and in which the clergy had hardly any role to play. At the same time, it deserves to be noted that the thrust of the Society ' s efforts was cultural more than political. It did not become a center of political activity and did not regard itself as much more than a patriotic interest group. The position of the Slovaks was the least satisfactory. At no time after March 1848 did they form anything resembling the Czech National Committee or even the Slovene Society of Ljubljana. As a consequence, their movement was without an organized thrust and without a single direction. Only the political newspaper, the Slouenskje N<irodnjc Nouini continued to function as a voice of Slovak nationalism but it was compelled to suspend publication in June 1848 under Magyar pressure and with its passing, the last channel of communications through which the elite could address itself to the mass had been destroyed. The Slovak people were thus left without a political newspaper for the greater part of the revolutionary era - a handicap to which none of the other three nationalities was subjected. Furth ermore, in June 1848, Magyar authorities declared martial law over much of Slovak territory - charging the Slovak leaders with '' Pan- 126 SLOVAKIA Slavic" subversion and forcing many of them into exile - and this paralyzed the Slovak movement still further.(62) The clergy (Protestant) continued to dominate what was left of the life of the Slovak movement after June. (63 ) The organizational strength of the elites and the degree to which they were able to mobilize the wider segments of the populations were tested at the elections to the various representative assemblies that took place during 1848 - the first such modem elections to be held in the history of the Austrian Empire. Until 1848 , public life in the empire had borne a German or, in the eastern half, German-Magyar character and this was bound to favor German and Magyar candidates in the election contests even in the Slavic-speaking areas . Conversely, success at the polls of the Slavic candidates could be regarded as evidence of a relatively high degree of mobilization among the Slavic electorate. The right to vote was more liberal in the western than in the eastern half of the empire , and even in the former, segments of the lower social classes were excluded. Nevertheless , it must be acknowledged that everywhere a large number of " common" people enjoyed the right to vote and the election results can serve as a rough expression of popular sentiment vis-a-vis the nationalist movements . The elections yielded the following results. In Bohemia, they demonstrated a high degree of responsiveness of voters to the Czech nationalist movement. In the election of the Bohemian diet in J une 1848 the proportion of Czech deputies elected was just over 60 percent (the remainder were Germans) - a figure corresponding closely to the estimated proportion of the Czech population in the province. The election to the Imperial Parliament held in the same month brought similar results, with the Bohemian voters sending to Vienna 55 Czech as against 35 German deputies.(64) In Croatia, the elections to the diet (June 1848) were a clean sweep for the nationalist candidates. This was due , in part , to the militancy of the Croatian authorities who saw to it that only committed to the Croatian cause could stand as candidates. (65) Because of this, the election results are not very meaningful. In the Slovene regions, the electoral behavior of the voters was less affected by nationalist sentiment. The election of the diet of Carniola produced " numerous" Slovene deputies(66) but not nearly the decisive majority the size of the Slovene population of Camiola (90 percent) would warrant. Similarly, only about half of the deputies elected to the Imperial Parliament in ethnically Slovene territory were actually of Slovene orientation ; the other half were German or bilingual without specifically Slovene leanings.(67) Finally, the nationalists in the Slovak regions failed completely: the first modern Hungarian Parliament , elected in June 1848, did not have a single Slovak deputy. This was attributable, in part , to Magyar electoral pressures. But the principal reason was the underdeveloped nationalist sentiment of the Slovak mass . Slovak leaders were themselves not unaware of this and SLOVAKIA 127 fielded only a few candidates . (68) The nationalist leaders realized that much of their effectiveness depended on the success with which they mobilized the support of the largest social group: the peasantry . To achieve this, they experimented with the publication of newspapers written and edited specifically for the peasantry. However, the results of this effort proved disappointing. The only peasant newspaper that proved successful was the Slovene Novice but even in this instance , no more than 15 percent of its subscribers belonged to the class for which it was primarily aimed.(69) Clearly, Novice could maintain itself only because of the support of non-peasant readers , particularly the clergy. Publication of peasant newspapers was tried also by Croatian (Summer 1848) and Czech (Spring 1849) leaders but both ventures failed for lack of reader support. (70) A more technically oriented newspaper was devised and launched for the Slovak peasants but it likewise proved short-lived (1848). (71) These failures have usually been attributed to a lack of national consciousness on the part of the peasantry, and doubtless there is more than a grain of truth in the observation. After all, the peasantry had only just emerged, in 1848, from the last vestiges of serfdom . A large number of peasants was still illiterate and could not be expected to display a degree of political and nationalist commitment of the kind evinced by the elites. Plainly, the peasant's most immediate and active concerns involved his own social problems rather than the problems of nationalism . At the same time, it should not be forgotten that the peasants were the authentic traditional bearers of the national cultures and folklore and it would be implausible to maintain that such traditions had failed to engender varying degrees of national consciousness or even of interest in the nationalist movement. There is, in fact , good evidence to show that although the peasants turned their back on peasant newspapers, many of them followed the great nationalist press, such as the Czech Narodni Noviny (successor, since April 1848 to Praiske Noviny) .(72) It is probable that such newspapers offered them a more direct opportunity of identifying with the nationalist leaders . The quality and intensity of the peasants' commitment to nationalism did not and could not equal that of the elites , but not a few of them were prepared to support the elites in the capacity of followers. However, this differed from one ethnic region to another. Peasant support for the nationalist elites was the most widespread in the Czech regions. The authorities in Bohemia were not oblivious to the support from the peasants the Czech leaders enjoyed; a confidential police report of May 1849 noted that Czech leaders could count on Czech peasants in resisting unpopular government measures.(73) In the other three ethnic regions, the peasantry seemed moblized to a lesser degree , the least , to judge from the election results, in Slovakia. The apathy of the Slovak peasant seemed more marked than that of his Czech, Slovene and Croatian counterparts. Indeed, the Slovak 128 SLOVAKIA movement as a whole was so weak that a brief digression concerning this weakness appears warranted. Certainly , a major weakening factor was religious discord. Although a majority of Slovaks were Roman Catholic, the Protestants occupied the highest rungs of power in the elite and were , for all practical purposes , the moving spirits of the revolution of 1848 in Slovakia - a situation calculated to displease the Roman Catholics. The great triad of the movement, tudovit Stur, M. M . Hodza and J.M. Hurban, were all Protestants , the latter two were practicing Lutheran clergymen. The group that adopted the nationalist program of May 1848 consisted almost entirely of Protestants.(74) At the grass roots, the climate was similar: the areas inhabited by Protestants manifested a more active nationalist sentiment during the revolution than those inhabited by Roman Catholics - hardly a favorable omen in a people that was in majority Roman Catholic. It is not surprising that some Roman Catholic Slovaks regarded the movement of 1848 as a Protestant plot.(75) Furthermore , the Slovaks lacked a major center of national culture and their geographic setting in general hindered rather than aided the growth of communications and the development of nationalism . The river valleys amid the high peaks of the Tatra Mountains had an isolating effect. " We are an unfortunate people," lamented one Slovak leader, ' ' in that we live only in our valleys - isolated from one another, ' ' and contrasted it with the advantage the Czechs possessed in having a centrally located city , Prague , which was " like the heart of the (Czech) body ." (76) The network of roads and postal services and transportation facilities was sparse, much sparser than, for instance , in the Czech regions. It took considerably less time to traverse a distance in Bohemia than it did to traverse the same distance in Slovakia. (77) Bratislava was in 1848 a predominantly German city, on the fringes of Slovak ethnic territory. Although Stur's Slovenske Narodnje No vini was published there, the city was far from dominant in Slovak national life . Of the 8 Slovak newspapers appearing in 1848, only 3 were published in Bratislava. (78) The cultural facilities of the Slovaks were dispersed, with no city standing above the others as undisputed national leader. When it came to a center of national culture, the other three peoples were in a better position. The Slovenes , it is true , faced a hostile geographic environment in their mountainous terrain, but had at least a reasonably active center in the city of Ljubljana, situated in the heart of the Slovene ethnic territory. Of the 6 Slovene newspapers appearing in 1848 , all but one originated in Ljubljana. (79) The position of the Croats and the Czechs was again superior to that of the Slovenes. The Croats had their undisputed capital and nationalist center in Zagreb, with 7 of the existing 8 Croatian newspapers published there , (80) and with all major cultural institutions located there. While the Czechs had the most vigorous national center of all, in Prague, to which not only the Czechs but also most other Austrian Slavs, looked SLOVAKIA 129 for leadership . Of the 41 Czech newspapers published in Bohemia, 33 were appearing in Prague, and they were the ones with the nationwide circulation.(81) Prague was already then becoming the towering symbol of Czech nationalism. To sum up the strength of the Austrian Slavic nationalist movements: the Czechs and the Croats belonged in one category as the stronger pair, while the Slovenes and the Slovaks were the weaker. Within each pair, however, there were marked differences. The Czech movement derived its strength principally from a large popular base , created by more highly developed communications. The Croatian movement had a more restricted popular base but compensated for this by having at is disposal an administrative structure rooted in the traditions of self-government. This, combined with the foothold the movement had in the governing class, the nobility, gave it a readymade leverage of political influence which was denied to the other three nationalities. To formulate it in slightly different language: the strength of the Croatian movement was derived from the traditional social and political features; that of the Czech movement was more clearly associated with the features of modernization. The latter was born in a society that could be described as early industrial, the former in a society that was essentially pre-industrial. A few data will illustrate this. On the eve of 1848, Croatia was without a railroad and with only 4 steam engines operating on its territory.(82) Bohemia (with Moravia) had over 500 kilometers of railroads(83) and some 360 steam engines.(84) For the sake of comparison, it may be noted that at this same time Slovakia was, like Croatia, without a railroad and with only 3 steam engines(85) while Slovenia was more advanced, with 25 steam engines(86) and a stretch of railroad a little under 100 kilometers.(87) (The number of steam engines in Britain then was 30,000 and in France 5,000.(88) Britain had more than 4,000 kilometers of railroad.)(89) The Slovenes and the Slovaks were weaker on several counts . Their nationalist elites were less well organized. The Slovak elite was especially hampered by the Protestant-Catholic differences which constituted a unique element not present in the other three movements. Also, alone of the nationalities being surveyed here, the Slovaks had no institutional forms that would lend their ethnic territory a certain visibility and a possible leverage for political action; and, after June 1848, no political press. Furthermore, the Slovak mass appears to have been the least mobilized into the national movement: the Slovak elite had little impact on the rest of the population. In some of these respects, the Slovenes were in a better position than the Slovaks. They had at least the provincial institutions of Carniola which could be made to serve as an instrument with which to advance the nationalist cause. Their elite was not rent with religious discord. During the year 1848 it succeeded in producing at least a modicum of organizational life (Slovene Society of Ljubljana) and also a political or quasi-political 130 SLOVAKIA press that functioned throughout the 1848-1849 constitutional period. The circulation figures for the Slovene and Slovak newspapers offer unmistakable evidence that the Slovene nationalist movement was reaching a larger proportion of its constituency than the Slovak one.(90) The social and occupational groups that made up the preponderant strain in the nationalist elites were the intelligentsia and the clergy: the former was dominant in the Czech and the Croatian (here linked closely with the nobility) elites, the latter in the Slovene and the Slovak ones. The elites were the ideologues of the nationalist movements, disseminating their views chiefly through the press which they controlled. This suggests some possibilities for future research. It would be desirable to know in what ways the social structure of the elites was reflected in the political ideologies of the nationalist movements.(91) It would be also interesting to discover in what ways the elites helped shape the merging political cultures - the revolutions of 1848 constitute the beginning of modem political life among the peoples of the Austrian Empire - and to what extent this contributed to the enduring pattern of political culture as it crystallized in the coming generations. In our own century, down to the outbreak of World War II, the Czechs gained a reputation for supporting center and left-of-center political movements; the Croats displayed political vagaries but a certain centrist mixture of liberal and conservative seemed to hold the most sway: while among the Slovenes and the Slovaks militant right-wing clericalist movements proved the most dynamic. This pattern seems to mirror, to a considerable extent, the dominant social classes in the nationalist elites as they existed in the middle of the last century. With the present popularity of the study of political cultures, it should not be long before social scientists interested in the Austrian Slavs tum to the middle of the nineteenth century as the time ''when it all began.'' FOOTNOTES 1) W. H. STILLS, Austria in 1848-49 (New York: 1852), 388. ( 2) For the figures for Czechs, Slovaks and Slovenes, see the tables in Fran ZWITTER et al., Nacionalni problemi v Habsbudki Monarhiji (Ljubljana: 1962) , 212-219. For Croats, see the article "Hrvati" in EnciklopedijaJugoslavije. Vol. 4, p. 58. ( 3) Uebersichts-Tafeln zur Statistik der oesterreichisechen Monarchie (Special Reprint of Fascicle X and XI of Statistische Mittheilungen, Vienna: 1850), 1. ( 4) ZWITTER, op. cit., 216, 219. ( 5) George FASEL, Europe in Upheaval: The Revolutions of 1848 (Chicago: 1970), 4. ( 6) Johann SPRINGER, Statistik des oesterreichischen Kaiserstaates, Vol. 1 (Vienna: 1840), 98. ( 7) Slovenska jar: Slovenske povstanie 1848-49, ed. by Jan SLOBODA (Bratislava: 1971), 40 , estimates the Slovak Protestants at one third. ( 8) See the table in ZWITTER, op. cit., 215. SLOVAKIA 131 ( 9) Bogo GRAFENAUER, Zgodovina slovenskega naroda, Vol. 5 (Ljubljana: 1962), 172. (10) I. KARAMAN, "Ekonomske prilike u vrijeme hrvatskog narodnog preporoda," Kolo, New Series, Vol. 4 (1966), Nos. 8-10, p. 181. (11) K. NOVOTNY and M. MYSKA, eds., Prvni kroky k vitezstvi (Prague: 1966), 10. (12) For the historical development of the ethnic regions of Bohemia, see the map in Ceskoslovenska vlastiveda, Part II, Dejiny, Vol. 2 (Prague: 1969), following p. 80. Compare with this the map depicting the industrial development of Bohemia before 1848, in Atlas ceskoslovenskych dejin (Prague: 1965), No. 17 a. (13) In Croatia as late as 1880 (the earliest year for which accurate statistics are available). 84.64 percent of the population derived their livelihood from agriculture; see Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 4, article "Hrvatska," p. 196. For the Slovenes, the estimate for the middle of the nineteenth century is 89 percent; see article "Slovenija," EnciklopedijaJugoslavije, Vol. 7,353. Much the same picture emerges for the Slovaks, from Slovenskajar, op. cit. 34. (14) See GRAFENAUER, op. cit., 154. (15) Ibid. (16) J. GODECHOT, Les Revolutions de 1848 (Paris: 1971), 90. (17) L. KARNlKOVA, Vyvoj obyvatelstva v ceskych zemich 1754-1914 (Prague: 1965), 105. (18) Uebersichtstafeln zur Statistik, op. cit., 3. (19) F. SISlC, HrvatskaPovijest, Vol. 3 (Zagreb: 1913), 7. (20) Uebersichtstafeln zur Statistik, op. cit., 3. I. CHURKINA, "O nekotorykh osobennostiakh formirovaniia slovenskoi natsii, '' Sovetskoe slavianovedenie, No. 2, 1968, p . 16. (21) Uebersichtstafeln zur Statistik, op. cit., 3 Dejiny Slovenska, ed. by L. HOLOTIK, Vol. 1 (Bratislava: 1961), 435. - For the overall economic trends in Eastern Europe, see I. T. BEREND and G. RAN KI, Economic Development in East-Central Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries (translation from the Hungarian) (New York and London: 1974). (22) In 1850, the ethnic composition of the population of Bratislava was as follows: Germans 70.6 percent, Jews 12.9 percent, Slovaks 10.09 percent, Magyars 6.18 percent, others 0.23 percent. See I. HOUDEK, "Bratislava v revolucnych rokoch 1848-1849." Acta Musei Civitatis Bratislavensis: Bratislava, Vol. 5 (1969), 169. (23) No reliable ethnic statistics exist for these three cities for the middle of the nineteenth century and the available estimates differ so widely that it is unprofitable to reproduce them here. As a rule, German historians claim a larger share of German inhabitants for each city than do the Slavic historians. (24) KARNlKOVA, op. cit., 105. (25) J. JANACEK, ed., Dejiny Prahy (Prague: 1964), 432-433. (26) I. I. LESHCHILOVSKAIA, Illirizm (Moscow: 1968), 94. (27) Quoted in R. A. AVERBUKH, Revoliutsiia i natsionalno-osvoboditelnaia borba v Vengrii 1848-1849 (Moscow: 1965), 5. (28) "Social Movements," in International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 14, p. 441. (29) Prehled ceskoslovenskych dejin, Vol. 1 (Prague: 1958), 688. (30) J. RAVLIC, Matica Hrvatska 1842-1962 (Zagreb: 1963), 40. (31) D. RAP ANT, Tatrin (Martin, 1950), 11-12. For the patriotic societies of the various Slavic groups, see S. B. KIMBALL, The Austro-Slav Revival: A Study of Nineteenth- 132 SLOVAKIA Century Literary Foundations, in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, LXIII, Part 4 (Philadelphia: 1973). (32) The number of members of the Czech Foundation grew from 35 in 1832 to over 500 in 1839, to 2329 in 1847; see Prehled teskoswvenskych dejin op. cit., 688. Tatrin expanded from 23 in 1844 to 80 in 1847; see RAPANT, op. cit., 12, who says that the membership lists were not always accurate. The Croatian Foundation expanded from 158 members in 1842 to 300 in 1844 (figures for the later pre-March years are not available): see RA VLlC, op. cit., 34, 40. (33) J. BLEIWEIS, Zgodovina C. K. krajnske kmetijske druibe (Ljubljana: 1855), 11. (34) M. HROCH, Die Vorkiimpfer der nationalen Bewegung bei den Kleinen Voelkem Europas (Prague: 1968), 44. The percentages refer to the situation as it was in 1847. (35) I have computed these percentages from a membership list containing occupational data, as reproduced in RA VLlC, op. cit., 260-263. The Croatian Foundation was a successor to the so-called Illyrian Reading Room and the above list gives the names of members, 217 in all, of that reading room, for the year 1838-1839. It is the only extant list that contains occupational data and can give us an indication of the social structure of the Croatian Foundation. (36) Computed from a list given in RAP ANT , op. cit., 12. (37) In 1847 the total number of subscribers was 1522 of whom 230 were peasants and 689 clergymen. See GRAFENAUER, op. cit., Vol. 5, 165. (38) J . APIH, "Die Slovenen und die Miirzbewegung von 1848," Oesterreichisches Jahrbuch , XIV (1890), 93. (39) See Notes 34, 35, 36. (40) On the role of the nobility in the Croatian nationalist movement, see LESHCHILOVSKAIA, op. cit., 72-75. (41) RAPANT, op. cit., 12. I have supplemented Rapant's data with those found M. SLAVIK, ed. , Swvenski narodovci do 30. okt6bra 1918 (Trencin: 1945), Ch. ill. For a basic monograph on the early stages of the Slovak nationalist movement, see J. BUTVIN, Slovenske narodno-zjednocovacie hnutie 1780-1848 (Bratislava, 1965). A new quantifying study of the Slovak pre-1848 patriotic intelligentsia is J. HUCKO Socialne sloienie a povod slovenskej obrodenskej inteligencie (Bratislava: 1974). This volume had not reached me at the time this study was completed. (42) A. D. SMITH, Theories of Nationalism (London: 1971), 87 . One of the most influential exponents of the communications theory of nationalism is K. W . DEUTSCH. Nationalism and Social Communication (second edition, Cambridge, Mass ., 1966) . Deutsch inspired the Czech historian HROCH whose work (Note 34) is an important study comparing the origin of certain West and East (including Czech and Slovak) European nationalist movements. (43) M. N. KUZMIN , Shkola i obrazovanie v Chekhoslovakii (Moscow: 1971), 89, 159. (44) One of the leading members of the Czech nationalist movement of the time says of Havlicek and several other Czech nationalists that they spoke Czech "extremely unclearly": quoted in E. BASS, Cteni o roce osmoctyricatem, Vol. 1 (Prague: 1940), 208. For a similar situation among the Slovenes , see F. GESTRIN and V. MELIK, Swvenska zgodovina od konca osemnajstego stoletja do 1918 (Ljubljana: 1968), 83, 88. (45) They were: the Czech Praiske Noviny which began to appear in 1825 but assumed a militant nationalist posture only under the editorship of Karel Havlicek who took it over in 1845-46; the Slovene Novice, founded in 1843; the Croatian Novine Hrvatske (1835); and the Slovak Slovenskje Narodnje Novini (1845). (46) The Slovak newspaper had a circulation of about 500 in the year in which it was launched: see Stur 's letter of September 6, 1845, as printed in Listy Eudovita Stura. Vol. II, ed. by J. AMBRUS (Bratislava: 1956), 94. Subsequent complaints by Stur SLOVAKIA 133 about circulation indicate that it failed to grow; indeed, for a time at least, it appears to have slipped slightly; see Stur' s letter of August 3, 1846, in Listy, Vol. II, as cited, p. 143. (47) The circulation figures for the Czech newspaper are given by Havlicek in an article published by him on December 28, 1849, and reproduced in Z. V. TOBOLKA , ed. , Karel Havlitek Borovski; Politicke Spisy, Vol. II. Pt. 2 (Prague, 1902) , 875. For a recent article on Havlicek, see B. K. KIMMEL, "Karel Havlicek and the Czech Press before 1848," in P . BROCK and H . Gordon SKILIJNG, eds., The Czech Renascence of the Nineteenth Century (Toronto: 1970) . The Croatian newspaper was printed in 750 copies in the year of its first appearance (1835). This dipped to 400 in 1837 but then began to rise again steadily until the circulation reached 800 in 1848; see J. HORVAT, Povijest novinstva Hrvatske 17711939 (Zagreb : 1962), 123, 133 . The Slovene newspaper started with a run of 1,000 in 1843 and rose to 1,800 by 1848; see J . SLEBINGER, Slovenski tasniki i tasopisi: Bibliografski pregled od 1797-1936 (Ljubljana: 1937), 5. (48) M. LAISKE , Casopisectvi v Cechach 1650-1847 (Prague: 1959), 162, for the pre1848 figure . For the 1848 figure, see F. ROUBIK , Casopisectvo v Cechach v letech 1848-1862 (Prague, 1930). Appendix No . 9 (this for Bohemia) and M. WURMOVA, Soupis moravskych novin a tasopisu z let 1848-1918 (Brno: 1955), 4 (for Moravia) . (49) I. HERGESIC , Hrvatske novine i tasopisi do 1848 (Zagreb : 1936) , 102-103 . (50) M . POTEMRA , Bibliografia slovenskych novin a tasopisov do roku 1918 (Martin: 1958), 117. (51) SLEBINGER, op. cit., 5-7 . (52) For the meeting in Prague, see my Czech Revolution of 1848 (Chapel Hill: 1969), Chpt. 2. For the meeting in Zagreb, see R. HORVAT , Najnovije doba hrvatske povjesti (Zagreb : 1906), 112-113. (53) For the circumstances surrounding the formulation of the Slovene programs , see F. ZWITTER, "Slovenski politicni prerod XIX, stoletja v okviru evropske nacionalne problematike ," Zgodovinski Casopis, Vol. 18 (1964), 110-111. See also I. B. CHURKINA , " Politicheskaia programma Matii Maiara v 1848 godu," Sovetskoe Slavianovedenie 1969, No . 5. (54) J . BUTVIN and J . HA VRANEK, Dejiny Ceskoslovenska (Prague: 1968) , 220-221. (55) A list of members of the National Committee, with occupational data, is found Narodni Noviny, 14 April, 1848. The role of this committee is discussed in PECH, op. cit., 76-79, 115-121. (56) The Slavic Linden executive in Prague had 50 members. Their names, with incomplete occupational data, are printed in Noviny Lipy Slovanske , 11 April, 1849. I was able to identify the occupations of 42 of the members; of these 33 belonged to the inte lligentsia , 6 were merchants , 2 were liberal nobles, and one was a liberal Protestant clergyman . (57) See my "Czech Political Parties in 1848," Canadian Slavonic Papers-Revue canadiene des slavistes XV (1973) , 484-485 . For a map showing the geographic distribution of the branches, see Atlas teskoslovanskych dejin (Prague: 1965), No. 19j . (58) Thus , in one branch in a city , only one member out of 150 enjoyed the status of " burgher." In another, a majority were "poor artisans ," still another consisted largely of " cottagers and poor agricultural workers ." See Narodni Noviny 30 December , 1848 which contains an account of the congress of Slavic Linden branches held in Prague . This account offers some fragmentary data on the occupations of members of a few individual branches . (59) See " Slovenska Lipa ," Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 7, 220-221. 134 SLOVAKIA (60) The Slavic Linden in Zagreb had 80-90 members : Noviny Lipy Slo vans ke, 20 January , 1849. The other major branch, Zadar, is said to have had 200 members ; see V. ZACEK , " Ceske a jihoslovanske Slovanske lipy v roce 1848, " Lite r<irni Archiv Vl (1971) , 227 . (61) J. MAL, " Ljubljana in leto 1848 ," Glasnik Muzejskega Dru~tva za Slovenijo XIV (1933) , 123. See also, J . APIH , Slovenci in 1848 le to (Ljubljana: 1888), 133 . (62) BUTVIN-HAVRANEK , op. cit., 221. (63) Of the four Slovak members who sat on a special 7-man council formed in the fall of 1848 to conduct resistance to Magyar authorities on Slovak territory, 3 were Protestant clergymen ; F . BOKES, " Slovenska narodna rada z rokov 1848-1849," Historicky Casopis xm (1965) , 214 . (64) PECH , Czech Revolution, 104, 167. (65) J . HORVAT, Politii!ka povijest Hrvatske (Zagreb : 1936) , 176. (66) J. APIH, " Die slovenische Bewegung im Fruhjahr und Vorsommer 1848," Oesterreichisches Jahrbuch, XVI (1892); 201. (67) ZWITTER , " Slovenski politicni . .. " 128. (68) D. RAPANT, Slovenske povstanie roku 1848-49, Vol. 1 Pt. 1 (Martin : 1937) , 212. (69) See Note 37 . (70) The Croatian one, entitled Prijatelj Puka, appeared in Zagreb as a weekly supplement of Slavenski Jug. from 9 August to 29 November, 1848 ; see ''Slavenski Jug,' ' Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 7, p. 221. The Czech one was Sedlsk e Noviny, published in Prague between 1 April, 1849 and 30 June, 1849. It is now available in J.J. TYi, Spisy, XIV, ed . by F. STREJCEK and H . HRZALOVA (Prague : 1953). (71) " Noviny pre hospodarstvo , remeslo a domaci zivot ," published from 5 April, 1848 to 27 September, 1848 ; see F . RUTTKAY, Daniel G. Lichard a slovenske novin<irstvo jeho doby (Martin : 1961) , 81 ff . (72) The influence of Havlicek on the peasants was striking. He advised them how to vote and what type of deputies to choose and they followed his advice quite readily; see PECH, Czech R evolution, 105, 284. (73) Ibid. , 258 . (74) L. VON GOGOLAK , Beitriige zur Geschichte des slowakischen Volkes , Vol. 2: Die slowakische nationale Fragen der Reformepoche Ungarns 1790-1848 (Munich: 1969) , 263. (75) D. RAP ANT , Slovenske povstanie roku 1848-49, Vol. 11 Pt. 1 (Martin: 1950), 344 . According to Rapant, Slovak national consciousness was the most highly developed in the Turcian County; RAPANT , op. cit., Vol. ill, Pt. 1 (1956), 351. This was also a region in which the Protestants were especially strong. (76) N<irodni Noviny, 31 May, 1848, article by Hurban . (77) See the map in Atlas i!eskoslovenskych dejin (Prague : 1965), No. 19f; this is an ingenious map comparing the speed of travel in the Czech and Slovak regions in the year 1827. (78) POTEMRA , op. cit., 117. (79) SLEBINGER , op. cit., 5-7 . (80) HERGESIC, op. cit., 102-103. (81) ROUBlK , op. cit., Appendix 6 and 9. (82) R. BICANIC , Doba manufakture u Hrvatskoj i Slavoniji 1750-1860 (Zagreb, 1951), 344. SLOVAKIA 135 (83) See the map in Skolni atlas t!eskoslovenskych dejin (Prague, 1959), No. 25. (84) Ceskoslovenska vlastiveda, Part II, Dejiny, Vol. 2 (Prague, 1969), 93. (85) Ibid., 104. The first railroad came to Slovakia in the latter part of 1848. (86) GESTRIN-MELIK, op. cit., 50. (87) R. PAVLOVCIC, Zgodovinski atlas Slovenije (Buenos Aires, 1960), No. 69. Also GESTRIN-MELIK , op. cit., 103. (88) GODECHOT . op. cit. , 103. (89) Ceskoslovenska vlastiveda, op. cit., 104. (90) The circulation of the Slovene Novice in 1848 was 1,800 copies which yields a ratio of one copy for 556 people . The circulation of the Slovak Slovenskje Narodnje Novini may be assumed to have been 500 copies in 1848 which yields a ratio of one copy for 3 ,400 people.For the circulation figures, see Notes 46 and 47. (91) I have attempted to compare the ideology of the press of the four nationalities in S. Z. PECH, " The Press of the Habsburg Slavs in 1848: Contribution to a Political Profile ," Canadian Journal of History-Anna/es canadiennes d'histoire, X (1975): 3549 . However, I did not attempt to relate the ideology to the social structure of the elites .  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Nationalist Movements of the Austrian Slavs in 1848: A Comparative Sociological Profile Description An account of the resource Stanley Z. Pech Slovakia, Vol. 27 (No. 50), 1977 pp. 113-135 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pech, Stanley Z., 1924-1985 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/66f12b876d0eb9f889e2e97a879c1f96.pdf e6d873eebdce88e265fc0dbd28f25e23 PDF Text Text 140 SLOVAKIA The New Spring (a fragment) r:uoo ONDREJOV (1901-1962) Jergus's comrades, Joe Kosalkula and Steve Fasanga Cengac, invited him to play with them in the huge sooty building at the end of the yard.* In the semidarkness of the large hall multicolored flames burned - blue and green, violet and white. On the hearth there was a sledge hammer. Half the size of a man, it lay on a huge anvil. The hammer's handle was made of a regular girder which extended to a colossal cogwheel. The boys told Jergus: ''They put a large chunk of copper into the fire and heat it until it is white-hot and bursting with sparks. Then the men grasp the copper with long pliers and bring it to the anvil. Then they let water flow on the large wheel. The wheel turns and the cogs grasp the girder handle, pushing down its end. The sledge rises. And when the wheel continues turning, the handle slips down from the cog and the sledge strikes the anvil. As the wheel turns, the sledge repeatedly hits the anvil, while the men turn and set the copper for the hammer's blows. They make a thick and heavy caldron with the copper. After it cools, the men put the caldron into a machine which tosses the caldron about until the caldron breaks into many thin kettles. That's what they do here . . . '' To the right of the hearth, there were many vats filled with a lightblue liquid. Jergus 's comrades said that the liquid was a solution of saltpeter. The solution was supposed to contain a large percentage of copper. The workers put copper plates in it and the copper from the saltpeter solution settled onto the plates. The boys decided to play a game of hide-and-seek among the vats . The large hall - with its numerous half-dark spaces, narrow corridors , and dark corners - was excellent for such an enterprise. The boys could not use the adjacent rooms for their play. The workers were sleeping there during their noon-break - and they were not to be disturbed. So one boy finding the other one would just cry, " Pamparitsa-poor, no one more!" and touch him w}th his hand. The one who . - • The first sentence has been expanded to provide background material. �SLOVAKIA 141 was found was then supposed to seek the others. The game was really excellent . The boys could play until one o'clock when the men were to wake up and begin their afternoon shift. The boys played an(\ cried and hid. Conducted with a silence like that which pervades an underground realm, their game was mysterious and exciting. The boy who was " it" sneaked about on his tiptoes only his face shining fearfully in the unusual light - looking, peeking, finding, and crying, " Pa.mparitsa-poor! " His voice echoed throughout the large , dark hall, flying into the comers, leaping from floor to ceiling, and dying slowly as if choked by the darkness. One of the hidden boys tried to run away, but the seeker caught him and grabbed him by his shoulder. The boy was forced to surrender and become " it ." Jergus hid behind the vats , crawling from one little comer to another. Joe Kosalkula was " it. " No one knew where Steve Fasanga was. Suddenly Jergus chanced to come face to face with Joe Kosalkula. " Pa.mparitsa-poor! " Joe called out, running after Jergus . And there! - Jergus suddenly heard unusual stamping, blows , and cries amid the vats . Steve Fasanga cried and moaned painfully. The pounding of feet drew toward Jergus. The factory owner rolled out from behind a vat. With a rubber hose in his hand and a fiendish smirk on his face , he swung his hand and struck Joe Kosalkula. Joe fell to the floor , emitting a bleat like a lamb whose leg has been broken by an angry shepherd. Jergus started running away. But where to? There was only one exit from the narrow corridor and that was now guarded by the owner with the rubber hose in his hand! Jergus leaped into a comer and turned around. The owner rushed toward him, striking him violently on the left arm. The slash of the hose reached from Jergus's arm around the entire width of his back. " Here 's your 'pa.mparitsa-poor!' " the owner said , sneering and baring his rotten teeth. " I'll teach you good manners! " he added as he wheeled around and left. Jergus 's face contracted in pain. He took hold of his arm . Its aching almost made him faint. Hearing the cries of Steve Fasanga and Joe Kosalkula, he called, " Let' s go ! Let's not let him whip us any more !'' But neither Steve nor Joe ca.me. They just wept where they were hiding, softer and softer, and finally stopped crying. Squeezing his left arm and clenching his teeth from pain, Jergus staggered through the corridor between the vats , through the huge , sooty building, and out into the open air. He crossed the yard and slid around the cottage gate and past the watchman, " Uncle " ~osalkula, �142 SLOVAKIA who sat smoking his pipe. Turning the corner into the little street, Jergus - still recalling vividly the owner with the devil's tail in his hand - reached a hillock covered with Scotch pines and dwarf shrubbery. At the foot of the hillock, the birds announced the arrival of the new spring. Crested larks whistled and sang, hopping on their thin little legs. Linnets, siskins, and goldfinches warbled as if competing with each other. All the birds cocked their heads, looking upward to the endless sky which no one could approach or touch, not even from the peaks of the distant tall mountains. "The new spring has arrived! A new spring, a happy spring, with flowers and creeks, with breezes combing grass and climbing trees, is here! '' The birds sang gaily. ''Spring, new spring, and full of joy .. . '' Jergus sighed deeply and walked up the hillock's slope. He followed the rocky path, upward, upward. He went up to the Cold Pit and around it to the sheep farm. And walking slowly he drew further away from the city , clenching his teeth and squeezing his dislocated arm more tightly . All the marks of a happy childhood faded from his face. His childhood was dying, suddenly and forever. Instead of a boy, an embittered young man bearing the mark of a whip came to the shepherd's hut . The head shepherd was cleaning the hut. The shepherds and the herd boys were assembling the sheepfold enclosures and making lastminute repairs . His teeth still clenched, squeezing his arm, Jergus stopped at the hut 's doorstep . '' What is it, my son?'' the chief shepherd asked. Jergus told him everything. " Well , why did you go down there among the rich? " the shepherd asked crossly, examining Jergus's arm . The arm cracked and hurt, but J ergus let no word slip through his clenched teeth. "I told you, stay away from the rich! You don 't belong with them . You'd better remain with us as a herd boy , '' the shepherd added, setting the dislocated joint into its place. Jergus sat on the bench. He bowed his head for a while, then lay down on the bench and fell asleep. The shepherd covered him with a warm sheepskin coat. '\ (1937) � 140 SLOVAKIA The New Spring (a fragment) r:uoo ONDREJOV (1901-1962) Jergus's comrades, Joe Kosalkula and Steve Fasanga Cengac, invited him to play with them in the huge sooty building at the end of the yard.* In the semidarkness of the large hall multicolored flames burned - blue and green, violet and white. On the hearth there was a sledge hammer. Half the size of a man, it lay on a huge anvil. The hammer's handle was made of a regular girder which extended to a colossal cogwheel. The boys told Jergus: ''They put a large chunk of copper into the fire and heat it until it is white-hot and bursting with sparks. Then the men grasp the copper with long pliers and bring it to the anvil. Then they let water flow on the large wheel. The wheel turns and the cogs grasp the girder handle, pushing down its end. The sledge rises. And when the wheel continues turning, the handle slips down from the cog and the sledge strikes the anvil. As the wheel turns, the sledge repeatedly hits the anvil, while the men turn and set the copper for the hammer's blows. They make a thick and heavy caldron with the copper. After it cools, the men put the caldron into a machine which tosses the caldron about until the caldron breaks into many thin kettles. That's what they do here . . . '' To the right of the hearth, there were many vats filled with a lightblue liquid. Jergus 's comrades said that the liquid was a solution of saltpeter. The solution was supposed to contain a large percentage of copper. The workers put copper plates in it and the copper from the saltpeter solution settled onto the plates. The boys decided to play a game of hide-and-seek among the vats . The large hall - with its numerous half-dark spaces, narrow corridors , and dark corners - was excellent for such an enterprise. The boys could not use the adjacent rooms for their play. The workers were sleeping there during their noon-break - and they were not to be disturbed. So one boy finding the other one would just cry, " Pamparitsa-poor, no one more!" and touch him w}th his hand. The one who . - • The first sentence has been expanded to provide background material. �SLOVAKIA 141 was found was then supposed to seek the others. The game was really excellent . The boys could play until one o'clock when the men were to wake up and begin their afternoon shift. The boys played an(\ cried and hid. Conducted with a silence like that which pervades an underground realm, their game was mysterious and exciting. The boy who was " it" sneaked about on his tiptoes only his face shining fearfully in the unusual light - looking, peeking, finding, and crying, " Pa.mparitsa-poor! " His voice echoed throughout the large , dark hall, flying into the comers, leaping from floor to ceiling, and dying slowly as if choked by the darkness. One of the hidden boys tried to run away, but the seeker caught him and grabbed him by his shoulder. The boy was forced to surrender and become " it ." Jergus hid behind the vats , crawling from one little comer to another. Joe Kosalkula was " it. " No one knew where Steve Fasanga was. Suddenly Jergus chanced to come face to face with Joe Kosalkula. " Pa.mparitsa-poor! " Joe called out, running after Jergus . And there! - Jergus suddenly heard unusual stamping, blows , and cries amid the vats . Steve Fasanga cried and moaned painfully. The pounding of feet drew toward Jergus. The factory owner rolled out from behind a vat. With a rubber hose in his hand and a fiendish smirk on his face , he swung his hand and struck Joe Kosalkula. Joe fell to the floor , emitting a bleat like a lamb whose leg has been broken by an angry shepherd. Jergus started running away. But where to? There was only one exit from the narrow corridor and that was now guarded by the owner with the rubber hose in his hand! Jergus leaped into a comer and turned around. The owner rushed toward him, striking him violently on the left arm. The slash of the hose reached from Jergus's arm around the entire width of his back. " Here 's your 'pa.mparitsa-poor!' " the owner said , sneering and baring his rotten teeth. " I'll teach you good manners! " he added as he wheeled around and left. Jergus 's face contracted in pain. He took hold of his arm . Its aching almost made him faint. Hearing the cries of Steve Fasanga and Joe Kosalkula, he called, " Let' s go ! Let's not let him whip us any more !'' But neither Steve nor Joe ca.me. They just wept where they were hiding, softer and softer, and finally stopped crying. Squeezing his left arm and clenching his teeth from pain, Jergus staggered through the corridor between the vats , through the huge , sooty building, and out into the open air. He crossed the yard and slid around the cottage gate and past the watchman, " Uncle " ~osalkula, �142 SLOVAKIA who sat smoking his pipe. Turning the corner into the little street, Jergus - still recalling vividly the owner with the devil's tail in his hand - reached a hillock covered with Scotch pines and dwarf shrubbery. At the foot of the hillock, the birds announced the arrival of the new spring. Crested larks whistled and sang, hopping on their thin little legs. Linnets, siskins, and goldfinches warbled as if competing with each other. All the birds cocked their heads, looking upward to the endless sky which no one could approach or touch, not even from the peaks of the distant tall mountains. "The new spring has arrived! A new spring, a happy spring, with flowers and creeks, with breezes combing grass and climbing trees, is here! '' The birds sang gaily. ''Spring, new spring, and full of joy .. . '' Jergus sighed deeply and walked up the hillock's slope. He followed the rocky path, upward, upward. He went up to the Cold Pit and around it to the sheep farm. And walking slowly he drew further away from the city , clenching his teeth and squeezing his dislocated arm more tightly . All the marks of a happy childhood faded from his face. His childhood was dying, suddenly and forever. Instead of a boy, an embittered young man bearing the mark of a whip came to the shepherd's hut . The head shepherd was cleaning the hut. The shepherds and the herd boys were assembling the sheepfold enclosures and making lastminute repairs . His teeth still clenched, squeezing his arm, Jergus stopped at the hut 's doorstep . '' What is it, my son?'' the chief shepherd asked. Jergus told him everything. " Well , why did you go down there among the rich? " the shepherd asked crossly, examining Jergus's arm . The arm cracked and hurt, but J ergus let no word slip through his clenched teeth. "I told you, stay away from the rich! You don 't belong with them . You'd better remain with us as a herd boy , '' the shepherd added, setting the dislocated joint into its place. Jergus sat on the bench. He bowed his head for a while, then lay down on the bench and fell asleep. The shepherd covered him with a warm sheepskin coat. '\ (1937) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1978-79, Vol. 28 Description An account of the resource Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-79 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 140 SLOVAKIA The New Spring (a fragment) r:uoo ONDREJOV (1901-1962) Jergus's comrades, Joe Kosalkula and Steve Fasanga Cengac, invited him to play with them in the huge sooty building at the end of the yard.* In the semidarkness of the large hall multicolored flames burned - blue and green, violet and white. On the hearth there was a sledge hammer. Half the size of a man, it lay on a huge anvil. The hammer's handle was made of a regular girder which extended to a colossal cogwheel. The boys told Jergus: ''They put a large chunk of copper into the fire and heat it until it is white-hot and bursting with sparks. Then the men grasp the copper with long pliers and bring it to the anvil. Then they let water flow on the large wheel. The wheel turns and the cogs grasp the girder handle, pushing down its end. The sledge rises. And when the wheel continues turning, the handle slips down from the cog and the sledge strikes the anvil. As the wheel turns, the sledge repeatedly hits the anvil, while the men turn and set the copper for the hammer's blows. They make a thick and heavy caldron with the copper. After it cools, the men put the caldron into a machine which tosses the caldron about until the caldron breaks into many thin kettles. That's what they do here . . . '' To the right of the hearth, there were many vats filled with a lightblue liquid. Jergus 's comrades said that the liquid was a solution of saltpeter. The solution was supposed to contain a large percentage of copper. The workers put copper plates in it and the copper from the saltpeter solution settled onto the plates. The boys decided to play a game of hide-and-seek among the vats . The large hall - with its numerous half-dark spaces, narrow corridors , and dark corners - was excellent for such an enterprise. The boys could not use the adjacent rooms for their play. The workers were sleeping there during their noon-break - and they were not to be disturbed. So one boy finding the other one would just cry, " Pamparitsa-poor, no one more!" and touch him w}th his hand. The one who . - • The first sentence has been expanded to provide background material. SLOVAKIA 141 was found was then supposed to seek the others. The game was really excellent . The boys could play until one o'clock when the men were to wake up and begin their afternoon shift. The boys played an(\ cried and hid. Conducted with a silence like that which pervades an underground realm, their game was mysterious and exciting. The boy who was " it" sneaked about on his tiptoes only his face shining fearfully in the unusual light - looking, peeking, finding, and crying, " Pa.mparitsa-poor! " His voice echoed throughout the large , dark hall, flying into the comers, leaping from floor to ceiling, and dying slowly as if choked by the darkness. One of the hidden boys tried to run away, but the seeker caught him and grabbed him by his shoulder. The boy was forced to surrender and become " it ." Jergus hid behind the vats , crawling from one little comer to another. Joe Kosalkula was " it. " No one knew where Steve Fasanga was. Suddenly Jergus chanced to come face to face with Joe Kosalkula. " Pa.mparitsa-poor! " Joe called out, running after Jergus . And there! - Jergus suddenly heard unusual stamping, blows , and cries amid the vats . Steve Fasanga cried and moaned painfully. The pounding of feet drew toward Jergus. The factory owner rolled out from behind a vat. With a rubber hose in his hand and a fiendish smirk on his face , he swung his hand and struck Joe Kosalkula. Joe fell to the floor , emitting a bleat like a lamb whose leg has been broken by an angry shepherd. Jergus started running away. But where to? There was only one exit from the narrow corridor and that was now guarded by the owner with the rubber hose in his hand! Jergus leaped into a comer and turned around. The owner rushed toward him, striking him violently on the left arm. The slash of the hose reached from Jergus's arm around the entire width of his back. " Here 's your 'pa.mparitsa-poor!' " the owner said , sneering and baring his rotten teeth. " I'll teach you good manners! " he added as he wheeled around and left. Jergus 's face contracted in pain. He took hold of his arm . Its aching almost made him faint. Hearing the cries of Steve Fasanga and Joe Kosalkula, he called, " Let' s go ! Let's not let him whip us any more !'' But neither Steve nor Joe ca.me. They just wept where they were hiding, softer and softer, and finally stopped crying. Squeezing his left arm and clenching his teeth from pain, Jergus staggered through the corridor between the vats , through the huge , sooty building, and out into the open air. He crossed the yard and slid around the cottage gate and past the watchman, " Uncle " ~osalkula, 142 SLOVAKIA who sat smoking his pipe. Turning the corner into the little street, Jergus - still recalling vividly the owner with the devil's tail in his hand - reached a hillock covered with Scotch pines and dwarf shrubbery. At the foot of the hillock, the birds announced the arrival of the new spring. Crested larks whistled and sang, hopping on their thin little legs. Linnets, siskins, and goldfinches warbled as if competing with each other. All the birds cocked their heads, looking upward to the endless sky which no one could approach or touch, not even from the peaks of the distant tall mountains. "The new spring has arrived! A new spring, a happy spring, with flowers and creeks, with breezes combing grass and climbing trees, is here! '' The birds sang gaily. ''Spring, new spring, and full of joy .. . '' Jergus sighed deeply and walked up the hillock's slope. He followed the rocky path, upward, upward. He went up to the Cold Pit and around it to the sheep farm. And walking slowly he drew further away from the city , clenching his teeth and squeezing his dislocated arm more tightly . All the marks of a happy childhood faded from his face. His childhood was dying, suddenly and forever. Instead of a boy, an embittered young man bearing the mark of a whip came to the shepherd's hut . The head shepherd was cleaning the hut. The shepherds and the herd boys were assembling the sheepfold enclosures and making lastminute repairs . His teeth still clenched, squeezing his arm, Jergus stopped at the hut 's doorstep . '' What is it, my son?'' the chief shepherd asked. Jergus told him everything. " Well , why did you go down there among the rich? " the shepherd asked crossly, examining Jergus's arm . The arm cracked and hurt, but J ergus let no word slip through his clenched teeth. "I told you, stay away from the rich! You don 't belong with them . You'd better remain with us as a herd boy , '' the shepherd added, setting the dislocated joint into its place. Jergus sat on the bench. He bowed his head for a while, then lay down on the bench and fell asleep. The shepherd covered him with a warm sheepskin coat. '\ (1937)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The New Spring (a fragment) Description An account of the resource Ľudo Ondrejov Slovakia, Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79 pp. 140-142 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ondrejov, Ľudo, 1901-1962 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-79 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e4ca838385dca5f38908cbca6c6efe9a.pdf 6bb032c99c7de43ef71265fcbf4e9f7c PDF Text Text 96 SLOVAKIA The Oldest Slovak Newspaper in America By Andrew Pier, 0. S. B. One of the unique newspapers of the American ethnic press is the "Slovak v Amerike" which is now in its 80th year of publication. This historic Slovak journal, at one time a daily, is currently a weekly in Middletown, Pa. Although it has long since passed its zenith (when Slovak immigration reached its peak in the first decade of the 20th century), the "Slovak v Amerike," nevertheless, continues to fulfill an essential need for supplying news and views to its readers in the Slovak language in the American tradition of free expression, devotion to democratic ideals, respect for law and order, and in the spirit of the Slovak nation's struggle for political freedom, religious liberty and recognition of human rights for all nations aspiring for legitimate national identity among the peoples of the world and the family of nations under Cod. The "Slovak v Amerike," presently under the dynamic and capable editorship of Dr. Jozef Pauco, former editorin-chief of the "Slovak" daily in Bratislava (Slovakia), was first published as a 4-page edition on december 21, 1889, in Plymouth, Pa. It is an oddity that Gretshell, who purchased Father Kossalko's printery (where his "Zastava" was published for a short time), was a native of Silesia. He became the publisher of the first issues of the "Slovak v Amerike" but with the aid of Anton S. Ambrose, a Slovak newspaperma n. After an inaugural 4-page edition for Christmas in 1889, the second issue was increased to an 8-page production on January 11, 1890. Its 'Rip a Racik' feature in the ~aris dialect was destined to be a popular and widelyread column for many years. Jan Gosztonyi, a native Slovak from Presov, had a press in nearby Phoenixville, Pa. He bought the newspaper in 1890. Ambrose remained as editor for another year when he was succeded by Fr. Pucher Ciernovodsky . Meanwhile, too, a pair of experienced typesetters, Ferdinand Ursiny and Frano Razny, joined the staff. But it was Jan Spevak, a �SLOVAKIA 97 native of Turiec (Slovakia), who introduced literary Slovak to replace the original saris dialect in .the newspaper. By the next year Spevak became the sole owner and added a trio of able writers to his staff, namely, G. Marsall-Petrovsky, t>uro Grunik and Edo Schwartz. Joscak, though not on the editorial board, proved a valuable asset not only as a travelling salesman of the newspaper but as a frequent contributor of interesting articles. At the turn of the century, the Rev. C. L. Orbach, originally a Polish Jew and a convert to Lutheranism, became the editor. He became a valuable associate of Spevak because of his wide experience, native ingenuity and extraordinary personality, and was to prove more than a match for Rovnianek in the feud that sprang up between the publishers of the "Amerikansko-Slovenske Noviny" and the "Slovak v Amerike." In the light of unbiased studies on the subject of their quarrels, the conclusion is that it was not a matter of principle but purely a clash of two strong and hardheaded personalities that caused a misunderstanding and was the fuel for a heated controversy that lasted several years. When Spevak died, Rev. Orbach became editor-in-chief. During World War I the "Slovak v Amerike" became a daily ( 1914-1919) but when the war ended it was published three times a week. Early in the summer of 1935, the newspaper ceased publication, but by the end of the summer it was back in business again as a semi-weekly. As late as 1947 it had as many as 10,000 subscribers under the editorship and management of John Sciranka. By 1952, however, largely due to an upfortunate recurrence of a policy of dissension, the circulation decreased to less than 3,000. Father John Lach of Whiting, Indiana, came to the rescue and assumed publication in Chicago, Ill. in that same year. In 1958 he turned it over to Philip A. Hrobak, editor of the Jednota (in Middletown, Pa.) and national president of the Slovak League of America. Upon the death of Hrobak in 1964, Dr. Pauco assumed the responsibility of publishing the oldest Slovak newspaper in America. Over eight decades 'the editorial life span' of the publishers and editors has been surprisingly brief. But �98 SLOVAKIA what is even more amazing is that the newspaper survived all this time considering the frequent changeover in personnell and leadership. As might be surmised, the policies changed, sometimes radically, but the basic principles and fundamental program of serving the Slovak readers in the true spirit of religious and national culture remain to this day as the guidelines of an editorial policy that has as its self-same goal today: "Cultural enlightenment and spiritual uplifting of Americans of Slovak origin through the American way of life by an American newspaper in the Slovak language." In view of the Slovak nation's continuing struggle for survival as a united people, the "Slovak v Amerike" has adopted as a supplementary program the following: "In harmony with the American tradition of Freedom and Independence, the "Slovak v Amerike" champions the right of the Slovak people to the re-establishment of their own National State." The following list of editors, who at one time or another directed the publication of the "Slovak v Amerike" from 1889 to 1969, comprise most of the talented Slovak newspapermen in America: Ambrose, Pucher, Grunik, Spevak, Rev. Orbach, Kadak, Joscak, N. Bielik, Rev. Novomesky, Marsall-Petrovsky , Anton Bielik, G. Pivko, Albert Tholt-Vel'kostiavn icky, Adolf Tvrdy, Jan Culen, Karol stiasny, J . Galbavy, J . Baran, Dr. Norbert Capek, L. 0. Kozar, J . Stermensky, J. Zajac, Ivan Krizan, Edo Kovac Jr., stefan Kroner, Jan Sciranka, Rev. John Lach, Jan Okal, F. Hrobak, Dr. Jozef Pauco, Draga Paucova. In paying tribute to all above pioneers and their successors in the long line of newspapermen who served their Slovak countrymen with devoted zeal and determination, it is with a deep sense of gratitude that we bow our heads in their memory, for their contributions, as the great Slovak journalist, Konsto Culen, declared, "helped to make America richer culturally, socially and spiritually." THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA promotes a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation, its history, culture, traditions, achievements and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. � 96 SLOVAKIA The Oldest Slovak Newspaper in America By Andrew Pier, 0. S. B. One of the unique newspapers of the American ethnic press is the "Slovak v Amerike" which is now in its 80th year of publication. This historic Slovak journal, at one time a daily, is currently a weekly in Middletown, Pa. Although it has long since passed its zenith (when Slovak immigration reached its peak in the first decade of the 20th century), the "Slovak v Amerike," nevertheless, continues to fulfill an essential need for supplying news and views to its readers in the Slovak language in the American tradition of free expression, devotion to democratic ideals, respect for law and order, and in the spirit of the Slovak nation's struggle for political freedom, religious liberty and recognition of human rights for all nations aspiring for legitimate national identity among the peoples of the world and the family of nations under Cod. The "Slovak v Amerike," presently under the dynamic and capable editorship of Dr. Jozef Pauco, former editorin-chief of the "Slovak" daily in Bratislava (Slovakia), was first published as a 4-page edition on december 21, 1889, in Plymouth, Pa. It is an oddity that Gretshell, who purchased Father Kossalko's printery (where his "Zastava" was published for a short time), was a native of Silesia. He became the publisher of the first issues of the "Slovak v Amerike" but with the aid of Anton S. Ambrose, a Slovak newspaperma n. After an inaugural 4-page edition for Christmas in 1889, the second issue was increased to an 8-page production on January 11, 1890. Its 'Rip a Racik' feature in the ~aris dialect was destined to be a popular and widelyread column for many years. Jan Gosztonyi, a native Slovak from Presov, had a press in nearby Phoenixville, Pa. He bought the newspaper in 1890. Ambrose remained as editor for another year when he was succeded by Fr. Pucher Ciernovodsky . Meanwhile, too, a pair of experienced typesetters, Ferdinand Ursiny and Frano Razny, joined the staff. But it was Jan Spevak, a �SLOVAKIA 97 native of Turiec (Slovakia), who introduced literary Slovak to replace the original saris dialect in .the newspaper. By the next year Spevak became the sole owner and added a trio of able writers to his staff, namely, G. Marsall-Petrovsky, t>uro Grunik and Edo Schwartz. Joscak, though not on the editorial board, proved a valuable asset not only as a travelling salesman of the newspaper but as a frequent contributor of interesting articles. At the turn of the century, the Rev. C. L. Orbach, originally a Polish Jew and a convert to Lutheranism, became the editor. He became a valuable associate of Spevak because of his wide experience, native ingenuity and extraordinary personality, and was to prove more than a match for Rovnianek in the feud that sprang up between the publishers of the "Amerikansko-Slovenske Noviny" and the "Slovak v Amerike." In the light of unbiased studies on the subject of their quarrels, the conclusion is that it was not a matter of principle but purely a clash of two strong and hardheaded personalities that caused a misunderstanding and was the fuel for a heated controversy that lasted several years. When Spevak died, Rev. Orbach became editor-in-chief. During World War I the "Slovak v Amerike" became a daily ( 1914-1919) but when the war ended it was published three times a week. Early in the summer of 1935, the newspaper ceased publication, but by the end of the summer it was back in business again as a semi-weekly. As late as 1947 it had as many as 10,000 subscribers under the editorship and management of John Sciranka. By 1952, however, largely due to an upfortunate recurrence of a policy of dissension, the circulation decreased to less than 3,000. Father John Lach of Whiting, Indiana, came to the rescue and assumed publication in Chicago, Ill. in that same year. In 1958 he turned it over to Philip A. Hrobak, editor of the Jednota (in Middletown, Pa.) and national president of the Slovak League of America. Upon the death of Hrobak in 1964, Dr. Pauco assumed the responsibility of publishing the oldest Slovak newspaper in America. Over eight decades 'the editorial life span' of the publishers and editors has been surprisingly brief. But �98 SLOVAKIA what is even more amazing is that the newspaper survived all this time considering the frequent changeover in personnell and leadership. As might be surmised, the policies changed, sometimes radically, but the basic principles and fundamental program of serving the Slovak readers in the true spirit of religious and national culture remain to this day as the guidelines of an editorial policy that has as its self-same goal today: "Cultural enlightenment and spiritual uplifting of Americans of Slovak origin through the American way of life by an American newspaper in the Slovak language." In view of the Slovak nation's continuing struggle for survival as a united people, the "Slovak v Amerike" has adopted as a supplementary program the following: "In harmony with the American tradition of Freedom and Independence, the "Slovak v Amerike" champions the right of the Slovak people to the re-establishment of their own National State." The following list of editors, who at one time or another directed the publication of the "Slovak v Amerike" from 1889 to 1969, comprise most of the talented Slovak newspapermen in America: Ambrose, Pucher, Grunik, Spevak, Rev. Orbach, Kadak, Joscak, N. Bielik, Rev. Novomesky, Marsall-Petrovsky , Anton Bielik, G. Pivko, Albert Tholt-Vel'kostiavn icky, Adolf Tvrdy, Jan Culen, Karol stiasny, J . Galbavy, J . Baran, Dr. Norbert Capek, L. 0. Kozar, J . Stermensky, J. Zajac, Ivan Krizan, Edo Kovac Jr., stefan Kroner, Jan Sciranka, Rev. John Lach, Jan Okal, F. Hrobak, Dr. Jozef Pauco, Draga Paucova. In paying tribute to all above pioneers and their successors in the long line of newspapermen who served their Slovak countrymen with devoted zeal and determination, it is with a deep sense of gratitude that we bow our heads in their memory, for their contributions, as the great Slovak journalist, Konsto Culen, declared, "helped to make America richer culturally, socially and spiritually." THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA promotes a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation, its history, culture, traditions, achievements and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1969, Vol. 19 Description An account of the resource Vol. 19 (No. 42), 1969. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1969 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 96 SLOVAKIA The Oldest Slovak Newspaper in America By Andrew Pier, 0. S. B. One of the unique newspapers of the American ethnic press is the "Slovak v Amerike" which is now in its 80th year of publication. This historic Slovak journal, at one time a daily, is currently a weekly in Middletown, Pa. Although it has long since passed its zenith (when Slovak immigration reached its peak in the first decade of the 20th century), the "Slovak v Amerike," nevertheless, continues to fulfill an essential need for supplying news and views to its readers in the Slovak language in the American tradition of free expression, devotion to democratic ideals, respect for law and order, and in the spirit of the Slovak nation's struggle for political freedom, religious liberty and recognition of human rights for all nations aspiring for legitimate national identity among the peoples of the world and the family of nations under Cod. The "Slovak v Amerike," presently under the dynamic and capable editorship of Dr. Jozef Pauco, former editorin-chief of the "Slovak" daily in Bratislava (Slovakia), was first published as a 4-page edition on december 21, 1889, in Plymouth, Pa. It is an oddity that Gretshell, who purchased Father Kossalko's printery (where his "Zastava" was published for a short time), was a native of Silesia. He became the publisher of the first issues of the "Slovak v Amerike" but with the aid of Anton S. Ambrose, a Slovak newspaperma n. After an inaugural 4-page edition for Christmas in 1889, the second issue was increased to an 8-page production on January 11, 1890. Its 'Rip a Racik' feature in the ~aris dialect was destined to be a popular and widelyread column for many years. Jan Gosztonyi, a native Slovak from Presov, had a press in nearby Phoenixville, Pa. He bought the newspaper in 1890. Ambrose remained as editor for another year when he was succeded by Fr. Pucher Ciernovodsky . Meanwhile, too, a pair of experienced typesetters, Ferdinand Ursiny and Frano Razny, joined the staff. But it was Jan Spevak, a SLOVAKIA 97 native of Turiec (Slovakia), who introduced literary Slovak to replace the original saris dialect in .the newspaper. By the next year Spevak became the sole owner and added a trio of able writers to his staff, namely, G. Marsall-Petrovsky, t>uro Grunik and Edo Schwartz. Joscak, though not on the editorial board, proved a valuable asset not only as a travelling salesman of the newspaper but as a frequent contributor of interesting articles. At the turn of the century, the Rev. C. L. Orbach, originally a Polish Jew and a convert to Lutheranism, became the editor. He became a valuable associate of Spevak because of his wide experience, native ingenuity and extraordinary personality, and was to prove more than a match for Rovnianek in the feud that sprang up between the publishers of the "Amerikansko-Slovenske Noviny" and the "Slovak v Amerike." In the light of unbiased studies on the subject of their quarrels, the conclusion is that it was not a matter of principle but purely a clash of two strong and hardheaded personalities that caused a misunderstanding and was the fuel for a heated controversy that lasted several years. When Spevak died, Rev. Orbach became editor-in-chief. During World War I the "Slovak v Amerike" became a daily ( 1914-1919) but when the war ended it was published three times a week. Early in the summer of 1935, the newspaper ceased publication, but by the end of the summer it was back in business again as a semi-weekly. As late as 1947 it had as many as 10,000 subscribers under the editorship and management of John Sciranka. By 1952, however, largely due to an upfortunate recurrence of a policy of dissension, the circulation decreased to less than 3,000. Father John Lach of Whiting, Indiana, came to the rescue and assumed publication in Chicago, Ill. in that same year. In 1958 he turned it over to Philip A. Hrobak, editor of the Jednota (in Middletown, Pa.) and national president of the Slovak League of America. Upon the death of Hrobak in 1964, Dr. Pauco assumed the responsibility of publishing the oldest Slovak newspaper in America. Over eight decades 'the editorial life span' of the publishers and editors has been surprisingly brief. But 98 SLOVAKIA what is even more amazing is that the newspaper survived all this time considering the frequent changeover in personnell and leadership. As might be surmised, the policies changed, sometimes radically, but the basic principles and fundamental program of serving the Slovak readers in the true spirit of religious and national culture remain to this day as the guidelines of an editorial policy that has as its self-same goal today: "Cultural enlightenment and spiritual uplifting of Americans of Slovak origin through the American way of life by an American newspaper in the Slovak language." In view of the Slovak nation's continuing struggle for survival as a united people, the "Slovak v Amerike" has adopted as a supplementary program the following: "In harmony with the American tradition of Freedom and Independence, the "Slovak v Amerike" champions the right of the Slovak people to the re-establishment of their own National State." The following list of editors, who at one time or another directed the publication of the "Slovak v Amerike" from 1889 to 1969, comprise most of the talented Slovak newspapermen in America: Ambrose, Pucher, Grunik, Spevak, Rev. Orbach, Kadak, Joscak, N. Bielik, Rev. Novomesky, Marsall-Petrovsky , Anton Bielik, G. Pivko, Albert Tholt-Vel'kostiavn icky, Adolf Tvrdy, Jan Culen, Karol stiasny, J . Galbavy, J . Baran, Dr. Norbert Capek, L. 0. Kozar, J . Stermensky, J. Zajac, Ivan Krizan, Edo Kovac Jr., stefan Kroner, Jan Sciranka, Rev. John Lach, Jan Okal, F. Hrobak, Dr. Jozef Pauco, Draga Paucova. In paying tribute to all above pioneers and their successors in the long line of newspapermen who served their Slovak countrymen with devoted zeal and determination, it is with a deep sense of gratitude that we bow our heads in their memory, for their contributions, as the great Slovak journalist, Konsto Culen, declared, "helped to make America richer culturally, socially and spiritually." THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA promotes a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation, its history, culture, traditions, achievements and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Oldest Slovak Newspaper in America Description An account of the resource Andrew Pier, O.S.B. Slovakia, Vol. 19 (No. 42), 1969 pp. 96-98 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pier, Andrew W., 1910-2003 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1969 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8307ba24c297d17dd69519720c1ad56f.pdf d071e42e8f9dcea825f7d0a61cf0f561 PDF Text Text 38 SLOVAKIA William Kana, M. A . THE OLDEST SLOV.AJK NEWSP.AJPIDR IN 'TIRE U.S.A. "Slovaik v Amerike" is the oldest Slovak newspaper continuously published in the United States. It has survived seventy-five hard years in the service of Slovaik immigrants who were hungry for news from ,theiir native Slovakia as well as fur the news of their adopted !homeland. Slovak journalism in the United States was launched on October 21, 1886 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the publication of "Amerikan,szko.,S,zlovensZJke Noviny" (The Amerioan SlovaJk News) . 'I'he ipubHsher of this newspaper was Janka Slovensky, who served at the time as a clerk in the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Pi,ttsburgn. 'I'he second Slovak newspaper in the United States, called "Nova Vlasf" ('Dhe New Homeland), was founded in 1888 in Streaitor, Illinois. It merged with "AmerikianszkoSzlovenszke Noviny" shortly after it appeared. At that time, an era when the Slovak nation wais being severely oppressed by the government of Budapest, the free ,p ress in America provided political refugees and emigrants with information about happenings in Slovakia as well ,as in the United States. The town of Plymouth, Pennsylvia.nia is the cradle of "Slovak v Ameri-ke", whi~h is actually the oldest continuously published Slovak newspaiper in the world. As American history is connected with the City of Plymouth, Massachusetts, so the history of tlle Slovafos in the United States is closely related to this Pennsylvanian town. The founder of "Slovak v Amerike" was Albert S. Ambrose. He describes the beginnings of this newspaper in the June 1936 issues of "New Yorksky Dennik" (The New York Daily). In Plymouth, Pennsylvania the Reverend Joseph Kossalko had published a newspaiper called "Zastava" (The Flag) in a pro-Hungarian spirit and in the Eastern Slovak dialect, a venture which lasted only nine months. After t'he demise of "Za:stava" Edmund Gretschell, an immigrant from Silesia, bought its printing press from Reverend �SLOVAKIA 39 Kossaliko. He planned to establish a printing business of his own among the Sloviarks living in Plymouth. However, these immigrants were workers and laborer~, who rarely needed such work, and his lack of facility in writing English precluded his doing any extensive business with the English-speaking re&idents of the town. Albert Ambrose proofreaJCl the Siovak and English ,p rintings, and from this business association grew 1::he idea of publishtng a newspaper for Slovaiks in Pennsylvania. The need wais great: Slovaks in America did not understand English, and furthermore, American newspapers pu1blished little news from their homeland. The first issue of "Slovak v Amerike", •r eleased on December 21, 1889, had only four pages. 'Ilhe most interesting part of the whole issue was the editorial, wihich read in part: "We have come to the conclusion that there is a need for a purely Slovak cultural newspaper. We have therefore decided to publish one. The purpose of t,h is newspaper will be : 1. To lead our countrymen; to help them; to propagate love among them; to educrute them. 2. To publish some entertaining stories for children, so as to encourage them to read Slovak at home, it being lmpossi•ble for them to study their mother's tongue in the schools . The first issue is small. Growth of the newspaper will depend on you. Arouse your eyes from sleep and darkness, and follow the voice of your country. Otherwise your descendants will curse you for not caring for yourself, your soul, and the welfare o! your country" . "Slovak v Amerike" wa~ Ambrose's property, but Gret.schell was its publisher. At aibout this time John Gostony, a resident of Bhoen1xville, Pennsylvania, was planning to publish a Slovak new~paper, and :h e asked Ambrose to ,become its editor. They signed a contract agreeing that the new publisher of "Slovak v Amerike" would be Gostony, and its editor would be Ambrose. Gretschell could continue to ,print the paper, if he should be willing to move ibis shop to Phoenixville. Greteohell agreed and itlhe newspaper was moved to Phoenixville. The new company hired as typeietters two young Slovaks, Frano Razny and Ferdinand Ursiny, who had learned their trade in tlrn printery of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. When Ambrose left Phoenixville in the fall of 1890 �40 SLOVAKIA Frantisek Pucher Cernovodsky became editor of "Slovak v Amerlke". Subsequently Jan Spevak -became owner and editor of "Slovak v Amerike", and under his direction notable gains were made in circulation. Spevak had emigrated to the United States in 1887. He first worked in a printing shop in Pittsburgh, and later came to Phoenixville to work for "Slovak v Amerike". He made many innovations, the most important being the change from the Eastern dialect to standard Slovak. He retained the original humorous column "R1p and Racik" for Eastern Slovaks. The charges of former publisher Gostony that the change in language WaJS sudden ahd that the newspaper therefore lost many subscribers 1are not substantiated by the facts. Statistics in Ayer's "Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals" actually disclose an increiase in the nuimber of sUJbscribers. For example "Slovak v Amerike" had 3,000 subscribers in 1894, but eleven years later, in 1905, when Spevak died, it had grown to 20,000 subscribers. Another of Spevak's innovations was more news from Slovakia, literally transcribed from "Narodnie Noviny". Naturally the news was old, because the newspaper from Slova!kia arrived in the United States one month late. However, this circumstance created no problem: the Slovak immigrant was interested in the substance of the news, not its age. The editors knew the psychology of their readers and therefore they cliassified all news from Slovakia by the province of origin. Later, as the circle of subscribers grew the publishers organized a group of correspondents in Slovaikia to provide original news from different parts of Slovakia. Spevak also published editorials from "Narodnie Noviny", particularly such as carried political significance in the Slovak resistance to the strong onsl,a ughts of Magyari2iation. · After the death of Jan Spevak, owner, publisher and _e ditor of "Slovak v Amerike", on May 31, 1905, his wife carried on for a short Ume as publisher. On June 13, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" announced that the new publishers were Reverend Christopher Leo OrbaC'h, a Lutheran minister, and A. G. Tvrdy. On the editoria.'l page of December 8, 1905 C. L. Orbach and Compa:ny were captioned as publishers. As of December 21, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" was published by C. L. Orbach only. Towards the end of Decem- �SLOVAKIA 41 ber 1905 a new pulblishing company bearing an English name came into existence. It was · called the Slovak Press. The company was incorporated on December 30, 1905 in the state of New York. Orbach, Faybik and Molitoris were its incorporators. On January 26, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" listed the following officers: C. L. Orbach, president; Andrew Faybik, vice-president; J. C. Molitoris, secretary. Orbach also held the position of editor-in-chief. Everybody who worked for the newipaper boug,ht some preferred stock with dividends warrantied at 6 % . On February 2, 1906 the front -p age carried a picture of the incorporators. The next editor of "Slovak v Amerike" was Anton Bielek, one-time editor of the old-world newspaper "Katolicke Noviny" (The Catholic News) and "r.udove Noviny" (The People's News), who left his homeland because of political persecution. He aNived in the United States in September 1906 with his family of ten. Bielek's name was well known to American Slovaiks. He had written a history of the Slovak people, which was published in Pittsburgh by the Slovak National Society in 1897. It is altogether likely that Orbaoh 1he1ped finance his trip to the United States and had offered him tJhe post of editor in the newspaper. Bielek's first editorial appeared on October 2, 1906: "I will defend the people agains,t persecution, I will teach the truth, I will guide our readers to a pious life, I will call a nd cry: give the workers a dec ent way of life; I will rais e a cry ror freedom, ror education and for enlightenment. I will be an enemy of the slave drivers and of the destroyers of the people, an enemy of darkness; I will not change the purpose of my work, and always I will have as my aim: the welfare of ,tlhe Slovak people." Under the editorsh1p of Anton Bielek "Slovak v Amerike" published several criticisms of the cultural stagnation of Slovaks in the United States. On April 2, 1907 Bielek says in his editorial: "We have many societies, but no libraries. We have no educational lectures. We lack nobility of purpose." Editor Bielek was also responsible for organizing the so-oalled indignation meetings against Hungarian oppression of Slovaks in their homeland. These meetings were •held in New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Olyphant, Pa., Schenectady, N. Y., Houtzdale, Pa., Bridgeport, Conn., and in other American towns. �42 SLOVAKIA The editorials of "Slovak v Amerike" reflected the varied needs and problems of Slovaks in America. The editors fully participated in and O'bserved American life. They avoided the atmosphere of a national ghetto. When a league against foreigners was organized in Chicago "Slovaik v Amerike" prnmptly editorialized against its purposes: " ... America should be grateful to foreigners for their ·s ervices, especially for the heavy la1bor whic:h forms the ba:sis for other, lighter work ... " (March, 1910). "Slovak v Amerike" was panslavistically oriented. The editors anticipated that Slovak liberation would come from Russian Cziardom. This policy was reflected in the newspaper. The editors rose to the defense of all Slav:s in reaction to Woodrow Wilson's statement in his "History of the American People" (Volume 5, Page 212), in which he advocates forbidding Slavic immigration to the United States. (November 3, 1910). At the beginning of World War I the daily "Slovak v Amerike" cautioned Slovaks to keep out of the war against Slavdom (July 31, 1914). American Slovaks in the years 1914-1915 had strong pro-Russian sympathies. The roots of this Russophilism lay in the desperate plight of the Slovaks - in Hungary in the face of severe Magyarizia.tion. During this period ~he editors of "Slovak v Am~rike" had no clear image of the direction which the Slov:aks, in Europe ought to take to .resolve their national plig,ht. Their first concern wa:s total liberiation from Hungarian rule. 'Dhomas Capek, •a prominent Czech of New· York City, speaking at a great meeting of Slavs held in New York on January 17, 1915, under the chairmanship of Michael I . Pupin, made the following remarks about the Slovak situation: "The Slovaks, as 'they work for their independence, face three a lternatives: 1. They can seek complete freedom. 2. They can join politically with the Magyars. 3. They can assure their future with their brotherly tribe, the Czechs." (Slovak v Amerike, J anuary 20, 1915). The political struggle with the Hungarians and negotiations with Czech spokesmen, were reflected faithfully in the newspaper. Devotion to truth in newspaper report- �SLOVAKIA 43 ing was expressed in an editorial at the outbreak of the war: "Our duty to God ,and before the face of the world is to present tr.uthful news." ("Slovak v Amerike", August 27, 1914). "Slovak v Amerrke" preserves a record of historical events affecting Slovaks not only in the United States, but also in Europe. Czech politicians were interested in Slovakia mainly for three reasons: 1. Bohemia would become larger if united with Slov,akia; 2. The Czechs would acquire a bridge to Russia; 3. In the United States Slovak immigrants far outnumbered the Czechs, and as a result they represented a large financial potentiial for underwriting the liberation movement. The extent of the Slovak community in the United States was reflected by statistics published in "Slovak v Amerike" on August 27, 1907, which broke down immigration figures for the years 1898-1904 as follows: SLOVAKS 173,775, Irish 199,799, Italians 929,308, Polish 338,741, ,and Bohemians 34,444. "Slovak v Amerike" jealously guarded the right of Slovaks to their national identity. Slovaks in America were greatly disturbed by a statement in a Czech manifesto which defined the Slovak people as ,an integral part of the Bohemian nation. On April 5, 1915 "Slovak T Amerike" answered this manifesto on its editorial page. Ivan Daxner, secretary o! the Slovak League of America, wrote in "Slovak v Amerrke" on April 14, 1915: "From the ve ry beginning the Czech political manifesto carefully avoided r eferring to the Slovak people as a. NtATION. Later they dearly an d unequivocally declared that only ,th e Slovak people and the Bohemian race together could form a nation." The editors were so eager to serve truth that they even published an editorial from a Hungarian newspaper "Amerikai Magyar Nepszava" on the problems of minorities in Hungary (June 22, 1915). However, the resolution of these problems was pretty well tied to the outcome of the war: the editors were familiar with Allied opinion about the Austro-Hungarian Empire - this jail of nations was to be dismantled. "Slovak v Amerike" supported American policy and American war efforts. On March 16, 1917 it started to publish ,a column titled "Loyal Slovaks" in whioh it featured letters from readers expres~ing support for the war effort of the United States. �44 SLOVAKIA The Cleveland Agreement between the Slovak League of Amerka and the Czech National Alliance was extensively discussed in seve:r,al issues of "Slovak v Amerike". On February 27, 1916 "Slovak v Amerike" published an account of the Congress of the Slovak League held in Chicago on February 22 and 23, 1916. In this article Gustav Marshall-Petrovsky recommended that the Congress send representatives to Europe to discuss the developing situi,tion with Slovak and Czech leaders. Gustav Kosik and Stefan Osusky were •c ommissioned to this task by the Slovak League, and they left for Europe - Kosik on May 29, 1916, and Osusky on May 31. Their purpose was to investigate all Slovak and Czech committees and to determine whether they worked in the spirit of the Cleveland Agreement between .t he Slovaks and the Czechs. After Kosik returned to the United States from Russia, the American Slovaks started a one million dollar fundraising campaign for the liberation of Slovakia. On May 23, 1917 "Slovak v Amerike" said: "It is believed that iat lea:st one million Slovaks live in the United States. If eac<h of them were to contribute but one dollar, we would have a million." Among the Czechs were many pan-Czechists who sought the formation of a Great Pan-Czeohia. They acted in disregard of the rights of the Slovak nation. Seton-Watson writes that great indignation was aroused among Slovaks when Thomas Masaryk, acting in the capacity of president of the Czecho-Slovak Council, sent a confidential memorandum to the English government which stated that "the Slovaks are Bohemians in spite of their use of their dialect as a literary language." Later, when 1:lhe Slovaks of Russia and America withdrew their support of the Czecho-Slovak Council, Masaryk worked frantically to regain their support. After all, the Slovaks in America had financed the whole liberation movement. Miasaryk himself ,p acified the Slovaks of Russia with .the Moscow Agreement (August 15, 1917), and the American Slovaks with the Pittsburgh Pact of May 30, 1918, in which he gave broad -assuramces of recognition of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" printed several long articles about the meeting in Pittsburgh between Slovaks and Czechs, �SLOVAKIA 45 under the chairmanship of Thomas Masaryk (June 6, 7, and 8, 1918). It wrote more about the pact on June 28, 1918: "Some of our brothers feared that the Czechs were not sincere in their dealings with us, and that they planned to ,Czechize us later. Our brothers protested against the statements of some shortsig,hted and badly-informed Czechs thwt the Slovaks are only a branch or the Bohemian nation, and that the •Slovak language is only a dialect of Czech. Our standpoint is that the Slovaks are not merely an appendix of the Czech nation, but •t hat they themselves constitute an individual nation." The Pittsburgh Pact was one of ijhe hottest political issues of the Czecho-Slovak Republic during the first twenty years of its existence. American Slovaks did what tJhey could for the liberation of their homeland. The Czechs failed to fulfil both their agreements with the Slov,2Jks, and their promises to the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference. The end of the war brought to a close the political struggle with the Magyars and saw the beginning of a new struggle - against Czech encroachments of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" guided Slovak thought and effort in this battle with as much vehemence as it had previously devoted to the battle with Austro-Hungarian suppression. TECHNICAL NOTES ON THE FEATURES AND DEVELOPMENT OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1905 Masthead: Slovak v Ameri:ke (in the English translation: Slovak American). Subtitle: A Laborite and National Newspaper. Motto: Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law. On the left side of tJhe masthead, written in Slovak: Founded in 1889. "Slovak v Amerike" is an independent, genuinely Slovak national paper, published every Tuesday and Friday. The purpose of this newspaper is to defend with dignity, to teach, and to amuse the Slovak people living in the United States of America. The surbscr1ption price for one ye•ar is $2.00; for half a year $1.00. Send all letters and money to this address: Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York, N. Y. �46 SLOVAKIA On the right side of the masthead, written in English, appears: Established in 1889. Slovak v Amerike, published every Tuesday and Friday, is the only Slovak Newspaper in the Metropolis and its vicinity, and is the largest and sole SIDMI-WEEKLY in the United States. It reaches every state in the Union and Canada and has the largest circulation of any newspaiper among Slovaiks, or so-called Hungarians, in the new world. Inasmuch as all the other Slovak newspapers are weeklies, Slovak v Amerike is the best advertising medium. Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York City. Telephone: 2466 Orchard. Under the semicircle of the titular caption "Slovak v Amerike" there is a picture depicting on the left side two miners, and on the right side a farmer plowing with two horses, and in the background a farmhouse. In the middle of the picture appear two figures: on the left a man in Slovak national costume holding a flag, and on the right a young woman depicting Freedom, with an American flag. Between them stands an eagle. THE MASTHEAD OF " SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1906 In 1906 the newspaper changed its masthead: under "Slovak v Amerike" there appeared a Slovak peasant couple dressed in Slovak national costume; in front of the couple is an eagle with two flags, one American, the other Slovak, stri,p ed in white blue and red. Behind th~ couple rise the three Slovak mountain peaks of the Slovaik coat-of-arms, and above them shines the sun. On the left side of the picture appea.rs a farmer ,s owing grain; on the right a miner. To the side of the central picture there is a short note d escribing the services offered by the newspaper. "Slovak v Amerike" flourished with the establishment of the new publishing company. On November 23, 1906 it announced the acquisition of a new ,p rinting press from the Goss Printing Press Company. The editor-in-chief was happy to have the new machine: ''With the avalanche of immigration Slovak business grows, too. In i.America nobody who works, who is industrious, has cause to fear bun~er, because h e can face the future confidently." �SLOVAKIA 47 There were many varied advertisements featured in "Slovak v Amerike". Banks, travel bureaus, physicians, real estate agencies, taverns, funeral homes, hotels, photographers, jewellers, pharmacists . . . all found it desirable to advertize there. The attractiveness of the newspaper was enhanced with diversified pictures, both photogrruphs and drawings. It was ia big event when the first photographic picture appeared in the July 6, 1906 issue. The influence of American newspapers is noticeable in some less significant news. On April 3, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" pictured ,s even ladies's hats with the commentary that for the first time in its i6 year existence it was publishing something exciting for the ladies. On January 11, 1907 the newspaper was printed for the first time on a huge new rotary press. THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1910 With business increasing the purblishers planned to improve the newspaper not only in content but also in appearance. On March 8, 1910 "Slovak v Amerike" appeared wi!h. a new masthead. In the center were two figures, one depicting a Slovak youth ·with a "Valaska" (hatcbet) and the Slovak flag, 1:Jhe other a young woman, symbolizing A· merica, with the American flag. Between them stands an eagle guarding the respective coat-of-arms. Above the eagle hovers the rising sun. · On the left side is a miner, on the right a farmer in the act of plowing. Captioned above is the title of the newspaper: Slovak v Amerike: below, in English: Slovak American. On · the left side of the masthead is inscribed the slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National N_e wspaper); on the right side: "Spasa narodna ,bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the nation's salvation be the highest law.) 1911 was a memorable year for "Slovak v Amerike''.. On April 4, 1911 the complete business, including the printing shop, was transferred to permanent quarters in a newly acquired building at 166 Ave. A., New York City. In the following year "Slovak v Amerike" acquired a new printing machine, manufactured by Goss Company, New York and Chicago, for $8,000.00. �48 SLOVAKIA THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1912 With the new machine the masthead of the newspaper was changed again. The ·c entral figure in the new masthead was a girl sitting with a book, who symbolized Slovakia. She leans with her left arm on a globe of Amerioa. Under the globe is an American flag. On the right side stands a boy with a liberty forch, ,and next to him a globe of Europe. The boy holds a hammer in his right hand and under his feet is a worm-wheel. Between the two figures is an eagle holding the coat-of-arms of America and Slovakia. On the left side of the central picture there is a panorama of New York City; on the right a farmer and two miners are depicted in an oblong picture. Captioned above is the inscriiption: Slovak v Amerike; below: Slovak American. Semi~weekly, 166 Ave. A., New York, N. Y. On the left side is the old slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National newspaper); on the right side the motto: "Spa.sa :narodna 1bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law.) Not long after the change in quarters came another change in editors. On March 26, 1912 "Slovak v Amerike" published the names of the whole personnel-staff of the newspa;per and the print shop. C. L. Orbach was listed as president and editor-in-chief. Associate editors were: Jan Culen and Karol Still!sny. The newspaper now introduced the services of a travel agency and ia law department, including a notary public. It was a natural and useful step forward. Many immigrants had no acquaintances but their factory friends and roommates. They were in need of these ser vices to send money to their wives in Slovakia, or tickets for pll!ssage to the United States. This business expanded and with time branches were established in Yonkers, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Wallington, New Jersey; and Hooversville, Pennsylv,ania. T4ere were also changes in the staff. Culen left and only Orbach and Stiasny r emained as editors. On November 13, 1913 "Slovak v Amerike" published the following important news: �SLOVAKIA 49 On January 1, 1914 Slovak v Amerike will be published daily on four pa,ges, except once a week, when it will appear on eight pages. In the masthead of the newspa,per wais a small change: the Slovak word "Dennik" (Daily) was placed over the panorama of New York City, and over the drawing of the farmer and miner was pl aced the English word "Daily". On January 10, 1914 "Slovak v Amerike" quoted from an editorial in the Slovak newspaper "Hlas" (The Voice) from Cleveland: 1 On January first "Slov:ik v Amerike" became a daily. We now h.av,e four dailies in America, and two more are in prepa ration. The Slovaks are progressing faster in the United States than in tihe old country, where they have only one daily and even this one has a hard tim e surviving. On April 1, 1915 "Slovak v Amerike" aippeared with a new masthead. The new version was similar to the old, except that the lateral figures were dropped. A few days later there was a big turnover in the editorial office. On November 6, 1915 the following editors were listed: Orbach, Stiasny; on November 8, Orbaoh, Stiasny, Culen; on November 9, Orbach, Stiasny; on November 11, Orbach, Stiaisny, Jan Galbavy. The printing shop of "Slovak v Amerike" was also growing. An announcement was made on August 5, 1915 that it had acquired a new linotype, a model 14 - multiple magazine linotype machine, manufactuJred by Mergenthaler Linoty;pe Company, Brooklyn, New York. On December 16, 1915 red ink was used for t!he first time in a headline: "Allies Fortify City of Salonika". Never again did "Slova;k v Amerike" use red ink in its headlines. No further technical changes occured in the publi<!ation of the daily "Slovak v Amerike". APPENDIX THE CIRCULATION OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE"l Year 1889-1893 1894 1895 Listed Under Sclavonic Sclavonic Circulation Not available 3,000 Not a vaila'ble �50 SLOVAKIA 1896 1897-1899 1900 1901-1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911-1918 Sclavonic-Slo:venic Slavonic and Slovenic Siavonic and Slovenic Slavonic and Slovenic Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovak Slovak Slovak 4,000 Not available 8,900 Not available 20,000 20,000 30,000 Not available 30,000 36,000 Not available FOOTNOTES l. N. W. Ayer & Sons, DIRIDCTORY O,F PERIODICALS, (Philadelphia, 1894-1918). NEWSIPAPERS ANID BIBLIOGRAPHY Autonomlst, An . S'LO¥AKIA'S PLEA F10R A,UTONO>MY. N . p., Slovak Literary Society, 1,935. Ayer, N. W. & Sons. DIRElCTORY OF NEWSPAiP.ERiS AND PIDRIODICALS. Philadelphia, 1894-19-18. Bonsal, Stephen. SUITORS ANID SUPRLIANTS; 'I1HE LITTLE N.AT~ONS AT ¥ERSAILIJES. New York, Prentice-Hall, 1946. Capek, Thomas. THE SlJOVA~S OF HUNGARY. New York, The Knicker-Bocker Press, 1906. Culen, Konstantin. JANKO SIJOV·ENSKY. Winnipeg, Kanadsky Slovak, 1954. Durcansky, Ferdinand. PiOHI'..AiD NA SLOVENSKU POLITICKU MINULOST. Bratislava, By the author, 1943. Kohn, Hans. PANSLAVI-SM. Notre Dame, Ind ., Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1953. Lengyel, Emil. Al\f•E lRlCANS F1RIOM HUNGA!RY. P1hiladelphla, Llppincobt, 1948. Mackenzie, Compton. DR. BfilNiE~. London, Harrap, 1946. Mraz, Andrej . DEJIINY SIJOY.ENSKEJ LIT,ERATUiRY. Bratislava, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slovaca, 1948. NEW YORKSKY DElNNiK, June, 1936. (New York) Palickar, Stephen J. SLO¥AKJI.A!N CULTURE . Cambridge, Mass., Hempshire Press, 19:H. Seton,Watson, R . W. A HISTORY OF '11HE CZEJCHS ANiD SLOVAKS. New York, Hutchinson, 1943. Seton-Watson, R. W . MASAIRYK IN ENGLAND. Cambridge, Engl., Univ. Press, 1943. Sidor, Karol. SLOVACI V ZAIH!RAiNICNOM ODBOJI. Bratislava, By the author, 1928. SLOVAK V AMIDRIKE, 1905-1918. New York. Yurchak, Peter: T,H,E SLOVAKS; THEllR HISTORY AND TRADITION . Whioting, Ind., J. J. Lach, 194-6. � 38 SLOVAKIA William Kana, M. A . THE OLDEST SLOV.AJK NEWSP.AJPIDR IN 'TIRE U.S.A. "Slovaik v Amerike" is the oldest Slovak newspaper continuously published in the United States. It has survived seventy-five hard years in the service of Slovaik immigrants who were hungry for news from ,theiir native Slovakia as well as fur the news of their adopted !homeland. Slovak journalism in the United States was launched on October 21, 1886 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the publication of "Amerikan,szko.,S,zlovensZJke Noviny" (The Amerioan SlovaJk News) . 'I'he ipubHsher of this newspaper was Janka Slovensky, who served at the time as a clerk in the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Pi,ttsburgn. 'I'he second Slovak newspaper in the United States, called "Nova Vlasf" ('Dhe New Homeland), was founded in 1888 in Streaitor, Illinois. It merged with "AmerikianszkoSzlovenszke Noviny" shortly after it appeared. At that time, an era when the Slovak nation wais being severely oppressed by the government of Budapest, the free ,p ress in America provided political refugees and emigrants with information about happenings in Slovakia as well ,as in the United States. The town of Plymouth, Pennsylvia.nia is the cradle of "Slovak v Ameri-ke", whi~h is actually the oldest continuously published Slovak newspaiper in the world. As American history is connected with the City of Plymouth, Massachusetts, so the history of tlle Slovafos in the United States is closely related to this Pennsylvanian town. The founder of "Slovak v Amerike" was Albert S. Ambrose. He describes the beginnings of this newspaper in the June 1936 issues of "New Yorksky Dennik" (The New York Daily). In Plymouth, Pennsylvania the Reverend Joseph Kossalko had published a newspaiper called "Zastava" (The Flag) in a pro-Hungarian spirit and in the Eastern Slovak dialect, a venture which lasted only nine months. After t'he demise of "Za:stava" Edmund Gretschell, an immigrant from Silesia, bought its printing press from Reverend �SLOVAKIA 39 Kossaliko. He planned to establish a printing business of his own among the Sloviarks living in Plymouth. However, these immigrants were workers and laborer~, who rarely needed such work, and his lack of facility in writing English precluded his doing any extensive business with the English-speaking re&idents of the town. Albert Ambrose proofreaJCl the Siovak and English ,p rintings, and from this business association grew 1::he idea of publishtng a newspaper for Slovaiks in Pennsylvania. The need wais great: Slovaks in America did not understand English, and furthermore, American newspapers pu1blished little news from their homeland. The first issue of "Slovak v Amerike", •r eleased on December 21, 1889, had only four pages. 'Ilhe most interesting part of the whole issue was the editorial, wihich read in part: "We have come to the conclusion that there is a need for a purely Slovak cultural newspaper. We have therefore decided to publish one. The purpose of t,h is newspaper will be : 1. To lead our countrymen; to help them; to propagate love among them; to educrute them. 2. To publish some entertaining stories for children, so as to encourage them to read Slovak at home, it being lmpossi•ble for them to study their mother's tongue in the schools . The first issue is small. Growth of the newspaper will depend on you. Arouse your eyes from sleep and darkness, and follow the voice of your country. Otherwise your descendants will curse you for not caring for yourself, your soul, and the welfare o! your country" . "Slovak v Amerike" wa~ Ambrose's property, but Gret.schell was its publisher. At aibout this time John Gostony, a resident of Bhoen1xville, Pennsylvania, was planning to publish a Slovak new~paper, and :h e asked Ambrose to ,become its editor. They signed a contract agreeing that the new publisher of "Slovak v Amerike" would be Gostony, and its editor would be Ambrose. Gretschell could continue to ,print the paper, if he should be willing to move ibis shop to Phoenixville. Greteohell agreed and itlhe newspaper was moved to Phoenixville. The new company hired as typeietters two young Slovaks, Frano Razny and Ferdinand Ursiny, who had learned their trade in tlrn printery of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. When Ambrose left Phoenixville in the fall of 1890 �40 SLOVAKIA Frantisek Pucher Cernovodsky became editor of "Slovak v Amerlke". Subsequently Jan Spevak -became owner and editor of "Slovak v Amerike", and under his direction notable gains were made in circulation. Spevak had emigrated to the United States in 1887. He first worked in a printing shop in Pittsburgh, and later came to Phoenixville to work for "Slovak v Amerike". He made many innovations, the most important being the change from the Eastern dialect to standard Slovak. He retained the original humorous column "R1p and Racik" for Eastern Slovaks. The charges of former publisher Gostony that the change in language WaJS sudden ahd that the newspaper therefore lost many subscribers 1are not substantiated by the facts. Statistics in Ayer's "Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals" actually disclose an increiase in the nuimber of sUJbscribers. For example "Slovak v Amerike" had 3,000 subscribers in 1894, but eleven years later, in 1905, when Spevak died, it had grown to 20,000 subscribers. Another of Spevak's innovations was more news from Slovakia, literally transcribed from "Narodnie Noviny". Naturally the news was old, because the newspaper from Slova!kia arrived in the United States one month late. However, this circumstance created no problem: the Slovak immigrant was interested in the substance of the news, not its age. The editors knew the psychology of their readers and therefore they cliassified all news from Slovakia by the province of origin. Later, as the circle of subscribers grew the publishers organized a group of correspondents in Slovaikia to provide original news from different parts of Slovakia. Spevak also published editorials from "Narodnie Noviny", particularly such as carried political significance in the Slovak resistance to the strong onsl,a ughts of Magyari2iation. · After the death of Jan Spevak, owner, publisher and _e ditor of "Slovak v Amerike", on May 31, 1905, his wife carried on for a short Ume as publisher. On June 13, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" announced that the new publishers were Reverend Christopher Leo OrbaC'h, a Lutheran minister, and A. G. Tvrdy. On the editoria.'l page of December 8, 1905 C. L. Orbach and Compa:ny were captioned as publishers. As of December 21, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" was published by C. L. Orbach only. Towards the end of Decem- �SLOVAKIA 41 ber 1905 a new pulblishing company bearing an English name came into existence. It was · called the Slovak Press. The company was incorporated on December 30, 1905 in the state of New York. Orbach, Faybik and Molitoris were its incorporators. On January 26, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" listed the following officers: C. L. Orbach, president; Andrew Faybik, vice-president; J. C. Molitoris, secretary. Orbach also held the position of editor-in-chief. Everybody who worked for the newipaper boug,ht some preferred stock with dividends warrantied at 6 % . On February 2, 1906 the front -p age carried a picture of the incorporators. The next editor of "Slovak v Amerike" was Anton Bielek, one-time editor of the old-world newspaper "Katolicke Noviny" (The Catholic News) and "r.udove Noviny" (The People's News), who left his homeland because of political persecution. He aNived in the United States in September 1906 with his family of ten. Bielek's name was well known to American Slovaiks. He had written a history of the Slovak people, which was published in Pittsburgh by the Slovak National Society in 1897. It is altogether likely that Orbaoh 1he1ped finance his trip to the United States and had offered him tJhe post of editor in the newspaper. Bielek's first editorial appeared on October 2, 1906: "I will defend the people agains,t persecution, I will teach the truth, I will guide our readers to a pious life, I will call a nd cry: give the workers a dec ent way of life; I will rais e a cry ror freedom, ror education and for enlightenment. I will be an enemy of the slave drivers and of the destroyers of the people, an enemy of darkness; I will not change the purpose of my work, and always I will have as my aim: the welfare of ,tlhe Slovak people." Under the editorsh1p of Anton Bielek "Slovak v Amerike" published several criticisms of the cultural stagnation of Slovaks in the United States. On April 2, 1907 Bielek says in his editorial: "We have many societies, but no libraries. We have no educational lectures. We lack nobility of purpose." Editor Bielek was also responsible for organizing the so-oalled indignation meetings against Hungarian oppression of Slovaks in their homeland. These meetings were •held in New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Olyphant, Pa., Schenectady, N. Y., Houtzdale, Pa., Bridgeport, Conn., and in other American towns. �42 SLOVAKIA The editorials of "Slovak v Amerike" reflected the varied needs and problems of Slovaks in America. The editors fully participated in and O'bserved American life. They avoided the atmosphere of a national ghetto. When a league against foreigners was organized in Chicago "Slovaik v Amerike" prnmptly editorialized against its purposes: " ... America should be grateful to foreigners for their ·s ervices, especially for the heavy la1bor whic:h forms the ba:sis for other, lighter work ... " (March, 1910). "Slovak v Amerike" was panslavistically oriented. The editors anticipated that Slovak liberation would come from Russian Cziardom. This policy was reflected in the newspaper. The editors rose to the defense of all Slav:s in reaction to Woodrow Wilson's statement in his "History of the American People" (Volume 5, Page 212), in which he advocates forbidding Slavic immigration to the United States. (November 3, 1910). At the beginning of World War I the daily "Slovak v Amerike" cautioned Slovaks to keep out of the war against Slavdom (July 31, 1914). American Slovaks in the years 1914-1915 had strong pro-Russian sympathies. The roots of this Russophilism lay in the desperate plight of the Slovaks - in Hungary in the face of severe Magyarizia.tion. During this period ~he editors of "Slovak v Am~rike" had no clear image of the direction which the Slov:aks, in Europe ought to take to .resolve their national plig,ht. Their first concern wa:s total liberiation from Hungarian rule. 'Dhomas Capek, •a prominent Czech of New· York City, speaking at a great meeting of Slavs held in New York on January 17, 1915, under the chairmanship of Michael I . Pupin, made the following remarks about the Slovak situation: "The Slovaks, as 'they work for their independence, face three a lternatives: 1. They can seek complete freedom. 2. They can join politically with the Magyars. 3. They can assure their future with their brotherly tribe, the Czechs." (Slovak v Amerike, J anuary 20, 1915). The political struggle with the Hungarians and negotiations with Czech spokesmen, were reflected faithfully in the newspaper. Devotion to truth in newspaper report- �SLOVAKIA 43 ing was expressed in an editorial at the outbreak of the war: "Our duty to God ,and before the face of the world is to present tr.uthful news." ("Slovak v Amerike", August 27, 1914). "Slovak v Amerrke" preserves a record of historical events affecting Slovaks not only in the United States, but also in Europe. Czech politicians were interested in Slovakia mainly for three reasons: 1. Bohemia would become larger if united with Slov,akia; 2. The Czechs would acquire a bridge to Russia; 3. In the United States Slovak immigrants far outnumbered the Czechs, and as a result they represented a large financial potentiial for underwriting the liberation movement. The extent of the Slovak community in the United States was reflected by statistics published in "Slovak v Amerike" on August 27, 1907, which broke down immigration figures for the years 1898-1904 as follows: SLOVAKS 173,775, Irish 199,799, Italians 929,308, Polish 338,741, ,and Bohemians 34,444. "Slovak v Amerike" jealously guarded the right of Slovaks to their national identity. Slovaks in America were greatly disturbed by a statement in a Czech manifesto which defined the Slovak people as ,an integral part of the Bohemian nation. On April 5, 1915 "Slovak T Amerike" answered this manifesto on its editorial page. Ivan Daxner, secretary o! the Slovak League of America, wrote in "Slovak v Amerrke" on April 14, 1915: "From the ve ry beginning the Czech political manifesto carefully avoided r eferring to the Slovak people as a. NtATION. Later they dearly an d unequivocally declared that only ,th e Slovak people and the Bohemian race together could form a nation." The editors were so eager to serve truth that they even published an editorial from a Hungarian newspaper "Amerikai Magyar Nepszava" on the problems of minorities in Hungary (June 22, 1915). However, the resolution of these problems was pretty well tied to the outcome of the war: the editors were familiar with Allied opinion about the Austro-Hungarian Empire - this jail of nations was to be dismantled. "Slovak v Amerike" supported American policy and American war efforts. On March 16, 1917 it started to publish ,a column titled "Loyal Slovaks" in whioh it featured letters from readers expres~ing support for the war effort of the United States. �44 SLOVAKIA The Cleveland Agreement between the Slovak League of Amerka and the Czech National Alliance was extensively discussed in seve:r,al issues of "Slovak v Amerike". On February 27, 1916 "Slovak v Amerike" published an account of the Congress of the Slovak League held in Chicago on February 22 and 23, 1916. In this article Gustav Marshall-Petrovsky recommended that the Congress send representatives to Europe to discuss the developing situi,tion with Slovak and Czech leaders. Gustav Kosik and Stefan Osusky were •c ommissioned to this task by the Slovak League, and they left for Europe - Kosik on May 29, 1916, and Osusky on May 31. Their purpose was to investigate all Slovak and Czech committees and to determine whether they worked in the spirit of the Cleveland Agreement between .t he Slovaks and the Czechs. After Kosik returned to the United States from Russia, the American Slovaks started a one million dollar fundraising campaign for the liberation of Slovakia. On May 23, 1917 "Slovak v Amerike" said: "It is believed that iat lea:st one million Slovaks live in the United States. If eac<h of them were to contribute but one dollar, we would have a million." Among the Czechs were many pan-Czechists who sought the formation of a Great Pan-Czeohia. They acted in disregard of the rights of the Slovak nation. Seton-Watson writes that great indignation was aroused among Slovaks when Thomas Masaryk, acting in the capacity of president of the Czecho-Slovak Council, sent a confidential memorandum to the English government which stated that "the Slovaks are Bohemians in spite of their use of their dialect as a literary language." Later, when 1:lhe Slovaks of Russia and America withdrew their support of the Czecho-Slovak Council, Masaryk worked frantically to regain their support. After all, the Slovaks in America had financed the whole liberation movement. Miasaryk himself ,p acified the Slovaks of Russia with .the Moscow Agreement (August 15, 1917), and the American Slovaks with the Pittsburgh Pact of May 30, 1918, in which he gave broad -assuramces of recognition of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" printed several long articles about the meeting in Pittsburgh between Slovaks and Czechs, �SLOVAKIA 45 under the chairmanship of Thomas Masaryk (June 6, 7, and 8, 1918). It wrote more about the pact on June 28, 1918: "Some of our brothers feared that the Czechs were not sincere in their dealings with us, and that they planned to ,Czechize us later. Our brothers protested against the statements of some shortsig,hted and badly-informed Czechs thwt the Slovaks are only a branch or the Bohemian nation, and that the •Slovak language is only a dialect of Czech. Our standpoint is that the Slovaks are not merely an appendix of the Czech nation, but •t hat they themselves constitute an individual nation." The Pittsburgh Pact was one of ijhe hottest political issues of the Czecho-Slovak Republic during the first twenty years of its existence. American Slovaks did what tJhey could for the liberation of their homeland. The Czechs failed to fulfil both their agreements with the Slov,2Jks, and their promises to the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference. The end of the war brought to a close the political struggle with the Magyars and saw the beginning of a new struggle - against Czech encroachments of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" guided Slovak thought and effort in this battle with as much vehemence as it had previously devoted to the battle with Austro-Hungarian suppression. TECHNICAL NOTES ON THE FEATURES AND DEVELOPMENT OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1905 Masthead: Slovak v Ameri:ke (in the English translation: Slovak American). Subtitle: A Laborite and National Newspaper. Motto: Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law. On the left side of tJhe masthead, written in Slovak: Founded in 1889. "Slovak v Amerike" is an independent, genuinely Slovak national paper, published every Tuesday and Friday. The purpose of this newspaper is to defend with dignity, to teach, and to amuse the Slovak people living in the United States of America. The surbscr1ption price for one ye•ar is $2.00; for half a year $1.00. Send all letters and money to this address: Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York, N. Y. �46 SLOVAKIA On the right side of the masthead, written in English, appears: Established in 1889. Slovak v Amerike, published every Tuesday and Friday, is the only Slovak Newspaper in the Metropolis and its vicinity, and is the largest and sole SIDMI-WEEKLY in the United States. It reaches every state in the Union and Canada and has the largest circulation of any newspaiper among Slovaiks, or so-called Hungarians, in the new world. Inasmuch as all the other Slovak newspapers are weeklies, Slovak v Amerike is the best advertising medium. Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York City. Telephone: 2466 Orchard. Under the semicircle of the titular caption "Slovak v Amerike" there is a picture depicting on the left side two miners, and on the right side a farmer plowing with two horses, and in the background a farmhouse. In the middle of the picture appear two figures: on the left a man in Slovak national costume holding a flag, and on the right a young woman depicting Freedom, with an American flag. Between them stands an eagle. THE MASTHEAD OF " SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1906 In 1906 the newspaper changed its masthead: under "Slovak v Amerike" there appeared a Slovak peasant couple dressed in Slovak national costume; in front of the couple is an eagle with two flags, one American, the other Slovak, stri,p ed in white blue and red. Behind th~ couple rise the three Slovak mountain peaks of the Slovaik coat-of-arms, and above them shines the sun. On the left side of the picture appea.rs a farmer ,s owing grain; on the right a miner. To the side of the central picture there is a short note d escribing the services offered by the newspaper. "Slovak v Amerike" flourished with the establishment of the new publishing company. On November 23, 1906 it announced the acquisition of a new ,p rinting press from the Goss Printing Press Company. The editor-in-chief was happy to have the new machine: ''With the avalanche of immigration Slovak business grows, too. In i.America nobody who works, who is industrious, has cause to fear bun~er, because h e can face the future confidently." �SLOVAKIA 47 There were many varied advertisements featured in "Slovak v Amerike". Banks, travel bureaus, physicians, real estate agencies, taverns, funeral homes, hotels, photographers, jewellers, pharmacists . . . all found it desirable to advertize there. The attractiveness of the newspaper was enhanced with diversified pictures, both photogrruphs and drawings. It was ia big event when the first photographic picture appeared in the July 6, 1906 issue. The influence of American newspapers is noticeable in some less significant news. On April 3, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" pictured ,s even ladies's hats with the commentary that for the first time in its i6 year existence it was publishing something exciting for the ladies. On January 11, 1907 the newspaper was printed for the first time on a huge new rotary press. THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1910 With business increasing the purblishers planned to improve the newspaper not only in content but also in appearance. On March 8, 1910 "Slovak v Amerike" appeared wi!h. a new masthead. In the center were two figures, one depicting a Slovak youth ·with a "Valaska" (hatcbet) and the Slovak flag, 1:Jhe other a young woman, symbolizing A· merica, with the American flag. Between them stands an eagle guarding the respective coat-of-arms. Above the eagle hovers the rising sun. · On the left side is a miner, on the right a farmer in the act of plowing. Captioned above is the title of the newspaper: Slovak v Amerike: below, in English: Slovak American. On · the left side of the masthead is inscribed the slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National N_e wspaper); on the right side: "Spasa narodna ,bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the nation's salvation be the highest law.) 1911 was a memorable year for "Slovak v Amerike''.. On April 4, 1911 the complete business, including the printing shop, was transferred to permanent quarters in a newly acquired building at 166 Ave. A., New York City. In the following year "Slovak v Amerike" acquired a new printing machine, manufactured by Goss Company, New York and Chicago, for $8,000.00. �48 SLOVAKIA THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1912 With the new machine the masthead of the newspaper was changed again. The ·c entral figure in the new masthead was a girl sitting with a book, who symbolized Slovakia. She leans with her left arm on a globe of Amerioa. Under the globe is an American flag. On the right side stands a boy with a liberty forch, ,and next to him a globe of Europe. The boy holds a hammer in his right hand and under his feet is a worm-wheel. Between the two figures is an eagle holding the coat-of-arms of America and Slovakia. On the left side of the central picture there is a panorama of New York City; on the right a farmer and two miners are depicted in an oblong picture. Captioned above is the inscriiption: Slovak v Amerike; below: Slovak American. Semi~weekly, 166 Ave. A., New York, N. Y. On the left side is the old slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National newspaper); on the right side the motto: "Spa.sa :narodna 1bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law.) Not long after the change in quarters came another change in editors. On March 26, 1912 "Slovak v Amerike" published the names of the whole personnel-staff of the newspa;per and the print shop. C. L. Orbach was listed as president and editor-in-chief. Associate editors were: Jan Culen and Karol Still!sny. The newspaper now introduced the services of a travel agency and ia law department, including a notary public. It was a natural and useful step forward. Many immigrants had no acquaintances but their factory friends and roommates. They were in need of these ser vices to send money to their wives in Slovakia, or tickets for pll!ssage to the United States. This business expanded and with time branches were established in Yonkers, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Wallington, New Jersey; and Hooversville, Pennsylv,ania. T4ere were also changes in the staff. Culen left and only Orbach and Stiasny r emained as editors. On November 13, 1913 "Slovak v Amerike" published the following important news: �SLOVAKIA 49 On January 1, 1914 Slovak v Amerike will be published daily on four pa,ges, except once a week, when it will appear on eight pages. In the masthead of the newspa,per wais a small change: the Slovak word "Dennik" (Daily) was placed over the panorama of New York City, and over the drawing of the farmer and miner was pl aced the English word "Daily". On January 10, 1914 "Slovak v Amerike" quoted from an editorial in the Slovak newspaper "Hlas" (The Voice) from Cleveland: 1 On January first "Slov:ik v Amerike" became a daily. We now h.av,e four dailies in America, and two more are in prepa ration. The Slovaks are progressing faster in the United States than in tihe old country, where they have only one daily and even this one has a hard tim e surviving. On April 1, 1915 "Slovak v Amerike" aippeared with a new masthead. The new version was similar to the old, except that the lateral figures were dropped. A few days later there was a big turnover in the editorial office. On November 6, 1915 the following editors were listed: Orbach, Stiasny; on November 8, Orbaoh, Stiasny, Culen; on November 9, Orbach, Stiasny; on November 11, Orbach, Stiaisny, Jan Galbavy. The printing shop of "Slovak v Amerike" was also growing. An announcement was made on August 5, 1915 that it had acquired a new linotype, a model 14 - multiple magazine linotype machine, manufactuJred by Mergenthaler Linoty;pe Company, Brooklyn, New York. On December 16, 1915 red ink was used for t!he first time in a headline: "Allies Fortify City of Salonika". Never again did "Slova;k v Amerike" use red ink in its headlines. No further technical changes occured in the publi<!ation of the daily "Slovak v Amerike". APPENDIX THE CIRCULATION OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE"l Year 1889-1893 1894 1895 Listed Under Sclavonic Sclavonic Circulation Not available 3,000 Not a vaila'ble �50 SLOVAKIA 1896 1897-1899 1900 1901-1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911-1918 Sclavonic-Slo:venic Slavonic and Slovenic Siavonic and Slovenic Slavonic and Slovenic Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovak Slovak Slovak 4,000 Not available 8,900 Not available 20,000 20,000 30,000 Not available 30,000 36,000 Not available FOOTNOTES l. N. W. Ayer & Sons, DIRIDCTORY O,F PERIODICALS, (Philadelphia, 1894-1918). NEWSIPAPERS ANID BIBLIOGRAPHY Autonomlst, An . S'LO¥AKIA'S PLEA F10R A,UTONO>MY. N . p., Slovak Literary Society, 1,935. Ayer, N. W. & Sons. DIRElCTORY OF NEWSPAiP.ERiS AND PIDRIODICALS. Philadelphia, 1894-19-18. Bonsal, Stephen. SUITORS ANID SUPRLIANTS; 'I1HE LITTLE N.AT~ONS AT ¥ERSAILIJES. New York, Prentice-Hall, 1946. Capek, Thomas. THE SlJOVA~S OF HUNGARY. New York, The Knicker-Bocker Press, 1906. Culen, Konstantin. JANKO SIJOV·ENSKY. Winnipeg, Kanadsky Slovak, 1954. Durcansky, Ferdinand. PiOHI'..AiD NA SLOVENSKU POLITICKU MINULOST. Bratislava, By the author, 1943. Kohn, Hans. PANSLAVI-SM. Notre Dame, Ind ., Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1953. Lengyel, Emil. Al\f•E lRlCANS F1RIOM HUNGA!RY. P1hiladelphla, Llppincobt, 1948. Mackenzie, Compton. DR. BfilNiE~. London, Harrap, 1946. Mraz, Andrej . DEJIINY SIJOY.ENSKEJ LIT,ERATUiRY. Bratislava, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slovaca, 1948. NEW YORKSKY DElNNiK, June, 1936. (New York) Palickar, Stephen J. SLO¥AKJI.A!N CULTURE . Cambridge, Mass., Hempshire Press, 19:H. Seton,Watson, R . W. A HISTORY OF '11HE CZEJCHS ANiD SLOVAKS. New York, Hutchinson, 1943. Seton-Watson, R. W . MASAIRYK IN ENGLAND. Cambridge, Engl., Univ. Press, 1943. Sidor, Karol. SLOVACI V ZAIH!RAiNICNOM ODBOJI. Bratislava, By the author, 1928. SLOVAK V AMIDRIKE, 1905-1918. New York. Yurchak, Peter: T,H,E SLOVAKS; THEllR HISTORY AND TRADITION . Whioting, Ind., J. J. Lach, 194-6. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1965, Vol. 15 Description An account of the resource Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 38 SLOVAKIA William Kana, M. A . THE OLDEST SLOV.AJK NEWSP.AJPIDR IN 'TIRE U.S.A. "Slovaik v Amerike" is the oldest Slovak newspaper continuously published in the United States. It has survived seventy-five hard years in the service of Slovaik immigrants who were hungry for news from ,theiir native Slovakia as well as fur the news of their adopted !homeland. Slovak journalism in the United States was launched on October 21, 1886 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the publication of "Amerikan,szko.,S,zlovensZJke Noviny" (The Amerioan SlovaJk News) . 'I'he ipubHsher of this newspaper was Janka Slovensky, who served at the time as a clerk in the Austro-Hungarian Consulate in Pi,ttsburgn. 'I'he second Slovak newspaper in the United States, called "Nova Vlasf" ('Dhe New Homeland), was founded in 1888 in Streaitor, Illinois. It merged with "AmerikianszkoSzlovenszke Noviny" shortly after it appeared. At that time, an era when the Slovak nation wais being severely oppressed by the government of Budapest, the free ,p ress in America provided political refugees and emigrants with information about happenings in Slovakia as well ,as in the United States. The town of Plymouth, Pennsylvia.nia is the cradle of "Slovak v Ameri-ke", whi~h is actually the oldest continuously published Slovak newspaiper in the world. As American history is connected with the City of Plymouth, Massachusetts, so the history of tlle Slovafos in the United States is closely related to this Pennsylvanian town. The founder of "Slovak v Amerike" was Albert S. Ambrose. He describes the beginnings of this newspaper in the June 1936 issues of "New Yorksky Dennik" (The New York Daily). In Plymouth, Pennsylvania the Reverend Joseph Kossalko had published a newspaiper called "Zastava" (The Flag) in a pro-Hungarian spirit and in the Eastern Slovak dialect, a venture which lasted only nine months. After t'he demise of "Za:stava" Edmund Gretschell, an immigrant from Silesia, bought its printing press from Reverend SLOVAKIA 39 Kossaliko. He planned to establish a printing business of his own among the Sloviarks living in Plymouth. However, these immigrants were workers and laborer~, who rarely needed such work, and his lack of facility in writing English precluded his doing any extensive business with the English-speaking re&idents of the town. Albert Ambrose proofreaJCl the Siovak and English ,p rintings, and from this business association grew 1::he idea of publishtng a newspaper for Slovaiks in Pennsylvania. The need wais great: Slovaks in America did not understand English, and furthermore, American newspapers pu1blished little news from their homeland. The first issue of "Slovak v Amerike", •r eleased on December 21, 1889, had only four pages. 'Ilhe most interesting part of the whole issue was the editorial, wihich read in part: "We have come to the conclusion that there is a need for a purely Slovak cultural newspaper. We have therefore decided to publish one. The purpose of t,h is newspaper will be : 1. To lead our countrymen; to help them; to propagate love among them; to educrute them. 2. To publish some entertaining stories for children, so as to encourage them to read Slovak at home, it being lmpossi•ble for them to study their mother's tongue in the schools . The first issue is small. Growth of the newspaper will depend on you. Arouse your eyes from sleep and darkness, and follow the voice of your country. Otherwise your descendants will curse you for not caring for yourself, your soul, and the welfare o! your country" . "Slovak v Amerike" wa~ Ambrose's property, but Gret.schell was its publisher. At aibout this time John Gostony, a resident of Bhoen1xville, Pennsylvania, was planning to publish a Slovak new~paper, and :h e asked Ambrose to ,become its editor. They signed a contract agreeing that the new publisher of "Slovak v Amerike" would be Gostony, and its editor would be Ambrose. Gretschell could continue to ,print the paper, if he should be willing to move ibis shop to Phoenixville. Greteohell agreed and itlhe newspaper was moved to Phoenixville. The new company hired as typeietters two young Slovaks, Frano Razny and Ferdinand Ursiny, who had learned their trade in tlrn printery of Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia. When Ambrose left Phoenixville in the fall of 1890 40 SLOVAKIA Frantisek Pucher Cernovodsky became editor of "Slovak v Amerlke". Subsequently Jan Spevak -became owner and editor of "Slovak v Amerike", and under his direction notable gains were made in circulation. Spevak had emigrated to the United States in 1887. He first worked in a printing shop in Pittsburgh, and later came to Phoenixville to work for "Slovak v Amerike". He made many innovations, the most important being the change from the Eastern dialect to standard Slovak. He retained the original humorous column "R1p and Racik" for Eastern Slovaks. The charges of former publisher Gostony that the change in language WaJS sudden ahd that the newspaper therefore lost many subscribers 1are not substantiated by the facts. Statistics in Ayer's "Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals" actually disclose an increiase in the nuimber of sUJbscribers. For example "Slovak v Amerike" had 3,000 subscribers in 1894, but eleven years later, in 1905, when Spevak died, it had grown to 20,000 subscribers. Another of Spevak's innovations was more news from Slovakia, literally transcribed from "Narodnie Noviny". Naturally the news was old, because the newspaper from Slova!kia arrived in the United States one month late. However, this circumstance created no problem: the Slovak immigrant was interested in the substance of the news, not its age. The editors knew the psychology of their readers and therefore they cliassified all news from Slovakia by the province of origin. Later, as the circle of subscribers grew the publishers organized a group of correspondents in Slovaikia to provide original news from different parts of Slovakia. Spevak also published editorials from "Narodnie Noviny", particularly such as carried political significance in the Slovak resistance to the strong onsl,a ughts of Magyari2iation. · After the death of Jan Spevak, owner, publisher and _e ditor of "Slovak v Amerike", on May 31, 1905, his wife carried on for a short Ume as publisher. On June 13, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" announced that the new publishers were Reverend Christopher Leo OrbaC'h, a Lutheran minister, and A. G. Tvrdy. On the editoria.'l page of December 8, 1905 C. L. Orbach and Compa:ny were captioned as publishers. As of December 21, 1905 "Slovak v Amerike" was published by C. L. Orbach only. Towards the end of Decem- SLOVAKIA 41 ber 1905 a new pulblishing company bearing an English name came into existence. It was · called the Slovak Press. The company was incorporated on December 30, 1905 in the state of New York. Orbach, Faybik and Molitoris were its incorporators. On January 26, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" listed the following officers: C. L. Orbach, president; Andrew Faybik, vice-president; J. C. Molitoris, secretary. Orbach also held the position of editor-in-chief. Everybody who worked for the newipaper boug,ht some preferred stock with dividends warrantied at 6 % . On February 2, 1906 the front -p age carried a picture of the incorporators. The next editor of "Slovak v Amerike" was Anton Bielek, one-time editor of the old-world newspaper "Katolicke Noviny" (The Catholic News) and "r.udove Noviny" (The People's News), who left his homeland because of political persecution. He aNived in the United States in September 1906 with his family of ten. Bielek's name was well known to American Slovaiks. He had written a history of the Slovak people, which was published in Pittsburgh by the Slovak National Society in 1897. It is altogether likely that Orbaoh 1he1ped finance his trip to the United States and had offered him tJhe post of editor in the newspaper. Bielek's first editorial appeared on October 2, 1906: "I will defend the people agains,t persecution, I will teach the truth, I will guide our readers to a pious life, I will call a nd cry: give the workers a dec ent way of life; I will rais e a cry ror freedom, ror education and for enlightenment. I will be an enemy of the slave drivers and of the destroyers of the people, an enemy of darkness; I will not change the purpose of my work, and always I will have as my aim: the welfare of ,tlhe Slovak people." Under the editorsh1p of Anton Bielek "Slovak v Amerike" published several criticisms of the cultural stagnation of Slovaks in the United States. On April 2, 1907 Bielek says in his editorial: "We have many societies, but no libraries. We have no educational lectures. We lack nobility of purpose." Editor Bielek was also responsible for organizing the so-oalled indignation meetings against Hungarian oppression of Slovaks in their homeland. These meetings were •held in New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Olyphant, Pa., Schenectady, N. Y., Houtzdale, Pa., Bridgeport, Conn., and in other American towns. 42 SLOVAKIA The editorials of "Slovak v Amerike" reflected the varied needs and problems of Slovaks in America. The editors fully participated in and O'bserved American life. They avoided the atmosphere of a national ghetto. When a league against foreigners was organized in Chicago "Slovaik v Amerike" prnmptly editorialized against its purposes: " ... America should be grateful to foreigners for their ·s ervices, especially for the heavy la1bor whic:h forms the ba:sis for other, lighter work ... " (March, 1910). "Slovak v Amerike" was panslavistically oriented. The editors anticipated that Slovak liberation would come from Russian Cziardom. This policy was reflected in the newspaper. The editors rose to the defense of all Slav:s in reaction to Woodrow Wilson's statement in his "History of the American People" (Volume 5, Page 212), in which he advocates forbidding Slavic immigration to the United States. (November 3, 1910). At the beginning of World War I the daily "Slovak v Amerike" cautioned Slovaks to keep out of the war against Slavdom (July 31, 1914). American Slovaks in the years 1914-1915 had strong pro-Russian sympathies. The roots of this Russophilism lay in the desperate plight of the Slovaks - in Hungary in the face of severe Magyarizia.tion. During this period ~he editors of "Slovak v Am~rike" had no clear image of the direction which the Slov:aks, in Europe ought to take to .resolve their national plig,ht. Their first concern wa:s total liberiation from Hungarian rule. 'Dhomas Capek, •a prominent Czech of New· York City, speaking at a great meeting of Slavs held in New York on January 17, 1915, under the chairmanship of Michael I . Pupin, made the following remarks about the Slovak situation: "The Slovaks, as 'they work for their independence, face three a lternatives: 1. They can seek complete freedom. 2. They can join politically with the Magyars. 3. They can assure their future with their brotherly tribe, the Czechs." (Slovak v Amerike, J anuary 20, 1915). The political struggle with the Hungarians and negotiations with Czech spokesmen, were reflected faithfully in the newspaper. Devotion to truth in newspaper report- SLOVAKIA 43 ing was expressed in an editorial at the outbreak of the war: "Our duty to God ,and before the face of the world is to present tr.uthful news." ("Slovak v Amerike", August 27, 1914). "Slovak v Amerrke" preserves a record of historical events affecting Slovaks not only in the United States, but also in Europe. Czech politicians were interested in Slovakia mainly for three reasons: 1. Bohemia would become larger if united with Slov,akia; 2. The Czechs would acquire a bridge to Russia; 3. In the United States Slovak immigrants far outnumbered the Czechs, and as a result they represented a large financial potentiial for underwriting the liberation movement. The extent of the Slovak community in the United States was reflected by statistics published in "Slovak v Amerike" on August 27, 1907, which broke down immigration figures for the years 1898-1904 as follows: SLOVAKS 173,775, Irish 199,799, Italians 929,308, Polish 338,741, ,and Bohemians 34,444. "Slovak v Amerike" jealously guarded the right of Slovaks to their national identity. Slovaks in America were greatly disturbed by a statement in a Czech manifesto which defined the Slovak people as ,an integral part of the Bohemian nation. On April 5, 1915 "Slovak T Amerike" answered this manifesto on its editorial page. Ivan Daxner, secretary o! the Slovak League of America, wrote in "Slovak v Amerrke" on April 14, 1915: "From the ve ry beginning the Czech political manifesto carefully avoided r eferring to the Slovak people as a. NtATION. Later they dearly an d unequivocally declared that only ,th e Slovak people and the Bohemian race together could form a nation." The editors were so eager to serve truth that they even published an editorial from a Hungarian newspaper "Amerikai Magyar Nepszava" on the problems of minorities in Hungary (June 22, 1915). However, the resolution of these problems was pretty well tied to the outcome of the war: the editors were familiar with Allied opinion about the Austro-Hungarian Empire - this jail of nations was to be dismantled. "Slovak v Amerike" supported American policy and American war efforts. On March 16, 1917 it started to publish ,a column titled "Loyal Slovaks" in whioh it featured letters from readers expres~ing support for the war effort of the United States. 44 SLOVAKIA The Cleveland Agreement between the Slovak League of Amerka and the Czech National Alliance was extensively discussed in seve:r,al issues of "Slovak v Amerike". On February 27, 1916 "Slovak v Amerike" published an account of the Congress of the Slovak League held in Chicago on February 22 and 23, 1916. In this article Gustav Marshall-Petrovsky recommended that the Congress send representatives to Europe to discuss the developing situi,tion with Slovak and Czech leaders. Gustav Kosik and Stefan Osusky were •c ommissioned to this task by the Slovak League, and they left for Europe - Kosik on May 29, 1916, and Osusky on May 31. Their purpose was to investigate all Slovak and Czech committees and to determine whether they worked in the spirit of the Cleveland Agreement between .t he Slovaks and the Czechs. After Kosik returned to the United States from Russia, the American Slovaks started a one million dollar fundraising campaign for the liberation of Slovakia. On May 23, 1917 "Slovak v Amerike" said: "It is believed that iat lea:st one million Slovaks live in the United States. If eac<h of them were to contribute but one dollar, we would have a million." Among the Czechs were many pan-Czechists who sought the formation of a Great Pan-Czeohia. They acted in disregard of the rights of the Slovak nation. Seton-Watson writes that great indignation was aroused among Slovaks when Thomas Masaryk, acting in the capacity of president of the Czecho-Slovak Council, sent a confidential memorandum to the English government which stated that "the Slovaks are Bohemians in spite of their use of their dialect as a literary language." Later, when 1:lhe Slovaks of Russia and America withdrew their support of the Czecho-Slovak Council, Masaryk worked frantically to regain their support. After all, the Slovaks in America had financed the whole liberation movement. Miasaryk himself ,p acified the Slovaks of Russia with .the Moscow Agreement (August 15, 1917), and the American Slovaks with the Pittsburgh Pact of May 30, 1918, in which he gave broad -assuramces of recognition of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" printed several long articles about the meeting in Pittsburgh between Slovaks and Czechs, SLOVAKIA 45 under the chairmanship of Thomas Masaryk (June 6, 7, and 8, 1918). It wrote more about the pact on June 28, 1918: "Some of our brothers feared that the Czechs were not sincere in their dealings with us, and that they planned to ,Czechize us later. Our brothers protested against the statements of some shortsig,hted and badly-informed Czechs thwt the Slovaks are only a branch or the Bohemian nation, and that the •Slovak language is only a dialect of Czech. Our standpoint is that the Slovaks are not merely an appendix of the Czech nation, but •t hat they themselves constitute an individual nation." The Pittsburgh Pact was one of ijhe hottest political issues of the Czecho-Slovak Republic during the first twenty years of its existence. American Slovaks did what tJhey could for the liberation of their homeland. The Czechs failed to fulfil both their agreements with the Slov,2Jks, and their promises to the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference. The end of the war brought to a close the political struggle with the Magyars and saw the beginning of a new struggle - against Czech encroachments of Slovak rights. "Slovak v Amerike" guided Slovak thought and effort in this battle with as much vehemence as it had previously devoted to the battle with Austro-Hungarian suppression. TECHNICAL NOTES ON THE FEATURES AND DEVELOPMENT OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1905 Masthead: Slovak v Ameri:ke (in the English translation: Slovak American). Subtitle: A Laborite and National Newspaper. Motto: Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law. On the left side of tJhe masthead, written in Slovak: Founded in 1889. "Slovak v Amerike" is an independent, genuinely Slovak national paper, published every Tuesday and Friday. The purpose of this newspaper is to defend with dignity, to teach, and to amuse the Slovak people living in the United States of America. The surbscr1ption price for one ye•ar is $2.00; for half a year $1.00. Send all letters and money to this address: Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York, N. Y. 46 SLOVAKIA On the right side of the masthead, written in English, appears: Established in 1889. Slovak v Amerike, published every Tuesday and Friday, is the only Slovak Newspaper in the Metropolis and its vicinity, and is the largest and sole SIDMI-WEEKLY in the United States. It reaches every state in the Union and Canada and has the largest circulation of any newspaiper among Slovaiks, or so-called Hungarians, in the new world. Inasmuch as all the other Slovak newspapers are weeklies, Slovak v Amerike is the best advertising medium. Slovak v Amerike, 198 E. 10th Street, New York City. Telephone: 2466 Orchard. Under the semicircle of the titular caption "Slovak v Amerike" there is a picture depicting on the left side two miners, and on the right side a farmer plowing with two horses, and in the background a farmhouse. In the middle of the picture appear two figures: on the left a man in Slovak national costume holding a flag, and on the right a young woman depicting Freedom, with an American flag. Between them stands an eagle. THE MASTHEAD OF " SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1906 In 1906 the newspaper changed its masthead: under "Slovak v Amerike" there appeared a Slovak peasant couple dressed in Slovak national costume; in front of the couple is an eagle with two flags, one American, the other Slovak, stri,p ed in white blue and red. Behind th~ couple rise the three Slovak mountain peaks of the Slovaik coat-of-arms, and above them shines the sun. On the left side of the picture appea.rs a farmer ,s owing grain; on the right a miner. To the side of the central picture there is a short note d escribing the services offered by the newspaper. "Slovak v Amerike" flourished with the establishment of the new publishing company. On November 23, 1906 it announced the acquisition of a new ,p rinting press from the Goss Printing Press Company. The editor-in-chief was happy to have the new machine: ''With the avalanche of immigration Slovak business grows, too. In i.America nobody who works, who is industrious, has cause to fear bun~er, because h e can face the future confidently." SLOVAKIA 47 There were many varied advertisements featured in "Slovak v Amerike". Banks, travel bureaus, physicians, real estate agencies, taverns, funeral homes, hotels, photographers, jewellers, pharmacists . . . all found it desirable to advertize there. The attractiveness of the newspaper was enhanced with diversified pictures, both photogrruphs and drawings. It was ia big event when the first photographic picture appeared in the July 6, 1906 issue. The influence of American newspapers is noticeable in some less significant news. On April 3, 1906 "Slovak v Amerike" pictured ,s even ladies's hats with the commentary that for the first time in its i6 year existence it was publishing something exciting for the ladies. On January 11, 1907 the newspaper was printed for the first time on a huge new rotary press. THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1910 With business increasing the purblishers planned to improve the newspaper not only in content but also in appearance. On March 8, 1910 "Slovak v Amerike" appeared wi!h. a new masthead. In the center were two figures, one depicting a Slovak youth ·with a "Valaska" (hatcbet) and the Slovak flag, 1:Jhe other a young woman, symbolizing A· merica, with the American flag. Between them stands an eagle guarding the respective coat-of-arms. Above the eagle hovers the rising sun. · On the left side is a miner, on the right a farmer in the act of plowing. Captioned above is the title of the newspaper: Slovak v Amerike: below, in English: Slovak American. On · the left side of the masthead is inscribed the slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National N_e wspaper); on the right side: "Spasa narodna ,bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the nation's salvation be the highest law.) 1911 was a memorable year for "Slovak v Amerike''.. On April 4, 1911 the complete business, including the printing shop, was transferred to permanent quarters in a newly acquired building at 166 Ave. A., New York City. In the following year "Slovak v Amerike" acquired a new printing machine, manufactured by Goss Company, New York and Chicago, for $8,000.00. 48 SLOVAKIA THE MASTHEAD OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE" IN 1912 With the new machine the masthead of the newspaper was changed again. The ·c entral figure in the new masthead was a girl sitting with a book, who symbolized Slovakia. She leans with her left arm on a globe of Amerioa. Under the globe is an American flag. On the right side stands a boy with a liberty forch, ,and next to him a globe of Europe. The boy holds a hammer in his right hand and under his feet is a worm-wheel. Between the two figures is an eagle holding the coat-of-arms of America and Slovakia. On the left side of the central picture there is a panorama of New York City; on the right a farmer and two miners are depicted in an oblong picture. Captioned above is the inscriiption: Slovak v Amerike; below: Slovak American. Semi~weekly, 166 Ave. A., New York, N. Y. On the left side is the old slogan: "Robotnicke a narodne noviny" (A Laborite and National newspaper); on the right side the motto: "Spa.sa :narodna 1bud' tym najvyssim zakonom." (Let the Nation's Salvation be the Highest Law.) Not long after the change in quarters came another change in editors. On March 26, 1912 "Slovak v Amerike" published the names of the whole personnel-staff of the newspa;per and the print shop. C. L. Orbach was listed as president and editor-in-chief. Associate editors were: Jan Culen and Karol Still!sny. The newspaper now introduced the services of a travel agency and ia law department, including a notary public. It was a natural and useful step forward. Many immigrants had no acquaintances but their factory friends and roommates. They were in need of these ser vices to send money to their wives in Slovakia, or tickets for pll!ssage to the United States. This business expanded and with time branches were established in Yonkers, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Wallington, New Jersey; and Hooversville, Pennsylv,ania. T4ere were also changes in the staff. Culen left and only Orbach and Stiasny r emained as editors. On November 13, 1913 "Slovak v Amerike" published the following important news: SLOVAKIA 49 On January 1, 1914 Slovak v Amerike will be published daily on four pa,ges, except once a week, when it will appear on eight pages. In the masthead of the newspa,per wais a small change: the Slovak word "Dennik" (Daily) was placed over the panorama of New York City, and over the drawing of the farmer and miner was pl aced the English word "Daily". On January 10, 1914 "Slovak v Amerike" quoted from an editorial in the Slovak newspaper "Hlas" (The Voice) from Cleveland: 1 On January first "Slov:ik v Amerike" became a daily. We now h.av,e four dailies in America, and two more are in prepa ration. The Slovaks are progressing faster in the United States than in tihe old country, where they have only one daily and even this one has a hard tim e surviving. On April 1, 1915 "Slovak v Amerike" aippeared with a new masthead. The new version was similar to the old, except that the lateral figures were dropped. A few days later there was a big turnover in the editorial office. On November 6, 1915 the following editors were listed: Orbach, Stiasny; on November 8, Orbaoh, Stiasny, Culen; on November 9, Orbach, Stiasny; on November 11, Orbach, Stiaisny, Jan Galbavy. The printing shop of "Slovak v Amerike" was also growing. An announcement was made on August 5, 1915 that it had acquired a new linotype, a model 14 - multiple magazine linotype machine, manufactuJred by Mergenthaler Linoty;pe Company, Brooklyn, New York. On December 16, 1915 red ink was used for t!he first time in a headline: "Allies Fortify City of Salonika". Never again did "Slova;k v Amerike" use red ink in its headlines. No further technical changes occured in the publi<!ation of the daily "Slovak v Amerike". APPENDIX THE CIRCULATION OF "SLOVAK V AMERIKE"l Year 1889-1893 1894 1895 Listed Under Sclavonic Sclavonic Circulation Not available 3,000 Not a vaila'ble 50 SLOVAKIA 1896 1897-1899 1900 1901-1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911-1918 Sclavonic-Slo:venic Slavonic and Slovenic Siavonic and Slovenic Slavonic and Slovenic Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovac Slovak Slovak Slovak 4,000 Not available 8,900 Not available 20,000 20,000 30,000 Not available 30,000 36,000 Not available FOOTNOTES l. N. W. Ayer & Sons, DIRIDCTORY O,F PERIODICALS, (Philadelphia, 1894-1918). NEWSIPAPERS ANID BIBLIOGRAPHY Autonomlst, An . S'LO¥AKIA'S PLEA F10R A,UTONO>MY. N . p., Slovak Literary Society, 1,935. Ayer, N. W. & Sons. DIRElCTORY OF NEWSPAiP.ERiS AND PIDRIODICALS. Philadelphia, 1894-19-18. Bonsal, Stephen. SUITORS ANID SUPRLIANTS; 'I1HE LITTLE N.AT~ONS AT ¥ERSAILIJES. New York, Prentice-Hall, 1946. Capek, Thomas. THE SlJOVA~S OF HUNGARY. New York, The Knicker-Bocker Press, 1906. Culen, Konstantin. JANKO SIJOV·ENSKY. Winnipeg, Kanadsky Slovak, 1954. Durcansky, Ferdinand. PiOHI'..AiD NA SLOVENSKU POLITICKU MINULOST. Bratislava, By the author, 1943. Kohn, Hans. PANSLAVI-SM. Notre Dame, Ind ., Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1953. Lengyel, Emil. Al\f•E lRlCANS F1RIOM HUNGA!RY. P1hiladelphla, Llppincobt, 1948. Mackenzie, Compton. DR. BfilNiE~. London, Harrap, 1946. Mraz, Andrej . DEJIINY SIJOY.ENSKEJ LIT,ERATUiRY. Bratislava, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slovaca, 1948. NEW YORKSKY DElNNiK, June, 1936. (New York) Palickar, Stephen J. SLO¥AKJI.A!N CULTURE . Cambridge, Mass., Hempshire Press, 19:H. Seton,Watson, R . W. A HISTORY OF '11HE CZEJCHS ANiD SLOVAKS. New York, Hutchinson, 1943. Seton-Watson, R. W . MASAIRYK IN ENGLAND. Cambridge, Engl., Univ. Press, 1943. Sidor, Karol. SLOVACI V ZAIH!RAiNICNOM ODBOJI. Bratislava, By the author, 1928. SLOVAK V AMIDRIKE, 1905-1918. New York. Yurchak, Peter: T,H,E SLOVAKS; THEllR HISTORY AND TRADITION . Whioting, Ind., J. J. Lach, 194-6.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Oldest Slovak Newspaper in the U.S.A. Description An account of the resource William Kona, M.A. Slovakia, Vol. 15 (No. 38), 1965 pp. 38-50 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kona, Viliam, 1920-1989 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965 LCNAF+dates